Chapter Text
Brienne chewed on her lip as she sat up on the exam table clutching the edges and trying to keep from looking at the clock for the eighth time in the last two minutes. She hadn’t really expected Hyle to show given his response when she’d told him she was pregnant. But she couldn’t deny she wasn’t just a little - or a whole lot - disappointed that he hadn’t even tried. She took a deep shaky breath and resumed biting on her lip, glancing at her phone rather than the clock.
No new messages. Maybe she had been expecting, just a little, that he would show up and be willing to step up. They had broken up way before she had taken the first test that had come up positive and while she wasn’t expecting in any way to get back together, she had at least hoped she wouldn’t be in on this alone.
Single motherhood. The thought was just a little overwhelming at the moment.
She rubbed her still slightly flat stomach absentmindedly as she waited for the doctor to come in. It would be okay. Once she figured out how to tell her father and he got over trying to kill her ex boyfriend, he would be thrilled. He would want to be around for what was likely to be his only grandchild. She wouldn’t be completely alone.
The door finally opened and the doctor walked in followed by a nurse pulling in a large machine on wheels. Brienne let out a breath she didn’t even know she was holding as the doctor greeted her. They were startled a few seconds later by the door being roughly pulled open and voices coming from the hallway.
“See? She’s right here.”
A golden head nodded towards Brienne still gripping the exam table with wide eyes as the ones that met hers were a bright emerald green, not a murky brown. For just a second she had thought Hyle had decided to show but shocked didn’t even begin to cover what she felt at seeing her friend and roommate standing in the doorway of the exam room. She hadn’t said a word to anyone about her pregnancy save for Hyle because it hadn’t felt right not to. So why was Jaime here?
“Miss Tarth?” She towards the doctor, not having heard anything in the last few minutes. “Is he with you?”
“Um, yes,” Brienne inhaled deeply. “Yes, let him in.”
“Sorry I’m late,” He greeted with a smug grin towards the nurse in the hallway. She shot him a glare before closing the door to give them privacy. Jaime moved to stand next to her, watching as she tugged the revealing cloth gown tighter around her and smiling as her face began to turn red.
“Well,” said the doctor, calling their attention, “If that’s it for the interruptions, we’ll begin the exam and get you both set up for the next few months of your pregnancy. I’m assuming this will be your first?”
“Ye-Yes.”
He asked a series of questions and gave them pamphlets on parenting and birthing classes offered at the hospital. Jaime took them and flipped through them while she answered the doctor. She wanted to tell him that Jaime wasn’t the father of her baby but wasn’t sure how to bring it up and soon the appointment was coming to an end.
The nurse brought the machine she had wheeled in around and asked that she put her feet up on the stirrups. Brienne’s face went red as she leaned back on the table and kept hold of her gown until her back hit the table. She would have preferred that Jaime left but he grabbed a chair from the corner and sat next to her as the doctor examined her. It was uncomfortable in more ways than one and she hoped it would be over soon so she would put her underwear back on and go home.
“Now, I want to do a quick check to help determine how far along you are,” The doctor said as the machine behind him turned on and the nurse handed him a white wand. This didn’t make her feel any more comfortable.
Brienne fidgeted as it was inserted and was startled when she felt a warm hand grasp her own and begin massaging the back of it with his thumb. She turned to Jaime but he wasn’t looking her way, instead the black screen at the end of the table. So she turned back trying to ignore the odd feeling of the doctor moving the wand and the warmth at her side to stare at the screen. It was grey now with a black space in the center and a grey looking blob in the middle of that.
“There he is,” The doctor pointed at the grey looking blob. Brienne could make out the faint shape of a head as it moved. “I estimate you are about eleven weeks along.”
She gripped Jaime’s hand without realizing it and sat up slightly to try and get a better look at the screen. That was her baby, she could feel the sting of tears at the back of her eyes but held them back.
“Would you like me to print out a couple of pictures for you to have?”
She nodded at the same time that Jaime replied, “Of course.”
He had been mostly silent during the appointment, which was unusual for him. He always had something to say and Brienne had avoided looking his way for the most part. She wanted to ask what he was doing her, how he knew but figured it was something best saved for when they got home.
The doctor handed them the copies and informed her that the nurse at the front desk would help them set up the next appointment and wished them a good day. Brienne stared at the picture in her hand, feeling a tear slip this time as she ran her hands down the side of her baby’s head. This felt so much more real than staring at a thin white stick with two pink lines. The reality that her life was changing so quickly was starting to hit her. It didn’t matter if Hyle decided not to show up for the appointment, or any of the ones that would follow. This was her baby and while she had absolutely no clue how she would manage, she knew she would find a way. She was already in love with the child growing inside her.
Brienne looked up to find Jaime staring at her, a second copy of the sonogram gripped in his hand. She wasn’t sure where to start.