So here's the sequel to Old Flames Never Die, please read it first if you haven't yet or you'll be lost. Hope you all enjoy this one as much as you did the last!
As always PLEASE REVIEW!
Disclaimer: I own nothing and have no money. Be aware of possible language and/or smut in this story...you can't have sailors who speak like little old church ladies and well...the DC men are hot so there must be smut!
Back in Portsmith Kate was making the cabin she and Edgar had purhcased a home. It was near the local state forest not far from "their" waterfall and had a large, spring fed pond. Her stomach bug she contracted on their honeymoon had finally passed although it took almost a month to get over. The fleet had headed back to Alaska to prepare for the Opilio season and Edgar had called shortly after arriving in Dutch asking if she knew where his favorite flannel shirt was.
She giggled, "Oh, you mean that blue flannel that you're always wearing?"
"Yeah, the one you love to rip off my manly chest…"
"Oh, no, I don't see it at all…"
"You stole it didn't you?"
Kate laughed, "We're married, what's yours is mine…I traded you."
"You traded me? Where's my end of the bargain then?"
"Look in your black duffel."
Swiftly sorting through the contents of the duffel he quickly saw his trade, a pair of her black lace thongs. "I don't think this will keep me warm on deck…"
"Hmmm, guess you should keep them for some other use then…."
She hadn't heard from Edgar since the season opened which didn't really surprise her, he always had been all work on the boat, and being from a fishing family, she didn't expect anything different.
The Opilio season was going much the same way as the King crab season had. The crab were even more illusive than usual and the entire fleet was struggling to make their quotas. Between the low numbers and the horrible weather, this season was going to last to the very last day for most boats.
Mid February Kate woke to a raging headache and horrible stomach pains. She really hadn't felt herself since the honeymoon, but attributed most of it to missing Edgar. Robyn and Colin had convinced her to see a doctor so she had made an appointment but that wasn't for a few days yet. Calling them back she asked to be seen immediately. The office said they would fit her in and for her to be there at one after they came back from lunch. Kate stayed in bed and around eleven went to throw on some comfy clothes to head to the doctors office in. When she stood up she doubled over, the pain so intense that she nearly blacked out. She called Robyn who immediately drove her to the emergency room.
The doctor ran through a series of questions asking about changes in her diet, changes in her life, on and on. Robyn finally spoke up and said, "Did she tell you that she's been sick with a stomach virus since her honeymoon?"
"Really?" asked the Doctor looking through the history in his hand.
"It's nothing," said Kate dismissively, "just stress from the wedding and then my husband leaving for the crab season."
"Is there any chance you could be pregnant?" asked the doctor.
Robyn started to laugh but covered it with a fit of coughing. Kate blushed. The doctor glanced up at Robyn and said, "Perhaps you should wait outside, I'm going to ask your friend some pretty personal questions."
"No, no she's fine here," assured Kate.
"All right then. When was your last period?"
"Well, ummm. With the birth control implant I've been using I don't have one. But it should have been replaced back in September."
"You didn't replace it?"
"N-no. It was removed and my then fiancée and I decided for me not to go back on any birth control method so that my cycles could get back to normal. We are hoping to start trying to get pregnant when he gets back in mid April." Kate was starting to get concerned with where this conversation was headed.
The doctor busily wrote on her chart and then said, "Well, the first thing I'm going to do is order a pregnancy test then."
Kate looked up, uncertainty in her eyes, "But if I'm hurting like this and I'm pregnant, that's not a good thing is it?"
"Mrs. Hansen, I won't jump to conclusions, but no it's not. I'll be back after I've read the results from your tests."
Robyn reached over and squeezed Kate's hand, "Do you want me to call your Mom?"
"NO!" shouted Kate, "Sorry, no, I don't want to worry her."
After a series of tests and blood work the doctor came back in, his face was unreadable, "Well Mrs. Hansen…there's no easy way to say this"
"Just give it to me Dr. Smith," her heart filling with dread.
"Hon, I'm sorry to tell you but you were pregnant, but the pregnancy has been terminated."
Kate was floored, "WHAT? I didn't know, I didn't do…"
"Sometimes these things just happen and we don't know why. The stomach pains you've been having is your body ridding itself of the fetus," he patted her hand in sympathy. "The orderly will be along shortly to take you down and we'll take care of this. You can go home later this evening. Is there any one else you'd like to call?" He looked at her wedding band when he said it.
"N-no. My husband is a crabber. I doubt I'd reach the boat, he can't do anything anyways," Kate replied, her voice quavering.
"You should make an appointment with your gynecologist as soon as you can. We'll send these records over. I doubt this will affect your ability to get pregnant again, but I'd rather you consulted with them. Again I'm sorry."
The doctor left the room and Kate just stared at the wall, tears starting to well in her eyes. Robyn picked up her cell phone. "Who are you calling?" said Kate sharper than she really meant. Robyn didn't take offense and answered quietly, "Honey, I'm calling Colin to cancel our date tonight. You need someone to stay with you. And I know you aren't going to tell your parents."
Kate shook her head, "I can't, not yet. If I tell anyone, it'll get back to the boat and he doesn't need distractions right now."
"You will tell him though, won't you?"
"Of course, just not while he's out fishing. I want his mind on where he is not worrying himself sick over me."
Kate listened to Robyn's half of the conversation with Colin, she could tell by that that Colin was very concerned about her, and was demanding to know what was wrong. Robyn was hedging, trying to be as noncommittal as possible. Kate motioned at the phone and Robyn handed it to her.
"Hi Colin," she said quietly, " Listen, I don't want to talk about this right now, and I don't want Robyn announcing it here in the hospital. Come out to the cabin when you get finished shooting this evening and she'll tell you everything okay. Bye."
Later that night Colin knocked on the cabin door. He had raced there as soon as the filming was wrapped up for the evening. He looked at Robyn's red eyes and tear stained face and crushed her against him. He feared the worst, that Kate was seriously ill. "Robyn, tell me what the bloody hell is going on!"
"She was pregnant and lost the baby," whispered Robyn.
"What? She never told me…Did you know? Does Edgar?"
"No, she didn't know herself. That whole stomach bug was morning sickness at it's worst."
"How's Edgar taking the news?"
"He doesn't know, and she's not telling him or anyone but the two of us until he returns."
"I don't understand?"
"You can't. Colin, this is a small fishing town. If she tells anyone, her parents, his family, the neighbors...then he will find out by fleet gossip. News like that gets out fast. Crabbing is really dangerous, and she doesn't want his focus to be on anything except what it should be on."
"He has a right to know…"Colin said vehemently.
"He will, when he gets back. Right now he will only worry about her and be a danger to himself and his crew. He can't do anything anyways."
"He should be here for her!"
Kate was slowly making her way down the stairs when she overheard the conversation, "This is part of being a fisherman's wife," she said simply. Since returning home Kate had alternated between crying on the couch with Robyn or crying in her bedroom alone, Edgar's flannel shirt clutched to her body. She had not washed it or the pillowcase on his pillow and though his scent was still clinging lightly to those materials, it was fading fast.
Secrets such as this are hard to keep and even harder on the one who bears the knowledge. Kate slipped into a bit of depression worrying about her future as a mother. Time heals all things and after her gynecologist assured her that there was no lasting damage from the miscarriage and no reason why she wouldn't be able to conceive again, Kate's spirits began to lift though she was still very quiet and subdued. Enough so that June Hansen mentioned it to her husband when she was updating him on the weather outlook.
"Edgar hasn't mentioned anything to me, but he hasn't had a chance to call home since we left Dutch."
"Maybe he should. I've pried as much as I can without being overly nosy. She just smiles sadly and says she's fine."
"She probably just misses Ed. You of all people know what being a fisherman's wife is like."
Later that evening Sig pulled the crew off the deck as the weather took a severe turn for the worst. He called Edgar up to the wheelhouse telling him about his conversation with June.
Edgar looked slightly chagrined, "I know she know's what the life is like, but I should have called to check in with her."
"Don't be too hard on yourself. She has to learn. It'll be fine, it will just take time. Why don't you give her a call if you can get through the storm."
"Yeah, I think I will."
Many hours later the storm finally abated and Edgar was able to get a call to go through.
It was three in the morning when the phone rang in Portsmith. "'ello?" came the groggy answer.
"Hey sweetie, it's me."
Kate sat straight up in bed, "EDGAR! Are you coming home?"
"No, sorry, we're almost done though."
"Then why are you calling?"
"I can't call my wife?" he joked.
"No, you can, but you never call when you're fishing. What's wrong?"
"You tell me. June called Sig worried about you. Is everything okay?"
"Worried about me? Uh, yeah. Everything's fine. The painting and landscaping are done, bulbs are ready to for the spring bloom."
"You're sure?"
"Yes, I'm sure. I miss you. I think I'm going to get a dog to keep your side of the bed warm."
"You're replacing me with a dog?"
Kate laughed, her first true laugh in quite a while, "No way. You don't have fleas."
The static on the line started to build and they quickly said their goodbyes. Edgar sat in the captain's chair looking at the SAT phone. Kate's assurance that everything was all right had not convinced him. Knowing Robyn would be no help he called the next likely person to know what was going on.
"Wha' the fuck do you want?" an angry Irish voice yelled into the phone.
"Well hello to you too," said Edgar, taking no offense.
"Well. Why are you calling at this hour?" grumbled a half asleep Colin.
"I'm hoping you can solve a little mystery for me. See June called Sig worried about Kate. So I called Kate who says everything is fine. And I don't quite believe her."
"So you want me to rat."
"So something is wrong."
"No, everything is fine."
Edgar wasn't buying that. "But was something not fine that is fine now?"
"Look Edgar, Kate's fine, everything is fine."
"Dammit Colin. I want to know what's going on!"
"Edgar, I'm not going to betray Kate's confidence."
"So something is wrong."
"God help me. I'm blaming you if Kate tries to toast my ass. You remember her stomach bug?"
"Yeah."
"It got complicated. She's fine, there was no danger for her and she's 100% all right. She didn't want to worry you. She knew you wouldn't believe her no matter what she said and that you would be distracted and get hurt."
"She's really okay?"
"YES!"
"Promise me you'll call if anything goes wrong."
"Sure, next time the toilet clogs, I'll call."
"Thanks. And thanks for being there for her."
Edgar got off the phone. He had the nagging suspicion that there was more to the story than Colin was admitting but there was nothing he could do about it. This season couldn't end soon enough. He wanted to get home and get to the bottom of this mystery.
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