Title: Lucky In More Ways Than One
Author: Elane
Summary: Some St. Patrick's Day luck is hoped by the expecting couple in a time of need.
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: I own no one...
Pairings: Stephanie/Jericho, Lita, Molly, Jacqueline
Note: Apart of the Holiday Fic series— Costume Party Surprises; Turkey, Stuffing, and Giving Thanks; A Christmas Miracle; A New Year's Celebration; and Valentine's Day Love.
"I didn't think you would be here this fast," Stephanie said as she opened the front door. She let Jericho walk through and closed the door behind him.
Jericho breathed in and out heavily and sweat covered his body. He was dressed in a black pair of shorts and a white muscle shirt with black and white athletic sneakers on his feet. In one hand he had a hockey stick, while other had a duffle bag full of his hockey gear and clothes. A pair of ice stakes was settled over his right shoulder.
"I rushed here... what's wrong? Are you having pains, contractions? Are you going into labor?" He dropped his things on the floor next to their couch.
Stephanie smiled and sat down next to him. She leaned on him and sighed contently as he wrapped his arms around her shoulders. "Nope, nothing's wrong."
Chuckling, Jericho nodded. He understood her real reason for calling him early from a hockey game. "Bored, huh?" He slowly moved his hand to cover engorged stomach. Patting it lightly, he said hello to the baby.
Then he moved his hands to her back and lightly massaged it. She has been having backaches in the last two days and usually he would massage it to rid her of the aches and pains.
She laughed in agreement. "So you got me... that's part of the reason." Stephanie stood from the couch causing Jericho's hands to stop the massaging. She made her way to the kitchen. Heading for the refrigerator, she giggled as Jericho, who followed her, wrapped her arms tightly around her as far as they could go.
"And what is this other reason?" he mumbled as he lips slowly went to her throat. He lightly placed kisses up and down it as she opened then refrigerator and looked around for something to eat.
Finding some left over enchiladas and potato salad from yesterday's dinner, Stephanie quickly grabbed a small plate. After she put some of the enchiladas on the plate, she headed towards the microwave taking the bowl of potato salad with her.
Jericho pulled away from her then and went to the cupboard. He found a glass and filled it with water, then went to the kitchen table. As he sat down, he joined Stephanie who was already eating her hot enchiladas with a side of potato salad. "Worried? Scared?"
Stephanie slowed her eating and looked at her husband. She nodded slowly. "Both," she said. Her mouth was half full of enchiladas and potato salad.
"I'm more scared than worried," he answered as he swallowed some water. "All I want is a healthy baby boy."
Eating more enchiladas, Stephanie eyed her husband wearily as she chewed her food. "Great, just what I need, two Jerichos. I want a little girl... we don't know for sure anyways. The doctor said that the baby looked like a boy. He could still be a 'she.'"
He finished the water and stood from his chair. Jericho walked to the sink and put the glass in. "True, but the doctor said that there's a twenty percent chance that she's wrong. And Steph, you know I want a boy... a son, I can teach hockey and wrestling to."
Stephanie finished her food and raised an eyebrow. "You can teach a girl that too..."
Jericho opened his mouth to reply back in a snippy manner, but stopped before he would say anything he regrets. "All I want is a healthy baby."
She also stood from her seat and put her plate in the sink. "Me too..."
He noticed that her spirit seem to getting down a bit lately, and he was a bit worried about it. "So, why did you call me home?" Jericho asked. She never answered the first time he asked and needed to know.
Shrugging her shoulders she looked at the calendar that was located there in the kitchen. They used it as a family calendar of sorts, letting the other know when something was scheduled on a certain date. "I'm just scared that you won't be here when I go into labor."
Jericho looked over Stephanie's shoulder at the calendar and realized what today was. It signaled two important things this year. "I can't believe I forgot. I'm so sorry Stephanie."
"I figured you did, but the doctor said that not many babies are born on their due dates, like only six percent or something," Stephanie said. She turned around to face him.
"Due date?" he questioned. "I was talking about St. Patrick's Day... green beer, leprechauns, pots of gold, good luck..."
She rolled her eyes and walked out of the kitchen. As she headed towards their bedroom, she shouted, "I hope you are just playing!"
Jericho chuckled and followed her to their bedroom. He stopped just outside their door and watched her. She was sitting down on their king size bed, slightly hunched over. Her hands were on her back, trying to rub the constant pain away. "Does your back still hurt?" he asked. Jericho walked into the bedroom, and sat on the bed behind her.
He moved her hands away. Pulling off her shirt and unsnapping her bra, Jericho's hands went to her back and lightly applied pressure. He moved his hands in circles everywhere he touched. "Maybe we should call the doctor..."
Stephanie nodded her head no. "I think it's all the weight I have been putting on," she said in between the moans of pleasure.
"Well," Jericho said with a smile, "Mexican food and potato salad is fattening. I told you not to eat it that much."
She chuckled. When the doctor told her told her that she might have strange food cravings throughout her pregnancy... she didn't think it would be Mexican food and potato salad. Stephanie ate everything from tacos to gazpacho to pollo asado to flan, all with a side of potato salad. Taco Bell, Taco Cabana, and any other Mexican food style restaurant were her best friends. She even perfected Lita's recipe of Mexican style ceviche.
"It is..."
"I know," Stephanie interrupted, "I can't help it though." She pulled away from him and scrunched her nose together. "Um, baby, not to be so rude or anything... but you stink! Please go take a shower."
Jericho snickered and got off the bed. "I was wondering when you were going to say something..." He went to their dresser and pulled out clothes as he headed to the bathroom.
When the door closed behind him, Stephanie slipped her shirt back on. She picked the remote control up off of their bed side table and clicked the television on, desperate to watch something interesting.
She stopped on a cartoon. Some kind of special, she figured because a green leprechaun hopped along the screen granting the wish of some poor soul who wished to be rich. He had a huge pot of gold in front of him. "Okay..." she mumbled as she glanced down at her stomach. "Hopefully, you'll be as lucky as that guy."
Stephanie continued to watch the show, but stopped when wetness surrounded her. "What the—? Oh no, of course I would be included in the six percent..." She rose from the bed slowly and went into the closet. After digging around, she found a small bag that contained things needed for her stay at the hospital. She dropped the bag on the bed and sighed.
"And I'm leaking everywhere," Stephanie mumbled as she looked down. She went into the bathroom. Leaving the door open, to let the stream out from the still running shower water out; she slowly pulled the glass of the shower open. "Chris?"
Jericho's eyes were closed and he stood a foot from the water. His hands were in his hair, massaging shampoo into his scalp. "Yes?"
"You need to hurry up," Stephanie said. She slightly grimaced as her first noticeable contraction hit her.
He washed out some of the shampoo and then opened his eyes quickly and reached for the bar of soap. "Why?" he asked. He worked up some lather and with one hand, while the bar stayed in the other hand; he closed his eyes and rubbed some of the soap into his face.
She chuckled to herself. "Um, my water just broke... I'm going into labor." Stephanie definitely couldn't wait to see his reaction.
Jericho's hands dropped from his hair in shock, causing the bar of soap to drop on the floor of the tub. He opened his eyes and yelled as the soap got into his eyes. Some of the shampoo that was still in his hair dripped down his back. As he stepped into the still running water to wash his face, he didn't notice the bar of soap that lay under his foot... causing him to slip, head first in the tub.
*******
"So, is he okay?" Jacqueline asked.
She, Molly, and Lita stood at the end of Stephanie's bed. She has just finish telling them what happened and why Jericho wasn't with her at the moment.
Stephanie shrugged her shoulders. "I think so... he's still in the emergency room, but personally, I could care less at the moment. I'm in more pain him for the next couple of hours... and I want him here with me."
All four divas shared a look and giggled.
"I can't believe I will be an aunt," Molly said. She pulled an empty chair up to the bed and sat next to Stephanie and held her hand.
She grimaced as a contraction went through her body. Squeezing Molly's hand as hard as she could, she replied, "You or Jackie could be next..."
Molly took her hand away from her and shook it... trying to get some feeling back. She stood from the seat and looked at Lita and Jacqueline, signaling that it was one of their turns to comfort Stephanie until Jericho arrived.
Jacqueline rolled her eyes and sat down in the chair as Molly moved out of the way. "Maybe Molly's the one... I did dream of fish..." She held her hand out for Stephanie to grab a hold of.
"Fish?" Stephanie questioned with a chuckle. "I always thought that was some old wives' tale or something..." She frowned painfully as another spasm hit and in the process gripped Jacqueline's hand hard.
She shrieked in surprise. "Goodness... Steph," she mumbled. She took her hand away and rubbed it.
As Stephanie apologized, a nurse walked into the room. She looked at all the machines that Stephanie was hooked up to and was satisfied with the results. When she looked at the monitor that was hooked up to a machine that displayed the baby's heart rate, she shook her head. The nurse quickly walked out.
Lita looked at Molly and Jacqueline as she took Jacqueline's spot. "What was that about?"
A worried look made itself present on Stephanie's face. "I don't know... but it's the third time that she has come in here and did that. And after that the doctor would come in and look too and then tell me that everything is okay. I don't think it is..."
"Well," Lita said solemnly, "hopefully Jericho will be here soon..."
"And I'm here," Jericho said from the doorway of the hospital room.
All the divas looked at the doorway to see Jericho leaning against the opening. His hair was pulled back and on his face above his eyebrow was a cut that was held together by stitches. He also had his left wrist wrapped in ace bandage and bruises spotted both arms.
Lita chuckled to herself at Jericho's state. "Hm, you fainted when you found out that she was pregnant... and then you fell in the shower when Stephanie told you her water broke... I hate to see what happens when the baby walks or speaks, not to mention the first birthday."
Stephanie, Jacqueline, and Molly chuckled at that. "Well, we need to get out of here," Molly said.
Jericho walked further into the room as Lita got up from the chair.
Stopping him before he got closer to Stephanie, Jacqueline whispered, "Use your right hand... she has a strong grip..."
He smiled as the three left the room. Sitting down in the chair, he grabbed her hand and squeezed it gently. Jericho brought her hand up to his lips and kissed it.
"It's okay," Stephanie said. "I know you were just excited... its St. Patrick's Day after all." She smiled at that, and grinned more when Jericho responded back with a laugh of his own.
When their laugher died down, Stephanie and Jericho became silent when the nurse and doctor walked in.
"Okay Stephanie," the doctor said. She pulled a chair up the end of the bed as the nurse went around the room getting things prepared. "It's time to start pushing. We have noticed that the baby's heartbeat has been dropping slowly... so we aren't too worried about that, but still a bit concerned. So the quicker you give birth, they better for this baby it will be."
Jericho stood from the chair and propped Stephanie up. He sat behind her and let her lean on his chest, his way of offering support to her. The doctor smiled as she began to instruct Stephanie on pushing.
Minutes turned to hours as Stephanie continued to push her and Jericho's child into the world. As the time wore on, the doctor and nurse started to get more and more concerned.
Stephanie wasn't much closer to delivering the baby from when they first started and the baby's heart rate was dropping more.
"Few more, if that doesn't work," the doctor conclude, "then we will do a c-section."
Jericho and Stephanie agreed anything to have their child brought into the world safely.
The doctor instructed for her to push again, as she did a beeping from a machine fill the room. Looking at the nurse, the doctor got worried. "Stephanie, I need you to stop pushing... the baby's heartbeat has dropped to an alarming rate. We are going to go to a c-section directly."
As the nurse began to prep Stephanie, Jericho left her side and went to the doctor. "Why is this happening?"
The doctor looked at Jericho. "It could be a number of things, commonly it's because the baby is in some kind of distress..."
Jericho nodded in understanding. He watched as Stephanie was rolled out of the room and to another room specially designed for surgeries on the labor and delivery floor.
The nurse took him to a room to get prepared to be with Stephanie at her time of need. He donned green scrubs, a hair cap, and foot coverings as he walked out of the room and into the room that contained Stephanie.
"Tell me everything is okay," Stephanie whispered to her husband. She grabbed Jericho hand as a source of comfort and relaxation. She knew getting stressed at the situation could harm her and their child. Everything was scaring her though, she was hooked up to multiple machines and no one would tell her what the real deal was.
Just as she said the machines beeped and all the hospital staff began to scramble. Something was happening... and it wasn't good...
"Everything will be okay," he replied back. "We have that St. Patrick's Day luck on our side." Jericho looked at Stephanie and smiled. Though behind that smile, he was scared as hell.