Best Mistake

Alex sped us to the hospital, completely ignoring traffic signals. It was nearly four in the morning, so he only had to weave through cars every once in a while. He held my hand tightly as I shook, trying to pass an anxiety attack.

"Does it hurt?" he asked, swerving to go around a car driving too slow for him.

"It feels like period cramps," I said, my voice shaky. "Alex, somethings wrong."

"Everything's going to be ok, Whit. Just stay calm," he begged.

Something inside me didn't believe him, and I cried quietly. I began to hate myself for not taking his advice when he told me to quit working. Maybe if I did, we wouldn't be dealing with this.

"You were right," I sobbed. "I shouldn't have kept working."

He pulled up in front of the hospital and parked, hurrying to my side of the car and opening the door for me. I glanced back at the towel he'd put down for me to sit on and when I saw that I was still bleeding, I almost crumbled to the ground.

Alex led me into the main lobby and he hurried to the reception desk. He explained to the older lady sitting behind it what was happening and she quickly called the emergency room. A minute later, two nurses were running towards us, one of them pushing a wheelchair.

They got me set up in a room and hooked and IV to my hand. One of the nurses asked who my doctor was and when I told him, he ran out of the room. The other nurse prepared me for different kinds of tests she was going to perform. I sat impatiently as she took my vitals before pulling out a syringe and some tubes to draw some blood.

Alex stood next to me the whole time, holding onto my hand. He moved so he was crouching in front of me while the nurse stuck me with the needle.

"Everything's going to be ok," he smiled, trying to call me down. He seemed so at ease.

No more than thirty minutes later, Dr. Gresham walked into my room. I felt terrible when I saw how tired he looked and apologized for him having to come in so early.

"Don't be silly, Whitney," he said, shaking Alex's hand. "We need to make sure you and the baby are safe."

He talked with the nurses briefly, looking at charts from the results of my blood tests. He told one of them to bring in a sonogram machine before turning to look at me.

"Your blood work was normal. I just want to check on the baby to see how he's doing, ok?"

I nodded, feeling a lump forming in my throat.

The nurse came back with the machine and wheeled it next to me. Dr. Gresham moved my gown up, exposing my belly, and thankfully Alex was quick to cover my lower half with the bed sheet. Dr. Gresham squeezed some of the gel onto my stomach before pressing the camera onto it. The screen lit up, both mine and Alex's eyes glued to it.

Dr. Gresham moved the camera around, looking at the baby from all angles. He sighed heavily after a moment, then turned to look at us.

"The baby seems fine. There's still a very strong heartbeat. Plus, he's very active this morning," he said.

I couldn't help but let out a breath of relief.

"So then what's making her bleed?" Alex asked.

Dr. Gresham shook his head. "It's hard to say. Your vitals were a little high, but that's to be expected in a situation as scary to you as this. But the blood work was normal. There were no signs of distress, and the baby seems fine. It's a bit of a mystery."

I looked at Alex, who was already looking at me with a frown on his face. He bit his bottom lip, then looked at Dr. Gresham.

"He's going to be alright, though," he asked, making it sound like a statement.

"At this point I would say yes," Dr. Gresham nodded. "But I want to start seeing your every week until he's born. Just to check up on him and make sure he's still ok."

I nodded. I was willing to see Dr. Gresham every day if it meant making sure our son was still fine. "Thank you, Dr. Gresham," I said quietly.

He nodded, taking my hand in his and gently squeezing it. "Call my office Monday morning. Tell Patrice to make you up a schedule and we'll go from there."

"Thank you, sir," Alex said before Dr. Gresham walked out the door.

We got back home close to seven in the morning. Although I was exhausted, I couldn't stop my mind long enough to go to sleep. I looked over at Alex, who was staring at the ceiling.

"Alex?" I whispered.

It took a moment for him to look at me, but when he did I saw the tears glossing his eyes.

"Are you ok?" he asked.

I nodded. "Are you?"

He sighed and rolled over in the bed to face me. "We're not having sex again until after he's born."

I couldn't help but laugh a little. "You think that's what caused it?"

He frowned. "I know it did. I was way too rough with you. I should have been more gentle."

"Alex," I scoffed. "Pregnant people have sex all the time. That's not why this happened."

"No more," he said, shaking his head. "Not until after he's here and safe."

I sighed a little, but nodded. He was truly convinced that the situation was his fault. He was clearly beating himself up about it. I took his face in my hand, staring him in the eyes before pressing my lips to his. His fingers wove into my hair and he held me into the kiss for a moment.

"So," I sighed, trying to lighten the mood a little bit. "Did you think you'd be here eight months ago."

Alex laughed briefly. "Honestly, no. When you called me that day, I was honestly pretty stoked. Like I've told you before, I was hoping I'd get to see you again. But when I did see you and you told me you were pregnant with my kid, I was so scared."

I smiled a little. "Did you remember me when I called you?"

He nodded. "Of course I did."

"Man," I huffed. "I really tried to make it look like I'd never even been there before I left the hotel room that morning."

Alex smiled, then got out of the bed and made his way to his dresser. He opened the top drawer and dug around to the bottom, grabbed something and closed it in his hand as he walked back to the bed.

"To be honest, I didn't remember what happened when I first woke up that morning. You did do a pretty good job. I thought I'd just gotten drunk and rented a hotel room. But then I went to the bathroom and saw these on the sink, and it all came back to me," he said, opening his hand to show me my pair of diamond earrings my mom got me that I thought I'd lost in the move.

My mouth hung open and I took them from him. "You've kept them this whole time?"

He nodded. "I took them with me when I went to meet you at the coffeeshop so I could give them back. But you dropped that bomb on me and it completely slipped my mind."

I smiled and set them on my bedside table. "Thank you, Alex. These mean a lot to me."

He nodded, smiling. "Of course."

I blushed a little before saying, "You were hoping you'd see me again?"

He rocked his head from side to side, then nodded. "Yeah. Maybe not in a romantic way at first, though. I felt like I really connected with you that night. I just wanted to get to know you, all of you. You intrigued me."

I smiled.

"But as time went on and I did get to know you, and after I was free of the burden of hurting Sophia, the romantic feelings started coming into play. I found myself needing to be near you always. I craved you."

"Wow," was all I could say to his confession.

"Those feelings grow more and more intense every day that I'm with you. I really, really, care about you, Whitney. You mean the world to me."

I blushed as my heart skipped a beat. "You mean that much to me too."

Alex smiled and sighed, a content look playing on his sleepy features.

"Do you think that if I hadn't gotten pregnant that something would have happened with us?" I asked quietly.

His smile fell a little and he shrugged before saying, "I don't know. Probably not. I'm guessing I would have driven myself crazy over you for a few weeks before sticking you in the corner of my mind to think about from time to time."

"Well," I grinned. "Thank god for this fuck up."

Alex laughed. "Best mistake I've ever made."

I leaned forward and kissed him again. He parted his lips, slipping his tongue in my mouth. I greeted his with mine and he moved closer to me, holding on tight by my waist.

"I've never been more scared than I was a few hours ago," he said after he pulled away. "I thought we were going to lose him, and in the process that I was going to lose you too."

I stared at him.

"I wouldn't be able to handle that. I'm so tired of losing people that mean the most to me," he said quietly.

Gears began turning in my mind. Out of nowhere, I began pairing names, trying once and for all to come up with something for our son. Two names flowed through my brain, and they were so perfect, I gasped.

"What?" Alex asked, panic sinking back in.

I smiled. "I think I've come up with a name."

"Ok," Alex grinned. "Let's hear it."

"William," I said quietly. "We'll call him Will."

His grin spread. "And his middle name?"

I took in a deep breath, hoping I wasn't going to hit a nerve. "Thomas."

Alex gasped, his mouth hanging open as he stared at me. "Are you serious?" he asked.

I nodded once. "Only if you like it."

"Like it?" he scoffed. "Whitney, I love it. It's perfect."

I kissed him again quickly. "So, have we finally come to an agreement on a name?"

He nodded, smiling so big I thought his face would crack.

"William Thomas Gaskarth."

Notes