1.7 - Consequences

The next morning Danisha ran out first thing to get a present for Nielson for his birthday.  Even though it ended up being a day light, he still loved it and cheered when Danisha presented it to him.  Seeing Nielson so happy made her depression from the previous day fade and she found herself smiling too.

After he opened his present to find a book, Danisha set about making breakfast for both of them.  She wasn't sure how well a book would go over with a child, but it had been one of Nielson's favorites so she'd hoped it would go over well.  And it did.  She never stopped to consider that it might be too advanced for a child, and Nielson didn't complain as he voraciously read through it while waiting for her to finish cooking.

After she finished, she brought both plates over to the table and sat down with Nielson.  It had been a long time since she'd felt this at-peace and although she was still upset about the events of the previous night she was able to forget those for a moment.

The rest of the day passed smoothly.  Danisha took Nielson out into the city.  She hovered over him the entire time, but at the same time she still felt guilty and had decided to purchase him anything else he wanted of his choosing.  As they entered the toy store, Danisha felt overwhelmed at all the options.  But fortunately, Nielson didn't have such trouble and settled on a chest containing a series of costumes as his other gift.

His favorite costume turned out to be the astronaut.  Although Danisha had been sure it would be the prince.  When she and Nielson had been children, they'd always loved pretending to be prince and princess...

The days settled into normalcy again.  Their new routine involved Danisha getting up in the morning, making sure that both of them had breakfast, then Nielson would head off to school and she would go off to work.  It was a simply life, but Nielson seemed happy and that was what was most important.  Besides, Danisha managed to finally get that additional promotion to traffic cop.

One morning, not long after, however, Danisha found herself very ill in the morning.  "Careful, Nielson, I think those waffles have gone bad," she warned as her stomach rolled after just a few bites.

"Really?  They seem fine to me," Nielson replied with a shrug.  She was about to reply when the need to throw up overwhelmed her and she raced for the bathroom.

"Are you okay, Danisha?  I got rid of the leftover waffles," Nielson called through the bathroom door.  Danisha assured him she was okay, and told him to hurry off to school without her.

What she'd thought was a one-time thing ended up occurring very consistently first thing in the morning.  It had gotten to the point where she skipped breakfast altogether and it still plagued her.  This was a very familiar sensation, but she wasn't willing to entertain that idea just yet.  Although, they'd been drunk and it had all happened so suddenly that there had been no time for protection that night with Romeo...

Eventually it got too much for work.  She struggled to get to work and stay on top of her new responsibilities.  And as it got colder it just got worse.

So, reluctantly, she went to the doctor and had her worst fears realized before turning in her request for maternity leave from work.  She couldn't believe that she'd let her career get put on hold like this again.  How was she going to reach a position where she could actively work on Nielson's case like this?  She just hoped that Nielson would forgive her for the delay, and promised herself she'd continue to work hard during her absence and twice as hard once she returned.

She also probably should have told Romeo about it.  But she felt too cowardly to confess what the consequences of their night had been and had managed to request her leave through H.R. without needing to get him involved.

The following Monday she was prepared to deal with how to explain this to Nielson when she found him in no hurry to get ready for school.  "What's the matter?" she asked as she got breakfast out for them.

"Snow day," Nielson replied before he began shoveling waffles into his mouth.  He didn't sound excited, as most kids would.  But then, he actually seemed to like going to school.  That was certainly something that was different from the past.

A snow day... that gave Danisha an idea.  "Would you like to go to the winter festival, Nielson?"  The boy looked up at her and then broke out into a huge grin which she took for a yes.

Since it was a weekday there weren't many people there, but that meant that they got the festival all to themselves.  "I'm going to try ice skating!" Nielson announced and rushed off before Danisha could say a word.  She'd wanted to take this opportunity to explain to Nielson she was pregnant, but it didn't seem like he'd sit still enough to listen.  Or maybe he did know, and this was punishment for cheating on him.

But at the same time, Danisha was somewhat happy about this pregnancy.  She could have aborted it, or she could still put it up for adoption.  And sure, it wasn't Nielson's baby.  But she'd finally be able to raise it together with him.  Perhaps he wasn't old enough to be a father for the baby, but an older brother fulfilled a similar role.  And knowing they'd be caring for it together made her happy for some reason

Finally, she made it over to where Nielson was cautiously making his way out onto the ice.  Seeing him like this was so nostalgic.  Nielson always did enjoy the ice skating best at the winter festival in Riverview.  Although it hadn't had nearly the number of activities to do as this one here in Bridgeport did.

She made sure to cheer him on as he made his way around the rink.  She'd rather be in there, skating beside him, but at the same time she didn't want to risk hurting herself and jeopardizing the pregnancy.

However, she did nearly have a panic attack when one of Nielson's skates got stuck in a bump in the ice.  It was not the most graceful of falls.

She winced as he went down, landing on his knees.  But at least he was able to get right back up which reassured her that he wasn't hurt.  "Maybe it's time to come off, honey," she called to him, still feeling nervous.

"No way, I'm finally getting the hang of this!" Nielson shouted back, unfazed by his encounter with the ice.

Finally, as the natural light disappeared to be replaced by the bright lights of the city she finally convinced Nielson to get off.  They were both pretty hungry so rather than wait to head back home and make something there, Danisha decided to order food at the festival.  "You can have anything you want," she assured the boy.  Although she regretted it when he announced he wanted onion rings for dinner and would not accept any healthier alternative.  And, hating to see Nielson upset, Danisha caved pretty quickly.

After making sure that Nielson was eating properly, Danisha turned her attention to her own meal when she saw a suspicious-looking woman sitting at another picnic table.  She was so suspicious because she really wasn't dressed for this weather.  She only had one sleeve!  So, Danisha decided to talk to her.  Even if they were on the other side of the city from where Nielson's murder had taken place this woman might still know something.

"Hello, I'm Officer Gaul.  Mind if I ask you a few questions?" she asked as she approached the woman.

"Sure, but I'm not sure what for," the woman replied, seeming completely disinterested.  Danisha went through some of the basics, name, age, occupation, before getting to the question that was really bothering her.

"Why are you dressed like that?"

"What?  You expect me to be all covered up like you?  As if!  I want to make sure the paparazzi get a good shot of me, no matter the whether.  I am a celebrity, after all," the woman replied dismissively.

"I... guess that makes sense?" Danisha replied, feeling very confused.

In the end, Danisha let the woman go.  It was clear that the woman was vain and self-centered and likely didn't know about anything that went on in the city that didn't directly involved her.  Not that Danisha really expected anything to come out of it, but it was still disappointing.  She really wasn't getting anywhere with this case.

Defeated, Danisha took Nielson home and completely forgot about her intentions of telling him about a new baby brother or sister.

Not that it really mattered anyway.  Being the genius that he was, Nielson had already figured it out based on her symptoms.  He just didn't really want to acknowledge it because their one-bedroom apartment was cramped enough as it was with just the two of them.  He even had to share a bed with his mother, for crying out loud!


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This chapter was shorter than I intended, but if I had left it as the full chapter that I was originally planning to write it would have been nearly 30 pictures, which is a little long for my tastes as I prefer between 15-20.  So the main action is going to happen next chapter.  Hopefully it won't take long for me to get that chapter up since I already have all of the screenshots for it, I just need to write it up.