~~~the next day~~~
Gwen and AJ slept in late from getting home early that morning. Gwen woke up and took a shower. She came out and kissed AJ's head, who was still sound asleep.
"Baby, I'll see you later," Gwen whispered in his ear. He pulled her down and kissed her.
"Okay," he mumbled. Gwen grabbed the keys to his Tahoe and left for the doctor.
She got to the office and signed in. She was called in and the doctor saw her and took her blood test and she did the usual check up. Gwen was waiting in her room for the doctor to say she could leave when the doctor came in her room.
"Gwen, we got the test results back and you are fine. Nothing serious but we did find something we are concerned about," the doctor explained. Gwen got nervous and scared.
"What is it? Am I okay?" Gwen asked.
"Well when we did your regular check up x-rays, we found an affection in your uterious and ovaries," the doctor explained. Gwen's heart dropped. "It isn't a tumor or cancer, it's a birth effect that some women are born with. It is caught in heredity."
"What does this mean?" Gwen asked, afraid of the answer.
"Well, here are some pamphlets to help you understand..."
~~~~~~~~~
Gwen walked into the house and shut the door. She was in a daze and starring into space. AJ came to greet her.
"About time you're home...did everything go okay?" AJ asked. Gwen came back into reality.
"Yes...it went fine. It was just crowded," Gwen lied. AJ noticed her distraction.
"Is everything okay? How did your blood tests go?" AJ asked.
"I'm fine. Everything is fine," Gwen said. AJ looked relieved.
"That's good baby," he said. "So what are we going to do tonight?"
"I don't know. I'm kinda not in the mood to go clubbing," Gwen said.
"Honey are you sure you're okay?" AJ asked.
"I'm fine. Let's rent a movie and stay home," Gwen said.
"Okay. Do you wanna invite Nick over?" AJ asked.
"Sure..." Gwen said. Gwen went upstairs to put away her coat and change while AJ called Nick up. Ashleigh met Gwen in the hall.
"Hey, how'd the doc go?" Ashleigh asked.
"Fine," Gwen mumbled before shutting the bedroom door. Gwen walked into their bathroom and looked in the mirror. How in the world was she going to tell AJ? What if he didn't want to get married anymore? A stray tear fell down Gwen's cheek but she quickly wiped it away. She washed her face and changed into more comfortable clothes. She walked downstairs to join everyone else.
~~~~~
"I wanna watch Erin Brockivitch!" Ashleigh said.
"No damn chick films!" Nick ruled out.
"That is NOT a damn chick film!" Ashleigh protested.
"If it stars a chick, it's a chick film," Nick said.
"Fine, but we aren't watching Blade," Ashleigh said.
"Hey! That movie kicks ass," AJ whined. The four were in AJ's home theatre trying to figure out a movie everyone could agree on.
"How about Where the Heart Is?" Ashleigh suggested.
"HELL NO!" AJ and Nick both shouted.
"Arugh, fine," Ashleigh said.
"How about Armageddon?" Nick asked.
"Oh yeah! Ben Afflick is so hot!" Ashleigh cheered.
"Forget that then," Nick said as Ashleigh hit his arm.
"Okay...can we all agree on The Perfect Storm?" AJ asked. Ashleigh and Nick nodded and they waited for Gwen.
"Baby?" AJ asked.
"Huh? Oh yeah, sure, whatever," Gwen said. AJ put in the DVD and dimmed the lights.
"No one is allowed to make out during this movie...except for myself and Gwen of course," AJ said, as Nick and Ashleigh burst out laughing. Gwen had been silent all night and AJ knew something was wrong. Once the movie started, he sat next to her and put his arm around her.
"Baby, are you sure nothing is wrong? You've been silent all night," AJ whispered. "Remember, you can tell me anything."
"Nothing is wrong," Gwen said, getting annoyed.
"Then why are you in a pissed off mood?" AJ asked.
"PMS!" Gwen shouted, getting up and leaving the theatre. Ashleigh looked at AJ and he got up and went after her. She went into the kitchen and poured herself a glass of water.
"I'm not buyin it," AJ said, appearing in the kitchen.
"Why the hell are you prying into my life?!" Gwen demanded. AJ was hurt by her tone of voice.
"Gwen...it's OUR life," he said. ''We ARE getting married...we need to trust each other.'' He looked at Gwen expecting her to confess what was bothering her but she was silent. The silence killed AJ as he waited for her to talk.
"I can't marry you AJ," Gwen whispered. AJ thought he had heard wrong.
"What?"
"I can't marry you! The wedding is off," Gwen shouted, running upstairs. Ashleigh and Nick soon appeared in the kitchen after hearing her scream.
''What happened?!" Ashleigh asked.
"I...I don't know," AJ said, as he ran up the stairs after her. He opened their bedroom door and walked in. She was in the closet throwing her clothes over her head as they landed all over the floor. She had an open suitcase on the bed and none of the flying clothes had made it in. AJ started picking up her clothes and went in the closet. He grabbed her hand and sat her down on their bed.
"Gwen...look at me," he said, tilting her head up. She had tears in her eyes. "Tell me what's going on."
Gwen couldn't look at him. She didn't want to hurt him and she didn't know how to tell him this.
"AJ...I can't have children," she said.
"What?" he asked.
"I found out today I carry a gene that enables me to have children," she sobbed. AJ held her as she cried into his shirt. She pulled away from him and turned her back to him. "I'm so sorry. I can't give you anything you want. You wanted to marry me and you wanted me to have our children...and I can't," she cried. AJ's heart melted. He couldn't stand seeing her so upset.
"Gwen, I love you...okay? Look at me. Nothing would stop me from marrying you, nothing," he said, holding her out in front of him.
"Why would you want to marry me when I can't even have children...now we can't have the family we dreamed of," Gwen cried even harder.
"I want to marry you because you are the love of my life. And now we can look into adoption. We can adopt children for our family. But whatever happens Gwen, I will never stop loving you," he said, looking into her eyes. He wiped her tears away and she stared out the window.
"I don't even feel like a woman...I've been dreaming about having children for my whole life and now I can't," she said, starting to sob again. AJ held her in his arms and rubbed her back.
"You are the most wonderful and amazing woman I know," AJ said. "You are going to be the best mother our kids will ever have.'' Gwen started calming down and she held onto AJ.
"I don't know how I can miss something I never had..." she said, wiping her tears away.
"Baby...next time tell me about this. You should have called me from the doctors office so we can both look into our options," AJ said, rubbing her cheek. She nodded. AJ felt his heart hurt for her. He couldn't stand to see her in so much pain. He knew it was going to be hard for her when all their friends were starting to have babies and families and she couldn't. He held her tighter. They heard the doorbell ring and Gwen got up to answer it but AJ pulled her back down.
"Ashleigh can get it," AJ said. He kissed her and wiped away her last tear.
"I'm so sorry AJ," Gwen whispered.
"No. It's not your fault honey, you have nothing to apologize for," AJ said.
"I love you," Gwen said.
"I love you too," AJ said, kissing her forehead. Gwen was so depressed but AJ's affection made her feel better. She didn't know how she could hold up when she would see all her friends get pregnant.
"Hello??" Brian said, coming upstairs. Gwen and AJ stood up and hugged again. AJ opened the door.
"B-Rok," AJ said, as they did their handshake.
"Hey Brian," Gwen said.
"Hey guys," Brian said, "I hope you don't mind us stopping by," Brian said as they walked downstairs.
"Not at all," Gwen said.
"We have some news that we wanted to tell you guys," Brian said. They were downstairs and saw Leighanne sitting on the couch with Ashleigh. Brian sat on the arm of the sofa and held Leighanne's hand.
"We're having a baby!" Leighanne shouted. Gwen gasped and AJ quickly grabbed her hand for support. Nick and Ashleigh screamed and got up to hug them. Gwen turned around to AJ so no one could see her tears
"It's okay...I'm here," AJ said. Gwen gathered herself and put on a smile.
"Congratulations!!" she said, hugging Leighanne.
"Thanks! We just found out today," Leighanne said.
"Congrats Dad," AJ said, patting Brian on the back.
"Well, I'm gonna go get a drink, excuse me," Gwen said. Once she was out of the room, all eyes were on AJ expecting an explanation for Gwen's weird mood.
"What?" AJ asked, shrugging. "She's thirsty."
