Secrets Don't Make Friends

Jack

"Do you want to know the gender or are we doing a surprise reveal?" Dr. McKinnon asked. I was at the doctors getting another ultrasound. She could clearly see the gender of my baby today especially now that I was now five months.

"I want to know!" I exclaimed and my mom laughed. My grandma couldn't get off of work today so she told us to call her as soon as we found out.

"Okay you're having a baby boy!" She announced and I smiled. I didn't care which gender she said, I was happy either way.

"A boy! Aw that's perfect!" My mom cheered.

"Yes, and he is developing at the normal rate." Dr. McKinnon told us.

A nurse walked in while we were finishing up and handed Dr. McKinnon my chart. I had to do the normal checkup and a urine test when I first got here. Dr. McKinnon looked it over for a second and then her face dropped.

"Oh um it looks like your blood pressure hasn't decreased any since our last appointment and now there are traces of protein in your urine." She explained.

"But I've been eating healthier and I went on a few walks during my Christmas break." I told her.

"I know, but because your pregnancy is very rare this condition was still able to prevail. Um preeclampsia comes as a result of a placenta that isn't function properly so it's understandable for you. But there's no reason to panic. I'm going to prescribe you some more medication and require that you come see me two times a month for the rest of your pregnancy." She said as tears fell from my eyes. I was so upset because I did everything right and I still ended up putting the baby at risk.

"Okay, anything will help." My mom answered for me. Dr. McKinnon nodded and send my prescription to my pharmacy.

My mom wrapped her arms around me and kissed my forehead. "You and your baby boy will be okay. He's just causing a lot of stress on your body, but you heard Dr. McKinnon he's still healthy." She explained and I nodded. That was the most important thing.

Dr. McKinnon reminded us to book a second appointment. She told me that I might notice swelling in my hands and feet because of the condition. Then she hugged me and reminded me not to stress out. She said that I should get as much bedrest as possible. Then my mom and I left to go home.

"Okay so I'm think homeschool might be better. You can finish up your classes online." My mom suggested while we were in the car on the way home.

"Yeah sure." I answered halfheartedly. I couldn’t do anything but rub my stomach and mentally apologize to my baby.

"You don't have to if you don't want to. I was just suggesting something." She said.

"It's fine, mom." I mumbled while looking down at my stomach.

My mom reached over and grabbed my hand while she drove. We hadn't called my grandma yet because we knew the news was going to make her worry. We could just tell her when she called us after work. So my mom just drove us home and we went to lay in her bed.

My phone began ringing twenty minutes after we laid down. I thought it was my grandma at first, but it turned out to be Alex.

"Hello." I answered.

"Hey, are you okay? You didn't come to school today." He said, worriedly.

"Yeah I'm fine. . . I had a doctor’s appointment, remember?"

"Oh yeah. Did you find out the gender?!"

"Yeah." I slightly chuckled.

"Tell me!! Wait no don't tell me! I don't want to hear it over the phone. Can I come over?" He asked.

"Hold on." I placed my phone on mute. "Mom, can Alex come over?" I asked.

"Yeah that's fine." She said and I thanked her. Then I unmuted myself.

"Yeah you can come over." I told Alex.

"Cool, I'll be there in ten." He said.

"Is he excited to know the gender?" My mom asked.

"Yeah, and he actually wanted a boy." I said.

"Well he's going to be very happy." She chuckled.

"Yep."

Twenty minutes later I went to go open the door for Alex. He was holding a frozen yogurt cup topped with various types of toppings.

"It's supposed to be healthier than ice cream." He said and handed it to me. I really needed something sweet today.

"Thank you." I said and hugged him.

We went back to my room and sat on my bed together. I took a bite of the cheesecake frozen yogurt and hummed.

"You don't know how badly I needed this." I told him and he chuckled.

"I figured you were having some cravings." He joked. "But I'm ready so tell me, is it a boy?" He asked excitedly.

I wanted to joke with him and tell him no, but I really wanted to make his smile bigger. "Yeah, it's a boy, Lex."

"Seriously?!? Wait are you messing with me?" He asked.

"No, it's really a boy." I chuckled.

Alex jumped up happily and wrapped his arms around me. "Thank you so much, Jack!" He exclaimed.

"Why are you thanking me? I didn't choose the gender." I laughed.

"No, but you're giving me a boy!"

"Yeah, a healthy baby boy." I said.

"My parents are going to flip when I tell them! My mom wants to throw a baby shower for you so now she can start planning it."

"Oh that's nice. My grandma wanted to have a baby shower for me too. Maybe you guys can just come over too." I suggested.

"Yeah that would be great. I just can't believe that it's a boy!" He said and placed his hand on my stomach. "And did the doctor say your blood pressure went down?" He asked and I sighed.

"No, she said it hasn't changed and they found a lot of protein in my pee."

"What does that mean?"

"That I have preeclampsia. It's a condition where my blood pressure stays high for most of my pregnancy and if not monitored it can lead to horrible things for me and the baby." I told him. I read a lot of articles online about it which probably wasn't a good thing. All the articles mentioned that this condition could lead to death, but it's only a slight chance which was still enough to scare me.

"Well the doctor caught it so she can monitor it right?" He said.

"Yeah." I nodded.

"Then you and the baby should be fine. There's nothing to worry about." He said and kissed me on the cheek. I smiled and felt my cheeks began to heat up.

"Yeah, we’ll be okay." I said while looking down and rubbing my stomach.

"Have you thought of any names yet?" Alex asked quietly.

"No, I haven't had time to think about it. I just feel like I haven't had time to breathe." I sighed.

"You just need some time to relax." He told me.

Alex took my yogurt cup and sat it on my nightstand. Then he pulled me to lay in my bed with him on my side. He was right, I just needed to lay down and relax especially after the news I got today. I didn't need my blood pressure going any higher. I cuddled comfortably into him and he kissed the side of my forehead. Butterflies began to fill my stomach as happy memories, of Alex and I, flooded my mind. The butterflies didn't stop after I laid there with Alex for a few minutes. I looked down at my stomach as if I could see what was going on.

"What's wrong?" Alex asked and tighten his grip on my lower back.

"I don't know. I just have this weird feeling in my stomach. It feels like butterflies." I told him.

"Well of course, cause you're cuddling with me." He joked.

"Shut up, I'm serious. I've been feeling it for a while. You don't think I did anything wrong do you?" I asked, slightly panicked.

"Here I'll google it." Alex said and searched it on his phone. "It says that's it's called quickening and it's the baby moving." He read.

"Wait so I'm feeling the baby kick?" I asked and he nodded.

I laid back and sighed in relief. I could finally feel my baby moving it my stomach. It was like he was telling me that he was okay. I smiled to myself as the feeling continued.

"Does it hurt?" Alex asked.

"No it feels good."

*****
Alex and I ended up taking an hour nap together. He went home shortly after we woke up and I went to my Mom's room. She was still lying in her bed, but she was texting.

"Hey." I said and laid down next to her.

"Hey, is Alex gone?" She asked.

"Yeah. We fell asleep for a little then he wanted to go home to tell his parents the great news." I chuckled.

"Yeah I called mom and she cried. But I also told her about the preeclampsia which upset her. I told her Dr. McKinnon told us not to worry but she couldn't help herself."

"I'll call her later to let her know I'm okay." I said. "And I can tell her that I felt the baby kicking." I said excitedly.

"Really?? When??"

"While I was laying down with Alex. It felt like I had butterflies in my stomach but they wouldn't go away so Alex looked it up."

"Awww! Can you feel it now?" She asked.

"No it stopped sometime while I was sleep."

"I can't wait until the kicks get stronger. I want to feel him kick. Plus I want payback for all the times you kicked me when I was pregnant with you." She joked.

"Wooow like I had any control over my movements." I playfully rolled my eyes.

"You probably did. But anyways your grandma wants to talk about your baby shower. She doesn't know what day you're free to have it." She told me.

"Any weekend really. I told Alex about it cause he said his mom wanted to throw me a baby shower. I just invited them over so I wouldn't have to go to two baby showers." I knew Zack’s parents wouldn’t be interested in coming and it would be too awkward to have Alex and Zack over at the same time. I did feel bad for leaving Zack out, hopefully it wouldn’t look like I was picking favorites to him.

"You sure that's a good idea?" She asked.

"Yeah, Alex's parents are nice."

"Mhmm but your grandpa isn't always." She chuckled.

"Grandpa’s all bark and no bite." I joked.

“I’m telling him you said that.” She playfully threatened.

“Please don’t! I’ll tell Grandma you faked being sick so we could skip out on family dinner last week.” I threatened back and she gasped.

"Alright Alright. Hopefully you don’t pass those tattletale tendencies to the little guy.” She said making me laugh. “And make sure you make a registry online for different stores so everyone knows what to buy you. Diapers, wipes, and formula are the most important things." She said.

“Okay.” I said making a mental note of those three items.

I picked up my phone to call my Grandma so I could stop her from worrying about me. She answered quickly after two rings.

"Hello? Jack?"

"Hi Grandma." I said.

"Hi baby, how are you feeling? Your mom told me about everything. I'm so sorry I wasn't there with you today."

"It's okay, Grandma. I feel fine. I was stressing a little at first but I calmed myself down because it wasn't good for the baby." I told her.

"Yes, you need to stay relaxed in bed for the next few months. I told your mom you need to do online school to finish up. I don't like you having to go to school every day. There are too many people there which makes it easy for you and the baby to get hurt."

"Yeah I know." I sighed.

"I'm going to call the school tomorrow and see how I can get you switched over. You're not going back to Dulaney." She told me. I looked down at my hands and played with my fingers.

"Okay." I knew this was for the best and I didn't want to go back and be ridiculed for being pregnant, but switching to online school was going to take the fun away from my senior year. Well being pregnant was doing that, but I was going to miss prom and walking across the stage for graduation.

"Tell her about the kicking." My mom tapped my leg, waking me up from my thoughts.

"Oh Grandma I felt him kick today." I said and she gasped.

"Really?? What'd it feel like?"

"Like butterflies. It was just soft subtle brushes against my stomach. I think he was just trying to let me know that he's okay."

"That's so sweet! I can't wait to meet him." She chuckled.

"Me either. I want him out here with me so I know for sure that he's okay."

"He'll be here in four more months. Oh speaking of, I was thinking we could have your baby shower in two months. I want to start planning it and send out invitations so everyone can take off of work for it."

"Oh um I'm free most weekends. It doesn't matter what day we have it."

"Okay I’ll set it for April 22 that's a Saturday two months from now." She told me.

"Yeah that works. I'll make sure to tell my mom."

"Okay, I'll let you go now. Love you, bye."

"Bye, love you." I told her back.

I hung up my phone and told my mom the baby shower date while I texted it to Alex.

Notes

Title Credit: Oh, Calamity! by ATL