Okay, here's the latest. Forgive the cutoff. I promise I'll explain myself soon! Thanks muchly though indigo, CSI Encyclopedia, lipamo, Bookworm, and EpicStelena for the kindhearted reviewage. Also a happy fourth of July to any Americans reading this! More to come soon.
"You ready?"
"I guess so, yeah.", Carrie shrugged as Maggie reached over from her chair, rubbed her shoulder reassuringly. "You know I can go into the hall and call Brody for you."
"Maggie, I told you.", Carrie sighed. "He doesn't want to know the sex. I scheduled the appointment for a time I knew he'd be in meetings so he wouldn't feel guilty not being here. I'll give him a progress report later."
"Well you can give him a good one.", Dr. Addison smiled. After hearing what Dr. Stevenson had been up to through Frances, Carrie had requested another doctor. Luckily her's had been on call.
"Everything's okay?"
"Everything is looking terrific with your little boy.", the doctor smiled as Maggie grinned, let out a squeal, while Carrie looked at the monitor, mystified.
"Carrie? Everything alright?"
"Fine. I...I'm fine.", she said after a beat as Maggie frowned, rubbed her shoulder again.
"Carrie..."
"I'll give you two a few minutes.", Dr. Addison said politely before stepping out.
"Sweetie, what's wrong?"
"Nothing. It's just...", Voice cracking, trailing off, Carrie shook her head.
"What?"
"It's just...real now. He's real now. It's...it's fucking scary."
"Yeah, I know.", Maggie said sympathetically. "You think seeing Ruby for the first time on that didn't scare the life out of me?", she asked, nodding to the monitor.
"If it did you did a really good job of hiding your fear.", Carrie snorted, rolling her eyes.
"Carrie, it's not as if you've had no practice around kids."
"Practice?", she scoffed. "She just said I'm having a boy! I've only had practice around Ruby, Josie and Farrah. They're pretty goddamn different!"
"But you're good with all of them. You'll be good with your son too.", Maggie insisted as Carrie sniffed, looked at her.
"You think so?"
"I do. And it's not as if you have to go it alone either. You know that if Brody was in here he'd be cheering, doing handstands."
"Yeah, you're right.", she smiled.
"And think of how Dad will react when you tell him. You know he's always wanted a grandson."
"Yeah. Remember when he went out and bought Ruby that boy's bike after he misunderstood you when you called? Thought that you said you'd be home from the hospital with Ruben?"
Laughing, Maggie nodded. "Of course. That bike is still in the garage. Maybe it'll be a present for my new handsome nephew."
"Handsome?", Carrie questioned. "How much can you tell from that fucking monitor?", she asked, squinting at it as Maggie gave her a look. "I'm serious! Even after our little tutorial I can't see that picture for shit."
"Carrie...", Maggie sighed. "C'mon. Your blue eyes, strawberry-blond hair? Your son's going to be gorgeous."
"Maybe. So long as he's not stuck with my nose anyway.", Carrie smirked, resting her hand on her belly before looking back at the monitor.
"Did you and Brody talk about names yet?"
"No. Not really."
"Well, how about this. Next week when I bring the girls for a visit, I'll have Ruby bring her iPad and we can pull up some of those baby-naming websites. See if anything jumps out at us."
"Okay. Sure. We can do that."
"And, now that I know, I can start stocking up on onesies and blankets and stuffed animals and-"
"Maggie!"
"Sorry. I'm just excited.", Maggie smiled shyly.
"Yeah. Me too.", Carrie said, managing a small smile that earned her another shoulder rub.
"Sweetie. I know it's overwhelming but I promise. Everything will be fine, I-"
Interrupted by a text, Maggie took her phone from her purse. Opening and reading the message she groaned, rolled her eyes.
"What's wrong?"
"Sheila wants me to swap shifts with her. Let me just call and tell her I can't, I-"
"No, Maggie. It's okay."
"It's fine, I can do it. On such short notice I'm not obligated to-"
"Maggie, go. I had the ultrasound. You found out what you came here to find out. All I have to do is talk some more with Dr. Addison and then I'm done. You can go. Take the earlier shift. You can go out and go blanket shopping afterwards."
"Are you sure?"
"Positive. Go. It's fine. I'm fine."
After repeating herself about four more times, Maggie finally gave in, hugged her, then stepped out. Leaving Carrie trying to compose herself before the doctor came back. Shutting her eyes she took a few deep breaths, attempting unsuccessfully to relax. Swearing, opening her eyes again she spotted a phone on the wall in the corner. Quickly climbing off the exam table she crossed the room, grabbed it, and dialed the first number she could think of, then 9 for an outside line.
"Hello?"
Hearing a woman's voice on the other end, surprising since she'd called Brody's cell, Carrie frowned.
"Hello? Who is this?", the woman asked.
"Is this Zahira?"
"Yes. Is this Carrie?"
"Yes. Hi. Is Brody there?"
"He is in a meeting but it should be finished by now. Ah, I see him. Nicholas?"
Biting her lip, glancing over her shoulder to make sure no one was walking by or in on her, when she finally heard his voice tears prickled in her eyes, the back of her throat. "Hey."
"Hey! How are you? How did the appointment go?"
"It...everything's good. The doctor told me everything looks good."
"Carrie, what's wrong?"
"Nothing. I'm...I'm fine."
"No, you're not. I can fucking hear it in your voice."
Rolling her eyes she sniffed, pulled the corded phone down with her as she sat on the floor. Leaning back against the wall as she wiped her eyes.
"C'mon, love. Just talk to me, okay?", Brody coaxed. Shutting the door the rest of the way he walked over, perched on the desk in Zahira's office.
"It just was a lot.", Carrie sighed, her free hand going to her hair. "Just...seeing it. Knowing that it's-"
"Careful.", Brody playfully warned, not wanting her to give it away.
"It just was overwhelming I guess.", she sniffed as he shut his eyes, shook his head. Wishing he'd just insisted on being in the room with her and ducked out of the room before they found out.
"Shhh. Hey. It's okay. It's an overwhelming thing to find out. For Christ's sake, I don't even want to tell you the mess I turned into when I found out Dana was going to be Dana."
"Wait, so you were willing to know with her but not-"
"Hey, I wasn't willing. The fucking doctor told us without thinking about it. I wasn't exactly pleased.", Brody sighed.
"But I should've been there with you."
"Brody, no. I fucking scheduled it at a time so you-"
"I should've been there with you, Carrie. Found a way out of the meeting."
"It's okay.", she said truthfully. "Really. Don't feel guilty because my emotions have gone fucking haywire. Besides, Maggie showed up and that helped."
"Even after the fight you told me you guys had?"
"She said she'd made me a promise and she was going to keep it. I give her credit, for hating Mom so much at least she refuses to act like her.", Carrie snorted.
"Let me guess though. After finding out Maggie's out running around buying pink or blue outfits as we speak."
"After her shift is through I'm betting that's the first thing she'll do.", she smiled.
"Look, as soon as I get out of here I'm coming by to see you, okay?"
"You mean you'll be seeing the both of us, right?"
"Right.", Brody laughed. "And hey just so you know, the imam and I were talking earlier. So you know, boy or girl, they are going to learn soccer and win the U.S a championship."
"As in the World Cup?"
"Sure. Why not."
"Brody, our kid could be David fucking Beckham and America still wouldn't win a soccer championship."
"Hey, never say never.", he chuckled before looking up. Seeing Zahira motioning to him out in the hallway, then seeing the wall clock he realized his next meeting was about to start.
"Carrie, look. I'm sorry but I have to-"
"It's okay. I'm feeling better now, really."
"Pink swear?"
"Yeah.", Carrie smiled softly, tearing up. "Hug her for me, okay?"
"I'll hug her twice. And tell her that Nemo or Boo is doing well."
"Who the fuck is Boo?"
"Monsters Inc was on the other night. So now if the baby's a girl..."
"Her name is Boo. I understand."
"Good, I'll let the brat know. Goodbye, love."
"Bye, Brody."
Standing, hanging up, Carrie got back on the exam table and perched on the end, swinging her legs back and forth over the side as she waited for Dr. Addison to come back.
Glancing over at the monitor, the image still frozen on it, resting her hand on her belly she rubbed small circles over it.
"So. Now that I know what you are, I figure you may as well get used to the sound of my voice. Get to know me. You heard your Aunt earlier. You'll be seeing a lot of her in a few months. I just talked to your dad on the phone. Apparently you're going to play soccer and win the fucking World Cup. But I don't...oh, shit. Look, I'm going to start trying to stop swearing around you. Of course I said I'd stop swearing around Farrah and how long did that fucking last, I...agh. Fuck! Great. That's probably gonna be your first word at this rate.", she groaned, right as Dr. Addison knocked, walked back in the room.
"I'm sorry. Didn't mean to interrupt.", she smiled as Carrie shrugged, bowed her head to see her still swinging legs.
"That's something that you're supposed to do though, right? They can hear you in there talking to..."
"It's not something we discourage. So, do you have any follow up questions for me? Any concerns?"
"You want the list?", she snorted as the doctor sat in the chair across the way from her.
"It's completely normal to feel overwhelmed or like your nerves are kicking in. I've had expectant women who can't stop crying after finding out the sex. Sometimes it's happiness, other times they're scared out of their minds. I know too that hormonal fluctuations don't help one bit."
"No, they don't. Lately I've felt like a fucking walking tear duct. Damn it!", she groaned again, doing a facepalm. "I really am trying."
"Look, there's a lot of behaviors that concern us more than cursing. From what it seems though you've been avoiding them. No alcohol, smoking."
"Well the psych ward doesn't exactly have an open bar.", Carrie snorted.
"What about stress? Your blood pressure wasn't as elevated as it was before your last ultrasound, which is good."
"Yeah, I've been trying to keep it under control. It's easier to here than at the other hospital where I was."
"I can tell.", Dr. Addison smiled. "Have you had any morning sickness still? Any nausea, excessive fatigue?"
"I've been getting lightheaded. Aside from that though nothing major."
"I'll make sure you're getting enough iron. Anemia could be the cause of that. And make sure you're eating properly. According to your weight check earlier you haven't put on very much."
"Is that bad?"
"Well you'll have an easier time getting back in shape for swimsuit season. But feel free to have a little extra in the cafeteria. Eat healthy, but make sure you're full."
"I'll try. It's not easy finding much though that's appetizing and edible.", Carrie grimaced.
"I understand. Half of my meals are from that cafeteria.", Dr. Addison sighed. "Anyway. Aside from that things look good. For you and your son. Have you scheduled your next appointment?"
"Abby told me she'd set it up."
"Okay then. I'll consult with her. Take care, Carrie."
"You too, Doctor.", Carrie smiled. After the older woman stepped out and she changed back into her sweats, Carrie exited the room only to hear shouting, then realize she was being shouted at by an orderly leaving the elevator.
"What the-"
"Sorry ma'am. We're gonna need you to step off to the side!", the orderly yelled, making sure the hall was clear before signaling to someone else in the elevator.
"Jesus." Doing as asked, her back against the wall she realized why when she saw a gurney being brought off the elevator and down the corridor, then rushed right past her. Fast, but not fast enough that she couldn't see who happened to be on it. At least...she thought she saw him.
"Shit. Holy...holy shit."