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2 months later, Caitlyn realised she had missed a period. She went to the doctor and got it checked to make sure that nothing was wrong with her ovaries. The doctor chuckled as she examined her, “You’re full to the brim of anti-pregnancy meds… busy girl?” She teased, laughing at Caitlyn’s shocked and embarrassed face. The doctor just chuckled and continued the test. She furrowed her brows and muttered to herself, “That’s impossible…” Caitlyn’s heart sank. The doctor turned to her. “Where did you get these tablets?” Caitlyn tried to think, “My mum’s cabinet, I think? She had a baby 2 years ago so…” The doctor nodded, “Were these tablets in date?” Caitlyn’s heart sunk even further. “Honestly, I don’t know.” The doctor sighed, “Anti-pregnancy tablets should be used within 1 year of being bought.” Caitlyn felt nauseous. “So what’re you saying? Did I take out-of-date tablets? Fine, but he wore a condom.” Caitlyn explained. The doctor twisted the computer so it faced Caitlyn.
“Miss Greene? I’m sorry, but you’re 100%, undeniably, positively pregnant.”
~
“I don’t believe you,” Caitlyn said, now absolutely terrified. “I’m sorry, but this is direct footage from your womb. You are pregnant.” Tears ran down Caitlyn’s face and the doctor pulled her in for a hug. “I can tell you didn’t mean to or even want to, but... I need to ask… were your raped or forced against your will?” Caitlyn nearly nodded but then didn’t and settled for a shake of the head. “No… we drank and hooked up but… but the doctor I saw earlier this year said I had less than a ten percent chance of conceiving naturally!” The doctor pulled away, “I’d start buying lottery tickets then."
~
The first thing Caitlyn did was tell her brother. “Roo, I need some serious help…” Bradley paused his game on the Xbox and beckoned her in, “What’s the matter?”
And so Caitlyn opened up like a book.
~
“Caitlyn, I know you didn’t want children before you turned 25, but you can’t get an abortion.” Bradley spoke to his sister, who immediately riled up. “Uh, yes I can! It's my body! Not Jake’s!” Only after a couple of seconds did Caitlyn realise what she’d said and she covered her mouth in a gasp. Bradley faced her full on, disbelief clouding his face. “You what?”
~
Caitlyn didn’t go to the bar for another 2 weeks. Mainly because her brother was (still) super pissed at her and he was going every day, and she had been up all night (every night) throwing up.
Around midday on Sunday, (while she was now five months pregnant) Caitlyn was curled up watching tv with a bucket next to her, and the doorbell rang. She groaned and yelled, “Are you here to kidnap me, murder me or rape me?”
“Uh… no?” The voice (which sounded suspiciously like Jake’s) came through the door. “In which case, it’s open,” Caitlyn yelled back, leaning over to throw up in the bucket. The door opened and in walked Jake and Bradley. The former looking slightly scared and the latter looking very annoyed. Bradley sighed as he made his way over to the sofa to pull back Caitlyn’s hair while she was sick (even though she didn’t have anything left to throw up) while Jake sat looking awkward on the chair opposite. When Caitlyn finished throwing up, Bradley took the bucket and cleaned it. She looked at him and conveyed her message, thank you.
Jake stared at her like she was ready to break when Caitlyn sighed. “I’m not gonna break, ya know,” Jake let out a loud breath and rubbed his eyes, clearly tired. “Are you ok? Bradley told me that you wanna talk to me and that you’re recovering from the stomach flu.” Caitlyn made a mental note to murder her brother, bring him back from the dead and then hug him. Bradley chose that moment to walk in with the bucket again. He placed it by her head and pushed some hair out of her face before sitting on the other chair. Caitlyn sat up, not feeling so nauseous anymore and tried to think of words to say. Thankfully, Jake sensed her minor troubles and cleared his throat, “Are you feeling ok? I know the flu sucks.” Caitlyn giggled and replied with, “I’ll live.”
Suddenly, Caitlyn clutched her stomach with wide eyes.
Jake launched up, about to give her the bucket, but stopped. Caitlyn was smiling. Jake sat back down slowly, very confused. Caitlyn didn’t know quite what to do, so instead of telling him like a normal person, she beckoned him over. Bradley was frowning and stopped them both, “Caitlyn, maybe you should tell him now.” Caitlyn sighed and looked at Jake with sombre eyes. “Jake um… remember the other night? A few months ago?” Jake shook his head. “No…” Caitlyn bit her lip. “New Years?”
Recognition dawned on his face. “Yeah, I do.” Caitlyn bit her lip, “Even though you wore a condom and I was practically sweating anti-pregnancy shit…” Caitlyn trailed off and Jake’s eyes widened. “No way,” he breathed, not looking at Caitlyn now, but at her stomach. She nodded and gasped again, smiling. Jake continued to walk over and Caitlyn pulled his hand in to rest on her stomach. Jake frowned at first and nearly pulled his hand away, but Caitlyn kept it there and moved it slightly. Then, the biggest smile came onto both of their faces. “Is-is that the baby?” Caitlyn nodded and tears came to both of their eyes.
~
While most women tended to have severe mood swings when they’re pregnant, but not Caitlyn. She was depressed 95% of the time. It only stopped in her last month of pregnancy.
Yeah, Caitlyn had decided to go through with it. At first, she really didn’t want to. Like, to the point where she was asking Jake about abortions, but he said that ultimately down to her, but he’d really rather her not have one. So, Caitlyn went to a teen pregnancy support group who helped push her in the right direction. "Even though it’s my body, the baby is half mine, half my partners. We need a decision together.” Was what Caitlyn said to herself whenever she felt upset. She and Jake had gotten closer and were thinking of ways to raise the baby together, like a normal couple. They could only come up with joint-raising as they had their own partners. When Jake and Caitlyn told Bradley this, he stared at them like they were crazy. “Are you two fucking serious?” He asked, his voice incredulous. Jake frowned and Caitlyn placed a hand on her swollen belly, a habit she'd developed over the time of her pregnancy. "What do you mean?" Jake asked, sitting closer to Caitlyn, almost as if to protect her. "Can't you see? You clearly adore this baby and want to protect it, and it's not even born yet! Imagine what you'll be like when it's born! You aren't gonna give it up for 2 days, much less 2 weeks." Bradley spoke, his voice changing from incredulous to calm. Jake sighed and glanced down at Caitlyn's bump. He put a hand on it and grinned when the baby kicked. "The baby likes your voice," Caitlyn spoke, voice soft. Jake glanced to Caitlyn's face and a soft smile broke out. Bradley sighed, "I don't get you two, ya know. You two clearly want to raise this child together, happily. But, whatever, it's not my kid." And he left, leaving Caitlyn and Jake to think deeply.
~
A few days later, Caitlyn and Jake had just gotten back from the hospital because she thought she was in labour. She wasn't, she was just experiencing Braxton Hicks. Jake fussed over her and made sure she didn't have to get up, even if it was to get a drink. He even helped her to the bathroom.
Truth be told, Caitlyn was getting a bit sick of it.
"Jake, seriously! I can pee by myself, thank you!" Caitlyn said, slightly exasperated as she waddled off to the loo. Jake threw his hands up in surrender before sitting back down on his phone. 15 minutes passed and Jake got slightly worried. "Caitlyn? Everything ok?" He called, getting more concerned when he didn't receive an answer. He walked to the door and called again. "Ok, i'm coming in." He said, before opening door. Caitlyn was sat on the toilet (Jake didn't look past her stomach) with one hand pressed to the bottom of her swollen stomach. Jake crouched down and grabbed her hands and made her look at him, "Caitlyn, what's wrong?" He asked and Caitlyn, finally, looked up at him. "Jake, I don't think these are Braxton Hicks."
~
While Jake tried to rush her to the hospital, Caitlyn said that they wouldn't admit her until her contractions were less than 6 minutes apart and just send her home until she was ready. While Jake was rushing around, trying to prepare the hospital bag, Caitlyn made herself a fruit smoothy. Her contractions weren't too painful, but painful enough for her to miss her period cramps, (which in themselves, brought tears to her eyes every time). Jake found her pushing the pulverise button on the mixer and freaked out.
He yelled what was she doing, she should be resting, what if she has another contraction and cuts herself (yeah) and all the other ramblings. Caitlyn had grabbed his hands and told him to calm down. She poured the smoothy through the sieve and into two cups: one for her and one for Jake. She waddled over to the sofa and eased herself down. She then put on Netflix and got Jake to time her contractions and how far apart they were.
~
Another 4 hours later, and Caitlyn's contractions were still very minor (considering what she'd heard from her mother and Jake's mother about how much they hurt) so she didn't think much of it. When another came along, Caitlyn barely registered it. Jake saw her discomfort around 2 hours ago and told her to squeeze his hand whenever she felt one coming on. When Caitlyn did this on her fourth hour, Jake had frowned and mumbled. Caitlyn pressed a hand onto her stomach and groaned. This one did feel a little stronger than the others. "Caitlyn, we need to leave. Now." Caitlyn must've pulled a face or something because Jake showed her his timer history.
21:04
21:12
21:15
~
It took 15 minutes too long to get to the hospital, in Jake's opinion. (Even though it only took 14 minutes, exactly)
Caitlyn had experienced another 2 contractions before they got there. When they pulled up at the parking spaces, Bradley ran out to get a wheelchair for Caitlyn. By the time they'd parked, Bradley was outside with a chair. They helped Caitlyn in and Bradley ran off to book her in as quickly as possible. By the time Jake had wheeled her in, 2 nurses were waiting for her. They rushed her off to the labour ward and left Jake with Bradley to deal with the (slightly useless) receptionist.
~
In addition to the 4 hours of contractions, Caitlyn had been in labour for just over 13 hours. And the whole time, Jake had stayed with her.
It was on the 16th hour that something finally happened. The nurse came in to check on her and she was 10 cm dilated. They took her down to the delivery ward and advised Jake to stay outside, but when he'd seen Caitlyn's pain filled face (that was about to bring his their child into the world) he went in with her.
~
1 hour later (17 minutes after Caitlyn had given birth) Jake was holding his new baby. Caitlyn had passed out pretty quickly after giving birth but she was to wake up when the baby cried so the nurse could teach her how to feed the baby properly. Jake cradled the baby and hushed it when it whimpered. His family quickly poured in and he passed the baby to his parents with promises to let his brothers hold the baby in a few days. When his mother asked what gender it was Jake proudly replied with, "It's a girl,"
~
When Caitlyn was allowed home after 3 extra days in the hospital, both families made sure that they were 100% available for whenever they were needed. They were all around for the family dinner 5 days after their baby girl was born and asked what they'd called her.
Caitlyn and Jake glanced at each other and instantly knew what they were gonna call her.
"Isla Seresin."
"Isla Bradshaw."
They both said at the same time. They stared at each other and laughed. "I want her to have your surname, Jake." Jake felt tears come to his eyes as he hugged Hope close and clasped Caitlyn's left hand.
"I would be honoured.”