“Thanks Ms. Megan,” Emily smiled and it warmed her heart. She loved kids. She’d always wanted two or three of her own, but it just wasn’t in the cards for her. Her mother always wanted Grandkids so she felt that she not only let herself down, but she let her mother down as well. The last year or two, she had tried to convince herself that teaching kids was enough. At least this way, she could to be around them most of the time.
When recess came, she let one of the other teachers take the kids outside with her class. They often alternated, allowing each teacher to get fifteen minutes of free time. Megan used her time to grade papers. Lost in concentration, she was startled when she heard a loud noise.
“Oh, Sam, you scared me! I didn’t even hear you come in.” She was a bit jumpy from not sleeping well.
He smiled, “I’m sorry, Ms. Megan.” He finished emptying the trash.
“That’s okay. Thank you, Sam.” He waved as he left the room.
Lunchtime came and she met Eric in the cafeteria. As the gym teacher, he could take his lunch anytime, so he always met her there. Most of the teachers thought they had a romance type of relationship, and neither of them bothered to set the story straight. Let them think what they want. That’s what most people did anyway, even the people that attended her church. If it wasn’t for Pastor Martin, she would have quit going a long time ago.
“Hey Megs, how’s it going today?” Eric asked as he took a seat opposite hers.
“Good. I can’t complain,” she said as she got out the crackers she brought.
“Surely, you’re having more than that for lunch. Here, have some of my Tuna Salad.” He started to hand her some, but the smell almost made her gag.
“No, please, keep it over there! Good God, Eric, how can you eat that dreadful stuff.” He noticed the sour look on her face and suddenly became very concerned.
“What’s wrong with you?” he asked, eyeing her closely, scrutinizing her every move. “You never seemed to mind my Tuna Salad before.”
“Nothing, I think I’m getting some type of stomach bug. I don’t really feel sick, and then it just hits me like a ton of bricks and I have to throw up.” She sighed, “I wish it would pass already.”
He just nodded. They continued eating as they talked about everything and nothing.
The next day Megan still felt sick and the day after that and the day after that. Eric finally said, “Megs, have you taken a pregnancy test?” She almost choked on her food. Why would she take a pregnancy test? There was no way she could be pregnant and she told Eric that too.
“No, I’m on the pill so I can’t be pregnant.” She tried to choke down her crackers.
“You know they’re not 100% guaranteed and you can still get pregnant…sometimes.”
When did he become so smart about pregnancy and prevention? He didn’t ever have to worry about that. The last time Megan checked, a man couldn’t get another man pregnant. Of course, times were changing. She chuckled as he eyed her suspiciously. Probably wondering what she found so damn funny at a time like this.
“Look Eric, it’s probably a virus I picked up since school started. You know how it is, we catch everything that’s going around.” She sipped on some Sprite. That and Ginger ale were the only things that sat well on her stomach.
“Megs, I just worry about you. Humor me and buy a pregnancy test. I’ll go with you after work and we’ll pick one up.” Looking into his pleading eyes, she nodded, giving him her silent agreement.
Four o’clock came, and she and Eric headed to the local grocery store. Standing there looking at all the different tests, she had no idea which one to buy. Some said to use early in the morning, some said anytime. They all claimed to be accurate. “Do you know which one to get?” She asked Eric as he helped her search.
He gave her a condescending look and said, “Yeah, because I’ve had to buy so many of these damn things.”
“Don’t be an ass!” She whisper yelled at him, feeling a little freaked out. She finally decided to buy one of each kind. That was five tests. She knew she was nuts for spending so much money, but she didn’t know which one was accurate. They all claimed to be.
Carrying them to the counter, she didn’t see Kim…James’ fiancée…standing there with Christy until it was too late. They both saw her holding the tests in her arms. Then their eyes shot to Eric who was standing by her side. Kim just glared, probably wondering if it was James’ even though she would never touch him. Christy had a smirk on her face. She probably couldn’t wait to blab the news to anyone who would listen.
Christy went to the same Church as Megan and she was a problem there. Apparently she was a saint and shit gold, or so she thought. She was the town gossip and perfect in her own eyes, with everyone else paling by comparison. Megan groaned, thinking about Sunday and what it would be like when she showed up.
“Hi Megan, what’s going on? Are those for you?” Christy asked, while Kim glared.
Kim was the bitch she caught in bed with James. They both had seen the tests and there was nothing she could say or do that would change anything so she decided to have fun with it. Why the hell not after all that Kim and James had put her through.
“Yeah,” she whispered loudly to only Christy. “I feel terrible, but you know James and I were married for five years. I just had a onetime slip-up. Please don’t tell anyone.” Megan tried to give Christy her best pleading, sincere look. She saw the look on Kim’s face from the corner of her eye after she finished. BINGO! She bought it, hook, line, and sinker.
Christy leaned in and whispered, “I won’t say a word.”
Megan gave her a grateful smile, the one that said that she trusted her. “Thanks Christy.”
Megan and Eric made their way to the checkout, when he leaned over and whispered, “You are so bad.”
She chuckled and then replied, “You know that as soon as they leave this store either you or James will be called ‘daddy.’ It won’t matter if I’m pregnant or not.”
He sighed, “I know. I guess it’s okay as long as I’m the father of your baby. By the way, do you care if I have some men on the side?”
She laughed, “As long as it’s not my man.”
“Deal.”
He drove them back to Megan’s house and waited patiently as she peed on a stick. That particular test said you could take it anytime during the day. She couldn’t wait for morning to take one of the others, so she peed on a stick and now she had three minutes to wait. It was the longest three minutes of her life. As she paced the floor wondering if she would see two lines or one her mind started to wonder, as it often does. Two pink lines, wasn’t there a country song about that? She thought so and made a mental note to look it up on YouTube.
When the timer went off, Megan ran to the bathroom, but was unable to look. Her hands were sweaty and her heart pounded. Did she want it to be positive? She really didn’t know. She wanted a baby so badly, but she wanted to be married first. All kids should have two parents. Right? It probably wouldn’t have even been an issue if Matt lived closer, but he didn’t, he lived in New York.
“You look, Eric, I can’t,” Megan said, as she stood there ringing her hands.
“Are you sure?” he asked, and she just nodded.
He walked over, picked up the test, stared at it a minute, and then looked at the box. He was killing her! He finally looked up with a grim face and said, “Congratulations, Mommy.”
Mommy! She never in her life thought she’d be called that. To have a baby cooing at her, giving her a smile when she spoke to him or her, she couldn’t even imagine. To hear the sound of pitter-patter while running down the hall, now that would truly be music to her ears. A huge smile spread across her face as she asked, “Really?”
“Really,” he said, and she couldn’t tell if he was happy for her or not. But right now, she didn’t care. So many thoughts raced through her mind. How did she tell her mom? How did she tell Matt? Will he be happy? She realized with a start that she didn’t care. She
was having a baby! Her very own baby! She began to mentally make list of things she needed to do, things she needed to buy. She needed things like maternity clothes, baby clothes, diapers, a crib, baby monitors, oh… she and needed to start taking vitamins!
She was so busy thinking, she didn’t hear Eric talking to her. He touched her shoulder to get her attention. Megan peered up at him when he said, “Megs, are you okay?” Was she okay? That was easy, YES! She was going to be a mother! At the age of thirty-five, she felt that dream had slipped away.
Then other thoughts made their way to the surface…unpleasant thoughts. The reason she never had children before. She wanted her child to have a mother and a father and a loving home. That’s why she never had kids with James. Would Matt think she did this on purpose? She told him she was on the pill, and that was not a lie. How could she have gotten pregnant? She never forgot to take her birth control pills, not once. Suddenly, she didn’t feel as giddy as she did before. Now, she worried more about Matt and what he would think, possibly sharing custody, and he lived in New York. Shit!
She looked Eric in the eye, and knew he could tell she was a little scared. “I don’t know,” she whispered. He wrapped her up in his big strong arms and held her tight. Megan felt blessed to have a friend like him.
“You need to tell Matt,” he stated softly. She knew that she needed to tell him, but she wanted answers first. Like, how did she end up pregnant while taking the pill? She also didn’t want to tell him over the phone.
“I think I need to see a doctor first.” Dr. Lovelace had been her GYN doctor for as long as she could remember. She made a mental note to give her office a call in the morning.
“Okay, just don’t wait too long. I’m sure he would want to know.”
“I hope,” she whispered.
The next morning, Megan called Dr. Lovelace’s office. Somebody had called and canceled so they had an appointment at 3:30 pm that day. That worked out perfectly. School let out at 3:10 so she had just enough time to get there. She found herself already changing little things, like skipping her morning coffee. She sometimes had a glass of wine at night, so that was definitely out!
During recess, one of the other teachers watched the kids while she went to find Eric. She wanted to let him know that she had an appointment right after school. He offered to go with her, but this was something she needed to do by herself, so she told him she’d call when she left the office.
Dr. Lovelace was an older woman, probably around fifty. She had the nurse draw some blood and afterwards she had Megan to pee in a cup. Now she sat in the room wearing a paper gown, waiting.
She looked up when she heard the door open, and the Doctor walked in carrying a computer pad. Everything was electronic these days. After glancing at her computer, Dr. Lovelace looked up and smiled, “Congratulations, It looks like you’re having a baby.” Megan’s hands immediately went to her stomach as she looked down. I’m having a baby. There’s a baby in there.
“Thanks,” she smiled. “I do have a question though, how did I get pregnant? I’ve been on the pill and I’ve never once forgot to take it.”
“Hmm,” she said, looking at the chart. “It says here that you recently had a sinus infection, and your primary care doctor gave you Azithromycin for it. If you were taking the antibiotic at the time, it would have rendered the birth control pill ineffective.” Megan automatically started calculating the time in her head. She took her last one on the day of Carlana’s wedding. That explained it, although she never knew that antibiotics would cause the pill to be ineffective. “Okay, let’s take a look, shall we?” Megan didn’t know what Dr. Lovelace was talking about as she watched her pull the ultrasound machine over to the examining table.
“You can tell this early?” Megan asked, amazed at the technology.
“Maybe, it depends on how far along you are.” As she lay back and she put her feet in the stirrups.
“That’s pretty easy; I know the exact night I got pregnant.” She chuckled.
“Well, that helps. Because of your age, you’re considered high risk. I just want to make sure everything is okay. I’m going to do a vaginal ultrasound because you’re not that far along.”
Megan just nodded and watched the screen. She didn’t have any idea what she was looking for. Then she saw it, a small flicker of light. She didn’t know what that flicker was, but she was instantly filled with warmth and love as she watched the rapid pace. Dr. Lovelace started pointing things out. “This tiny circle is the sack that holds the fetus, and that constant flashing light is the heartbeat. That’s good. At this stage, that’s really about all we can tell.”
“I’ve never heard of anyone doing an ultrasound this early,” she said as Dr. Lovelace withdrew the ultrasound probe and put her feet down.
“I do them when it’s high risk, just to make sure the fetus is viable. They’re also done when someone has In Vitro Fertilization. Of course when someone has IVF, they implant three or four fertilized eggs and the ultrasound tells how many fetuses are present.” She put everything away, and then made a few notations on the chart. Looking back up at Megan and she said, “I’m sure you know not to take the pill anymore but I have to tell you that. I’m giving you a prescription for prenatal vitamins and I want to see you back in a month. The nurse will give you an information sheet about what you can and cannot do, and it should answer your questions. If it doesn’t, please give us a call anytime.”
“Thank you, doctor,” Megan said as she took the prescription.
After she made her next appointment, she pulled out her cell while heading toward the parking lot. Taping Eric’s picture, she waited for him to answer. “Hey Megs, how’d it go?”
“Good, I got to see the heartbeat. It was amazing, Eric!” She climbed into her car and started it up.
“Hey, meet me at McDonald’s I’m pulling into the parking lot now.”
“Okay, be there in a minute.” She switched the phone off.
She was sitting with Eric having an Apple Pie, when he asked, “When are you going to tell Matt?”
She sighed; she had been asking herself that same question. “I think I’ll fly to New York this weekend. Maybe I’ll surprise him.”
“That’s not a good idea Megs,” Eric warned. “You should tell him you’re coming.”
Why would that be a bad idea? She talked to him every night, and all he was doing was working himself to death. “I’ve thought about it Eric, and if I tell him I’m coming so soon, he might wonder why. This way is better…I think.”
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” She gave him a scathing look, but he ignored it. “Are you still getting those creepy gifts?”
“Sometimes, but not as often as before, and not as horrible as the one you found.” He nodded.
“I’m still worried about that.” She knew he was, and actually she was starting to worry herself. Those gifts had almost stopped until recently. Last night she received black roses that had long since died. Megan thought whoever sent them may have actually used spray paint. At least it didn’t look like blood this time. She also noticed that every now and again little things at school would go missing, like her favorite coffee cup. Not that she had any use for it right now. She decided it was her paranoia and pushed it to the back of her mind. Maybe she had just misplaced some of the items. She knew she should tell someone, but surely whoever was doing this would eventually get bored and stop. Right?
That night, she booked her flight for early Friday morning, deciding she would just take the day off. She had one more thing left to do.
“Hello?” Lana answered on the second ring.
“Hey Lana, how are things in New York?”
“They’re okay. It’s hard to get used to, you know? Colin goes to work and I’m left here to do whatever I want. Everyone has been super nice but it’s not the same as sitting on my back porch watching the birds. I also miss everyone there.”
“Well, how would you like some company this weekend?”
>
She let out an ear-piercing squeal and Megan had to move the phone away from her ear. “Yes! Yes! Yes!”
Megan laughed. She loved it when Lana got excited like this. “Can you pick me up at the airport?” she asked, even though she knew Lana would.
“Of course, which one?”
“La Guardia. My arrival time is 8 am, is that too early?”
“No, it’s fine. What’s going on, Megan? I’m glad you’re coming, but this is unusual for you. You would have had to take off from work, and you HATE taking off from work.” She could hear the curiosity in Lana’s voice.
She sighed, “It’s a long story, Lana, and I promise I’ll tell you everything when I get there.”
“I’m holding you to that, Megan.”
The day that she showed Matt around town was Lana’s wedding day. She and Colin went on a two-week honeymoon and then flew back to New York. Megan hadn’t told her that she slept with Matt or that she continued to talk to him nightly. Her pregnancy would definitely be a surprise. She didn’t know if she should tell her about the flowers and everything else that had been going on. She would decide later.
Chapter 7
****
Finally, Matt finished the last interview and everyone he hired was ready to start the training program. It was Thursday night, so hopefully tomorrow, he just had to finish the last of the paperwork and then he could take it easy. He hadn’t been able to talk to Megan for more than five minutes at a time. He really liked her and constantly thought about her, but he just wished she lived here. This long distance relationship was not working so well and that’s something he planned on changing. If they could spend more time together maybe he could talk her into moving to New York. Carlana was living here now with Colin, so that should help.
He pulled out his cell, tapped her picture and waited for her to answer. “Hello?”
Finding Megan (The Kiser Series Book 2) Page 5
