Becoming Rory

chapter ten

At eighteen weeks pregnant, Rory and Sadie made their way to Rory's doctor's appointment.

"I'm so excited," Sadie said, bouncing in the passenger seat, "we're going to find out the sex of the baby today," She squealed.

"If they can get a clear image," Rory pointed out for the millionth time, "plus, those pictures aren't that accurate. Do you have any ideas how many mistakes they make?"

Sadie sighed, then grabbed Rory's hand, squeezing it in reassurance, "I know, babe. They probably make a lot of mistakes, I know you're scared," Sadie reassured her. She had quickly learnt how to see through Rory's layers. When she was feeling anxious or stressed, she had a tendency to not only imagine the worst but convince everyone else to know the worst. She needed everyone to be aware of the risks so that she wasn't the only one 'prepared'.

Rory relaxed as she squeezed her girlfriend's hand. There were so many things to worry about in a pregnancy. She was in the second trimester now, and all new sorts of problems have begun to emerge. There could be so many things wrong with her baby and she wouldn't even know it. If she had done something, anything, that could have compromised the baby's safety and wellbeing, she would have failed as a mother before she even gave birth.

Noah was meeting them there, fifteen minutes before the appointment was scheduled, per Rory's request. Her pet peeve was people being late, so she never wanted to be an accomplice to tardiness. Noah and Sadie both knew this, so they put up no complaints when they were told to be there early, even though they both knew that all three of them would wind up sitting in the waiting room for fifteen minutes.

Rory dreaded introducing them, simply because she had no idea how it would go. Their relationship would also set the tone for the whole idea of the three of them raising a child together. Rory didn't expect them to love each other, or even like each other, the first time they met, but she hoped that they could stand to be around each other.

"Are you alright, Ror?" Sadie asked, seeing the sudden flash of panic on her girlfriend's face.

Rory nodded, breathing shakily, "I'll be fine. I'm just worried, you know? There are so many things that could go wrong,"

Sadie squeezed her hand again, "I know. It'll all be fine. If anything goes wrong, we'll get through it together," She told her girlfriend.

Rory let out a deep breath, at ease under the spell of Sadie's words. It was exactly what she needed to hear. She didn't want people to tell her that everything would be alright, that they wouldn't be one of the unlucky ones, she needed people to tell her that whatever was thrown their way, they would make it through.

Sadie was an optimist. She didn't like to think of the worst-case scenario, which was why Rory shoving it down her throat every minute of the day had proven difficult. Sadie wanted to support her but didn't know if she was helping at all. She had always liked to look on the bright side, to think of the best.

When they pulled up to the doctor's office, Rory saw Noah standing in front of the doors, looking at his phone and waiting for them to go in. She smiled, remembering all the times that she had tuned him up for not waiting outside, so she would have to enter alone. It seemed that he had finally gotten into the habit.

She turned towards Sadie, "Are you sure you'll be okay?" She asked. She didn't want to push Sadie into this if it was too soon.

Sadie nodded. She knew that she would be fine. She had prepared for this, plus she wasn't the one that had to be insecure. Rory had chosen her. Rory was building a life with her. Sadie was prepared for Noah to know Rory extremely well since they had lived together since they were kids.