Jackie sat waiting for her doctor in a hospital gown; she crossed her arms and played a thumb war with herself as she waited.
She had been dreading this visit ever since she had scheduled it, but she knew it was inevitable, either way she knew deep down inside of herself that she would truly take Alfred's advice and keep the baby.
Jackie sighed as she thought the process through, only to be interrupted by a knock on the door before it opened.
"Mrs. Crane, long time, no see!" the doctor said with a smile on her face as she closed the door.
Jackie smiled "How are you doc?" she asked.
The doctor nodded "Nothing to complain about. I'm sorry to hear about Jonathan." She said softly.
Jackie held her smile, softly glaring at her gynecologist as an awkward silence filled the room.
The gyno shook her head "But, anyway, what's up?" she asked.
"I think I might be pregnant." Jackie said.
The doctor nodded "Okay, well lets have a looks see." She responded, guiding Jackie to lay on the bed and lift the gown up as the doctor put jelly on her stomach.
"Sorry, it's a bit cold." The doctor responded as she placed the ultrasound wand against her stomach.
Jackie looked up at the screen as she awaited the news on if she truly was pregnant or not.
The doctor smiled as she stopped the wand in a mid stroke, catching a small bean-size item in Jackie's lower abdomen.
"You're definitely pregnant; looks about 9-weeks." She said, turning to her patient.
Jackie looked at the growing fetus when she began to tear up and then inevitably sob before she covered her face from her doctor.
Her doctor handed her a tissue as she patiently waited for Jackie to calm down, and when she did she took a deep breathe and thought for a moment "How am I going to tell my boys?" she asked.
The doctor smiled "You just tell them." She said, turning back to the ultrasound to snap a picture for Jackie.
Jackie sat up as she contemplated for a moment "Doc, I'm about to perform in a ballet, is it safe for that?" she asked.
The doctor turned "Well, when is the ballet?" she asked.
"In two months." Jackie said.
The doctor nodded "I don't see a problem with it, but if you start having problems you need to stop immediately, and come and see me." She said.
Jackie nodded "I'll be sure that I do." She said.
She spun a chaînés tourneover and over again as the ballet music played; the ignored the mirror in front of her as she remained focused on the task at hand.
"Alright, Jackie." Mrs. Lenore said, motioning Jackie to stop.
Jackie began to catch her breathe as Mrs. Lenore spoke with her counter parts before turning back to Jackie.
"Lets start over, from the beginning." She said sitting in her chair.
Jackie nodded as she started in second position, waiting for the music to start before she began to move across the studio in her Pointe shoes.
"Sharper on that turn, Jackie." She heard Mrs. Lenore say as she continued with her routine, but made a mental note of her correction.
Mrs. Lenore huffed "Stop!" she remarked.
Jackie landed on her position as she did, turning to Mrs. Lenore as she got up from her seat and circled Jackie like a hawk.
"Something's wrong." She said to herself, tapping her index finger against her lips.
Mrs. Lenore looked Jackie dead in the eye for a second "Go get a drink of water, I need to figure this out." She said, turning away from the dancer.
Jackie stood up from the water fountain, taking a deep breathe from inhaling all the water.
She saw a shadow in the corner of her eye when she turned to see a figure of a man down the hall in the dark.
"Hello?" Jackie asked, turning to face it.
There was no response.
Jackie began to walk towards it "Hello?" she asked annoyed.
There was no response, but the shadow began to move away; causing Jackie to attempt to run after it.
"HEY!" Jackie said, beginning to catch up with the shadow when she turned the corner only to find that the figure was entirely gone.
Jackie huffed as she looked down the hallway again, then realizing it was probably her Schizophrenia coming through; she thought about going to a new psychiatrist to get her dosages increased.
While in her thought she was interrupted by the studio door opened "Jackie?" she heard Mrs. Lenore call out.
Jackie walked back to the studio "Yes, Mrs. Lenore." She asked.
"I've figured it out, come back in!" she said before ducking back into the studio.
Jackie sighed, realizing that it was going to be a very long night for her.
Jackie gathered the family around the dinner table and placed the ultrasound picture in the middle of the four of them.
Alfred was not surprised; however Bruce was in shock as he looked up from the ultrasound to Jackie, who gently smiled.
"What is it Uncle Bruce?" Ben asked.
Bruce turned to Ben and smiled "You and Julian are going to be big brothers." He said, faking a smile.
"What?" Julian asked, turning to his mother.
Jackie picked at her nails, knowing that is anybody was going to react badly, it would be Julian.
"Yeah. I'm pregnant." She said.
Bruce nodded "How far along are you?" he asked.
"I'm 9-weeks, so roughly two months." Jackie said, shrugging her shoulders.
Ben only had a huge smile on his face as he looked up at his mother "Is it a boy?" he asked.
Jackie chuckles "Uh, no; we're not sure what it is yet." She said.
"When do we find out?" Ben asked.
Julian turned to his brother "Much later on." He said.
Ben nodded "Oh, I want a brother!" he said.
"I want a sister." Julian said, reaching for the picture from Bruce.
Bruce, who was still in shock, looked at Jackie with uncertainty in his eyes "It *is* Jon's, right?" he asked.
Alfred scuffed "Of course it's Jonathan's'! It's not like Jackie went out on a spree when he died!" he responded.
"Thank you, Alfred!" she said.
Alfred nodded "You're welcome! But don't be thinking that I'm going to help you raise this one, you're on your own!" he said.
Jackie nodded "Yep, I need to clean up the house and then the boys and I will move back in." she said.
Bruce and Alfred nodded in agreement before they both got up from the table "Boys go get the table ready." Bruce said, walking into the kitchen.
Alfred stroked Jackie's arm "It'll all be fine, love. I promise." Alfred said, following the family into the kitchen.
Meanwhile, Jackie stayed at the table and smiled to herself "Yeah, everything's going to be just fine." She told herself.
