When the bough breaks

Six

   "Good news, the baby seems to be doing good. It's healthy and has a strong beating heart." the obstetrician says, looking at Zander and I with a smile.

I look at Zander with a smile, but he's busy staring at the computer screen with tears streaming down his face.

Minutes before, she had told us that the baby was measuring twelve weeks, which was a hundred percent accurate.

"So, is this your first pregnancy?" she asks me, while jotting down notes. I shake my head. "No. We have a son." I say.

She smiles. "You could bring him next time. How old is he?" she asks, her teeth shining brightly.

Zander looks at the lady then and snaps, "He's dead. Stillborn." The obstetrician looks at both of us and smiles an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry. I had no idea." I smile back at her, reassuring her. "It's okay." She hands me some papers regarding my next appointment and leaves the room.

After the appointment, we walk to our new vehicle. It's a Land Rover, and we got it last week, a week after we arrived in England. It's red with black leather seats.

Zander violently thrusts the SUV door open and jumps in the driver seat, which is on the right side. "Zander, stop!" I yell, once when we're in the vehicle.

He looks at me and snaps, "She had no business inquiring such personal things! And you..." He scoffs and doesn't finish his sentence.

I look him in the eye and retort back, "And I what? Shouldn't I keep the baby? This is our child we're talking about!" I scream, getting angry.

Zander scoffs and looks out the window, his teeth barred. "Why did we do it? Why? Why did you get pregnant again?" he says quietly, clearly still mad.

I look at him and respond calmly, "We were drunk, Zander. Remember? We went to a party to have some fun. It just happened. Sure, I didn't want it to happen so quickly either, but it did. And we can't change it."

He looks at me and tears fall out of his eyes.

"Keep the baby, please. Maybe this one will stick. I'm sorry I got angry and blamed you when clearly it was both our faults." he says, taking my hand and squeezing it. I offer a small smile and kiss his cheek.

"I will. Two weeks from now, they said that we could find out the gender, and this time I'm keeping it hidden. I want to wait until we're back in Denver before finding out." I say, playing with my locket.

"So, can we go back the day after we get the envelope, and like... do a gender reveal?" Zander asks, smiling. I nod my head.

"Yeah, that works." I smile confidently.

After we return back to the condo, I see Lillian laying beside the road, bloodied and crying. I run out of the car and squat down at her.

"Lillian? What happened?" I ask, wiping her bloody face. She looks at me, her once bright eyes darkened.

"He... hurt me," she answers, trembling. I look at her with confusion.

"Anthony. My boyfriend." she adds, but then passes out.

I run back to the car and tell Zander to grab Lillian and tell Marjory that we'll be at the hospital. I grab my phone and call 999.

The ambulance comes and picks her up; Marjory rides with her. They put a blanket over her naked, bloodied body.

Zander and I follow behind, him reassuring me that she'll be okay. We're sitting in the waiting room, and Marjory goes outside to smoke.

"Marjory Turner?" the doctor calls out, looking around. I stand up and say, "Marjory's busy at the moment. I'm a friend." I say, hopeful that he'll tell me what's wrong with Lillian.

"Lillian suffered massive blows to the face and body areas. She's in a coma. This looks like Domestic abuse, both sexual and psychological. She was also stabbed several times. There's some more information regarding the situation," he says, looking at his notes. I nod my head for him to continue.

"She appears to be pregnant." he says, and my hand covers my mouth.

"How far along is she? Is the baby okay?" I ask.

"She appears to be twenty three weeks along, and the baby is okay," he says, and holds up a finger. "Excuse me," he says, walking away.

"Well?" Marjory asks, once she's come back in from a smoke break. "She's been abused and stabbed. She's pregnant too." I say, sighing.

Marjory covers her mouth and lets out heavy loud sobs into my chest. I rub her back as she continues to cry.

"Could I see her?" she asks me, and I nod her head. Zander follows us to her room, where we see that she's lying on a bed, and a breathing tube is covering her mouth.

Marjory walks over to her and sits in the chair beside her, taking her hands. "Hello, darling. Mum's here. The doctor said that you're not doing so well. I just wanted to let you know that you're going to be a Mummy. I love..." she tries to finish her sentence but erupts into sobs. She takes a deep breath and sighs. "I love you, darling." she walks out of the room, and we follow her.

"Marjory? Would you like a ride home?" I ask but she shakes her head. "No, but thank you. I need to stay with Lillian. She needs me." she says to me. I nod my head and tell her goodbye. I take Zander's hand and we walk out of the hospital.

Once in the vehicle, I start to cry. Zander puts his arms around me and tucks me into his chest.

"I'm sorry. Seeing Lillian like that reminded me of..." I can't finish my sentence because I cry even more.

"Reminded you of Sam." Zander finishes and I nod my head. He sighs and says, "It's a shame that Lillian has to become a mom so young. She has to be scared." I nod my head.

"Anyone who's ever gotten pregnant is scared. I've gotten pregnant twice, and both times I've been scared." I mumble.

"Do you think Lillian knows she's pregnant?" Zander says. "Yes. I could tell when she opened the door two weeks ago. She was trying to hide it, but I could tell." I say.

"How?" he asks, looking at me.

"Intuition, I guess. Those three are going to be our host family for four years." I say, and Zander smiles. "I wonder if our kids will be friends." he says, and I smile. "Maybe." I say and kiss his cheek.

After we arrived back at the condo, we ate supper in silence and went to bed. As I lay down beside Zander that night, all I could think about was Lillian. I fell asleep listening to the soft snoring of Zander.