A Life We Never Expected

Part 14

A/N: I'm back y'all! I'm pretty sure nobody reads this anymore, probably because I only update it like once a year, but I decided to finish it anyway. This part isn't the last part, but we are nearing the end. This one is kinda short, but you'll see why at the end. Enjoy :)

On the morning that Emily officially entered her 37th week of pregnancy, she felt herself both calm and panic immensely.

Part of her calmed because she was now officially full term, so if her little girl decided to make her debut before Emily's actual due date, she would still be considered "on time." Emily was now significantly less worried because she knew that she wouldn't have a preemie when her daughter was born, unlike how Emily was when she herself was born. She had been born two months early, and she and her parents had had to contend with some of the problems that preemies face for a lot of the beginning of Emily's life.

However, she also slightly started to panic. She could now give birth at any moment. At any moment, she was going to be a mom. How would she handle caring for a child at eighteen years old along with attending college and working at the gym almost full time? She knew that her child would always be loved, and she knew that she and Grayson would do everything it took to take care of whatever their daughter needed, but she also knew that it wasn't going to be easy. Would she be an alright mother?

Emily pondered all of these things as she took a shower to get ready for her day. She had a doctor's appointment that morning that was her final appointment before the appointment on her due date. Grayson was going to meet her there after his morning class, excited to be at what he was hoping was the last appointment before his daughter came.

When she got out of the shower, Emily decided to Facetime her friend Pat as she got ready. Pat had the day off as well as Emily, and the pair had plans to go to lunch after Emily's appointment while Grayson went back to campus for his other class and his afternoon practice.

"Hey girl," Pat greeted, Emily seeing Pat set her phone up against the wall of her kitchen as her friend obviously cooked a late breakfast.

"Hey," Emily replied off camera, still not clothed enough to show herself.

"Are you excited for your doctor's appointment?" Pat asked.

"Yeah," Emily replied somewhat dismissively. Her doubts were still fresh in her mind, and her voice showed it.

"What's wrong?" Pat asked, concern etched into her face.

"Nothing," Emily started, trying to put her feelings into words. "It's just...am I going to be an okay mom?" she said finally, speaking the question that was at the forefront of her thoughts.

"You're gonna be an awesome mom," Pat said, a certain sense of finality in her voice. "I mean, you're already the best mentor ever for the kids at the gym, and you're great with all of your cousins' kids."

Emily sighed. "How am I going to be a good mentor to her, though? I mean, hell, I got pregnant by accident at eighteen years old. What kind of a mentor is that?" Emily asked.

"A human one," Pat replied almost instantly. "It shows that you are human and that things happen. You are making the best out of the situation you were put in, and you already love her so much. You are going to be a great mentor by showing her how to make the best out of things and by showing her how to love others, both of which you are amazing at."

Emily sighed once more. The rational part of her knew that Pat made sense. However, she still worried. "I hope so," she replied finally, picking up her phone and making her way into the kitchen to find something to eat.

"I know so," Pat replied. "What's brought all of this on anyway?" she asked.

"I'm officially 37 weeks and full term today," Emily started. After a moment, she added, "I guess I just realized today that she really can come anytime now. It's just wild to me, and also terrifying."

"That's understandable," Pat said. "But you are gonna be an amazing mom. And Grayson is gonna be an awesome dad. I swear, the two of you are going to be the best parents, regardless of how young y'all are."

Emily smiled. She was finally starting to feel better. "Thanks girl," she replied.

"Always," Pat replied. "Now, onto my next question. Are you ever going to tell me what you've decided to name this child of yours or do I have to wait until I hear it at her graduation?"

Emily laughed. "Well, Grayson and I still can't decide between the couple of names we've narrowed it down to. We've had her middle name picked for a while, but we're struggling on picking her first name," she answered.

Pat nodded. "I get it. Well, if you ever need an impartial third party, I'm always available," she said.

"I'll remember that," Emily replied with a smile. She quickly glanced at the clock on the stove and realized that she needed to leave or else she was gonna be late. "I gotta go, P. I'll see you at Rizzo's at one," she said, quickly reaching into a cabinet to grab a granola bar to eat on the way.

"See you then," Pat replied, the pair hanging up the phone as Emily quickly grabbed her purse and made her way to her car.

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"Well, Emily, you are at one centimeter dilated," Dr. Caldwell said as she stood to remove her gloves.

"Does that mean I'm about to go into labor?" Emily asked, her voice rising an octave as she began to panic.

Dr. Caldwell quickly shook her head. "Not necessarily. I still think there's a good chance you go to your due date. But, there is also a good chance that you go into labor before then," the doctor explained.

She said a few more things about that before moving on to her next topic. "Would you like to see her before you leave?" Dr. Caldwell asked, gesturing towards the ultrasound machine.

Grayson and Emily both agreed emphatically, jumping at every chance to see their daughter.

Twenty minutes later, Grayson and Emily made their way out to the parking lot with ultrasound pictures of their daughter and Emily's next appointment scheduled (on the off chance she didn't go into labor before then).

"So, I'll see you tonight?" Grayson asked as he moved to the driver's side of his car that was parked next to Emily's.

"See you then. Have a safe practice and a good class," Emily replied, kissing Grayson quickly before moving to get into her own car.

The pair waved to each other as they each made their ways to their next activities of the day.

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A Week and a Half Later

Emily knelt down beside the triangular mat at the gym, a task that she was barely able to do nowadays. She and Pat were coaching the pre-team girls this afternoon, and one of them had asked Emily to spot her on a backwalkover. Emily knew that the girl really only needed her there for mental support rather than any actual help, otherwise she would have gotten Pat.

She placed her hand underneath the girl's back, not actually touching her at all throughout the entire skill. "See Katie! I told you you could do it!" Emily cheered, the girl smiling and proud of herself for doing the skill on her own.

Emily moved to stand to walk over to another station that girls were practicing at. However, as she did she felt something begin to trickle down her leg. Her eyes widened.

"Pat," Emily called cautiously.

"Yeah girl?" Pat asked, turning around from where she was standing to watch one of the other girls.

"I think we need to get Gina to come take over this practice," Emily replied.

"Why?" Pat asked.

"My water just broke."

A/N: I had to build some suspense :). I'm starting the next part as this publishes, so hopefully I will see y'all soon!

-E