Toxic - Rudy Pankow

Twenty Nine <3

||Rudy's POV||

We pull up to the clinic and Josie is visibly nervous sitting next to me. She's fiddling with the hem of her jumper and she seems to be deep in thought. I reach across the centre console and gently take her hand which makes her look at me.

"Hey it's all going to be okay. You have no reason to be nervous Josie" I try to be as convincing as possible for her sake but truth is I'm just as nervous as she is. She gives me a small smile before nodding, I get out of the car quickly going around to help Josie out. She mumbles a thank you and much to my surprise takes my hand in her own before pulling me along to the building. She tells the receptionist her name before we sit in the waiting room together.

"What if somethings wrong with it?" Her voice is just above a whisper and I hate that she's thinking so negatively. "Josie it's all going to be fine okay? Let's just wait and see what the doctor says" I try my best to reassure her before a woman comes out and interrupts us.

"Josette? Come through please" she gives us a warm smile which instantly puts us both at ease, doctors are always nerve wracking so having a nice doctor always makes the difference. We get up and follow her to a room before taking a seat.

She holds out her hand for Josie to shake before moving on to me. "Hi Josette, I'm Dr Walker and I'll be your main point of contact through your pregnancy. Who is this that you've brought along?" She smiles at us sweetly.

"Oh sorry, this is Rudy" I flash her a smile and she nods.

"Are you just a friend or?..." her voice trails off and Josie giggles.

"He's my boyfriend, the babies dad" Dr Walker laughs along and nods her head.

"I'm pleased that you're here Rudy, it's always so much nicer when the family is together" I smile at Josie squeezing her hand.

"I wouldn't miss it for the world" I grin at her and she smiles back. She then gets into asking Josie a bunch of general questions about herself, her health and what she knows about her pregnancy so far. I stay quiet and slowly take in the conversation most of which I don't fully understand.

"Okay now lets lay you down on the bed and we can do a scan for you" Josie nods before we move across the room where she lays down on the bed and I stand beside her. She pulls her jumper up exposing her stomach as the doctor turns the lights off and pours a gel onto her stomach. Things start to appear onto the screen that I can't make out.

"Okay now you're measuring for 7 weeks and 1 day so it's still very early but this over here" she points at a small blob on the screen before continuing "This is your baby and if you look very closely at the small flicker, that is your baby's heart beat" sure enough looking closely there is a small and faint flicker on the screen.

My body fills with many emotions and I'm just pleased that the room is dark as tears well up in my eyes. I look to Josie and she is just as shocked and overwhelmed as I am. I take her hand pressing it to my lips.

"That's our baby Josie" I smile at her proudly and a small tear runs down her face before she quickly wipes it away and lets out a small shaky breath.

"Is it healthy? Is everything okay with it?" The doctor stops tapping away at the screen before answering with a smile.

"From what I can see it is growing perfectly as it should be. Now of course 12 weeks is when we say you should be in the clear so so keep that in mind. But from what I can tell it is healthy. Now if everything works out and you come back for your 12 week scan I will be able to take some bloods to do health checks and tell you the gender" she smiles at is before turning the lights back on and the machine off. She then hands me a strip of photos while Josie wipes her stomach and sits back up.

"Thank you so much" I show my gratitude as she gives me a small nod.

"Now I know that it's difficult but I really need you to rest as much as possible. Your body is very frail from your previous health situations so you need to take a little bit more care. Eat lots of nutritious food okay? That will ensure the baby's health as well as your own. Now what do you do for work?" Josie nods along agreeing with her instructions.

"I work in a pet shop in Charleston so it's nothing too strenuous" she tilts her head in confusion at Josie's reply.

"Charleston? You're a long way from home. What are you doing here in LA?" We hadn't actually thought about how we were going to deal with these appointments once Josie went back home.

"LA is where Rudy lives so I've decided to join him back out here for a while" I place my arm around her shoulders and she leans into me.

"I see, well we will have to discuss that closer to when you leave. What about you Rudy? What do you do for work?" My body stiffens, if I tell her the truth then she could possibly offer the news of our pregnancy to the public for money.

"Uhhh, I guess you could say I do a bit of acting?" I stutter on my words unsure of what to say and my answer comes out questioning.

"Don't worry, everything in this room is confidential.  I thought I recognised you from somewhere. My daughter loves that show that you're on. But don't worry no one will know anything" she gives me a reassuring smile which helps both Josie and I to relax.

"Thank you, we really appreciate it" I give her a smile before we say our goodbyes and leave the clinic.

We get in the car and I lean my head back against the seat and look down at the pictures in my hand. It all feels so much more real now. I'm going to be a dad.

"I can't believe that that's our baby Rudy" Josie's voice holds disbelief and pride which makes me smile.

"I love you and this baby so much Josie" I smile at her and she leans across placing a small kiss on my lips before pulling back. She hadn't kissed me in days and the sensation made me shiver. I'd missed that feeling. I pull her back returning the kiss.

"I love you Rudy, and our baby"

Everything was finally falling into place.

A/N
Thank fuck it's the weekend, this has been the longest week of my life. Also my city is currently in lockdown and it sucks, I miss shopping and unhealthy food. How's your city/country doing for covid? Also I'm having serious writers block right now, please give me ideas on what you'd like to see in the next few chapters.
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- J x