More To It

Chapter 11- Pregnancy Complication

Zaynab

“Am sure you both know what IVF is considering your profession but based on protocols, I’ll explain to you, is that okay?“,Dr Smith looks between Khalid and I.

“Yeah sure”,I nod.

“So this is to assist you in conceiving. I’ll be monitoring and stimulating your ovulatory process, removing your ovum from your ovaries and then let your husband’s sperm fertilise them in a liquid. This will then be transferred into your uterus. There’s a 90% chance that it’ll be successful so you don’t really have to worry about anything. But first am going to need to test you, to make sure everything is fine”,she explains.

“Sure”,I nod then stand up along with her. I hand Khalid my phone.

“Calm down, it’s just a test”,I assure Khalid who smiles a little. I could tell he was still nervous though, he was biting his lip repeatedly.

I lay down on the hospital bed and let the doctor take over.

“Uh, Mrs Ali?“,Dr Smith calls.

“Yeah?“.

“Are you sure you got tested before?“,she asks.

“Yeah, why?“.

“Well according to this ultrasound, you’re already pregnant”,she says.

“What?“,I open my eyes and look at her with confusion then turn towards the ultrasound. There’s a foetus growing.

“Please tell me am not dreaming”,I cover my face and burst into tears.

“Good news huh” she let’s out a chuckle and hands me a tissue.

“Thank you. Oh Khalid, I have to tell Khalid”,I whisper excitedly.

She finishes wiping the gel off my stomach and I zip up my jeans and put down my jumper.

“Thank you so so much”.

“No problem. You can go to your husband. I’ll finish up here then join you. We’ll discuss your next step”

I nod then rush back into her office where Khalid is now pacing the floor.

“Khalid”I call.

He turns around abruptly with a raised eyebrow.

“Am not compatible”,I tell him with a frown.

“Oh”,he whispers, his whole face fell. He rubs his face then forces on a smile.

“Because am already pregnant”,I yell.

“Wait what?“.

“Babe. Am already pregnant”,I tell him.

“Please don’t tell me you’re joking. I can’t take jokes, not at this moment”,he rubs his chest.

“Your wife is pregnant Mr Ali. The genitals aren’t yet visible so I can’t say what it is yet but hopefully soon, when you reach about 16 to 20 weeks”,she tells me.

I look at Khalid who looks as if he still doesn’t believe us. He covers his face and turns away.

“Baabeee”,I whisper.

Dr smith excuses us so I walk over to him.

“Hey”,I wipe his tears then he hugs me tightly.

“Thank you”,he whispers.

“I didn’t do anything babe”,I chuckle.

“Allah is Great, huh”,I smirk.

“He sure is”,he smiles then pulls me into a long and passionate kiss.

“Am so happy”,he whispers as he rests his forehead on mine after breaking the kiss.

I smile and nod.

Dr Smith sits back down in her seat facing us.

“I’ll need you for appointments every second week. So would Friday be okay?“,she asks.

“Friday?“,Khalid whispers.

“Sur-”

“No, Jummah is on Friday”,Khalid tells me.

“Yeah, but I can come alone”,I tell him.

“I wanna be here”,he whispers.

I chuckle and shake my head at him.

“What day would suit you then?“,Dr Smith asks him.

“Uh, Thursday? Do you have a time before 12?“he asks her.

“How about 9:45?“.

“Perfect! That’d be good”,he nods.

“Great then. I’ll see you in two weeks”.

“Thanks again”.

She smiles and nods. Khalid and I walk out of her office with smiles on our faces.

“Okay, so tomorrow we’ll go shopping. We’re buying plenty fruits, yoghurts, every healthy food there is”,Khalid tells me as he starts the car.

“Babe don’t go crazy on me please”.

“You like yoghurt. And hush, I want my baby healthy and big”.

“Big?“,I laugh.

“Yes. I want a fat baby. They’re the best”.

“Niggaaaaa”.

He chuckles and backs out of our parked spot.

***

“Hey Yousif”,Nurse Val ruffles his hair.

“Hi nurse Val. Where’s daddy?“,he asks her.

“In his room, the guard there will open up for you”,she tells him.

“Okay, see you”,he waves at her as we walk towards Abiodun’s room.

“Can you open the door? Am here to see daddy”,Yousif asks the guard politely.

“Sure thing lil guy”,the guard smiles.

He unlocks the door then pushed it open. Abiodun who was seated on his bed stands up as soon as he sees us.

“Hey daddy”,Yousif smiles and jumps on Abiodun who smiles and throws him up in the air.

“I missed you. Did you miss me?“.

“Everyday lil man. Everyday. This place really sucks”,Abiodun let’s out a groan.

“You’ll be out of here soon”.

“Bet”,Abiodun sighs then he turns to me.

“You came alone this time?“.

I shrug but don’t say anything.

“Uh, you’re okay?“,I ask him.

He raises an eyebrow at me and folds his arms.

“You’re asking how I am?“.

“Well you’re my baby’s father. We gotta get along to take care of him. So yeah. Am asking you. Even if you were a huge asshole. But maybe, just maybe, you’re changing...which is good”.

I look at him and find a smile.

“That actually means a lot coming from you”,he whispers.

“Yeah?“.

“I hurt you the most... So yeah. Thanks”.

I give a small awkward smile then nod.

I sit on the chair and watch as him and Yousif spend time with each other, just talking about random things.

“Guess what daddy”,Yousif gasps loudly.

“Wassup?“,Abiodun asks.

“Mommy is pregnant” he yells.

Oh f**k. Why did I tell this boy.

“She is huh”,Abiodun turns to me with a smirk.

“What? Why are you smiling, its not like you’re the father”,I roll my eyes.

“Are you sure? Because I slept with you just about a month ago”,he tells me.

“No you didn’t”.

“I think I’d remember the day I came to this hellhole Zaynab. How far are you?“he asks.

“About a month”I whisper.

He smirks and leans back into the wall. That’s when it hit me.

“No. No. Please no”,I whisper.

“Its not that bad. Just- don’t tell your husband”,he shrugs.

“I can’t lie to him. He’s so excited. He even started buying clothes even though we don’t know the gender yet *chuckles sadly*“.

“Well what he doesn’t know won’t hurt him”.

I look at Abiodun who licks his lips then throws Yousif in the air making him let out uncontrollable laughter.

“Times up”,Nurse Val walks in with Abiodun’s medicine and a cup of water.

“Well lil guy, you gotta get outta here”,Abiodun tells Yousif who let’s out a groan of dissatisfaction.

“Come on”,Abiodun ruffles his hair and gives him a big kiss.

“See you”.

Yousif jumps out of the car and runs towards the house. I don’t know how this boy always has energy to do anything. He’s always so hyper, I don’t know where he got that from like.

“Khalid is back”,he yells and makes his way into the living room.

“How was the visit?“,Khalid chuckles as Yousif runs towards him with his personalized kids version of the Qur’an, but it’s just the alphabets. He’s now joining the alphabets together. He’s a fast learner too, Khalid says it won’t be long before he starts reading the Qur’an, he’s already memorizing surah al-fatihah. Khalid reads that regularly for him before he goes to sleep. He recites surahs of the Qur’an (chapters of the Qur’an) to Yousif sometimes and other times he reads Islamic books to him. Yousif loves reading and listening to Khalid. He’s so obedient when it comes to this which am so grateful for.

“Hey”,Khalid smiles. I return the smile and give him a kiss.

“Why do you look tense?“,he starts looking over my face then raises an eyebrow.

“Did he d-“.

“No, no. He didn’t do anything”,I shake my head quickly.

“Am just tired, that’s all”, I tell him.

“Oh okay. Well I made fried stew and spaghetti so if you’re hungry, but if not, I say take some rest. I’ll finish up with Yousif then join you”.

I nod and ruffle Yousif’s hair then make my way up the stairs.

I instantly get under the covers as soon as I get to my room. What am I supposed to do now? I can’t tell Khalid. And Abiodun is on board with it, he won’t tell Khalid. So if he doesn’t know, it won’t hurt him. Yeah, that’s it. I won’t tell him. I’ll keep letting him think it’s his. There’s a chance the baby IS his and there’s a chance it isn’t. So when I give birth. I’ll get a DNA test done. If it’s his then Alhamdulilah and if it isn’t....well I can’t exactly tell him. But if he finds out then he’ll resent me for life. It’s not really my fault...so I should tell him....right? I didn’t ask for Abiodun to basically force himself on me, and they all apparently watched the video, so he knows it’s not my fault. So then I should tell him before this escalates. Right?

“Oh my God”,I groan loudly and kick my legs around with annoyance.

“Why is my life so complicated? I can’t deal with another episode, what if Khalid leaves me? Then what? A second divorce?“,I rub my face and breath out slowly.

“I’ll just wait. I’ll wait till am about 10 weeks, I’ll get a swab cheek from Abiodun and a blood sample from myself. Then I’ll test it out to see if he’s the father. If he’s not, then Alhamdulilah. That means Khalid is the father. That’s what I’ll do. I’ll wait till am 10 weeks”,I tell myself.

“Why are you talking to yourself for?“,Khalid chuckles as he walks into the room.

“Oh nothing. Where’s Yousif?“.

“Taking a nap. You should too”,he walks over and gets in bed.

“Yeah”.

I place my head on his chest and feel his arms wrap around me securely then he places a kiss on my head.