Ally was in the bathroom, nervously awaiting the results of her pregnancy test. After IUI treatment failed to work, Ally and Ivy decided to move onto IVF. This was their third round of IVF and the process had taken its toll on her and Ivy significantly over the past year. Ally had decided that this time she wouldn't get her or Ivy's hopes up. Losing the last two babies at eight weeks was the most painful and difficult thing the two had ever gone through as a couple, even worse than all the trauma and PTSD after 9/11. She thought that putting off the pregnancy test would make it less painful for her and Ivy if she miscarried again. She had the insane idea that by not confirming the pregnancy she would be able to cope if she started bleeding, simply blaming it on a bad period. She knew it was insane, but at this point she was too worried and emotionally exhausted from the pain they had endured in the past to be rational about the situation.
She had lasted five weeks without once thinking about the potential pregnancy, holding it in the very back of her mind. Over the past week however, Ally had started to notice herself feeling excited about the possibility that she may be pregnant for a third time. She had this strange gut feeling that this time was going to be different. Ally had tried to fight the feeling, knowing the pain that comes with getting your hopes up only for it all to come crashing down. But for some reason she couldn't shake this feeling, deep in her soul, that this time everything would be okay.
Another thing that gave Ally hope was her different symptoms this time around. Throughout her last two pregnancies, Ally spotted for the first four weeks, but this time there had been nothing. In fact, her period was now four weeks late. Her breast had also grown an entire cup size in one week, and they were incredibly sore, something that didn't happen at all the last two times.
It was Ivy who finally insisted she take the test, when she noticed how big and sensitive Ally's breast were when they were having sex. Ivy got so excited, she jumped off Ally and insisted she take the test right then and there. But Ivy had been working so hard lately trying to get their business of the ground that they hadn't had sex in three weeks and Ally needed to have her wife for a night. She wanted to show how grateful she was for all the hard work Ivy had been doing at the restaurant while Ally had been working from home, handling the logistics and finances of the business. Ally managed to distract Ivy for most of the night and eventually the topic left both their minds.
Another week had passed since Ivy had insisted Ally take the test; with the chaos and pressure of their new business both of them had been extremely distracted. It had now been 7 weeks since the embryo was implanted and Ally decided it was time to rip off the band aid. She sat on the chair in her bathroom, her phone, with the timer set, clenched firmly in her hand and the pregnancy test sitting on the bench in front of her. Ally tried her hardest not to get excited, despite her gut feeling that this time was going to be the one, she knew her history and she was T minus one week away from the end of yet another pregnancy.
Suddenly the timer on her phone rang, startling Ally and bringing her out of her thoughts. She took a deep breath in, trying to prepare herself for the results,
"Okay Ally, it's all going to be okay. Don't be negative, trust your body. The doctor said that most women don't have success with IVF until their third try. Trust your instincts, this time it's all going to be okay."
She took a deep breath in a last-ditch attempt to calm her nerves. She stood up, eyes closed, taking one last breath before picking up the test. She pulled her eyes open, staring down at the little white stick in her hand. Staring right back at her was a big, fat, pink plus sign. She was pregnant. Ally didn't know how to react, despite her being 98% sure she was definitely pregnant she was still so surprised. She suddenly had this huge glimmer of hope and a feeling that she was going to have a baby at the end of this pregnancy. Hot, happy tears began to spring from her eyes and she began to scream with excitement.
.......
Ivy was sitting in the kitchen, enjoying her first weekend off from their business in four weeks. She was catching up on some Netflix in the longue room eating a big fat bowl of popcorn when she heard Ally screaming upstairs. She shot up off the couch, the bowl of popcorn ending up on the floor and sprinted up the stairs and into their bedroom. She found Ally jumping up and down in their bathroom, tears pouring from her face,
"What's going on? Ally? Are you okay? What's happened? Are you hurt?" Ivy was puffing, her face plagued with worry. She approached Ally, embracing her in a big hug in an attempt to soothe her wife.
"Ivy, Ivy, let go of me! I'm okay baby, I am more than okay." Ivy let Ally go, Ally smiled, cupping her wife's sweet cheeks she gave her a deep, passionate kiss.
Ivy was so confused, but she couldn't resist her wife's kiss. It was hot and turned her on almost immediately. She kissed her wife back but pulled away first, looking Ally in the eyes
"Why were you screaming? You scared the life out of me, I tipped all my popcorn on the floor!" Ivy giggled, wiping away the tears on Ally's cheeks.
Ally grinned, a huge smile was plastered across her face, she began to speak really quickly,
"It is still only early and we are a week away from entering my body's miscarriage window but I just have this feeling Ivy. My body is already so different this time and I have this weird feeling I didn't have the other times that this is going to the one and I have tried to push my feelings down but I couldn't put it off any longer. I took the test, finally, and I'm pregnant!" She turned and grabbed the pregnancy test of the vanity behind her and passed it to Ivy.
Ivy was so overwhelmed with the word vomit that just poured out of her wife's mouth and the stick she just shoved in her hand that it took her a moment to register what Ally had said to her. Ally was still staring at Ivy with her big grin. In fact, Ivy didn't think she had seen her wife this happy all year, not even the other times she was pregnant. A huge smile crawled up onto Ivy's face,
"Ally baby, this is the best news ever and I know you are worried about another miscarriage but I have had the same feeling as you. For some reason, this time has felt different for me as well, and I am convinced that we are going to have a beautiful baby girl or boy in six months."
Ivy could no longer contain her excitement, she began to jump up and down frantically yelling,
"We're having a baby, we're having a baby!"
Ally was still a little apprehensive and worried about the next four weeks but the look on her wife's face right now was priceless. She walked over to Ivy and gave her a big loving hug and kiss,
"I think this time is going to be different too. I love you so much Ivy and I can't wait to start our family."
The couple were the happiest they had been in months, maybe this time really was going to be different. The pair walked back downstairs together, made some more popcorn and cuddled up on the couch to watch Netflix. For the first time in months, both Ally and Ivy felt like they could relax and truly trust that this long and painful process was finally going to work.
