Chance Encounter Part IV
Later that Morning around 1030 AM
Marie rolled over, and cuddled against the warmth she felt, when she opened her eyes and saw Jer, She was a little startled. Then she remembered where she was and what they had done most of the night, and smiled. Getting up she went into the bathroom, locking the door behind her; she needed a little time to herself right now. Going over to the sink she brushed her hair, and after that brushed her teeth. When she was done she looked in the mirror and put her hand on her stomach. She really didn’t regret anything that happened last night, and if she was pregnant, she knew the baby would have two parents that would love and cherish it, more than anything in the world.
There was a knock on the door followed by, “Marie are you alright?”
“Yes, I’m great.” She walked over to the door and unlocked it. Looking into Jer’s eyes she added, “I just needed a few moments to myself.”
“Alright.” He said, sounding a little worried.
“Hey big guy don’t worry, I’m great. More than great really, but I’m really not quite sure what word I should use. I still don’t regret anything that happened last night.”
With a sigh of relief he nodded, wrapping his arms around her he brought her into a hug. “I know it’s soon and we don’t really know each other Marie, but I think I Love you.”
“I feel the same way about you Jer. Come on I’ll make breakfast.”
About an hour later.
Simon woke up and went into the kitchenette to grab some of the food Marie had fixed, and about that time, Aélita came walked in with Theo. “Hey guys!” She said with a smile on her face.
“Hey.” Marie said. “Did you have a good time last night?”
“The best of course.”
Marie laughed. “You know normally I would call you a slut, but after the way I spent my night I can’t say anything.”
Aélita laughed. “Oh I bet.” Looking at Theo, she smiled. “Marie, can I talk to you privately for a moment?”
Looking worried Marie nodded, “Sure, let’s go into your room.”
Once the door shut behind them Aélita turned and faced her best friend in the entire world. “Theo asked me to go to Montana with him.” She blurted out not wanting to prolong it any longer. “And I said yes. Granted we were both very drunk when he asked me last night, but we both talked it over when we got up this morning, and we agreed that is something that we both really want.”
“Aélita what about the restaurant, who-” She paused when she saw the look on her best friends face and sighed. “I’m sorry Aélita, you’re right I am too serious. Of course you should go; I of all people know it isn’t like you to make impulse decisions like this. So Theo must be something special”
“I’m not sure but I think he and I may have the same thing that you and Jer have, but I need more time, to think about everything and to spend more time with him to see if it is.”
Marie nodded then walked over to her best friend and hugged her. “Good luck.”
Together, they walked back into the sitting room only to be met by Jer on the phone and Theo looking pissed.
“Yes sir, I understand sir, we’ll be there. Don’t worry. Okay Bye.”
“Jer, what’s going on?” Marie asked a worried look coming across her face.
“We’ve been ordered back to base.” Theo answered.
Jer looked at Marie. “We have to be back by the end of the week. So we’re leaving tomorrow.”
Marie didn’t say anything she just went into her room, shut the door, crawled into her bed and started to cry. She heard Jer come in but didn’t acknowledge him, even when he took her into his arms, and whispered sweet things into her ear. The only thing that she could really be thankful for was that the base wasn’t that far from where she lived and the restaurant was even closer.
“Marie, I am so sorry, Theo and I never imagined they would call us home from leave. I’m just glad that Theo was only here for the week and hadn’t been here the entire two months that we have been off. So he did get to see his mom. I want you to meet my family, come over for dinner tonight.”
Marie rolled over and looked at him. “Are you sure, I mean everything is happening so suddenly. We fell in love pretty much at first sight, and then we may be pregnant, now you want me to meet your family.”
“Yes, I do. You know something, if you hadn’t shown up when you did, Monday when Theo was going to be leaving for Montana I was going to be leaving to come find you. You just beat me to it. Marie, we’ll get through this no matter what life tries to throw at us. And yes you’re right, everything is happening really fast, but I believe it was fated. I love you and that’s what I know right here and right now. And when a day comes that we just want to be friends, we’ll work through everything and that’s all that matters.”
Marie laid her head on her shoulder and said. “You’re almost too good to be real.”
Jer laugher, “I could say the same about you.”
Three Days later, Tuesday September 3, 2013
Marie unlocked the doors to the restaurant about 0600; since she had come home early she’d given her cook the day off, saying that she could use something to do today other than paperwork, and sitting in her sorrow. While she prepped the grill for the morning rush, she thought about this past weekend, when she’d met Jer’s family they seemed to really like her, they took her in and confided in her, and she to them. His mom had told her that she wasn’t sure how she felt about Jer jumping into a relationship so soon after meeting her, but she was seeing a little bit of her son back and she was okay with it because of that. At the sound of the screen door in the back slamming Marie turned and saw Aélita. They’d both been kind of depressed since they returned. They hadn’t heard from Jer or Theo since Monday night when they had said their goodbyes. Aélita was worried, because having grown up with her father in the military; no word usually meant bad news. But they were hoping that they were just being worked hard; however there was the fear that they were getting deployed again.
“Morning Hun, how’d you sleep?”
“Probably the same as you did.”
Marie sighed. She’d tossed and turned all night. By time she finally fell asleep it felt like her alarm was going off to get ready for the day. “Yeah.” Mixing together some batter for pancakes she shouted through the window at Aélita who was filling napkin holders, “Hey how about tonight we have a movie, wine, and junk food night.”
“That sounds good to me.” Aélita replied with a smile.
They got through the day, it help that the regulars always put them in good spirits. When it was time to close, Marie said good bye to the last customers of the day, a couple from Florida who said they were just driving until they found somewhere that interested them; she locked up and went into the kitchen to finish cleaning. After Aélita had finished mopping the front she came back and helped Marie. “So what are we going to watch?”
“No clue, lets hit Redbox on the way to my place, and we can stop at the grocery store to get all the junk food our hearts desire, and then the liquor store to get as much wine as we think we can consume. Oh and how about Chinese, that sounds amazing right about now.”
“Sounds great, I’ll let you finish up while I go pack a bag.”
An hour later Marie unlocked the door to her 3 bedroom condo, which she owned; setting down the bags of grocery they had gotten she turned on the light. They couldn’t decide between three movies, so they got all three. “Time to get into pajamas and let the party start.” She laughed, going into the kitchen and opening one of the bottles of wine. The good thing about her favorite liquor store, the always had chilled wine in stock.
With a smile Aélita went into the guest bedroom and changed, coming back out she looked at her best friend. “You’re the best, I love you.”
“I love you too.” She said handing Aélita a glass. “Now, I think I will actually go take a shower since I have grease smells all over me.”
Aélita nodded. “Okay, I’ll just watch TV until you get done.”
Going into her room Marie stripped herself of everything, walked into her bathroom and turned on the shower, letting the water heat up. While she waited she looked at her reflection in the mirror. She’d changed a lot over the years, some for the good and some for the bad, but right now she loved who she was. Getting in the shower she made quick of washing her hair and body. She had a smile on her face until she got back into the living room and saw Aélita on the couch crying. Going over she sat next to her friend and pulled her into her arms. “What’s wrong Hun?”
“Theo just called… He didn’t have much time to talk. Him and Jer got deployed again, he couldn’t say where, only that they were at that present moment safe and unharmed. He said to tell you that Jer says he loves you.” Looking Marie straight in the eyes she added. “Before he hung up there was a huge explosion… I don’t know what to think.”
Marie wrapped her arms tighter Around Aélita, and started to cry also. And for the first time in a long time, she said a prayer asking god to keep Jer and Theo safe, and to return them safely home as soon as possible.
About a month and a half later
Marie sat with her head over the toilet, in the employee bathroom at the back of the restaurant, retching, while Aélita held her hair. She felt miserable, had been for the last week but she didn’t want to go to the doctor. “Marie I really think that you should go to the doctor, you have been miserable all week. You can’t hold anything down. Not even water, you’re probably dehydrated also.”
“No, I’ll be fine.”
“Damn it Marie, that’s it. I’m worried about you and I will not take no for an answer. I’m taking you to the ER.”
“No!”
“Yes, Anh can take care of things while we are gone and I’m sure Simon wouldn’t mind coming in to help out.”
Marie shook her head. Then groaned cause the motion made her feel even worse. “Fine you win.”
Helping her up Aélita took Marie into the office and sat her down on the couch. Pulling out her cell phone she called Simon told him what was going on and of course he agreed to come right over. When she hung up she went and told Anh, who replied, “About Time.” Then she walked Marie out to her car and drove her to the nearest Hospital.
Once there a nurse came up to them, and asked what was the problem. “My Friend has been throwing up all week she can’t keep anything down not even water.”
Nodding the nurse handed Aélita some paperwork, unfortunately I need you to fill this out before we can see your friend, once you’re done though I will come back and get you. We’ll need a urine sample as well as some blood. Marie nodded that she understood and sat down on the cozy couch that was there. Thankful that Aélita knew everything about her and that she didn’t have to fill the paperwork out herself. About twenty or so minutes later, which felt like hours to Marie, Aélita finished and walked it back over to the nurse. “Alright, if you’ll come with me.” Turning the nurse walked over to a set of huge double doors scanned her badge and they opened. “Marie if you’ll go to the right I will be with you momentarily, Aélita is it, we’ll be putting her in room four so you can go there and wait.”
Nodding Aélita went to room four and sat down waiting. “It didn’t take long for Marie to come in with the nurse, whose name was Sally. “Alright, Ann will be in shortly to get you set up on an IV and to draw blood, are you feeling any pain anywhere?”
Marie shook her head. And laid back on the bed. Letting the nurses do their thing. When they were done she and Aélita sat there and watched TV for an hour, then the doctor came in. “Hello I’m Dr. Hamilton.” She shook Aélita’s hand and then Marie’s. “So, you don’t have the flu or anything.” She eyeballed Marie to see her reaction. “The good thing is, hopefully with the right medicine, we can simmer the nausea down to where you can eat.”
“Alright.” Aélita Said. “That’s good, however you still haven’t told us what is wrong.”
Dr. Hamilton nodded. “Yes I know I’m sorry. Marie, it looks like you’re pregnant.”
Marie just started at her, not believing what she was saying. Yes she knew there was a good chance she was pregnant, but she hadn’t been expecting to go through this without Jer by her side. She and Aélita hadn’t heard from him or Theo since the phone call a month and a half ago, so they still didn’t know whether or not they were alive. To the shock and confusion of the doctor she started to cry. Aélita jumped up and hugged her holding on and rubbing her back, whispering it would be okay.
“Thank you Doctor, if you wouldn’t mind I think my friend and I would like to be alone.”
“Of course, I’ll come back in about ten minutes there are a few things I would like to discuss.”
“Marie, everything is going to be alright. You will be alright also. Just hang in there, I will be here every step of the way, and so will Simon, I am sure of it.”
Marie just continued to sob, not knowing what else she could do at that moment. Thankfully she had calmed down by time the doctor came back.
“Are you better Marie?”
“I will be fine, I’m sorry for that.”
“It’s completely alright; I get it all the time.” She paused. “I wanted to discuss with you some things.”
“Alright.”
“First, do you plan on terminating the pregnancy.” She asked cautiously.
“Not a chance. I don’t know if you asked because it is routine or because of my crying jag I just had, but I will not terminate this pregnancy.”
“Alright then, second, do you have an OBGYN that you go to?”
“I had one about 3 years ago.”
“Alright, I would make an appointment with them as soon as possible. We can go ahead and do an ultra sound her if you would like, but I don’t specialize in that area so I highly recommend going to make sure everything is alright.”
“Okay.”
“And third, we want to keep you here over night due to you not being able to keep anything down for a week. If you want you can get a hold of that doctor and we don’t mind if they come and check up on you while you are here.”
“Thank you.”
“One more question, and this is completely a curiosity question, if you plan on keeping the baby, and in my opinion you seem very happy with the idea of being pregnant; why did you start crying.”
Marie sighed. “Because the baby’s father is in the military and currently deployed, I haven’t heard from him in a month and a half, and when his best friend who is deployed with him called to tell us what he could there was an explosion in the background as Aélita hung up the phone. I cried because I don’t know if the father of my baby is alive or dead.”
Once again thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed, and please only positive comments.