OH BABY! (Mario Martinez - On My Block)

Chapter Nine

CHAPTER NINE:

ice, ice, baby
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"PREGNANT?" Maria nearly shouted in disbelief. She shook her head, feeling the same tingly feeling in her hands as before. She could overhear the EKG machine speeding up as she panicked. Maria felt sick hearing the doctor confirm her suspicion.

She was fucking pregnant.

She was fucking pregnant with Mario's child.

A man she hadn't even known for a month yet—and she was going to have his baby. A sob escaped her as she covered her mouth. Her family was going to have a field day over this.

"I assume you're not even four weeks in." The doctor cleared his throat, realizing she was deeply upset with the news. He grabbed a pamphlet from his clipboard passing it to her. "This has a lot information about the first few weeks of pregnancy. It goes into detail about symptoms and what to expect." Maria tried to come down and listen to the doctor, as he only wanted to help. "And if you turn it over, it talks about alternatives." He cleared his throat nervously knowing it wasn't usually with protocol talking about this type of stuff. "We offer connections to multiple health centers that offer abortions, and a few facilities that can help you if you want to put your child up for adoption."

Her heart dropped as she thought about the options.

Does she have it in her to have an abortion? There was no way she was ready to actually have a child—but at the same time she wasn't sure. Maria was all for the pro-choice fight. Woman deserved the right to have control of their own bodies, but now Maria has to consider what would be best for her.

Adoption was always another option. She could give the child to a family who couldn't conceive a child—but she knew the high chance of how dome children being put up for adoption, were not adopted and grew up in the system.

She could also just have the baby.

She didn't need to say anything when her friends came back in, and when she went home for thanksgiving break she could tell her family. It would be better to tell them face to face anyways. And then go from there.

It wouldn't be the end of the world if she had a child. Maria knew she was young, and that maybe after she gave birth she could return to school?

Honestly she didn't even have to leave.

Maria was just nervous about the backlash she'd receive from students, staff, and especially Mario. Would he want to be apart of his own child's life? Ultimately he didn't have a decision in whether Maria kept the child or not, but he did have the right to chose whether he wants to continue to be in her life (and their child's).

Maria made eye contact with the doctor and shook her head. She had a lot to think about, but right now more than anything—she needed her mom.

"I can tell your friends to leave and give you rest if you'd like?" It was more than obvious to the doctor that Maria was completely clueless about the pregnancy and where to go from here. "It would be about another hour or two before we can release you—so is there anyone you would like us to call?"

MARIO COULDN'T HELP BUT pace in the Hall. Amber glanced up from her phone and sighed as he did another lap around the small waiting room.

"You're just as bad as her you know," Amber said glancing back down on her phone. She could see in her peripheral view that he finally stopped walking.

"What do you mean?"

"When she's nervous she paces too." The young woman rolled her eyes. "She also bites her already short nails down to stubs like," She reaches out grabbing Mario's hands. "You." He pulled his arm away, slightly embarrassed that she noticed his habit. "Truly, you guys are a match made in heaven." Amber teased re-grabbing his arms and pulling him towards a chair. "She'll be fine, if you keep pacing you're gonna' end up in the bed next to her."

Mario sighed taking the seat besides her. Amber was right, him being anxious was doing them no help. He glanced over his shoulder to see Maria's doctor grimly shut the door. He nudged Amber. Slowly the two approached the door, unsure of what to do next. He could clearly see an upset girl through the thin shades surrounding the room. Hesitantly, he knocks on the door.

The two waited a moment, hearing a weak "come in," coming from the other side. Maria sat up now, with a pile of pamphlets crowding her on the best. Mario's eyes shot open as he caught a glimpse of what they were about.

Amber instantly moved to her bedside, she tried to console Maria but she just stayed quiet.

Mario ran a hand over his face only thinking about how he was in some deep, deep shit.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

This chapter was hard to write unbiased. I am pro-choice (I'm not looking for people to agree or disagree with me), and as Maria shares many left political views—she is too. Abortion is a very tough topic to talk about. Some woman who chose to abort a child do it for many reasons. Some woman cannot financially support a child, while others physically cannot carry one to term healthily, while others just don't want to have a baby. Whatever the reason a woman chooses is THEIR BUSINESS ONLY.

Obviously for story reasons, Maria will carry the baby to term.