Speechless with Teeth Ch. 13

Things only got better and better for Thomas and me after that night. We seemed to get closer and closer, never going any more than a few days without each other. Almost every night, one of us stayed with the other – though it was more often his staying with me. Some of our nights were filled with continual love-making and raw lust; the rest were filled with close intimacy, doing whatever we could to enjoy each other's company. And just like he promised, he never left, even when I had my mean moments and refused to allow him to love me. I soon realized that keeping sex away from him was hurting no one but me, so I quickly stopped the ban in the bedroom whenever I was angry with him. Instead of refusing the sex, Thomas used it as a make-up gesture. No matter how mad I was with him, he could always make me feel better with his gentle loving and warm intimacy.

Tonight, however, was a little bit different than the other nights. It was a full nine months later, and we were spending this night together in his home, a cozy little three bedroom house with tasteful decorations and brand new yet hardly used appliances. I had become used to this nice little house, though I never gathered enough nerve to ask whether I could move in. Our anniversary was rapidly approaching, and it stayed in the forefront of my mind. What would we do to celebrate our year of being together? To be honest, I was surprised that he had lasted so long. Most men with me hadn't been able to even make it past the six-week mark, and many made it a shorter time than that. Though I thought these things quite often, I didn't say anything about these thoughts to him. Fear of spoiling our romantic atmosphere was too great for me to bog him down with my petty memories. However, Thomas's mind seemed to be more on affection than it was on memories.

As we lay on the comfortable leather sofa in his den right in front of his television, I was suddenly snapped out of my thoughts of memories and anniversaries as Thomas sat up a little bit behind me and moved his lips to brush against my cheek.

"Shaye," he whispered. "What are you thinking about?"

Caught off guard by the seduction in his voice, I shuddered.

"Well, I had my mind out of the gutter until you said something."

He gave me a light chuckle.

"I would apologize for my influence if I could; but I would be lying if I said that I didn't mean to get your mind in the gutter."

Sitting up a little bit, I leaned backward into Thomas's arms and sighed heavily.

"Honey..." I mumbled.

He kissed my cheek lightly and began to move his hands around my shoulders. My skin began to prickle with goose bumps as his fingers just barely moved over my skin enough for me to feel the sensation.

"I'll make love to you nice and slow tonight, Shayla. Let you feel every single bit of my lust."

And then I felt it. A sharp pain suddenly stabbed at my abdomen and my lustful intentions were soon lost. I moved away from Thomas and whined lowly.

"Not tonight, Thomas. I feel fat and bloated and I've had a horrible headache all day."

In a tizzy of sexual frustration, Thomas hung his head and sighed heavily.

"Damn," he muttered.

I gave him a look of pity, and then started crawling back toward him.

"I'm sorry, honey. Here, I'll use my hands."

A little warmed by my gesture, he looked up and gave me a reassuring smile.

"No, Shaye, it's fine. I promise. I'll just have a little bit of alone time in the shower tonight."

I raised my eyebrows and questioned,

"Are you sure?"

He nodded.

"I'm sure. Besides, I wouldn't want to get your blood flowing like that and bring that migraine back. Maybe you should go see your doctor about getting something to fix those migraines you've been having lately."

Taking a few seconds to think about it, I decided that a visit wouldn't hurt and shrugged.

"I will ask my gynecologist about it when I see her tomorrow. I'm due for a refill on my birth control anyway."

Happy about my agreement, Thomas took my hands and gave me a light kiss on my lips.

"Wonderful, baby. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a date with a hot shower tonight."

***

The next morning as I sat in the exam room waiting for something (or nothing) to happen, I stared up at the ceiling as my mind began to wander again. Our anniversary was now less than a week away, and I had no idea of what was to come. There were so many things that Thomas and I could do! But the question was simple: what would we do? I felt like the usual going out to dinner and then going back home had gotten a little old. I wanted something new; something we had never done before. But I didn't want anything extravagant. I wanted something simple—so simple but with so much meaning. The question of what still remained.

Soon the door opened and my doctor came through, completely interrupting my thoughts. I sat up from the exam bed and waited to see what she would say.

"Well," she began, "I really don't see anything wrong with you. Your body seems to be functioning normally. When did you say that your last period was?"

I shrugged.

"I'm not quite sure, really."

Her eyebrows rose at my answer.

"And you aren't pregnant?"

I shook my head fiercely.

"No, of course not! I've been on birth control for about eight months now. Besides, I've had no morning sickness or anything else. I think my period is just a little late. That or it's the pill making it irregular. I'm not looking to be a mommy right now."

Still looking concerned, she sat down across from me.

"Have you taken a pregnancy test?"

I shook my head again.

"No, I haven't. There haven't been any symptoms to warrant my going out and buying a pregnancy test."

"And you take your pill at the exact same time every single day?" she questioned.

Thinking back, I tilted my head a little bit, realizing that I was never the best at remembering my pill all the time.

"Well, maybe not at the same time every day. But I do take it every day. I don't remember it at the same time every day, but I do take it when I remember that I'm supposed to."

Finally deciding that she was not convinced, my doctor got up and began to write something on her clipboard.

"Just to be safe and make sure, why don't I go ahead and order you a blood test? I'm sure if there is nothing in there then you would have nothing to worry about, so I don't see a problem with just being sure. May as well, being that you're already here. How does that sound?"

Not happy with her decision, I only shrugged.

"I suppose. I mean, I'm not pregnant. I'm on the pill."

"And the pill isn't 100%. Do this for me, and you will thank me later."

Not bothering to give a half-hearted reply, I sighed.

"All right."

***

As I sat in the exam room that day, my thoughts wandered to the idea of being pregnant again. What if I really were pregnant? How would Thomas respond to my being pregnant and giving him a child? Did he even want one? Would he want me to just get rid of it like James had made me? I didn't want to think these things about Thomas but it was in the forefront of my mind. What would happen if I really did turn out to be pregnant?

A few minutes after my blood was drawn, my doctor came back into the room. Motioning for me to take a seat, she sat in her chair across from me as she looked over my test results. My heart began to pound. It was far too quiet. I already knew what she was about to say.

"Well Miss Turpin, it seems like my suspicions were indeed correct. Your pregnancy test was positive."

I froze. All of the color soon left my face as I processed exactly what was going on. I was pregnant? How was this even possible?

"That's...not possible," I denied.

Brushing off my denial, my doctor simply asked,

"You've been having sex, have you not? It's all possible, and the proof is right here in the blood."

Turning around, she called for a nurse to come in and assist her while she began to set up the nearby ultrasound machine to take a look. As the nurse came in and assisted the doctor with the ultrasound, I sat there in silence, too shocked to even think of what to say. Within minutes, the image of an infant appeared on the black and white screen. Tears began to form in my eyes as I realized that this wasn't a joke or a mistake. I was really pregnant.

After a few minutes of silence, my doctor looked back down at me from the screen.

"You look to be about seven weeks in. I'm surprised you haven't had any morning sickness!"

Biting my lip, I let the tear begin to roll down my face.

"I'm sorry...I just don't know what to say is all."

Mistaking my tears of pain for tears of joy, she gave me a subtle smile.

"Congratulations. I think you will make a great mother, if I may say so. Babies are such happy occasions."

Realizing that she thought I was happy, I sniffled and played along.

"Thank you...do I get to take my ultrasound pictures home?"

***

As soon as I was done and had finished cleaning up and getting dressed, I took the ultrasound picture from the nurse and thanked her quietly as I hurriedly left the office to go home. Once I'd made it back to my apartment, I locked myself inside and sat in the middle of the floor, staring at the ultrasound picture. This was really happening! How was I about to have a baby? Could I really handle a baby?

"Shaye? Are you in there?" I heard. In my distraction, I hadn't realized that Thomas was at the door. Startled, I quickly got up and threw the ultrasound pictures in a drawer. The knock on the door sounded again.

"Just a minute!" I yelled toward the door. Running quickly out of the bathroom and to the door, I flung it open and stopped to catch my breath.

"Hey honey!" I exhaled.

He walked inside and wrapped his arms around me, kissing me on my cheek.

"What have you been up to this morning?"

I shrugged.

"Nothing special," I lied.

He gave me a smile and let me go.

"So, what did the doctor say?"

I feigned a smile and gave him a light kiss.

"She said that the migraines aren't quite bad enough for her to give me some medication for it."

Now worried, he raised an eyebrow.

"Do we need to take you to a different doctor, honey? I mean, these migraines seem to be pretty debilitating."

I shook my head fiercely.

"No, it's fine! I promise!"

Finally resolved to let it go, he sighed and shrugged.

"Okay. I'll let up."

A little while after Thomas left, I stood looking in the mirror once again. The plaguing thought of being pregnant was beginning to bring itself into the back of my mind once again. Lifting my shirt, I placed a hand over my still-flat abdomen. I was having a baby. A real live baby! How in the world could I be having a baby? I had been taking my birth control...but then again, I didn't always take it right. How would Thomas react to me having a baby? I knew that he wanted a family, but was this the right time? Was this really the right point in time to even talk about having a baby? We weren't even married! Not even engaged. Not knowing what else to do, I sighed heavily. Deciding that my apartment was beginning to suffocate me, I made my way to the front door and walked out. I was going to try to figure out where to go from here.