~~*~~
Stephan walked out of the apartment and didn’t have to look too far to find his brother he was standing in the lobby looking out the windows. “Rico, there you are. What’s wrong with you? Your son and his fiancé are going to need your help and you walk out on them.”
“I’m not in the mood for your crap Stephan.”
“I don’t care if you’re in the mood or not, you have to deal with this, with them, now. If you put this off it’ll just fester.”
“Shut up! I feel it’s partly my fault. I went up to the cabin a few weeks before we left to see if Seth was there because he didn’t come home that night. He was there with Lia. He said something about them just getting there, but I didn’t think so. I didn’t push it! I should have made them come home! Because we were fighting so bad about the move I didn’t want to fight with him anymore. I warned him about protection and told him I didn’t want any babies running around and I left. I just left,” he said.
“Ah big brother, you might have stopped them that day, but Seth told her a week before that so I don’t think that was the first time. You can’t change what happened, but you can change the way you deal with it,” Stephan said.
“I’m not going to sit there and act all happy for them. I can’t, their ruining their lives,” Rico stated.
“You might think that, but they are so in love and that conquers a lot. Look at yourself, if it wasn’t for the love your wife had for you, you wouldn’t be where you are today.”
“I know that and I don’t want that life for Seth. I want him to be better than I was. I want him to succeed and do better. Not start out the same way his mother and I did.”
“Look Seth is a different person than you. His love for Lia is so much deeper than any of us have encountered, don’t be the one to stand in the way. Be there for him, for Lia, and especially for the baby, your grandchild.”
Rico didn’t say anything to that he just stood staring out the window. So bad he wanted a drink, to get him though this mess, just one drink. What would one drink hurt? He turned abruptly and walked away from his brother and went down the elevator.
~~*~~
“Did you find him?” Seth asked when Stephan walked back into the apartment.
“Yeah he’ll come around,” his uncle replied.
“You think so, “Lia questioned.
“Yeah he’s upset, he wanted a different life for you two, than what he had,” Stephan said.
“He’s afraid I’ll turn into a drunk like him, isn’t he?” Seth asked.
“He didn’t say that, but I’m sure it’s in the back of his head. He’s real upset right now and I tried to get him to come back in, but he left.”
“And you let him?” Seth demanded.
“I can’t follow him everywhere. He has to make his own decisions, Seth. I hope he went to a meeting, but I don’t know. I have to get going, I need to be at the restaurant. Call me if you need me and let me know about the insurance.”
“Thanks for coming, Uncle Stephan, I know you’re the only reason he didn’t scream at us,” Seth said.
“I think he’s in shock right now, that might come later,” Stephan joked. “But I really didn’t do anything.”
“Just you being here was enough for me. Don’t let Mom know where he went,” Seth said.
“I don’t know where he went, honestly. Maybe he went back to work, call him there in a little to check,” Stephan suggested.
“Yeah I will,” Seth said.
~~*~~
“We need to get back home, Lia. You ready to go? I have to be back in time for work,” her mom asked.
“I don’t want to leave yet,” she said.
“Lia, you are still going to be punished for what you did today. So your punishment is your leaving now, and you have to stay in the house tomorrow and the weekend, except for work,” her mom said.
“Lia, go home and don’t cause any more trouble. I have to work tonight anyway. I’ll be down after the game tomorrow night, I don’t work until Sunday.”
“Wonder if they’re let me see you,” Lia said sarcastically.
“Babe don’t push it. I love you. Now go home and be a model prisoner,” he said laughing.
“You think this is funny don’t you,” she accused.
“Not really but if it makes you get some rest, I’m all for it. This had been too stressful on you,” he said.
“I’m not that fragile, Seth, I’m the same person I was before,” Lia said.
“Yeah, but now you’re pregnant and that does make you fragile in my eyes, so just go home and rest. I’ll see you after the game.”
“Fine!” she said. “Since I’m a pregnant prisoner do I get more than bread and water?” she asked her parents.
“Don’t push it Lia,” her Dad said.
“Yeah, Yeah, Yeah,” she replied. “I love you, Seth see you tomorrow.”
~~*~~
On the way home she asked, “Can I cheer one more game, before you tell the world I’m pregnant?”
“Lia it’s not a good idea. What if you get hurt?” her Mom asked.
“I did Mom remember and I’m still standing, and I’m still pregnant,” Lia said.
“She’s right, let her cheer one more game,” her Dad said.
“I don’t know.”
“Look I’m not made of glass, I’m pregnant and I can do anything I did before physically and you know that. I’m not asking for the rest of the season, just one more game,” she pleaded. “Please.”
“Alright, but that’s it. On Monday we have to talk to the school and let them know. If I have time when we get home I’ll make an appointment for you at the doctors. You can call the insurance, Lia to see if it is covered under your Dad’s policy.”
“Ok I’ll call them and thanks, Mom.”
Chapter 32
Friday night before the game Cris asked, “Does Seth know your cheering? Do you think it’s a smart thing to do? What if you get hurt?” He knew cheerleading was a demanding sport, and cheerleaders get hurt more than most athletes.
“Yes, Seth knows, he’s not happy, but like I told him I did get hurt and I was fine. I’ll be real careful, and since it rained today we usually don’t do any lifts with our shoes being wet.”
“You’ll have Seth worried and he needs to be on his game tonight and so do I.” Cris said.
“Seth knows there won’t be any lifting tonight, we already talked about it. In school and with what happened to me, our coach told us no lifts tonight. I just want one more time cheering, and then I’ll be kicked off the squad. It might be selfish of me, but I want to do this,” Lia said.
“Yeah it is, just be careful, alright,” Cris said worriedly.
“I’ll just be standing on the side lines like everyone else,” Lia said.
After the game Seth called her from the locker room, “Lia how was the game?”
“Fine, don’t worry I didn’t get hurt. I know that’s why you’re calling me so quick. I told you we weren’t doing any stunting tonight. I’m really gonna miss this,” she said.
“I’m sorry, Babe. If I could change it I would,” Seth confessed. He felt guilty that he could still play football when she had to quit cheering. She loved cheering as much as he loved football.
“I know so would I, but we can’t and we have to live with it.”
“Yeah we do. Did you get your doctor appointment yet?” he asked.
“Not till next Wednesday at 5:00. They wanted me there soon since I’m so young,” Lia said.
“I’ll see if I can miss practice to be there,” Seth said. “I’ll talk to my coach and see if he’ll let me.”
“Please be there. I’m afraid to go. I’m afraid that they’ll try to make us give it up or something,” Lia admitted.
“They can’t do that, and if they do then we’ll go to another doctor,” Seth said.
~~*~~
A week later, Lia’s first do
ctor appointment was Wednesday after school and Seth wanted to be there with her, but he had football practice. He told her he would ask his coach if he could miss it since there were only two more games left.
Monday morning before school Seth went in early. He walked into the locker room to the coach’s office, knocked on the door. He waited for him to answer, but there was none. He turned the knob, but it was locked. He sat on the bench outside the office waiting for his coach to come in.
“Seth, what’s up?” he said when he saw him sitting there. “You need to talk to me?”
“Yeah, coach, can we talk in your office?” Seth asked.
Unlocking the door he ushered Seth inside and close the door, “What did you need to talk to me about?”
Seth sat in the chair for a minute before answering, “I need to miss practice on Wednesday.”
“Why?”
“I have to go to the doctor with Lia, and even though the appointment is not till 5:00, it’ll take me an hour and half to get there. She’s pregnant and this is her first appointment and I want to be there for her. I know she’s scared to go.”
“She’s pregnant? When did you find this out?”
“Almost two weeks ago.”
“And this is the first time you mentioned it to me. Shouldn’t she have been at the doctor sooner than this?”
“I didn’t say anything because it didn’t interfere with football until now. Her Mom called the doctor as soon as we found out and this is the appointment they gave her,” Seth said.
“How are you dealing with it? I know it didn’t affect your game if anything you’re playing is better and better,” his coach said. “What are your plans?”
“After football is over, I’m moving back home to be with her. I can’t leave her to deal with it all by herself. I would have moved back right away, but she told me no, that I should finish the football season, try to get a scholarship. I don’t want any scholarship I’m just trying to get one to ESU which is close to home. If I finish the season good here I’ll get it.”
“How do you know that?”
“A friend of mine knows the athletic director there and has talked to him about it. It could be a full scholarship or a partial one, but I’ll take either. I just need to be close to home so I can commute back and forth to help her and be with my kid. So it would really help if you could let me miss practice so I could go with her.”
“You know at this time of the year, if you miss practice you can’t play,” the coach said.
“Yeah I know, but I didn’t want to not just show up. I wanted to tell you why I wasn’t going to be here. If I can’t play on Saturday then fine, but I really have to be there for her,” Seth said standing up and walking out the door.
Heath happened to pass by the coach’s door as Seth walked out. Seeing the look on his face he knew the coach wouldn’t let him miss practice, “Hey Seth, he wouldn’t let you miss the practice would he?”
“Yeah I can miss the practice he understands why, but I can’t play on Saturday if I’m not there for the practice. Being with Lia at the doctor’s is more important than playing, even if it means I’ll miss getting any scholarship. I just won’t tell her, because if I do she’ll tell me to stay here at practice.”
“That sucks; he could make an exception for you. It’s not like your girlfriend is in the city and you could just run there after practice. She’s lives an hour and half away,” Heath said.
“I understand, really I do. He can’t make an exception for me, then everyone else would want one. She tried to get an appointment at a later time, but there was none. She’s going to call again to see if there was a cancellation later in the day. So hopefully she can get one,” Seth said.
“This really stinks, you’re one of the better players on the team, and if you have to sit out Saturday it’ll hurt us,” Heath said.
“I know and I want to be there for the team, but she has to come first, the baby has to come first,” Seth said.
“I’ll see what I can do, with the coach. I’ll talk to him,” Heath said.
“No don’t I don’t want him to be upset with me or to do anything special just for me. He has a team to think of, not just me. I told him I’m moving back after football is over so it’s not like I’m gonna be here much longer so why would he do anything special for me. I had a great time playing with you guys, but my life is back home.”
“I get it really I do, I would do anything for Candace, too. It just sucks,” Heath said.
“I guess he thinks it’s fair, that’s the rules and I have to live with it. Let’s just hope she can get a later appointment,” Seth replied.
Heath said. “Let me talk to the other captains and the team and see if they can think of something so you’re not missing the game on Saturday.”
“I don’t want to cause any trouble with anyone. If she can’t change it I’ll sit out,” Seth said.
~~*~~
He spoke to Lia that night and told her he will be there on Wednesday to go with her to her appointment. “You didn’t get to see if they could change it did you?”
“Yeah I called today and I explained that you might not be able to make it at that time. The only thing they had was one at 5:45 so I took it, but I don’t know if you can make that and do practice.”
“I talked to the coach and he told me it’s ok to go,” Seth said.
“If you don’t go to practice you have to sit out the game won’t you?” Lia asked.
He thought of lying to her, but if she found out, she’d be real mad. So he told her the truth, “Yeah, but your more important. Besides I want to be there. I want to know everything the doctor tells you,” Seth said.
“To be honest I want you there, too. I’m scared, I don’t know what to expect,” Lia said.
“I know I’m nervous too. It might work if I can be at most of the practice, maybe he’ll let me play on Saturday. I’ll leave it a little early and I can make it by 6:00.”
“Maybe they’ll be running late and won’t take me till 6:00,” Lia said.
“I have to go, Babe, my breaks over and I have to get back to work,” he said.
“Ok, talk to you later,” she said.
He called Heath, “Hey she got the appointment changed till 5:45 Wednesday. I’ll have to leave practice early; like fifteen minutes do you think that would be a problem?”
“No I don’t think so. You’ll be at most of it. I’ll just cut it short, if everything goes ok. We’ll do special teams at the end so you won’t have to be there. We’ll work it all out,” Heath said.
“Thanks I appreciate it, got to go back to work. Talk to you tomorrow.”
~~*~~
She sat Tuesday in Principal Kruger’s office with her Mom to explain to them that she was pregnant. Her coach was a little mad that she cheered on Friday, “What if something had happen to you?”
“It did actually; I was pregnant when Syd fell on me. We just didn’t know it at that time,” Lia said.
“We have no other room for you in any other homeroom, Lia. You’re going to have to stay in the one you’re in, but you’re no longer a cheerleader,” Principal Kruger said.
“I know that, I figured that much,” Lia said.
“Can you handle that Lia?” her mom asked.
“Yeah I’ll have to. I’m not quitting school just because I can’t be on the squad anymore. In fact I’d feel worse being taken out. At least I’ll be with my friends,” she said.
“Maybe we can find something for you to do. Even thought you won’t be on the squad we can keep you involved with other aspects,” her coach said.
“I’d like that.” she said.
Wednesday came and Lia was nervous from the minute she woke up. Her friends were pretty supportive of her and tried to keep her from not thinking of her appointment. She was still in the cheerleading homeroom as they had no other place to put her. Some of them were upset with her and didn’t speak
to her, but her true friends stuck by her. She spoke with some of them Sunday before they went to the school to tell her coach and the principal.
~~*~~
She was getting ready to go to her appointment, when Tina showed up, “Hey girl you ready to go?”
“Go where?” Lia asked.
“To your appointment. I know your Mom couldn’t go with you and Seth will be late, so I figured you needed someone to go with you,” Tina said.
“Thanks I appreciate that. I’m so nervous and sitting in that waiting room will be nerve racking for me. If I had someone there with me will help a lot,” Lia said hugging her.
Her Dad walked in as they were getting ready to walk out, “Hey Dad your home early,” Lia said.
“Yeah I’ll take you to your appointment,” he said. “Your Mom was worried about you going alone. So I said I would take you and stay till Seth got there.”
“This is great, thanks Dad, now I have two people going with me. Tina came over for the same reason. Thanks both of you,” Lia said. “I just hope Seth can get here. I told him not to rush. I don’t want him to have another accident.”
“Come on Lia, you’re gonna be late,” her dad said. “He’ll be just fine. I have something to show you when the appointment is over. Tina you can come along afterwards if you’d like.”
“Where are we going?”
“It’s a surprise, and a long overdue one,” her dad said.
“Ok,” she said looking a Tina with a confused look. Tina just shrugged her shoulders and got in the back of the car.
Lia didn’t talk on the way to the appointment, she was terrified. Her nervousness turned to terror when they got into the car. Even though she knew she was pregnant, going to the doctor would confirm it and make it so much more real. She sat in the car staring straight ahead.
They pulled into the parking lot and Lia thought she was going to throw up. She couldn’t get out of the car she was paralyzed with fear. Tina got out the back and opened her door, “Come on Lia, it’s going to be fine.”