~Audrey's POV~
I felt as though time had stopped while I stared down at the pregnancy test in my hands. Staring me in the face was a blue positive sign which I already knew meant; pregnant. Oh, Gods! I'm pregnant and with mine and Hunter's baby! What the hell am I going to do? Hunter is currently deployed in Iraq, and I haven't heard from in a week. I had been hoping it was stress or a medical reason why my period had suddenly stopped in October but finding out I'm pregnant? I wasn't prepared for that news at all. I had to tell Hunter, right? This was his baby too and had the right to know; we had to talk about this. Everyone knows we were having sex so it's not like anyone would think we were going behind their backs or lying to them about what we have done.
Except for me of course, I was lying to Hunter about being on birth control. I had told him I was that first time because we were so caught up in the passion and pleasure, neither of us wanting to stop. I never meant for it to go on so long that I didn't have protection for myself but when Hunter got deployed, we obviously weren't going to be having sex for a while. When Hunter came home for leave, it was sudden, and he was dealing with the loss of two good friends. If I had revealed I didn't have birth control, he probably would have left me for lying to him or spent his leave being mad at me.
I'm sure Hunter is aware that pregnancy can happen even with all the protection in the world when two people engaged in sexual intercourse. So what? I tell Hunter I'm pregnant and we figure things out? How to have this baby with Hunter deployed? Or would I give birth after the tour ends? Gods, I couldn't call Hunter right now and tell him all this. Hunter would have so many questions about how it happened, when, how far along was I? No, I couldn't call Hunter yet. I needed to get myself together and go to a doctor. I would call him after I got all the information about the pregnancy, I knew with him in Iraq that we wouldn't have much time to talk, so it was best to make sure I had everything I needed to tell him.
The first thing I needed to do was call my doctor and then figure out my next step. Everything was going to be okay; I was sure of it. Hunter and I always said we'd have a family and I suppose it was just going to happen a little earlier than expected. Hunter and I would make things work. We would have the life we had always talked about. Yes, it would all work out, and we would be happy together, married with our child.
(Friday Afternoon; 3:15 pm)
It wasn't easy, but I managed to call my doctor on Wednesday afternoon after school. I couldn't do it on Tuesday because my parents were home by the time I got off the bus, so I had to wait until they weren't home. I put off my homework and called my physician's office, spoke to the receptionist who was able to get me an appointment for today so now I was sitting in the waiting room to be called. I was nervous and couldn't lie about that.
Suddenly, my phone started to vibrate in my pocket, and I pulled it out to check the ID. It was Hunter! Oh, my Gods, he was calling me on Skype!? I couldn't ignore him; it had been almost ten days since I had heard from him. I took a breath and answered the call calmly.
"Hi babe," I greeted gently with a smile.
"Hey, beautiful. Hope I'm not interrupting you doing your homework?" Hunter said with a return smile.
"No, not at all. I'm not at home anyway, I'm at the doctor's office," I admitted, and as I expected, his face turned to a concerned frown.
"Why are you there? Are you okay?" Hunter inquired.
"I've just...been feeling a little sick the last few days so I thought I'd make an appointment and get seen," I told him.
"Awe baby girl, I'm sorry. I've been trying to call for a few days, but we had some severe storms, and the signal is terrible," Hunter informed softly.
"It's okay, Hunter. At least you'll be home soon, and we won't need to worry about the crappy signal between Archi Island and Iraq," I laughed a little. "How's your arm doing?"
"It's great, I had the sling removed two days ago, and I'm back to doing missions. I have one tonight at 8 pm my time, so I won't be able to call later and thought I'd talk while I could," Hunter replied.
"8 pm for you is 6 for us, right? Want me to let your family know?" I questioned.
"Yep, you got it, Milady. Oh, and yeah, if you could tell them, I would appreciate it. So what's been making you sick, symptom wise?" Of course, how did I think my boyfriend wouldn't ask how I was feeling.
"Headaches, nausea, fatigue. It's probably just a bug, Love. A few others have had it in school already," I assured him.
"Audrey Hofferson for Dr. Ella Sparks?" called the nurse.
"Oh, right here!" I stood up quickly. "Um, I gotta go in, for now, babe. Can you...call back in maybe an hour or so?" I asked him while making my way towards the nurse to go back with her.
"I'll try gorgeous. If I'm not able too, send me an e-mail and let me know how you make out. I love you," Hunter chirped.
"I will. I love you too," After that, the call ended, and I put my phone away back into my pocket while following the nurse to where the patient rooms were.
"I'm Dr. Spark's new assistant. My name is Joslyn," the nurse introduced as I smiled and nodded to her. First were the regular updates; height, weight, if I smoke or drank. Finally, I was able to sit on the table while the nurse grabbed a pen to mark down the numbers she already got.
"All right, Audrey. The reason for your visit today is because you took a home pregnancy test and it came up positive?" Joslyn questioned. I nodded shyly to her. "And you are seventeen years old, correct?" she asked as I nodded again. "Can you tell me when your last menstrual period was?"
"U-Um, it was September 11th to the 15th," I answered truthfully.
"You didn't suspect you were pregnant in October when you missed your period?" Joslyn inquired.
"I-I didn't realize I missed it because my...boyfriend was returning to Iraq to finish his deployment and I was upset," I responded.
"It's all right sweetheart; you don't have to be nervous. Some woman do miss their periods in emotional times. Well, if you had your period that week in September then you ovulated on the 25th and missed your period on the 9th of October. I see from your records that you've always had a period on time since you were twelve," Joslyn mentioned glancing over a few papers.
"S-So, how...far along am I?" I asked.
"Dr. Sparks will probably send you for a sonogram to confirm, but counting from your last period, it would seem you are right around ten weeks pregnant," Joslyn informed. I couldn't help but sit there a little shocked trying to take it in. I was...that far along already? Gods, I really hoped Hunter would be able to call back tonight because we had a lot to talk about. "Does your boyfriend know?"
I bit my lower lip and shook my head to her. "No. He...had to return to his tour on the 6th of October and he's been...swamped over there. I-I didn't want to tell him until I got all the facts since we only get to talk for short periods of time," I informed truthfully.
"Well, we'll get you all the information you'll need to know by the end of this visit. Sit tight, Dr. Sparks will be in shortly, okay?" Joslyn smiled, and I nodded to her before she left. I'm ten weeks pregnant, and I knew from sexual education class that it meant I was two and a half months along, two weeks shy of being three months. Gods, Hunter was going to freak out when I told him. And he was probably going to be pissed off when he found out I wasn't on birth control after telling him I was so that we could have sex last year in September. This was all my fault.
(Ten Minutes Later)
Dr. Sparks knocked and came in after I said she could, and she sat down at her desk by the small sink. "Hello, Audrey. It's been about a year since I've seen you when you came in for your annual exam," she began lightly.
"Hi, Dr. Sparks and I know," I replied to her.
"All right, I've had a look at your chart and seen the notes that were left by Joslyn. So you missed your October and November periods and then realized you could be pregnant which led to you taking a home test on Monday afternoon?" Dr. Sparks asked.
"Yeah. What happens now?" I asked. For the next twenty minutes, Dr. Sparks told me my options of being a pregnant teenager; adoption, abortion, and keeping the baby. Also, she mentioned that I would start my second trimester soon and the abortion option was only available until I was twenty weeks along. I was informed of what to expect in the coming weeks, the fact that have already started showing and that would only continue to happen. My doctor said that I wouldn't be able to hide it in about a month when I was almost four along. It was a lot to take in; I had some thinking to do and talk to Hunter.
At 4 pm, Dr. Sparks told me that I would need to schedule a sonogram appointment and set up the appointments for the remainder of my pregnancy if I was keeping the baby or going through with an adoption. I alerted her that it was all new to me and I needed a little time to settle with things and also speak to the baby's father. She urged me not to wait too long and also that I take prenatal vitamins for the time being so there wouldn't be a risk of anything happening. With the appointment over, I left the office and returned home; my parents were there yet thank the Gods. I plopped down on my bed hard and just sat there thinking about the last hour.
I was two weeks short of being three months pregnant with my boyfriend deployed in Iraq and having no idea I was carrying his child because he thought there was no need to worry since I told him I had birth control and lied to him. Now, I was pregnant due to a condom probably failing and wouldn't be able to hide it much longer. What the hell was I going to do? I needed to talk to Hunter. I sent him an e-mail, asking him if he could call because I home from the doctor's office. However, I never got a reply from him and the time ticked by until 6 pm when I knew he was on a mission since he was cleared for them again. I knew I wouldn't hear from him the rest of tonight, but I really hoped to get a call sometime soon.
(Three Weeks Later)
All this time, and not a word from Hunter. Maybe an e-mail or two saying he was busy and couldn't talk but would as soon as he could. The month was now December, and I was thirteen weeks along and officially one week away from entering my second trimester. I had seven weeks left to decide about going with abortion, but I only had about one to two weeks left before I couldn't hide my belly anymore. So far, I was using loose jeans and bigger sweaters. One of Hunter's sweaters because they hung on me like a mini skirt. I needed to talk to him, but I knew I couldn't send him an e-mail saying that he would panic and I didn't want him to worry about it if he was about to do a mission or guard shift. I would hate knowing that I had him distracted.
I didn't know what to do here. I felt like maybe I should tell my parents or Hunter's, that I should tell anyone who might be able to help me figure this out. I couldn't do that though; I couldn't tell everyone else I was pregnant with Hunter's child and not tell him. Hunter was going to be upset enough as it was when he found out and I only prayed he wouldn't hate me. The worse thing about everything right now was that I'd been having awful nightmares since learning I was pregnant. Horrible dreams about Hunter leaving me when he found out I was pregnant, or him not wanting the baby. I've also seen him...dying on tour before he comes home. As it stands, I'm due for some time in June 2017; Hunter is supposed to be home towards the end of May so he would be here for the birth.
In the same sense, having all this time to think about things and I wasn't sure I wanted to have a baby at this point in my life. I was going to be a senior come September 2017, how would I pull that off with a baby and Hunter working twelve-hour days? I'm not saying I didn't want a baby, just not right now. I wanted to be married and settled with a career first then have a family. That's how Hunter and I had planned things so even me being pregnant now would throw all that off and there is no way he would be happy to have a baby, and if Hunter found out I lied about having birth control...I didn't even want to envision how upset he would be with me. However, there was one other thing I could do to avoid him finding out I lied or that we were having a baby.
Get an abortion.
I dreaded the idea of terminating the pregnancy; I knew the baby within me wasn't just a little ball of cells with a heartbeat. No, this child growing inside my womb was a baby. Body, head, arms, and legs; I had seen it on the sonogram that Dr. Sparks insisted I get just to make sure everything was okay since I was three months along and had no prenatal care thus far. That was last week, and I still had that picture, I was looking at it now while trying to decide what to do. There were only three things I could do; One, tell Hunter I was pregnant and we keep the baby. Two, tell Hunter and we give the baby up for adoption. And three, I don't tell Hunter I'm pregnant and get an abortion.
I know how wrong it sounded to do, but I feared Hunter learning that I wasn't on birth control and continued to not bother with it after the first time we had sex. I could have gone to the doctors at any time to get the shot, the pills, the patch, or one of the IUD's. It would have only taken thirty minutes at best, but I never went. Then Hunter got deployed for ten months and returned without warning for his three-week leave, another chance I had to get birth control and didn't because I knew he was mourning and didn't anticipate us having sex during all that and it happened after Treyden snapped Hunter out of his self-blame.
Besides all that, there were other things I wanted to do in my life before having a baby. I wanted to graduate high school, go to college to become a psychologist, get settled in my career, get married, get an apartment or a house, then have a baby. Not now, I didn't want to be a teenage mother. The idea to have an abortion started becoming more like the best option after last week at the sonogram appointment while I was waiting to be seen. There was one person who knew I was pregnant but swore she would keep quiet as I was for her too. This girl was in the senior class of our school, and as I've come to find out, she too is pregnant and seven weeks along.
/Flashback; Last Week/
At the insisted urgency of my doctor, I decided at twelve weeks pregnant to get the sonogram to make sure things were going well. After all, if Hunter and I were going to keep the baby, he would want to know that everything was going smoothly in my pregnancy. So, here I was sitting in the waiting room for my appointment. It was supposed to be at 3:30 pm, but there was some scheduling error with two other people getting put in the same slot as me, and unfortunately, they arrived before me too so I had to wait my turn. While riding out the time, I heard the office door open and in walked someone I recognized from school. An eighteen-year-old girl with strawberry blond hair and blue/gray eyes, she was a senior too. I was sure her name was Peyton Beck.
We locked on one another instantly, then away realizing that we knew who the other person was. Peyton made her way to the check-in window, then came to sit down in the chair a few away from mine. "We...go to school together, don't we? You're dating Hunter Haddock, we saw him that day last September when he showed up in uniform," Peyton said, and I nodded to her.
"Yeah, I'm...Audrey Hofferson. Junior class," I replied.
"Peyton Beck, senior," Peyton offered a small smile as we shook hands. "I guess it's a little comforting to know I'm not the only girl in school who is pregnant," I tensed a little. Was it that obvious? "It's okay; you don't have to be nervous. I won't tell anyone. How far along are you?" she asked.
"Three months. You?" I asked.
"Seven weeks. Have you told Hunter he's going to be a father?" Peyton inquired, and I shook my head.
"It's tough to get ahold of him while he's over there. I haven't heard from him in two weeks," I admitted. "Is your boyfriend excited?"
"He doesn't want the baby, and we ended things last week after the doctor's appointment," Peyton sighed some.
"I'm sorry. What do you plan to do, if I can ask?" I questioned.
"Honestly, and I hope you don't judge me for it, but I plan to terminate the pregnancy. I know I can't raise a baby alone and I still have so many things I want to do before I settle down. It was a drunken night, and we didn't use protection. No one knows except him and me, well, you now. My parents would kick me out, and so much more could happen so I would rather just take care of it and no one ever has to know I was pregnant, then I can continue living my life and wait to have a baby until I'm ready," Peyton informed. "What's your plan?"
"I'm...not sure yet since I haven't talked to Hunter. No one knows but you that I'm pregnant, though, it's not going to be easy to hide soon," I said. The door to the office opened, and my name was called, so I stood up, "I guess I'll see you later then and I won't tell anyone about your situation either," I added as she nodded and I entered the office for my sonogram.
/End Flashback/
Peyton didn't have a bad idea. She recognized that she couldn't do it alone and how much she risked by keeping the baby when her ex-boyfriend didn't want it. Peyton still wanted to live her life and wait to have a baby until she was ready so she was going to have an abortion and no one would suspect a thing. I had a lot of reasons to worry about being pregnant. For starters, Hunter is deployed to Iraq, and I haven't been able to contact him in three weeks. There was also the fact to consider that Hunter might not want a baby since he was active duty and knew he wouldn't be around to help. More situations could arise if he learned I like about my birth control and I wasn't ready to have a baby right now.
Also, I had terrible fears of Hunter being killed overseas, and then I'd have to raise the child alone. The more I thought about it, the easier my choice became of what to do. I was thirteen weeks pregnant now, and if I had the abortion, then no one would know I was pregnant, and I wouldn't have to worry about any of the other things either. I could just continue living my life and wait until the time was right to have a family, a planned one with Hunter like we talked about. Yes. This was my decision; I was going to terminate the pregnancy and put it behind me. I would get on birth control before Hunter came home and everything would be okay. This was my only choice.
