Chapter 38

Eliza's POV:

Max was still talking and trying to distract me when the doctor re-entered the room after waiting around for 45 minutes. I hate hospitals.

"Okay Ms. Smith, we have some results for you. Interesting results in fact." The doctor was now sort of smiling and had pulled up a chair to sit next to my bed. I looked at Max feeling like I was going to throw up again out of nervousness. What the fuck kind of doctor smiles before giving a grim diagnosis?!?

"We ran different tests on the sample of blood we took and it turns out that it's not anything we would have expected."

"What exactly are you saying?" Max asked clearly annoyed like I was that the doctor wasn't getting to the point and telling me what was wrong with myself.

The doctor smiled again and I was half-tempted to make Max slap the smile off his face. "Well, it turns out, you've been feeling a little under the weather lately because your pregnant. You've been experiencing some of the typical side-effects most women go through in their first trimester."

The doctor kept talking but all I could focus on was the one word that had shocked me to my core: pregnant. Pregnant. How could I possibly be pregnant? I couldn't even look at Max at this point. How was he taking the news? The last thing either of us needed right now was more complications, namely a baby.



"But I don't understand! I use birth control and we use condoms!" That's double protection! Was Talbot sperm invincible or something?



"Well our records show that you have changed birth control in the past few weeks. Considering you are only about a month into your pregnancy, that is probably when it happened. Changing birth control heightens your risk of pregnancy until your body has time to adjust to the new flow of hormones coming in."



Oh my god. How could I have been so stupid? Didn't we learn that in high school sex-ed all of those years ago? I sat there still in shock watching the doctor's lips move as he gave me a few other basic explanations.

"Well congratulations. I highly recommend seeing your OB/GYN as soon as possible for a more detailed examination" the doctor was clearly trying to leave the room and escape my disbelief. Hell, I wanted to leave too.

I still couldn't look at Max and neither of us had said anything which worried me even more. How could I have become one of those girls who gets pregnant to her boyfriend, especially when he's a high-profile hockey player? It was like one of those bad lifetime movies that I normally made fun of. His hand was still in mine only now it had gone lax and was very sweaty as if he was nervous or scared out of his mind.

Were we even ready to be parents? Were we ready to be parents together? We weren't even married. I had NEVER pictured myself getting pregnant out of wedlock, ever. It wasn't that I judged people who did that, I was just more traditional in that sense and had always pictured being married and then waiting to have a baby. Not the other way around. The topic of marriage hadn't even come up between us before. We were both committment-phobic in that respect and I wasn't even sure how he felt on the subject in general.

"Say something" Max said startling me by speaking up first. He tucked a strand of hair behind my head and forced me to meet his eyes. I was still in shock and didn't know what to say to him that would magically make the both of us okay with all of this change. This very major change.


"I don't know what to say" I said looking at him for the first time. He looked mature and less like the goofy, sarcastic hockey player the rest of the city knew him as. This was the real Max Talbot looking at me right now. "We really should get going. I'm sure they need this room for something more important than me." I moved to climb down off the bed but Max stopped me to stand in front of me between my legs, trapping me in one place.

"I don't know what to say or do either, especially if you don't give me anything to go by." I wanted to cry or scream, I wasn't sure which one yet and then fall into his arms.


"Can we just talk at home?" I needed to be out of this horrible sterilized environment before I went insane. He stared at me for another minute like he didn't believe a word I was saying before moving to help me down off of the table and holding out his hand for me to take.

I was released quickly from the hospital seeing that they never really admitted me in the first place and we walked out to Max's car where he put the top down. It was finally starting to get warm outside and it was a beautiful day outside. We drove in silence and I closed my eyes leaning back to let the cool air wash over me. Even though he always protested my "chick music" saying that it was too whiny, I heard him turn on one of my favorite Ingrid Michaelson songs "Lady in Spain." This song never failed to make me feel better and the fact that he remembered how much I love this song made me smile for the first time that morning.

"Do you think you could eat something?" he asked, keeping his eyes on the road. The sun was hitting his hair making streaks of it look red, including the remnants of his fu man chu. I nodded and pulled off to a diner. It was almost like we were completing a circle in our relationship. We had had our first real date at a diner and here we were at a diner again, only this time to discuss the fact that we were going to be having a baby.

We were seated and left by the waitress as she went to go get coffee for both of us. Could I even drink coffee now? Would I have to switch to that herbal green tea stuff? I would be one angry, pregnant woman if I couldn't have coffee for nine months. I let my hand rest on my still baby-bump free stomach almost without realizing it. I still couldn't believe that there was a baby in there. Our baby.

"Are you okay?" I asked him watching him play with the straw to his water.

"How do you feel?" he asked turning the tables on me instead. I shrugged still unsure about everything.

"I don't know." I said shrugging and pausing until the waitress left us alone again. "I never pictured having a baby right now. I mean, I love you and part of me is excited but this isn't exactly great timing." That part was true at least. A part of me was a little amazed by the simple miracle of a baby growing inside of me that would be both a part of Max and I.

"How are you feeling? I need you to be completely honest with me if this is too much for you." I knew I was being a little bit insensitive by asking him such a big question right now but I already knew that I was going to keep the baby. I had always been Pro-Choice but now I personally knew that abortion was not an option for me. The baby was made out of love and would continue to be loved.

"Well truthfully, I'm still in shock but I'm a little excited too. I just can't believe it. A new Talbot is in there cooking right now." He was starting to look less serious and more like his normal self making me relax a little bit too. I hadn't realized until now how nervous I was about his reaction and what he thought.

"So you're not upset about it?"

"Well like you said, it's bad timing but everything happens for a reason and we love each other. I don't really see a problem."

My jaw practically hit the tabletop as he said this. How could any man be so wonderful and supportive? And how could I possibly be lucky enough to find the one man that was apparently both of these things?

For the rest of breakfast we didn't talk about the baby growing inside of me or hockey and both of our insane schedules. We just sat watching everyone else in the diner enjoying their breakfasts and their Sunday mornings.

Oddly enough, we already felt like a little family.