Snow Carr Northridge
My feet moved of their own accord to my car and immediately I was in, I placed my head on the chair ahead of me and I exhaled shakily. My head was pounding and my tummy was clenched. Reason?, I have no idea. I can't afford to be sick on my birthday!.
I told Sergio, my driver, to drive me to the doctor's, I wasn't the type to see doctors if I start feeling out of place, I'd rather just sleep in and wait for the sickness to make a run for it than have myself walk to the doctor's office but not today. I turned 20 today and I won't let any form of sickness take away that satisfaction from me. Never!
"Good morning Doc" I said immediately I entered his Office and the brown haired gentleman looked up and gave me his mega watt smile. I have become quite friendly with him since he has been the one helping to try to get pregnant.
"If it isn't the one and only Mrs Northridge.. Well, not exactly the one and only but you get what I mean. How are you doing woman?" He asked and I sighed as I plopped on the chair in front of him.
"Horrible Doc. Horrible, I feel like my body isn't my own...and it's my birthday!, my birthday and I'm here feeling crappy!" I said and his !mouth formed an O before it was replaced by a grin.
"Wow, it's your birthday?. How come I haven't seen that circulating all over the media and stuff. Happy Birthday woman" he said and I rolled my eyes at him.
"Thank you, thank you. If you didn't always have your nose stuck in some kind of work or another, you'll realize the whole media is going crazy about me" I said and winked.
"Oh please. Stop being a Narcissus. You're too young for that" he said and I gaped at him wide eyed.
"Too young. I'm 20 already Doc. The big and Almighty 20!." I said and he laughed while shaking his head.
"Yeah, I turned that 10 years ago...so you were saying?" He said and I groaned before sighing. Let's face the pressing issues first. Pressing issues that are pressing on my head.
"Fiiinne. Doc, what's wrong with me?." I asked and he rummaged through his drawer then brought out a file which I assumed is mine.
"I guess it's probably the hormones that we've been giving you to help with the process. Your metabolic state is quite not exactly balanced right now and it's fine to feel that way" He said and I sighed. I guessed so too.
"Doctor. Am I pregnant already?" I asked the question I've been itching to ask for about a week now but the fear of the answer somehow manages to shut me up every time.
"We can't know until the next two weeks but I have a feeling you just might be or have you experienced anything out of the blue?, spotting?, contractions in your abdomen and stuff?" He asked and I shook my head.
"No. It's just this whole weird feeling of sickness" I said and he smiled and jotted some things down on a paper before handing it to me.
"Take this to the pharmacy, they should help relieve the pain and try to rest a lot!. I would advise that you take a big big big rest cause you're kinda at that point where your body is very delicate right now" he said and I nodded. We joked for a bit before I left him to the pharmacy and immediately I got the drugs, I threw them down my throat straight up. I hate sickness.
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"Happy Birthday once again!!!" Royalty said in a sing song voice as she strolled through my office and I smiled weakly. I thought the drugs would make me feel better, instead they made me so weak and drowsy, I called Doctor Ethan and he told me it's normal to feel that way, hence, I was stuck with an abnormal normalcy. Yay me.
"Thanks a lot sis....thanks for this morning too" I said and concern clouded her eyes and she sprinted towards me.
"What happened to you?, you're looking all..... Not fine" She said and I smiled slightly. Trust Royalty to be paranoid. Pregnancy hormones.
"Nothing. I'm just not feeling too well" I said and she looked at me like she didn't buy any of the things I just said.
"Tell me, is it Ian. Trust me I'm going to break his neck and feed his head to the birds when I see him, he should treat you right, it's your birthday for heaven's sake." She said and I smiled.
"Whoever said anything about Ian. He isn't even around, he's coming back today" I said casually pretending it wasn't killing me on the inside. I waited for him to at least call or text when it was 12 but I received a lot of calls from every single family member I have except my husband.
"Really?. Then what?, you don't look good" she said and I massaged my temple.
"It's this IVF thing, the doctor said it's messing with my hormones and metabolic system hence the reason why I'm feeling crappy, he gave me some drugs that is making me so weak and drowsy though, said it will work soon enough" I explained and she relaxed visibly.
"Oh, then you should go home. I'll call your driver and have him take you home then" she said and I shook my head vigorously. Going home will be too depressing cause I'll be the only one in that big house apart from the maids and that is just going to make me feel like crying.
"No, I don't wanna be alone" I said and she sighed and sat down on the chair.
"Hmmm.. Where the hell is Ian when his wife needs him?, he should just go get married to his job." She said and I wanted to tell her that what he's doing. The honeymoon was spent apart, we only ever had few encounters that ended awkwardly and when we came back home, it's forever been work and work and work.
"He's just busy and you know it. Let's stop talking about him already. Let's talk about something fun" I said and she chuckled.
"How are you planning to spend your day?" She asked me and I shrugged. I had absolutely no idea. For one, I hate parties so I'm definitely not throwing a party, secondly I hate drinking and I can't even drink in this state so definitely no clubs for me and thirdly, I would rather just sit at home with my loved ones and feel happy together.
"I don't know. I'll make myself happy by shopping for some things online?, then maybe watch some good movies on Netflix, binge on ice cream and pizza?" I said and I could feel myself getting excited for my birthday already. Sounds good right?!!!
"Sounds sad you know. You're no longer single sis. Enjoy your birthday like a married woman, this ring on your finger should always knock that into your head" she said and I rolled my eyes.
"We both know I'm not exactly a married woman and can we not dwell too much on that?. The supposed spouse I'm supposed to spend the day with is currently halfway across the country and there's nothing I can do about that so what's a girl gotta do?" I said and she looked like she wanted to say something then she decided against. I couldn't be more grateful cause talking about the reality of mine and Ian's marriage hurts like hell.
"Ian is such a fool. Happy birthday my love" Royalty said and kissed me on the forehead before walking out of my office. I smiled and blessed God for the gift of a wonderful family.
The King and Queen were the first people to wish me, I heard my doorbell ring early in the morning and when the maid came to inform me of their arrival, I almost couldn't believe my eyes when I saw that the time was just quarter to 7. Didn't they sleep?. Immediately I saw them, the Queen held me in her arms and rocked me side to side as she prayed for me and the King did the same, I couldn't help my tears then the driver brought in two big boxes wrapped with happy birthday wrappers. Savannah made sure to design her social media with all sorts of pictures of me and she sent me a gift promising to call me soon enough. Royalty and Roland came to my house with a birthday cake and I practically wept. Everyone was there for me, every single person. Except the man I happen to be in love with.
I stood up from my table and walked to the sofa close to the entrance of my office and laid on it. I was too weak to keep my eyes open so I gave in to the much needed sleep, trying my best to keep my mind off a certain green eyed man.
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I woke up and groaned, my neck was hurting because of the way I slept but I woke up well, the drowsiness and weakness was gone. Well, the weakness was almost all gone actually cause I still felt a little weak.
"I take it you didn't sleep well" I heard and the shock of not realizing that there was something else in the room made me roll of the sofa with a thud. I groaned once more, darn it Ian!.
"When did...how....why are you here?" I stuttered and sat up, I couldn't believe he had been here all along, when did he even get here.
"It's a certain someone's birthday and the universe would have my head delivered to ebay for sales if I didn't come down to celebrate it with her" He said and my mouth formed an O. Of course, it always boils down to what the universe thinks and feels, not how he feels. Wait, he actually feels nothing.
"Thanks for coming" I said, not knowing what to say and we sat and stared at each other for a while, waiting for someone to break the silence.
"Get up. I managed to talk your very annoying and hormonal boss into giving you the day off. So you're coming with me" He said and my heart did a tap dance. Day out with bae!..eww, yuck , that's just wrong. What on earth was that?. I shook my head to clear off such ridiculous caption.
"Where to?" I asked as I picked myself up and walked to my table to get my things.
"Anywhere you want to go. It's your day, you call the shots." He said and I was about to say something when he continued.
"Snow when were you going to tell me you weren't feeling well?" He said and my mouth formed an O.
"Wasn't important" I said as we walked out of the office and advancing towards the elevator.
"Oh really?. It wasn't important?. Not important enough for Ethan to call me and tell me it's advisable to get bed rest for like 2 days?" He said and I wanted to remove the larynx of that my annoying doctor friend.
"Stop making a mountain out of a mole hill Ian. I'm fine now, I was just down for a bit" I said wishing he would drop it cause I was starting to feel myself getting tired again but no, instead he stopped me and turned me to himself in the empty corridor.
"Snow, I have every right to know what's going on with you, I have every right to know about your health status. It's paramount and highly important to me because we never can tell, anything could go wrong with the IVF" He said and all the warmness that was on my inside died. Of course, what was I thinking?, it was always going to be about the baby.
"I know Ian. I know your concern is the zygote inside me and you have absolutely no need to worry, I took myself to the Doctor and he told me everything is fine, he said it's a normal part of the process, I'm guessing he forgot to tell you that part. Look Ian, I am absolutely tired right now and all I want is a bed where I can lay and sleep. I won't do anything to hurt your child." I said and he looked like he wanted to say something then he nodded and we continued to the elevator.
"So how am I supposed to spoil you on your birthday if all you want is sleep?" He said and I smiled weakly.
"We could just get take outs and watch TV. I'm not a fan of loud birthdays, I prefer indoor stuff" I said and he nodded and the rest of our journey home was spent in silence.
"You go on inside, I have a few calls to make" he said and I nodded and walked inside. Immediately I got to my room, I tossed my shoe to a far end and laid on the bed sighing with relief. Finally!.
About an hour later, just when I was walking out of the shower with my towel wrapped around me and my other towel placed loosely on my head, my dear husband knocked and opened the door without even waiting for the invitation to come in.
"He...." He was saying and stopped in his tracks when he took in my appearance, all the heat in the world pooled at my cheeks and I blinked at him.
"Uh..come down when you're done.... And dressed please" he added and walked out, I couldn't help the laughter that escaped me. What was he thinking?, that I'd walk down stairs in nothing but towels?, well well, 20 doesn't mean insanity. I might be older but that doesn't mean I've misplaced a few bolts in my head.
I changed into a pair of shorts and put on a light cashmere sweater and bounced downstairs feeling better and stronger than I felt earlier. I couldn't deny the fact that I was more than happy that Ian was around and even though a lot of things he said today hurt me, I couldn't help the excitement at the fact that I'm sharing my day with him.
I walked downstairs and my mouth almost touched the floor when I saw all the treats that was scattered all over the floor. About 3 pizza boxes, maybe 5 tubs of ice cream, packets of M&Ms that I couldn't count, Mars, lays, Doritos, Snickers, Hershey's, glazed donuts, cupcakes and pop sodas. This guy is sure going to give me diabetes.
"Ian, are you planning to make me diabetic?" I asked and he rolled his eyes as he took his seat and patted the space next to him. An invitation?
"What makes you think they are just for you?. You're not the only one who has a sweet tooth" he said picking up a bar of Mars. I snatched it out of his hands and sat next to him.
"You don't eat until the birthday girl has eaten" I said and he shrugged muttering something like fine. We shared the grace and I bit into the chocolate bar. The sweetness exploded my brains and I moaned. This is pure bliss!!!.
"Stop doing that.... So pick a movie would you?" He said and I smiled. This guy was fulfilling all my dreamssss. He was absolutely making my day!!.
"How did you know all I wanted to do today was binge on all the sweetest things while watching a movie?" I asked as I scrolled through the movie folders that Netflix offered.
"I asked Royalty if she knew anything I could do to beat everything others had done for you" he said and I almost melted like the tubs of ice cream in front of me. He even got all my favorite flavours.
"Well, you're doing a good job of that. How did you know all my favourite ice cream flavours. I'm very picky with ice cream and I have quite a few flavours that strike my fancy" I said and he shrugged.
"I followed my brain. I'm a very smart man Snow, don't underestimate me" he said and I rolled my eyes, chuckling slightly. I settled for the The fault in our stars. I was already eating too much sweet things, I needed something bitter to stop me from being diabetic and this movie?....definitely bitter... Bittersweet maybe.
"Wait. The fault in our stars?... I think I know the movie, is it sad?" Ian asked and I nodded.
"Oh God No. This is the movie that made Vannah cry from morning till noon, I can't handle that. I'm out of here" he said and wanted to stand up but I held him.
"If you run away, you wouldn't be successful in beating others in their birthday gifts" I said hoping that was threatening enough and luckily, he groaned, ran a hand though his hair and sat down with an agonizing look on his face. I, myself, pitied him cause I know I can be an emotional wreck sometimes.
We sat together as the movie played and with every scene, I felt tears sting my eyes cause I already watched the end and I knew the temporary happiness would soon end. He wouldn't be there forever, one day she's going to have to say goodbye to him..... Crazily, I started equating my story with that of the characters and that didn't help my tear glands at all. The fact that all of this was temporary and then one day I would wake up, back where I started, no baby, no Ian, No birthday celebrations with him, no movie nights, no fights... Nothing!. He wouldn't be dying but he would be leaving me...or better still, I would be leaving them and right now, the pain felt almost as equal as losing someone to death.
So much for a happy birthday!.
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