Forever's Not Supposed to End

Hayley's point of view

"I'm so nervous," I sighed as Matthew and I got out of the car outside of the doctors office.

"Me too," he smiled slightly, taking my hand.

He still looked completely exhausted.

After we got home from Paris he'd spent two whole days in bed, and he was still very tired and weak from pushing himself so much.

"Oh hey, before we go in. I don't want to know what we're having, I want it to be a surprise, is that OK?" he asked quickly, pausing at the door.

I couldn't help but smile at how completely clueless he was.

"Matthew, right now we're having a blob of cells that's probably about four or six weeks old. You don't find out until about twenty weeks along," I said and he smirked.

"Oh, well now I just look retarded," he smiled, kissing my cheek quickly and causing me to giggle and squeeze his hand.

"But I'm going to read so many books, I'll know all about everything soon enough," he added quickly.

We checked in with the receptionist and then headed up to the doctors office, where we waited for a few minutes. The doctor we were seeing was a friend of mine who had helped me out during my training to become a nurse, I hadn't seen him since I quit my job though, and I was looking forward to seeing him again. I wasn't sure if Matthew would remember him, but he was someone who had helped take care of him after his injury.

"So, I can't wait until you're all huge and I can like balance stuff on your belly," Matthew grinned and I shook my head.

"Don't you even try it," I laughed.

"It's going to be awesome. And then, we get a real little person to take care of," he smiled.

"Yep," I sighed.

"You're really nervous aren't you?" he said, half sadly.

"I go through phases, one second I feel nervous, then I can't wait to meet him or her, and I don't know, my emotions are all over the place," I sighed and he leaned across in his chair and wrapped his arms around me.

"You're going to make an incredible mother, our baby is so lucky to have you," he mumbled then kissed my cheek.

I couldn't help but smile. He was being more supportive than I could have even imagined.

The door opened and the doctor came in, smiling as he saw us.

"Hayley, long time no see," he smiled and I stood up to give him a friendly hug.

"Bob, how are you doing?" I asked him, sitting back down.

"I'm doing great, and you brought a friend?" he asked.

"This is my fiance, Matthew," I smiled and Matthew shook hands with Bob.

"We've met before right?" asked Matthew, looking slightly confused as he tried to remember.

"We have indeed, though the last time you weren't looking nearly so healthy. It's good to see you walking around, and getting engaged to beautiful girls," he laughed slightly, sitting down in his seat behind his desk.

"It's all thanks to her and my brother, and of course all the doctors and everyone who's helped me," said Matthew and I squeezed his hand.

"But this isn't about that.... the appointment is in your name Hayley, what's up? You look pretty healthy to me?" he said, checking his notes.

"I am, I hope. Yeah... I uh... I'm pregnant," I mumbled and it was Matthew's turn to squeeze my hand.

"That's really great! Congratulations, both of you!" said Bob enthusiastically and my stomach twisted nervously.

"So you want to find out how far along you are and check on everything today?" he said and I nodded.

"Alright, great. The fastest way is to take you right along for an ultrasound, so follow me," he said, leading us out of the room and down the hallway.

"Does this mean we get to actually see our baby?" Matthew whispered to me as we followed Bob.

"There won't be much to see, just like a blob, but yeah we should do," I smiled, some of my excitement coming back.

"I could literally do a happy dance right now," he grinned.

"Please don't," I giggled.

"I can't promise anything," he smirked as we followed Bob into a room.

"So do you have any idea about the date of conception?" asked Bob as I sat up on the bed, Matthew pulling a chair over to sit by my side.

"Uh... Sometime around new year maybe?" I guessed.

"Alrighty well let's take a look, if you could lay back please," smiled Bob and I took off my jacket and lay back.

My heart was pounding as Matthew took my hand again.

"And lift up your shirt, this will be cold, I'm sorry," apologised Bob as I lifted my shirt and he put some clear gel on my stomach.

It was cold, but not overly unpleasant, I was distracted by the look of total fascination on Matthew's face and the way his thumb was stroking the back of my hand.

"Alright here we go," said Bob, moving the ultrasound machine over and pressing the 'wand' to my stomach.

The three of us were silent for a few seconds, until I noticed a quiet sound that made my heart feel like it was going to jump out of my chest.

"Is that...?" I stammered.

Bob nodded and turned up the volume on the monitor, the sound of the fast heartbeat filling the room.

He then shifted the wand and held it still, a clear image forming on the screen.

Everything I knew was telling me this was impossible, but everything I could see was telling me it was true.

I looked to Matthew who was looking at the screen, his eyes wide, the tiniest of smiles on his lips. I squeezed his hand and he looked back to me.

"I don't even know what to say... I just, I love you," he said quietly, his voice was shaking almost as much as my hands were.

I knew exactly what I was seeing on the screen, and Bob quickly scanned over my medical notes once again before looking at me.

I felt numb as the shock washed over me.

"Matthew, I never lost the baby after the car accident," I managed out as my eyes filled with tears.

"Wait... what?" he said, freezing.

"It looks like something pretty much miraculous has happened," began Bob, and I was grateful for him explaining, as my voice was failing me completely.

"When Hayley got into that car accident, it was assumed she'd miscarried because after the impact there was some bleeding and the doctors had assumed that meant the baby had been lost. What had actually happened is that a lot of the protective fluid around the baby was lost, but the baby itself has somehow managed to survive, and is now developing without really any fluid around it," he explained quickly and Matthew looked from me to the screen and back to me again.

"I can't even. I don't. I can't," he stammered and I squeezed his hand.

"You're incredibly lucky, this doesn't happen very often," said Bob and Matthew leaned forward, kissing my forehead.

I held him there for a moment, just looking into his eyes.

The guilt was consuming me already.

This was mine and Nathan's mistake.

The mistake we thought was gone, covered up forever, to be forgotten about as time healed how much it hurt.

But now we couldn't forget, and it had all come back.

"Look, there's a little face," said Matthew softly as he looked at the screen.

I looked at the screen to see a faint outline of a face, impossible to distinguish features, but certainly a face.

"It's so amazing," I whispered as I started to cry.

"Hey, you're going to set me off," he laughed, wiping away my tears as his own eyes welled up.

"But I mean after everything, does the baby look healthy and everything?" Matthew asked Bob, his one hand holding mine, the other one now stroking my hair and wiping away my tears.

Bob looked at the screen carefully, moving the ultrasound wand around.

"Everything looks good, just smaller than I'd expect at this stage. You're about fourteen weeks, so you should really start to make sure you eat well and take good care of yourself. And your due date looks like it'll be around mid July," he advised and I nodded.

"And you may not get too much of a bump, seeing as there isn't much surrounding the baby, but don't be worried. We're going to monitor you closely just to be sure though, but congratulations, you're two very lucky parents," he smiled, getting a still of the baby and printing it out for us.

"Hey can I get... another copy of that? Just... for... my brother," Matthew mumbled.

"Sure," smiled Bob, printing another picture out.

"Do you two want a minute?" he offered and Matthew and I both nodded.

"I love you," said Matthew the second the door was closed behind Bob.

"I want to hug you, but I'm all goopy," I smiled, Matthew grabbed some paper towel and wiped the gel off my stomach and I pushed my shirt back down, sitting up and letting my legs hang off the side of the bed.

"I can't even... We're so lucky, our little miracle baby," he mumbled, hugging me gently.

I couldn't help but just cry into his shoulder.

"You see, and now I'm crying everywhere too," he sniffled, I could feel his tears soaking through the shoulder of my tee shirt.

"You're always going to be here right? Whatever happens?" I asked before I could stop myself.

"It kills me that you even have to ask," he sighed, holding me closer.

I managed to finally get myself under control, though I still felt massively guilty. We talked to Doctor Bob for a little while longer before setting up another appointment and then leaving.

Once we got to the car Matthew just sat in the drivers seat and stared at me.

"What?" I half smiled and he leaned over, pushing my newly blonde hair out of my face.

"I love you," he said softly, pressing his lips to mine.

I smiled into the kiss and kissed him back, arms draping lazily around his neck.

"I love you too," I smiled.

"I'm so happy right now, It's amazing," he said and I grinned.

His happiness was contagious, even though I knew I'd have to tell Nathan what was really going on.

"And a summer baby too," he smiled.

"Yeah I'm not looking forward to that so much, I'll be huge and it'll be like two hundred degrees," I sighed, rolling my eyes.

"Hey what about if I put on like a hundred pounds so I'm uncomfortable too?" he grinned and I laughed.

"You'd be completely round if you put on a hundred pounds," I laughed as Matthew started to drive us.

"Probably. Oh. You should probably tell your dad that I knocked you up, seeing as you're more than three months," he suggested and I sighed.

"That'll be a fun conversation," I said, rolling my eyes.

"Well, my dad is going to flip out too, he'll want us married before the baby comes," he said, tapping his fingers on the steering wheel as we waited at a stop light.

"We should probably go and tell him soon, and everybody else, I guess the band will be mad at me too, because I'll need some time off," I sighed.

"But, this is going to be amazing. You know it will. Can we go via Nathan's place so I can give this to him?" he asked, pulling up outside Nathan and Jenna's apartment building.

"We already are," I smiled, getting out of the car and following Matthew up to their apartment.

He knocked on the door and Jenna opened it after a few moments, and she looked like she was finding something funny.

"Hey, what's up?" she smiled.

"We just went to the doctor, and we have some awesome news, so, is Nathan here?" Matthew asked, wrapping his arm around my shoulders. I wrapped my arm around his waist and smiled up at him.

"Oh he's here alright," smirked Jenna, letting us in and closing the door behind us.

"What is he like... tied to the bed or something?" sighed Matthew.

"Nope, it's funnier," giggled Jenna, leading the way to their bedroom.

Nathan was curled up in a ball in the bed, looking like he was in a lot of pain.

"Oh jeez. What did you do?" asked Matthew as Nathan looked up at us.

"I think I broke my spine," he whined.

"What did he do?" Matthew asked Jenna and I just laughed.

"He... threw his back out last night... doing some... acrobatics-"

"That's really gross," sighed Matthew, cutting Jenna off.

"I literally can't even move," whined Nathan.

"Try some ice," I said and Jenna went to the kitchen.

"So I got you something," said Matthew, sitting down on the bed beside Nathan and pulling the scan picture out of his pocket and pushing it into Nathan's hands.

Nathan was silent, just staring at the image.

Jenna came back into the room with a bag of ice and sat behind Nathan, pushing up his shirt and holding the ice to his back for him.

Nathan continued to stare at the image before looking up. He looked at Matthew first, then to me, and the look in his eyes told me he already knew.