"Regina quit it before I tie your behind up." Christian said as he blocked a punch aiming for his face. When Christian opened the door he had hoped that after a week of pouting Regina would have finally come to apologize, but he was wrong. He had no idea what brought on the impromptu beating.
"I hate you so much." Regina yelled as her punch landed in the center of Christian's chest.
"What the heck did I do?" Christian asked finally having enough of Regina's tantrum; he grabbed her by the wrist and pinned them to her sides.
"What is wrong with you, talk to me." He demanded and Regina collapsed into his arms as she cried.
"You got me pregnant you douchebag." She cried into his shirt. Christian's breath caught in the center of his chest as his eyes widened with surprise, he looked down in to Regina's tear stained face too see if she was joking.
"For real?"
"Yes you idiot why would I lie about something like that?" she cried ready to start punching him again.
"Okay enough with the punching talk to me." Christian said pulling Regina to the sofa and made her sit down as he knelt down in front of her.
"This is all your fault." She said wiping her eyes.
"How is it just all my fault I didn't force you to have sex with me."
"You should have worn a condom."
"You should have been on birth control." He tossed back at her and Regina narrowed her eyes.
"I don't see why you're getting all worked up; we are both adults with well-paying jobs. We love each other; we made love and created a baby it happens." He said with a huge grin plastered onto his face as he thought about the fact that he was going to be a father. "This is great news wait until I tell mom, she is going to flip, but your dad will want to kill me." He said barely able to contain his excitement.
"I told you I don't want kids."
"There's nothing we can do about it now." He said waving her off as his imagination began to take over; he imagined playing baseball in Grand Central Park with his son, as Regina watched from under a tree as she carried their second child.
"I'm not keeping it," Regina said
"What did you just say?" he asked as his daydream bubble popped.
"I said I'm not keeping it, I told you from the beginning I don't want kids, I'm not meant to be a mother."
"So just like that, you get to decide without my input." He said as his hands balled into fists.
"Why do you need to have a say when it's my body."
"It's my child!" he bellowed as he stood up he was almost at his breaking point and was afraid that if he didn't get as far as he could from Regina he would do something he would regret.
"I shouldn't have said anything to you, I knew you wouldn't understand." She scoffed.
"Regina if you abort our baby I'll never forgive you," he said never looking back at her. Having nothing else to say Regina walked out of the house and went to work. When she had gotten the call from her doctor during her lunch break, she just went straight to Christian's place, which was a huge mistake. Pushing her personal issues to the side her focus was on finally getting Jess down the aisle to marry the man of her dreams.
When she walked into the office, Teresa was busy working on a floral arrangement when Teresa noticed Regina's swollen face.
"What the heck happened to you?"
"Nothing, call me when Jess gets here." She said passing Teresa by and heading straight for her office. Shutting the door behind her, she flopped down onto her sofa and covered her face with a pillow.
This is stupid, why did I bother telling him anything?
She placed her hand on her stomach and tried to imagine what the life growing inside her for a little bit over six weeks looked like.
It doesn't even have eyes yet. She thought as she tried to detach herself from the intruder growing inside her. Regina knew that if she were going to have an abortion she would have to do it soon before she ruined three lives instead of one.
"Selfish," a voice said causing Regina to look over her pillow at Verity's frowning face.
"What?"
"I'm calling you selfish, why are you hogging all of the Swedish fish," Verity said grabbing the five-pound bag of Swedish fish from her desk.
"I gave you a zip-lock bag full of them this morning."
"I ate them all," Verity said missing the point.
"I swear you are evil when you're pregnant."
"I can't help it for these to be sugar-free that are delicious." She said popping three Swedish fish into her mouth.
"Are you okay?" She mumbled.
"Yeah, I'm fine."
"Did you go to the doctor like I told you; you've been looking a little off."
"Yes I went and I'm fine," Regina said sitting up.
"Well, something's up so what is it?"
"Nothing Verity just go about your business eating up all of my candy."
"Fine, I'll do that." She said before she waltzed out of her office with the candy in hand all Regina could do was shake her head as she pulled herself up from her seat.
"Gina, Jess is here." Teresa chimed in on the intercom. Regina met Jess out in the front and she could tell that Jess was ecstatic.
"You look like you're about to fly right out of your chair," Regina said with a laugh as she hugged her.
"I'm really excited it looks like it will finally happen this time."
"It will didn't I tell you to trust me."
"I do." She said her brown eyes gleaming with excitement. "Leo is getting his tux fitted so it'll just be me and you tonight."
"Great that'll give us more time to talk about your bachelorette party," Regina said as Verity walked up to them still carrying the bag of candy.
"Did I hear something about male strippers?" Verity grinned.
"No strippers Verity," Jess said
"Come on there has to be strippers I didn't get to have a bachelorette party, so I'm living vicariously through yours Jess."
"Plus we don't need Dimitri or Leo breaking up the fun trying to gouge your eyes out," Regina said as they walked into the mock reception area to go over the final arrangements. After their meeting, Regina met with two more clients that day before going home. By the time, she was on her way home she was dragging. She just felt physically drained and the pressing issues on her mind made her drag along even slower. Dropping onto her bed Regina placed her hand on her stomach.
"I can't be what you need me to be." She said aloud as she convinced herself that she was making the right choice.
****
Regina couldn't help but grin as she admired her handiwork; the church rented out for Jess' wedding was filled with purple and white roses, the pews were draped with white silk, and candles were lit throughout the church giving the vintage church a more romantic feel. Walking back into the minister's study Regina checked in on Leo and the groomsmen.
"Regina please tell me I'm not dreaming," Leo said as Regina fixed his tie.
"You're not dreaming buddy, you're finally getting married to that beautiful woman you've been chasing for over two years."
"I'm just ready to sign the papers and get to the honeymoon." He confessed
"Patience is a virtue, my friend." She said with a laugh. "In about five minutes Ramona will come and get you so you can take your place," Regina informed the group before she walked out of the study and made her way to the vestibule of the church where Jess was waiting anxiously. Regina admired Jess in her dress; the purple material complemented her tanned skin, the sweetheart bodice was adorned with crystals that Jess had meticulously replaced after her dress had been destroyed.
"Jessica you look amazing," Regina said as she held her tears back.
"I'm nervous," Jess blurted out.
"After all of this waiting, I would think you would be more impatient like Leo."
"Is he really?"
"Yeah, apparently he's more concerned about the honeymoon," Regina said wiggling her eyebrows making Jess laugh. A loud gasp came from behind them grabbing the women's attention, to find Verity standing behind them looking at Jess as tears streamed down her face.
"Jess you look... you look... God girl I am so happy for you." Verity said with a sob as she hugged Jess.
"Stop it, Verity you're going to make me cry," Jess said with a sniff.
"Yeah, Verity stop before I cry," Regina said fanning away her tears. "Okay, enough of this mushy stuff it's time to start," Regina said as she ushered Verity into her place with the rest of the bridesmaids. Regina watched as Jess made her way down the aisle and she looked at the love in Leo's eye as he proudly waited for his bride. Before she left to go to the reception Regina instructed Ramona on a few things before rushing off to the gallery where the reception would take place. Regina's heart dropped to the ground when she saw that nothing was done.
"Teresa I am not paying you to just stand around. Why is nothing done!" Regina yelled as she charged for Teresa.
"Don't start Regina this wasn't my fault, the truck just got here, go ask Carlos what the hell happened." She said as she walked away from Regina in order to oversee the putting up of the tent.
The minute Carlos saw the look on Regina's face he knew that he was in for a beating.
"What happened!?" Regina yelled as she hit him in the arm.
"I got caught in traffic."
"Where did you go after you left the office?"
"I got hungry..." he trailed off as he gave Regina a sheepish grin. Regina was about ready to jump onto Carlos' back when Teresa called her.
"Gina the flowers are here."
"Remind me to kill you when this is over." She said rolling her eyes at Carlos before storming away.
Regina worked swiftly with the few people she had at her disposal, she even called her mom to be Sandra to help, who was more than happy to lend a hand. Regina had just lit the final candelabra when Jess and Leo arrived.
"Oh my god, Gina it's beautiful," Jess said as she admired the Moroccan-inspired scene. The tent was covered with beautiful silk tapestry that was different shades of plum, red, and gold.
"I feel like I'm in a Moroccan place dining hall," Jess said as she rolled her chair over to the dais table when Verity walked in.
"Wow, Gina you really outdid yourself," Verity said patting her on the back. "You look exhausted." She whispered.
"We had some... issues but I handled it like a pro." Regina beamed.
"Let's go newlyweds its picture time," Verity said breaking up the intimate moment between Leo and Jess.
****
A loud tap on the microphone caused the room to fall into complete silence as all eyes glued onto Leo's mother Mary. Regina was hoping that she wouldn't have to body slam the woman for saying the wrong thing. Regina just wanted to get through the cake cutting so she could send the beautiful couple off on their honeymoon where they could be in-law free for two weeks.
"I would like to thank everyone for coming to witness my son and Jessica's big day. It hasn't been easy for me to let go of my baby and I know it hasn't been easy for Jessica's family either. I know that I can sleep peacefully tonight knowing that my son has chosen a woman who is kind, and loves him very much...." Mary trailed off as she wiped her tears away and held up a necklace. "Jessica this necklace belonged to my mother it was given to her by my grandmother and now I want you to have it. I promise to treat you as if you were my own, will you accept it?" she asked and Jessica, who was crying a river nodded her head yes before Mary hugged her.
Regina looked and Verity and she wore the same shocked expression on her face as Regina but the look of pride on Leo's face was priceless. The guest erupted into a roar of cheers and Mary placed the necklace on Jess.
After things calmed down a bit, Regina picked up the microphone with Verity, right beside her, and said,
"Jessica and Leo you know how much we love you guys. Verity and I couldn't just let today go without getting you two a gift but we kind of went overboard." Regina said with a cringe before Verity snatched the mic away from her.
"It's a pretty big gift so it had to stay outside, so you'll have to follow us to go get. Let's go, everyone." Verity said sounding like Dora the explore ready to go off on an adventure.
"What did you two get us?" Jess asked as they followed behind Regina and Verity.
"You'll see." Regina beamed as her heart began to beat with excitement. Regina and Verity lead the whole party deeper into the garden until they came to a stage that was set up by a little pond.
"Mr. and Mrs. Collins and guest let's give a warm welcome to our friend Mia Phoenix!" Verity yelled and the crowd erupted into applause as Mia stepped out onto the stage as she played the introduction to Firehouse's 'Love of a Lifetime. Jess and Leo looked on in complete shock.
Regina watched as Leo and Jess sang along with Mia to each other, seeing them together made her long for Christian but she knew that what they had was over. There was no way she could bring a child into the world, it would just be wrong.
Settling in for the night Regina found herself singing 'Love of a Lifetime', she wished that she could sound half as good as Mia singing it. Her cell phone rang and she smiled when she saw Jess' smiling face.
"I thought you would be on the plane by now."
"We're getting ready to board but we just wanted to call and thank you for everything today Gina. The wedding was more than I could ever possibly want; I never thought I could be this happy." Jess said and Regina could tell that she was starting to cry.
"You're welcome, if anyone deserves to be happy it's you, Jess, stop crying, and go enjoy your honeymoon. See you when you get back." Regina said before hanging up with a laugh before heading off to bed.
****
Lying on the table Regina's eyes widened as she heard the faced paced heartbeat that filled the room.
It has a heartbeat already. She thought as she looked at the screen in search of the little alien inside of her.
Don't look at it. She told herself as she turned her face away. Once the examination was over Regina dressed and the doctor returned with two packages in hand.
"When you get home take this pill labeled one." He said handing over the first pill carton. "This is will block the hormone progesterone. Without progesterone, the lining of the uterus breaks down, and the pregnancy cannot continue." He said his tone was monotonous as if he was unaffected by what he was saying or by knowing what the pills would do.
"This second one causes the uterus to empty. You will have cramps and bleed heavily. You might even experience some bleeding before you take this pill. Any questions?"
"How-how long will this take?"
"Some women abort within four or five hours after taking the second pill but for others, it may take a few days. I must warn you that once you take the first pill I advise you to finish with the rest of the medicine. If you wish to continue with the pregnancy after taking the first pill your baby will be born with some defects, so make sure that this is what you want to do. If you don't take the pills for whatever reasons within the next week and you still want an abortion then you will have to come in for the in-clinic procedure."
Regina just looked at the man as she tried to process all of the information he had given her.
"Do you have any more questions?"
Regina shook her head no.
"Okay then, the nurse will schedule a follow-up appointment with you. Have a nice day."
Have a nice day, how can I have a nice day when...
Regina was on auto-pilot as she drove home and walked into her bathroom with the pill packs in hand. Staring down at the white pill in her hand tears slid down her face as the battle raged within her. If she took the pills, she was dead and if she didn't take the pills she was dead; either way, her life was screwed up. Filling a glass with water from the tap the doorbell rang. Grateful for the diversion Regina packed the medicine away into her cabinet her decision could wait for a little while longer.