AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Mrs. Green was behind the desk typing at the computer and looked up when she heard the door open. Seeing Elizabeth, she stood, walked around the desk, and held out her hand in greeting. “Hi, Elizabeth. It is so good to see you again.”
She turned to Mrs. Parks and shook her hand also. “Mrs. Parks. Thank you for coming. Let’s go ahead and go into my office so we can talk.”
She led them through the double glass doors and into her office. Mrs. Parks and Elizabeth sat down on the couch. Deloris Green handed the ladies bottles of water and took a seat in the chair across from them.
“So, Elizabeth, I guess you told your mother about your pregnancy?”
Elizabeth looked at the kind lady and nodded her head.
“I am so glad to hear that. When you left here last time, you were pretty set on having an abortion. Is that where you still stand?”
Mrs. Parks moved to the edge of the couch, grabbed her daughter’s hand, and looked at Deloris. “I know it is not really my place, but Elizabeth’s father and I have talked about this. You see, we had a feeling this was what was going on.”
Mrs. Parks then turned to face her daughter and with a firm, yet delicate look she continued. “Elizabeth, we want you to keep the baby. We will help you out. You can stay at home for as long as you need to. We will support you with finding a job. We know your new career is important to you. It is to us also. You won’t be alone. You and the baby can live with us. You know we have plenty of room. We really wish you would consider it.”
Pausing just long enough to make sure her daughter was really listening to what she was saying, Mrs. Parks made sure not to lose eye contact with Elizabeth. She saw fear in those eyes. This encouraged her to continue.
“It’s okay, honey. There is nothing you can say to make your dad or me mad at you. Honestly, yes, we are disappointed. But there are more things now to consider than just you. Please be honest. It will make it easier. You know we have always preferred the truth over lies.”
Elizabeth broke her mother’s eye contact, looked down at their interlocked hands, and squeezed. “I know. I am so lucky to have you and Dad. You are both so supportive of me, but I am so scared. This is not the plan I had. It was just a stupid choice and a huge mistake! Mom,” Elizabeth paused, scared to be completely honest with her mother, but knew there was no other way. “Mom, I need to tell you something. It won’t make you proud, but I need to tell you the truth.”
Elizabeth took a deep shaky breath; her face was creased with sadness. “Mom, I think I’m about thirteen weeks pregnant. That means I got pregnant the end of February, or early March. Here is the problem.”
Elizabeth started to cry. She could not stop the tears from streaming down her face. “There was this guy in college. Brady. We spent four years being together off and on. February was one month that we tried to be exclusive. It worked, mostly. Until it didn’t. Mom, I don’t think I can be sure who the father is! It is probably Brady, but I don’t know. I am so, so sorry. I embarrassed you and Dad. You didn’t raise me to act like this.”
At this she lost all control. Again, she found herself crying like a baby in Deloris Green’s office. Mrs. Parks reached over and grabbed her daughter up in a huge bear hug.
“Oh, my goodness. My sweet, sweet baby.” Tears ran slowly down Mrs. Parks face. She could not bear to see her daughter in this much pain.
“It is okay, I promise. Dad and I are not embarrassed. We could never be embarrassed by you. We will get through this. I promise. We love you so, so much.” She just continued hugging and rocking her daughter, the pain evident in both of their tears.
“Mom, I made choices I wanted to make, but I know they weren’t the best ones. I drank too much, and we had so much fun. Everything just started spiraling out of control. The worse choices I made, the more I felt you would not want to hear about it. I wanted to talk to you, but I felt like you would get so angry, so I kept everything to myself and just kept on with what I was doing. At the time it was fun, but I also felt so alone.”
“Well, I am not angry, and you aren’t alone anymore. Mrs. Green, is there a way we can get an ultrasound done here, today? I want Elizabeth to see the baby, and we need to see how far along she really is. That might make a difference.”
Deloris Green looked at the two women across from her. “Yes, there is. We have an ultrasound machine here. We can get you set up in a little bit. We have a Nurse Practitioner, who is also a volunteer here today. Let me give you two some time, and I will go get things set up.”
A little while later the two women were led into a sterile looking exam room. There was a lady in there dressed in black pants and a white blouse.
“Hi. I’m Grace, the Nurse Practitioner.” She leaned over and shook Mrs. Parks and Elizabeth’s hands.
“Elizabeth, if you will lie down on the bed and get comfortable, I will get the machine ready.” The nurse quickly adjusted the bed back to a reclined, seated position. Elizabeth looked at her mom and went to take her place with her mom by her side.
The nurse pulled a machine over. There was a small TV screen and what looked like a microphone attached to it. The nurse pulled the top of Elizabeth’s shorts down below her belly button.
“Okay, Elizabeth. I am going to put some gel on your stomach, it will be cold. I will then take this microphone looking thing and rub it on your stomach. The ultrasound waves will put a picture on the screen of your baby. We should be able to see the baby, figure out exactly how far along you are, and maybe—if we are lucky—hear the heartbeat. Do you have any questions?”
Elizabeth looked at the nurse, then at her mom. “Mom, why do I need to see this?”
“Because. Let’s just see. It won’t hurt anything.” Mrs. Parks took her daughter’s hand and smiled at her. Elizabeth smiled back and gave a sigh and a little nod to the nurse.
“Okay. You’re right. Whatever.”
The nurse put the gel on Elizabeth’s stomach, she wasn’t kidding. It was cold.
Light blue lines and blobs came on the screen. Elizabeth stared at the blobs and shapes she saw, but she didn’t recognize anything.
Suddenly, her mom let go of her hand in shock, and Elizabeth saw it. It was a head, and tiny arms. It almost looked alien-like, but there was no mistaking the eyes and nose and even the mouth.
