Gen. 5.13-Matthew

I sat holding Kia’s hand as Dr. Hughes, her neurologist, and Dr. Agapov, the geneticist talked about Kia’s possible treatment plan. With her being pregnant a lot of the testing needed to wait, even with the bloodwork since her body chemistry had changed because of the pregnancy. There was a lot of technical talk and I was wishing now I’d taken Gi-Gi up on her offer to come with us. She’d be able to break everything down to understandable words. My ears perked up when I heard the word surgery.

“Wait, are you saying you need a sample of her brain? I thought you were going to just do scans.”

“Well,” Dr. Agapov started, “we would take the scans, but to really see what deformities there might be…”

“What!” Kia exclaimed. “Deformities! I…I don’t…Matt tell him I don’t have deformities!”

One…two…three…four… “I’m sure he didn’t mean it like that, Kia.” I said hoping to calm her down. “You didn’t mean it like that right?” I asked looking over at the doctor.

“My apologies, maybe abnormalities would be a better word,” Dr. Agapov corrected. “The brain is a complex organ and even with all our advancements, there are still things yet to be discovered. Hart’s Syndrome isn’t widely known and effects less than 1% of the total population.”

Dr. Hughes went on from there explaining why he thought taking a sample from Kia would be the most aggressive way to start to study and possibly understand this disease. All I heard was they wanted to drill a hole in her head. It was insane, and scary.

“No!” Kia said standing up.

“Mrs. Solo.”

“No!” she said again, cutting off Dr. Hughes. “My brain, my choice and I will not have anyone just drilling into my head on some sort of mystery expedition. Before you said I might be able to try some of the drug options used for Alzheimer’s patients. Why can’t we just do that?”

“Mrs. Solo, we can try that and we will, but considering what you have isn’t the same thing there is no guarantee they would even be effective. Surgery, getting a sample, really is our best option in starting to understand this,” Dr. Agapov explained.

“Matt,” she said looking over at me. One…two…three…I could tell she was looking for me to support her decision but I was confused. On one hand I understand her fear, so much could go wrong, but on the other if this was really the best path to maybe find a cure, or at the very least a treatment we needed to take it.

“Kia, we don’t have to decide now. Nothing can be done until after the baby is born anyway. We have at least 5 months to weigh all your options.”

“So you want me to do this?”

“I want…I want you to be well.” It was true; I wanted and needed her to be better.

We’d been settled in Riverview for about a month now. I was glad we stayed the extra time in Barnacle Bay while the decorator Aunt Hope hired as a wedding present did the work for us. There needed to be some construction to the house to remodel it in the way Kia wanted, which turned out to be a complete gut job of the main floor. I didn’t want to live in a messy construction zone, so we stayed put until it was done.

Not all of the rooms were finished yet, we still had the nursery and what will eventually become the kid's bedroom to do, but Kia wanted to wait until after we knew what we were having. For now, Kia was very pleased with the results and I was happy that she was happy.

Since moving, she’d had a few episodes, but none too bad. Mostly she’d wake up and be confused on where she was, thinking she was still in school. The worst one so far was when she’d nearly been arrested because she kept trying to get into a car that wasn’t hers. That was a stressful day getting the call from the police. The cop was nice enough when I told her she had pregnancy brain and got confused easily these days, the guy whose car she was trying to steal, however, was a real ass. He tried to have her arrested for assault because she hit him when he grabbed her arm. Luckily the cops were more understanding than he was and she was left off with a warning. I wanted to punch him myself when he told me I needed to keep my psycho on a leash.

We left Dr. Hughes’ office and had about two hours before her next appointment. This one was the one she was most anxious about. For the last week all she talked about was feeling doomed and destined to have a girl and pass this thing down to her. We’d gotten into an argument or two over the fact she kept saying she wished I hadn’t talked her into keeping the baby and I was being selfish. I remember going out for a two hour run that day things got so bad. I couldn’t think, I’d felt the walls closing in on me so I left in the middle of the argument. I’d just taken off, fleeing the house as quickly as possible.

When I got back, she’d seemingly forgotten what she’d said to me or that we’d even had a fight. I couldn’t forget though and that night, and a few nights after, I stayed awake tossing and turning wondering if she was right. Had I let my history with Claudia cloud my thinking? Had I played down the seriousness of everything when she tried to tell me? Between the doctor’s visits and her episodes and the stress of working, it was all becoming too much. Maybe I had been selfish in my need to not lose another child. I’d done what I’d thought was best at the time, but now...maybe she was right.

“It’s a nice day, you think we can pick up some sandwiches and eat in the park?” Kia asked bringing my thoughts back to the present.

 Considering Riverview Women’s Center was just the next block over, I would have rathered just grabbed something closer, but I guessed she wanted away from the area or something. “Sure, we’ll pick up something from the deli at the store since the park is right across the street.”

I parked in the back lot and ran in to get our sandwiches and I did a good job of not getting pulled into work. After we got settled, we ate in silence for a little. I thought about bringing up what Dr. Hughes and Dr. Agapov suggested, but thought better of it. Last thing I wanted was for her to get upset while we were in public.

“Do you think we’ll ever be like that?” Kia asked. I followed her line of sight to see a family not too far from us. The dad was tossing the little girl in the air while the mom waved each time the little girl took flight, they were smiling and laughing. They appeared to be having a good time.

“What do you mean?”

“Happy, like them,” she replied turning back to look at me.

“I didn’t think we were unhappy. I know things have been out of sorts, but my feelings about you and my commitment to you and our child haven’t changed.”

“I know Matt. You’re a good guy and you’ve always been nice to me. But…”

“Why is there a but after that?” I asked in hopes of this conversation not leading down a stressful path.

Kia nibbled on her sandwich and I wondered if this was going to be another one of her guessing games. Some days we’d manage to have a straight talk instead of her trying to express her feelings in some roundabout way. I appreciated those days. In return, I’d been trying to do better with understanding she was hormonal, and stressed. All that coupled with her other condition made things harder at times, but I tried to work through as best I could. I’d not been perfect, but I was trying.

“I love you Matt,” she blurted out. “I’ve been in love with you for a long time, but even back in college I could tell you never felt the same way so I didn’t say anything. If not for that prank, you wouldn’t be saddled with me and I’d be out there trying to make it on my own.”

“Kia, don’t say it like that.”

“Why not? It’s true. I know you don’t feel the same way about me Matt…”

“Kia…”

“Let me finish because I could very well forget this conversation in the next five minutes.”

She covered her mouth as she started giggling at herself. She’d never made fun of her own condition before, but now she’d erupted into a fit of giggles that was getting a few glances from others in the park. Luckily laughs fit into this setting so it’s not like she was causing a scene. She hid her face when the laughs turned to tears. Moving over, I pulled her into my lap and held her until she calmed down.

Not knowing what else to say, I told her the two words that seemed to be at the forefront of my vocabulary these days. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be,” she whispered between sniffles. “It took me six and a half years to get through college. I was thinking of calling it quits after my aunt died and then I met you. You were nice to me and with your sparkly wings, I thought maybe my aunt had sent you to watch over me. My own guardian angel, or maybe fairy godfather is more fitting,” she said, laughing a little. “It sounds crazy, I know, but that’s how I felt, it’s how I saw you. I...I just wanted you to know. I’ve been wanting to tell you, but would get scared, but I needed to tell you while I still could.”

I knew in college Kia had hoped we’d be more than friends, that she had a crush on me, and I hadn’t expected those feelings to have gone away, but hearing it out loud made it real. She was in love with me and while that shouldn’t have been a surprising revelation, it kinda was, or maybe it was more the fact she stayed in college because of our chance meeting. That was a heavy burden to know she thought of me as some sort of life line, a guardian angel. What was I supposed to do with that level of responsibility? I felt like I should say something, but what? Kia was in love with me, she’d said it, and I couldn’t say it back. She’d just poured her heart out and I said nothing.

“We should get going,” Kia said, removing herself from my lap.

I cleaned up our mess then took her hand as we headed back to over the store to get the car. The short 15 minute drive was quiet as Kia nervously chewed on her thumb nail while keeping her attention focused out the window. I thought about her comments in the park, her thinking she was not going to get better. I wanted to tell her not to be so negative, that I was sure the doctors could fix her, but after today’s visit I was no longer so sure. Most of their answers sounded more like fancy ‘maybes’ and ‘I don’t noes’ instead of definite answers. According to Gi-Gi, both of those guys were supposed to be top of their fields, so I had to try and hang on to hope they could do something for her.

When we arrived at the clinic, Kia looked over at me and it was easy to see the worry on her face.

“Everything is going to be fine,” I said, hoping to ease her fears.

“It has to be a boy, Matt.”

“Well…if it’s not, I’ll take all the blame for getting it wrong,” I joked and it brought a slight smile to her face.

Exiting the car, I walked around to help her out then held her hand as we walked in. Kia’s leg bounced continuously as we waited to be called back. There weren’t many people in the waiting room, mostly women like normal. I’d come to every appointment with Kia and I was often the only guy which made me feel a little uneasy at first, but I was getting used to it now. The soft cries of a newborn caught my attention. The lady quickly put a blanket on her shoulder before the baby’s head disappeared beneath it. I turned my head quickly, feeling my face get hot when I realized what she was doing.

Kia started laughing. “You’re cute when you blush.”

The nurse called out our name before I could respond. The moment of levity was gone as Kia latched onto my arm as we walked back to the dimly lit room. A few minutes later, Dr. Williams came in and greeted us.

After getting the machine all set, a few seconds of searching and the sound of the baby’s heartbeat filled the room. We’d heard it before on her other check-ups, but I was still amazed at the fast whooshing sound.

Shortly after that, an oddly shaped blob filled the screen. Dr. Williams pointed out things and as she did, the blob took shape and I could see the baby. My baby. Our baby. I looked down at Kia and she was already crying.

It was an amazing sight to see, we’d created that. Suddenly nothing else seemed as important as protecting that little being on the screen. Seeing our baby, I knew my decision wasn’t wrong. No matter what happened, this baby was not a mistake regardless of the circumstances surrounding conception. I was going to be a father. We were going to be parents, and we would face whatever problems together. I wasn’t in love with Kia, but that didn’t mean I didn’t love her. I did and I was going to stand by my commitment to her and our child.

“Do you want to know the sex?” Dr. Williams asked.

“Yes!” Kia answered.

After some gentle pushing on Kia’s stomach, Dr. Williams was able to get the shot she needed. We were having a boy.

“Hello Cameron,” Kia whispered.

“Cameron?”

She looked over at me biting her lip. “Yeah, I…I know we haven’t really discussed names, but I was hoping…it’s my mother’s maiden name.”

“Cameron,” I said to myself, testing out the sound. I leaned down and gave her a kiss on the forehead. “I think it’s the perfect name.”

**A/N**

BIG THANKS to DJ for her photo editing skills!!! You are a life saver!

The Riverview Women’s Center is actually the Sunset Valley Medical Clinic by SIMplicity. If you download some rooms will be different. Dr. Hughes’ office as well as the ultrasound room won't be there since I redid those to fit my needs. Yes I was lazy and used 1 lot for both locations. :)

Matt and Kia’s house is an EA house called Ever, you’ll find it in your bin. I gutted the main floor and redecorated it to suit their needs.  More photos of the remodel.