Just a warning for people out there, this chapter has Heather seriously considering an abortion and while she doesn't go through with it, she thinks a lot about it. So possible triggers.
Heather sat in her car for a long time after the appointment.
Her hands grasped onto the pamphlets the doctor has handed her - pamphlets about what or what not to do or eat, guides for expectant mothers, complete with pictures of housewives, each with perfectly styled hair and a blinding white smile. The last pamphlet he had given her, he had hesitated at first before slipping the piece of paper into the already growing pile and saying, "Babies are - harder to raise for people like you."
The pamphlet had no smiling housewife. Instead, the front page was covered in big black letters that spelled out ADOPTION: IS IT RIGHT FOR ME?
Heather stared at that pamphlet as the nurses and doctors said goodbye and as she made her way to her car. At that moment, she couldn't even imagine the baby inside of her - let alone giving it up to some stranger. She knew that it would be a better option, the baby would have two lovely parents instead of just one, but - but what if the baby turned out to be a mutant? Considering both she and Erik were mutants, their baby could be one.
What if the people who adopted the baby abused it after finding out? Heather would never be able to forgive herself for that, letting another person go through what she had to as a child.
There was another option to all of this but - it was defiantly frowned upon. Her cousin, Annabelle, had one when Heather was quite young herself but she could still remember Auntie Adelaide screaming her head off at the teen, calling her a whore and a murder and telling her she wasn't part of their family anymore. Annabelle had died less than a month later from a deadly infection caused by the procedure.
But that - that had been 1944. Surely the back alley abortions were safer now. And if not, there was always the wire hangers.
Heather stopped her train of thoughts to wipe her watering eyes and try and calm her breathing. She had never wanted this - to have to sit outside of a doctor's office and decide whether or not to give her baby up or kill it. She didn't want to do either, in fact, she just wanted to go home and lay in bed and forget about this day - forget about the last 3 months.
Heather struck her hands against the steering wheels, finally letting herself sob in pain and anguish over everything that had happened. She was 25, single, and pregnant with a human hating man's child. And she had no idea what to even tell her friends, something that made her cry even harder.
It took her a while to calm down, but when she finally did, the sun was just beginning set and a few snow flurries were beginning to fall, a light dusting beginning to cover the already snow packed streets. Heather wrapped the scarf around her neck quickly before hurrying out of the car and into the mansion, closing the door behind her slowly, trying to make sure there was no noise.
Maybe she could just sneak into her room and pretend everything was -
"Heather."
But she had no luck. Heather winced, slowly turning to face Charles, who looked up at her in concern. "You were gone an awful long time. Are you alright, my dear?"
Don't cry, Heather told herself, you've cried enough today. She took a deep breath, clasping her shaking hands together, before deciding now or never. "Can we, uh," she mumbled, "Go somewhere private?" Charles looked even more concerned at that, but nodded in agreement before turning around, skillfully avoiding the potted fern, and wheeled himself to his office, with Heather following close behind.
Heather closed the door behind her and tried to think of where she should even start her story. "The night of your surgery, Hank and I came home to get a few things and, uh, Erik was here." Charles had a confused look on his face but his eyes darkened. "Erik and I talked and then we - we - " Just she was about to ask that Charles read her mind for the answer, Charles let out a sharp breath and said, "You didn't."
"I did. I'm sorry, I don't even know what came over me, I just - " She ran her fingers through her hair nervously, before letting out a sigh. "And that - that's not even the worst thing. Charles, I'm pregnant."
There was only silence in the room and Heather glanced at Charles, finding the man frozen where he was, his face completely blank of any emotion. "Charles - "
" - And you're completely sure?"
Heather nodded. "What are you planning to do with - with the baby?" Charles asked, his face still void of emotion, and Heather gulped. "I'm not sure. I'm still - looking at options." Charles nodded at that, before wheeling closer to her. "While I don't necessarily like the circumstances," the man began, "I will, however, support your decision, whatever it may be."
Heather teared up a little at that. May she had been expecting Charles to scream at her, maybe even throw her out. "Thank you," she choked out, before she was bending down to wrap her small arms around the man, who in turn returned the hug. The two hugged for a moment, before Charles pulled away and asked, "Do you want to tell the others?"
She thought about it for a moment, before deciding. "Yeah, yeah, I - I want them to know. But can you help me? I'm not really fond of doing this alone."
"Of course."
Charles was by her side when she sat the other boys in the sitting room and told them. Her story was a little better this time, if a little awkward when she had to admit that she had had sex with Erik - especially when Hank was in the house with them at the time, something that the man wrinkled his nose at - but when it was over and done with, Sean sat up and claimed, "Well, I always wanted a niece or nephew."
Alex nodded, a soft smile coming to his face. "I can't wait to teach him how to play football."
"How do you know it won't be a girl?" Hank interjected. Alex snorted, rolling his eyes, "That's just my guess, Beastie. I think it'll be a boy."
"Well, I think it'll be a little girl."
"I'm going with Alex on this. 10 bucks, it's a boy."
Oh god, Heather thought, her stomach doing somersaults, they were already placing bets on the gender of the baby. And while she was comforted that they were so excited, Heather still wasn't sure she was even keeping it. But she never said it out loud, for fear of upsetting the boys when they seemed so happy, instead smiling and accepting the hugs that were passed around.
Heather ran her fingers along the wire hangers in her closet, the cold metal chilling her to the bone. She tried to imagine taking the clothes off of the hanger, bending it completely out of shape, and - Heather winced at that mental image, pulling her hand away before the thought of a bloody hanger became too much for her to handle.
She was too squeamish to go through with it and what if child's ghost haunted her afterwards? Could she really handle seeing her baby in the crib upstairs with Patrick? God, did the baby even have a spirit at this point?
Before she could think further about it, she felt someone staring at her back. Heather quickly turned and nearly shrieked when she saw a nervous looking Edie. "Jesus, Edie," Heather laughed weakly, "You scared the shit out of me. Where have you been? I haven't seen you - "
"I was with Erik," Edie said softly in her oh so comforting voice. Heather blinked. "Oh. Is he - doing okay?" Edie nodded, a soft smile growing on her face, and Heather noticed how tired the woman looked. "Yes. He misses you all very much."
Heather was going to respond to that, but the baby came to mind and, well, the baby was Edie's grandchild so - she deserved to know the truth. "Edie, I need to tell you something," Heather said quickly, her tone becoming more and more nervous, "Erik and I - I'm pregnant, Edie. And it's Erik's." Edie's eyes widened and she looked quickly inbetween Heather's face and her stomach. "You're - there's a baby - I'm going to be a grandmother?"
Heather closed her eyes and nodded, and shivered when she felt Edie's cold hand come into contact with her covered belly. There wasn't much there, just a little fat that had always hung around there, but Edie's smile was still so bright, as she leaned down and whispered, "Mein Enkelkind. Sie werden so schön und so stark sein."
It still felt surreal that there was in fact a baby inside of her and that Heather was going to be a mom in around 6 months, but that didn't stop her from laughing softly at how happy Edie looked.
But that was all shattered when Edie said, "I can't stay very long."
Heather blinked. "What do you mean?" Edie looked regretful as she pulled her hand away from Heather's stomach, "I spent 18 years looking for my boy, Heather. I'm not going to let him go again. You will understand that soon when you meet your own. I can't leave Erik." Heather nodded, feeling numb all over again. "I will visit you and the baby whenever I can."
"We never fulfilled your wish, you didn't get to move on," Heather claimed, blinking her eyes, trying to clear the tears away. "You brought me to my son," Edie whispered, "That's more than I could have ever asked for." She then leaned over and pressed a kiss to Heather's forehead, and whispered, "Goodbye, mein lieber."
Before she knew it, Edie Lehnsherr was gone. And Heather could barely keep herself from falling down.
I've started making a list of deleted scenes/concepts from No Angels and I'm thinking of posting them soon.
Some would have make the story more interesting, others...not so much.
Either way, keep voting in the comments/reviews for the gender of Heather and Erik's baby! When I publish Chapter 10 (I'm not even going to state a date because I honestly can't say when), I'll leave the polls open for 2 extra days and then the contest will come to an end! Any votes after that are invalid!
