New York City, NY | 0800 Hours
Six Weeks Later
"Alba Herrera? Dr. Gerandy will see you now." The lone woman in the waiting room looked up from a stack of files and quickly scrambled to her feet, stuffing the client folders into her oversized purse. After being weighed and measured, she was led to one of the smaller consultation rooms and wasted no time jumping back to the client files. Alba had been forced to squeeze in a meeting with a client later in the day, which now meant that these files had to get analyzed before she even stepped into her office if she wanted to make her schedule.
She continued to peer down at the stack of papers on her lap and scribbled furiously, taking care to note how she was planning to approach this particular case and points to clarify with her client during their meeting tomorrow. The door opened and closed, but she didn't bother looking up at her doctor.
The woman who entered the room snorted. "Well, good morning to you too, bitch." Alba finally put her work down and grinned up at Lorrie, who was feeling the pockets of her white lab coat for her pen. Her friend finally took a seat in the doctor's stool and spun around to thumb through her file.
"So we're doing the yearly physical, right?"
"That's right, Doc." Lorrie got to her feet and pulled out her trusty stethoscope, going over the basic lung and heart examinations first. The whole thing went by quite fast, and by the end of the hour they were wrapping up the yearly checkup with the lifestyle questionnaire.
"Any problems sleeping?"
"Nope." Lorrie sat back in her stool and clicked her pen as she jotted down notes into her file.
"How would you describe your diet? What is your activity level?"
"I'm eating fine, I guess. I cut out all that takeout that I was having at least year's checkup, so fresher food. Light on the exercise, though." She snickered. Lorrie rolled her eyes but grinned anyway, putting on her 'doctor' face and trying to ask the questions as professionally as possible.
"When was your last period?" Alba paused. Usually she could remember very clearly when her last period was but now…the details were foggy. She quickly dug into her oversized purse and plucked out her yearly agenda, where she had made a habit of jotting down her monthly cycles after starting to try to have a baby.
She searched through her calendar carefully and found…nothing.
Had she forgotten to write it down? Immediately, her brain recoiled at the idea. She didn't forget these things, hadn't for years. Which only left one option:
She was late. Like a cannonball crashing into her, she was assaulted by the memories of the night she shared with Steve, and quite suddenly felt as if her stomach had bottomed out and she was going to throw up at the same time.
Lorrie made no mistake in interpreting her friend's panicked face and suddenly became very serious. "How late is your period?" Alba flipped through her little agenda again and took a deep breath.
"I'm two weeks late." Her friend took a grim sigh.
"When you slept with Steve, did you use protection?" Alba had to comb through the hazy memories of that evening, but the answer didn't fail her.
"Yes. We used condoms." Lorrie made a thoughtful face and began speaking slowly.
"Alba, you know that they're not 100% effective. Sometimes, on very rare occasions and under very special circumstances, pregnancies can still take place." Alba wanted to scream.
"Lor, I've been trying to get pregnant with my ex for two years. You're telling me one night with this guy and suddenly I'm knocked up?" She laughed disbelievingly. "That's impossible." Her friend wasn't paying much attention though, too busy searching the cupboards before her. She finally found what she was looking for, a plastic cup to pee in.
"Improbable? Yes. Impossible? Absolutely not. We need to run a pregnancy test before you leave. If you are pregnant, you should be far enough into the pregnancy to know right away." Alba crossed her arms in denial.
"I'm not taking it." Lorrie stared at her before sitting in her chair and wheeling up right in Alba's face.
"You can take this test and find out now, or you can let the question consume you for a whole other month, until you realize you're not only late, but you've missed two periods." Her tone softened. "You're going to drive yourself up the wall if you don't find out, you know that." Lorrie was right, of course. With a deep sigh, Alba inched off her seat and left the consultation room.
She marched down the hall like a prisoner headed to the galleys, all the while trying to convince herself that this wasn't actually happening.
It's probably just a nightmare, and I'll be waking up in a cold sweat in about two seconds. But when that moment never came, Alba had to take a deep look at herself in the mirror and force herself to calm down. She took a deep breath, and then another, and convinced herself that no matter what the results of the test were, everything was going to turn out fine.
After dropping off her things with a nurse, Alba went back into her room to play the waiting game. She thought of the files she had been working on all morning, but no matter how hard she concentrated, it wasn't going to happen.
After what felt like an eternity, Lorrie finally entered the room and sat across from her, holding a paper in her hand. When she didn't say anything, Alba looked up at her in frustration.
"Well?"
"You're pregnant." Alba's heartbeat thundered in her ears as she tried to keep it together. Pregnant. Pregnant. Pregnant. The word bounced around in her head stubbornly. Alba couldn't remember how many times she'd wanted to hear those words. But not like this. In her head it was so, so different. She and Marcus owned a little brownstone with plenty of room for a nursery, and they would snuggle on the couch and stare at her belly in amazement.
Now here she was, finally getting what she wanted…
Alone.
She knew the life of a single parent. She'd been raised by one since she was six.
"…Alba?" She looked up at Lorrie, who stared at her with an expectant face.
"What?"
Lorrie sighed. "I said, which OB/GYN would you like to visit? My recommendation is Dr. Gomez in Brooklyn. All of my patients have absolutely loved her. We can call her today and set up an appointment with her."
"Yeah, I guess." Lorrie jotted something down.
"Alright, you'll get a call once we set up an appointment. Based on what you're telling me, I'm estimating your pregnancy at about 8 to 9 weeks. Since you haven't been taking any prenatal vitamins, you have to get on them ASAP. Today if you can." Lorrie handed her a piece of paper. "These are the ones I recommend. The pharmacy two blocks from your apartment should carry at least one of these." Once Lorrie got all the doctor stuff out of the way, she stood next to Alba and gave her a hug.
"I know this is scary, but just think of how long you've been waiting for this moment. You're not alone, Alba." Bolstered by her words, Alba nodded wearily.
"I'll swing by your apartment tonight with a big bag of chocolate, since wine is out of the picture for the next eight months."
Alba stumbled through the rest of the day in a blurry haze, nearly botching two meetings before rescheduling the last one and heading home early. Too tired to put up with the subway, she took a taxi to the pharmacy near her apartment.
She moved sluggishly through the brightly lit aisles, finally finding the prenatal vitamins. After picking one from the list Lorrie provided her with, she took a long, hard look at the pregnancy tests on the other side of the aisle and decided to pick three…just in case.
An hour later, she was sitting in back in her apartment with three pregnancy tests before her. She had taken them as soon as she stepped through the door, but was too chicken to actually look at the results. Again. Not that it mattered though, because Alba had a pretty good feeling what the results were going to be. She glanced at the first test.
Positive.
Expelling a breath she hadn't realized she was holding in, she turned the second over over in her hand.
Positive.
Finally, the last test, which was said to be the most accurate.
Positive | 6-8 Weeks.
All three tests telling her something she already knew. There was no running from or denying it; she was going to be a mother.
Suddenly she began to wonder what that would look like.
Would she have a little girl or boy with her unruly black curls? She imagined a little boy with her dimples running at her happily, arms outstretched, and leaping into her embrace. Instead of feeling panicked or scared, she felt a warm, blooming feeling in her chest and a smile curving on her lips. She wanted this.
The shock of the news was starting to wear off, and she was finally left with the realization that this is what she had wanted for years. A baby. And although the circumstances were not ideal, she was finally getting what she wanted. She just prayed everything would work out this time.
She practically ran to her living room and cozied up on the couch with her laptop, making a mental list of all the things she'd have to do in the coming months. Her new apartment only had one bedroom, so she would have to move somewhere with enough room for the nursery. Of course, the baby probably wouldn't need it right away, but she couldn't imagine packing her whole entire house with an infant on her hip.
No. I'll be moving before the baby comes.
She needed to think about a crib and a rocking chair. A bouncer. Maybe classes? Alba remembered one of her associate's at work mentioning some childbirth class or something. What should she eat? She remembered reading somewhere that sushi was a no. Baby clothes?
After another thirty seconds of pondering, Alba became overwhelmed. It was too much, too soon. She needed organization. She needed a structured guide to tell her what to do and when to do it.
She needed books.
Alba was halfway through her massive order of pregnancy and childcare books when Lorrie knocked on the door with a bag or Reece's Peanut Butter Cups. Her favorite. She took a look at her friend's face and knew something had changed.
"You look happy." Lorrie noted. "I was half-expecting you to open the door in your ugly pajamas, sobbing. What changed?" Alba grinned and snuggled up in her white sectional again while her friend sat beside her.
"I pictured what it would be like. The future, being a mom, having a little person love you unconditionally. It just made me so happy. And then I remembered how long I'd been praying for this to happen. I mean, the situation is obviously not ideal. But I'm a smart, strong woman. I can look after my baby all by myself." Lorrie paused.
"I'm happy you've had a change of heart. But just remember, Al, you're not all by yourself. You have me and Rick."
Alba snorted. "I doubt your husband is going to want to chase after my kid."
"He will if it's your kid. You're like a sister to him, you know he's going to be thrilled. And if that weren't enough, your sister is going to be there for you, too. And your mom. Have you told them yet?" Alba's body tensed with anxiety.
"No I…I just don't want to break the news too soon. Just in case…you know." The statement remained unsaid but echoed loudly in the room. In case it didn't work out. Lorrie peered at Alba's Amazon cart on the computer, looking to change the suddenly somber conversation.
"Jesus, Alba, just how many books are you about to buy? There's no way you're gonna need so many."
"You don't know that! I just want to have all my bases covered."
"Trust me, you just need the basics." Together, they weeded the number of books from about fifteen to three: a pregnancy nutrition book, a baby care book, and an organizational book that was supposed to help Alba plan all the things she had to do before the baby came.
She pressed the 'Order' button with a gleeful expression on her face, counting down the days until she could hold something tangible in her hands. The two women ate chocolate in silence and watched MTV reruns. Alba ate three Reece's cups before Lorrie interrupted her.
"So…are you going to try to find him?"
"You mean Steve?" Alba sighed. "I don't know. I mean, he signed on for one night with me, not a lifelong commitment."
"He should still know."
"And what am I supposed to say? Hey Steve, nice to see you again. Remember me? We had great sex together, except it was so great you got me pregnant. So…congrats." Lorrie sputtered a laugh.
"You don't have to break it to him like that. Just think about it. It would suck if he found out twenty years down the road he had a kid he never even knew of."
She was right, of course. It occurred to Alba that she would not only be keeping Steve in the dark, but potentially denying her child of getting to know his or her dad.
She had to find Steve.
Alright folks, that's Chapter 2! I hope you guys are enjoying Alba as a character so far. She's very dedicated to her job, and that will definitely play a role in the upcoming chapters. Please leave me a review if you enjoyed it! Currently working on Chapter 3 (don't worry, Steve is in it =p)