Alpha’s Virgin Stripper

Jojo:

Mrs. Smith thought it best that we went to a private hospital about an hour and thirty minutes away from the restaurant. She insisted the hospital gave the best gynecology and obstetrics care in the city of Ten and in the southern region too. I listened to her. I mean, it's not like I knew much about hospitals anyway.

The building was quite like every other hospital building I had seen. A sky blue polished twelve-storied building, with every room on the inside, painted white - at least, every room we stepped in. I found myself placing my right hand on my stomach as I followed Mrs. Smith into the elevator and a corridor of offices.

I continued to watch her walk across the room like she knew just where we were headed to. I mean, were we not supposed to ask for directions, get a card, or even book an appointment?

Halfway through the corridor, she turned her back to me, as though she had heard my question. She flashed me a small smile and urged me to catch up. I was walking two paces slower than her.

"Come now, we're almost there. The doctor, Mrs. Zion, is a very good friend of mine." She answered my question, without hearing me ask it. I found myself sighing with relief. Her confidence made a lot more sense now.

She knocked on the door tag, "Mrs. Zion", and opened it immediately after. We were welcomed into a hexagonal room with white polished walls and pictures of what I assumed to be unborn babies in the wombs of their mothers. My gaze traveled down to my stomach. I wondered if the baby in me looked like one of those in the charts.

"We just want to run a full scan, please. And book regular and weekly antenatal appointments. We would also like to get a diet and..." I zoned out of the conversation. It was heartwarming watching Mrs. Smith speak to the doctor as though she were my mother or... my child's grandmother.

The doctor had a beautiful smile and reassuring eyes. She was the kind of doctor whose face made you believe there was hope.

She ushered us into a door in her office. The room was dimly lit. It contained a small bed at the edge of the wall, some machines I neither recognized nor understood, and sky blue curtains covering the walls of the room. I noticed the screen on the wall, beside the small bed.

"Kindly take off your clothes and lie down." The doctor's smooth voice fell into my eyes. I snapped out of my many thoughts and turned to her.

"I should... take off my clothes?" I repeated the question. Mrs. Smith came closer to me and placed her both hands on my shoulder.

"Yes Jo. She's going to show you your baby's body right now."

My eyes sparkled at the thought. I was going to meet my baby for the first time! I unbuttoned my gown and took it off, leaving me in my brassiere and shorts. I lay on the small bed and waited for the doctor. She put on her gloves and brought a small machine towards me. I could not tell what it was, but I know that when it touched my belly, it felt cold and warm at the same time.

She didn't look at me though, she fixed her eyes on the screen while rolling the machine on my stomach. I turned to the screen, just to check what she could have been looking at.

That was when I found it.

"There it is." She called out loud. She turned to me with a bright smile on her face. She pointed to the monochrome screen, urging me to look at it. "Looking as healthy as it can at eleven weeks! Do you see the head?" She asked me.

My eyes found Mrs. Smith at the far corner of the room. She was staring blankly at the screen, lost in her own mind's chain of events.

Tears welled up in my eyes. I could see the head, alright. It was small, and looked so cozy, comfortable, and at home in what seemed like a hollow cave.

"In the right position and looking fit. You've got a beautiful baby; you should be proud of yourself." She took the machine off my stomach, but I could still watch the screen, even though it wasn't moving anymore.

"I would prescribe some drugs and recommend a diet you should strictly adhere to for the next three months." The doctor spoke before she walked away from me.

I was staring at the life growing in my womb. The one for which I planned to become a better person, a bigger person. He or she was real, so real that I could now feel it in my stomach, growing, eating, forming. With tears in my eyes, I placed my both hands underneath my belly.

"I can't wait to meet you," I whispered.

"You know, I felt like this when I saw my baby for the first time. He became real in my hands, even though it was still weeks before he will arrive. At this moment, it did not matter that he was a product of a one-night stand, it did not matter that the father was only going to be with me because of the child. Hell! It did not even matter that seconds before that moment, I had wanted to get the child out of my stomach. All that mattered to me at that moment, was seeing my baby and seeing it grow. I loved him from that second, and I did not stop, even till today." Mrs. Smith spoke, as she moved closer to me.

She did not hide the tears that had gathered in her eyes, she did not keep the mix of happiness and sadness away. Her emotions were raw and when she touched my forehead, I could feel everything she felt.

Suddenly, something in me sparked. A part of me wished it was my mother standing in front of me. I wished it was my mother who was here. I wanted her to hold my hand, to teach me about motherhood. I wanted to listen to her tell tales of her experience, all the different stages, and what accompanied them. I wished she would be the one to tell me what to expect because I was very scared.

"You know, my dear." Mrs. Smith called out again.

I blinked twice away and stared up at her shining face.

"One of the benefits of motherhood and childbirth is having people around. People who you would love and who would love you, who would share in your pain and joy. It's even greater when your partner is around, to hold your hand." My heart shrunk in my chest. Well, mine did not ever want to see my face again.

She reached for my right hand, held it up, and squeezed my palm gently.

"Just like this. But, you don't have to worry about it, Jojo. What you're doing... it's brave, courageous. You're strong, I know you would be strong for your baby. And I know that you would love him or her, or them..."

A loud chuckle escaped my throat. The thought of having twins or triplets made me laugh.

"You would love them unconditionally, no matter what."

As I listened to her speak, I could not help but wish Alpha Lake was here, looking at our baby growing into a big one. Would he have been filled with all the love I was filled with? Would he have been as proud of me as Mrs. Smith was? I wished... I wished he was around.

I blinked and quickly shook the thoughts out of my head. It did not matter what I wished, what mattered was the present.