Where We Are

Smoothing out the material of the shirt that she wore, Maia spared a soft sigh, her blue eyes studying the reflection which stared back at her from the mirror, ensuring that she looked alright. She knew that it wasn’t a big deal, the appointment that she had that morning was not the first, and wouldn’t be the last, but still she couldn’t shift the knot in her stomach, a knot that had existed for weeks and showed little sign of disappearing.

Offering her reflection another soft gander, she carefully ran her hands down the front of her shirt before she paused at her stomach, her thumb lightly skimming over the front of the material. It had caught her off guard, when she had started to feel nauseous a couple of weeks after she had left Porto for Italy, she had simply put it down to a sickness bug, but as a few days spread into a couple of weeks, she had opted to take a test, something which had confirmed what a small part of her had suspected from the outset, that she was expecting a baby.

Gently brushing her thumb against the small bump which stuck out from beneath her sweater, she quirked a light smile before the sound of the front door opening and closing reached her ears, causing her to let out a small sigh before she padded out of the bedroom, making her way towards the living room. “You know” she quipped “I miss when you used to knock, Alex” she added, her eyes settling on the ginger woman who’d moved to settle on the couch.

The ginger woman scoffed playfully. “You gave me a key” she pointed out “Why wouldn’t I use it?” she added.

Maia rolled her eyes at her friend’s comment before she stepped forwards, settling down on the couch beside her friend. “You’re early” she pointed out, breaking the quiet which had settled around them.

Alex, who’d moved to check her texts, nodded. “I know I am” she noted “But I figured I ought to be. The last time we went to one of these, you were nervous beforehand and I thought you’d appreciate the company. I can if you want me to” she noted, offering her a friend a soft look.

Maia noted the look on her face before she shook her head, quirking a small smile. “I’m OK” she noted.

Alex offered her a slightly dubious look. “Are you sure?” she posed.

“I’m still a little nervous” Maia clarified, her fingers fiddling nervously with her watch “I mean, I know it’s not the first one, but it’s still a pretty strange thought and I am still trying to wrap my head” she added, her blue eyes peeking down towards the front of her shirt. It was still settling in, despite the few weeks that had passed since she had seen the positive test result, the idea that she was pregnant was one which still felt foreign to her, but she was confident that she would get used to it, even if it did take some time, part of her was already counting down the days until the baby arrived.

Alex followed the line of Maia’s stare before she let out a soft sigh. “I know it’s still a touchy subject” she noted carefully “But have you called Iker?” she posed, her voice soft and tentative. She knew that it was still a sore subject, whenever the keeper’s name came up in conversation, Maia tended to change the subject or shy away from the conversation, but still Alex knew that she had to broach the topic, even if wasn’t a comfortable one for Maia. She couldn’t avoid the elephant in the room forever.

Maia, who’d moved to run her thumb over her small bump, stilled a little at the mention of Iker’s name before she shook her head. “Alex...”

“I know that you don’t want to talk about it” Alex interrupted “And I understand that, but you know that you have to talk to him, right?” she added, gesturing towards the front of her shirt.

Maia spared another soft glance down towards her stomach before she nodded her head gingerly. “I know” she noted “But I...I don’t quite know how I am supposed to go about it. Things between us, they didn’t end fantastically and the last thing I want to do it march back into his life and drop this on him with little to no warning. It’s huge, Alex, I’m having a baby, and I don’t quite know how I am supposed to tell him that” she explained tentatively. She knew that Alex had a point, regardless of how things were between the two of them, she knew that she needed to tell Iker about her pregnancy, but she didn’t quite know how to broach the subject, something which had led to her shying away from telling him.

Alex offered her a soft look before she gently reached her hand out, offering Maia’s a gentle squeeze. “You have to figure it out” she noted “For baby’s sake at least” she added.

Maia, who’d turned their attention down towards their hands, nodded her head quietly before the sound of her phone buzzing filled the air, causing her to push herself up to her feet. “That’s our cue to get moving” she noted “Are you sure that you don’t mind coming along with me?” she posed.

Alex shook her head. “Of course I don’t mind” she noted “Besides, it’s another chance to see my favourite niece or nephew. I’m not going to pass up on that” she added, an impish smile on her face.

Maia quirked a small smile at her friend’s words before she moved to collect her bag, padding out of the apartment with Alex in tow.

~#~
Chewing nervously on her lip, Maia peeked around the small cubicle, something which made Alex, who was sat beside her, shake her head. “I thought you weren’t nervous?” she quipped, moving to squeeze Maia’s hand.

Maia simply offered her a look, something which Alex smile before she offered her hand another squeeze. “You’re fine” she insisted.

Maia opened her mouth, preparing to retort, but was stopped as her midwife stepped into the room, a warm smile on her face. “Maia” she quipped “You’re here for you twelve week scan, right?” she posed, quickly perusing the brunette’s notes.

Maia blinked a couple of times, slightly surprised by the midwife’s arrival, before she nodded her head. “I am” she noted “Is everything alright?” she added, a small worried frown on her face.

Lola, who’d been perusing the notes, nodded. “I was just looking over your notes” she noted “And things are looking very positive. Your bump is the right size for a pregnancy in its twelfth week, and your blood pressure is still good and controlled, but I’d still like to keep it under close observation. It was pretty high at your first appointment and I’d like to keep monitoring it for a couple of weeks. Is that OK?” she posed.

Maia simply nodded, something which made Lola flash her a small reassuring smile before she padded over towards the bed, lightly scooting the material of Maia’s sweater away from her small bump. “I’d still like to see you on a weekly basis” she noted “Just for a couple more weeks, but after that, I think we should be OK to do fortnightly checkups until your twenty week scan” she explained, lightly smearing a little gel over Maia’s stomach.

Maia jumped, surprised by the cool sensation, before she nodded her head. “I think that that sounds good” she noted.

Lola nodded her head swiftly before she gently ran the scanner over Maia’s bump, quickly locating the heartbeat. “He or she has a strong heartbeat” she pointed out.

Maia, who’d flicked her attention towards the screen, merely nodded her head quietly, her blue eyes not shifting away from the image which filled it. It was still unfamiliar, the idea that she was pregnant, it was still strange to her, but she growing used to it, even if she knew that there was one hurdle that she’d yet to clear, she was growing excited about the new arrival.