The Royal Issue

Chapter 18: To be or not to be...

Bright light, really bright light. That's all I could see as I opened my eyes. I looked around and saw a hospital room. Why am I in a hospital? I looked down at my arms and saw an IV sticking out of my left arm. I also saw that I was dressed in a white hospital gown. The door snapped open and I saw Max walking into the room. It finally hit me why I was in the hospital. Images of the car accident and blood spun in my mind and I started hyperventilating. Max saw me and rushed directly to me, holding me and telling me to breathe,

"Hey, hey, breathe in, breathe out." I followed his breathing and after a while I started to calm down.

"Good girl." He kissed my forehead.

The doctor came in and both me and Max went straight into paying attention mode. The doctor came and started to talk about what happened and I cut him short.

"Is the baby ok?" I asked while Max held my hand. The doctor chuckled and nodded,

"Yes the baby will be just fine. I'm going to put you on bed rest. You did bleed out a lot." He replied. Max kissed the top of my head and I let out a deep sigh of relief. The doctor told us he would be back and left me and Max alone in the room. I wrapped my arms around my stomach thanking God the baby was alright. Max walked to the window and sighed. I looked over at him.

"Thanks for being here. It really means a lot to me." I said meaningfully. He turned to look at me with tears in his eyes.

"Where else would I be? I love you...I sure didn't show it two weeks ago...I should have been there for you.... you needed me and I just left you...I'm Sorry...I'm So sorry. I just panicked and...and." He started fully crying. I called him over to me and he sat on the bed with me. I wrapped his arms around him.

"I forgive you...but I understand why you ran. I wanted to run as well, hell I didn't want to deal with it when I found out. And I just blurted it out on you. I told you I was pregnant and that I wanted an abortion and that drove you to run from me." I whispered.

"No, you didn't. I just wanted to think about what to do and how to help you. I just went about it the wrong way. And I'm sorry. But I'm here now and I'll do whatever you want me to." He wiped his eyes. I sniffed and held his cheeks and looked into his eyes.

"I don't want you to just do everything that I say I want you to be a part of the decision making choices. This doesn't just affect me, this affects you as well. We make any decision on this together." I leaned in and kissed him.

We would get through this just fine. All that was left was to decide what to do about the baby.

I left the hospital with Max and he led me to my car. The paramedic was nice enough to drop my car off at the hospital, at the request of Max. I got in and picked up my phone, which was buzzing violently. I saw texts from Lilly and Theo and calls from them as well.

"I called them to tell them about the accident but then I told them you were fine after I got here." Max said. I forgot that he had their phone numbers. I nodded and Max helped me get into my car. He waited until I backed up to get into his car and follow me all the way home.

I parked my car and so did Max. He ran up to my side and opened the door, helping me out of the car.

"I'm not a baby, I'm not that weak." I chuckled.

"The doctor said you're on bed rest and you can never be too careful. You almost completely bled out. So come on let me take care of you." Max stated while walking me to the front of the house.

I unlocked the door and we walked in. "I wanna take a shower." I yawned.

"Good plan, then I can get you straight into bed." Max nodded his head. I looked at him curiously.

"What, you thought I wasn't going to stay here with you? I've already missed out on too much, I feel totally guilty and I can never say sorry enough to even fix what I did." He spoke.

"Ok, I'll get you some clothes." I started walking up the steps as Max followed close behind.

We got into my room and he led me into my bathroom and then I turned on my shower and decided to take a quick shower instead of a bath, like I wanted to. After my shower, I changed and walked downstairs slowly and saw that Max had changed into the clothes I was going to bring out for him.

"I found the clothes. Hope you don't mind." He told me. I shook my head no and he motioned for me to come over to him. Once I reached him, he held out his arms and I walked into his embrace. He hugged me tightly and I felt safe.

"I think we should go to the doctor's soon, like next week. Whenever my bed rest is over." I told him.

"Ok, your bed rest is over after next week so that's perfect timing." He nodded. He walked me back upstairs and helped me get into bed. He kissed my forehead and we went off to sleep.

For the next week Max was everywhere in my house. He practically did everything, cleaning, grocery shopping, helping me get up and go to the bathroom and more. He wanted to make up for not being around and honestly he did make up for it. We had gotten closer than ever and I'm glad he was here for me.

I was officially 10 weeks now and today we were going to the doctor's for a checkup. I was nervous but Max was coming with me and that helped me calm down a bit. He was going to drive me to the hospital. Just as I had gotten downstairs to put on my shoes, Max called saying he was here. I left my house and walked to his car, getting in and kissing him.

Once we reached the doctor's office, Max helped me out the car and we walked into the building, hand and hand. I got a regular checkup and we got to see the baby on the ultrasound machine and got pictures. Max cried a bit, and so did I. I guess me and Max were more attached than we thought.

On the way home I looked at Max and thought about what to do with the baby. Could I really get rid of this baby? I don't know if I could....

We got home and I turned to Max as we were walking up the stairs to my front door.

"Hey, can you come in, we need to talk." I said, he nodded his head and followed me in. I sat down at the table and so did he.

"So, I've been thinking for a while about what to do about our situation. But I'm sure it's clear that I care about the baby a lot. My body has slowly started to change and I find myself unable to keep my hands off my stomach. And I know we're not ready but....."

"You want to keep the baby. It's alright I know." Max interfered. I looked at him with tears.

"I know we're not ready but we'll figure it out. I'm here for you 100% of the way, you have my word." He exclaimed as I stood and walked over to his side and hugged him tight.

"Really? We're going to keep this baby? You're alright with this?" I tried to keep the tears from falling. Man I have cried more in these past few weeks than I ever have in my life. Must be the hormones.

"Yes, but it's gonna be difficult, we go to different colleges across from each other, how are we gonna see each?" He questioned. That's a good point, how would we do this, I mean I'm in New Jersey and he's in California.

"We'll keep going to school and just increase our talking and face timing. Plus my school offers online classes so I could take my classes anywhere." I said.

"Yeah so does mine, so I guess that solves school but what about the baby where would the baby stay? He questioned again. I forgot that he was a planner just like me.

"The baby could stay here with me, but when I go back to college I would have to take it with me, I can't just let my grandparents... OMG my grandparents!!!! I haven't told them." I stood up. I quickly turned to Max.

"Max, we can't tell anyone, well besides Lilly and Theo who already know. If my parents find out, who knows what they'll do." He nodded his head and put his hands on my shoulders and said in a calming voice.

"Don't worry we'll figure everything out and hopefully before the baby comes." And hugged me tight.

I guess we're going to become parents in 8 months, ready or not, I'm glad Max is here with me.

They decided to have the baby after all! I wonder if things will go as planned or if there will be twists and turns :-) I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter <3