“I can’t.”
“Yes you can,” Seth said behind Tina.
“Seth you’re here?” Lia cried jumping out of the car and into his arms.
“Yeah, thanks to Heath he got the coach to do special teams last so I could leave. I just got here a few minutes ago. Come on, Babe, I’ll be right there with you,” he said.
“I’ll just leave you here then,” her dad said.
“No, Mr. Lombardi, you can come in with us. She’s going to need all of us,” Seth said.
“I wish her mother could be here,” her dad grumbled.
“Its fine Dad go home we’ll meet you there,” Lia said.
“No I’ll go with, but I’m staying in the waiting room,” he said.
Laughing Lia, took Seth’s hand in one and her Dad’s in the other. They all walked into the office and Lia and Seth went to the window to let them know she was there.”
“Have a seat, all your paperwork is filled out. The only thing we need is your insurance card,” the receptionist said.
“Dad? Do you have the insurance card?” Lia turned to him.
“Yeah, let me get it out of my wallet,” he said, once he got it out he handed it to Lia.
When she handed it over to the receptionist Seth noticed she was shaking. When they walked away he whispered, “It’s going to be fine. Don’t be so nervous.”
“I can’t help it. I don’t think I would have gotten out of the car if you weren’t here,” Lia confessed.
“Yeah you would have. Tina would have pulled you out if she had too,” he teased.
Sitting next to Tina, Lia was pale as a ghost, “Lia it’ll be fine. Your dad and I will be right out here and Seth will be with you.”
“I know, I just wish it would be over already,” she moaned.
Seth and Tina started talking about other things to get her mind off her fear, but Lia really wasn’t listening. Her mind was on what the doctor was going to tell her. That she was a stupid teenager getting pregnant, when there is so much birth control out there. Or that she should give the baby up for adoption, or worse get an abortion. This kept going around in her head over and over again and was freaking her out.
Seth held her hand the whole time they sat there, and he noticed that she didn’t stop shaking the whole time. “Babe you have to calm down. It’s only a doctor appointment.”
“I can’t, I just want to go home,” she said frantically.
“You can’t, you have to see a doctor,” he said.
The nurse came to the doorway and call, “Lia Lombardi.”
Chapter 33
She sat in the chair in fear. Seth had to pull her out of it and propelled her forward toward the door. She turned to look and her Dad and the fear in her eyes was undeniable. Her Dad couldn’t do anything for her and it cut deep in his heart.
“Wow, is she scared or what?” Tina said.
“Yeah I don’t know why, but she’s frightened. It’s only a doctor appointment one she’ll have to do every month. Sure hope she gets over it or we’ll be fighting her to come every month,” her dad said.
The nurse led her to a tiny room where she took her blood pressure and weighed her. Seth stayed right outside the door looking in.
“Your blood pressure is a little on the high side. Are you nervous?” she asked.
Lia nodded her head.
“There’s nothing to worry about. Who is this?” she asked before revealing anything.
“Seth, he’s my fiancé and the father,” Lia said.
“So I can talk in front of him?’ she asked.
“Of course, you can say anything he’s entitled to know. We put him down on the list of people who could know what’s going on,” Lia said.
“Good. Nice to see you want to be involved Seth. So many young girls come through and the baby’s father’s don’t come or leave them altogether. Come on we’ll start the appointment with you both talking to the doctor. Then we’ll do the exam.” she said leading them down the hallway to the doctor’s office. She opened the door, “Take seat Dr. Claire will be right with you.”
“Dr Clair? Is that the first name or the last,” Seth asked.
“I don’t know,” Lia said looking around the room. The medical licensing on all the doctors were there, but before she could find one with a Dr Claire the door opened.
“Hi Lia, Seth,” Dr Claire said. She was female doctor. She was a short stocky woman. with short brown hair with gray streaking through it, she was in her fifties Lia guessed. “I want to introduce myself, I’m Dr Claire Zamboni, but everyone calls me Dr. Claire. I like to talk to my patients first to explain all the options, and to see what you want to do. First off I want to let you know you are not the first teenager to get pregnant, and not the first one in this office. We will treat you like an adult and everything is up to you, not your parents and not his parents.” she said looking at Seth. “I assume you’re the father?”
“Yes he’s my fiancé and the father,” Lia said.
“Well I’m real glad to see you’re here with Lia. Now what are your plans?”
“To have it,” Seth said quickly.
“Good, that’s takes care of about half my speech. Now I will tell you what to expect as the pregnancy goes on. Are you getting morning sickness?”
“Yes, I’m trying to keep crackers by the bed and eating some before I get up. It helps, but sometimes I still get sick.”
“Ok that’s good that you’re trying that. If at any time you have it too bad or it won’t stop let me know we can prescribe something for it, but I don’t like to do that unless it’s too bad. I want to give you both some books which describe the next few months for you. They’ll explain all the body changes and hormone change you will go through.” Looking at Seth she explained, “Lia’s body will be going through a lot of changes, Seth, but she’ll be going through a lot of emotional changes too. Some women have such mood swings it’s like their two different people, one minute she could be happy and the next crying her eyes out. It’s normal you just have to remember to be there for her and be supportive,” the doctor explained.
“I will be once I move back next month,” Seth said holding Lia’s hand.
“Move back?” the doctor asked.
“I moved to New York with my parents a few months back and after football season I’ll be moving back here,” Seth said.
The doctor frowned, “After football season? Why wait if you’re moving back? She’s going to need you to be there for her.”
“He’s waiting till after football at my insistences, he’s up for a football scholarship and we really need him to get that so he can get into a college, to relieve some of the financial pressure off of us.”
“I see. Do you think you can do college and raise a baby at the same time?” the doctor asked gently. “Lia do you have family that will support you in addition to Seth?”
“Yeah I do and I have friends who will be there for the both of us,” Lia said.
“Just to let you know your friends will probably start staying away once the baby is born and you can’t hang out with them anymore. It’s a classic thing that happens to most young mothers,” Dr Claire said. “I want you both to know what happens and it will be on the two of you to raise this child.”
“We know Dr Claire and I will be there for her and the baby through it all. I’ll be hard for us, but we’ll do it. There are plenty of people around who will be there for us,” Seth said.
“That’s great, I’m happy for you both and good luck on that scholarship,” Dr. Claire said sincerely. “Now I need to confirm some of the medical history. I see here no history of heart disease, stroke or diabetes in either family. That’s good. Now you state here you last period was September 2, which means your due date is June 9th. Good timing you’ll be out of school for the summer and can spend it with the baby. We will be doing a pregnancy test and an internal exam in a few minutes to make sure everything is going
according to schedule. Do you want Seth in there for the internal exam?”
Turning toward Seth, Lia asked, “Do you want to be there?”
“Yes,” he said.
“We won’t be checking for a heartbeat, but it’s too early to hear it, but by next month we might be able to,” the doctor said. “Now let’s go get you in an exam room.”
The nurse took them the room and gave Lia gown and a plastic container, “Put this on in the bathroom right there. Also we need urine to take the pregnancy test. Then when you’re done just lay on the table and the doctor will be right in,” she said and left the room.
“I’m so glad she didn’t push us to get rid of the baby,” Lia said.
“Is that what you were so scared of?” Seth asked.
“Yeah, I told you, I had no idea what to expect since I’m so young. I thought they would try to convince me to give it up or something,” she said.
“They can’t do that, Lia. It’s up to us not them,” he said.
“Deep down I know that, but I still thought they would try to change our minds,” she said.
There was a knock on the door, and the doctor walked in. “All ready for me? Now have you ever had an internal exam before, Lia?”
“No,” she replied.
“Ok you’re going to feel some pressure, but no pain,” Dr Claire explained.
Seth was seated back my Lia’s head and he held her hand the whole time. He kept reassuring her by squeezing her hand. He put his head by her ear and whispered, “You’re doing great Lia. I love you.”
She seemed to relax a little after he said that to her, and the doctor noticed, “I don’t know what you said to her, but keep it up, it’s relaxing her and I need her to be relaxed I’m almost done.”
After the exam was over she said, “Lia, go get dressed and I’ll talk to you some more.”
“Is she always this nervous?” Dr. Claire asked Seth quietly.
“No usually she’s the rock that keeps us together. She was afraid you’d try to talk her out of having the baby, to have an abortion or give it up.”
“I could never do that. It’s up to her, well both of you actually. There’s something about the two of you, you don’t seem like you have the typical teenage love. That’s good because you will have you hands full once the baby comes. I’ll talk more to you two as the pregnancy goes on, to make sure you’re on track with everything,” she said.
Lia walked out of the bathroom and Dr. Claire said, “Have a seat Lia. I want you to know everything looked and felt normal. I’ll be seeing you once a month to check for the baby’s heart beat, weight check, and monitor how everything is going. We won’t do another exam until the end to see how the baby’s progressing. Now do you want to do a natural child birth or do you want pain medication?”
“I don’t know,” Lia said.
“In the booklets I gave you describe both methods. Read over them and let me know, we can get you in a Lamaze class if you want a natural birth. Any questions for me then?”
“No, not now,” Lia said shaking her head.
“If at any time you have one give the office a call and we’ll answer them for you. As you check out, have them make you an appointment right away for next month. Make sure you get plenty of rest. See you next month,” Dr. Claire said walking out of the room.
Seth took his hand and put it on her stomach, “Wow there really is a little boy in there,” he said.
“A little boy how do you know it’d not a little girl,” she teased.
“I don’t care what sex it is, it’s ours and it growing in there. It’s amazing,” he said. “Come on let’s get your next appointment.”
They walked into the waiting room, where Tina and her Dad were waiting. Tina saw them first and jumped up, “What happened? Is everything ok? Oh Lia you look so much better not so pale. We were worried about you out here.”
“Slow down Tina, everything is fine and my due date is June 9th. The doctor said everything is fine. She gave us a million books to read on what will happen and what things to expect,” Lia said.
“I’m glad everything is ok. And Tina’s right you do look so much better. I never saw fear in your eyes like I did when you went in there. You feel comfortable with this doctor because if not we can go somewhere else,” her Dad said.
“No she’s great, she explained a lot to us, and she didn’t judge us or make us do anything we didn’t want to do,” Lia said.
“Ok, well if you would follow me I want to show you something,” her Dad said.
~~*~~
They got in Seth’s car and followed her Dad. “What does he want to show you Lia?” Seth asked.
“I don’t know he only said something to me tonight before my appointment,” Lia said.
Her Dad pulled into the used car lot at the end of town. He parked by the office and got out. Seth pulled up next to him and Lia jumped out before Seth had it in park. “Lia!” Seth yelled. “Don’t jump out the car before I have it stopped!”
“Sorry, I’m excited. Dad are you getting me a car?” she asked.
“Yes, we can’t drive you back and forth to work all the time. I’ve been looking for one of over a month now and I think I finally found a good one. It’s a 2005 Ford Focus, it has low mileage, and is four door so it’ll be easier for you to get the baby out. The engine runs good, and so is the transmission, I test drove it yesterday. I want to see what you thought of it.”
“What color is it?” Lia asked.
Seth laughed, “You Dad’s getting you a car and all you ask about is the color?”
“Yeah, I don’t know anything about the other stuff, he’ll check all that out and so will you,” Lia said. Running up to her Dad she hugged him and said, “Thanks Dad I really appreciate it.”
“There’s one condition, Lia,” her Dad said. “No driving to New York with it. I don’t want you driving up there.”
“Dad!”
“No he’s right I don’t want you driving there either,” Seth said. “It’s too crazy up there.”
“I won’t drive it to New York. Can I see it?” Lia said.
“It’s right over here. Color is black, by the way,” he said leading her to the car.
When she saw it she fell in love with it right away. “It prefect, Dad, love it.” she said walking around it and looked inside through the windows. “Do you have to get the keys I want to see the inside?”
“I’ll get them, be right back,” her Dad said.
“Do you think we can test drive it again?” she asked Seth.
“We’ll see. I want to hear the engine first,” Seth said.
Her Dad came back with the salesman. He opened the door and she looked at the interior, it was flawless, it looked almost brand new. “Can I start it?” Lia asked.
“Yeah, here’s the keys,” the salesman said.
Lia sat in the driver’s seat and turn the car on. Seth reached in and popped the hood, then went around to the front and opened the hood. He was listening and looking at everything. “Sounds good to me,” he told Lia when he finally walked back to her.
“Can we take it for a test drive?” she asked.
“Yes, let me just tell them I’ll be right back,” the salesman said.
He came back and Seth got in the back seat, while the salesman got in the front with Lia. She backed the car up and then drove through the parking lot and out on to the street. The car handled good, the engine sounded fine, and it shifted smoothly. Lia drove around for about ten minutes and then headed back to the dealership.
They got out and her Dad asked her, “Do you like it?”
“Yeah, it’s a great car,” she said.
“Ok then we’ll take it. We’ll be back tomorrow to pick it up,” her Dad told the salesman.
“Dad were gonna take Tina home and then we’ll be right home,” Lia said.
Once in the car Tina said, “You’re so lucky girl to be getting a car from y
our Dad. It’s about time too; didn’t he get your brother one right away?”
“Yeah, it’s a long story, I’m just glad he’s getting me one. I’ll have to pay the insurance, but at least I don’t have to use my saving for it,” Lia said. “Seth if you can give me the phone number of your insurance agent I’ll call after school. Then when we pick it up I can drive it right away.”
“Yeah I’ll give it to you at the house.”
“Tina thanks a bunch for going with me tonight; it meant the world to me. If you want next time you can come and hear the heartbeat,” Lia said.
“Really? Seth you won’t mind me going along?” Tina asked.
“No, as long as Lia’s happy I don’t mind. She’s going to need all the friends she has, to help her get through it, so I’m not going to stop you from coming,” Seth said.
“Why would we stop being her friend?” Tina asked. “Just because she’s pregnant? No way.”
“Some of the girls aren’t talking to me now. Their mad that I got pregnant and got kicked off the squad,” Lia said.
“Then they weren’t your friends to begin with,” Tina said. “I know Tasha and I will both be there for you. She would have come too, but she had to work.”
They reached her house and when she got out of the back of Seth’s car Lia gave her a hug, “Thanks for going with me. I’ll talk to you tomorrow in school.”
Chapter 34
They walked into the house and sat in the living room when Seth put his arm around her and said, “That doctor seems real cool.”
“Yeah she didn’t judge us. I felt real comfortable there. You have no idea how scared I was walking in there, it made all the difference you being there,” she said hugging him tight.
“I saw how scared you were, you wouldn’t even get out of the car, Lia,” he said. “I was going to be there for you no matter what, whether I had to leave the whole practice or not.”
“You can’t miss practice this late in the season, not with the scouts looking at you. Did you hear anything more about the one Jerry was talking to?”
“No just that they would take a look at me and see if they wanted me. I guess they don’t have many scholarships for there and they only give them to the most deserving,” Seth said.