Bear | ✔

Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven

This is what I like to call the Catalyst Chapter. You'll eventually know why.

"Just a little bit to the right."

Leila flinched when the sudden coldness invaded her body once more. She wanted to groan, but of course, the picture of her mother's disapproval playing in her mind stopped her from doing so. She tried to ignore the discomfort she had felt as the icy gelatinous fluid was smeared all over her stomach and the doctor started tracing a random path over her somewhat spherical belly.

"The heart rate is normal," He announced and moved the scanning device a little further, much to Leila's discomfort. Just finish the stupid scan already, you pervert, She thought.

"The movements are regular," The doctor added and pointed his other hand to something on the screen that was beyond her eyesight. David's eyes moved to stare at the computer and his brows furrowed on confusion as the doctor began describing stuff that he didn't understand.

"The pressure is stable," He finished off with a grin and returned the digital snake back to its spot. Leila was given a tissue by the nurse to wipe away the sticky substance from her stomach. She sat back up and pulled her blouse down, exhaling a relaxed breath. She stepped down from the bed and moved to take a glance at the screen.

"Everything seems fine, Mrs. Gareth," The doctor said, turning back in his chair to face the both of them. "The baby is normal and healthy, probably eight-to-ten weeks old, which is considered a very important development stage. You might feel more hungry than usual and have way too frequent visits to the bathroom, but rather than that, the signs show that the fetus is positive. You just need to keep an eye on the food you eat. Make sure to eat three or more meals daily, in addition to varied fruits and fresh beverages. I will attach a list to your husband's e-mail so you could know your eating schedule."

Leila nodded feigning understanding, while in reality she didn't even pay attention to what he was actually saying. She had been so eagerly looking forward to returning back home and relax.

"Thank you, Doctor," She replied gratefully and went over to stand next to her parents, not sparing a glance towards them. Her mother was enthusiastic and she seemed way too hyperactive and demanding lately, throwing an order and a warning every now and then whenever Leila did something that could hurt the baby, while on the other hand, her father looked neutral. She could freely say that he didn't even care if she was going to have a baby or not. She didn't understand his behavior. Was he angry with her, because of the way she had acted the other night? But even though, he was never that ignorant before. What was going on here?

As they were ushered outside to the waiting room so that the other awaiting patients could come inside, Leila had to wait for the nurse to write down a note of every pain-killer, anti-biotic and iron-supplement she could ever need. She also added the link to her boss's YouTube channel so she could watch videos regarding pregnancy and handling newborns.

Was it really that hard to take care if a child?

The ride back home was silent. David and her father were sitting in the front, while Leila had to suck it up and occupy the backseat with her hyper-active mother. She tried to ignore her way-too-loud remarks by staring out the window, but even that wasn't of much help.

"Goodbye, David! Bye, Leila!" Samar waved back at them as they both stood on the pavement after being dropped at their hotel, watching the car retreat. Leila had to transfer to the passenger seat, so she did it without uttering another word. In fact, they both hadn't said anything to each other ever since that day at the motel. Leila went back to her daily ritual, only going out for food and smelling some fresh air. David was nowhere to be seen. They used Emily as their messenger, and as much as Leila hated to use the poor girl in that way, she didn't really have much of a choice. She didn't want to face him again, not now, not ever.