Thanks for the reviews :) ! But – I've got like 40 people who added this to their Story Alerts, but only 10 reviews :S …where are you guys?? Don't be shy, now! I'm trying to update this story every third day, so the next post should be up on Monday – hope you enjoy this chapter!
CHAPTER FOUR
Booth was mad at her, she knew. And despite the growing creature in her uterus, Temperance found that his anger at her was the only thing she could focus on. And a part of her was grateful for the distraction; with new trouble to think about her thoughts wouldn't turn to her current condition.
The zygote isn't even his, she thought angrily. Actually, it may be a fetus already…But still; I can do whatever I damn well want with it. It probably doesn't even have a brain. Or bones!
She leaned back in the chair and sighed. So tired…You know, if I put my head in my hands and stare down at some papers, it'll look like I'm thinking hard and no one will notice that I'm really asleep…
"Bren, you've got to stop this."
Brennan jerked her head up.
"What? I'm awake- fine! I mean fine!"
Angela stared at her friend for a moment, confused. "Were you sleeping?"
"No…"
The artist tilted her head and frowned. "Seriously, sweetie? Sleeping on the job? Is there something wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong, Ange," Brennan lied. "I'm just tired. What do I have to stop?"
"This...This, this Booth thing! He's always leaving your office, furious! What are you doing with him?!"
"I'm not doing anything! Why do you assume I'm the one to blame?"
"Bren," Angela said, rolling her eyes. "What did he do, then?" She continued skeptically.
"He's just…I don't want to talk about it. I have a lot of work to do."
"Oh yeah, you sure seemed busy when I walked in."
"If you know that, why are you still here?" Brennan asked, not looking up from the sheet of notepaper on her desk – the blank one she was just pretending to write in.
"Fine, Bren. Fine."
"Oh, Ange?"
"Yeah?" Angela turned at the door, a hopeful smile on her face.
"I won't be able to make dinner today," Brennan answered, still looking down at the table.
Her friend sighed. "Why, Brennan?" She asked patiently.
"I have an appointment."
"Yes, I pretty much guessed that. What kind of appointment?"
"A…" Temperance looked up at this. "A doctor's appointment."
"A doctor's appointment?" The brunette walked back in to stand next to the desk. "Are you sick?"
"No," She answered quickly. "It's just a standard check-up exam."
"Alright," Angela agreed, unconvinced. "Well, call me if anything's up, okay?"
"I will."
-----
There were two obviously pregnant women sitting in the waiting room with her and some other patients. One had a small bump, just large enough to notice that she was pregnant and not just chubby. The other had an enormous belly already, and had needed help from her husband when sitting down.
And Brennan couldn't help but stare at both of them over her magazine. Will I look like that?
Her feet tapped at the floor impatiently, waiting for one of the nurses behind the counter to call her name. After calling the clinic again to find out what exactly would be happening during her first prenatal exam, she was even more nervous than she had been this morning.
"Dr. Temperance Brennan?"
She stood up quickly and followed the grinning nurse into an empty exam room.
"Your first prenatal visit, then? You must be excited!"
"I wouldn't say that…" Brennan frowned.
The nurse smiled. "You shouldn't worry. Dr. Kaur should be in soon. Good luck!"
Brennan stood alone in the room for a few minutes before the doctor finally walked in.
"Dr. Brennan, good to see you," She smiled politely after shaking her hand, and gestured at the second chair as she sat down behind the desk. "I understand you're here for a prenatal exam?"
"That's right. I took a home pregnancy test."
"And it was positive?"
"Well, yes," Brennan smiled confusedly. "Or I wouldn't be here."
"Of course," Dr. Kaur chuckled. "Well, before we go any further I'll send you to have blood and urine samples collected so that we can have in confirmed once and for all, then if you're really pregnant you'll come back here to answer some questions for me and have the physical exam."
"I wanted to talk about abortion," She said quickly. "That would be my first choice."
"I see," The doctor sat back against her chair, keeping her face carefully neutral. "I cannot stress enough how many women regret their choice after having an abortion, Dr. Brennan. I believe we should first do the necessary exams and find out how far along you are, then we'll talk about termination options."
After being led to a small cubicle next to Dr. Kaur's office to have her blood taken, then waiting another hour at the reception, Brennan was finally called back into the room to meet with the doctor.
"Well, congratulations," The red-headed woman said, holding up a sheaf of papers and smiling slightly. "You're definitely pregnant."
Temperance kept her silence as she sat down again, and the doctor quickly continued, "Well, I'll need you to answer some questions about your medical history. You know, any medication you're taking, history of disease, etcetera."
Dr. Kaur spent another few minutes jotting down the answers, then stood up and took a white cloth patient gown from a shelf and handed it to Temperance. "I'll step out for a moment while you put this on; you won't need any underwear either."
"Right. Ah, how much longer will this take?"
"About forty minutes, I'd say," The doctor shrugged. "As long as everything is in order."
Brennan trembled as she stripped and put the gown on, the whole thing seeming even more real now that it was confirmed for good. A baby. A baby that she had made, a baby that could grow into a toddler and a teenager and an adult – right this second, growing inside of her as she changed her clothing. It was terrifying.
"Dr. Brennan?" There was a knock on the door.
"You can come in," She called back.
-----
It hadn't been as awful as she had expected. The doctor had used a probe of some sort to make sure of how far along she was, and while she couldn't yet see anything on the small monitor she could sometimes detect a very faint heartbeat. Her child's heartbeat.
After verifying that she was seven weeks pregnant, the doctor had calmly broached the topic of abortion. Apparently it could be performed only within the first trimester of pregnancy, so she only had a little less than two months to make her decision.
Brennan tried not to think about it as she drove home, stopping along the way to pick up some Chinese food and juice. No beer for me. She sang along to the radio as she drove, finding it not only soothing but also an effective method of keeping unwanted thoughts out of her head.
She had a nearly two months to think about it, after all.
There ya go. This chapter felt pretty long to me, even though it's pretty much the same size as the others. Maybe it's because I had to stop and research pregnancy stuff every other paragraph. Seriously, how can preggos keep all this stuff in their head?! I'm feeling sleepy and I've only known it all for a couple hours. I can't imagine nine months of all this clutter of info jumbling around in my head.
Anyway, please review! Reading what you guys have to say always makes my day better. :)