Glide With The Breeze

"Well, you are definitely pregnant," the doctor said to Cassie.

She and Alex both laughed. "We knew that. I took three tests. Two on my own, while he was gone, and one so he could see," she said. "We're interested to know just how pregnant I am."

Doctor Burke laughed at the way she worded her question. "You're not so pregnant that you can't get out of it if you don't want a baby," she said. "Six weeks, give or take a few days."

A laugh escaped Cassie and she hit Alex's arm. "Ha! See," she said, "I told you I knew almost right away. You owe me fifty bucks."

"What?" Alex said. "No, she said you're six weeks pregnant. I was gone for a little more than a month and you said you've known since a couple days after I left. There's a two week window there. I don't think that counts as right away," he argued.

Cassie and the doctor both shook their heads. "Let me explain how pregnancy works. When the doctor tells you how long you've been pregnant, they count the weeks back to the woman's last period. Obviously the woman couldn't be pregnant then. The first two weeks don't really count. Therefore, I've actually been pregnant for about four weeks, which means I did know within the first few days and that constitutes 'right away' and you owe me fifty bucks," Cassie said.

A sigh escaped Alex and he looked to the doctor for help. "I can't argue with what she said. She's right, Alex. I'm sorry. Looks like you lost the bet," she said.

"Right," Alex said and gave Cassie a little nudge. She looked at him, confusion playing across her face. "Are you going to ask her?" he asked.

"Ask me what?" Doctor Burke asked.

Cassie still looked confused. "Yeah, Alex. Am I going to ask her what?" she said.

"About running. Remember?" he said.

Cassie laughed. "Oh yes. I remember now," she said and turned to her doctor. "I already know the answer, but Alex needs to hear it from a professional. This morning he absolutely refused to let me go for my run because he was concerned about our little bean in my uterus. So I made him take a walk with me, which I'm sure made him wish he'd let me just go for a run," she explained and Alex shook his head in response. "Basically, he wants to know if it's okay for me to continue running or if I need to stop."

"Running is fine," the doctor said with a nod. "But if you feel yourself struggling, don't push yourself. Take a rest or start walking. Also, since we're on the subject of what's safe and what's not. Flying is out. For at least another six weeks."

Cassie's eyes grew wide. "What? No. That doesn't work for me," she argued.

Doctor Burke shook her head. "I'm sorry, Cassie. You've had a miscarriage which means we consider this a high risk pregnancy. The first two months are when you're at highest risk for miscarriage and since I'm sure you don't want to take any chances, no flying until you've past the first trimester," she said.

"Technically," Cassie continued with her argument, "It wasn't a miscarriage because it was so late in the pregnancy. At that point it was considered a premature birth and the baby was stillborn. Therefore, this shouldn't be considered high risk."

"Cassie, I'm your doctor," she said. "I'm telling you what I think is best for your health and the health of your unborn child. And it's my professional opinion that flying is not a good idea."

Cassie sighed and looked at Alex. The look he gave her told her to stop arguing. But she still had some fight left in her. "Doctor Burke, I have a job that requires me to travel at times. And sometimes car travel isn't practical. In those cases, I need to be able to fly. In fact, I have scheduled work related travel in two weeks. And I can't miss it," she said. "So, since I'm six weeks pregnant, two more weeks would be two months and you just said the highest risk is during those first two months, so I should be fine to fly then."

"I'm not clearing you to fly in two weeks, Cassie," Doctor Burke said. "But I'll tell you what, you come back here in three weeks and we'll do an ultrasound and revisit the subject of flying at that time. Until then, you are restricted to travel by foot and car."

"Three weeks is too la-"

"Three weeks, Cassie," Doctor Burke said as she wrote something on a pad of paper. When she finished, she tore the page off and handed it to Cassie. "There's your note for work. Did either of you have any other questions?"

Cassie and Alex both shook their heads. Doctor Burke led them out of her office and they walked quietly to Cassie's car. Alex opened the passenger side door for Cassie and she got in, obviously very unhappy about what the doctor had told her. Once he had slid into the driver's seat, he leaned over and pressed his lips to Cassie's in a quick kiss.

They remained quiet for awhile. Cassie tired to figure out how she was going to explain to Vanessa that she couldn't fly without telling her that she was pregnant. It seemed nearly impossible.

"We shouldn't tell anyone yet," Cassie said finally.

Alex raised an eyebrow. "Why not?" he asked. "Don't you want everyone to know?"

"I do," she said. "But it's better to wait until after the first trimester. You know, just in case something happens."

He nodded and they both fell quiet again. Her thoughts were all over the place. From thinking about having to change her diet to having to keep such a huge thing from the people she told just about everything to. She was so lost in her own mind that she didn't hear Alex trying to get her attention until he touched her hand and was practically shouting at her.

"Is that necessary?" she asked.

He laughed. "I said your name like six times and you didn't hear me. I didn't think I was being that quiet," he said.

"Sorry," she mumbled, more to herself than to him. Her eyes seemed glued to the glove box in front of her.

"It's alright," he said. After a couple minutes he cleared his throat to get her attention. It appeared to work so he spoke. "So, Cassie, I've been thinking. I, um," he stuttered over his thoughts, trying to form a coherent sentence. Inwardly, she cringed at the way he addressed her. "Do you want to get married?" he finally asked.

Her eyebrows raised but she didn't look at him. "Sure," she said, "Some day. But I thought we had already decided on that."

"I know. I'm asking you if you will marry me," he said, trying to make himself more clear to her.

"And I'm telling you that I thought this was something we already agreed on," she repeated.

Alex sighed. "I feel like there's some part of this that you're not quite grasping right now. And I don't know how else to rephrase my question so you will get it," he said.

"I understand exactly what you're asking me, Alex. And the answer right now is no. I will not accept a marriage proposal right now," she said.

His heart nearly dropped into his stomach as her words hit his ears. "What's that mean?" he asked, "Why not?"

"Because I refuse to decide to get married simply because I'm pregnant. I've been there, done that. And we both know how incredibly well that worked out," she said. "And besides, you don't really mean that proposal."

He turned to look at her for a moment. "Yes, I do," he said.

Cassie shook her head. "You absolutely do not," she said. "And do you know how I know?" she asked. But she didn't bother waiting for a response. "You called me Cassie, which you never do. That's a dead giveaway that something's up."

Alex pulled the car into the driveway and sighed as he put it in park. "I do want to marry you," he said. "I'm just nervous. I didn't even realize I called you Cassie."

She unbuckled her seat belt and turned in the seat so she was facing Alex. "I know," she said. "And I want to marry you. But this is not the way or the time for us to take that step. I know, as far as tradition goes, we're doing this all wrong. But you know what? I don't care. I don't care if we have five babies before we get married. I want us to both be ready and feel that the time is right," she explained. "And besides," she said, pushing her door open and turning to get out of the car, "I think I deserve better than a half assed proposal."