When I Met Her....

Broken

*AMBER (OBGYN) IN THE MEDIA*

Broken

Steph's POV

"Mrs.Eaton, the doctor will see you now." A nurse at my OBGYN office says.

"Okay." I say, rising from my seat.

     I follow the nurse down a hall and into one of the patient rooms with the machine for the ultrasound and a reclining table-like-chair for me to sit on. I climb onto the chair and wait for the doctor. A few minutes later Dr.Collins walks in.

"Hi Steph." She says smiling.

"Hi Amber. How are you?" I ask politely.

"I should be asking you the same question." She laughs. "When I heard you were pregnant I couldn't believe it."

"I couldn't believe it either." I smile.

"Well let's just see how you doing." Amber says, setting her clipboard down and pulling her stethoscope from around her neck.

     She puts the stethoscope earpieces into her ears and the chest piece to my chest.

"Take a deep breath." She says.

     She moves the stethoscope to my back.

"And another."

"Okay, you breathing sounds good."

     She moves the earpieces from her ears and pulls the blood pressure cuff from a pocket on the wall next to the door. After she checks my blood pressure she puts it back.

"Everything sounds good. Let's see about the baby." She smiles, pulling up the rolling stool from under the desk across the room.

     I lift up my shirt and wait for her to squeeze the cold blue gel onto my stomach.   She presses the ultrasound tools to my stomach and my baby appears on the screen.

"So your about 20 weeks long yes?"

"Yeah." I sigh, looking at my baby on the screen.

"Would you like know the gender of the baby?" Amber asks.

"Yeah, of course."

"Your having a girl." Amber smiles sweetly.

     Tears fill my eyes to the brim and I smile happily.

"Do you want to hear her heartbeat?"

     I nod.

      Amber touches a knob on the machine and a strong little heartbeat fills the room.

"Its beautiful." I cry.

      This was the first time I'd heard her heartbeat. Amber wasn't here for my last appointment and the last OBGYN didn't ask.  I really wish Robert was here but he had a work emergency at the hospital. I let him go without a fuss because he had been doing really good at  spending more time with me.

     Amber hands me some paper towels to wipe away the gel from my stomach before I pull my shirt back down.

"Have you started on prenatal vitamins?" Amber asks picking back up her clipboard.

"No." I admit embarrassingly, "I don't know which ones to take, which ones are the best. Its been so long since I was pregnant." I laugh.

"I agree." Amber chuckles, "You and I were pregnant about the same time right?"

"Um hmm."

"Well the best prenatal vitamins right now are the Vitamin of Life Garden Code pills. You can get them from a pharmacy. If they're not on the shelf then you should ask the pharmacist."

"Okay. Thank you." I say, hopping down off the chair.

"Your welcome." Amber smiles. "You take care of yourself and that baby."

     She pulls me into a hug before leading me out of the room.

     When I got to the car I pulled out my phone to text Laurel.

Did you make it from school okay?

Yes. Macey bought me home.

Okay. I'm omw right now.

Kk.

     I clicked my phone off before putting the car in reverse.

********************

     Pulling into the car garage, I lock the door before walking into the house.

"Laurel." I call.

"In here." she calls back from what sounds like the living room.

     I drop my purse on the bar counter an follow the sound of her voice. She sitting on the couch in her pajama short set, her face bare of any makeup. I can immediately tell it didn't go well. 

     I sit down next to her and she looks up at me, then the back at the TV. The pain I know she is in is evident with just a quick glance.

"Do you want to talk about it?" I ask.

"I don't know." She whispers shrugging.

"So it didn't go well?"

"We're definitely broken up for good." Laurel says, tears falling soundless down her cheeks.

    I pull her to my chest, resting my cheek on top of her head.

"And it hurts so bad because I love her so much." Laurel sobs.

     I rub her back soothingly.

"I'm sure she loves you too. Maybe now just isn't the right time. She may just need some space."

"I hope so." Laurel sniffs.

"Don't stress about it. If she doesn't come to her senses then there are plenty of other people who would love to have your attention." I assure her, kissing her on her forehead.

     It hurt me to see her hurting so much. Even though I'm not her  biological mother it hurts worse than my own pain to see my child hurting. And knowing there was nothing I could do about it makes it even worse.

"Your father and I still love you very much. No matter what you will always have us." I promise her.

     I feel her nod against my chest and tighten her arms around my waist.

     I kick my shoes off, pulling my knees up onto the couch so we could lay back on the couch.

     I wish somehow I can take the pain away. The pain of rejection. The pain of loving someone who doesn't love you the way you love them.  Its only when you realize that you can't make them love you back no matter how hard you try, is when your truly broken.

This Chapter's Song Inspiration:

"I Can't Make You Love Me" by Adele