A/N: When I originally posted a one-shot named Alone on a Rainy Saturday, someone requested a continuation. I spent some time working on one and then hit a roadblock. I've started working on it again and this will be more than a one-shot, I think, but I'm not sure how long. Here is part one of what I have so far. I hope you enjoy.
A late September storm was brewing outside. Not just your everyday, run-of-the-mill rainstorm either. The clouds were completely gray and blocking out any sign of the sun that had been there two days ago. The winds were beginning to blow so that trees and grasses were bowing in its wake. The rain had not started yet, but from the smell in the air, it was not far off. They had been anticipating this storm for most of the week but not to the strength with which it was coming ashore. Plain and simply put, it was hurricane, category 1, but still a hurricane. The forecasters had said it would most likely come ashore in the Carolinas, but they had missed by a few hundred miles and now it was coming up the Virginia coastline headed straight for the Washington D.C. area.
As predicted, many pregnant women who were close to their due dates were admitted to the local hospitals just to be safe. Hurricanes always seemed to bring an increase in early births due to the change in barometric pressure.
She was a no-nonsense, fear nothing Marine. She had withstood the pain of bullet wounds. She had thought nothing of a knife wound. Broken bones and dislocated joints were nothing to her. This pain, however, was like nothing she had ever felt before. Tears coursed down her cheeks as her muscles tightened again in another strong contraction.
"Make it stop!" she screamed grabbing his hand as she fought to breathe through the pain.
"You can do it Marine," he reassured her in a quiet voice next to her ear while he continued to hold her hand. "You're my Ninja-girl. You can do anything," he whispered for her ear only.
"No, I can't! I don't want to do this anymore!" she screamed again. After a minute, the pain passed and she relaxed her grip on his hand and took a deep breath. "Harm, I don't think I can take much more of this," she finally admitted.
"Sarah, we can do whatever you want," Harm reassured her again. "If you want the epidural, we can still do it."
She bit her lip as she considered his words thoughtfully. He knew she was finally considering this as an option since in the hours before now she had adamantly refused any kind of drugs.
"Mrs. Rabb, if I may," the nurse in the room spoke up. "An epidural will not harm the baby in any way. It will just help you deal with the pain, and it may make the whole experience a little more endurable. Afterwards, there will be some numbness in your legs that will wear off fairly quickly, but other than that, you shouldn't have any major side effects. There is also no need to fear any other issues like you might have with other pain medicines."
It was almost as if the nurse knew what her issues with the epidural might be. She seemed to understand that Mac didn't want to take the drugs because of her past addiction experiences. Mac nodded her head in acceptance of what the nurse, Amy, was telling her. "First, please call me Mac, and second, how much longer do I have to make the decision?" she asked quietly.
"As long as you want," Amy assured her. "The longer you wait, though, the more uncomfortable the spinal epidural will be as you have to bend over for the anesthesiologist to administer the IV. As the baby drops further into the birth canal, bending over will get harder to do. Why don't you and your husband talk about it for a few minutes while I go take care of a few things. I'll be back shortly, and you can let me know what your decision is." Amy left the couple to discuss this situation and closed the door behind her.
Mac lay back against the pillows behind her as she digested what Amy had told them. She was only given another minute or two before another contraction took over her body and her thinking. Harm grabbed her hand and allowed her to squeeze as tight as she needed as she attempted to breathe through the contraction. After a minute, it subsided, and she took another deep cleansing breath. "That one wasn't so bad," she admitted as she attempted to relax her body and her mind.
"That's good," Harm blew out the breath he didn't realize he'd been holding. He continued to lightly hold her hand as he reached for a wet washcloth with his other hand. He carefully wiped her forehead and cheeks with the cloth in an attempt to cool her off and soothe her flushed face. "Did you ever think we'd get here?" he asked quietly still stroking her face.
"I don't think I did," she admitted smiling up at him as she lay back on the pillows again. "I'm glad we did, though. I feel so blessed right now despite the pain," she laughed lightly.
Harm smiled in agreement and gently squeezed her hand to acknowledge how she felt. He watched her carefully and glanced at the monitors expecting another contraction to start any time. The baby, though, decided to take a break and let them rest for a few minutes.
"Do you think we're ready for this?" Mac suddenly asked breaking into his thoughts.
He smiled again at her as he answered. "I've been ready since the day you told me you were pregnant," he recalled thinking back to the rainy day when he returned from Pensacola.
"Hey, sweetheart," Harm called walking in the door. He was covered in a trench coat that was soaking wet from all the rain. "It seems we have a deluge outside," he laughed.
"Hey, you're home early," she said standing up and walking toward him. She waited until he had removed his cover and coat and placed them on the coat tree before wrapping her arms around him.
"Hmm," he grinned wrapping his arms around her as well. "That's a nice greeting," he placed a kiss on the top of her head. "I wrapped up the investigation when the Master Chief admitted the incident was his fault, so I caught the first transport home. I couldn't wait to be with you again, but I didn't want to call and tell you in case something happened. I didn't want to get your hopes up and then have something prevent me from getting here."
"I'm so glad you're home," she said pulling him further in the door toward the couch. "I have something to tell you…"
"Can you give me five minutes to get comfortable and out of this uniform, then I would be glad to hear whatever you have to tell me?" he asked looking toward the stairs.
"Why don't I come up with you, then I can tell you while you change," she suggested.
"I like that idea even better," he said wrapping his arms around her waist again and pulling her close. He slowly lowered his head to hers and captured her lips in a tender kiss. Reluctantly he pulled away and looked into her eyes where he could see the desire building. "Why don't we continue this upstairs?" he suggested reaching down and picking her up gently in his arms.
She nodded her head mutely trying to push down the lump that was forming in her throat. "I missed you," she finally managed to get out in a hushed whisper. Nothing more seemed necessary as she laid her head against his shoulder as he carried her to their bedroom.
He pushed open the door to their room with his foot and continued on to their bed where he gently set her down. He wanted to kiss her more and continue what they started downstairs, but he also wanted to get out of his damp uniform and get more comfortable. Instead of following his initial instincts to kiss her senseless, he turned away and headed for the closet to pick out some dry clothes. He could tell she was disappointed in his choice, but thought he would be able to better satisfy her needs once he was dry and comfortable. "So what was it you had to tell me when I walked through the door?" he asked from the depths of their closet.
"Well, I got a call from Dr. Sawyer while you were gone," she started waiting for him to step out of the closet before she told him everything.
"Did she have new discoveries about your endometriosis?" he asked finally returning to their room dressed in comfortable jeans and a navy blue button up shirt. He walked back over to the bed and sat down beside her.
"Not exactly," she started. "I went in for a check-up because I've been so tired and emotional lately. She called back because the blood tests she did turned up something."
"Okay, so what did they show?" he asked taking a deep breath waiting for the worst.
"They showed that…," she paused for effect, "I'm pregnant." The last part was said so soft that she almost wasn't sure she said it.
Harm wasn't sure either that he heard her right as he turned to face her completely and took her face in his hands. "Did you say what I think you just said?" he asked with a huge grin on his face.
"Yeah," she returned his smile. "I'm pregnant, about 8 weeks along."
"And she's sure about this?" he questioned again.
"She double checked it to be sure," she smiled at him. "Remember New Year's Eve…"
"And day," he added nodding his head and smiling at the memory of spending the entire day in bed together.
"Well, somewhere in there, something took, and here we are," she finished beginning to be unsure of his reaction. "Are you okay with this?" she asked with some trepidation.
"Okay?" he asked. "I'm…I'm…I'm speechless," he finally finished. He continued to smile at her as he again took her face in his hands and moved his face closer to hers. Slowly he brought his lips to hers and placed a gentle kiss on them. "I'm going to be a daddy," he whispered as he pulled back the slightest bit.
She smiled softly at his comment and nodded her head. "Yes, you are," she agreed. She leaned forward into him placing her lips against his this time. She continued to kiss him for a moment or two before pulling back and looking at him. Tears threatened to overflow from his eyes as she gazed at him.
He gazed back at her with love glowing from his eyes despite the threatening tears. Without further thought, he pulled her to his body and began placing kisses all over her face and eyes and moving down to her neck. Suddenly he found himself on top of her as she had pulled him with her as she lay back on the bed. She forcefully fused their lips together trying to convey all her love for him in that one kiss. When the need for air became too great, they pulled apart and struggled to catch their respective breaths. As he looked into her eyes, it seemed to hit Harm all of a sudden as to what she had just told him. Ever so gently, he placed his hand on her abdomen under her shirt and began to stroke the soft skin there. With the gentlest of touches, he replaced his hand with his lips as he placed feather light kisses on the same spots. "Wow," he whispered placing one last kiss on her abdomen before returning to his place beside her. "I love you, Sarah," he whispered before capturing her lips in a fiery passionate kiss. She returned his kisses just as passionately and they spent the rest of the evening showing each other just how much they loved each other.
Harm was pulled out of his reverie by Mac's scream and the pain in his hand as she gripped tightly when another contraction set in. He focused on her briefly and then on the nurse who had just entered the room. She came over and took the washcloth from the bedside table and began to wipe Mac's face gently wiping away tears and sweat. She waited until the contraction had passed before she began any conversation with them.
"So, have you made any decisions about the epidural?" Amy finally asked once the contraction had passed and Mac was comfortable again.
"I think I want to go ahead with it," Mac responded trying to catch her breath again. "That one was pretty bad, and I'm not sure I can take much more of this. How long have we been going?"
Harm looked at her surprised that she couldn't quote the time to him. 'So, there are two things that shake up her time telling ability, me and giving birth,' he thought to himself before he answered. "About five hours," he finally responded.
"What's that smirk about?" she glanced up at him sideways. She knew he liked to lord it over her when she couldn't quote the time at him.
"Nothing," he smiled back at her knowing she knew exactly what the smirk was about. He also knew better than to say anything about it. He didn't want to have one mad Marine on his hands, especially one in labor.
Amy didn't understand what was going on between them, but she could tell that they were teasing each other with just their looks. "One thing you do need to be aware of with the epidural is that there is a chance it could slow your labor some," she finally spoke up remembering the reason she came in the room in the first place. "However, if the doctor feels it has slowed too much she can administer other drugs that would speed it back up."
Mac nodded in acknowledgment and looked up at Harm. "I still want to do it. I don't think I want to be in this much pain any longer."
"Okay," Amy nodded. "I'll go let Dr. Sawyer know and put in the call to the anesthesiologist. He should be here in less than half an hour as long as he has no other emergencies."
"Is Dr. Sawyer here?" Harm suddenly asked.
"She's on her way here but is having some trouble due to the ensuing storm. Is there something you wanted to talk to her about?"
"No, it can wait," Harm assured her and turned back to Mac who seemed to be on the upswing of a contraction.
Within a half hour, the anesthesiologist had stopped by and put in the epidural catheter for Mac. The nurse also had to put in a bladder catheter which Mac hated but knew it was necessary as she would no longer be able to get up due to the effects of the epidural. At that point, as Amy had predicted, her labor seemed to come almost to a halt. She enjoyed the respite from the pain for a time, but soon her anxiety over the baby and a lack of progress took over where the labor pains had left off. After forty-five minutes with no progress and no contractions, Amy decided to call the doctor again and let her know what was going on.
"Well, Dr. Sawyer will be here shortly," Amy told them as she came in the room after making the call. "She wants to check you herself and take a look at where we are now. She's not ruling out a c-section, but I think she would like for you to give birth vaginally for the sake of the baby. It's better for the lungs when the baby is a little early."
Harm and Mac could do nothing but nod in semi-understanding. They heard the words, but they weren't really sure about everything Amy was telling them other than the fact that Dr. Sawyer was coming in to check on her. That alone told them that there could be a problem. Mac decided not to worry, though. She felt internally that it would only add to the problems and stress for the baby.
"By the way," Amy motioned toward the door, "there's a group of people out here waiting for some news about you and the baby. It's okay if they come in and visit but only two at a time," she warned.
Mac turned and looked up at Harm. "Who's out there?" she asked curiously as her eyebrows shot up at the thought.
"Not sure, but I'll go see," he said shrugging his shoulders and walking out the door to find out. Within a moment, he was returning and covering her lower body with the available blanket as the first guests followed him through the door.
Mac looked up and smiled as her closest friends, Harriet and Bud entered the room. "Hi Harriet," she called out when they paused close to the door. "It's okay. You can come on in."
"Hello, Ma'am," she responded stepping a little closer.
"Harriet, I'm in a hospital about to give birth. You can drop the ma'am. It's Mac when we're not in uniform," Mac chastised her.
Harriet laughed and stepped up to the bed as she nodded in agreement. Bud still stayed back closer to the door. This was still somewhat uncharted territory for him. Mac was a friend, but she was still a woman other than his wife in the hospital in labor. Harm walked back to him and carefully encouraged him further into the room by directing him to the other side of the bed where there were a couple of chairs and a type of window seat. He motioned for Bud to take one of the chairs as he dragged the other one closer to Mac's bed for Harriet. The two women were already deep in conversation concerning labor and childbirth. He gently directed Harriet to sit in the chair and then returned to Bud and carefully placed himself in the window seat.
They spent a few minutes talking and catching up with their friends before there was a knock on the door. Mac stopped talking and called for the person to enter. Dr. Sawyer stepped through the door and smiled at her patient and the others in the room.
"Good afternoon, Sarah," she smiled at her patient. "So seems this baby wants to make an early appearance," she commented. "I need to go ahead and check you and see where you are, so if your guests want to step out for a moment, it won't take me long and then they can come back."
Harriet and Bud nodded and quietly stepped out of the room as Harm stood up and returned to Mac's side during the doctor's examination. She only took a few minutes as promised and then made a few notes in Mac's chart.
"Well, you're about 7 centimeters dilated and 100% effaced," she said as she removed the gloves from her hands and washed her hands. "That's pretty good progress, but as the nurse informed me, you haven't changed any since the epidural was administered. That's not really good or bad as long as the baby isn't in danger, and the baby seems fine right now."
"So what does that mean?" asked Harm.
"Well, we have a couple of choices, Captain," the doctor responded giving them both her full attention. "We can just leave things as they are and allow the labor to just progress at its own rate. This could be very short or a lot longer. It's really up to your baby at this point. The other option is to start an IV drip of Pitocin which should cause the contractions to start back up and increase in intensity. The choice is yours, though, at this point. I will say that if there isn't much progress in the next half hour, I will recommend the Pitocin administration. The baby is not in distress and seems to be resting comfortably right now. Maybe you both need a little rest," she smiled seeing how sweaty and uncomfortable Mac seemed to have been earlier.
Honestly, Doc," Mac smiled. "I just really want this baby out. I don't think I really care by what means at this point."
"Mac, why don't we wait the half hour and see if the baby makes some progress," Harm suggested. "If not, then we'll have her administer the Pitocin and go from there."
"Your husband has some sound advice," Dr. Sawyer agreed. "I think you could use a little rest. Once we administer the Pitocin things will most likely move rather quickly and then you will have pushing to do. The more rested you are, the easier the pushing will be."
"I think some rest sounds good," Mac finally agreed after thinking it all through for a moment. The doctor nodded her head in agreement and excused herself from the room promising to check back with them in half an hour.
"Do you want me to tell Bud and Harriet to come back later?" Harm asked concerned when she said she wanted to rest.
"No, actually, I'd like to talk to Harriet for awhile," Mac told him honestly. "I think it will help to talk to another mother who's already gone through this four times."
Harm smiled at her and the fact that she was admitting to being unsure about everything. He leaned closer to her and placed a soft kiss on her sweat soaked hair above her forehead. "You're still my Ninja-girl," he told her ever so softly. He placed one more kiss on her lips this time and stood up and turned to the door.
"Harm," Mac spoke up stopping him in his tracks as he turned back to her raising his eyebrows in a question. "I love you," she spoke so softly he almost didn't hear her.
"I love you, too," he smiled at her again and turned back to let Bud and Harriet back in the room.