Vicky sat in the waiting room at the doctor's office flipping through a magazine. She was three months into her pregnancy now, and it was time for a regular checkup. Vicky was grateful that her nausea was starting to subside, and she was feeling like a normal person again. However, she considered herself lucky. She had heard horror stories from many mothers about how hard the first trimester of pregnancy can be, but aside from some nausea (including motion sickness, which she assumed was pregnancy related since it had never been an issue for her before), she didn't feel too bad. She was pretty tired and found herself napping more in the afternoons before dinner, but her doctor had informed her at the last appointment that it was completely normal.
"Vicky?" the nurse called. Vicky followed the nurse back into the examination room where the nurse took her weight and blood pressure. She had gained two pounds so far, which, based on the nurse's reaction seemed to be right on target.
"Your blood pressure's okay," the nurse stated, "but it is on the higher end of normal, so we'll be keeping an eye on it," she explained. Vicky nodded. "So it's nothing to worry about?" she asked the nurse.
"Right now, no, but if it does get higher it will be a cause for concern, so you should definitely watch out for any dizzy spells or lightheadedness, and if something doesn't feel right, you should call the office immediately," the nurse warned. Vicky nodded and thanked her. "Dr. Kent will be with you as soon as she can," the nurse told her as she left the room.
"Well, hello there!" Dr. Kent said as she knocked on the door a few moments later. Dr. Kent was a friendly woman right around Vicky's age. Vicky appreciated that she was warm and reassuring, but also had a very no-nonsense attitude when it came down to the potential complications of pregnancy. Being a first-time mother, it was hard for Vicky to tell when to worry and when not to, and Dr. Kent helped her find that line. "So how have you been feeling?" Dr. Kent asked her, "Is the nausea easing up at all?"
"Definitely," Vicky confirmed, "but the motion sickness is still pretty rough." Dr. Kent nodded.
"Okay, well keep taking the medicine I gave you last time before you go on long car trips or any drives on curvy or bumpy roads," she instructed, "And if it's still a problem next time you come in, then we can talk about upping your dosage. But for now, let's just hope that once you're fully into the second trimester, it will go away on its own."
"That sounds great," Vicky replied.
"So let's talk about your blood pressure," Dr. Kent continued, "Like Linda told you, it's still "technically" in the normal range of where it should be at this stage, but we do need to keep a close eye on it to make sure it stays that way, and I want you to try to take it as easy as possible and get plenty of rest. I know that can be easier said than done, but it is very important." Vicky nodded in agreement. Between her new job, and the chaos at home, it was going to be very hard to relax.
"Now," said Dr. Kent as she pulled some papers from her desk drawer, "Like we talked about last time, your pregnancy is considered high risk simply because you are over 35, which means that there is a higher chance of the baby having certain genetic abnormalities. Now, as I said, everything else in your pregnancy is progressing just fine, so you are very fortunate that your age is your only risk factor, but it is still a risk, so we do recommend that mothers over 35 go through some tests to look for indicators of certain genetic disorders. The most common of these tests is the amniocentesis, where we use a needle to extract a sample of the amniotic fluid. There are also some blood tests that are less invasive if you would be more comfortable going that route," Dr. Kent rolled her desk chair closer to Vicky and pointed out each test in the brochure.
"Now, like I said, it's completely your decision, so I want you to take that home and talk it over with your husband," she said, rolling her chair back over to her desk.
"Thank you," Vicky responded gratefully. Dr. Kent could see the worry in Vicky's eyes and smiled reassuringly.
"Everything is going great. You're doing all the right things, Vicky. These are simply some extra precautions to think about, alright?" Vicky nodded. "And in happier news, most of these tests can also tell you whether you're having a boy or a girl!" Dr. Kent said cheerfully. Vicky smiled. She had thought it would be fun to wait and be surprised when the baby is born, but she knew how her husband felt about surprises, so she was willing to let that one go.
Dr. Kent stood up from her chair and walked over to Vicky. "Why don't you go ahead and lie down for me so we can listen to this baby?" Vicky did as the doctor asked and lied on the exam table, pulling her shirt up so that Dr. Kent could listen to the baby's heartbeat. The baby's heart sounded perfect, and Vicky was sad that Danny wasn't there to hear it, but she knew that there would be more opportunities later in the pregnancy for him to join her. For now, she focused on listening to the beautiful sound of a healthy baby growing inside her.
As Vicky drove home from the doctor's office, it was pouring rain and her windshield wipers were on full blast. It was very similar to the weather the night she found out that she was pregnant and went to tell Danny. As the downpour brought traffic to a standstill, Vicky let her mind wander back to that night that changed everything.
After saying goodbye to Danny, Vicky took a cab back to her hotel. She was quiet in the cab except for the occasional hiccup as she choked back the sobs that threatened to spill out. When she arrived at the hotel, she thanked the driver and hurried to her room where she collapsed on the bed and was finally able to release the emotions she'd been holding back.
After a while, Vicky was able to pull herself together enough to remove what was left of her makeup and change into something more comfortable. She then started to repack her suitcase. As she was packing, a sudden wave of nausea came over her and she hurried towards the bathroom. The same thing had happened that morning before her big meeting so at first, she didn't think anything of it. She had been a bundle of nerves all day, and it had been a tumultuous past couple of hours. Surely the rush of emotions she'd gone through that evening was enough to turn her stomach, wasn't it?
Vicky left the bathroom and sat back down on the bed. She picked up the phone and dialed her mother's number.
"Hello?" came Liz Larson's voice on the other line.
"Mom? I need to tell you something," Vicky said, her voice shaking.
"Vicky, what's the matter? Did your meeting not go well?" Liz asked.
"It's worse than that," Vicky replied. She then relayed all of the evening's events to her mother, including the nauseous spells she had experienced.
"Oh, honey, I'm so sorry. I know how you felt about Danny and his girls. But look at it this way. At least now you can go off to New York with no strings attached and you won't have the extra stress of flying back and forth all the time," Liz tried to comfort her, though they both knew it wasn't helping.
"I guess so," Vicky replied.
"That is odd, though, about the nauseous spells. Vicky, you don't think you could be ā" Liz trailed off, not daring to finish the sentence.
"Be what?" Vicky asked before quickly realizing what her mother was getting at. "Oh, no, there's no way. I mean, I only get to see Danny one weekend a month as it is. I couldn't be ā " this time Vicky trailed off as she did some calculations in her head. "Mom, I'll call you back," Vicky said quickly, hanging up the phone and grabbing her jacket. She remembered seeing a drugstore across the street from the hotel, and she wanted to get to the bottom of this before she left tomorrow and it was too late.
Some time later, Vicky returned to her hotel room with a home pregnancy test and some Pepto Bismol. As she waited for the test results, she called her mother again.
"Oh, Mom, I just don't know what I'm gonna do! I've been waiting my whole life for a job opportunity like this. If the test is positive, this will change everything. I mean, I was supposed to have it better than you did!" Vicky cried.
"Vicky, calm down," her mother said soothingly. "You already have it way better than I did! You're a grown woman with an established career path, not some young girl in college who could barely take care of herself! When I told you I wanted you to have it better than I did, I just meant that I wanted you to be successful and happy, and now look at you! You're an award-winning journalist with an offer to anchor the national news in New York City. Your child would never have to watch you struggle to make ends meet."
Vicky smiled, admiring her mother who had often had to work two, or even three jobs at a time when Vicky was little. Vicky relaxed a little, knowing that if she was half as strong as her mother, she would be just fine.
"And" Liz continued, "at least you have a father in the picture who would be more than willing to support you." Vicky sensed a hint of resentment in her mother's tone, and Vicky certainly understood why. Her father had been in and out of the picture since day one. He was nothing like Danny Tanner.
"Danny!" Vicky exclaimed suddenly, "Oh my God, what am I gonna tell him? How am I gonna tell him? Iā"
"Vicky, honey, calm down!" Liz said calmingly, trying to reassure her daughter once more. "You don't even know what the test says yet."
"Oh, right," Vicky relaxed, realizing she could still be worrying over nothing. "I guess I should go look. Don't hang up, I'll be right back." Vicky set the receiver down gently on the bedside table and walked back to the bathroom. She looked down at the test, and sure enough, it was positive. A single tear rolled down her cheek, but she closed her eyes and took a deep, cleansing breath. "Okay," she said to herself, "I can do this."
Vicky walked back into the bedroom and picked up the phone. "Mom, I'm pregnant," she said very matter-of-factly.
"I figured as much. A mother knows these things, you know," Liz said, somewhat smugly.
"Well, what am I supposed to do now?" Vicky panicked, "Do I go to New York? Do I stay? Do I even tell Danny?" Vicky wondered aloud.
"Well, of course you're going to tell Dany," Her mother stated, "The rest of it is up to you. I think you know perfectly well how I feel about the situation by now, so I'm not going to give you my input, because even if I did, you would just do what you wanted anyway," Vicky chuckled. Her mother was certainly right about that.
"So, you can take this big anchor job in New York City and keep up the long-distance charade for as long as possible, but I think deep down you already know what the right thing to do is, my dear."
"Thanks, Mom."
"Do you still want me to fly out next weekend? I know the point of the whole trip was to spend time with Danny and the girls, but if you need me ā"
"Yes. Please come," Vicky answered quickly.
"Alright. You've got a lot to think about right now, so I'm going to let you go. I love you. Good night, and good luck!" Vicky chuckled at her mother's use of Edward R. Murrow's iconic sign-off.
Vicky hung up the phone and sat still on her bed for a moment. The "right thing to do" in her mother's mind would definitely be to turn down this job and move to San Francisco permanently to settle down with Danny. In spite of, or maybe because of, her unconventional childhood, her mother had always told her that, if she ever did have children, she should do it when she was older and well-established in her career and relationship. Now, here she was with a well-established career, and a formerly well-established relationship, and yet she still felt completely unprepared for motherhood. As Vicky sat back and thought about her childhood and everything that her single mother had been through, her next steps became increasingly clear. New York would have to wait, possibly forever.
Vicky picked up the phone yet again to call a cab. It was raining pretty hard by this point, so she would have to wait a while. In the meantime, she made a call to the network on the east coast to officially turn down the job offer. As it turns out, the network wasn't willing to take no for an answer and offered Vicky a position doing field reporting on the west coast, meaning she would be able to be based in San Francisco. This stroke of luck gave Vicky the confidence that she needed that she was making the right decision, and everything would work out in the end.
When the cab finally arrived, Vicky was relieved to see that it was not the same driver who had dropped her off earlier. Vicky was in no mood to explain why she was going out this late at night, or why she was an emotional basket case when she had been dropped off hours earlier.
"Where to?" the driver asked.
"1882 Gerard St."
A/N: I know I just updated, but I want to get as much writing done as possible while I have downtime at work. I hope you enjoyed this little flashback chapter. š
