"You really don't have to go in with me," Kat said as Tommy pulled into the parking lot of the doctor's office.
"Kat, this is your first doctor's visit of course I want to be there," Tommy told her as he turned off the car.
"I wish I could have asked my mom to come too but things are tense enough around my house as it is," Kat remarked as they got out of the car.
"Well there are plenty of doctor's visits to come and I'm sure your mom will find a way to come to at least one of them," Tommy told her.
"Hi, I'm Katherine Hillard and I have an appointment with Dr. Brice," Kat said to the receptionist once they were inside the office.
"Welcome, Ms. Hillard just fill out these forms and the doctor will be with you shortly," she replied handing Katherine the forms.
"Are you nervous?" Tommy asked as they sat down in the waiting area.
"A little, but your mom said that Dr. Brice is the one of the best obstetrician's in Angel Grove," Kat replied.
"Not to mention Dr. Brice is a good family friend," Tommy said.
"Ms. Hillard, you can come back now," a nurse said.
Katherine and Tommy followed the nurse and instead of being led into an exam room they were first led into the doctor's office.
"Tommy nice to see you again, and you must be Katherine, I'm Helen Brice," the doctor said as Tommy and Katherine sat down.
"Your mother told me that you two have decided to keep the baby but I just wanted to make sure you two had discussed all your options before we begin the examination," she told them.
"Thanks for your concern doctor but we know all our options and we're sure that keeping this baby is the right thing to do," Katherine responded.
"Ok, then you should know that deciding to become a parent means doing a full-time job, it's not going to be easy but that being said there are many young people your age who have made this same decision and things have turned out fine for them, and I know Tommy's parents well enough that they wouldn't have let you make this decision if they weren't confident that the two of could handle this," Dr. Brice informed them.
"Believe me Dr. Brice, we know we have a tough road ahead of us but we're determined to make this work," Tommy said.
"I'm glad to know you both realize how serious this decision you've made is, now let's get on to the examination," she said. "Tommy, I'm going to have you wait here in my office for a few minutes while I perform the first part of the exam and then I'll have my nurse come and get you, I promise you won't miss anything important," she said as she led Katherine down the hallway.
"Come in Tommy, you're just in time for the show," Dr. Brice said as he entered the exam room.
Tommy walked in to see Katherine lying on the exam table and the doctor was turning on a machine that looked like a television.
"This is an ultrasound machine and it'll give us picture of what your baby looks like," Dr. Brice explained as she applied a film like gel on Katherine's abdomen. "This object is called a transducer and it helps to produce sound waves which will then form an image that is displayed here on the monitor."
"Its not going to look like much, at this point all we'll really be able to see is your baby's heart beat," she said as she began moving the transducer around on Katherine's abdomen.
"I can't really see much of anything," Tommy admitted as an image began to appear on the screen.
"That's ok, that's what I'm here for," the doctor said with a smile. "Now you see this here, this is the baby's heart beat, and everything appears perfectly normal," she said pointing at the screen.
"This is so amazing, I can't believe there's actually another living being with a heart beat inside of me," Kat remarked as she stared at the screen.
"It's our baby," Tommy said as he took Kat's hand.
"It looks as though everything is developing the way it should, just make sure to get as much sleep as possible, at least eight hours, avoid stress and as far as your diet goes, you're going to probably need to add at least 250 calories, lots of fresh fruit, grains and vegetables, I have a pamphlet here that can help you make the right choices," the doctor informed Kat.
"What about the morning sickness, anything I can do to relieve it?" Kat asked.
"Try eating smaller meals throughout the day, crackers are always good and be sure to drink plenty of water but your morning sickness should stop once your first trimester is over," she explained.
"If you have any other questions, don't hesitate to call my office, or you could ask Tommy's mom, she's one of the best nurses I've worked with so she'll be able to answer most of your questions if you can't get in touch with me."
"Thank you so much Dr. Brice, we'll see you in a few weeks," Tommy said as they got up to leave.
"This is really happening isn't it, we're having a baby," Kat said once they were in the car.
"Yeah and now we have the picture to prove it," Tommy said as he held the ultrasound photo.
"I hope my mom gets home before my dad so I can show it to her," Kat said.
"Well now that you've brought that up, do you really think it's a good idea for you to continue living with your parents, you heard what the doctor said about avoiding stress," Tommy replied.
"I know it's not the best environment for me but I just can't image having to leave my parents," Kat told him. "But under the circumstances, I don't see how I can stay."
"I'm glad you feel that way because I talked it over with my parents and they agreed that you should move in with us," Tommy informed her.
"They really said that?" Kat questioned.
"Yeah, they understand why your dad is so angry but they don't think you should have to be around it," Tommy said.
"I have to admit I was hoping they'd make the offer, I feel so bad that my mom has been taking sides against my dad and I don't want my situation to interfere in their marriage," Kat revealed.
"Good then it's settled, I'll take you by your house to pack a few things and we can ask your mother to pack the rest and then I'll pick it up when your father's not around," Tommy told her.
"I know my mom won't like seeing me go but I think this'll be best for everyone," Kat said as they drove to her house.
Hope you liked this chapter. Thanks everyone for being so patient with me since I haven't been able to update as much as I would like. Thanks again to all of you who send me reviews! And to show how much I appreciate it, I would like to give you an opportunity to contribute to the story. I need some help deciding a name for Kat and Tommy's baby. I haven't decided on whether it will be a boy or girl yet so names for both will be appreciated. Please no name suggestions included in your reviews instead send all suggestions to my email at