Chapter 93: The Problem, And Should We Make It Go Away?

"Oh my God. What are you going to do?" Caitlin asked Sophia.

"We leave for the Olympics in two weeks. All I can do is get it taken care of, and hope that I can do that in time for me to heal to skate."

"You mean, an abortion?"

"What else can I do?"

Cait thought for a minute. "Have you told Warren yet?"

"No. I just found out for sure right now. He's the next step."

"Do you think he'll want you to get rid of it?"

"Of course. I've known that all along. Driven, over-achieving Warren? The Man with the Plan? Of course he's going to want me to get rid of it."

"Do you want to?"

"I don't want to be pregnant in the first place."

"That's not what I asked you."

"It's not a question of want," Sophia sighed. "At least you got me to stop crying. Now I get to go tell Warren."

"If Paul's down there, you can send him up," Cait told her.

Sophia took the elevator down to the second floor. She went to Warren's room. He opened the door for her.

"Paul, can you get lost for a bit? Cait's in the room, she said you can go up there."

"Surely," Paul said. "I was going to go see her anyway. Ciao," and he was gone.

"What's up, Pookie?"

"Sit down," she said. He did, on the bed, and she sat next to him. She was staring at her hands. "Warren, there's no easy way to say this, so I'm just going to tell you. I'm pregnant."

Warren looked at her. "Pregnant?" he said in disbelief. "Are you sure?"

"I took a home test and it was positive. I've known, anyhow. I missed my December period, and now I'm three days late for January's, and I've been getting sick in the morning."

"How did this happen?" he asked her.

She took a deep breath. "I missed a day. The pill, I mean. When we were in Japan, what with the time change, I got confused. I think I missed it the first or second day we were there, I'm not sure, I just know when we got back here and I got back on the proper day, I had an extra." She looked at him. "I'm so sorry."

"Hey, it happens. One day, huh? My God we are fertile. And do you realize our child was probably conceived in a shower in Nagano, Japan?"

Sophia laughed in spite of herself. "I never thought of that. Anyway, I'll go get a blood test but there's no doubt in my mind that I'm pregnant. And we need to get this taken care of post-haste so that I'll heal in time for the Olympics."

Warren stared at her, when he realized what she had said. "'Taken care of?'"

"Yeah. I don't know if there's a clinic here in Madison that does it or not."

"You mean an abortion."

"Well, yeah."

Warren took a deep breath. "OK," he said, in a tone of resignation.

Sophia caught it. "Don't you think that's the best thing to do?"

"It's your body, Sophia, it doesn't matter what I think."

"Of course it does, Warren! Your opinion counts in this."

"I don't mean this to be snippy, but you seem to have already made your mind up."

"Well, that's only because I knew you'd want me to terminate the pregnancy." She looked at him, and realization dawned on her face. "Oh my God," she whispered, "you don't, do you?" He didn't say anything, just stared into space. "You're so driven and committed, I thought for sure you wouldn't want an untimely pregnancy messing that up."

He looked at her. "Do you really want my opinion? Really, truly, even if it's not what you want to hear?"

"Yes, Warren, I do."

Warren took a deep breath. "If you terminate the pregnancy, you'll break my heart."

She looked at him in astonishment. "What?" she croaked.

"Absolutely break my heart. I'll get over it, and it is your decision in the end, but, no, I do not want you to get an abortion."

"What about the Olympics?"

"What about them? Sophia, you're in the first trimester. You're allowed to fly. You're allowed to exercise, and ice dancing is a low-impact activity. See a doctor, don't take my word for it, but, trust me--the Olympics are not an issue. You can skate in the Olympics two months pregnant."

"What about school?"

"You'll be due in early September, from my calculations." Sophia nodded agreement. "We should have the baby at home, in Boston. We'll have to take a semester or a year off--take a sabbatical--but that shouldn't be a problem with our GPA's."

"What about skating?"

"If you can get back in shape for the end of the Grand Prix next year, we request the USFSA to assign us to Cup of Russia and NHK, they are the last two. If not, we shoot for Nationals. Skaters have had babies before."

"Having a baby is a big responsibility. We're young. We're still in school. We've got the skating. It'll be tough."

"No doubt," Warren agreed.

She looked at him. "But you still want to do it?"

"Yeah, I still want to do it. Look, I know the timing sucks. I know it's inconvenient. I know it was a mistake. But that's a baby in you, Sophia. A baby that got made because we love each other. You won't be in this alone, you know."