AN: Does anyone reading this like One Tree Hill? I just start watching and am deep into it even though I'm only in early season two. Also guess who bought the season ten dvds for Criminal Minds? This girl! Lol Anyways enjoy xx Mariah
"Katie," Jim says, shutting the door behind him. He'd moved her to a more comfortable room since she is waiting on an ultrasound. "You ready?"
"As ready as I'll ever be," she sighs, giving him a small smile for his comfort more than her own.
He wheels in a large machine then. She sucks in her breath when he turns it on and readies the wand, the gel had been just as cold as she remembered from the last time she'd gotten an ultrasound. That had been just as nerve wracking too, just that she'd had her appendix burst instead.
She's not even aware that she's closed my eyes until she hears a double rhythmic pulse from the machine.
"We have a steady double heartbeat, just like your mom had with you." He tells her before she has a chance a look at the monitor. Ned is beside her, holding her hand, practically beaming at the sigh of their baby on screen. "So far, everything looks good. I would put you at about eight weeks, so your approximate due date would be February twenty first."
"Mom's birthday," she laughs, thinking of how ecstatic her mother would be to hear that her first grandchild might share a birthday with her. "Of course." It was a blur of movements as she looks over at the machine, tears falling from her eyes as she watches the black and white image on the monitor, turning and changing before her eyes. She looks over at Ned and laughs as he kisses her hand. "This definitely is not apart of our timeline Ned."
It's all beginning to feel so real and so incredibly unimaginable.
"Yeah," he sits beside her, cupping her cheek. "Definitely not something I saw coming."
She nods and looks back over at her dad as he prints off two pictures and places them on the tray in front of her.
"I'll give you both some time," Jim smiles at her. "Just know that you have your mom and I here. We'll be there every step of the way."
"Thanks dad," she sighs and feels his lips press to her forehead. "Could you promise me something?"
"Sure thing bug," he takes a glance at the picture, smiling at the small embryo. It is his grandchild after all. His first.
"Please keep this from mom," she says. "I know that's a lot to ask, but I want to be the one to tell her and I'm not ready to have the conversation with her yet."
He nods, and turns to leave. This is a different circumstance. It isn't something he has a choice in. This is Katie's news and if Melinda is to find out about it, it has to come from her.
He left shortly after and she looks back to the black and white picture.
"So," Ned sits on the edge of the bed. "A baby."
"Funny how I was talking about babies earlier, right?" She laughs, looking up at him. "I didn't even know."
"Eight weeks…" He smiles. That means it happened before the wedding even. "That put that at…"
"The memorial weekend trip," she says. "We were drinking and having fun at the cabin. Who knew you'd knock me up!"
He laughs then, the serious of the situation long gone.
"Are we ready for this?" She asks, a bit creeping back in. "For midnight feedings and seven more months of cravings and gaining weight."
"We don't really have a choice Katie," he says, squeezing her hand. "As much as I'd like to say we do, we really don't."
She nods, sitting back in the bed. "I could never end this pregnancy Ned if that's what you're saying."
"No," he scoots closer, kissing her then. "I wasn't saying that. I'd never say that." His hands met at the curve of her stomach, which is still flat and he smiles. She'd look so beautiful pregnant. He just knows it. "This is our kid and I love you, even if we aren't ready I'm ready to get ready with you."
"You are?" She asks, silently staring into her favorite eyes.
"I am," his lips curl up into a tiny smile, as his hand slowly traces along her stomach.
She moves her hand to place it on top of his before capturing his lips into a kiss that feels just right.
That night somehow ends well, with Katie and Ned arriving home to her finished soup and Katie even had the appetite for a bowl of it. They'd moved to their room and watched a movie, trying to distract themselves of the obvious topic.
Katie didn't want to talk about it. Not yet.
She agreed on talking the next day after Ned got home from work. He works a third shift, from three in the morning until nine and would be home by the time she woke up. They'd lounged in bed and giggled about the future all that next day. They agreed to be positive about this. This baby was going to be loved, even if they hadn't planned on him or her.
All of the topics came out.
Baby names. Birthdays. Holidays. Would they baptize their children?
Yes. Ned had agreed that for her sake and for her connection with God that they would baptize their children just as she had been.
Then the ultimate question came up. Would it be a boy or a girl?
Katie said boy and Ned shrugged, saying he didn't know.
That night she dreams of a baby boy, one with her dark hair and Ned's bright eyes. She held him in her arms in the hospital, pressing a kiss to his forehead. They hadn't picked out a name, she was laughing with Ned over two options that she couldn't quite make out.
The dream didn't make much sense.
It had since moved to another picture, where Ned is building a snowman with a little blonde boy and little brunette girl, her stomach swollen with another child. They sure did have a bigger family like they always talked about.
"Mommy!" The little girl runs toward her, her cheeks bright red from the cold. She has two long braids over her shoulders and bright blue eyes that remind her of her father's. "Wanna build a snowman mommy?" The girl takes her hand and they walk to the boys, who are eagerly rolling the head of the snowman ahead of the game. "Daddy and Asher are making the head."
She looks around for the other little boy, but doesn't see him. Where is he? She wakes before she can find out, Ned's lips pressing to her most sensitive spot as she raises her head from the pillow.
This is definitely a better wake up than the past two days. He truly did want to be happy about this. To move on as if nothing changed, which nothing had, yet.
"Ned?" She swivels her hips and keens against him as she feels his tongue wrap around her nipple, pushing the blanket back to reveal Ned dressed in uniform, eagerly tasting her breast. "Oh Ned..."
"Katie," he breathes, moving up her neck to her lips. "You're up."
"You woke me up," she giggles, almost forgetting that she was pregnant until she pushes him off, bolting to the bathroom.
Her bile hit the toilet immediately as Ned rubs her back and holds her hair back. This goes on for another minute or so before her stomach lets up and she can lean back into Ned.
He's gone into full husband mode, filling her a glass of water and dampening a rag to wipe the corners of her mouth.
"I'm sorry," she says as he holds the cup to her lips. "I really wanted to just relax with you."
"It's okay," he smiles. "Nothing you can do about it now. If anything I did this to you."
She shrugs, he is right. He did get her pregnant. "It wasn't just you," she grins at him. "I definitely played a part in the baby making."
"You did," he smiles at her. "We should talk about this Katie. We're only stalling the inevitable."
She nods and takes another drink of water. "Let's go eat something," she says. "I need to eat something. It's not just about me anymore."
He helps her up a second later and they make their way to the kitchen. Ned set about to make her breakfast and she is able to get a pancake and an egg in her stomach, even a glass of orange juice too.
"I think we should just get back into routine," she says to him. "I'm supposed to be at the store with my mom in a half and hour."
"We should talk," Ned took a bite of his third pancake, which Katie hadn't had the stomach for.
"I know," she sighs. "I just... I don't know what to say. I'm pregnant Ned. There's nothing else to really talk about." She stands up from the chair of the dining room table and goes toward the hallway that leads to the office and their bedroom. "I'm not ready for a baby. I didn't want this right now. I wanted this in like three years when I finished college and had at least a year under my belt at a school."
"I thought you were happy," he says, setting his fork down as he chews, no longer really wanting to eat. "I thought we were going to be positive about this."
"I am," she says, looking back at him. "But that doesn't mean this isn't unplanned and that I'm ready because I'm not." She turns then, going down the hallway. "I'm done talk about this for now Ned. We'll talk when I come home."
It's a mad rush to make it to the store twenty minutes late. It's nearly twenty minutes after she was supposed to be there when she walks through the door, her hair half dry and half wet. She'd given up on drying it and threw it in a top bun.
Melinda had already opened the store up and Delia is talking to a customer about a chest when she walks to the back room. She didn't even bat an eyelash when she strolls in and tosses her jacket into the wardrobe. She doesn't say anything as she moves to her consignment desk and begins to shuffle through the papers. Her mother had asked her to alphabetize them and she is almost to the F's when her mother finally speaks, rolling her chair all the way over.
"So you gonna tell me about your ER visit?" Melinda asks. "I can't believe I had to find out from your father two nights ago."
"I just cut my finger," she says, showing the bandage. "Dad stitched it up."
"What were you doing?" Melinda's sentence caught in a laugh and Katie turns slightly to look at her.
"I was chopping celery and like an armature, I cut my finger. I was making homemade soup." She curses under her breath and shoots Ned a quick text. "I forgot your container. I made it because I know how it soothes your stomach when you're pregnant."
"Oh that's sweet of you," Melinda smiles. "I've been getting by on canned for now, but homemade is just so much better."
"I know," she says. "It's even better because Hannah brought me fresh veggies over from her garden."
"Uh hell yes... garden veggies are the best!" Melinda hums, licking her lips. "That soup sounds so good right now."
"Ned's bringing it," she says, turning and going about to read through the consignment slips.
"No cheerful grin? Or blush on your cheeks at the mention of Ned?" Melinda gasps, rolling closer to her. "What happened? Did you guys fight over the bill from the hospital because I'll yell at your dad to find some money in the hospital finances to cover it. It's ridiculous how much stitches can cost you."
"No, it's not that." She says, pulling all of the G last names and placing them behind the F's. "Our insurance covered that. Ned's got good benefits at work."
"Then what?" Melinda prods, sensing her daughter is stressed. "You can you tell me anything."
"I know I can," she whispers. "And that's what makes this so hard. I'm so scared mom." She looks over at her and sighs. Maybe she should just tell her. "I don't know what to do."
"Well I can't help unless you tell me," Melinda presses a kiss to her daughter's cheek and then squeezes her hand.
She looks at her mom as the first tear rolls down her cheek. She reaches for her purse at her feet and pulls out the little picture, glancing at the small embryo before handing it to her mom.
"Oh!" Melinda gasps, looking at the ultrasound picture. "Is this?"
"Eight weeks," she says. "I want to be happy mom but I'm just so scared. I'm not out of school and we just got married. This happened before we even got married if we get technical." Her mom hasn't said anything yet, just continues looking at the picture. A smile is spread on her lips, so at least Katie knows she isn't angry. "And Ned... he's making it even more hard to be sad and mope because he's actually been really wonderful. I don't know what to do mom... I just want you to tell me what to do and how to make this better."
Melinda stands and pulls her into a tight hug. She buries her head in her mother's arms, inhaling the flowery scent of her hair.
"It's gonna be fine, you just need to take a few days and just let this set in." Melinda tells her. "An it's okay to be scared. I was scared out of my mind when I first held you but it comes with pregnancy. You're always scared you won't be good enough or you'll mess up and you will. Every mother mother does. You'll know what to do even when you think you don't. It's just an instinct. Just like it was an instinct for me to ask you what was wrong because I knew something wasn't right. It's all the little things that a mother sees that help her learn how to raise a family. And you'll learn baby... you'll learn."
She squeezes her tightly to show her gratitude. The two of them have always been able to communicate without words. It's a perfect moment, until she feels a pinch in her side and groans as she tries to massage it away.
"You okay?" Melinda asks.
"Yeah," she nods, rubbing her stomach. "Just cramps or least that's what dad said they were. Is that bad?"
"It's normal," Melinda replies, having a brain full of knowledge from four pregnancies before. "Just your body making room for the baby." That's when the name stuck out to her. Dad. "Your father knew first?"
"He did an ultrasound that night," she says, hoping she won't be too mad. She understood her sadness. She'd hoped her mother would've been the first one she'd called too when she'd gotten pregnant down the line. "I told him not to tell you. I wanted to be the one."
"Oh," Melinda breathes, her hand lingering above her belly. "Can I-"
"There's not much," she tells her, but raises her shirt anyway.
Ever since she found out the night before, she's noticed a minuscule swell at the base of her navel. It's probably just her imagination but she swears there's a hint of a belly growing and it only got bigger throughout the day, especially with her growing appetite. By the time she went to sleep last night, she could practically feel her stomach pushing against her shirt.
"Oh, you're showing. A little, not much, but there's a baby bump there." Melinda touches her warm skin, smiling at her. "I'm gonna be a grandma? Really?" Melinda sighs, looking at her with a furrowed brow. "We're pregnant together? Oh vey..."
"Yeah, I know." She laughs, sitting back down. "I wasn't planning this either." Her next question came out before she even had time to process it completely. "Should I be this big? Sorry, I just...I already feel like my clothes are too snug for just having found our two days ago."
"That's absolutely normal," Melinda assures her, "especially with your small frame. It's mostly bloating in the early stages but your uterus is expanding so you should feel like you're getting bigger every day. But all women are different, some begin showing sooner than others. I showed right away with you. Aaron took some time and so did Mack, but I showed right away with Lana. Not too sure about this one yet."
"Dad says I have to have a boy," she grins.
"To balance out the girls," Melinda rolls her eyes. "That's so your father."
"He feels bad," she sighs. "He knows you wish you had another boy."
"We don't know about this one yet," Melinda's fingers splayed over her stomach, which looked more like she'd eaten a big meal than that she is pregnant. "We could have a boy you know."
"I've given up on you having a boy," she says, thinking of how much she'd hoped Lana had been a boy. "Especially after Lana. That's three out of four."
"Yeah," Melinda says, looking down at her belly. "My pregnancy with Aaron was 300 times different than any of my other pregnancies. I carried low and I didn't have an energy until the last month. This one is a lot like the other girls, so I'm just trying to stay positive and hope for a boy." Melinda smiles. "But I'll take whatever I get. A healthy baby and a healthy mama is all that matters."