If Not For You

Chapter 43

School went by too quickly for Kelly.  The one time she wanted it to go on forever it sped past.  She knew that as soon as the doctor told her she was pregnant, she couldn’t pretend it wasn’t true anymore.  She had found herself subconsciously rubbing her belly all day and she wasn’t sure how she felt about it.  There was a part of her that wished she would go to the doctor’s office and they would tell her it was all a mistake.  She and Jenna would laugh about her error and Kelly could go back to being on the other end of the statistics.

Jenna and Kelly sat in the waiting room of the clinic until they called Kelly's name.  Kelly and Jenna rode together from the school parking lot to the office.  The awkward car ride spilled over to the awkward silence in the doctor's office.  Jenna could tell that Kelly was nervous and she wasn't sure how to comfort her.  "Are they going to squeeze that crap on my stomach?"

Jenna wanted to say something reassuring but she didn't know how any of this stuff went.  "I'm not sure."  Jenna looked down at Kelly's belly.  She wasn't showing yet but when Jenna asked how far along she thought she was Kelly had just shrugged.  They sat there side by side again in silence until a nurse came out "Kelly Jefferson."

Kelly turned to Jenna and her face showed her fear.  Jenna nudged her and together they walked into the examining room.  The nurse introduced herself and they found out that she was in fact a midwife.  "Hello my name is Joelle.  I am going to be your midwife.  SO which one of you is Kelly?"

Kelly smiled weakly and hesitantly acknowledged that she was the unfortunate one.  "Me.  I am Kelly."

Jenna thrusted her hand forward.  "Hi I'm Jenna, the child's father."  She was trying to lighten mood.  Both Kelly and Joelle laughed.

"So how far along are you Kelly?"  Kelly looked embarrassed and looked down to the ground.  "I'm not sure."

Joelle smiled assuring.  "It's okay.  How about you lay down here and pull up your shirt."  Kelly obeyed.  "Alright Hun, I just need you to unbutton and pull down your jeans just enough so I can get a good look at the baby."  Joelle reached out towards her sonogram machine and pulled out what looked like a clear ketchup bottle.  Jenna laughed out loud when Joelle stated, "alright this might be a little cold."  Kelly let out a small knowing laugh too.  Joelle obviously didn't know what they were laughing at so she quickly got to work.

Joelle pulled the wand off of the ultrasound machine.  "Alright are you ready to meet your baby."  Her smile was infectious and Kelly seemed to be getting into the excitement.

She smiled and nodded her head.  "Sure."

Joelle started pushing the wand all over Kelly's stomach and the next thing they heard was the baby's heart beat.  Kelly looked at Jenna and was overwhelmed with emotion.  The black and white screen quickly filled up with a shape of a baby.  Joelle looked over at Kelly, "well it looks like you are about twenty one weeks along."

Kelly nodded her head but Jenna could tell by the look in her eyes that the information meant nothing to her so Jenna spoke up.  "Um, dumb question but how many weeks does it take?"

Joelle didn't seem fazed by the naivety of the girls.  She answered without missing a beat.  "Usually it takes about 40 weeks to go full term.  Not everyone makes it full term.  Usually at 32-34 weeks and the baby will still be healthy."

"So if she is 21 weeks then she is a little more than 5 and a half months?"  Jenna asked and Kelly was grateful for that.  "Can you tell the date of conception?"

Immediately Kelly's ear perked up.  "You can do that?"  It hadn't occurred to Kelly that finding out the conception date was an option.  Unlike popular belief she wasn't as big of a slut as everyone thought she was.  If she could find out when the baby was conceived she would definitely have an idea of who the father could be.  Unfortunately even though if she could find out exactly who it was the chances that anyone she had slept with would actually give a damn were slim to none.