The next morning, Johnny and I made breakfast, me teaching him how to cook on the stove, throwing up occasionally at the smell of cooking eggs.
“This is going to be harder than I thought,” I muttered, cleaning my mouth, before heading back into the kitchen from the bathroom.
“Well, they say that the first few months are the hardest,” Johnny said.
“Yeah,” I said. I looked over at the eggs and nodded in approval. “They look great, I'll have to teach you how to scramble one of these days.”
“Okay,” Johnny said, before making plates for everyone. I helped him make the table, putting a piece of toast on each plate with some fruit.
“Something smells good,” Soda said, walking in with his DX uniform on.
“Johnny's been helping me make you guys breakfast. He wants to learn how to cook, so I can take a break every once in a while,” I explained, pouring cups of chocolate milk for everyone else, wanting some orange juice with my breakfast.
“Oh, that's nice of ya, Johnny,” Soda said.
“Thanks, Soda,” Johnny said, smiling happily. The three of us sat at the table, Darry and Pony joining us a bit after. We enjoyed a quiet breakfast, before Steve and Two-Bit walked in, having a heated argument about something. I don't remember what it was, mainly because I was trying to keep my toast down.
“Can you two not come in here squawking?” I asked, rubbing my temples, feeling my head begin to throb.
“Yeah, come on guys, it's 6 in the morning,” Darry said, heading into the kitchen from the bathroom. Both boys muttered apologies and sat down to eat.
“Thank you,” I said, before taking some sips from my glass of orange juice.
“Hey, you alright, kid? You're looking a little out of it,” Two-Bit asked, looking at me. I must have looked like hell, as Steve and Pony looked at me too.
“Sis, you okay?” Pony asked, looking concerned.
“Hm? Yeah, I'm okay…we'll talk about it later. You guys better get going soon,” I said, not wanting to tell my kid brother the news just yet, he needed to focus on class.
“Okay,” Pony said, finishing up his food, though he seemed to still be worried about me.
“How about you lay down after you finish eating, sis,” Darry suggested, eating his food.
“Yeah, I'll do that,” I agreed.
“Don't worry about the cleaning. I'll take care of it,” Johnny reassured, rubbing my back a little.
“Thanks,” I said, before drinking a little more orange juice. Steve and Two-Bit made their plates and ate quickly, before leaving with Soda and Pony. Darry checked the time, finished up his food and headed to his room to grab what he needed for work.
“Okay, I'm headin' out, you guys okay?” Darry asked, heading to the door.
“We'll be fine, Dar. Have a good day at work,” I said, waving at him tiredly.
“Yeah, we'll be fine,” Johnny reassured.
“Alright,” Darry said, before leaving the house. I tried to eat a few more bites and left the table, walking back to my shared bedroom. I laid down on the bed and groaned a little. Earlier months of pregnancy suck, from experience, it's like a period, but ten times worse. Not only are you sick all the time, but you cramp even worse and are just drained. I could feel a bad cramp happening and rolled over a little, before hearing soft footsteps walking into the room.
“Do you need me to get you anything?” Johnny asked softly.
“Just some water, please,” I said, not moving from my spot, since it helped with the cramping.
“Okay, I'll be right back,” Johnny said, before some footsteps left the room.
“This is going to be a long pregnancy…” I sighed to myself, before hearing Johnny walk back into the room. I sat up a little and gently took the glass as it was handed to me. “Thank you.”
“Should we get you to a doctor?” Johnny asked.
“Yeah, I'll go and set an appointment at a clinic close by,” I said, before drinking some of the water. I sat my water down on the nightstand beside my bed and sat up a little more. “Hopefully the doctor has some good advice on how to deal with the nausea. I have things to do, there's no way I can do this for nine more months.”
“It's going to be hard, I know it will be, but I just… I don't know what else to say right now,” Johnny said.
“It's okay, Johnny,” I said, chuckling a little. “Thank you for trying to be positive. I'm sorry for complaining so much.”
“Don't apologize, it's not really your fault. You didn't get pregnant by yourself, it's kind of my fault if anything,” Johnny said, scratching the back of his head awkwardly. I chuckled softly and shook my head a little.
“You are something else,” I said. “If I'm feeling a little better later today, we can go make an appointment. I just want to go before Pony gets back. I think we should tell him.”
“Yeah, he'll start suspecting something, especially after how sick you looked earlier,” Johnny said.
“Did I really look that bad?” I asked, looking at him.
“Yeah,” Johnny said honestly. “I thought you were going to pass out.”
“Yeah, that sounds about right,” I said. “It's exactly how I felt.”
“I'll let you get some rest. I'm working on cleaning the kitchen. You use the sponge for the counter, right?”
“Yeah, there's a towel under the sink if that's easier for you to use,” I said, laying back down, after drinking a bit of water.
“Okay, I'll come check on you in a bit,” Johnny said, leaving the doorway, heading back to the kitchen.
“Okay,” I said, resting my head on the pillow, feeling tired.
~~~~
I felt a little better after my nap and was able to book a same day appointment at the clinic. I was able to walk there with little trouble, but as soon as we got to the front of the clinic, I threw up in the trash can outside. I felt so embarrassed at this, Johnny trying to make me feel better.
“It's okay, you made it here without throwing up. You did good,” Johnny reassured.
“Thanks,” I said, wiping my mouth with a napkin, before throwing it into the trash can, and heading inside with him. I walked up to the receptionist nervously and waited for her to finish her phone call. She kind of looked at me judgmentally, as she spoke on the phone, making me feel a little nervous. I was still getting used to the looks, back in Louisiana I didn't have to bother with the looks of disgust and judgment. It bothered me a bit, but not too much; it was a reminder that I was home. She finished up her phone call and looked up at me from her seated position, her blue eyes staring at me through her mascara heavy eyelashes.
“How may I help you?” she asked, her voice sounding forcefully kind. It was almost like she wasn't happy to be there.
“Hi, I made an appointment this morning. I'm Shawna Curtis,” I said in my soft, polite voice.
“Okay, I'll need you to fill out some paperwork. I'll let the doctor know that you're here,” she said, picking up a clipboard and pen, before handing it to me.
“Yes, ma'am, thank you,” I said, picking up the pen and clipboard, before sitting in an empty chair beside Johnny in the waiting room. Johnny sat awkwardly in the chair, avoiding eye contact with the receptionist, who was giving him the same judgmental look she had given me, while she was on the phone again. Johnny looked like he wanted to melt in his chair, he looked so uncomfortable, I felt so bad for him. “If you want, we can come back on another day,” I suggested.
“I'll be okay,” Johnny reassured. “I want you to feel okay too, I want you to get the help you need.” I gave him a gentle smile and gently rubbed his arm.
“Okay, the sooner we get in, the sooner we can leave. I need to fill out this paperwork,” I said, looking through the paperwork, answering the different questions.
“If there's something you don't understand or can't fill out, just skip it,” the receptionist said, covering her phone receiver, before going back to her phone call.
“Okay, thank you,” I said, answering questions, feeling a little more nauseous. I set the clipboard down on his lap and stepped outside to get some air, trying hard not to throw up again. 'I need to finish this paperwork,' I thought, before heading back inside. I sat back down slowly, and picked the clipboard back up to fill out the last few questions. Once I was finished, Johnny was sweet enough to take it up to the receptionist, despite how uncomfortable he seemed, talking to her. How I got so lucky to have met such a sweet boy, I have no clue till this very day, it's still a mystery. Johnny sat back down in his seat beside me and held my hand, as we waited, until a sweet looking older lady, wearing scrubs, opened the door. She had brown curly hair that seemed to be graying in some areas, green eyes, and a kind face. She kind of reminded me of my mother, especially with the way she smiled at me so warmly. “I'm here,” I said, waving a little.
“Good morning, come on back,” she said, waving us both over. Johnny helped me up and walked with me to the door. The kind lady led us to a room and told us to sit, as she sat on a stool. “So, what seems to be the problem?” she asked.
“Well, we just found out I was pregnant recently, and morning sickness is not too kind to me,” I said.
“Oh, that's completely normal, hon,” she reassured. “Morning sickness varies, depending on the woman, but some advice I give new moms to help with nausea is to have carb rich foods, a piece of toast or crackers usually is the best thing to try.”
“Okay, I will try that. I'm sure we have a sleeve of crackers around the house,” I said. “Thank you.”
“It's no problem,” she said. “Pregnancy will be rough the first few months, but it is worth it. Do you two have plans?”
“I talked with my older brothers, and we are planning to keep the baby,” I said.
“You two seem like sweet kids. Hopefully, you can get through this. Children are a gift, but…they do have their challenges,” the lady said. “Believe me, I have three of them.”
“I take care of seven of them, I'm not too confident, but I'd say I'm doing okay,” I said, chuckling a little.
“You do a very good job, hon,” Johnny reassured, holding my hand. I smiled at him and held his hand.
“Thank you,” I said.
“You two are just the cutest,” the lady said. “How old are you both?”
“I'm fifteen,” Johnny said awkwardly.
“I'm fourteen,” I said, looking a little embarrassed.
“Oh my, so young. Well, I wish you both luck. You can come in with whatever concerns you have. We can set up an appointment for next month if you'd like to see the baby's progress,” she said.
“That would be great, actually,” I said.
“Great, let's get you scheduled,” she said, getting up. I got up carefully and followed her out of the room with Johnny. We were able to get the next appointment scheduled with the nice lady, whose name was Elizabeth, though I have forgotten her last name. I remember women like her in Louisiana, sweet women, who welcomed anyone no matter what. Once we finished setting the appointment with the judgmental receptionist, Judy, I think her name was, we left the clinic, and headed back home.
“Well that wasn't so bad,” Johnny said.
“Nope, she was very nice. I was expecting her to be like the receptionist. Did you see how she was staring at us?” I said, chuckling a little.
“I felt like she was trying to set us on fire,” Johnny said, making me laugh a little.
“Yeah,” I said. “Now she says to eat carb-rich foods, I know potatoes have plenty of carbs, and we've got plenty of those. I'll need to pick some stuff up next time we go grocery shopping.”
“We can make a list,” Johnny said.
“Yeah,” I said. “We're having a baby, Johnny.”
“I know, it still doesn't seem real,” Johnny said. “Oh, Shante doesn't know yet either.”
“Invite her over, we can tell her when we tell Pony. Kill two birds with one stone,” I said.
“Good idea,” Johnny said, walking back to the house with me.