A/N: Here's a quick update. I'm pushing myself back into writing things I enjoy in what little free time I have in an attempt to find my mojo again. I hope you enjoy this.
The normally twenty-minute drive into Alexandria takes an hour and a half in the early morning rush hour traffic. When they finally park, Olivia tugs her jacket hood over her head and slides out first. Abby mumbles something about finding parking and they depart. Once inside, Olivia signs in, taking a spot in a far-off corner, away from the rest of the women in the waiting room. A week has come and gone since she was fired and since her face was plastered on every gossip rag in all of D.C. She's hoped beyond measure that her name would eventually dissipate from wagging tongues, but she's had no such luck, though her father and Fitz have figured out Cyrus is to blame. Somehow, the two of them – her father and Fitz – have found common ground, bonding over a common enemy.
Regardless, Olivia keeps to herself, temporarily moving back into her childhood bedroom as she tries to sort through her next steps. A step she didn't think she'd have to account for, however, consisted of sitting in Gyne Health Obstetrics & Gynecology. How she hadn't realized sooner that she's late, she doesn't know. Perhaps in between fighting with Fitz, making up with Fitz, and then having her livelihood ripped out from underneath her, it's no surprise that she hasn't paid enough attention. She's taken three at home tests. Two have come back positive and one negative. The only way she can be certain is to get undeniable confirmation from a doctor.
"All you're missing is sunglasses to cap off this very unimaginative disguise, Liv," Abby says as she slides into the vinyl chair next to Olivia. "I always thought I'd be here before you. Not in the 'I-thought-I'd-become-a-mother-before-you' way, but more so in the 'fuck, we-forgot-a-condom' way. I thought I was the one who lived recklessly."
Olivia casts a sideways glance at her talkative friend, narrowing her dark eyes. "Abby, can you just be quiet for maybe the next…24hrs?"
"Ouch. Not only do I break you out of your dad's house, but I shlep you across state lines and this is the thanks I get?"
A disgruntled sigh springs forth from Olivia's lips. She wants to wrap her hands around Abby's neck. "You know I'm thankful. What I don't need right now, though, is a comedian. I need my best friend."
It's Abby's turn to sigh. "I'm sorry, Liv. It's just – you call me crying, your face is tacked to every newsstand in the city. It's a lot. I process by talking. I'm sorry. I'm here."
"Thank you."
"Now, I know there's the whole heat of the moment excuse, but how did you get here?"
Olivia shrugs, huffing. She thinks about the morning, after church. The first time she'd told Fitz she loved him. "It happens, okay."
"Well, I know it does. I'm just…. If you are pregnant, Liv, what are you going to do?" Abby asks.
Before Olivia can answer, though, the sound of her name being called stops her. Truthfully, it's a question she hasn't considered yet. Once she doesn't even know she'll have an answer to any time soon.
"Olivia?" The nurse calls again. Wordlessly, Olivia climbs to her feet.
"Need me to go with you?" Abby asks. Olivia shakes her head no.
/
"Well, Ms. Pope," Dr. Ross starts, "we're running a urine analysis to check for pregnancy, correct?"
Olivia nods. "I've taken three tests already. One came back negative and two came back positive."
Dr. Ross nods, her braids swaying slightly. "So, we're confirming either a false positive or a correct positive, then. We're doing a UPT test and an ultrasound. Have you considered the steps you'll follow once we have our answer?"
"I – uhm. Oh. Not yet."
"It's okay to be nervous and uncertain," Dr. Ross continues. Before she has a chance to say anything else, a woman pushing an ultrasound machine enters.
"Ready for me?" The woman asks.
"Hi, Mia. Miss Pope needs to take the urine test first. After we get those results, I'll call you in. Alright?"
"Sounds good, Doc. I'll leave this here and be back shortly."
/
What feels like an eternity later, Olivia sits in a dress gown on the edge of the exam table, watching the clock. In truth, she's only been here for less than an hour, though she knows it's been long enough that her father and Fitz are probably worried. Thankfully, she left her cell phone on the kitchen table back at her father's. Olivia grips the lip of the table, eyes roaming towards the door. The wait is nearly unbearable, though she thinks she already knows the answer to whether or not she's pregnant. God, her twenty-fifth birthday is weeks away and instead of being able to knock down a glass of wine, she'll be….
Instinctively, her hand hovers above her stomach. She thinks about the night – or rather day – she's guessing she got pregnant. It'd been the day she told Fitz she loved and subsequently terrified the living shit out of herself. Now when she thinks back to that day, she remembers very not taking the extra time to grab a condom even though there'd been a gap in her birth control. A gap she'd promised herself she'd remember before she and Fitz made love again. A promise she'd broken and now….
"We have your results, Miss Pope," Dr. Ross says as she opens the exam room door. The door shuts behind her with a finite click.
"And?"
"And your first two tests would be correct. You're pregnant, Olivia."
Hearing confirmation of those words leaves Olivia nodding. "I figured as much."
"At first I suspected this was unplanned, but you are pretty calm for it to have been."
Olivia laughs. "It wasn't planned." She thinks back to Fitz's confession that he wants to marry her. "But it's not un-welcomed. Just a lot sooner that I would've wanted it to be."
"Then I think it's time to call Mia back in and figure out what our next steps are. We have to set up a prenatal care schedule and get you on track to have a healthy baby."
A healthy baby. Olivia turns those words over in her head, a smile starts to tug across her lips. "Okay."
/
Olivia turns over a sonogram in hand as she and Abby pull up in the front of her father's house. There's a news van still camped out across the street – the same news van she'd dodged earlier that morning.
"You gonna go tell the daddy?" Abby asks. She holds up both middle fingers against her windshield as a photograph snaps a few photos.
"Yeah. I have to tell him. I didn't make the bean in my belly on my own."
"You didn't, but you know you don't need him to approve if you aren't ready to have a kid."
"I know my abortion rights, Abby. I also know you're just looking out for me. I thank you for taking me to Gyne, but this is where your part stops. I need to talk to Fitz."
"Oh, Pope. You're already going soft on me. Call me when you need, Auntie Abby, okay?" Abby sighs. "Want to make a run for it while I toss some eggs at the news van?" Abby swivels in her seat, reaching into the back and producing a carton of eggs. Olivia's eyes widen. "What? Look, I get very little indulgence in life. I'm just gonna toss a couple of eggs while you make a break for it."
"Indulge away as long as it stops them from asking me anything. I don't need them getting wind of this," Olivia taps the sonogram and then shoves it in her purse, "not until Fitz and I figure out what's next."
"On three we break?" Abby asks.
Olivia nods. Together they count up to three. As Olivia books it from the vehicle, she hears the eggs hit the side of the van. Once inside, she locks the door behind her.