Wonderful Life

Week 8: The baby already has webbed toes and fingers, and is the size of a kidney bean! The books that I've been reading says that the baby is constantly moving and shifting, but I couldn't feel it yet. My mom said that every baby develops a little differently even in the womb. I had to go bra shopping, since my regular ones were getting more snug. The guys were at the house, while Colbie was working, making sure that I had company, and when I said that I was going shopping, Brian volunteered to come with me, but when I told him that I was going to buy some bras, he sat right back down where he was and cringed. It was the last place he wanted to go. The look on his face was priceless. (Wish I had a camera).

I'm tired.....All the time and can't believe that I'd rather sleep than go out. But I deal with it. I have to do all of these tests. Let me tell you, I don't particularly like doing the ultrasound things, but I have to endure it. Dad says that I'm one of those crabby, moody pregnant women. That I was like Mom, but oh, well. I can't get enough of Fruit Punch Gatorade and I've even charmed Matt into going out to get me Chinese at midnight....Always a good thing, because the last few times, he's ordered enough that Colbie has some when she gets off work. Morning sickness is going away....Slowly. I can actually concentrate at work without having to make a trip to the bathroom.

I was eight weeks and you could definitely see that I was showing. I tried to hide my baby bump as much as I could. I wasn't wanting to just announce that I was pregnant, or even have Christian find out that I was pregnant, because I knew that he would be hanging around me. I didn't know what I was going to do because he was going to want to be a part of this child's life and I was entirely sure that I wasn't going to want him to be anywhere near me or this baby. After him breaking into my house, Brian and Colbie knew that it was time to move me somewhere else, and staying with them was the best thing for me and for the baby. I knew that I couldn't stay where Christian could bother me.

I was working, on a few charts for my patients while standing at the nurse's station when a pair of arms wrapped around my waist and a pair of lips settled on my neck and a chilling shiver went all the way down the length of my spine. I turned to see that it was Christian and pushed away from him. He had a couple of shiners on his face, courtesy of Matt.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I spat, keeping a distance between us. "I have a job to do, so leave."

He arched an eyebrow, eying my body. "I came to talk to you. I can't get past Colbie or Brian, and I wanted to talk with you, without someone interrupting us." He replied.

"Sneaking into my house isn't enough? Besides, do you really think that after what you did to me, that I want to talk you? Not likely. I want you to stay away from me. And if you don't, I swear that I won't stop Colbie or Brian from doing what they want to you and trust me, they aren't big fans of yours." I said, hoping that he would get the hint and leave me to live my life.

Christian eyed me again. "What are you hiding from me, Gemma? Something is going on." He mused.

"Nothing. Now get lost. I don't want anything to do with you." I retorted, and before I could blink, his hand was on my bump and he was smiling.

I pushed his hand away. "Don't touch me." I spat.

"Oh, Gemma, love. Did you honestly think that you could hide from me?" He questioned.

I pushed his hand away. "What are you talking about?" I asked, trying to keep his attention off my stomach. I did my best to keep my hands away from it.

"Did you think that I would want to see your face after what you did? I don't want anything to do with you." I said and then my secret came crashing down when my boss entered the room, looking at his charts and then asking the one question that I didn't want Christian to hear.

I was hoping that he wouldn't say anything more. "Ryan, when are you taking your maternity leave? You need to schedule that before you do anything else today." He said, and then looked up from his papers.

"How about later, Donovan?" I replied through gritted teeth and turned to a worried, but very pissed off Christian. I was about to say something else to Donovan, to tell him to shut the hell up, but Christian pulled me into an empty room and pulled my scrub top up, pointing at the baby bump that was slightly protruding from my stomach.

He looked livid. "When were you going to tell me, Gemma? When the baby was born or were you not going to tell me at all? Were you going to keep my child from me?" He seethed.

"I wasn't going to tell you anything! Why should I have to let the man who raped me know? I trusted you! I thought that you were my friend, but you....Weren't. You aren't my friend and I don't want you in any part of my child's life." I spat, pulling my top down, covering my stomach up. I couldn't believe that I was hearing this, like I was supposed to forgive him for doing the worst thing a guy could do to a girl.

Christian shook his head, clearly enraged. "No! I don't care, you're carrying my child and I will be a part of their life. You can't just shut me out, Gemma, this is our child's life that we're talking about! And they belong to the both of us!" He yelled, and I shook my head.

I couldn't believe that he was thinking that this was just something that could be overlooked. There was no way that I was sharing my life with the man that raped me and if he thought otherwise, then he had another thing coming. I wasn't going to do what he wanted and if he didn't back off, he knew that I would do everything to keep him away from me. I wasn't going to subject my son or daughter to a life with a man that hurt me, regardless if he was their father or not.

"You think that I'm stupid, Christian? You think that I don't know what you did to me? They found drugs in my system. I know that you drugged me and now you think that we can just forget what happened and that we have a happy ending? No. We can't. I don't love you, I never will and you will never go anywhere near my child." I seethed, walking past him and going back to doing my job.

~*~

Getting home, I was tired and in need of a nap. I was hungry and I couldn't believe that with one slip from my boss, that Christian knew I was going to have a baby, and that he was the father. I knew that he planned it. I wasn't stupid. I knew that he was trying to find a way to link us together forever and he knew that I wouldn't willingly have sex with him, so he found a way to make sure that we would be connected for good. I wanted nothing to do with Christian and he knew that, but I also knew that he was going to do whatever he could to make sure that he was in my life.

I sat down on the couch beside Brian, who had been vegging out the whole day. "Gem, what's wrong?" He asked.

"He knows. Christian knows." I said, shaking my head.

Brian sat up. "What? How?" He asked. "Who would be stupid enough to tell him?"

"My asshole of a boss. He came up to me and right in front of Christian, and without a mental filter, he asked me when I wanted to take my maternity leave. Christian knows and now he wants to get involved with the baby. I told him that there was no possibility that he was going to be in this baby's life. I don't get where he thinks that he can just demand that I play by his rules." I replied, explaining the horrible day that I had.

Brian sighed. "Don't worry, Gem. No judge would give him partial custody. Not after what he did and not after him breaking into your house. If you would like to, we could go talk to a lawyer." He suggested.

"That actually sounds like a great idea. I know that he's not going to stop unless someone stops him." I replied.

Later that night, Colbie came home with Matt, Johnny and Zacky, and I made dinner for them all. I made Italian, an old recipe of my grandmother's and they literally ate it all up, plus I was eating for two, so I made twice what I usually made when I cooked. The guys ate it up, and I sat there laughing as they gobbled up the pasta.

"That was just what I needed." Matt said, setting his fork down.

Cooking for me, was something that I enjoyed and I usually cooked for the guys and Colbie when they came over, or I was over at their houses. It was something that I used to with my grandmother before she died, and something that I did with my mother when she was home with me. I preferred Italian food mostly, but loved Chinese food after a bad day of work, something that Colbie enjoyed as well.

After dinner was cleaned up and put away, I joined the guys and Colbie on the couch to watch a movie. In the past few weeks when we did movie night, I would end up falling asleep before the movie even started and somehow I would wake up in my bed, wondering how I got there.

What was really a drag was that I had to withdraw from my college classes, I had no time to get anything done with the way that I was functioning. I was sleeping all the time, the time that I was awake, I was hovering over a toilet, and other times, I was planning for the baby, and working at the same time, so at the moment, medical school wasn't going to be possible until after I had the baby.

"So, when are you and Sam meeting?" Colbie asked.

I sighed. "Um, tomorrow. He's coming over. I know that I have to tell him what happened. I just hope that he'll understand." I replied, wondering if Sam would be okay with this. It's not everyday that you have to tell the guy that you're potentially dating, that you're pregnant with another man's child and explain how that happened. I didn't have the world's greatest track record when it came to dating.

~*~

Week 9: The baby is the size of a grape! From what I've read, she's got tiny earlobes, and the mouth, nose and nostrils are more developed. My baby is looking more human and less like a tadpole and weighs just a fraction of an ounce. Definitely beginning to look pregnant. The guys are now referring to the baby as Punky. They have a habit of talking to "Punky" like he or she can respond to whatever questions they ask, I have to say that I'm a bit peeved, but I deal with it. I have no idea where they came up with the name, but dealt with it. Now, the guys calling me Buddha....That's getting on my nerves.

I was definitely scared, alternating between being happy and terrified about having a baby. I can't believe that Donovan just blurted out my secret, unaware that Christian was right there. I didn't want him to find out, but oh, well. I have to deal with it now, and if worst turns to worst, I can get someone to get Christian to back off. Don't particularly like exercising, but it helps the baby, so I'm okay with it. Mom's ecstatic, asking me tons of questions, giving me advice and telling me all about when she was carrying me and it helps, I can only hope that Sam understands this whole situation.

Tonight was the night that I was going to tell Sam, about what happened to me and that I was pregnant. I figured that since we were kind of seeing each other, I should tell him, so he didn't suspect that something else was going on. Colbie kept telling me that I would be okay, but I was getting the feeling that something wasn't right. I had a feeling that Sam wasn't going to be okay with the fact that I was having someone else's child, but I was going to just suck it up and deal with it as it came.

At around seven, Sam came over early that night, after he'd gotten a message from me saying that I needed to talk to him. I was anxious to find out how he was going to react to the news that I had to tell him. I dressed casually and waited for the door to be knocked on and when I heard it, my tummy fluttered.

Sam walked in the door, and I ushered him into the living room, and we sat down.

"Gemma." He said, sitting down in the chair across from me.

I turned from the television to face him. "I have something to tell you." I said, biting my lip.

"What is it?" He asked and I took a deep breath and placed on my lower stomach. I could feel that it was slightly curved, and then I spoke.

"I have something to tell you." I began.

I hesitated. "I'm pregnant." I answered.

He shook his head, while looking up at me like I was speaking gibberish. "What? How?" He asked.

I felt sick and struggled to find the words as Brian walked into the house. "Is it his?" Sam asked, as I took a deep breath.

"No. This is....It's not something that you're going to want to hear..." I began and Sam cut me off.

He shook his head and scoffed. "Gemma, I really don't want to hear it. I don't...How could you just wait to tell me something as serious as this? I'm sorry, this....I can't do this." He replied, and I just stood, and headed into my room.

I could understand how he felt, he probably thought that I was seeing someone else, when in reality, I wasn't and if he wouldn't listen to my explanation, he was free to leave. And when I thought that he was gone, I left my room, only to stop when I heard Brian's voice in the living room.

"You need to give her a chance." He said.

I was stunned to hear Sam's voice. "What why? She was obviously not as into this relationship as I thought that she was. I mean, who gets pregnant by another man and thinks that the other guy will be okay with it?!" Sam replied.

"Gemma's pregnant, because of Christian. Her best friend, who she trusted. He drugged her, purposely got her pregnant. She's decided to go through with this pregnancy because she's a good person and she's going to raise her baby with people who love her. Now, if you can't see past that, and if you can't accept that, then stay away from her. Because if I find that you have hurt her, either myself, or my brother will kick your ass." Colbie explained and once I heard the door shut, I came out of my hiding place to see Colbie standing next to Brian.

I sighed and gave Brian and Colbie a hug. "Thank you. How is it you and Colbie always know when to save me?" I asked, smiling.

"We just do. It's not your fault. And if he can't see past that, then he doesn't deserve you." Colbie added.

~*~

Week 10: Punky is the size of a kumquat and supposedly kicking up a storm, but can't feel it yet. I resorted to getting back to just being by myself, now that I was sure that Sam was out of the picture. Colbie and Brian were right when they said that I needed to concentrate on myself and Punky, and let Sam be.

Tomorrow, after my shift, I'm going with Colbie and Brian to finally hear Punky's heartbeat, and I am excited. Definitely surreal to know that there's a living, breathing thing inside my belly. My uterus being the size of a grapefruit....A complete shock. Clothes shopping is in order....Regular clothes are starting to get snug and I don't want to keep wearing the guys'. New Bras and undies are also in store, I want to be comfy when I have to be on my feet at work and I'm going to need the support.

Mom and Dad are happy, still and telling everyone that will listen, that they are going to be grandparents. Mom's been badgering me about a baby shower, names, things like that and I have to ask Dad to keep her at bay. She's going baby crazy, and with my hormones all out of whack, I have a feeling that I might get the urge to strangle her. Haven't heard from Christian, which is a good thing and a bad thing. I know that he's up to something, but I'm not worrying about it until something happens.

I unfortunately had to go to work today, though I really wanted to stay home and just lounge in bed, but I got up, showered and dressed for work. I threw my hair up in a ponytail and then headed out.

I got to work, clocking in, and smiling brightly. Though I wasn't psyched to have three stubborn patients, I got through the day just fine, until there was a accident on a local movie set and then we all had to attend to the patients.

It was a bloody mess, but I was used to that, and got to work quickly, attending to all but one person who was left. I was already tired and running ragged, when I grabbed a chart and headed into the exam room.

"Okay....Mr..." I began and looked up. It was Sam, sitting there with multiple tiny cuts on his face, and he smelled like smoke, something that wasn't doing my stomach any good.

He seemed surprised to see me. "Gemma..." He murmured.

"You're....." He said, as I pulled out the antiseptic, gauze and all the other things that I needed. I couldn't act like this bothered me more than it did.

I disregarded him. "Is there any pain anywhere? Arms, legs, back, head? I was told that you were able to get away before the set collapsed. I need you to tell me if anything is wrong or if anything hurts." I said, remaining professional.

"My back and my head hurt, it's like hammering going off in both." He said,

I nodded. "Okay, take off your shirt and pants and then lay on your stomach." I instructed. He looked at me like I was nuts.

"Seriously?" He asked. What did he think? That this was just something that I randomly did to patients who complained of back pain? Not likely.

I nodded. "Yes. It's necessary, Mr. Worthington. It's procedure, that's all." I replied, flipping a fresh chart open, asking him questions, filling out the basics. While he did that, I wrote on the chart that I was starting for him and getting ready to examine him. I turned back around to see him laying on his stomach, and he was watching me.

Once I was finished making my notes, I set everything down on the counter by the sink and got to work. I placed my hands on his lower back, right on his tail bone. I began to push on it, putting pressure on it.

"Does it hurt when I press on your tail bone like this?" I asked, pushing around the area.

He shook his head. "No." He replied, and I moved my hands up towards his back.

I pressed on the lower part of his spine and moved to the right. "Any pain here?" I asked.

"Uh, a little." He responded, and I moved up towards the middle of his spine.

It didn't look bad, not bad enough to cause damage, though I was sure that he would definitely have bruises.

"Any pain here?" I questioned.

He winced. "It's more prominent there." He said, and I moved up to right under his shoulder blades.

I moved my hands up. "Anything here?" I asked and he winced even more when I put pressure on his back.

I nodded. "It does hurt. They tell me that I did fall pretty hard on my back and my head. I got the wind knocked out of me." He said, and I sighed.

"Have you been experiencing any numbness, tingling, or paralysis of an extremity? In an arm or a leg? Fingers? Because, then that indicates that a more serious injury may have occurred. And we'll need to take a look at that." I explained.

He shook his head. "No, nothing like that, I just feel really sore. I can move, it's just really achy and I have a headache." He answered.

"Well, there is a very large bruise starting to form, and you'll most likely have a bruise for a few weeks and you'll be sore for a while. Just keep ice on the back, try not to exert yourself. Now, if you sit up, we can check your head." I said, and helped him sit up.

He sat up, and kept his eyes on me as I moved my fingers over his hairline, checking for any skull fractures, or a linear skull fracture. There wasn't anything, but I had to make sure that he wasn't suffering from memory loss.

"Do you know the date today?" I asked.

He nodded. "Um....February 4th....2010." He answered.

"Okay, and your full name?" I questioned.

He cleared his throat. "Samuel Shane Worthington." He replied.

"And you know where you are?" I inquired.

He nodded. "Cedar Sinai." He replied.

"Any trouble with your vision?" I asked, checking his eyes with my flashlight.

He shook his head. "No. I think my head just hurts. I've got a massive headache." He replied, rubbing his temples.

I checked for fractures, hemorrhaging, hematomas and then decided that a CT scan would be a good thing to do. He could walk, he wasn't drowsy or vomiting, or lost consciousness or anything, so that was good.

"Okay, nothing seems to be wrong here, but to just make sure, we're going to go get you a CT scan, okay? So get dressed and we'll get you down there." I said and he nodded, his eyes on the baby bump. I helped him stand up and I left the room while he got dressed.

I went to get a wheelchair and ordered a CT scan. We wanted to see if there was a fracture in the skull bone and we wanted to check for a brain injury. With or without a fracture, the most critical factor was determining if a brain injury is present. Once Sam was fully dressed, he sat in the chair and I wheeled him down to Radiology.

"I'm sorry." He stated, as we rolled down the hall. "I should've listened to you when you told me. Your friend, she told me everything, I'm sorry that he did that to you."

I sighed. "Yeah. It's nothing for you to be worrying about." I answered. "There's nothing that you could've done and we're not involved, so don't worry about it, seriously."

Once we were in the room, I helped him lay on the bed and assured him that he was going to be alright. Sometimes I got the worst patients in the world, and had suffered a few kicks and slaps in the face all because they were scared. After he was laying there, I typed in everything to the machine and then got ready.

"Okay, I need you to not blink. Can you do that for me?" I asked.

Sam nodded. "Yeah." He replied, his eyes trained on the machine that surrounded him.

Thirty minutes later, he was done and I had the images printed up and on their way back to the room.

"Okay, we're going to go get the images and see if there's anything there." I said, and we went back up to Dr. Barrett's office, where he was looking over the x-rays.

Getting into the room, Bradley smiled. "Okay, Mr. Worthington, we've gone over everything and it seems as if you'll be fine. We recommend that you take a few days off, rest and then come back in a few days." He said and Sam nodded.

"Thanks." He said and then went to get up.

Bradley held his hand up. "Why don't we get an intern to get you out to the front door?" He said and then wheeled him out of the room. I did care that Sam was hurt, it was a bit more personal to me, than a regular case would be, but I couldn't think like that now.

That night, I headed home and was about to fall asleep when my phone rang. "Hello?" I asked, sleepily.

"Gemma?" It was Sam. I was confused as to why he was calling me.

I hesitated before asking why he was calling me at home. "Was there something that you needed?" I inquired and looking at my clock.

"I was wondering if I could stop by and talk to you tomorrow? I'm off for a few days and I'd like to talk to you about the other night?" He suggested.

I hesitated again, wondering if this was a good idea. "Okay. Um, is noon good for you?" I asked.

"Yes. See you then." He answered and then the line disconnected.

~*~

That next morning, I woke to the sounds of chatter. The guys were up and in the kitchen, making an absolute mess, there was food everywhere. I assumed that they were trying to make breakfast. I stood there, watching Matt and Brian trying to flip eggs when Colbie stopped beside me.

"You think it's safe to eat?" Colbie joked.

I shrugged. "I'm not sure. You think that it'll be edible? Punky needs food and I do too." I replied, as she snickered.

"I think that we just have to take our chances, and if the food's bad, we can always go out to eat." Colbie replied.

"Hey! We heard that!" Matt chastised.

I rolled my eyes. "It smells weird in here. What are you guys making?" I asked, as the doorbell rang.

"Food, Buddha. Wonderful food that you and Punky are going to love." Matt answered.

I shook my head. "I hope. Just don't burn down the kitchen, we like it." I replied.

Opening the door, Sam stood there in jeans and a t-shirt, and looking nervous. "Hi." He muttered.

"Come in. We're eating breakfast, or well, we hope to." I said and heard Brian razz me.

I snickered. "Buddha, be nice!" Brian jested.

"For the millionth time, don't call me that! You know I hate that nickname!" I groaned.

I led Sam into the dining room where, everyone was eating and we sat down. "Sam, these are my friends, that's Johnny, Zacky and Matt. You've already met Colbie and her brother, Brian." I said, helping myself to the scrambled eggs.

I gave Sam a plate. "Dig in. Otherwise you'll never get any food with these guys around here. Colbie and I starve most of the time." I teased, as he sat there, but finally started to get some food.

"I'm sorry. For what I said." He replied.

I nodded. "It's okay, you can talk about everything out in the open. They all know. They're family and we all stick together." I stated, and he nodded again.

We spent time talking and eating, Sam was even getting along with the guys, which was strange, because Christian never got along with them, and I knew why now. But I didn't dwell on the past and just had a good time talking and laughing.