Cinematic Confessions

Autumn had never been so happy to have a doctor's appointment before. It meant she was allowed out of Corey's place and into the real world. Sure, she would only be allowed to go into the doctor's office and back out, but at least she'd get to see the outdoors for a little bit.

Corey was on the road and Katherine was at work so Brianna had offered to take her in to the doctor. Katherine had told Autumn that she could take off of work to go with her, but Autumn had told her there was no need for that since it was just a normal checkup.

Brianna helped Autumn out of Corey's place, making sure she was by her side as they got into the elevator. If anything happened to Autumn, she knew both Katherine and Corey would be after her head.

Autumn inhaled deeply as soon as she stepped outside. "Ahh, fresh air!" she said happily as Brianna led her to her car. "Can't I just stay out here for a little bit? We can be late to the doctor," she asked Brianna.

Brianna shook her head and laughed. "Nope, I have direct orders to take you straight to the doctor," she told her.

Autumn looked over at her as she got into the passenger's seat. "Direct orders? From who? Corey?" she questioned. Corey was becoming more and more protective of her as her due date was quickly approaching, especially after he had walked out on her during their fight almost two weeks ago. He still apologized for that night, hating that he left her alone, even though she had told him she was over it and had already forgiven him.

"Corey, Katherine, even Brent told me not to think about taking you anywhere else," Brianna chuckled.

Autumn looked over at her curiously. "Brent?" she questioned.

Brianna nodded. "Apparently Corey had warned Brent as well," she laughed as she pulled out of the parking lot. "He's just worried about you," she told Autumn.

Autumn sighed. "I know he is," she agreed. "But, I wish he could realize that I'm a grown adult and I know what I can and can't do," she said. "Even when he's on a road trip, he's still watching over me." She knew he did it out of love, but she wished she could just step outside for some fresh air without him freaking out at her.

"Oh, just wait til it's his baby you're carrying!" Brianna commented, turning on her turn signal to move into the other lane.

"He wants kids," Autumn smiled as she looked out the window. She had known that all along, as well as he wanted to marry her. He'd made that clear, and that made her so happy. She wanted to spend the rest of her life with him as well. She never thought she could fall in love with someone so quickly, but in less than eight months, she had fallen for Corey and knew he was her one.

"So do you," Brianna replied, and Autumn nodded her head. She didn't talk about having kids of her own too often with anyone besides Corey. Right now, she was focused on Katherine and Cade's baby. Once they had their healthy baby, then she could worry about having one of her own. "You're going to be a great mom, you know that?" Brianna continued. "And oh goodness, you're going to have the cutest kid with you and Corey as the parents."

Autumn couldn't help but beam as she thought about having kids with Corey. "They'll be stuck with dark hair for sure," she chuckled, thinking about her and Corey both having dark brown hair.

"Yeah, Ryan's got the same problem," Brianna spoke of her own son. "He had no chance of anything else."

"He is the cutest baby ever," Autumn gushed. She really did love that little boy that she had gotten to know over the past few months. "And he's so happy, especially when Brent is around!"

Brianna nodded her head in agreement. "He loves Brent so much already," she said. Whenever Brent walked into the room, Ryan instantly got happy and would hold his hands out for his daddy.

"Do you ever think how differently your life could have turned out?" Autumn suddenly asked.

Brianna looked over at Autumn briefly before focusing back on the road once again. "What do you mean?"

Autumn shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know," she said. "Sometimes I think about how different my life could be right now. What if I hadn't gone to Starbucks that day? What if Corey hadn't been there. I could still be single right now living with Kat and Cade. Corey could be engaged to some supermodel," she said with a laugh. She wasn't sure that Corey was into supermodels, even though they certainly were into him.

"I know what you mean," Brianna spoke, and Autumn looked over at her, waiting to see what she was going to say. "Sometimes I think what would have happened had Brent's life gone differently. Like what if Chelsea were still alive," she referred to his first wife. "He would be so happy with her."

Autumn felt her heart drop at Brianna's words. She hadn't meant to make this a sad conversation, but it seemed like Brianna honestly thought about that more often than not. Autumn reached over and lightly put her hand on Brianna's arm. "He's happy with you and Ryan," she said softly.

Brianna forced a smile on her face. "I know," she nodded her head, and she really did believe that. "But, I think Brent thinks the same thing sometimes," she said. "Not that I can blame him, and I'm certainly not mad at him about it. It's normal. I mean, she was such a big part of his life. She was his wife."

She pulled into the parking lot of the doctor's office and Autumn looked out the window, wondering how to change subjects. She didn't want to upset Brianna. "Thanks for driving me here," Autumn told her.

"Not a problem," Brianna said with a smile, though something told Autumn that she was forcing it. She got out of the car and walked around to meet Autumn, walking with her inside. Once she was checked in, they sat down in the waiting area. "You want me to go back there with you or do you want to go alone?" Brianna asked.

"You can come back there. I've got nothing to hide," Autumn laughed, grabbing a magazine from the table next to her and flipping through the pages, waiting for the nurse to come out and call her name.

Fifteen minutes later, she was in the room, waiting on Dr. Shively. "Does this bring back memories for you?" Autumn asked Brianna. "Are you hoping to have another one soon?"

"I don't know if Brent's ready for that," Brianna chuckled. "We haven't talked about it too much, I guess. We've got our hands full right now with Ry."

"You want more though?"

Brianna nodded. "Yeah, I do. I'd love a little girl," she admitted.

Autumn smiled at her, just as there was a knock on the door and Dr. Shively walked in. "Autumn, how are you doing?" she said, shaking Autumn's hand before seeing Brianna sitting in the seat next to her. "I see you've got new entourage today," she joked.

"Yep, this is my friend, Brianna," she introduced. "Kat and Corey are both working," she added.

"How are you feeling?" Dr. Shively got right down to business.

"I'm really hoping you tell me I'm allowed off of bed rest," she laughed. "Because I really can't stand it anymore."

Dr. Shively shook her head. "I'm sorry, Autumn, but you're going to have to be on bed rest these last few weeks. I know it's hard, but it's better for you and the baby in the end. One thing we do need to talk about this time is a Cesarean section."

Autumn looked up at her, not expecting the question. She hadn't even thought twice about having to have a C-section. She'd always just assumed she'd give birth naturally. "A C-section?" she asked. "You think I'm going to need a C-section?"

"We don't know," Dr. Shively admitted. "But since you have placenta previa, there's a good chance you're going to need one. Now, there's a couple different options. Some women in this situation decide to just go ahead and schedule a C-section. That's probably the easiest option. That way we know we can get the baby out."

Autumn was quiet. She wanted what was best for the baby, but she really didn't want to have a C-section. She wanted to do this naturally. "And the other options?" she asked.

"Another option is to just wait until childbirth. We can try to have you give birth naturally and if you're unable to do that, then we'd do an emergency C-section," Dr. Shively explained. "That option is a little more risky for both you and the baby. Now, obviously if I was worried about the health of you or the baby by trying a natural birth, I wouldn't even suggest doing it. But, I think since your cervix wasn't completely covered, you can try natural birth."

"That's what I want to do," Autumn said without much hesitation.

"You just need to know that you may still need to do a C-section if a natural birth isn't an option."

Autumn nodded her head. "I'm aware. And, I want you to do whatever it takes for the baby to be healthy. If that means going in and doing a C-section, then do it." She would do anything for the baby, and since she'd had so many bumps in the road with her during the pregnancy, she was sure the delivery wasn't going to be the easiest.

"We'll do what's best for both you and the baby. We'll plan on a natural childbirth but have the C-section as a backup plan," Dr. Shively told her.

Autumn went through the rest of the appointment, getting one last ultrasound and talking about inducing labor if needed. Autumn felt like she was given so much information to think about during that small meeting with her doctor, and her head was spinning when she was leaving the office. "I didn't know there were so many things to think about when it came time to giving birth," Autumn said as she got into the car.

"They just want you to be aware of every possibility," Brianna commented. "They told me all the same things. Obviously, I didn't have to think about a C-section as much. But, then obviously, I didn't think about having to have emergency surgery right afterwards either," she shuddered, thinking back to that time in the hospital.

"I still remember sitting there when you were in surgery. We were all worried. Brent was a mess," she said quietly.

"He was worried about losing another wife," Brianna stated, and Autumn didn't know what to say to that. "But, don't worry, you're going to have an easy delivery," she smiled at her.

"Thanks," Autumn replied, enjoying the rest of her ride outside, knowing she was going to have to go back into the condo and not leave for the next month until it was time to deliver the little girl inside of her.

Brianna helped her back inside and bid her farewell, needing to go pick up Ryan from the babysitter. Autumn thanked her for taking her to the doctor and she got back in bed, grabbing her phone and sending Katherine a quick text saying the doctor's appointment went well. Then, she decided to call Corey, not knowing if he was in practice in Minnesota or not.

He picked up on the second ring. "Hey Autumn, how'd the doctor go?" he asked.

"It was okay," she said, but he wouldn't let that go and forced her to tell him what all had happened. She spilled everything the doctor had told her. "It's just a lot, you know? What happens if something happens?"

"You can't think like that," Corey told her. "Nothing is going to happen."

"You don't know that," Autumn replied.

"Nothing is going to happen," he repeated, more sternly this time. "Nothing can happen. I can't have anything happen to you."

She smiled at that. "Thanks," she told him. "Oh, and can you do me a favor?" she asked.

"Hmm?"

"Can you have Brent call Bri?" she requested.

Corey suddenly got worried. "Is everything okay?" he asked her.

"Oh yeah!" she said quickly, not wanting to have alarmed him. "We were just talking today about a lot of things and Chelsea got brought up."

"Brent's Chelsea?" Corey asked. He had only known Chelsea for a short while before she died, having come up to the NHL and the Blackhawks just before then. He'd met her a few times but never really knew her.

"Yeah," Autumn told him. "I think Bri's been thinking about her a lot. She said something about thinking about whether Brent would have been happier with Chelsea," she explained. "Just have him call her. I think she could use it," she said.

"I will," Corey agreed.

"Thanks," Autumn said.

"Are you going to be okay on your own tonight?" he asked. He hated leaving her there on her own. Katherine had offered to stay over or to have Autumn stay with her and Cade, but Autumn had told her that she would be just fine.

Autumn nodded her head. "I'll be fine. And if I'm not, I've got my list of people to call," she chuckled.

"Good," Corey told her. "I wish I could be there with you."

"You're going to be a million times worse when I’m pregnant with your kid, aren't you?" she laughed, just imagining how much more protective he would be.

"Oh without a doubt," he said. "We'll have to plan it so you're having the baby in the offseason," he told her. "That way I can be there all the time at the end of the pregnancy."

"We've got a few things we need to do before that," she reminded him. "Like me having this baby first," she laughed, putting her hand on her belly.

"You need to plan to have that one when I'm home, too," he said.

That caught Autumn off guard. "You want to be here when I have the baby?" she asked. They'd never really talked about it before.

"Are you kidding me? Yes, I want to be there. I know it's not my baby or your baby, but it's you giving birth, and I'm going to be there for that," he stated. "Unless you kick me out," he added jokingly.

"I want you there."

"I'll be there the whole time," he promised.