Title: At Long Last - A Wedding Bells Alternate
Category: Who's the Boss
Summary: What happens when you mix too much wine and a secret love?
Rating:NC-17, NSFW, M
Spoilers: Wedding Bells
Disclaimer: I don't own these characters.
This story contains content for mature audiences only - please be warned. If people want, I can try to mark the sections so you can skip those parts if you prefer not to read them but still want the rest of the story. If enough people ask I can try!
This story is complete (I think) but it has multiple chapters. I'll upload them as fast as I can. I kept them to 1200-1500 words for the most part because I think that's manageable to read without having to binge the whole thing!
I wrote most of these a long time ago. I apologize for any mistakes, but I will try to edit as I go!
I'm moving my Who's the Boss fics from various other sites to here. Feedback welcome - good or bad - and appreciated :) Enjoy.
18.
The day of her doctor's appointment Tony is a nervous wreck. He's more nervous than she is. They make an excuse to the family and go together to the clinic, with Tony holding her hand and leading her into the office carefully. They're brought into see the doctor almost as soon as they walk in.
"Angela, congratulations are in order. This must be dad," the doctor reaches out to shake Tony's hand.
"Tony," he says, introducing himself.
"Good to meet you, Tony. Let's see, last time you were in here you were looking for the birth control pill. No need for that anymore, I guess," the doctor laughs. Angela smiles, but Tony doesn't.
"Look, doc, we weren't planning this," Tony explains. "We had some alcohol. We had… we had sex. I just want to know everything's okay with the baby."
"Oh, I'm sure everything is fine! Having alcohol accidentally once or twice won't hurt the baby. I recommend you abstain from alcohol from now on, though."
"Of course," Angela says.
"Do you remember the date of your last period?"
"I think it was September, but I can't remember the date exactly. It's usually around the end of the month."
"Sounds like you're about three months along. We're looking at a July baby. Anything concerning?"
"No - " Angela starts, but is interrupted by Tony.
"She's tired a lot. She takes naps during the day and she never does that. She's really emotional, she's always crying. She doesn't have much of an appetite, but I make her eat at least three square meals, lots of protein, fruits, vegetables…."
"Have you been taking the iron supplements?"
"Yes, I have, and pre-natal vitamins."
"Any sickness?"
"No, not really."
"Dizziness, or any other concerning symptoms?"
"No, nothing like that."
"Nothing to be concerned about then. Why don't you lie down here. We'll feel your stomach, make sure there are no unusual pains."
Tony watches closely while the doctor pulls up her shirt. She's got a very small swell where her flat stomach used to be. The doctor pushes and pokes and prods her belly, almost to the point of concerning Tony. He's about to say something when the doctor stops, pulling Angela's shirt back down.
"Everything feels fine. How old are you?" The doctor checks the chart. "While you're in great shape, Angela, you're considered an older pregnancy. Dad, you live in the home, right?"
"Yeah, of course."
"Good. You can keep an eye on her. Let's get an ultrasound done today and I'll order a blood test."
"So she's healthy? And the baby is healthy?" Tony asks.
"Mom and baby are healthy," the doctor says. "If you go to the front desk, the receptionist will tell you where to go for the ultrasound and help you book your blood test. Congratulations again, Angela, Tony."
xx
"We never had an ultrasound with Sam," he says, sitting in the waiting room with her.
"I didn't with Jonathan either, but I've seen them. They just look like grainy images, like when there's snow on the television."
"So what's the point?"
"I guess the technician knows what they're looking at. I can't drink anymore," she says, taking another sip of the water she's been asked to drink.
"You've got to, Angela, you've barely finished half the bottle."
Angela struggles for a while longer, but she's called in before she can finish. Tony follows her into the room. The technician is pleasant, but Tony looks nervous again. Angela takes his hand as she lies on the bed.
"Alright, mom, let's start with finding baby's heartbeat." The technician lifts her shirt and presses a wand hard against her belly. Angela winces.
"Hey, easy with that," Tony says.
"It's okay," Angela tells him. Suddenly, they hear a noise like a horse galloping.
"What's that?" Tony asks.
"That's your baby's heartbeat. Nice and strong, just what we want to hear."
"That's the heartbeat?" Tony says, amazed. Angela has already begun crying. "Is that the baby's heartbeat?"
"It sure is!" the technician says cheerfully.
"That's the baby's heartbeat, Angela," Tony says, tearing up a bit himself. "That's our baby's heartbeat."
"I know," she says, holding his hand tightly.
"It sounds so… so… so fast. And so strong. That's a good sign, right?" Tony asks the tech.
"It's exactly what I want to hear! Now, let's take a look and see if we can see baby."
"See the baby?" Tony asks.
"That's why we had you drink all that water. A full bladder gives us a better picture. Now, this will be cold, sorry about that!"
The technician squirts a cold gel on her stomach and smears it around with another wand. There is a tv screen in the room and it looks like nothing but static.
"What are we looking at?" Tony says, squinting at the screen.
"Let's see… baby seems to be hiding!" She moves the wand around Angela's stomach and it's not very comfortable, but suddenly she stops.
"There!" the technician says.
"What?" Tony says. To Angela, it looks like a big, black hole.
"There he is! Look, right down there."
Both Angela and Tony look closely at the screen, brows furrowed, trying to see something.
"That little bean right there, that's your baby!"
"I don't see it," Angela says.
"Me neither."
"Let me see if I can get a better angle…." The tech moves the wand around. "How about this? Look, there is the baby?" She points to the screen and Angela sees a tiny little thing in the black cavern.
"Is… is that it? That small thing?"
"That's it!"
"I don't see it!" Tony says.
"Oh… I can't believe it! He's so small."
"I'm going to try to get some measurements for the doctor," the tech says.
While the tech works, Tony gets closer to the screen. "I still don't see it," he says.
"He's right there, towards the bottom," Angela points. "That grey little thing, right there."
Tony looks, changing the angle of his view, squinting his eyes then opening them wide. He's trying his best and he wants to see it so desperately, but it's not working. "I can't see it!"
"It's okay, dad," the tech says. "It's early yet. The doctor may order another later on down the line. The baby will be bigger by then."
"Oh, Tony. This is real. Our baby is real."
"Is everything good?" Tony asks the technician.
"It looks good. I'll send this to the doctor and he'll give you any information you need. But from what I see, baby looks great!"
xx
Angela gets cleaned up and rushes to the washroom before they leave. Tony can't believe he heard his child's heartbeat.
"Did you really see the baby, or were you just saying that?" Tony asks as they drive home.
"It was really small, and very grainy," Angela says, trying to sooth him. "It was really hard to see… maybe I didn't see it. Maybe I just think I saw it."
"Don't patronize me, Angela, you saw it. What did it look like?"
"It looked like… it looked like a little blob. There wasn't much to see."
"At least I got to hear the heartbeat. I can't believe it. Our baby's heartbeat."
"So, um, now what?" Angela asks.
"Now we'll go home, I'll make some lunch, you can take a nap if you want."
"No, I mean what do we do now? Are we going to tell mother and the kids?"
"Oh, that. What do you think?"
"I think mother is going to notice soon when my clothes stop fitting."
"Yeah. I wish… I mean, I wanted to have a plan in place before we talked to them."
"What type of plan?"
"About our future. Angela, you can't be paying my salary. I've got to find a job. I know it's not going to be easy, I don't think I can even afford the mortgage on a house like this let alone the bills, but I have to find a way to pay as much as I can. And we gotta get married, Angela, we can't have a baby without being married!"
"Then what do you want to do?"
"Let's… let's tell them we're getting married."
"Just like that? We're getting married?"
"Yeah, sure. It's not like the kids will be upset about it or anything, Jonathan already tried to set us up once, and I know for a fact Sam will be happy."
"Mother will be over the moon."
"So? Let's do it. Let's tell them we're getting married."
"Are you sure?"
"You do want to marry me, don't you?" he asks.
"Yes, yes, of course. Of course I do."
"So no problem. This weekend we have a great meal, we get the family together, and we make the announcement."
"Okay," she says.
"Then later, after we're married, we tell them we're having a baby. We've got to set a good example, after all."
"If we're going to hide this for longer, I'm going to need to buy some loose sweaters."