She still hadn’t told anyone at work and had sworn Sean to secrecy. While he wasn’t perfect by any means she knew that he would keep the secret. They had been meeting for dinner or lunch once a week for almost every week since she moved out and Sean was one of her closest friends. Just the same a few weeks later she noticed that her work shirts for her uniform were no longer buttoning and her pants even with the belly band she had purchased were no longer working. She went into work early and caught her department manager after a meeting and let her know that she was expecting and would need permission to purchase and wear black maternity pants to work and also would need to wear a maternity version of her work shirt. Luckily, her boss had a spare maternity shirt and let Ariel know they would order her two more and approved her wearing black maternity pants. As her boss hugged her she knew that her secret would be out soon and everyone would want to know who the man in her life was. It was going to be really hard to tell them all that he didn’t exist. He didn’t want her and this baby. She sighed to herself as she went into the staff bathroom to change into her new shirt. It was much more comfortable and she was glad that it fit well. The downside was it was very obviously a maternity shirt and by the end of her shift everyone in the ER would know.
That shift was one of the longest she ever worked. Many people did ask and lend her congratulations, no one came out and asked her who the father was and for that she was thankful. She noticed she received some curious looks from some of the Ambulance personnel but no one said a hurtful thing or even seemed to be talking about her. With that hurdle behind her Ariel soon got used to patients and other staff members asking her how far along she was and as she approached her six month people touching her belly and wanting to feel the baby move. It was an exciting time in her life. She was often tired and at times a little alarmed by some of the changes in her body, but she felt content with the situation. She was going to be a mom and love this little being as much as she possibly could. At her last ultrasound she had asked not to be told the sex of the baby, but at the next ultrasound she was going to find out, the suspense was killing her.
The day of her next ultrasound arrived. Ariel had switched shifts with someone from the morning shift so she could leave at 4pm and make her appointment by 5:30pm which was all the way across town. Near the end of her shift she was working in the Psych ER which is where she had been working a lot of the time lately. In the Psych area she could spend more time sitting than standing and it was less stress on her body. She heard a commotion outside the doors to the area and two officers were bringing in a man who was obviously either off of his medication or had taken something that he shouldn’t have. He was cursing and screaming at the officers while trying to fight them off all the while exclaiming that he was a pirate who wanted to sink his ship and drown in the ocean. As this qualified as a suicidal threat the man had been brought in to be evaluated as a possible psychiatric hold. He was wearing a spit mask and still fighting as much as he could in shackles in handcuffs. Trying to get information from him was going to be difficult; she hoped that he was a repeat visitor and that the police had his ID already. She didn’t want to have to dig through his possessions in search of it herself. As she readied her papers to approach the officers she saw that one of them was staring openly at her belly and seemed frozen in his tracks. It was Jeff. Of all the people, but in a way she knew that John or one of friends might find out she was pregnant eventually, she just didn’t think it would matter. They didn’t need to know that John was father.
As Jeff stood in the hallway looking at her Brad walked out of the room where the patient had been restrained to the bed he also stopped in his tracks and stood gaping in the hallway. Not knowing what to do Ariel set her clipboard down on a trashcan nearby and raced out the back exit of the psych ER swiping her badge at the nurse’s station and letting the RN in charge know that she was not feeling well and making a run to the bathroom. She planned to stay in that bathroom until she was sure that both Jeff and Brad had left. She slipped her cell phone out of her pocket and texted Jenna, one of her coworkers in the ER and asked if the police car outside the ER doors was still there. Jenna responded that it was and she thought that the officers were still in the Psych ER area. Ten minutes went by and she received a text from Jenna that they had gone rushing from the ER area and left. Breathing a sigh of relief Ariel went back to her awaiting clipboard assuring her co-workers that she was ok and just had a moment of a weak stomach at the smell of their newest patient. As his scent was already quite strong no one seemed to question her reasoning.
Soon her shift was over and it was time to head out for her medical appointment. As she stepped off the employee shuttle and waddled towards her car she saw that a police cruiser was parked at the end of the aisle and was now idling to her. Jerry, the older security guard on the shuttle asked if she was in any trouble and wanted him to stick around, she shook her head no and headed for her car. Not wanting to have a confrontation she put the car in gear and headed out of the parking lot. The police cruiser never got close enough for her to see the occupants so it was possibly just a routine patrol of this remote lot. She noticed that the cruiser pulled out onto the main road shortly after her but when she turned into the outpatient facility just a few blocks away the police car kept moving down the street. Maybe she was just being paranoid for no reason at all.
After signing in at the desk of the facility Ariel pulled a book out of her bag and began reading. She felt her phone vibrate but quickly noted the No Cell phone signs all over the lobby. After a few minutes she decided to just power the phone off and was going to do so when she noticed the little light flashing to indicate that she had received a message. It was a text from a number she didn’t recognize.
Ariel, this is John. Jeff and Brandon told me that they saw you at work today and you look like you’re going to be having a baby pretty soon. Is there anything that we need to talk about?
Sighing she deleted the message from her phone and decided it would just be better to move on from this situation. John obviously had moved on from her, he had changed his number and everything. She didn’t feel like she was being too drastic or dramatic, she had fallen for this man, become pregnant with his child and he didn’t even want to date her regularly. That really hurt but she also felt at fault in the situation; she had really pushed for things to move quickly based on her feelings but had obviously not considered his quite enough. The tech was soon calling her name and she went back into the dimly lit room and got on the bed in the room. As the tech plopped the ultrasound gel on her belly they chatted about the weather and made other small talk. As the images of the baby came up on the screen Ariel couldn’t help but to feel love for this tiny little person she would be meeting soon.
“So you want to know this time? Are you sure?”
“Yes, I definitely want to know!”
“Well if you look down this way you see the leg, wait a second and maybe, wait, there, see, it’s a girl.”
Ariel felt the tears come to her eyes, she was going to have a little girl all of her own. It was terrifying, but at the same time she was so excited. For the first time she wished she had someone with her to share this news, it was one of the best moments of her life and she was all alone. But she wouldn’t be alone for long. Soon she would have her daughter to think about.
Leaving the clinic Ariel stopped at the grocery store to pick up a few items to make dinner with. She was eating very healthily during her pregnancy and took what she put into her body seriously. It affected not just her but someone else as well now. After eating dinner she went into bed and read a book for a few hours and then drifted off to sleep. She was awoken by Bruno’s barks at the front door and soon she heard the knocking as well. Mumbling to herself and wondering what in the world was going on Ariel went to the door and looked out through the blinds to see John standing on her stoop.
“John, is that you?”
“Ariel, can we talk for just a minute please?”
“Ariel, who is the father of that baby you’re carrying? If it’s me then we definitely need to do more than have a conversation through a door.”
“Let me put some clothes on, hold on a minute please.”
After slipping into a sports bra and some lounge pants with her t-shirt she went back and unchained her front door. John was standing on her doorstep still in uniform and looking a little damp from the drizzle that was coming down steadily outside the front door. Ariel hadn’t even noticed it had begun to rain, although it was quite warm and humid in the living room area as she only had a window air conditioning unit in her bedroom. She spent so much time sleeping that the discomfort in the living room hadn’t been a problem at this point. John came in and Ariel slumped onto the couch, John sitting at the other end. Neither said anything and then Ariel decided that she was just going to see what he had to say.
“John, would you like a drink, I have some juice or milk or water in the fridge.”
“No thank you.”
Ariel leaned back into the couch and propped her very swollen feet up onto the coffee table in front of her. Her feet were absolutely killing her right now. After working a ten hour shift her ankles were almost always MIA and her legs were terribly swollen. She had tried everything to control the problem, from support socks to special shoes but her feet just looked and felt terrible. Without her shoes on it looked even worse and she saw John’s eyes drawn to her feet.
“Does that hurt?”
“Yeah, it does.”
“When are you due Ariel?”
Taking a deep breath she responded with the date and watched John quickly do the mental calculations in his head.
“So unless you hopped into bed with someone the same week you lost your virginity to me, then I am the father of the child you’re carrying.”
The tears were burning in her eyes and she couldn’t help it, the emotions just took over. The first little sob escaped her lips and the next thing she knew she was leaning over with her face buried into the arm of the couch uncontrollably sobbing and crying.
After a minute she felt the cushion on the couch next to her move and an arm was around her shoulders pulling her over and against John. As hurt as she was by him, it still felt good to have him wrapped around her. She cried and cried. It almost felt like a cleansing in a way. She got out all of the hurt that had been building up inside of her and laid it out, just expressing it to the man who had hurt her.
“Shhh, calm down, its ok. I’m here now and I’m not going anywhere.”
Ariel slowly stopped crying, an involuntary sob coming out every few minutes until she regained some sense of her composure.
“I know you don’t want me, or a relationship, or a baby. I didn’t mean for this to happen and I tried to not let it ruin your life. I’m not planning on filing for child support or trying to get anything from you John. I’m already in love with this baby and I’m going to do everything I can to give her everything and anything she needs.”
“Ariel, I know I said those things, but this did happen. This baby is mine too and I plan on being a father to it and providing love and support as well. Did you say her?”
“Yes, I’m having a little girl.”
“She’s going to be beautiful.”
“I Know. She’s moving around and kicking right now, I probably have her riled up with the way I was acting. Do you want to feel her moving?”
John looked unsure for a moment but then he reached over towards Ariel’s belly and she guided his hand to rest gently on the side where the baby was laying.
“I felt her!”
“It’s pretty special isn’t it?”
“Yeah, it is. How often does she do that?”
“All the time, except when she’s sleeping, it’s pretty hard to sleep some nights because she’s up moving all the time while I’m trying to rest. Last week I think I only slept one night through with all the aches and weird sleeping positions and baby movement”
So, you’re working 10 hour shifts on your feet and then barely getting any sleep, isn’t that bad for the baby?”
“She’s safe in there, I make sure no matter how tired or bad I feel that she gets the nutrients she needs.”
“I don’t think it’s right that you’re working these long hours on your feet while you’re pregnant, can’t they get you a job with more sitting?”
“They offered me a desk position that would be in the admissions area during the day hours, but then I would lose my shift differential and I need that money to afford this place and my bills and to save money for the time I’m out of work on maternity leave and for the hospital for the delivery. As it is, I’m barely scraping by most of the time.”
“Move in with me and take the desk job, we can make the third bedroom next to the master a nursery and I’ll make sure that you and the baby are taken care of. We should just get married. That way I can put you and the baby on my insurance and we can give the baby the home she deserves.”
“John just a few months ago you were telling me that you didn’t even want to commit to being in a steady boyfriend/ girlfriend relationship with me, now you want to marry me? I think you aren’t thinking this through very well. I can’t just move in with you. What happens when you decide that you want to move on? Me and the baby won’t have a place to go.”
“Ariel, those things I said don’t apply to this situation. I’m about to be a father and I don’t want to miss a moment of my child’s life. Have you been with anyone since me?”
“Not that it should be your business, but no, I haven’t.
“I didn’t think so. I really enjoyed spending time with you Ariel and part of the reason I was so quick to push you away is that while you were busy falling for me, I was starting to fall for you. I was stupid and I still think about you all the time. Just agree to marry me and give it a chance. We can be a real family for our daughter. It may not have been a match formed in the most usual way, but I think we are going to be good together and I think we’ll make each other happy.”
“John I want our daughter to have a father and the stability of a family as well. If I agree to marry you, promise me that you’ll be a good dad and stay true to me and our daughter.”
“I can easily make that promise. I also think, if its ok with you that I’d like to go home and get a change of clothes and my dog and come back to stay with you tonight. I don’t want to leave either of you alone, and this is a really bad neighborhood. Before my shift tomorrow I’m going to move your things to my house. Wednesday I think we should go and get married at the courthouse, that gives me enough time to get the day off of work, are you able to get the day off?”
“I’m already off Wednesday and Thursday of this week. Once I start in the admissions office I’ll be working Monday through Friday from 7am to 3pm.”
“That’s perfect then. I’m going to run home to get my things and change and I’ll be back over here shortly. Do me a favor, lock both of these locks when I leave and make sure it’s me before you open that that door again.
After John left the little apartment Ariel sat on her couch stunned. She went from being a single mom to an engaged woman in a matter of an hour. John had said that he thought he had been falling for her in the past. Hopefully he meant that he still felt something towards her. Before long John was knocking on the door and Ariel let him in.
“John, I know that we need to talk some things over, but I can barely keep my eyes open right now. Are you ready for bed?”
“It’s been a long day for me as well. I didn’t know when I woke up this morning that I would go to bed a father and soon to be husband. I’ve been thinking about it for the past few hours and I like this feeling.”
John was smiling at Ariel and sat down next to her on the couch.
“I do want to make this marriage work with you, it may not have been a deci
sion we made under the circumstances that most people decide to get married under, but I think it’s going to be a positive outcome for both of us. I may just be a cop, but I think I can provide a decent life for you and our daughter, and who knows, maybe another kid or two in the future.”
Ariel looked up into his face and could see that he really meant what he was saying. It felt good to know that he was in this and meant to be for the long haul. Putting out her hand he intertwined his fingers with hers and stood pulling her and walking to the bedroom.
“I hope you don’t mind if I sleep with you before we’re married, if need be I can sleep on the couch, but it is a little lumpy.
Ariel laughed and smiled up at John.
“I think we have moved far past that point John.”
Changing for bed wasn’t really an option for Ariel she had few clothes items that she could wear as money was so tight she didn’t have but three pairs of maternity pants as it was. The sweatpants she had thrown on when John came over were just not comfortable to wear on her rounded belly.
“Do you mind if I sleep in just a t-shirt and some panties? I don’t have much in the way of maternity clothes and these pants are uncomfortable on my belly.”
“Of course I don’t mind. In less than two days you will be my wife. I am going to insist that I take you to do some shopping tomorrow after me and the guys move your things. I’ll talk to your landlords as soon as I get up and see what we can do about your lease on this place. I want you to be comfortable and I won’t have my wife not even having the clothes she needs to live in.”
Brothers in Blue: The First Love Match Page 10
