"You are eight weeks pregnant." The doctor - she introduced herself as Doctor Thelma told me, looking at the test results in front of her. I wasn't surprised. If you have lived the life I have lived, then you would know a lot of things. And one of those things was the body changes that occurred when one was pregnant. I had been having those symptoms. I just came to the hospital to confirm it. Dr. Thelma looked up at me as I sat across her and smiled at me. Her kind, motherly eyes searched mine and I decided there and then that she would be the one to lead me through this pregnancy journey.
"Would you like an ultrasound scan to see your little bean?" I gave her a watery smile for a response and she took that as a yes. I followed as she led me to the scan room and laid back on the bed at the center of the room, according to her instructions, watching her open a tube of gel.
"This would be cold." She warned as she raised my blouse before applying the gel. I sucked in a breath as the gel touched my abdomen, laying still as she rubbed it and turned to watch the monitor by the side. She picked up the transducer and ran it softly over my belly where she rubbed the gel.
"There! Can you see it? That's your little bean." She said pointing at the monitor that transmitted what the transducer was picking up. I felt tears well up in my eyes.
"Look here." She pointed to a point at the monitor.
"What exactly am I looking at?" I asked because I could only see the images the transducer transmitted. She chuckled lightly.
"There is a pulsing motion there."
"A pulsing motion?"
"Yes, Diamond. A flicker. That indicates the fetus' heartbeat." She explained, and at that second, the reality of everything fell on me and I burst into tears. I was going to be a mother. Dr. Thelma quickly and efficiently cleaned up the gel, put away her equipment, and swept me into her arms.
"There, there, darling. You will be fine." I stayed in her arms soaking up the motherly comfort that I hadn't had for years. When I calmed down, she smiled at me and took me back to her office where she gave me printed images of my little bean and instructions on how to proceed. After that, I left the hospital.
I was overwhelmed with my thoughts so I was barely focusing on where I was going. If I did, I might have seen the guy who had been following me for a few minutes and knew he was up to something. But I wasn't paying attention, so I didn't notice him until he grabbed my clutch - which was held loosely in my left hand - that contained my credit cards, my ID, my house keys, and a few other knickknacks - my phone was luckily not in the list because I had a habit of putting in in my pocket, whether dress or trousers - and ran off.
On a good day, I would have perhaps run after him or screamed. But today wasn't a good day, so I just stood shell-shocked and on the verge of tears - I blame that on pregnancy hormones. It was the stranger lady behind me who saw what happened that came to me and took me to the police station close by to report the theft and give a statement. I would have told her it wasn't necessary but my mind was in jumbles. I was 24, just recently broke up with my ass of a boyfriend, and so not ready to become a mother.
"Did you catch anything I said, Ms.?" The policeman asked, breaking into my thoughts. I raised my head just in time to see him glance behind my shoulders. Turning my head, I saw another 'cop'- he wasn't in uniform- walk into the cubicle I was seated. He carried an aura of superiority about him and I found out I was right when the policeman in front of me stood up as he approached.
"I will take it from here, Jones." The superior cop said and Jones nodded.
"In the meantime, can you brush up on that case? I will need it in an hour." His voice was deep and had a rumbly quality to it. It was soothing, said 'You can trust me to take care of you.' I looked up at him - boy was he tall! - and walked with him when he motioned me to his office. I guess this man was handling my case. I heard the door close behind me as I sat down.
"Sorry for the change, Ms." He said as he rounded to his table and sat down. Even sitting, I had to look up at him. I pegged him to be 6ft 1. He gave me a small sincere smile - I knew it was sincere because it touched his eyes, lighting up the jade color that had flecks of black in them.
"Not a problem, deputy," I replied.
"It's a detective. My name is Sebastian Grey, and you are... Diamond West." He said, reading it from the statement I made earlier.
"You said your credit cards, ID card, keys, little cash, and..." He paused, lifting his head from the paper, and raised a black eyebrow, the same color as his hair, at me. I didn't need him to complete it to know what I had written down there.
"A bunch of other probably useless - but I never threw them away - knickknacks was stolen. Yes, sir." I heard him snort gently in amusement. Believe it or not, I had written that word-for-word.
"Did you see his face? The thief I mean. Any feature you noticed that stood out?" I shook my head in the negative, staring at his eyes. They were soulful and firm but warm, complimenting his dark olive skin with a golden undertone.
"Sorry, sir. I wasn't paying attention - stupid, I know - which was probably why I was robbed in the first place." He started at me for a beat.
"Please, call me Sebastian." It sounded like an order. I just nodded mutely.
"There isn't much we can do. You would need to cancel your credit cards, get a new ID, and change your door lock." I sighed deeply. What I wanted to do was to go home, soak in my tub with plenty of bath salts and bubbles, and binge eat all day. It was Saturday, for Pete's sake.
"These agencies do not open today so you have next week lined up with activities." He continued. I sighed again and he looked at me.
"That is what I get for being unaware."
"And if you were paying attention, what would you have done?"
"I can hold my own, Mr. Grey." He cocked his head to the side and the look in his eyes screamed unbelief. I didn't blame him. I was 5ft 6 and 125 pounds soaking wet, but I knew a few good moves that could take a man down. I could hold my own In a fight. Detective Grey did not believe that, and I did not have the energy to explain.
"What would you do about your door lock?"
"I can wield a screwdriver. It will take me all of 5 minutes." Grey kept on staring at his intense, searching stare.
"And you have a screwdriver?"
"I can get one."
"Do you need assistance?" I gave him a small smile.
"I believe I can manage fine on my own, thank you, Detective." He nodded once and looked down at the file in front of him. A few seconds later, he raised his head back up.
"Right then. That will be all. Thank you for coming in Ms. West. Do have a lovely day."
"You too, Detective." And as I stood up, he stood up with me and walking to the door, opened it for me. Well, somebody's mama taught him right. As I stepped out of the station, I looked up at the clear blue sky and took a deep breath. So, I was pregnant, I just got robbed and had a bunch of stuff to do next week. No biggie; life had dealt me worse things and I'd braved them. I'll brave this too. With that thought, I went to grab an early lunch.