Catching Feelings

Chapter 47

The day of Raven's doctor's appointment finally arrived. She and Drake had to sneak into the building so they wouldn't raise any suspicions. The last thing they needed was someone snapping a photo of them walking hand and hand into an ob-gyn's office. It had only been a little over a week since finding out about the pregnancy, and Drake was ready to burst like a bubble. He wanted the world to know that he was going to be a father. He felt pride in knowing that at this very moment, she was carrying his child. The only thing left now, was for the doctor to confirm it.

The two of them sat in a private reception area waiting for the secretary to call them. Raven flipped through a magazine while they waited, but Drake on the other hand was so anxious he could barely sit still. Every other minute he was up asking the receptionist how long until they were going to be called, or if the doctor was ready for them yet. Drake sat back down, his fingers tapped on the arms of the chair causing Raven to take her attention away from the magazine and look at him out the corner of her eyes.

"I'm about to get something to drink, you want anything?" He asked as he braced himself to get up, but Raven laid her hand on his arm to push him back into his seat.

"Please leave that woman alone, she's just doing her job, Aubrey."

"She can do her job a whole lot better if she gets off the phone." Drake looked over at said woman who was laughing it up on her phone. He then turned to Raven; his features now softened and rested his hand on her stomach. "I'm sorry babe, I just want to hurry up and get back there."

Raven laid her hand on top of his and kissed his lips to shush him. When she pulled back staring into his anxious eyes, there was no more doubt or second-guessing. She knew he was going to be a great father. "You're cute when you're like this." She said to him while wiping off the smudged lip gloss from his mouth. "So did your mom decide if she's coming to New York for Thanksgiving?" With Raven being pregnant Drake decided to spend the holiday back east with her family.

He shrugged his shoulders sitting back in his chair. "She wants to, but she hasn't been feeling well, so I don't know."

"Well if she doesn't we'll just have to fly out to Toronto to see her," said Raven. She knew how much he loved his mom and would want to celebrate their good news in person.

Drake nodded his head thinking it over. There was nothing important on his schedule anytime soon and they were already going to be in New York so it would be nothing to fly up to Toronto. "That sounds good, she'd like that." He replied before shifting his sights to the door that was recently opened.

A woman wearing pink scrubs with a clipboard in her walked into the room. "Ms. Perry, the doctor will see you now." She said with a smile. Drake practically leaped from his seat dragging Raven with him as they followed behind the nurse.

After a few questions and a pregnancy test, the nurse came back to the room with the printed out results. Raven was indeed pregnant. A few moments later a tall woman in a white coat with deep red hair that contrasted perfectly with her green eyes entered the room. She introduced herself as the head GYN, spouting off all of her accolades which put the parents to be mind's at ease, especially Raven. With her mother being an OB/GYN, she felt like she was betraying her by being there, but Raven had to be realistic, she couldn't exactly fly back and forth just for doctor's visits. Getting down to business, she laid back on the exam table as the doctor washed her hands.

Drake watched as the clear gel was squeezed onto her stomach, from the way she flinched at first contact he knew it was cold. He looked over at Raven and smiled knowing she was nervous, hell so was he. The doctor slowly slid the wand across her belly while watching the screen. The room was completely quiet; they were all waiting to find something, anything.

The doctor kept prodding; she moved the wand up a little further, but then quickly moved it back down. Her eyes peered at the screen and she let out an exciting gasp, "there it is!" Drake moved closer to get a better view of the screen. The doctor zoomed in on the fetus, "Based on what you told me, and from the size of the fetus, I'd say you're about six weeks along."

Drake looked at the undeveloped fetus in awe; he didn't take his eyes off of it for one second. "Wow Raven, do you see this?"

Raven just smiled gazing at Drake, he was so sure of everything and at that moment, she was too. "Yeah, it's amazing."

"It's so small." He said as he touched the spot on the screen that was his child,

"Give it time, it'll grow and bleed you dry." said the doctor. She took a photo of the fetus and then sat the wand down and turned up the lights. "Okay, now that, that's out of the way, I have a few concerns to go over."

"What concerns?" Drake asked.

"Well, this is your first pregnancy so you always want to take precautions, especially since you lead a very hectic life." She flipped through the folder on her lap looking over Raven's files. "I also see that you suffer from migraines, now I know this may be hard, but I'm going to insist that you stop taking your prescribed medication."

"Of course, I figured that much," said Raven.

"If the pain gets too severe, just drink some peppermint tea, and try to relax. I also want you to take it easy for your first trimester. Whatever stress you have in your life, eliminate it; I want this to be a stress-free pregnancy." The doctor said focusing the last part on Drake.

Drake gave a perplexed look at the green eyes centered on him. "Why are you looking at me?" he asked.

"Because she knows that men are the leading cause of stress," said Raven as she smiled and caressed his cheek.

The doctor laughed with her and stood up. "I'll leave you to get dressed. My receptionist will schedule your next appointment and you a few pamphlets of things to know. Any questions before I go?"

"Yeah, can we still have sex?" Drake interjected. It's been on his mind all week and she did ask if they had any questions. He wasn't sure if it was okay with the baby and all.

"Aubrey!" Raven slapped his arm embarrassed by his question.

The doctor smiled at their antics, "That's a perfectly honest question, and the answer is, yes. You won't do any harm to the baby."

He nodded, still feeling a bit uncertain while avoiding Raven's scowl. "Thanks, doc."

"I'll see you two-four weeks from now, and congratulations." She exited the room leaving the bickering couple alone.

As Drake cruised through the traffic, Raven sat in the passenger seat with her focus set on the black and white ultrasound photo in her hand. She couldn't believe that she actually considered abortion as an option. As she stared down at the tiny spec that didn't resemble a baby as of yet, she couldn't help but feel the attachment growing for the life inside of her.

The car was too quiet. Drake briefly took his eyes off the road to glance over at Raven. He watched her as she silently stared down at the picture in her hands. "You okay babe, why are you so quiet?" he asked.

His voice pulled Raven from her thoughts, causing her head to turn towards him. "I'm good; I was just thinking that's all." She said with a small smile.

"About?"

Just as Raven was about to say something, her whole train of thought changed when she saw a pink and purple fluorescent light. Her face lit up like a child spotting the ice cream man as they were approaching a Taco Bell. Raven tapped his arm vigorously and pointed out the window. "Aubrey pull over so we can go through the drive-thru, I'm starving."

Drake laughed shaking his head as he changed lanes so she could calm down. "What happened to their food being nasty and unauthentic?" He teased and she rolled her eyes.

"Leave me alone, I've been craving it for days. It's not my fault whoever this is in here has nasty taste buds like someone else I know." She replied looking directly at him. Whenever Raven didn't feel like cooking or going to a restaurant Drake always opted for Taco Bell. Judging from the way her mouth was watering the apple didn't fall far from the tree.

He shook his head at her while pulling into the long drive-thru. "Nah, don't try to blame that on my son, you know you like it."

Raven shifted in her seat to face him head on. "What makes you so sure it's a boy? There's a fifty-fifty chance we could have a little Raven instead of a little Aubrey."

Drake laughed brushing the thought off. "I don't think so."

"Why are you so against us having a girl?" she asked. In all honesty, Raven didn't care what gender their child was because she knew it would be loved regardless.

"Because if we were to have a girl she'd be just like you."

"Okay and what is that suppose to mean?" she asked, sounding offended.

When he saw those arms fold and her jaw set, it let him know that she was on the defense. He uncrossed her arms and turned her chin to face him. "It means, she'd be beautiful just like her mother," he said in his smooth tone that he used whenever he needed to get out of the doghouse with her. She leaned over to kiss him, only pulling away when loud honks came from behind them. The car in front of him moved, allowing him to pull up to the speaker box. The woman taking their order asked him to wait a second so he turned back to Raven. "Besides, then I'd have to deal with niggas tryin' to come at her, and with all the shit I've done-" He suddenly stopped himself in the middle of his sentence realizing he was about to take their conversation in a direction that he wasn't ready to go. Just as Raven fixed her lips to say something, the woman in the box asked to take their order. After silently thanking her for the interruption, he looked to the woman sitting beside him. "Um, you ready to order babe?" he asked cautiously.

Raven side-eyed him skeptically, wanting so desperately to hear him finish what he was about to say, but she was hungry so she let it slide. "... Yeah, I'll have a chicken quesadilla, two nacho Dorito tacos, a crunch wrap supreme with extra sour cream on the side, and a large pink lemonade freeze." The look on his face as she ran down her order was priceless. Raven smirked knowing full well what he was thinking. "Don't start with me, Aubrey."

"What? My mouth is shut." Said Drake, and he went on to order the food. "Hello, how are you..."

~~~~~~

After the two of them ate, they stopped in and out of a few stores doing their best to avoid the paparazzi. It wasn't long until flashing cameras and people wanting autographs started to crowd the windows of the boutique they were in. Normally Spoons would act as a linebacker, providing a clear path to walk through, but unfortunately, he wasn't there at the moment. After the cashier rang their items up, she asked to take a picture with the two of them, which they kindly agreed to. Once the photo was taken, Drake looked at the crowd forming and figured they should leave now before it grew any larger. He held all the bags in one hand, taking Raven by the other, and moved towards the exit. As soon as they got outside they were welcomed by bright flashes and photographers shouting for them to look this way and that way. Drake's hold on Raven was tight making sure he kept her close to him. The paparazzi were known to be very pushy and he didn't want any accidents to occur especially with Raven being pregnant. When they got to the car, he opened up the passenger side door first allowing her to get in. She took the bags and sat them on the backseat while he got in. Drake wasted no time taking off away from the madness.

While Drake drove, he realized that he had no idea where exactly he was driving to. The sun was beginning to set as he cruised along the 405 with no destination in mind. Drake checked the time on the dash and then glanced over at Raven. "Where are we going now?" he asked.

Raven smiled, facing him with soft eyes clouded with lust as she caressed the hairs on the nape of his neck. "Well, we could go to my place and..." her motions stilled seeing that he was unresponsive. Raven figured that he noticed, that she noticed when he turned to her with a phony smile on his face. She pulled her hand back slapping his arm along the way. "Damn it Aubrey, what is your problem? I've been practically throwing myself at you for the last two days and you haven't so much as blinked an eye." Raven had already been without his touch the whole week they weren't talking, but now that they were back on each other's good side, she was ready to be with her man.

Drake leaned back in his seat running his right hand down his face as he relaxed his left on the steering wheel. It was true that he was avoiding being intimate with her, but he didn't think she'd notice this soon. He rested his hand on her denim-clad thigh giving it a light squeeze to get her attention. "It's not you Raven. I want to; it's just different now that you're pregnant. I don't want to do anything to hurt the baby."

"So that's what it is?" she asked, relieved that it wasn't anything deeper than that. "Aubrey the doctor said that it's fine for us to have sex. It's completely natural." She said as she rubbed circles on the back of his hand with her thumb.

"I know, but that still doesn't make me feel any better. It's just some shit that I need to work out." He said and Raven nodded her head. She turned on the radio letting the music overpower the silence that filled the car. As Drake drove on, he stole occasional glances at Raven noticing that she hasn't looked his way once. "Now you're mad at me?" He asked before cutting the radio off.

Raven ran her fingers through her hair. If anything she was frustrated, but somehow she couldn't bring herself to be upset with him for something like that. "I'm not mad, I'm just really horny." She said with a laugh. These new feelings that were coming about with her body change had her wanting to jump his bones every time he opened his mouth, but she was going to respect his feelings and give him time. She just hoped he wouldn't have her waiting too long. "So are we going out tonight?" Raven asked.

"I was thinking about just staying in tonight. We could get a bunch of junk, some movies, and chill my place."

"That sounds cool," Raven replied. So Drake took the Mulholland Drive exit heading in the direction of his house with plans to relax in solitude.