Disclaimer: I don't own 7th Heaven, or anything with the WB!
A/N: Thanks for the reviews! This will be the last chapter of Still Going Strong...the third story in this series should be up within a few days. Because this is the last chapter, it will be a bit longer than the other chapter. Enjoy and review!
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Still Going Strong
Chapter 24: Moving Forward
"I'm..." She took a deep breath and took his hand in hers. "I'm pregnant." Carlos drew his breath in sharply and put his head down for a moment. After awhile, he put his face back up. Mary was staring at him, waiting to find out what he thought. Carlos again put his head down, putting his forehead in his hands.
"Mare..." He said. He shook his head and looked back up. "Mary...I thought we weren't having kids yet. We've talked about this...we weren't going to have kids for a few more years. Oh Mary, are you sure?" Mary tried to keep herself from crying.
"Yeah...I know." She said. "But Carlos" she couldn't take it any longer and burst into tears. Carlos put his hand on her shoulder. She looked back up. "No, I'm not positive...but I took a test...two actually. And they were both positive. Of course I'm not 100% sure, but..." She shrugged. "And Ok, it happened. We can't do anything about it! So why can't we just accept it...move forward?"
"You're right." Carlos said, taking Mary's hands in his. "You're totally right. I love you. This isn't just a coincidence. This is when we were meant to have a child. We can do this."
"And if I'm not..." She trailed off.
"If you're not, then we'll go on how we're living, or maybe we'll decide to start a family after all. I don't know what's going to happen. Right now, we just need to find out if you're pregnant or not. I'm calling Matt right now. He's probably still at work, and we can get an appointment with him." He walked over to the phone and picked it up. Mary jumped up and grabbed the phone from him, slamming it back down on the receiver. "What are you...?" Carlos asked.
"There's no way I'm having my older brother as my doctor...no. No, no, and no. Absolutely not!" She cried.
"Ok! Ok!" Carlos laughed. "I'll call the main office, and get an appointment for you then."
"NOT with Dr. Matt Camden." She said. Carlos laughed and nodded.
"Not with Dr. Matt Camden." He confirmed. With a smile, he picked up the phone again, and dialed. After talking for a few minutes on the phone, he said goodbye and hung up.
"Well?" Mary asked.
"You have an appointment tomorrow morning at 11, NOT with Dr. Matt Camden, but with Dr. Anne Michaels."
"Dr. Michaels? Yes! She was Cecilia's doctor with Charlie. She said she was great!" She and Carlos hugged tightly. Carlos leaned back a little and kissed his wife.
"I'm glad." He said. "Now, it's bed time. We're going to have a busy day tomorrow."
"Yeah..." She said, trailing off. "Tomorrow." She smiled nervously at Carlos, and he returned the smile. He took her hand in his and led her down the hall. After tucking her in, Carlos came back out into the living room and sat down on the couch. He put his head in his hands again.
"What are we going to do?" He whispered to himself. "This apartment is barely big enough for two of us...we can't have a baby." He shook his head. "No...we can make it work, I know we can." He tried to reassure himself. "Who am I kidding? We live in a tiny apartment." He sighed. "I guess I can't worry...at least not until 11 tomorrow." He was overcome with a wave of fatigue and stretched out across the entire sofa. He shut his eyes. Why not? He wouldn't go to sleep...after resting his eyes for a few minutes; he'd go to bed in he and Mary's room...
~~ The Next Morning ~~
Mary awoke at 6:30 AM to her alarm. She moaned. Another day at work...she reached over to wake her husband.
"Carlos. Wake up we have to go to...Carlos?" She opened her eyes and looked over, seeing her husband's side of the bed untouched. "Carlos?" She stood up and walked out into the hall. "Carlos?" She called. She laughed when she saw her husband, sound asleep on the couch. Suddenly she gasped. "Oh..." she put her hand over her stomach, suddenly remembering last night. She wasn't going to go to work...she was going to go and find out what life had in store for her...starting at 11 o'clock today. She walked over to Carlos and shook him gently. He stirred and looked up at her. Suddenly he gasped and jumped up.
"Oh Mare I'm sorry, I must have fallen asleep out here! I'm so sorry." He spun around to look at the clock, but because he didn't have his contacts in, he couldn't see it. "What time is it? Am I late for work? Are YOU late for work?" Mary shook her head.
"Carlos..." She paused. "I'm not going to work...remember?" He looked at her confused for a moment, then collapsed back down onto the sofa.
"Oh...yeah..." He sighed. "Then I'm not going either. I want to be at your appointment with you. Let me go call in." Mary nodded her head. After Carlos did so, Mary called into Jennings to let them know that she wouldn't be there either. After they both finished, Carlos fixed breakfast for both of them. Mary didn't want anything, but Carlos insisted that she at least have a piece of toast and juice. She finally agreed and they ate. They got dressed and Mary got her make up on. Before long, it was 10:30, and they needed to leave.
The drove in silence to the hospital. When they got there, they held hands and walked in. After signing in and sitting in the waiting room for 10 minutes, the door opened and Matt came out. He came over and sat down next to them with a smile.
"Hey you two. I just wanted to tell you good luck." He said, knowing from Carlos' call the night before why they were there. They smiled and thanked him. "I have an 11 o'clock that I should go and prepare for, but I wanted to make sure I came out. See ya later on...good luck." He said, standing up and walking to the door leading back to the offices. As he opened the door, a nurse came out. He edged past her as she looked down at her clipboard.
"Mary Ponce?" She called. Mary gasped sharply. Carlos squeezed her hand and stood up with her. They walked to the nurse.
"I'm...I'm Mary." She said. "And this is my husband, Carlos." The nurse smiled and nodded at her, leading them back through the door. She directed them into a small doctor's office and motioned for Mary to sit on the bed and Carlos in the chair across from her.
"OK, Mrs. Ponce. So what are we seeing you for today?" The nurse asked.
"Well..." Mary looked at Carlos for support. He gave her a weak smile and a nod, prompting her to talk. "Yesterday, I took a pregnancy test...well, I actually took two, and they were positive, and so we want to know if I really am pregnant..." The nurse nodded and scribbled down notes on her note pad.
"OK." She said. After asking her a few more questions, the nurse stood. "Dr. Michaels will be with you in just a minute." She said, standing and leaving. A few minutes later, a tall, slender woman entered the room. She had her straight, highlight-streaked brunette hair pulled up into a ponytail. She smiled at the couple.
"Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Ponce. I'm Dr. Anne Michaels. It's nice to meet you." She said, reaching out to shake each of their hands. "I see here that you want a pregnancy test. Well, you've come to the right place. We're going to do two tests, a urine sample, and a blood test." She explained. Mary nodded. The doctor sent Mary to the rest room while she got the blood test materials prepared. When Mary came back, she took some blood. "Well, I'll go get these in the lab...your results should be in in about 20 to 25 minutes. I'll be back as soon as we know." She said with a smile, and left the room with the samples. Mary turned to Carlos and sighed.
"Well...this'll be the longest 20 minutes of our lives, huh?" She asked. Carlos laughed and nodded. He came over and sat next to her, taking her hand in his.
"It'll be OK...no matter what the results are, we can do it. I know we can." He said reassuringly. Mary smiled and nodded.
"Well, if I am...ya know...then at least I'll get to have Dr. Michaels as my doctor. Cecilia was right, she's really, really nice." Carlos nodded.
"Yeah, she seems great." He said. Mary sighed and laid back on the small bed.
"Well, if you don't mind, I'm going to take a little nap." She said with a smile. "I have 20 minutes, and nothing to do but be nervous."
"OK." Carlos told her. "I'll wake you when Dr. Michaels is back. Have a good nap." He stood and kissed her forehead. Mary was asleep within minutes. Before she knew it, she felt Carlos' hand on her arm and heard his voice.
"Sweetie, wake up. The doctor is here." He said. She opened her eyes slowly and looked around looking confused. Suddenly she realized where she was and sat up, looking towards the door where the doctor was standing, clipboard in hand. Mary smoothed her hair quickly as the doctor walked over to them and sat down at her desk.
"Well, your tests results are in." She informed them. "I see that you found a good way to pass the time, Mrs. Ponce." Mary laughed.
"Please, call me Mary." She said.
"OK then, Mary, Carlos, you're going to have a baby." She said with a smile. "Congratulations, you're indeed pregnant. Now, from what we could tell, we believe that you're about two months pregnant, meaning that you're due in 7 months, somewhere in mid to late January. I'd like to make an appointment for you to come in for an ultrasound, so that we can get you a more exact due date. I found out the soonest appointments we have for ultrasounds, so I have them here. There's a 1 o'clock tomorrow, or a 9:30 AM 8 days from now. Other than that, we're really booked. I'm sorry if that is an inconvenience." She said. Mary sighed.
"Ok...well, I guess I'll take the 1 o'clock tomorrow then...unfortunately I'll have to miss the last part of work again...but I'd have to miss all day if I took the one next week, plus I'd have to wait a long time. Better to get it over with now. My family's going to want concrete information." She said with a nervous laugh.
"I'll stay home too." Carlos told her.
"Oh no you won't." She told him. "You're a fire fighter. They need you. You're not missing another day." He began to object, but Mary stopped him. "No. You're going."
"OK, fine." He said with a laugh. "I get full details when I get home though. I'll try to get off early. Maybe by 3 even." Mary nodded.
"Oh! Dr. Michaels, I'm sorry." She said, realizing that they had gone off into their own little world, ignoring the doctor, who was currently the most important person in the room. She smiled.
"No problem." She said. "OK, I'll get you in for the 1 o'clock. I don't want you to have to worry about making the appointment. I know you both have a lot on your mind right now."
"Thanks...you can say that again." Carlos said. Mary nodded in agreement. There was a knock at the door. Dr. Michaels stood and walked to it, she opened it a crack to see who was there. She then turned back to the Ponces.
"Hold on please...another doctor needs a word. I'm sorry, it'll only take a second." She said apologetically.
"It's no problem. Take your time, really." Mary told her with a smile. Dr. Michaels returned the look and exited the room. She came back in a moment later looking confused.
"Mary, a colleague of mine wants to come in and have a word with you...I'm terribly sorry. He said that it's important, and that you wouldn't mind." Mary looked just as confused as the doctor did.
"OK...which doctor is this?" She asked.
"Dr. Matt Camden. He's also an OB/GYN here." She said. Mary laughed.
"Oh! Matt. OK, yes definitely let him in. He's my older brother." She said.
"Oh!" They all laughed and Dr. Michaels opened the door. Matt rushed in and over to his younger sister.
"So?" He asked. Mary looked up at him. "Are you or are you not? My appointment is done and I have 30 minutes before my next, and I just couldn't wait to find out. I'm sorry to interrupt."
"It's OK!" Mary said. She looked nervously at Carlos before ending Matt's suspense. "Yes, Matt...I'm pregnant."
"Congratulations!" Matt cried, hugging them both. "I'm so happy for you. Are you thrilled?" He asked, remembering when Sarah had found out she was pregnant with their first child, Emily. Mary shifted uncomfortably and turned away. Matt looked at Carlos, confused.
"We weren't..." He tried to think of what to say. "We weren't planning on having a baby for a few more years. This is all a surprise." He said, shrugging. Matt's face changed and he turned back to Mary, wrapping his arms protectively around his baby sister.
"Mary, it'll all be OK. God doesn't let things happen that you can't handle, or that he doesn't want us to have in our lives." Mary nodded, but despite herself, a tear trickled down her cheek.
"I know." She said quietly. "It'll just take some adjusting. A lot of adjusting." She said with a sigh. "We can do it." Matt smiled at her and hugged her and Carlos once more before he had to leave. Dr. Michaels came back over to them.
"I had know idea that you guys weren't planning this. But, from what I can tell, you two seem like you're going to make great parents. I know you'll be fine." They smiled and thanked her. It was time to leave, so they got their things, and left the office, thanking the doctor once again for her help and support. With that, they drove home, thinking all the way of what was to come in the days ahead.
THE END!
A/N: There will be no epilogue, because I'm making this a trilogy. Look for the next story soon. My e-mail group will be receiving the 1st chapter a day in advance. If you don't know what my e-mail group is, please look on the last chapter of Still Going Strong where it is explained. The next story will be (like in the last line of the story) called "The Days Ahead". Look for it soon! Thanks for reading, and please, please review!
A/N: Thanks for the reviews! This will be the last chapter of Still Going Strong...the third story in this series should be up within a few days. Because this is the last chapter, it will be a bit longer than the other chapter. Enjoy and review!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Still Going Strong
Chapter 24: Moving Forward
"I'm..." She took a deep breath and took his hand in hers. "I'm pregnant." Carlos drew his breath in sharply and put his head down for a moment. After awhile, he put his face back up. Mary was staring at him, waiting to find out what he thought. Carlos again put his head down, putting his forehead in his hands.
"Mare..." He said. He shook his head and looked back up. "Mary...I thought we weren't having kids yet. We've talked about this...we weren't going to have kids for a few more years. Oh Mary, are you sure?" Mary tried to keep herself from crying.
"Yeah...I know." She said. "But Carlos" she couldn't take it any longer and burst into tears. Carlos put his hand on her shoulder. She looked back up. "No, I'm not positive...but I took a test...two actually. And they were both positive. Of course I'm not 100% sure, but..." She shrugged. "And Ok, it happened. We can't do anything about it! So why can't we just accept it...move forward?"
"You're right." Carlos said, taking Mary's hands in his. "You're totally right. I love you. This isn't just a coincidence. This is when we were meant to have a child. We can do this."
"And if I'm not..." She trailed off.
"If you're not, then we'll go on how we're living, or maybe we'll decide to start a family after all. I don't know what's going to happen. Right now, we just need to find out if you're pregnant or not. I'm calling Matt right now. He's probably still at work, and we can get an appointment with him." He walked over to the phone and picked it up. Mary jumped up and grabbed the phone from him, slamming it back down on the receiver. "What are you...?" Carlos asked.
"There's no way I'm having my older brother as my doctor...no. No, no, and no. Absolutely not!" She cried.
"Ok! Ok!" Carlos laughed. "I'll call the main office, and get an appointment for you then."
"NOT with Dr. Matt Camden." She said. Carlos laughed and nodded.
"Not with Dr. Matt Camden." He confirmed. With a smile, he picked up the phone again, and dialed. After talking for a few minutes on the phone, he said goodbye and hung up.
"Well?" Mary asked.
"You have an appointment tomorrow morning at 11, NOT with Dr. Matt Camden, but with Dr. Anne Michaels."
"Dr. Michaels? Yes! She was Cecilia's doctor with Charlie. She said she was great!" She and Carlos hugged tightly. Carlos leaned back a little and kissed his wife.
"I'm glad." He said. "Now, it's bed time. We're going to have a busy day tomorrow."
"Yeah..." She said, trailing off. "Tomorrow." She smiled nervously at Carlos, and he returned the smile. He took her hand in his and led her down the hall. After tucking her in, Carlos came back out into the living room and sat down on the couch. He put his head in his hands again.
"What are we going to do?" He whispered to himself. "This apartment is barely big enough for two of us...we can't have a baby." He shook his head. "No...we can make it work, I know we can." He tried to reassure himself. "Who am I kidding? We live in a tiny apartment." He sighed. "I guess I can't worry...at least not until 11 tomorrow." He was overcome with a wave of fatigue and stretched out across the entire sofa. He shut his eyes. Why not? He wouldn't go to sleep...after resting his eyes for a few minutes; he'd go to bed in he and Mary's room...
~~ The Next Morning ~~
Mary awoke at 6:30 AM to her alarm. She moaned. Another day at work...she reached over to wake her husband.
"Carlos. Wake up we have to go to...Carlos?" She opened her eyes and looked over, seeing her husband's side of the bed untouched. "Carlos?" She stood up and walked out into the hall. "Carlos?" She called. She laughed when she saw her husband, sound asleep on the couch. Suddenly she gasped. "Oh..." she put her hand over her stomach, suddenly remembering last night. She wasn't going to go to work...she was going to go and find out what life had in store for her...starting at 11 o'clock today. She walked over to Carlos and shook him gently. He stirred and looked up at her. Suddenly he gasped and jumped up.
"Oh Mare I'm sorry, I must have fallen asleep out here! I'm so sorry." He spun around to look at the clock, but because he didn't have his contacts in, he couldn't see it. "What time is it? Am I late for work? Are YOU late for work?" Mary shook her head.
"Carlos..." She paused. "I'm not going to work...remember?" He looked at her confused for a moment, then collapsed back down onto the sofa.
"Oh...yeah..." He sighed. "Then I'm not going either. I want to be at your appointment with you. Let me go call in." Mary nodded her head. After Carlos did so, Mary called into Jennings to let them know that she wouldn't be there either. After they both finished, Carlos fixed breakfast for both of them. Mary didn't want anything, but Carlos insisted that she at least have a piece of toast and juice. She finally agreed and they ate. They got dressed and Mary got her make up on. Before long, it was 10:30, and they needed to leave.
The drove in silence to the hospital. When they got there, they held hands and walked in. After signing in and sitting in the waiting room for 10 minutes, the door opened and Matt came out. He came over and sat down next to them with a smile.
"Hey you two. I just wanted to tell you good luck." He said, knowing from Carlos' call the night before why they were there. They smiled and thanked him. "I have an 11 o'clock that I should go and prepare for, but I wanted to make sure I came out. See ya later on...good luck." He said, standing up and walking to the door leading back to the offices. As he opened the door, a nurse came out. He edged past her as she looked down at her clipboard.
"Mary Ponce?" She called. Mary gasped sharply. Carlos squeezed her hand and stood up with her. They walked to the nurse.
"I'm...I'm Mary." She said. "And this is my husband, Carlos." The nurse smiled and nodded at her, leading them back through the door. She directed them into a small doctor's office and motioned for Mary to sit on the bed and Carlos in the chair across from her.
"OK, Mrs. Ponce. So what are we seeing you for today?" The nurse asked.
"Well..." Mary looked at Carlos for support. He gave her a weak smile and a nod, prompting her to talk. "Yesterday, I took a pregnancy test...well, I actually took two, and they were positive, and so we want to know if I really am pregnant..." The nurse nodded and scribbled down notes on her note pad.
"OK." She said. After asking her a few more questions, the nurse stood. "Dr. Michaels will be with you in just a minute." She said, standing and leaving. A few minutes later, a tall, slender woman entered the room. She had her straight, highlight-streaked brunette hair pulled up into a ponytail. She smiled at the couple.
"Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Ponce. I'm Dr. Anne Michaels. It's nice to meet you." She said, reaching out to shake each of their hands. "I see here that you want a pregnancy test. Well, you've come to the right place. We're going to do two tests, a urine sample, and a blood test." She explained. Mary nodded. The doctor sent Mary to the rest room while she got the blood test materials prepared. When Mary came back, she took some blood. "Well, I'll go get these in the lab...your results should be in in about 20 to 25 minutes. I'll be back as soon as we know." She said with a smile, and left the room with the samples. Mary turned to Carlos and sighed.
"Well...this'll be the longest 20 minutes of our lives, huh?" She asked. Carlos laughed and nodded. He came over and sat next to her, taking her hand in his.
"It'll be OK...no matter what the results are, we can do it. I know we can." He said reassuringly. Mary smiled and nodded.
"Well, if I am...ya know...then at least I'll get to have Dr. Michaels as my doctor. Cecilia was right, she's really, really nice." Carlos nodded.
"Yeah, she seems great." He said. Mary sighed and laid back on the small bed.
"Well, if you don't mind, I'm going to take a little nap." She said with a smile. "I have 20 minutes, and nothing to do but be nervous."
"OK." Carlos told her. "I'll wake you when Dr. Michaels is back. Have a good nap." He stood and kissed her forehead. Mary was asleep within minutes. Before she knew it, she felt Carlos' hand on her arm and heard his voice.
"Sweetie, wake up. The doctor is here." He said. She opened her eyes slowly and looked around looking confused. Suddenly she realized where she was and sat up, looking towards the door where the doctor was standing, clipboard in hand. Mary smoothed her hair quickly as the doctor walked over to them and sat down at her desk.
"Well, your tests results are in." She informed them. "I see that you found a good way to pass the time, Mrs. Ponce." Mary laughed.
"Please, call me Mary." She said.
"OK then, Mary, Carlos, you're going to have a baby." She said with a smile. "Congratulations, you're indeed pregnant. Now, from what we could tell, we believe that you're about two months pregnant, meaning that you're due in 7 months, somewhere in mid to late January. I'd like to make an appointment for you to come in for an ultrasound, so that we can get you a more exact due date. I found out the soonest appointments we have for ultrasounds, so I have them here. There's a 1 o'clock tomorrow, or a 9:30 AM 8 days from now. Other than that, we're really booked. I'm sorry if that is an inconvenience." She said. Mary sighed.
"Ok...well, I guess I'll take the 1 o'clock tomorrow then...unfortunately I'll have to miss the last part of work again...but I'd have to miss all day if I took the one next week, plus I'd have to wait a long time. Better to get it over with now. My family's going to want concrete information." She said with a nervous laugh.
"I'll stay home too." Carlos told her.
"Oh no you won't." She told him. "You're a fire fighter. They need you. You're not missing another day." He began to object, but Mary stopped him. "No. You're going."
"OK, fine." He said with a laugh. "I get full details when I get home though. I'll try to get off early. Maybe by 3 even." Mary nodded.
"Oh! Dr. Michaels, I'm sorry." She said, realizing that they had gone off into their own little world, ignoring the doctor, who was currently the most important person in the room. She smiled.
"No problem." She said. "OK, I'll get you in for the 1 o'clock. I don't want you to have to worry about making the appointment. I know you both have a lot on your mind right now."
"Thanks...you can say that again." Carlos said. Mary nodded in agreement. There was a knock at the door. Dr. Michaels stood and walked to it, she opened it a crack to see who was there. She then turned back to the Ponces.
"Hold on please...another doctor needs a word. I'm sorry, it'll only take a second." She said apologetically.
"It's no problem. Take your time, really." Mary told her with a smile. Dr. Michaels returned the look and exited the room. She came back in a moment later looking confused.
"Mary, a colleague of mine wants to come in and have a word with you...I'm terribly sorry. He said that it's important, and that you wouldn't mind." Mary looked just as confused as the doctor did.
"OK...which doctor is this?" She asked.
"Dr. Matt Camden. He's also an OB/GYN here." She said. Mary laughed.
"Oh! Matt. OK, yes definitely let him in. He's my older brother." She said.
"Oh!" They all laughed and Dr. Michaels opened the door. Matt rushed in and over to his younger sister.
"So?" He asked. Mary looked up at him. "Are you or are you not? My appointment is done and I have 30 minutes before my next, and I just couldn't wait to find out. I'm sorry to interrupt."
"It's OK!" Mary said. She looked nervously at Carlos before ending Matt's suspense. "Yes, Matt...I'm pregnant."
"Congratulations!" Matt cried, hugging them both. "I'm so happy for you. Are you thrilled?" He asked, remembering when Sarah had found out she was pregnant with their first child, Emily. Mary shifted uncomfortably and turned away. Matt looked at Carlos, confused.
"We weren't..." He tried to think of what to say. "We weren't planning on having a baby for a few more years. This is all a surprise." He said, shrugging. Matt's face changed and he turned back to Mary, wrapping his arms protectively around his baby sister.
"Mary, it'll all be OK. God doesn't let things happen that you can't handle, or that he doesn't want us to have in our lives." Mary nodded, but despite herself, a tear trickled down her cheek.
"I know." She said quietly. "It'll just take some adjusting. A lot of adjusting." She said with a sigh. "We can do it." Matt smiled at her and hugged her and Carlos once more before he had to leave. Dr. Michaels came back over to them.
"I had know idea that you guys weren't planning this. But, from what I can tell, you two seem like you're going to make great parents. I know you'll be fine." They smiled and thanked her. It was time to leave, so they got their things, and left the office, thanking the doctor once again for her help and support. With that, they drove home, thinking all the way of what was to come in the days ahead.
THE END!
A/N: There will be no epilogue, because I'm making this a trilogy. Look for the next story soon. My e-mail group will be receiving the 1st chapter a day in advance. If you don't know what my e-mail group is, please look on the last chapter of Still Going Strong where it is explained. The next story will be (like in the last line of the story) called "The Days Ahead". Look for it soon! Thanks for reading, and please, please review!