Judging by some of the reviews and a few PM's that I've got, I don't think anyone has gotten why it was that Raven left Jump City. I thought that I left several obvious clues. Maybe they just seem obvious because I know they're there. In any case the clues are scattered about the first two chapters. I was just planning to take a weekend to relax before my new job starts next week and do some shopping with my mom and my aunt-but on the way home I was listening to the new Hanson single "Thinking Bout Somthin" on my MP3 player and that go me started thinking about this story. That song perfectly describes why Raven gave up on Robin and went to Red X. Why it was Red X she chose...that is coming-but maybe not in this chapter so please be patient with me. (I won't have as much time to work on my stories now that I have a job.) It was a long ride home on a rainy day (my favorite kind of a day) so my mind started to wander while I was listening to the song...so now that I'm home-here I am in front of the computer typing...and now its storming too. Hopefully the power doesn't go out-like it usually does until I'm finished with this chapter...stupid laptop battery that can't hold a charge for more than half an hour.
Raven's Nest-part 3
Raven looks up at the view of the mountains as the rainy weather lets up. After only one week she has come to love this place. She absently places her hand on her stomach as she thinks back to what brought her here. She hated leaving Red X like she did-but she is sure the wild passionate nights when she was in heat was all that he was interested in. Now that its over...she is sure he doesn't want any part in what's to come.
"Rachel?"
She turns around to look at her boss.
"Are you feeling okay?"
"Yeah. I was just thinking."
"Whoever he was...he must have meant a lot to you."
"How did you--?"
"--I've been there myself. That's how I found my way here too. Only I stayed to try and forget."
"But you didn't?"
"No...but life is easier here. There are very good people here who don't judge you like most other places I've lived. Maybe you will be luckier than me and find someone new."
"You will find someone."
"Mister right only comes along once."
"That's what I've been afraid of."
Seth looks up at Rachel as she finishes placing a sale poster in the window. "Have you been to the doctor yet?"
"I go after work today."
"You don't have long to wait now. Don't worry Doc Adams will take good care of you two. Just watch out for his wife."
"Why is that?"
"She will be trying to set you up with every eligible guy in town. Don't take it the wrong way-she means well. She just wants to see everyone live a long happy life like her and the Doc."
"Thanks for the warning."
Seth glances up at the clock. "Its only fifteen minutes until closing. Why don't you go on over to Doc's before it starts to rain again?"
"Are you sure?"
"You don't need to be out in the rain and end up sick. Go on...and if its raining when you're finished with your appointment give Old Harley a call to come pick you up."
Raven nods before she goes into the back and gets her jacket and umbrella.
Robin looks up as he parks his motorcycle in front of the diner. Of all the bus routes he has no idea why he picked this one out to start looking for Raven. He should have paid more attention to what was happening with Raven before she ran off with Red X. This whole situation could have been avoided. But he has to admit that the thief made a good point that night in warehouse. Robin's idea of helping her would have been trying to keep Raven in a safe place for everyone concerned until this heat thing as Beast Boy called it blew over. There isn't much he wouldn't do to help his friends-but being some play toy for a horny half demon is at the top of that list. He just doesn't have those kinds of feelings for Raven. Then why exactly has he been out riding around for over a week now searching every small town near the bus route for Raven? He sighs as he takes off his helmet and smooths out his dark hair. He feels naked in a way without his mask. He isn't used to being out in civilian clothes. Richard Grayson-sometimes known as Dick took a back seat when taking on the roll as leader to the Titans. Why is he out here he wonders again? Because he is the leader and he wants to bring back his wayward teammate before the thief can show up and corrupt her-but he is also here because Raven is his friend and he wants to make sure that she is okay. He climbs off the motorcycle and walks into the diner.
Doris has been watching the mystery guy ever since he drove up in front of the diner. She can't help but wonder if he is the one that Rachel left behind. No one ever just happens upon this place by accident. Doris pauses watching Rachel walk hurriedly down the sidewalk toward the Doc's place-before she turns to her attention to the mystery guy. "What can I get you?"
"Coffee."
"You know that stuff will stunt your growth."
"I've heard that on more than one occasion." Robin takes a seat on one of the stools at the counter while the waitress pours a cup of coffee.
"You beat the evening rush by a good hour." She lays a menu down as she sits down the cup of hot coffee. "Is there something I can get Pete to fix you?"
Robin looks down at the menu. One place he has never been is an old fashioned diner like this. "I'll just have a bacon burger with the works and home fries."
"I'll have Pete get started. Can I interest you in a chocolate shake to go with that?"
"Sure." Robin looks around as the waitress walks away. There is just some sort of air about this whole town. It just seems like the type of place that Raven would come to. He thinks about calling the waitress back and ask if anyone fitting Raven's description is here-but he decides against it. In a town this small he can easily look around for himself.
Raven knocks on the door of Doc's house-where he runs his practice. She hates to just barge in even though there is a sign that says to come in.
"Hello there...you must be Rachel."
She looks up as the door opens. "Yes."
"Come in. The doctor is finishing up with a patient. He will be with you shortly. I'm his wife, Martha."
"It's nice to meet you." Raven follows the doctor's wife into a small waiting area.
"Have a seat." She picks up a folder on desk as she sits down behind it. "Let me just make sure that everything is correct Sometimes Greg is so busy, I like to just double check he has the right files." She studies the folder a few moments. "Rachel Roth right?"
"Yes."
"It says here you're expecting...are you excited?"
"Nervous and scared is more like it."
"This is your first baby."
"You can tell huh?"
"There is nothing to worry to about. Do you have any idea if its a boy or girl?"
"No."
"I knew the moment I got pregnant with my Jake that he was going to be a boy." She points to a picture on the wall. "That's my Jake. He is off at school right now. He plans to take over his father's practice one day." She takes a green pencil and threaded needle from the desk drawer. "It will be just a few minutes why don't we try to figure out whether you're going to have a baby boy or girl?"
Raven watches as the doctor's wife sticks the needle into the pencil eraser before she gets up and comes over to her.
"This is what my granny used to do for all the young girls. It has never once been wrong. Now just sit still."
She looks up as a curtain is pulled back and the doctor walks an elderly woman that Raven recognizes from the apartments toward the front door.
"Rachel isn't it?"
"Yes." She looks up as the woman pauses near the doctor's wife.
"I said to myself the moment I saw you-that this girl is with child. You just have this glow about you." She looks up as a horn honks outside. "That must be my grandson. Young people these days are so impatient. "I live right across the hall from you dearie. You stop by and see me sometime."
"Sure."
She looks over at Martha. "What's the verdict Martha?"
"That's funny. It says boy and then it says girl."
"Martha, dear why don't you go help Helen out to her car? You can come on back Miss Roth."
Raven nods as the two women talk quietly about the confusing results from the pencil test. She gets up and follows the doctor behind the curtain.
"Please forgive my wife. She and her friends still believe in old mountain folk lore. Now then...this is your first child?"
"Yes."
"And do you know how far along you are?"
"Three months at most...no more than that."
"Have you had a check up anywhere before?"
"Just a clinic-where the pregnancy test was done last month."
The doctor lays out an exam gown. "Why don't you get changed then I'll give you a full exam to make sure everything is okay. It may take a few days to get back all the test results. "I have to send everything out to the hospital in Jump City."
"That's fine."
He points to a bathroom. You can change in there.
Raven nods before picking up the gown and going into the bathroom. As she closes the door and changes-for the first time she becomes more nervous than when she was waiting for the pregnancy test. She looks at the pronounced bump of her belly in the mirror as she changes out of her baggy clothes. She smiles slightly at the memories of all the wild passionate sex with the mysterious thief that created the life now growing inside her. A tear slips from her eye as she longs to run back to him and tell him everything about why she run and hope he can forgive her. He may be a thief but at least with him she would be happy. Now she is just alone and scared...but that's better she reasons than going back and risk having him reject her. Finally she goes back out to the exam room and sits up on the exam table.
When the doctor comes back in he pauses looking at Raven. "You said you were no more than three months along, right?"
"Right..." Raven places her hand on her stomach. "...why is something wrong?"
"Are you certain it can't be more than three months?"
"I was a virgin until three months ago."
"Please lay back."
Raven looks up at the doctor as she lays back on the table. She watches him feel the bump of her belly that clearly stands out with the exam gown draped around her.
"Do you have a history of multiples in your family?"
"Multiples? No why?"
"If you're only three months pregnant then you are having twins at least."
"Twins?!"
The doctor's wife peers inside the exam room. "So that's what the pencil meant. You're going to have a boy and a girl."
The pencil thing is something that my aunt did for my cousin's wife when ultra sounds couldn't determine the sex of their first child. That was one that I never heard of it before and I can't remember if it worked or not. Just a note on how some of the older people talk in this story. My granny was born and bred in a little town like this one in the story so the way they talk is patterned after the way my granny talks. She turns some of her words around-it may not always be grammatically correct but that is just the way people like her talk. I thought I would go ahead and end the suspense of why Raven left Red X. One thing that I'm struggling with in this fic is my all knowing-gets into everyone's head-type of narrator. The friendly folk of this little town off the beaten mountain path only know Raven as Rachel. So when the narrator is in one of the towns folk's heads-then Raven is referred to as Rachel. The same goes for Robin-who they will know as Richard-or maybe even Dick. Even in later chapters the same goes with Red X's alter ego when he shows up.
There is still time to vote in the poll in my profile for which sequel to the completed stories I have up that you want to see first. Be sure to vote for your favorite story's sequel.