The next day Emily woke up earlier than usual; her appointment was at 11 am and if she was going to make it on time she needed to leave early, especially since she was using public transportation. She quickly got dressed in jeans and blue long sleeved shirt then paired it with black sandals before walking out of her room.
"Morning Gladys" she greeted walking into the kitchen. "Morning" the older woman returned looking up from unloading the dishwasher. Emily pulled the bread out of the fridge then tossed two slices in the toaster. While waiting for the bread to finish toasting, she brought out a bottle of boat house strawberry banana smoothie from the fridge; she had been drinking a lot of it lately since it contained a lot vitamins which was great for both the her and the baby.
"Do you know the bus route?" she asked Gladys. Since marrying Ash and moving in with him, she hadn’t left the house, not even to the lobby; she had been cooked up in the penthouse with nowhere to go and no one to visit. She wasn’t used to the bus route in Ash’s neighborhood or knew if there was even a bus route; she wouldn’t be surprised if there wasn’t one, rich people usually don't use public transportation.
"No dear" Gladys closed the dishwasher regarding her. "My grandson drops me off then pick me off".
"Okay" Emily nodded, she was going to figure it out one way or the other. She took the breads out of the toaster then buttered them up.
"Do you know where you are going?" She heard Gladys asked. She shook her head "No. All I have is the address. I don’t even have a computer to look it up" The OBGYN she had an appointment with was one of the ones that was recommended by the hospital after she was discharged and all they gave her was the name and phone number of the office; she had gotten the address when she called to make her appointment. If she had a computer she would have been able to look up the bus route from her location to the office but unfortunately for us owning a computer was a luxury she couldn’t afford.
“I don’t know anything about computers so I don’t have one" Gladys commented.
Emily laughed at her "I didn’t expect you to have one, Granny" Gladys playfully smacked her with the rag then rolled her eyes. Laughing, Emily sat down on the stool to eat her breakfast. A comfortable silence fell upon them while she ate.
"I’m going to go up to see if Ash has changed his mind about not going with me" she said when she finished her breakfast. Gladys came her a weak smile then nodded.
She walked in Ash's room to find him sleeping on his stomach with the sheet covering just his lower back. "Ash!" she tapped his shoulder; he didn’t wake nor stir. She took his face in, his eyebrow were relaxed so was the rest of his face; he looked so innocent. Anyone that saw him like that wouldn’t believe or imagine how much of an asshole he really was. His mouth was open, but barely; you couldn’t stick a pencil through. She also noticed how soft his lips looked; she knew from experience that there didn’t just look soft but felt soft as well. She suddenly had the overwhelming need to kiss him; instead she touched it with her index finger dragging her finger from the top to the bottom, the movement making a "brr' sound. Emily giggled then did it again. She stilled when he stirred then licked his lips but didn’t wake up. ‘You are such a child’ she scolded herself for being so immature.
Remembering why she was there in the first place, she shoved his shoulder again "Ash!!" He opened his eyes, closed them then turned his head the other way. "Ash!" she called again. "What?" he mumbled in the pillow.
"Get up"
"What do you want?" he asked hoarsely. She moved to the other side of the bed so she could see his face.
"Can you take me please?" His half-closed eyes widened. She blushed slightly when she realized what her question meant. "I mean can you take me to the doctor's appointment?" she quickly amended. The last thing she wanted was him thinking she was begging him for sex; he already label her a whore, begging for sex would make it true.
He groaned then turned his head the other way. She walked to the other side "Please?"
"Leave me alone" he mumbled clutching the pillow to himself.
"Please?" she begged again. He turned his head again. Instead of walking to the other side, she climbed on the bed. "Please. I won’t ask for anything again"
"Please" she repeated when he didn’t say anything. “Ash" she shoved his shoulder.
"What the fuck is your problem?!" He snapped turning on his back. Emily sat back on her heel "I told you no. now fuck off" he added sitting up.
“I don’t know the bus route" she said softly looking into his hazel eyes filled with half-sleep and anger. "I don’t care. Get off" he pushed her with his leg. "Get off" he pushed her again then again until she was completely off the bed.
"Can I use your computer to look it up then?"
Without even giving it a thought, he replied "No" then laid back on his stomach. "Get lost" he added before covering his head with the sheet.
"Is there a computer I can use in this building?" she asked Gladys walking back in the kitchen. For a place as fancy as the building, she was sure there would a computer residents could use or maybe a library; but then again probably not, if anyone could afford to live there, they should be able to afford a computer.
"I don’t know. Would you like me to ask Sam in the lobby?"
Emily nodded "Please?" Gladys nodded then walked over to the phone hung on the wall. "Never mind" she stopped Gladys before she got to the phone.
“I will just call the taxi".
"You sure?" the older woman asked walking back to Emily. "Yea I am. It’s too late for me to start trying to figure out the bus route" she glanced at the time displayed on the microwave 8:58. She should have been out the house by now in order to make her appointment; trying to figure out the bus route this late would result in her being late for her first appointment. She couldn’t afford to miss this one, it was the earliest they had available. With the way the office was booked, the next available day would be next week or even the week after that. That wouldn’t work for her; she was dying to know how the baby was doing.
"Do you have a number for any taxis services?" she asked. Taxis would be more expensive than the bus but it was the only option she had left; she hoped next time she would know the bus route instead of getting her hopes up on Ash.
Gladys nodded "Yes I do" she opened one of the drawer then pulled out a card. "Here" she handed Emily a business card for a taxi service. "Thanks". She took the card then walked to the phone on the wall. Before she could dial the number, she realized she didn’t know the address to Ash’s place.
"Um glad, can you give the address to this place?" Gladys walked over handing her one of the unopened mail. Emily thanked her again then called a taxi.
*****************
She got to her appointment way too early but it benefitted her. She filled out the required paperwork since she was a new patient. They called her to the back at 10:45 where she met her new OBGYN, Dr. Johnson. She loved her immediately; she was so sweet. They weighed her, gave her some awful drink then took her blood after an hour. Dr. Johnson performed a cervix exam then she checked on the baby with the ultrasound. She confirmed her due date to be Oct. 30 then measured the baby. She assured Emily the baby was growing perfectly, then printed out some pictures Emily had requested. She wanted to show them to Ash, maybe he would change his attitude when he saw the adorable peanut. Emily was relieved the baby was doing fine; she was a little scared after the whole episode of her being dehydrated and exhausted but thank God none of that affected the baby. When she was done with Dr, Johnson, she checked out then made another appointment for the next visit. She didn't have to pay any co-pay since Ash had amazing insurance; one of the pecks of having a great job. She called the same taxi to come pick her up when she was done with the office. The taxi came thirty minutes later as promised. Her phone rang on her way home; she looked at the phone then smiled at the name displayed on the screen. It had been too long.
"Good afternoon Mr. Hu.."
"Em. Don't be so formal. I'm your father in-law now so we are family" James interrupted her. She giggled; old habits. She still hadn’t gotten used to referring him as her father in-law; it was still very new.
"Sorry. Hi James" she amended. She heard deep chuckling from the other line.
"That's better. How are you?"
"I'm fine. Thank you"
"I have been meaning to call you but I didn't want to disturb your honeymoon". She scoffed quietly; honey moon my ass she thought. There was nothing “honeymooney” about the last couple of days.
"Oh you wouldn't been disturbing us". She would have preferred if someone disturbed them. Please disturb us, she wanted to scream out loud. She was turning grey with her and just Ash in the house; he was a horrible person to live with. Thank God for Gladys presence.
"Still. I wanted you both to enjoy this short vacation Ash had"
Emily nodded "Oh okay" she muttered. It was a nice gesture on James part but too bad nothing enjoyable was coming out of it.
"So how is marriage life? Everything going well?" Emily contemplated on what to tell him; the brutal truth or what he wanted to hear? Should she tell him that his son had been spending more time out than with her or that he had been with different girls since their wedding night or that he threw her out of his room? She didn’t know where to start, the list was endless.
"Everything is ok" she answered softly. She didn't want to feel Ash wrath when his father scolds him for his behavior. No doubt, Mr. Hurley would confront him about it which would make matters worse for her.
"Very good then" Emily felt bad for lying to him but it was for the best. She knew he had high hopes they would be good together so she didn’t want to let him down.
"Miss, I'm going to take the street way. There is an accident on the highway okay?" the driver asked from the front of the taxi.
"Ok that’s fine" she directed at the taxi driver.
"Emily what's going on? Where are you?" James asked. "Oh. I'm in a taxi. I'm coming from my doctor's office" she explained.
"Oh it's today? How is my grand child? Everything well I hope?" He asked concerned. Emily could hear the change of tone in his voice; she knew he loved the baby already without even meeting him or her. "Yea. The baby is growing well; no issue what's so ever. Knock on woods" she assured the older man.
"Oh thank God" she smiled at the relief in his voice. It was clear he really cared about the baby unlike his douche bag of a son. Hopefully this ultrasound pictures would affect him the way she hoped. She had fallen more in love with the baby after seeing the baby clearly on the ultrasound; it was amazing she could make out the features. The head was huge though but the doctor told her that was normal and would amend itself.. She felt so relieved, not that it mattered to her the baby's head size; she just felt bad for the poor thing having to carry such load everywhere.
"Hold on. Why are you in a taxis?" James voice brought her back. "Um.." She bit her lips thinking of something to tell him. "Um I can't drive" That was true; she didn’t know how to drive. Never had the intentions too either since having a car was not on her priority list. She could use public transportation all day, it was easier anyway
"Why didn't Ash take you?" James asked. He wants nothing to do with the baby she wanted to say but settled for half the truth "He was sleeping"
"Oh" she wondered what his ‘Oh’ meant. He couldn't possibly think she was lying right? Maybe he was surprised he could miss their first appointment ; apparently he had other important things to do than to see how his baby was faring.
"Next time Ash can't take you, please call Tim. He will be your driver now until I can get you your personal one" she blinked back tears at how thoughtful he was but it was too much.
"I don't need a personal driver. I don't go out a lot" she had no friends or job to go to so having a driver was a little excessive. If she needed to go out to see the city she would use the train or a taxis again; no need relying on anyone else to be disappointed later.
"Fine. Just call Tim then okay? I will text you his number"
"Okay" she muttered softly. She knew he wasn’t going to let it go so she conceded. Having Tim as a driver would work for her anyway so sure, why not?
"Also I'm going to register you in a driving school. You need to be independent. Just in case no one is available to take you, you don't have to be stranded or result to taking a taxis" What's wrong with taxis? She frowned. Sure there were a little expensive, she paid $60 for the whole day, it felt like having your own driver anyway except you pay by rate but other than that, there were practically the same thing. "Okay"
"I will get the school as soon as possible then send you the info"
"Okay"
"Alright dear. Take care of yourself and my grand baby. Don't forget to take care of my boy too" he added the last part chuckling. How was she supposed to care for someone that won't let her in? He didn’t even want me, she thought bitterly.
"I will" your son is on his own though, she added silently.
"Bye dear"
"Bye" she uttered softly before the line went dead.
********************
She got home to find Ash eating lunch in the kitchen; what time did he wake up? she wondered. He was wearing a grey sweatpants and a black wife bitter leaving his arms on full display and showing how fit he was. She knew how the rest of his body looked too, like a work of art. She set her purse on the counter then rummaged through it to get the pictures she got for him. He didn't even acknowledge her, just continued eating his sandwich and scrolling through his phone with the other hand.
"Oh honey. How did it go?" Gladys asked walking into the kitchen holding a dustpan on one hand and a brush on the other. "It went well" she answered in a quiet voice. To say she wasn't hurt that Ash didn't even care to ask would be a lie; she was incredibly hurt but she pushed the hurt away, it wasn’t new anyway. When she found the pictures she walked up to him. She noticed him stiffen when she got close but he continued without even a glance at her direction.
"I brought back pictures" she expressed holding the pictures out to him. "You can see it clearly now. The hands and everything" she gushed. She noticed him clenched his jaw hard. Why was he getting angry now? She pondered to herself. She hadn’t said nor done anything to warrant any anger from him. She held the pictures in his face so he would turn his attention away from the phone to her instead.
"Can you believe that's growing inside me?" He knocked her hand away instead, the pictures falling out of her hands onto the kitchen bar.
"I don't care"
She blinked several times stunned at his behavior. Nothing had changed then, the thought breaking her heart. Why did she even think a picture would change his mind? She scolded herself. Only a miracle would change his mind about this baby; she was literally running out of ways to make him come around.
"Can you move? I'm tired of smelling you. It's revolting" tears filled her eyes from his harsh words. "Move" he pushed her gently. She stumbled a little, unprepared for the contact. She picked up the pictures that had fallen from her hand when he knocked it off then walked to the other side. A tear fell down her face while she put the pictures away. She heard him snort; he must have seen it.
"If you are going to cry, cry for me. Cry for how much my life is ruined because of a gold digging slut like you" he snarled at her getting up. With that he walked out then up the stairs.
"Oh honey" she felt Gladys hug on from the side. The tears streamed down her face at the tender gesture. "It’s alright" the older woman comforted. "Let me see the pictures"
"You want to see?" she asked amazed. At least someone wanted to.
"Yes" Gladys confirmed. She wiped her face taking the pictures out of her purse before handing to Gladys. "Oh wow"
"I know right? It looks like a baby now" Emily expressed. It was finally dawning on her; she was growing a baby inside her, an actual human being. She felt powerful to be able to do that.
“Yea” Gladys uttered absentminded, too busy scrutinizing the pictures.
"The head is a little big but the doctor said it's normal" she tried to explain the baby's head size in case Gladys was wondering.
“They are like all that. It will even itself out" Gladys echoed the same thing the doctor had told her. Emily nodded smiling. Not that she didn’t believe the doctor but it was assuring to hear an experienced woman like Gladys say the same thing.
"He or she is going to be so cute" Gladys uttered tracing the picture with her index finger.
Emily nodded again unable to talk; she was too choked up with emotions to open her mouth. The daddy was handsome so of course the child would be too. ‘Please take after his good looks only and not his personality, she prayed silently with her hand on her bump.
******
A/N
So I wrote this in rush so it's kind of messy...I will fix it later when I get a chance so bear with me. Thanks for the supports..