Lost in the Middle

Put at Ease

The young couple found themselves in the hospital waiting room in no time, Nikki had to admit she was slightly excited to see their baby on the screen for the first. Apart from the excitement building inside her, there was something deep down making her worry and that was the idea of telling her father she was pregnant at seventeen.

Nikki sits back down after booking herself in and looks at her boyfriend who looks horrified by all the pregnancy diagrams and leaflets on the wall. "Are you okay?" She asks.
"Hmm, yeah I guess. So much to take in," Jack smiles nervously as he places his hand on her knee.

Looking down at his hand on her knee she places her hand on top, "I'm secretly nervous," She mumbles leaning on her boyfriend's shoulder and kisses it.
"I'm shittin' myself just thinking about your Dad's reaction," Jack mumbles.

Nikki couldn't have agreed more with her boyfriend if she had tried, the young expectant parents sit quietly in the waiting room. There were around the room various pregnant women all at different stages of pregnancy waiting to be seen but none of them were quite as young as Nikki which naturally caused a few to raise eyebrows.

"Nicola Alexander, please..." A voice calls.

She looks around the room and notices a nurse stood standing by a doorway to an examination room, Nikki stands up and nudges Jack before walking over in the direction of the nurse. Jack follows behind and walks into the room, "Miss Alexander, It's lovely to meet you I am Val your sonographer for today," She smiles.

Nikki nods nervously unsure of what to say during the introduction, Val talks Nikki through what today's scan is all about and also discusses birthing plans, which shocks Nikki to silence it was definitely what Nikki had expected from having a child all these plans pre-baby.

Val directs Nikki up onto the bed ready for the scan, she had notices how quiet Nikki had been during the introduction, "Is everything okay?" Val quizzes looking at the young girl.
Nikki glances at Jack before looking back at Val, "Aren't you going to ask if I'm too young to be a Mother?" Nikki quizzes.

"Gosh no, of course not! Why would you think that?" Val responds which surprises Nikki.
"I just thought..." She stumbles.
"Nicola... I shall let you in on a secret. I was fifteen when I had my son."

Nikki's jaw drops and she looks at Jack, that was actually younger than Nikki is currently. "I was so young. And you have nothing to be scared of Nikki, He's twelve now and just started secondary school. I still am with his father and we got married A few years after he was born, these things do work out if you are prepared for it all," Val explains with a cheerful smile.

This got both Jack and Nikki thinking, maybe the baby would bring out the best in both of them, bring them together, and hopefully bring hope to their broken homes. Val proceeds to talk Nikki through the process of the scan before asking her to lower her trousers and roll her t-shirt up. "This is going to be cold," Val alerts as she shakes the bottle before squeezing the bottle onto her stomach.

Nikki flinches at the cool gel and looks across at Jack who she instantly makes eye contact with, he had been so quiet these past few minutes. "You're not second-guessing this are you Jack?" She asks nervously.

He snaps out of his daze, "What? god no! I'm excited just so much to take in," Jack responds as he takes hold of her hand and kisses the back of it.
Just then Val places the doppler down on Nikki's stomach and moves it around and begins to move it around pressing down firmly.

After a few minutes Nikki can't bare the silence any longer, "Is there something wrong?... is there not a baby?" Nikki quizzes her heart thumping loudly in her head.
"Nothing is wrong," Val smiles as she turns the screen around.

Nikki's jaw drops as she looks at the screen to see a perfectly formed small baby there, "That's our baby?" She breathes in disbelief.
"Yes this is your baby," Val chuckles watching the expectant parents gawp at the screen in awe.

"Oh my god... Look, Jack," Nikki beams as the tears of pure joy form in her eyes.
"I am, that is amazing... are we allowed a photo of it?" Jack quizzes as she continues to hold Nikki's hand tightly.

"Of course, now Nikki you will need to attend your twenty-week anomaly scan and a midwife will want to see you, to discuss birth plans and other important things."
Nikki nods and takes in all the information while admiring the baby on the screen, "I can't wait," Nikki beams as Val prints off the scan for them and passes it over to Jack while Nikki cleans herself up.

Twenty minutes later the teenagers are sat in the hospital cafe waiting for their food to be brought over to them. "Are you going to give me my scan picture back?" Nikki chuckles as she looks at her boyfriend lovingly who hadn't taken his eyes off it yet.
"Not just yet," He smiles running his thumb over the photo now coming to terms with he is becoming a father in a few month's time.

Nikki giggles at him and just sits back in her chair admiring him more, "You'll get to hold him or her soon, I can't wait... we just need to tell my Dad," She grins slightly.
Jack looks up at his girlfriend with a cheerful smile up on his face, "He will have to like it, because it's happening," He smirks and gazes at her lovingly.