Mwahahahaaa!! This chapter is probably one of the longest (I hope) and most important on the story's main plot. It will make an ''unexpected'' turn, something most of you probably weren't expecting (except you Lozzie, u already know what happens!! but keep it shushed pleaseee!!!!
) so please tell me your thoughts and opinions about it; whether u like it or not and what u would like to happen.
<3!!
--------
Chapter 7: The Unexpected
--------
(A week to Ryan and Marissa's graduation from Berkeley)
It shouldn't be this hard to pick a graduation outfit. It had never been hard for her to pick an outfit, but with this headache all day long, it was hard for Marissa to concentrate on anything.
Actually, her whole body ached. She had vomited twice that morning and every other morning for a week now, but she and Ryan hadn't been partying (pre-graduation crazy raves) or eaten anything weird, and the school nurse didn't seem to notice anything out of shape in her. Not like that nurse really cared, by the way.
As she browsed through different dresses at a local mall, her phone rang.
"Coop!" she heard from the other side of the phone. "Guess who am I!"
"Hi Summ" she smiled, feeling a little better.
"How is my new graduate doing?" Summer exclaimed with her high pitched voice.
"Um...fine, I guess" Marissa lied.
"I can feel you Coop, something's going on!" Summer pushed her.
"Nothing, Summ, really...maybe I'm just a little stressed by graduation" she changed the subject.
"When are you and Seth coming?"
"Well, our plane arrives a few hours before your graduation." Summer said sadly. "So we won't be able to go shopping for graduation outfits" she moaned.
"No, don't worry. It's ok Summ. I'm at the mall anyway." Marissa replied. "You can help me buy something from the phone"
"Great idea, Coop! Where are you now?"
"Heading over the perfumes section" Marissa said. There they were: one of her fave parts of shopping! All of the new perfume collections were standing in a little table nearby. She headed over to try some while talking to Summer.
"It's really important for you to get a nice perfume, Coop! Remember it's your essence...!"
"I know, Summ"
"Which one are you smelling now?"
Marissa looked down and took a 'Chanel nº 5' perfume.
"This Chanel one". She sprayed some into a piece of paper and smelled it several times. "It's really g..."
Suddenly she stopped. That perfume had made her terribly nauseous; she had to flee to the nearest bathroom and vomited all over the WC.
"OMG COOP WHAT HAPPENED!!!!!!" Summer screamed through the phone. She had heard the whole thing. "COOP! COOP! COOOOOP! TALK TO ME!!!"
Marissa took a few deep breaths before talking to Summer.
“It's OK Summ" she tried to explain. "It's just...weird..."
"Coop, you're gonna tell me what's wrong with you. Now" Summer ordered. "I heard you vomit. Now, tell me."
"Ok. Well, over the past week, I've...well, vomited three times, I've overslept two days...My head aches...actually my whole body does...and well, a few more things, but I don't think they matter"
"Are you sick or something?" Summer inquired.
"Not really".
"Mhmm...You're not sick, but you ha...mhmm" Summer muttered suspiciously, wheels turning in her head until something finally clicked."OMG, Coop. OMG!"
"What's wrong???"
"Coop" Summer breathed deeply. "I think you might be pregnant."
Reality slammed Marissa in the face. She had thought so too for a minute, but quickly shrugged that thought off her mind.
Although what Summer had said made lots of sense. She and Ryan didn't use protection...
Unconsciously, Marissa rubbed her belly. She wasn't getting bigger. No, it couldn't be. Even if she was indeed pregnant it was too early for her to have a bump already.
"Coop! you there?"
"OMG Summ what am I going to do?!" Marissa pleaded.
"OK, let's see" Summer began. "What if y...?" there was a loud BANG followed by a huge CRASH on the other side of Marissa's phone. "OH Crap! Cohen's trying to unpack the fridge by himself. Let me tell you, coming back to Newport from Providence hasn't been easy. Anyway, better get there before he spoils something else..."
"But what should I do, Summer?" Marissa said nearly crying.
"Look Coop. Ryan loves you, ok? Talk to him. It's going to be OK. I better..." another CRASH."...get going. Call me Coop! Bye!"
And she hung up, leaving Marissa more scared and confused that se had been in a long time.
-------------------------
Ryan arrived at their dorm a little earlier than usual that afternoon. It was Friday. An exact week before their graduation. Any normal college student would be enjoying their time left by partying and hanging around with their friends before they graduate. But Ryan was anything, anything but calmed.
There was this question...it kept haunting him. He wanted to ask it, wanted to ask her, but he was afraid it was too soon. Maybe, in a couple of years or months...but he didn't wanna wait. He knew it was right, for both of them, but was afraid of her answer. All he knew was that he loved her; he was pretty sure she loved him too. But they were probably too young...For once in his life he was following his heart. Something inside pushed him to do so. It felt so good for both of them...Was he rushing too much?
He slid a hand in his pocket and gently squeezed the tiny box lying inside it.
Maybe he should wait...or not?
His meditation was interrupted by Marissa's entrance to their room.
"Hey, baby" Ryan kissed her gently.
"Hey" she half-smiled. "I...have to tell you something..." she said, a bit sad.
"Good, I want to ask you something too" he said, excited.
"Oh, maybe you want to start?" she asked him.
"No, no, I interrupted you" Ryan shrugged it off. "You go first".
Marissa sighed.
"Ok" she said, "but first...please, promise me, we'll stay together, I...I love you. I couldn't do this without you". She said with tearful eyes.
"I love you too" Ryan said, clearly concerned. "I would never leave you. Never. I love you, I...Don't worry. I'll always be at your side, whatever happens."
"Thank you" Marissa said, a single silent tear sliding down her cheek. She took a deep breath. "I...I think I'm...pregnant".
OK. Ryan was defineteley NOT expecting that one. A trillion thoughts raced through his mind as he stared at the woman, the girl, he loved, the one with who he could've made a child. The simple thought of being a parent was so hard to believe, so...unexpected. He was terrified, but surely Marissa was even more. And he needed to be there for her.
"H...How. Why?"
"Well..." so she explained him everything she had felt for the past week.
"Al...Alright" he managed to say. "Alright. We need to make sure you are. Why don't you take a pregnancy test?"
She nodded.
"Here" she took one from her purse and she got into the bathroom.
"You want me to be there with you?" Ryan asked.
Marissa doubted for a second. Then she nodded.
"I would like that" she smiled.
They entered the bathroom. Marissa opened the box and read the instructions carefully, with Ryan by her side. "One line, not pregnant...Two lines, pregnant"...She was so, so, so scared. Not because she didn't love her baby, if there was one, but because of the fact it was so unplanned. She probably wasn't prepared for being a mother, and she didn't know how Ryan was feeling at the time.
Marissa started doing what the instructions told her to do. Then she sat down in the bathroom's floor with Ryan holding her head. After a few minutes of waiting they picked up the stick, which was lying facedown in the floor. Marissa's hand was trembling as she was about to turn the stick. Ryan grabbed her hand and stopped her.
"Whatever happens..." he said."I love you. I've always had and I always will, and I'll be with you no matter what" he finished with a smile as he looked into her beautiful blue eyes.
Marissa smiled and kissed him.
"I love you too". And she turned the stick.
Two lines.
She looked at Ryan with tears in her eyes. She threw herself to his arms and broke down.
"Hey...hey" He hugged her. "Don't cry, baby. We'll be ok. It'll be alright".
"But...we just f-finished c-college!" she sobbed. "We don't have a work...or a home...and now our baby..." she kept crying.
"Don't worry" Ryan tried to comfort her. "We'll be Ok. We'll stay at the Cohen's, I'm sure they'll be pleased to have us. I can work at the Newport Group, and once the baby is a bit older you can start working too. We'll be alright. I promise. Both of you"
Marissa stopped crying and smiled. She looked into Ryan's eyes, those eyes that read so true, so loving, so caring. And she knew everything was indeed going to be alright.
"I hope he or she gets your eyes" Marissa smiled.
Ryan smiled back.
"I think we should go to a doctor. Here, in Berkeley. Just to make sure you and the baby are fine" he said.
"Now?"
"Yeah, now. It's the weekend"
"Ok..."
-------------
(At the OBGYN department with a doctor in a local Berkeley hospital. *LoL that sounded so funny!*)
"Hey" the doctor came in to the room where Marissa and Ryan had been waiting. "I'm Dr. Coleman"
"Hi" Ryan and Marissa shook hands with the lady, who seemed very nice.
They told her their situation and the reason they were there. Dr. Coleman started asking the basics: their age, medical family history, school backup, etc.
“Is it your first baby?” she asked Marissa.
She nodded.
“For how long have you been married?”
Ryan and Marissa looked at each other, embarrassed.
“We are…not married” Ryan muttered.
“Oh well” Dr. Coleman changed the subject after feeling the awkwardness. “Do you smoke or drink alcohol or caffeine often?”
“Um, I used to drink, but I quit three years ago” Marissa explained. “I usually drink a cup of coffee some mornings. I haven’t smoked since I quit alcohol, but I do have classmates who smoke, especially during exams season”
“You guys are in college?” Dr. Coleman asked a little surprised.
“Uh…We’ll be graduating in a week” Ryan cleared up quickly.
“Ah, congratulations” Dr. Coleman said rapidly. “Uh…do you live here in Berkeley?”
“No, actually, we live in the Orange County, in Newport. We’ll be moving back after our college graduation”
“Well then, make sure you get a good doctor back at Newport. Remember that will be the doctor who will deliver your kid”.
They both nodded.
"Alright sweetheart" she told Marissa. "Lay here, please. We're going to do an ultrasound now ok? This may be a little cold" she said as she prepared Marissa for the ultrasound.
A few minutes later the doctor caught a glimpse of the baby.
“There it is” she said, pointing at the screen, where they could see their –literally- little bean-shaped baby. “And that little ticking is the heartbeat”.
They could all hear it. It was beating at a quick pace and they could she the tiny little heart moving in the screen.
“Oh my God” Marissa gasped, her eyes full of tears of joy. That was their baby, her child, their child, the one they would have to start loving and caring about since now.
“Oh my God…” Ryan repeated, not being able to breathe. There it was... their beautiful little baby. They were parents. Parents. Mom and Dad of a small child they would have to take care of since now. A baby they already loved.
They stared at the screen for several minutes, holding each other’s hands tightly, not being able to process any thought or feeling but the fact of being there; the fact they were no longer two but three; the fact they were a family.
“Um…” Dr. Coleman said, afraid to break the silence. “Do you want…a picture of it?”
Both Ryan and Marissa nodded.
“So…you are about seven-eight weeks ahead” Dr. Coleman informed Marissa. “Here” she handed Marissa a paper “Is a list of things you should eat and avoid eating to keep you and the baby healthy, and also a list of sleep and activities recommendations” she said after clearing the basics with her: don’t smoke, don’t drink, sleep, do some light exercise…
“Thanks, doctor” Ryan said as he and Marissa shook hands with her again.
“Bye, good luck” Dr. Coleman waved from her door as they left the room. “Take good care of the little one”. She finished as she closed the door.
Ryan sighed as they walked holding hands.
“That was… awkward”
“Yeah” Marissa said back. “But at least we got to see our baby” she smiled looking at the ultrasound’s photo.
“It’s beautiful” Ryan smiled, staring at his baby’s picture. “I think it looks like you”
“Really?” Marissa beamed and kissed him.
“I guess we’ll have to wait and see. We better stop at a drugstore to buy you some pregnancy vitamins…is that how they’re called?”
“You need some training. It’s girl stuff!” Marissa laughed. Then she remembered something and her smile vanished.
“Ryan…my mom” she said sadly.
“What’s with her?”
“She doesn’t know. Nobody knows but us. And, maybe Summer. How are they going to react?” Marissa moaned, worried.
“I don’t know” Ryan said. “We’ll have to wait and see”
“When are we going to tell them?”
Ryan sighed.
“I think…after the graduation”.
Ohhhh yes!!! *victory dance* I finished it! Haha I hope u didn’t get tired of waiting. I’m sure it looks kinda short but it took me ages to write…
Ok so. Now you’re probably wondered…why? This is the story’s main plot. When I wrote it I was thinking of how the show could have gone on. I always wanted Ryan and Marissa to have a family together so…here it is.
And if they got married first, it would’ve been too classical and normal. It’s The OC, people, nothing here’s ever normal!!! *wink* that’s why.
I really hope you like it and I’m sorry if I took too long. I already picked a gender (by random, cuz I couldn’t decide lol) but I accept suggestions! I still may change it.
And I’m having a hard time picking a name. Names are welcomed!!
Thanx so much for reading.
xxxooo