Daughter of the Moon

Chapter 2

The test was positive and Ruby could not believe it. She stayed sitting on the toilet staring at the positive pregnancy test in her hands and began to experience conflicting feels. She remember she and Graham had always talked about having kids one day but she just didn't know if she would be any good at it. Over the years this dilemma became visible to everyone in town, so couples such as the Charmings and the Golds offered to help Ruby practice by baby sitting their children. The babies seemed to be really fond of her and Ruby reported minimal problems at the end of the day when their parents came by the apartment to retrieve them. As much as Ruby enjoyed looking after her friends' babies, she was still at odds over whether she could do it full time with a child of her own.

Ruby had been in the bathroom for nearly ten minutes and Graham was starting to get worried. He rose up from his seat on the brown leather sectional couch and made his way to the bathroom to check on his wife.

"Ruby, are you alright in there, dear? You've been in the loo for quite a while" he observed with a hint of worry in his thick British accent.

As Graham's calming voice echoed through the walls, Ruby assumed it was safe to tell him the life altering news. She slowly emerged from the bathroom with the urinated plastic that held their future in her trembling right hand behind her back.

"Hey" she said timidly as she tried her hardest to meet her husband's concerned eyes.

"Is something wrong?" Graham asked as he held Ruby's rounded square shaped face in his smooth but firm hands, attempting to better the eye contact.

Ruby suddenly felt the need to start crying as she built up the courage to tell Graham the good news. As much as she wanted to stay strong, she learned through Belle and Mary-Margaret that crying was a natural side effect of pregnancy due to the hormonal changes and mood swings. She decided that there would be no delaying telling Graham since he was the baby's father, after all. So, Ruby decided to rip the band-aid off and hope for the best reaction.

"Well... umm.... I'm pregnant" Ruby revealed as calmly as she could and handed Graham the positive test as proof.

He was astounded. He knew that some sperm worked fast but he had no idea that his worked unbelievably fast. Graham could not make sense the correlation between last night when he and Ruby went all the way to the point of now finding out that he got her pregnant as he looked bewildered at the test in his hands. Ruby waited for him to say something before she continued to say that she knew it wasn't one hundred percent accurate and suggested that they see Dr. Whale for a second opinion.

"That's amazing, Ruby. We're going to have a family" Graham said happily as he pulled his apprehensive wife into his arms for a long embrace.

"So, you really think we're ready?" Ruby asked as she wiped a single tear out of the corner of her eye from over Graham's shoulder.

Graham told Ruby that no one was ever ready to have kids, but that he would be by her side every step of the way throughout the journey known as parenthood. He also assured her that he would love their baby for whatever they became just as he loved their mother. This provided Ruby with a feeling of relief and a sense of security.

~X~

As planned, once they were done having lunch, Graham took Ruby to the clinic to get Dr. Whale's professional opinion on whether or not the pregnancy test was accurate. They waited anxiously in the waiting room. Ruby's knees shook as she fiddled with her thumbs and began to think of all the possible outcomes of the appointment. Dr. Whale could confirm her suspicions and say that she was indeed pregnant or he could report that it was a false positive given off by something like a large consumption of potassium. Five minutes later, a tall nurse with dark skin and a head of thick and insanely curly black hair approached Ruby and Graham informing them that Dr. Whale was ready to see them.

As soon as Graham and Ruby entered Examination Room A, they were met by Dr. Whale. They all exchanged pleasantries and Ruby made her way on top of the examination table for Dr. Whale to start the routine ultrasound. It took approximately 12 minutes of Dr. Whale circling the Doppler on Ruby's stomach for him to make a verdict.

"Well everything looks great. Congratulations, you two. You're ten weeks pregnant" Dr. Whale announced with a small smile on his face as he pointed at the minuscule floating baby within the black and white image of Ruby's uterus.

Ruby and Graham could not believe their eyes. They were truly about to become a family and they could not have been happier. However, they had some trouble registering the fact that Ruby was so far along already when they had only ever really made love so much twice in their entire relationship; the first time they got together and that night in New York. Dr. Whale proceeded to explain that some times it wasn't all about sex. If they truly believed it, this child was a gift from a higher being that told them that they were ready to have a baby.

Ruby was so excited that she couldn't wait to tell everyone the good news. But Dr. Whale warned her that it might be a little too risky at this point because a lot could still go wrong. Ruby nodded and said that she and Graham could just keep it to themselves for a while. But deep down, Ruby knew of one person who had to know what was going on.

The second they arrived home, Ruby set her purse down onto one of the dinning room chairs and retrieved her cellphone to call Belle via FaceTime. When Belle found out she was pregnant, Ruby was the first one amongst the others who heard about it. So, Ruby thought it was only fair that she return the favor.

Belle answered within the first three rings and appeared to be in her living room with her and Mr. Gold's six month old daughter, Hazel feeding her some snack puffs from a small Tupperware container.

"Hey, Ruby. What's up?" Belle asked as she smiled into the camera's phone, all the while keeping an eye on Hazel.

For some reason, Ruby found it easier to tell Belle she was pregnant than when she told Graham. But she assumed it was because she and Belle were best friends and if it wasn't for Belle, she and Graham wouldn't have ended up together. Just as Ruby expected, Belle was ecstatic that her daughter would have another friend to play with.

"That's amazing. I'm so happy for you. Did you hear that, Hazel? You'll have another little friend to play with. I hope it's a girl" Belle said as she kissed Hazel on the cheek and set her down on the carpeted floor since she seemed be getting kind of antsy on the couch.

Even after all Graham had promised her, Ruby was still a bit worried because they were both equally clueless on how to raise a child; which is another reason why Ruby felt the need to tell Belle about her pregnancy. This was Ruby and Graham's first baby and she only wanted to make sure that everything that could be under her control went as smooth as possible. Apart from Graham, Belle was the only other person who made Ruby truly see that she didn't need to be afraid of herself and she was truly grateful for it.

"What do you say? Will you help me?" Ruby pleaded with unnecessary but nevertheless persuasive puppy eyes.

"Of course, I will" Belle assured her.

Later that night, Ruby went to bed feeling at peace with herself and the world, knowing that everything would be fine and that she was not alone in the journey to becoming a mother.