Part 91
Posted: Sun Nov 06, 2011 9:39 am
keepsmiling7: This situation is scary for all of them. The twins are old enough to know how difficult Liz’s pregnancy with them was. Even though the family is still finding its way back together, they’re rallying around Liz.
Lol, we’re glad that part didn’t post before RF went down too!
Earth2Mama: Andy’s finally showing some real progress. He just needed to see that she’s suffering too.
Hmm... well, we’ll have to wait and see.
The kids have their Aunt Tess with them so that’ll help. They’re going to be worried until Max comes home and can tell them what’s going on. He was scared to tell them the truth at that moment, not knowing if Liz was miscarrying.
Natalie36: That Andy/Maria moment was a long time in the making, but worth the wait.
Eva: No, sometimes they’re far from being a fairy tale. We’ll check in on Liz and the baby in this update.
Andy took a really big step in this last part! Lol, because men just cannot take a subtle signal for anything! We agree, he’s had it in him this whole time, it just needed something to bring it out.
mary mary: We’ll check in on Liz and the baby today to find out how they’re doing. Andy, he’s finally starting to really grow up.
Maiqu: Andy’s really made some progress with that scene, didn’t he? We’re pretty proud of him too.
Alien_Friend: A major step forward for Andy, right? His progress has been slow and he’s made more than one step back, but he’s finally showing some growth. We can’t wait to see Michael and Maria begin to explore their feelings either! For a couple of Candies, it‘s been a long ride to get them to this point, lol. Hopefully Andy will allow Michael back into his life in that capacity as well.
The boys really stepped up when they were needed.
killjoy: His progress has been slow, but we’re finally seeing it really come to life.
Lol, not say it out loud? But how will we know if you’re right if you don’t share with the rest of the class?
begonia9508: We’ll check in on Liz and the baby in this part.
You’re right, Andy did need to see that. He has to understand that he’s not the only one that lost something when his dad passed away. And he had to see that she also needs to start moving on with her life.
Part 91
Max was pacing back and forth outside the examining area when he saw the woman rushing towards him. “Linda, thank God you’re here!”
Linda smiled reassuringly at him as she looped a stethoscope around her neck. “Relax and take a few deep breaths, Max. From every report I’ve gotten so far everything looks fine. Gimme a few minutes with Liz and then I’ll call you in, okay?”
He felt his anxiety drop a couple of notches at her words and he nodded. As soon as they had arrived the staff had swarmed, taking Liz away to examine her and the baby. He hadn’t been able to be still, too worried about his wife and their unborn child. Tess had called to let him know she had arrived and that the kids were worried but otherwise okay. From the way she had phrased what little she had said he had determined that she knew about the pregnancy.
He jerked around when he heard his name and he hurried over to the curtained-off area where Liz was waiting. His heart started pounding all over again when he saw the monitors she was hooked up to. “What’s uh…” he motioned to the monitors that all seemed to be making different sounds. “What’s all this?”
“Everything’s okay, Max,” Liz said, holding her hand out to him.
His eyes sought Linda out as he moved closer to his wife to take her hand. “They’re okay?” he asked, squeezing her hand tightly.
“Mommy and baby are both fine, Max.” She leveled her gaze at Liz. “We talked about the stress factor, Liz.”
She averted her gaze momentarily. “I know. Things just… got out of hand.”
Linda turned to look at Max. “And you need to be doing everything possible to reduce her stress and make sure she’s eating right and getting plenty of rest.”
He bit his bottom lip. “What kinda risk are we lookin’ at?” he finally forced out. “Last time…” he swallowed hard.”
“Max, I know how terrifying this is for you. For both of you,” she elaborated with a glance at Liz, “but the worst thing you can do is focus on the past. Yes, Liz’s first pregnancy was difficult and we don’t have a reason for that, but things have changed a lot in the past 15 years. We’ll get through this, but we all need to work together to make sure Liz carries this baby to term. She’s in good physical condition; she’s healthy, she’s fit, and she’s active. I know things have been pretty difficult lately, but you’re gonna have to deal with it or shelf it for the sake of the baby.”
“You think she can safely carry to term?” Max asked quietly.
“I think we have a very good chance of that happening if we take the proper precautions and monitor both of them carefully. But we’re also gonna be relying heavily on your ability to make sure she’s taking it easy and keeping her stress to the bare minimum.
*****
Max rubbed his face tiredly when he walked into the house. It was after 9pm and there were still a ton of things for him to do before he could go to bed… alone.
“Daddy,” Kara shouted when she saw him.
He caught her up in his arms when she ran across the living room. “You’re still up?” Max asked with a little frown.
Tess sighed and placed the book aside that she had been reading to the little girl and got up from the couch to join them. “There was no way I could get her into bed after all the excitement, Max,” she told her brother and took Kara from him so he could take his jacket off.
“I already figured, don’t worry,” he said quietly. “Where’re my boys?”
“Upstairs. They cleaned up everything from the barbecue and then went to their rooms.”
Max nodded and went to the first step on the stairs. “Justin, Nick,” he called and surprisingly enough they heard him the very first time.
“How’s Mom?”
“Is she still in the hospital?”
“Can we call her?”
The boys stumbled down the stairs, asking questions without waiting for an answer.
“Mom’s fine, she just needs to take it easy.”
“So we can call her?” Justin repeated.
“No, it’s late and she needs her rest.” He motioned to the furniture. “Here, let’s have a seat and I’ll tell you what’s goin’ on.”
The fact that they settled down so quickly told him just how worried they were. As soon as he sat down Kara crawled up in his lap and leaned back against his chest.
“When’s Mommy comin’ home, Daddy?” she asked quietly.
“Maybe tomorrow, we’ll see what her doctor says.”
“Is she sick like we was?”
“No, baby girl.” He pressed a kiss to her head. “Mommy’s not sick.”
“Then how come she had to go to the doctor?”
“Yeah, Dad,” Nick agreed, “what’s goin’ on? Was it just stress or somethin’?”
“She’s been a bit stressed lately,” Justin thought aloud.
“It was partly… mainly the stress,” Max agreed, his hand drawing comforting circles on Kara’s back to calm her down. She wasn’t used to spending nights alone without Mommy in the house and it scared her.
“Partly,” Nick mused, before his father could say more. “What does that…”
“Your mom’s pregnant,” Max said, interrupting his son before any of them could go on with the speculations.
“Preg…” Justin started, but the rest of the word got stuck in his throat.
Nick stared at him, speechless as well. His mouth opened and closed a few times but not a single word escaped.
Kara wiggled around in her seat to look at him fully. “What’s that mean, Daddy?” The frown on her face couldn’t be bigger if she had tried.
He smirked at his daughter’s confused expression. “It means you’re getting a little brother or sister,” he said softly and looked up at his boys. “We’re gonna have a baby.”
Justin and Nick exchanged a glance of worry and Max knew all too well what they were thinking. The exact same thing he had been thinking when Liz had given him the news.
“Pregnant,” Nick murmured quietly. He and Justin were aware of their mom’s past difficulties and it was enough to scare them. “But…”
“I can be the big sister?” Kara asked, intrigued by the news.
Max nodded, unable to hold back the smile at her excitement. She wouldn’t understand the risks even if she knew about them. Her unbridled excitement was exactly what Liz should have gotten from him and as much as he wanted to let those emotions loose he knew what the first pregnancy had nearly cost them. The knowledge that he faced the possibility of losing her, and possibly their unborn child, wasn’t something he had been ready for.
“Is it…” Justin swallowed hard. “Is it gonna be like it was with us?” he asked, motioning between him and his brother.
“Mom’s doctor thinks there’s a very good chance that things will go much smoother with this pregnancy.
“But there’s no guarantee, is there?” Nick asked and the others could easily pinpoint the edge of anger in his voice.
“No, there’s no guarantee,” Max agreed. “There never is with something like this.”
“What’s that mean?” Kara looked at them, confused.
“Just that Mom’s gonna need to rest more in the future.”
“We tan make her brefkast,” the little girl started excitedly. “And we tan clean up our rooms all alone.”
“Was it planned?” Nick asked and earned a bump from his brother. He couldn’t help but worry about what this meant for all of them.
“No, it wasn’t,” Max admitted. “But that doesn’t change anything.” He sighed and rubbed his face tiredly. “Alright, you guys have school tomorrow so you need to get to bed.”
“What about Mommy?” Kara tipped her head back to look up at him.
“Mommy’s gotta stay at the hospital tonight so her doctor can keep an eye on her and the baby.”
“Oh.”
“C’mon, baby girl,” Justin said when his brother elbowed him. “Let’s go get ready for bed.”
“Otay.”
Max flopped back against the cushions once the kids had said their goodnights to their aunt and he could hear them moving around upstairs.
“You okay?” she asked, her voice low.
“Fine.” He sighed and turned his head to look at her. “I never expected to be here again. We have three great kids and I’m happy with that.”
“Are you happy about the baby?”
“You know, when we got married we planned to have a big family, but… the pregnancy was dangerous and putting her through it again…” he shook his head. “It just wasn’t worth it. I’d be happy to adopt half a dozen kids if it’d save her from ever going through this again.” He swallowed hard. “Losin’ her isn’t worth the risk.”
“Her doctor sounded pretty confident things would be better this time though, right?”
He nodded. “Yeah, Linda seems to think if we keep the stress to a minimum and make sure she’s getting the rest she needs we’ve got a good chance of seein’ the pregnancy to term.” He rubbed his hands over his face. “I should’ve thrown Mom an’ Dad outta here Friday night when they just showed up unannounced.”
“Max, neither of us has ever really just told them off and they’ve been even more insufferable since Drew died.”
He smiled tiredly. “Kyle didn’t seem to have any problem tellin’ them a thing or two.”
She rolled her eyes. “I haven’t had a chance to really talk to him about that yet.” She rubbed her hand over the arm of the chair she was sitting in. “He shouldn’t have done that.”
“Why?”
“Because if someone was gonna tell them off it should’ve been me. It’s not his fight.” She frowned at her brother when he just smirked at her. “What?”
“He loves you, Sis. He knows it’s your fight but the point is you don’t have to do it all on your own anymore. You can’t really ask him to sit back and keep his mouth shut when he sees you bein’ hurt.”
“It’s my business, not his,” she insisted stubbornly.
“And if the situation was turned around? Would you be able to just sit there and watch him bein’ hurt and still keep your mouth shut?” He shook his head as he got to his feet. “Don’t get on his ass about it, Tess. He’s not wrong for standin’ up for you. I know you like to fight your own battles but there are times when it’s okay to let someone else do it for you. I can’t tell you how many times Liz has nearly bitten her tongue off to keep from tellin’ them off since Drew died.”
“Kyle should’ve showed some of that restraint tonight.”
He chuckled quietly. “Let the man off the hook. He only did it because he loves you and seein’ you bein’ hurt isn’t somethin’ he’s gonna tolerate. That’s a good thing and it doesn’t take anything from you.”
“Well, I’ll think about it.”
“Where is he anyway? I’m surprised he’s not here with you.”
“I told him I needed some space after everything that happened earlier so he went over to his parents’ place to watch a game with his dad.”
“Go home and call that man of yours, Tess. Don’t put distance between you. The guy’s heart was in the right place.”
“Are you gonna be alright?” she asked, making no promises one way or the other.
“I’ll be fine. I’ve gotta make sure the boys are in bed and tuck Kara in, and then I think I’m gonna call it a night. I’m beat and I’ve gotta be at the hospital after I drop the kids off at school in the mornin’.” Not that he thought he would get much sleep but she didn’t need to know that. He wandered around the house after she left, his mind going over everything that had happened that day.
He looked down when Lucky appeared beside him as he turned the lights out and headed for the stairs. The dog turned back to look at the front door before looking up at him again. “She’ll be home tomorrow, boy. C’mon, it’s past time for bed.”
He checked in on the boys and left Lucky lying on the floor between their beds before going down the hall to check on Kara. He frowned when he didn’t find her in her bed and he turned to go to his own room, knowing that’s where she would be. He smiled when he opened the door to the master bedroom and saw her curled up on Liz’s side of the bed. He sat down on his side and leaned over to check on her, seeing that she was asleep.
He leaned back against the pillows and took his watch off, placing it on his nightstand and sighing tiredly. Another baby, he thought with a look at his daughter. He knew how badly Liz wanted the baby. She had always wanted another baby and it had hurt him to refuse her when she had tried to convince him they should try again when the boys were four years old. As badly as he had wanted to give in he hadn’t remained steadfast because he wasn’t willing to risk losing her.
The pregnancy was unexpected and he could see how badly she wanted this baby. He was scared to want it too badly. Linda was confident the baby could be carried to term but no matter how much he wanted to he couldn’t forget what Liz had gone through the first time. He had nearly lost all three of them and even after the birth and Liz had been stabilized things had been touch and go with the twins. He could still remember how tiny they had been. The first time he had been able to touch them in their incubator he had been terrified because they were so small. His hand had seemed ridiculously large next to their little bodies and his heart had nearly stopped in his chest when Nick had fumbled blindly before latching onto his finger.
He swallowed hard at the memory. It had been an uphill battle with the twins and he didn’t regret what they had been through with them, but was he prepared to go through that again if this pregnancy went as badly as the last had gone? He rubbed his eyes tiredly and slid down a bit in bed. Liz needed him to be with her all the way and somehow, some way, he had to make peace with his demons.
*****
Andy was crouched down in front of his locker after school, digging around for his history textbook that was shoved somewhere in the bottom under everything else when someone leaned against the next locker over. He rolled his eyes when the person bumped his locker door and when they did it again he huffed in irritation. The third time he shot to his feet to glare at the person, the angry words dying on his tongue when he saw the teasing grin on Sam’s face.
“Thought you were gonna do somethin’ about that temper of yours?” she asked, her gray eyes dancing with amusement.
He shrugged with a grin. “What? Did I say a single word?”
She reached up and poked her finger in the center of his chest. “You were about to and you can deny it all you want but we both know it’s true.” She motioned to the mess in his locker. “What’re you lookin’ for?”
“Stupid history book.”
She made a face. “Why don’t you just get organizers like I’ve got in my locker?”
He snorted. “’Cause then my locker would look like a girl’s locker with all those little shelves an’ dividers an’ crap.” Her locker was so neat and organized it was scary. He rolled his eyes as he went back to digging, jerking the heavy textbook out a couple of minutes later.
“Yeah, this’s so much more efficient,” she mocked when he stood up again, shoving several things back inside and then slamming the door shut before they could fall out again.
“This has nothing to do with efficiency,” he told her. “It’s all about being a guy, so you wouldn’t understand,” he teased.
“Uh-huh, well, I still think you’re a slob, but,” she shrugged. “I guess I’ll learn to live with it.”
He grinned when he heard several things slamming against the locker door from inside, announcing a disaster when he opened it next time. “Remind me to ask Nick to get something outta my locker next time I need to get in there.”
“You’re so wrong for that,” she laughed and shoved him before taking his hand. “C’mon, what’re you doin’ this afternoon?”
“I should probably go home. My mom’s there all alone since everyone was busy and she’s waitin’ for some company to finally bring the new and as she says ‘much better’ kitchen.”
“Sounds like lots of fun.”
“You wanna come?”
“Well... I could.” She leaned against his side and glanced up at him. “Have you talked to your mom about things?”
He frowned. “What’s one thing got to do with the other?”
“I just wanna know if you’ve talked to her.”
He let go of her hands and hooked his arm around her shoulder instead. “I did.”
“Yeah?” She settled more comfortably against him as her arm slid around his waist and she was tempted to stick her tongue out at Gina when they passed her and Andy didn’t even notice her.
He dropped a kiss against the side of her head. “Yeah. It was about time.”
“Well?” she demanded when he dropped the subject there. “What’d you tell her?”
He shrugged. “Pretty much that she should follow her feelings.”
“Really?” Her backpack slipped off of her shoulder and hit the floor when she turned and threw her arms around him. “Andy, I’m so proud of you!”
He reacted quickly and caught her in his arms. “Uh-huh.”
“No, I’m serious!” she exclaimed, tipping her head back and reaching up to frame his face in her hands. “That was such a big step for you and it’s really important!”
He had to admit that he felt much better since then and Mom had been in a really good mood this morning. It was good to see her with a smile, even if it meant he would have to deal with seeing her with a man other than his father.
“You look really happy, Andy.”
He smirked. “Just because all my girls are happy now.”
“All your girls,” she snorted and leaned down to pick her backpack up. “So, what about Mr. G? Are you gonna talk to him and apologize?”
He made a face. “That’s still on my to-do list, yeah.”
“Good.” She slipped back into her former position as they resumed their walk through the hall and just a few seconds later they were stepping out into the late afternoon sunlight.
“So you didn’t answer my former question?”
She frowned, thinking. “Oh, about coming over to your house?”
“Yeah.”
“Sure.” She glanced to her right when movement caught her attention and she watched as the counselor they had just been talking about got between two of the their classmates who played on different teams squared off across the quad. “Or maybe this’s your chance to go talk to Mr. G,” she said as the man sent the boys off after breaking up their disagreement and continued on his way to the faculty parking lot.
“Not wasting any time, huh?” he grumbled.
“Well... why waste it? The sooner it’s over with the sooner you can focus on me,” she said with a cheeky grin.
He smirked and leaned in to kiss her. “Interesting. And what’re ya gonna do with me when ya got all my focus on you?”
She shivered from the combination of the affect of that smirk coupled with his kiss. “I guess we’ll find out, won’t we?” she asked with a smile.
Damn, he felt his body reacting to her teasing and had to shake his head to clear it. “Wait for me?”
“You think your talk with him’s gonna be that quick?”
He made a face. “Fine, just leave me alone.”
She grabbed a handful of his tee shirt when he stepped back, pulling him close again. “I didn’t say that,” she said, shaking her head at him. “I’d wait all night for you if you asked me to.”
“How about you go get us a package of those donuts from the shop around the corner and I’ll talk to him. Then I’ll meet up with you and we’ll go to my house? Bet my mom hasn’t eaten much all day.”
Sam smiled and leaned in to kiss him. “I think that sounds like a good idea.”
Lol, we’re glad that part didn’t post before RF went down too!
Earth2Mama: Andy’s finally showing some real progress. He just needed to see that she’s suffering too.
Hmm... well, we’ll have to wait and see.
The kids have their Aunt Tess with them so that’ll help. They’re going to be worried until Max comes home and can tell them what’s going on. He was scared to tell them the truth at that moment, not knowing if Liz was miscarrying.
Natalie36: That Andy/Maria moment was a long time in the making, but worth the wait.
Eva: No, sometimes they’re far from being a fairy tale. We’ll check in on Liz and the baby in this update.
Andy took a really big step in this last part! Lol, because men just cannot take a subtle signal for anything! We agree, he’s had it in him this whole time, it just needed something to bring it out.
mary mary: We’ll check in on Liz and the baby today to find out how they’re doing. Andy, he’s finally starting to really grow up.
Maiqu: Andy’s really made some progress with that scene, didn’t he? We’re pretty proud of him too.
Alien_Friend: A major step forward for Andy, right? His progress has been slow and he’s made more than one step back, but he’s finally showing some growth. We can’t wait to see Michael and Maria begin to explore their feelings either! For a couple of Candies, it‘s been a long ride to get them to this point, lol. Hopefully Andy will allow Michael back into his life in that capacity as well.
The boys really stepped up when they were needed.
killjoy: His progress has been slow, but we’re finally seeing it really come to life.
Lol, not say it out loud? But how will we know if you’re right if you don’t share with the rest of the class?
begonia9508: We’ll check in on Liz and the baby in this part.
You’re right, Andy did need to see that. He has to understand that he’s not the only one that lost something when his dad passed away. And he had to see that she also needs to start moving on with her life.
Part 91
Max was pacing back and forth outside the examining area when he saw the woman rushing towards him. “Linda, thank God you’re here!”
Linda smiled reassuringly at him as she looped a stethoscope around her neck. “Relax and take a few deep breaths, Max. From every report I’ve gotten so far everything looks fine. Gimme a few minutes with Liz and then I’ll call you in, okay?”
He felt his anxiety drop a couple of notches at her words and he nodded. As soon as they had arrived the staff had swarmed, taking Liz away to examine her and the baby. He hadn’t been able to be still, too worried about his wife and their unborn child. Tess had called to let him know she had arrived and that the kids were worried but otherwise okay. From the way she had phrased what little she had said he had determined that she knew about the pregnancy.
He jerked around when he heard his name and he hurried over to the curtained-off area where Liz was waiting. His heart started pounding all over again when he saw the monitors she was hooked up to. “What’s uh…” he motioned to the monitors that all seemed to be making different sounds. “What’s all this?”
“Everything’s okay, Max,” Liz said, holding her hand out to him.
His eyes sought Linda out as he moved closer to his wife to take her hand. “They’re okay?” he asked, squeezing her hand tightly.
“Mommy and baby are both fine, Max.” She leveled her gaze at Liz. “We talked about the stress factor, Liz.”
She averted her gaze momentarily. “I know. Things just… got out of hand.”
Linda turned to look at Max. “And you need to be doing everything possible to reduce her stress and make sure she’s eating right and getting plenty of rest.”
He bit his bottom lip. “What kinda risk are we lookin’ at?” he finally forced out. “Last time…” he swallowed hard.”
“Max, I know how terrifying this is for you. For both of you,” she elaborated with a glance at Liz, “but the worst thing you can do is focus on the past. Yes, Liz’s first pregnancy was difficult and we don’t have a reason for that, but things have changed a lot in the past 15 years. We’ll get through this, but we all need to work together to make sure Liz carries this baby to term. She’s in good physical condition; she’s healthy, she’s fit, and she’s active. I know things have been pretty difficult lately, but you’re gonna have to deal with it or shelf it for the sake of the baby.”
“You think she can safely carry to term?” Max asked quietly.
“I think we have a very good chance of that happening if we take the proper precautions and monitor both of them carefully. But we’re also gonna be relying heavily on your ability to make sure she’s taking it easy and keeping her stress to the bare minimum.
*****
Max rubbed his face tiredly when he walked into the house. It was after 9pm and there were still a ton of things for him to do before he could go to bed… alone.
“Daddy,” Kara shouted when she saw him.
He caught her up in his arms when she ran across the living room. “You’re still up?” Max asked with a little frown.
Tess sighed and placed the book aside that she had been reading to the little girl and got up from the couch to join them. “There was no way I could get her into bed after all the excitement, Max,” she told her brother and took Kara from him so he could take his jacket off.
“I already figured, don’t worry,” he said quietly. “Where’re my boys?”
“Upstairs. They cleaned up everything from the barbecue and then went to their rooms.”
Max nodded and went to the first step on the stairs. “Justin, Nick,” he called and surprisingly enough they heard him the very first time.
“How’s Mom?”
“Is she still in the hospital?”
“Can we call her?”
The boys stumbled down the stairs, asking questions without waiting for an answer.
“Mom’s fine, she just needs to take it easy.”
“So we can call her?” Justin repeated.
“No, it’s late and she needs her rest.” He motioned to the furniture. “Here, let’s have a seat and I’ll tell you what’s goin’ on.”
The fact that they settled down so quickly told him just how worried they were. As soon as he sat down Kara crawled up in his lap and leaned back against his chest.
“When’s Mommy comin’ home, Daddy?” she asked quietly.
“Maybe tomorrow, we’ll see what her doctor says.”
“Is she sick like we was?”
“No, baby girl.” He pressed a kiss to her head. “Mommy’s not sick.”
“Then how come she had to go to the doctor?”
“Yeah, Dad,” Nick agreed, “what’s goin’ on? Was it just stress or somethin’?”
“She’s been a bit stressed lately,” Justin thought aloud.
“It was partly… mainly the stress,” Max agreed, his hand drawing comforting circles on Kara’s back to calm her down. She wasn’t used to spending nights alone without Mommy in the house and it scared her.
“Partly,” Nick mused, before his father could say more. “What does that…”
“Your mom’s pregnant,” Max said, interrupting his son before any of them could go on with the speculations.
“Preg…” Justin started, but the rest of the word got stuck in his throat.
Nick stared at him, speechless as well. His mouth opened and closed a few times but not a single word escaped.
Kara wiggled around in her seat to look at him fully. “What’s that mean, Daddy?” The frown on her face couldn’t be bigger if she had tried.
He smirked at his daughter’s confused expression. “It means you’re getting a little brother or sister,” he said softly and looked up at his boys. “We’re gonna have a baby.”
Justin and Nick exchanged a glance of worry and Max knew all too well what they were thinking. The exact same thing he had been thinking when Liz had given him the news.
“Pregnant,” Nick murmured quietly. He and Justin were aware of their mom’s past difficulties and it was enough to scare them. “But…”
“I can be the big sister?” Kara asked, intrigued by the news.
Max nodded, unable to hold back the smile at her excitement. She wouldn’t understand the risks even if she knew about them. Her unbridled excitement was exactly what Liz should have gotten from him and as much as he wanted to let those emotions loose he knew what the first pregnancy had nearly cost them. The knowledge that he faced the possibility of losing her, and possibly their unborn child, wasn’t something he had been ready for.
“Is it…” Justin swallowed hard. “Is it gonna be like it was with us?” he asked, motioning between him and his brother.
“Mom’s doctor thinks there’s a very good chance that things will go much smoother with this pregnancy.
“But there’s no guarantee, is there?” Nick asked and the others could easily pinpoint the edge of anger in his voice.
“No, there’s no guarantee,” Max agreed. “There never is with something like this.”
“What’s that mean?” Kara looked at them, confused.
“Just that Mom’s gonna need to rest more in the future.”
“We tan make her brefkast,” the little girl started excitedly. “And we tan clean up our rooms all alone.”
“Was it planned?” Nick asked and earned a bump from his brother. He couldn’t help but worry about what this meant for all of them.
“No, it wasn’t,” Max admitted. “But that doesn’t change anything.” He sighed and rubbed his face tiredly. “Alright, you guys have school tomorrow so you need to get to bed.”
“What about Mommy?” Kara tipped her head back to look up at him.
“Mommy’s gotta stay at the hospital tonight so her doctor can keep an eye on her and the baby.”
“Oh.”
“C’mon, baby girl,” Justin said when his brother elbowed him. “Let’s go get ready for bed.”
“Otay.”
Max flopped back against the cushions once the kids had said their goodnights to their aunt and he could hear them moving around upstairs.
“You okay?” she asked, her voice low.
“Fine.” He sighed and turned his head to look at her. “I never expected to be here again. We have three great kids and I’m happy with that.”
“Are you happy about the baby?”
“You know, when we got married we planned to have a big family, but… the pregnancy was dangerous and putting her through it again…” he shook his head. “It just wasn’t worth it. I’d be happy to adopt half a dozen kids if it’d save her from ever going through this again.” He swallowed hard. “Losin’ her isn’t worth the risk.”
“Her doctor sounded pretty confident things would be better this time though, right?”
He nodded. “Yeah, Linda seems to think if we keep the stress to a minimum and make sure she’s getting the rest she needs we’ve got a good chance of seein’ the pregnancy to term.” He rubbed his hands over his face. “I should’ve thrown Mom an’ Dad outta here Friday night when they just showed up unannounced.”
“Max, neither of us has ever really just told them off and they’ve been even more insufferable since Drew died.”
He smiled tiredly. “Kyle didn’t seem to have any problem tellin’ them a thing or two.”
She rolled her eyes. “I haven’t had a chance to really talk to him about that yet.” She rubbed her hand over the arm of the chair she was sitting in. “He shouldn’t have done that.”
“Why?”
“Because if someone was gonna tell them off it should’ve been me. It’s not his fight.” She frowned at her brother when he just smirked at her. “What?”
“He loves you, Sis. He knows it’s your fight but the point is you don’t have to do it all on your own anymore. You can’t really ask him to sit back and keep his mouth shut when he sees you bein’ hurt.”
“It’s my business, not his,” she insisted stubbornly.
“And if the situation was turned around? Would you be able to just sit there and watch him bein’ hurt and still keep your mouth shut?” He shook his head as he got to his feet. “Don’t get on his ass about it, Tess. He’s not wrong for standin’ up for you. I know you like to fight your own battles but there are times when it’s okay to let someone else do it for you. I can’t tell you how many times Liz has nearly bitten her tongue off to keep from tellin’ them off since Drew died.”
“Kyle should’ve showed some of that restraint tonight.”
He chuckled quietly. “Let the man off the hook. He only did it because he loves you and seein’ you bein’ hurt isn’t somethin’ he’s gonna tolerate. That’s a good thing and it doesn’t take anything from you.”
“Well, I’ll think about it.”
“Where is he anyway? I’m surprised he’s not here with you.”
“I told him I needed some space after everything that happened earlier so he went over to his parents’ place to watch a game with his dad.”
“Go home and call that man of yours, Tess. Don’t put distance between you. The guy’s heart was in the right place.”
“Are you gonna be alright?” she asked, making no promises one way or the other.
“I’ll be fine. I’ve gotta make sure the boys are in bed and tuck Kara in, and then I think I’m gonna call it a night. I’m beat and I’ve gotta be at the hospital after I drop the kids off at school in the mornin’.” Not that he thought he would get much sleep but she didn’t need to know that. He wandered around the house after she left, his mind going over everything that had happened that day.
He looked down when Lucky appeared beside him as he turned the lights out and headed for the stairs. The dog turned back to look at the front door before looking up at him again. “She’ll be home tomorrow, boy. C’mon, it’s past time for bed.”
He checked in on the boys and left Lucky lying on the floor between their beds before going down the hall to check on Kara. He frowned when he didn’t find her in her bed and he turned to go to his own room, knowing that’s where she would be. He smiled when he opened the door to the master bedroom and saw her curled up on Liz’s side of the bed. He sat down on his side and leaned over to check on her, seeing that she was asleep.
He leaned back against the pillows and took his watch off, placing it on his nightstand and sighing tiredly. Another baby, he thought with a look at his daughter. He knew how badly Liz wanted the baby. She had always wanted another baby and it had hurt him to refuse her when she had tried to convince him they should try again when the boys were four years old. As badly as he had wanted to give in he hadn’t remained steadfast because he wasn’t willing to risk losing her.
The pregnancy was unexpected and he could see how badly she wanted this baby. He was scared to want it too badly. Linda was confident the baby could be carried to term but no matter how much he wanted to he couldn’t forget what Liz had gone through the first time. He had nearly lost all three of them and even after the birth and Liz had been stabilized things had been touch and go with the twins. He could still remember how tiny they had been. The first time he had been able to touch them in their incubator he had been terrified because they were so small. His hand had seemed ridiculously large next to their little bodies and his heart had nearly stopped in his chest when Nick had fumbled blindly before latching onto his finger.
He swallowed hard at the memory. It had been an uphill battle with the twins and he didn’t regret what they had been through with them, but was he prepared to go through that again if this pregnancy went as badly as the last had gone? He rubbed his eyes tiredly and slid down a bit in bed. Liz needed him to be with her all the way and somehow, some way, he had to make peace with his demons.
*****
Andy was crouched down in front of his locker after school, digging around for his history textbook that was shoved somewhere in the bottom under everything else when someone leaned against the next locker over. He rolled his eyes when the person bumped his locker door and when they did it again he huffed in irritation. The third time he shot to his feet to glare at the person, the angry words dying on his tongue when he saw the teasing grin on Sam’s face.
“Thought you were gonna do somethin’ about that temper of yours?” she asked, her gray eyes dancing with amusement.
He shrugged with a grin. “What? Did I say a single word?”
She reached up and poked her finger in the center of his chest. “You were about to and you can deny it all you want but we both know it’s true.” She motioned to the mess in his locker. “What’re you lookin’ for?”
“Stupid history book.”
She made a face. “Why don’t you just get organizers like I’ve got in my locker?”
He snorted. “’Cause then my locker would look like a girl’s locker with all those little shelves an’ dividers an’ crap.” Her locker was so neat and organized it was scary. He rolled his eyes as he went back to digging, jerking the heavy textbook out a couple of minutes later.
“Yeah, this’s so much more efficient,” she mocked when he stood up again, shoving several things back inside and then slamming the door shut before they could fall out again.
“This has nothing to do with efficiency,” he told her. “It’s all about being a guy, so you wouldn’t understand,” he teased.
“Uh-huh, well, I still think you’re a slob, but,” she shrugged. “I guess I’ll learn to live with it.”
He grinned when he heard several things slamming against the locker door from inside, announcing a disaster when he opened it next time. “Remind me to ask Nick to get something outta my locker next time I need to get in there.”
“You’re so wrong for that,” she laughed and shoved him before taking his hand. “C’mon, what’re you doin’ this afternoon?”
“I should probably go home. My mom’s there all alone since everyone was busy and she’s waitin’ for some company to finally bring the new and as she says ‘much better’ kitchen.”
“Sounds like lots of fun.”
“You wanna come?”
“Well... I could.” She leaned against his side and glanced up at him. “Have you talked to your mom about things?”
He frowned. “What’s one thing got to do with the other?”
“I just wanna know if you’ve talked to her.”
He let go of her hands and hooked his arm around her shoulder instead. “I did.”
“Yeah?” She settled more comfortably against him as her arm slid around his waist and she was tempted to stick her tongue out at Gina when they passed her and Andy didn’t even notice her.
He dropped a kiss against the side of her head. “Yeah. It was about time.”
“Well?” she demanded when he dropped the subject there. “What’d you tell her?”
He shrugged. “Pretty much that she should follow her feelings.”
“Really?” Her backpack slipped off of her shoulder and hit the floor when she turned and threw her arms around him. “Andy, I’m so proud of you!”
He reacted quickly and caught her in his arms. “Uh-huh.”
“No, I’m serious!” she exclaimed, tipping her head back and reaching up to frame his face in her hands. “That was such a big step for you and it’s really important!”
He had to admit that he felt much better since then and Mom had been in a really good mood this morning. It was good to see her with a smile, even if it meant he would have to deal with seeing her with a man other than his father.
“You look really happy, Andy.”
He smirked. “Just because all my girls are happy now.”
“All your girls,” she snorted and leaned down to pick her backpack up. “So, what about Mr. G? Are you gonna talk to him and apologize?”
He made a face. “That’s still on my to-do list, yeah.”
“Good.” She slipped back into her former position as they resumed their walk through the hall and just a few seconds later they were stepping out into the late afternoon sunlight.
“So you didn’t answer my former question?”
She frowned, thinking. “Oh, about coming over to your house?”
“Yeah.”
“Sure.” She glanced to her right when movement caught her attention and she watched as the counselor they had just been talking about got between two of the their classmates who played on different teams squared off across the quad. “Or maybe this’s your chance to go talk to Mr. G,” she said as the man sent the boys off after breaking up their disagreement and continued on his way to the faculty parking lot.
“Not wasting any time, huh?” he grumbled.
“Well... why waste it? The sooner it’s over with the sooner you can focus on me,” she said with a cheeky grin.
He smirked and leaned in to kiss her. “Interesting. And what’re ya gonna do with me when ya got all my focus on you?”
She shivered from the combination of the affect of that smirk coupled with his kiss. “I guess we’ll find out, won’t we?” she asked with a smile.
Damn, he felt his body reacting to her teasing and had to shake his head to clear it. “Wait for me?”
“You think your talk with him’s gonna be that quick?”
He made a face. “Fine, just leave me alone.”
She grabbed a handful of his tee shirt when he stepped back, pulling him close again. “I didn’t say that,” she said, shaking her head at him. “I’d wait all night for you if you asked me to.”
“How about you go get us a package of those donuts from the shop around the corner and I’ll talk to him. Then I’ll meet up with you and we’ll go to my house? Bet my mom hasn’t eaten much all day.”
Sam smiled and leaned in to kiss him. “I think that sounds like a good idea.”