Second Chances (29 page)

“I told you that I’d support you no matter what and that hasn’t changed. I’ll love that baby regardless if it’s biologically mine. I’ve told you that over and over, but you won’t listen!” he shouted back.

“Why won’t you make love to me?” she blurted.

Stacy swallowed the lump in her throat as she watched him, waiting for his answer. The silence that followed was unnerving and when he still hadn’t answered her, she’d turned and high-tailed it into the bathroom, locking the door behind her. When she’d heard the front door slam and Dustin’s truck start, she’d burst into tears.

All she’d wanted to do was go home, but she didn’t really even have one of those anymore. Stacy just wanted to go to sleep and get the day over with. As she’d laid there, she’d replayed the fight over and over in her head until she’d finally fallen asleep.

Stacy had woken sometime in the night to feel Dustin slide in the bed next to her. He’d wrapped his arm around her waist and hauled her back against his chest. With his face buried in her neck, she could smell the beer on his breath and tried to pull away from him.

“Where’d you go?” Stacy whispered.

Dustin held her tighter and whispered into her ear. “I met my dad for a couple of beers.” He kissed the back of her head and then started to softly snore in her ear.

It was a long time before sleep claimed her again.

***

“We’re here, baby,” Stacy’s mom told her when she realized that the car had stopped moving. She climbed out of the car, slinging her bag over her shoulder. Stacy’s hands were trembling as she shut the door and started heading to the entrance of the medical plaza. She felt her mom’s hand wrap around her hand and squeeze tight.

“It’s gonna be okay,
Minha filha
.” Her mom’s voice sounded strong and confident.

All Stacy could do was nod her head. Once inside they went to the elevators, taking them to the fourth floor. Neither Stacy nor her mom spoke as they walked down to the door of the OB/GYN group. As they walked inside, Stacy went to the check-in and gave them her name. The receptionist told her to have a seat and they’d call her. Stacy went and sat next to her mom, picking up a magazine. She thought about Dustin and was saddened by the fact that he was gone when she woke up and she hadn’t heard from him at all. Maybe the stress had finally become too much for him to deal with. Stacy blinked back the tears that started to fill her eyes. After she was done here she’d talk to her mom and dad about moving in with them, at least until after the baby was born.

Stacy knew they’d be all for it, and if the baby ended up being Dustin’s, they’d sit down and be responsible and do whatever was best for their child. Her heart felt like it was breaking, but she wasn’t going to make him stay with her just because she was pregnant.

Stacy’s leg nervously bounced as she flipped through the magazine she wasn’t even really reading as they waited. Her mom grabbed her leg and gave it a squeeze.

“Sorry, Mom,” Stacy said with a nervous smile.

“It’s okay, baby. Why isn’t Dustin here? I thought he wanted to come,” her mom whispered.

She really didn’t want to get into the whole Dustin situation now. There’d be plenty of time to discuss things later. So Stacy gave her mom the slight truth.

“I asked him not to.”

“Why would you do that, honey? I’m sure he wanted to be here with you.”

“Stacy?” a voice called out. A nurse was standing at the door leading to the back with a chart in her hand.

She took a deep breath. Rising from her chair, Stacy followed her mom to the door. She did all of the normal things first; the nurse weighed her, measured how tall she was, and then led them to an exam room where she took Stacy’s temperature, blood pressure, and pulse. The nurse asked Stacy a few routine questions about her last period and any symptoms she was experiencing. After all of the questions were done, Stacy sat in a chair next to her mom, waiting for her doctor to come in. Neither woman spoke as they sat there.

A knock on the door had Stacy jumping slightly. A tall blonde in her forties walked in with a smile on her face. Reaching out, the woman shook Stacy’s hand and then her mom’s.

“Hi, Stacy, I’m Dr. Pausch.”

She directed Stacy to have a seat on the table and got onto the little computer. They talked for a few minutes about everything that had happened with the attack and the unplanned pregnancy. Stacy liked her right away since the doctor made her feel so comfortable. She was proud of herself because she only started to cry a little once. Of course, the doctor was concerned about Stacy’s dramatic weight loss. She still couldn’t believe over the last month she’d lost a little over twenty pounds.

“Okay, so your last period was the tenth of July, but you say it was just spotting?”

“Yes, ma’am. My periods have always been erratic. Some months I bleed heavy and sometimes I spot. When I was younger they tried the birth control pill, but I reacted badly to it,” Stacy told her.

“Well, let’s have you give us a urine sample and then we’ll have you gown up so we can do the ultrasound.”

Stacy followed Dr. Pausch out into the hall to the bathroom. After she did her business, she washed her hands and picked up the cup with a paper towel, sitting it in the little metal door. She made it back to her room where her mom was waiting. Stacy was grateful when her mom stepped out of the room so she could put on the gown. When she got the gown on, she hopped up on the table and waited for the doctor to return.

Ten minutes later Stacy was lying on the table while the doctor performed a pap smear and pelvic exam. She was embarrassed when then doctor told her they’d run tests for STDs since Stacy doubted Mark’s fidelity to her since he hadn’t been faithful to his own wife. The nurse who assisted Dr. Pausch kept giving Stacy reassuring smiles as she shed a couple of embarrassing tears. When that was all finished, the doctor told her it was time for the ultrasound.

Stacy’s body began to tremble as the nurse wheeled the machine over. Her mom pulled her chair up to the table and grabbed Stacy’s hand in between both of hers. Stacy watched the doctor turn the machine on, grab the wand, and cover it with what looked like a condom.

“Okay, sweetheart, we’re going to insert this and take a look, okay?” the doctor said as she slid it in.

Stacy held it together for the most part. She was surprised that there was no pain, just a little bit of pressure.

“Stacy, are you ready to see your baby?”

Stacy’s mom squeezed her hand as the nurse assisting turned the screen to face them. Parts of the screen were black and others were white. She didn’t know what she was looking at.

The doctor pointed out the yolk sack, the baby, and the most amazing thing…the heartbeat. Stacy couldn’t help the tears that started to fall as she stared at her baby on the screen. She turned to look at her mom and saw she was crying, too.

“Okay, Stacy, how long ago were you intimate with the man who attacked you?” Dr. Pausch asked.

“Um, well, it’s been almost three months.”

“Well, then, it’s most certainly not his baby. Between your last period and the measurements, you’re about six weeks and two days. So your due date is April twenty-seventh.”

The dam broke and Stacy openly sobbed. Her prayers had been answered. Things were up in the air now with Dustin, but at least she knew that he’d be there for the baby. Stacy felt her mom pick up her hand and kiss it. She’d been so caught up in all of the emotions she was feeling that Stacy didn’t even realize that the doctor pulled the wand out and handed a couple of pictures to her mom. Stacy’s mom helped her sit up on the table and then Dr. Pausch shook both of their hands before walking out.

Her mom also stepped out so Stacy could get dressed. The whole time she got dressed she smiled as she cried. Stacy felt like a ton of weight had been lifted off of her shoulders. She placed a hand over her lower abdomen and gently rubbed where her and Dustin’s baby was.

She wasn’t naïve. Stacy knew she still had a lot of work to do on herself, but with one less thing to worry about, she could start trying to move on. Whether Dustin was by her side or not remained to be seen, but he’d be there for their child. She met her mom and the nurse in the hall. Stacy was handed a bunch of papers and a prescription for prenatal vitamins. She set up her next appointment and hoped that Dustin would come with her.

When they stepped out of the building, Stacy’s mom tapped her on the arm and nodded her head in the direction of the parking lot. There was Dustin, leaning up against his truck watching her with a look that caused a flutter to start low in her belly. His sunglasses were covering his eyes but she could feel the heat of his stare.

Stacy was only a hundred feet away from him when her mom told her that she’d see her back at the house. She watched as her mom walked over to Dustin, kissed his cheek, and then got in her car and drove away. Stacy took a deep breath and started walking towards him, not knowing what was going to happen. She owed it to their child not to run like a chicken.

“Hi,” Stacy said, feeling very nervous.

***

As Dustin watched Stacy walk towards him his mind went back to their fight the night before. He had felt bad that he just up and left her, but Dustin was afraid that they’d both start saying things they didn’t mean. So instead of being supportive, he let her push him right out the door. Dustin drove around for a while until he pulled into the parking lot of a bar near his parents’ home. He sat in his truck and decided he needed his old man.

His dad answered right away. “Hey, Dustin, how’s it going?”

“Dad, can you meet at Hopper’s?”

“Sure, son. Is everything okay?”

“No, it’s not, Dad. I just really need your advice,” Dustin said as he watched people coming and going from the bar. He hung up and waited in his truck.

In no time at all he saw his dad pull into the parking lot. Dustin didn’t even know how to start the conversation with him, so he got out and met his dad by his car. After a brief hug they walked into the bar and found a table. Dustin ordered a round of beers up at the bar. Grabbing the bottles, he walked over and sat across from his dad. Neither man spoke at first. Dustin took a healthy pull from his beer and decided to suck it up and just get it out.

“Stacy and I had our first fight tonight. I was stupid and just left her there, but I was afraid we’d start saying stuff we didn’t mean.” He downed the rest of his beer. “What do I do, Dad?”

“What was the fight about? I’m sure I can guess, but tell me what happened.”

Dustin told him about when he told Stacy he wanted to go with her to her appointment the next day, but she refused to hear it. “I told her she’s always pushing me away and then she asked why I won’t make love to her.” He didn’t know if his dad really wanted to hear that, but Dustin decided to share everything. “We’ve gotten close to—um, you know—but then I get freaked out that I’m hurting her or bringing back bad memories.”

“Well, what does she say when you pull away?” His dad was being very cool about it.

“She looks hurt and so then, of course, I feel like the biggest asshole. I love her, but I think I’m messing everything up. Dad, I saw how bad she was those first couple of weeks; the bruises, the swollen eye and the nightmares she had—”

“She’s getting better though, isn’t she?” his dad asked quietly.

“Definitely, at least physically she is. Mentally, she doesn’t seem so depressed anymore. You saw her, though—she’s so skinny now. I miss her curves. Now I’m almost afraid I’ll hurt her if I touch her.”

A waitress dropped off a couple more beers. Dustin paid for them and then turned back to his dad.

“Well, son, just be patient. I’m sure once your girl is feeling more like herself those curves will come back. Your momma was real skinny when she was pregnant with you boys. Granted, at the time we had no clue there were two of you in there, but I’ll admit I was scared to touch her, too. Your crazy momma dragged me to the doctor with her just so the doctor could tell me that there was nothing wrong with us continuing our, um—lovin’. Obviously if she’s making an effort for you to be physical with her she must be somewhat better. Just take it slow, be there for her and love the hell out of her.” Dustin’s dad took a swig of his beer. “You’ll see, when you find out that that’s my grandbaby in there, things will slide right back into some sort of normalcy.”

They talked for a while longer as they finished their beers. They talked about work, Bellamy and Dylan. Dustin wanted so badly to talk to his dad about the girl who Dylan had spent time with, hoping that maybe they could try to find her for his brother, but it wasn’t his place to spill Dylan’s secrets. He walked out with his dad, giving him a hug before hopping in his truck and heading home.

Stacy had been curled up on his side of the bed when he walked in. He quickly undressed and slid in beside her, wrapping his arm around her waist.

Now he watched his woman looking so unsure of herself walking towards him. When she was close enough, he snagged her around the waist and pulled her towards him. Dustin smiled when Stacy settled right into her spot under his chin. He couldn’t stop himself when he buried his nose in her hair, smelling the familiar scent of her shampoo. Dustin could feel the slight trembling in her body and he started to panic that maybe it wasn’t his baby. That didn’t matter to him, though. He was more worried about what this would do to her mental well-being.

“Well? How did it go, sugar?” Dustin whispered in her ear.

Stacy pulled away from him, pulling something out of her purse. “D-do you w-want to see a-a picture of our baby?” she stammered out.

“Our baby?” Dustin felt his heart start pounding in his chest. He was so overcome with joy he couldn’t stop himself when he picked Stacy up in a bear hug. Dustin held her for a long time. She had her nose buried in his neck and her arms around him holding him tight.

When Dustin finally put her down, she handed him the picture. To him it looked like a tiny blob, but it was their tiny blob. “I’m due at the end of April,” she said quietly.