Miss Hart as you well know having done this routinely for the last I don’t even know how long, it is my duty to inform you that you are indeed pregnant I am not quite sure how far along you are as I would need to do a sonogram and then we can determine the exact gestational age of the fetus. He cleared his throat again.

Nine weeks Doctor, I am nine weeks pregnant, Laelia said confidently.

What? How do you know exactly how far along you are if you didn’t know you were pregnant, that Is impossible, we can do an ultrasound  to determine the exact gestational age and then you can decide how you would like to proceed from there Miss Hart

No Doctor I am 100% sure I am 9 weeks along and that is that we can do the ultrasound right now I will make arrangements after and then we can discuss it further. She said this as a matter of fact and so that he stared at her with his mouth half open. She had suddenly taken on a much more assured demeanour.

He was furious, how could she know how far along she was, how could she tell him she wanted that ultrasound right now, what the hell was with this girl?

He wasn’t thinking straight he was still trying to come to terms with a blatant acceptance that she was pregnant, no sadness, no worried expression just a pure expression of resolution and focus, Because he was thrown he was angry, she hadn’t reacted how he had expected her to respond to the news.

He focused his mind told her to lie down on the bed and squirted the gel over her flat belly and did thorough imaging and determined the exact gestational age to be indeed 9 weeks. How the hell did she know unless that was the last time she had intercourse?

He blurted out the first thing he could think of and it was what he had been thinking for the past thirty minutes.

Do you even know who the father is? There he has said it.

She has been busy wiping the gel from her stomach she whirled on him like a tigress, her hazel eyes blazing, her teeth almost bared, she was gorgeous. But why was she so angry?

What did you just ask me? Laelia asked infuriated by this, I’m too sexy for my own good Doctor

Miss Hart, I simply asked you if you had any idea, who the father of your unborn child is, why are you so upset? Andreas was digging himself in further he could see it in her eyes in the set of her jaw and he was looking around his consultation room for a place to hide if she started throwing stuff.

Doctor, whatever your name is, you just asked me if I have the faintest idea who the father of my baby is, have you any idea what you are implying with your irrational question? Laelia was raising her voice, uncharacteristically angry she felt hurt her pride was being prodded and this damn man had the gall to ask her the dumbest question.

Why was she so angry? How could he know if prostitutes kept ovulation records and times and dates on which person they had sex with on a particular day, damn she was being stubborn for no reason.

I will not be scheduling another appointment or ultrasound with your damned practice again, I will find another Obstetrician because you are the rudest most obtuse man I have ever met and you are as pompous as they come, how you could even ask me this I can’t understand but you will not be seeing me again. Goodbye.

Laelia tried to turn and storm from his consultation room but the infuriating man caught her wrist sending electrical shocks all the way up her arm and almost succeeding in making her brain go numb once more, but she had, had enough of this arrogant Greek with his clear blue eyes. God, he was sexy

Don’t leave, Andreas begged her, I am not sure why you are so angry at my question but I want to help you, if you need help or want to get rid of the baby I can help, I can arrange for a safe place and book the abortion clinic for you even drive you if you need me to. Andreas was not sure why she was apoplectic but she was turning redder every second.

Laelia stared at his face getting angrier by the second, the more he spoke the more she wanted to slap his stupidly handsome face, break that perfect nose and then kick him for good measure, but she was pregnant and this baby was her everything, she had waited three years for this, three long hard years going in and out of these Doctors’ offices, had countless visits with Joan always there for her when she walked out saddened by the verdict, but today was supposed to be a happy day she was finally pregnant and it was none too soon and this man was trying to get her to have an abortion, what was wrong with him.

You, doctor, can go to hell. She screamed at him with so much vehemence he felt like he had been physically slapped. He reeled back and that’s when she grabbed her bag and ran from his consulting room.

What had just happened? Andreas was flabbergasted and utterly confused.

He flopped down in his chair and stared at the files sitting in a neat pile on the edge of his desk, he picked up the file sticking out with the red In Vitro sticker on and looked at it for so long and with such anguish written all over his face that if the earth opened up right now he would dive straight down the centre wishing to be swallowed up whole.

Her name was, Mrs Laelia Hart 34 Years old and a Widow

She was widowed 3 years ago.  Her husband passed away from brain cancer having had his sperm cryopreserved 5 years ago. She had been trying for the last 3 years since his death to fall pregnant via In Vitro Fertilization but up to now, every insemination had failed, likely due to the stress of bereavement.

What have I done? Andreas thought to himself, he put his head in his hands and thought of the poor woman who had just screamed at him and ran out, and yes he was a pompous ass most definitely.

…

What an infuriating man! She grumbled as she stalked to the reception area to let Joan know she will not be coming to these consulting rooms again ever!

Joan looked up as Laelia approached the reception area and she blanched at the sight of her tear-streaked face. Was it another failure? Laelia sweetie, are you okay? Silently Joan prayed for another failure.

I’m so, so angry she said stomping her dainty saddled foot on the white tile floor, making an audible sound of frustration. That, that man! Laelia ground out through her clenched teeth.

Joan was not sure what to say, that was not the words she had expected to hear from her best friend's daughter and her own beautiful Goddaughter, she had expected tears of joy or heartache when she had seen her coming out of Dr Papadopoulos’s room not words of anger and frustration. What happened? Joan asked out loud.

Are you all right? Didn’t the In Vitro take, was it another failure sweetheart? Joan asked her goddaughter tentatively dreading the answer but having to know.

And then Joan looked into the most radiant smile, Laelia was beaming at her through the tears, it worked Auntie it worked I’m pregnant at last! Laelia just couldn’t contain the joy even if she was unbelievably angry at that man. That handsome but stupid man.

Joan felt as if a weight had been put on her shoulders, she felt suddenly heavy and so horribly scared, but she showed none of these feelings she plastered a smile on her face.

Laelia was going to be a mother, she felt such overwhelming love for this young woman standing there beaming at her through a haze of tears. I can’t let on I’m upset that she is pregnant. Joan fought for control of her facial muscles she had to show happiness not dread.

Laelia couldn’t stop smiling she was happy then angry then the happiness overrode the anger and she smiled even more, finally she was having Pauls's baby, she was going to be a mother the one thing she had always wanted to be, the one thing she had always wanted to be to Pauls child a mother to a little baby born from her husband even now 3 years after his death.

Yes, Auntie, I’m pregnant,  I couldn’t be happier, this was the last of Paul’s sperm we had put into cryopreservation, and the 26^th implant if this one had failed I don’t know what I would have done, but it didn’t fail! I’m pregnant at last! Laelia was overjoyed she was bouncing on the balls of her feet, she was ecstatic. Then why was she so angry? Joan thought to herself.

I am so happy for you love. Joan smiled and patted Laelia’s arm, even though she was actually feeling ill at the thought of the pregnancy. Come I’ll makes us a cup of tea and we can discuss baby booties. Laelia beamed, it was like the sun coming out behind dark stormy clouds and shining with the brightest of rays illuminating everything it touched.

Joan walked with Laelia to the little side room where patients met with councillors and social workers regularly, this was the same place she had been bringing Laelia for 5 long years ever since her husband had been diagnosed with terminal brain cancer, she would bring Laelia in here make them a cup of tea and just talk.

Joan was Laelia’s godmother, had been her mother’s best friend since high school, had raised Laelia into the wonderful woman she was today and had also watched Laelia’s decline into despair since Paul’s diagnosis 5 years ago.