A/N: Sorry for the long time between updates. I've been busy and lazy, not a very good combination. Anyway, I want to say that for the slight bit of medical stuff in this chapter, I am not a doctor and I know nothing about anything. Go with that.

Exactly five weeks later, Wilson entered his bedroom in search of his sleeping wife. When he had heard Ruthie go into the bathroom early that Saturday morning, Wilson instinctively got up to see if there was anything he could do to help her. Clearly, she didn't need him. But even more apparent was that she wanted Mary. Wilson wrote it off as some sort of "woman thing" that he would never fully understand.

He walked over to Mary's side of the bed and stood next to her. She lay on her stomach, her hand casually hung off the end of the bed. Wilson picked up Mary's hand in his and brought it to his lips gently. Mary stirred slightly and her hand twitched. Wilson laid Mary's arm lightly back onto the bed and softly shook her shoulder.

Mary groaned when she felt him. She knew her presence was needed in the realm of the awake.

"Mare," Wilson said quietly, "time to get up."

"Why?"

"Because Ruthie needs you."

Mary groaned again. She hated it when someone "needed" her. It always cut into her personal time. She rolled over on to her back and her eyes fluttered open. "What time is it?"

"Ten to seven."

"It is Saturday, right?"

Wilson laughed. "Yes."

"What could she possibly want at this hour?"

"She's having morning sickness again."

"Great," she said sounding cynical. Mary rubbed her eyes before sitting upright. "OK, I'm up," she announced as if the world would not continue without her. Mary made her way to a standing position and rested her forehead on Wilson's shoulder. "Why does it have to be morning sickness? Why can't it be afternoon sickness?"

Wilson rubbed the back of Mary's head. "I don't know honey."

Mary lifted her head and looked into Wilson's eyes. He stared back at her, telling her that she should be on her way by now.

"I'm going, I'm going."

Mary turned away from her husband and went toward the door. She only took two steps, however, before Wilson placed his hands on Mary's hips and spun her back around to face him. Mary smiled at him as he went in for his morning kiss.

"I love you," he said once they parted.

"I love you, too."

Wilson went to kiss Mary one more time but she stopped him, pressing her finger to his lips. "No more of that. It's a lot of work to be pregnant."

Mary left the room with a giggled as she went down the tiny hallway. She knocked on the door to the bathroom before opening it. Inside the small lavatory, Mary found Ruthie with her head drooped over the toilet. Ruthie heard Mary enter and stood up.

"I think I'm done," she said.

"Are you alright?" Mary asked.

"I guess so," she replied putting her hand to her stomach.

Mary reached out to Ruthie and lifted up the front of her shirt to expose her stomach. Her stomach was beyond flat, it was actually sunken in a little. Mary could also plainly make out Ruthie's ribcage. Mary reached down for the scale on the floor and moved it into the middle of the room. She took Ruthie's hand and tugged at it until Ruthie stepped onto the scale. Mary then reached down, turned the electronic scale on, and within seconds Ruthie's weight was calculated: 79 pounds.

"Ruthie!" Mary scolded her.

"What? It's not my fault," she whined.

"Stay here," Mary said as she went off to get Wilson. She found him, still in the bedroom, and dragged him into the bathroom.

"Look at her!" Mary said to Wilson, exaggerating the situation. "She's all skin and bones. That can't be good."

"Well, Ruthie was never a big girl to begin with."

"She's nine weeks pregnant and she weighs 79 pounds!"

Wilson put his hand on Mary's shoulder to calm her down. "Look, when she goes to the doctor on Wednesday, that's the time to bring it up."

"Yeah, but-"

Billy, who stood at the bathroom door, interrupted Mary. "What are we doing?" he asked.

"We're going to go get Ruthie a big bowl of ice cream," Wilson said.

"Ice cream?" Ruthie said, putting her hand over her mouth. "I think I'm going to be sick again."

Four days later, Mary and Ruthie were sitting in the waiting room of Doctor Hammond's office waiting for Ruthie's name to be called. Ruthie was sitting cross-legged, nervously tapping her foot against one of the legs of the chairs. Mary put her hand on Ruthie's knee to stop her from fidgeting.

"Don't be so nervous. It's going to be just fine," Mary reassured Ruthie.

Ruthie looked up at Mary and smiled. "Thanks for making sure you didn't have to work this afternoon so you could take me to the doctor."

"Well, what are sisters for?" Mary said.

Mary and Ruthie sat in silence for another 6 minutes until Ruthie was called by one of the nurses.

"The doctor would like to speak to you beforehand, he does this with all the patients, so have a seat right in here," the nurse said opening the door to another room.  "He'll be with you in just a moment."

Ruthie sits down in a chair, as does Mary. She looks over to Mary for guidance and she nods.

"This is normal. It's OK," she said picking up Ruthie's hand for a second. Mary really didn't understand why Ruthie was this scared. She didn't remember her having a problem with doctors before.

Dr. Hammond walked in a few seconds later carrying Ruthie's chart in his hand. He looked at both sisters strangely as he sat down in the maroon leather chair on the opposite side of the desk. He stared straight at Mary and spoke. "So, Ms. Camden, how are we doing today?"

Mary tried very hard not to smile. "Well, I'm fine, thanks, but I'm not Ms. Camden. She is," Mary said pointing at Ruthie.

"Hi," Ruthie said meekly.

"Oh," the doctor said sounding slightly confused. "Then who are you?"

"I'm Ruthie's sister, Mary. Ruthie lives with me."

"Tell the world," Ruthie thought as Mary started to divulge all of Ruthie's life to a middle-aged man.

Dr. Hammond was still bewildered. "But…but it says here that you think you're pregnant," he said, this time looking Ruthie in the eye.

"Well, I don't think I'm pregnant, I know I am. I went to a doctor back in California where I am from and they confirmed it."

"And how old are you?"

Ah, the inevitable question Ruthie could not avoid. "I'm 12."

The confirmation of her age changed Dr. Hammond's entire perception of Ruthie. Pregnant at 12, he sure felt like he had her number. "I see." Instinctively, however her put all of his reservations aside and got down to business. "I'm going to ask you a few question before I exam you. DO you have a problem with this?"

Ruthie gulped hard. "No."

"I understand that you are sexually active. For how long?"

"About two months."

"Was it protected sex?"

Ruthie thought about this for a second before answering that it was not. She really needed to talk with Mary. She had no idea she had to be so prepared for this visit.

"Do any women in your family have breast cancer?"

Ruthie looked at Mary. Mary shook her head, so Ruthie responded. "No."

"Have you had sex with anyone who you know has a sexually transmitted disease?"

"How can you tell?" Ruthie asked the doctor.

"Well, you usually can't. Did they ever tell you about having a sexually transmitted disease, or STD for short?"

"Um…" Ruthie was choking under the pressure.

"How many partners have you had?"

"One," Ruthie responded firmly. She knew this answer was correct.

"Was he a virgin?"

"Yes."

"Ok, then he most likely does not have an STD. It is very, very rare to be born with one or to get them form any other type of contact."

Ruthie nodded.

"When was your last period?"

The "p" word. "My first period was about 3 months ago, then I had sex and got pregnant so it stopped."

"Have you had any vaginal discharge or spotting between periods?"

"No."

"Do you smoke, drink or take any drugs?"

Mary looked at Ruthie. She was getting more information out of this than she bargained for, but it saved her the trouble of having an awkward conversation with Ruthie later.

"No. Never."

"Good," he responded. "That's good." He paused for a moment, taking notes in Ruthie's chart. "Now I am going to examine you. I take I that you want your sister to go with you?" Ruthie nodded. "Well, why don't you two women walk across the hall into the exam room and I will be with you shortly."

"Thank you," Mary said.

Dr. Hammond got up, showed the girls the room, and then went down the hallway for a moment.

"Did you ever do this?" Ruthie asked Mary once she was inside the room.

"Once, after Wilson and I got married. Why?"

"Just wondering."

About 15 minutes later, Mary, Ruthie, and Dr. Hammond were back in the office-type room once again.

"Well Ruthie you'll be happy to know that everything looks good and that the baby is doing just fine."

"Great," Ruthie said.

"I have just one concern," he said, "your weight."

"I'm concerned over that as well," Mary told him. "What should she do?"

"Are you experiencing morning sickness?" the doctor asked Ruthie.

"Yes, every single morning for two months now."

"Well, then there really is nothing much you can do. If your weight continues to be a problem, we will address it then. For now though, try not to worry about it. I'm sure you have enough on you mind."

Mary and Ruthie both smiled amiably at Dr. Hammond while internally breathing a sigh of relief. Both of them were thankful that that was over. Neither of them would ever want to go through that again.

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