The drive from the lab to Doctor Cooper's office was silent; save for the soft music coming from the radio. Eric was driving, Natalia not trusting herself in her current emotional state to control a County Vehicle. Every fiber of her being was telling her that, if she was in fact pregnant, it would not be a good idea to keep the baby. However, Eric was having the opposite thought. Neither himself or his family believed in abortion, and he would be doing everything in his power to support Natalia throughout everything; even if that meant giving her the gift, he had planned on giving her on her birthday just a little sooner. Turning into the parking lot of the Doctor's, he cut the ignition and looked over to Natalia. Her eyes seemed distant, her chin resting on her hand as she stared at something in front of her. A hand on her thigh made her jump, Eric cursing to himself as he realized just how jumpy he was.
"Sorry," Natalia sighed, gathering her bag. Eric put a hand on top of hers, causing her to look at him. It was then that he saw it; the fear in her eyes.
"Hey…" He gave her hand a squeeze and a soft smile, with her returning the same smile with watery eyes. "Whatever happens in here, you know you will have my support, right?" He reminded, reaching for her other hand without breaking the look. Natalia sighed heavily and looked away, ashamed at the tears gathering in her eyes. There was nothing she wanted in the world more than to be able to start a family, but she was terrified of the whole idea. What if she and Eric broke up? What if Eric turned out to be like Nick down the track? What if, she was indeed pregnant, something went wrong with either herself or the baby?
"There's just a lot going on in my head right now, Eric…" She whispered, not trusting herself to talk any louder from fear of his reaction. "A lot of what ifs, y'know?" She suddenly felt glad at realizing that she did not have to return to the lab after this. That was another thing… What would Monica say when she found out? She had a nice habit of finding everything out.
"Whatever happens," Eric gave her hand another squeeze and kissed her knuckles. "I will be there to help you in any way I can." He got out of the car, crossing to the other side to open Natalia's door. He smiled at her, taking her hand as she got out of the car. Locking the doors and pocketing the keys, he kept his hand on Natalia's lower back as they crossed the pedestrian crossing and entered the rather posh looking Doctor's Office. Eric had to chomp on his tongue to suppress a whistle at the interior. The waiting room was white with dark blue arm chairs placed around it, various art pieces hanging up on the walls. To him, it seemed more like a Lawyer's office as opposed to a Doctor's Office. The young woman behind the counter, that Eric guessed could be no older than 25 with long blonde hair, greeted them with a smile as she pressed a button on the side of her headset.
"Hi, do you have an appointment?" Her greeting was warm, the same as her smile. Natalia cleared her throat, Eric taking her hand behind the counter.
"Yes, I'm Natalia Boa Vista I have an appointment with Doctor Cooper this afternoon at 3pm?" She explained, spying a look at her watch. It was already 2.50, and she was hoping that Ashlee was running on time. She wanted this appointment over and done with, but something was telling her that the two of them would be here for a while.
The receptionist, whose nametag read Kirby, handed Natalia a clipboard with papers and a pen attached. "Since you are a new patient, we will need you to fill these out." She smiled again, gesturing to the extremely comfortable looking chairs. "When you're done just bring them back up here." She nodded with a smile, turning her attention to the couple behind Eric and Natalia as the two took a seat just under the large TV screen. With a sigh, Natalia lifted her left leg so she had something to lean on. She filled out the necessary documentation, stopping momentarily as she reached the Emergency Contact section. Tapping the pen against the clipboard, she started to debate who to actually put as the emergency contact. Typically, she would put Christine or Anya, but she figured with something like this, that would have to change. With a small smile, she wrote Eric's name and details on the page, signing the bottom before placing the clipboard back on the desk. Kirby reached for it and nodded, smiling and mouthing 'thankyou' as she typed something on the computer. Sitting back in the chair with a sigh, Natalia clasped her hands together in her lap and looked around the room. Doctor Cooper had come highly recommended from Anya, saying that she was the best in the area. And since she had been seeing her since her first major Hospital admittance from Nick, she had to agree with her on that statement. From an exam room, a young woman emerged carrying a capsule with a tiny baby inside. She struggled with shrugging her bag over her shoulder as she tried to calm the crying infant inside. Sensing her struggle, Natalia was quick to be on her feet.
"Here," She held her hand out to take the capsule to allow the young woman to fix her bag. As she waited, she spied a look at the tiny baby inside the capsule. He was maybe a month old, Natalia guessed, and she swore she could see jet black hair sticking out from under the small hat on his head.
"Thank you," The young woman took the capsule again, flashing a tired smile to Natalia. "Someone wasn't too happy with his shots."
Natalia smiled a little. "No, I can't say I blame him… He is beautiful." She confessed, looking into the capsule again. The mother smiled, swaying the capsule side to side softly to calm the baby's cries.
"Thank you, he certainly is the love of my life," She offered her hand to Natalia. "I'm Jasmine." Natalia accepted the handshake, noticing the small bruises on the young woman's arms.
"Natalia," She fished in her pocket and retrieved one of her cards. "I know this sounds weird but I would love to meet up with you for a coffee. Give me a call?" She asked, almost pressing the card into Jasmine's hand. She knew the shape of those bruises; because she remembered having them herself on her arms from Nick's hands.
"Uh, yeah…." Jasmine's smile faltered as the baby's cries increased. "I need to get him home," She began to walk away. "It was nice to meet you!" As the doors to the clinic closed, Natalia found her head spinning once again. As she sat down, Eric looked over at her.
"Everything ok?" He asked. He knew the look in Natalia's eyes; she had seen something that was dangerously close to triggering a flashback. He took her hand, squeezing it and looking at her. "Natalia," Her eyes began to refocus. "What is it?"
"That girl…" Her eyes were starting to water. "Her arms looked just like mine… she's being beaten." A voice from an opened door caught her attention.
"Natalia Boa Vista?" It was Ashlee; just what she needed. Gathering their things, both she and Eric stood, Eric taking her hand.
"What can we do?" He asked as they entered the office. He held the door open for Natalia, closing it behind him as he walked in and Natalia took a seat next to the doctor's desk.
"Nothing, for now. Later." She turned her attention to the monitor next to the small bed in the room. From what she could tell, it was an ultrasound machine. Ashlee sat behind her desk, turning her chair towards the couple.
"Ok." She clicked something on her computer and then turned the screen to face both Eric and Natalia. "You know how to read blood tests results, yeah?" She asked, grabbing a pen and gesturing towards a specific line. "Your HCG levels are at 42,500. Which, according to us, tells me that you are indeed, six weeks and two days pregnant." She announced with a smile. "Congratulations to you both."
Natalia sat back in her chair, a hand running through her hair as she processed the news. She looked to Eric, surprised to see a smile forming on his face. "Are you ok?" She asked, reaching for his hand. Eric grabbed it, giving it a squeeze before leaning over and taking her in his arms, holding her close to him and kissing her softly. She returned the kiss, more than shocked to taste tears on her lips.
"I've never been happier." He admitted, kissing her again and leaning back, wiping his eyes. "What do we do from here?" He turned to Ashlee, a watery smile on his face.
Ashlee handed him a tissue. "Now, we do a quick ultrasound to make sure mom and baby are doing ok and then we go from there." She stood, clapping her hands together. "Ok," She turned to Natalia. "I will need you to lay up here on the bed and lift your shirt up just a bit, stopping at the underwire of your bra." While she had her back turned, Natalia did what she needed to. As she got settled on the bed, she found herself unable to believe what she had been told. She, Natalia Boa Vista, was going to be a mom. She was going to have a baby that was going to be half her, and half Eric. "This will most likely be a bit cold." Ashlee warned, applying a blob of Ultrasound Gel on Natalia's belly and placing an ultrasound wand atop it. The cool sensation caused her to jump, reaching for Eric's hand. She had found herself, more often than not lately, reaching for Eric as her safety net. It was something that he certainly did not mind; he in fact loved that she was going to him. He took her hand in his and squeezed it, his eyes trained on the small screen to the right of him. His other hand rested atop Natalia's head, his fingers finding the ends of her hair and tangling themselves up in them. Ashlee moved the wand a little, stopping and smiling. There, in front of them, was a small white blob on the screen that, to Eric, reminded him of ET.
"There most certainly is a baby in there," Ashlee clicked on something on the screen, highlighting the blob. "The size of the fetus looks good, and now…" She grabbed a doppler, resting the device on Natalia's belly. There were a few seconds of silence before the steady woom woom woom woom woom woom woom woom woom woom woom filled the small room. Natalia turned to Eric, a watery smile on her face. "That's a good, strong sounding heartbeat." She removed the doppler but kept the wand. "Ok," She clicked a few more things. "I've got the pictures I need," She removed the wand, handing Natalia a cloth. "I just need to get the printouts of these and get something for you and then we are done." Ashlee stood, taking off her gloves. "I'll be right back." She left the room, leaving Eric and Natalia both staring at the image still on the monitor.
"Holy shit…" Eric looked at Natalia with a smile, kissing her softly. "Imagine what mami will say." He winked. Natalia returned the smile, but the reality of the situation suddenly hit her like a tonne of bricks. She had no idea about pregnancy, birth or raising children!
"Eric…" She sighed, looking away suddenly. "I'm terrified." She confessed, biting her lip as she felt her tears threaten to escape again. Wordlessly, Eric was behind her and holding her close to him, his hands clasping together on her abdomen. There was a miracle happening inside of his girlfriend, one that he was more than happy to take credit for helping create. He understood Natalia's fears, hell, he had the same ones. But that meant that the two of them would be able to conquer them together.
CSIMIAMICSIMIAMICSIMIAMI
Driving back towards Natalia's, Eric couldn't help but keep looking at her. She held a copy of the ultrasound photo in her hand, her purple pregnancy healthbook resting on the centre console. On the backseat sat a copy of 'What to expect when you're expecting' which he knew the two of them would be using as their bible for the next seven and a half months. Counting back in his head, he grinned to himself as he realized when the baby must have been conceived; the night of their close call in the parking lot.
"Can we make a pitstop?" Natalia asked suddenly, looking up from the photo and to Eric with a smile on her face. "I kind of feel like a big packet of popcorn with butter. And maybe a bit of icing sugar?" She asked, flashing Eric a million-watt-smile. A lot of the fear had almost disappeared and she figured, after her popcorn fix, she would feel a little bit calmer. Pulling up to a bodega, Eric smile and nodded.
"Do you want me to get it?" He asked with a smile. Natalia grinned and shook her head, already opening the car door.
"I got it, you just wait here baby daddy." She said with a wink, closing her door and crossing the road quickly. Opening the door, she smiled to the attendant and quickly found what she was looking for. Reaching for the bag and turning towards the counter, she felt her heart rise in her throat. Standing just outside the store, staring at her, was Nick. She was certain of it. Forgoing the icing sugar, she paid for her purchase and walked out, trying her best to ignore the burning stare she could feel on her back. Turning her head, she was more than shocked to see the Nick figure gone. Was it really him? She did not want to stick around where she was vulnerable any longer. Running as fast as her legs could carry her, she ripped the passenger door open and almost slammed it behind her, feeling marginally better as she looked at Eric.
"Are you OK?" He asked, genuinely concerned for her wellbeing. Her eyes were glassy and unfocused and the tip of her nose was red; something in that store had scared her. And had done so badly. But Natalia shook her head. This was the last thing that Eric needed to be worrying about. Especially now that she had someone else to worry about.
"Yeah," She reassured almost too quickly. She looked at Eric and cleared her throat. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just… thought I saw something." She reassured, buckling her seatbelt. "Let's go." With a shrug, Eric flicked the indicator on and turned back into his lane, his eyes staying on the road but his mind stuck on Natalia.