co-written by RatedrKjErIcHo
Jenna sat in the guest room looking over some things on her laptop. If it came to it, she was going to make sure that Dani had some say in her pregnancy. She did some research on other bipolar patients that had children. She was determined to help Dani.
Mike sat in the living room watching some TV. He couldn't believe that Jenna was going against him. He hoped his parents would get through to her. He hoped someone got through. He looked up as he heard footsteps and saw Jenna coming down the stairs.
"What do you want for dinner?"
"I can get something." He replied.
She sighed and turned to him. "Mike, we're married living under the same roof. We will talk to each other and odds are we will eat with each other. So, what did you want for dinner?"
"Like I said, I'll get something." He said as he grabbed his keys and walked out.
She sighed once he left. She walked into the kitchen and got something to fix herself for dinner. She hoped she and Mike could work through things. She was just being supportive of Dani and she wished Mike would be too.
John answered the door a little while later and wasn't at all surprised to see Ted Sr. and Melanie standing there. "Ted, Melanie. Nice to see you."
"I assume you know why we're here." Melanie said walking in. "Mike came and told us about Dani. How could you let this happen? When you and Dani got married, you promised us you would take care of her. I don't see how this is taking care of her."
"She did it without talking to me."
"So, you don't approve of this or support it?" Ted asked him. "Well that makes this easier than I thought. You can petition the court to give you say over her and you can make her have an abortion. It's the best thing for everyone. Once she has the abortion, she will go back on the medication and be fine. So, I think you should petition right away to make her have the abortion."
"I can't make your daughter do anything."
"You can if you file that petition. The judge will agree with it once he hears the evidence. And we can put this behind us." Melanie said to him. "If you have guardianship over her, you can make the decision and get the abortion."
"Over my dead body." They heard from the stairs. "No one is going to do anything to my baby."
"Danielle..."
"No. No one is going to do anything to my baby." She said walking to the front door and opened it. "And if you really can't support me in this, then you can leave. That goes for anyone who is not going to support me"
"Can't you see what you're doing to yourself?"
"Making myself happy?"
"But at what cost?" Melanie asked her. "You know what's coming. I don't want you to hurt yourself or have all those mood swings. Go back on the medication now. It won't hurt the baby."
"It can. I'm not taking the risk. This is something I want and since you can't understand that, leave."
Ted and Melanie walked to the door. They both turned to John. "John, please file the petition and end this pregnancy. She can go back on the medication and be fine." They didn't say anymore as they walked out.
Dani looked at John. "Are you going to file it and kill our baby?"
"No."
"Well that's something." She said walking into the kitchen. She got out something to make for dinner.
"You don't have to do that. We can order out."
"No, I want to cook." She said getting out the chicken.
"Dani, we need to talk. And we need to do it now before we can't."
"What do you mean before we can't?" She said turning to him. "Oh you mean before I go crazy and can't make decisions."
"I didn't exactly mean it like that." He said sitting down at the table. "Can we just talk please?"
"Fine. Talk." She said as she started to cut up the chicken.
"I talked to Ted and I know you did too. He said you were worried I was going to leave."
"I told him that and I told you that. If you want to leave, you can. Ted said he would come and stay with me through this."
"I know he did and I appreciate that he was going too. But that's not necessary." He got up and walked over to her. "Dani, I love you and while I'm not exactly happy about this decision you made without me, you're my wife and I'm not going anywhere."
She sighed. "So you're staying because it's your obligation as my husband. That's what you're saying right."
"No! I'm staying because I love you. More than anything in the world. And I would never leave you. Ever." He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to him. "I love you Dani. More than anything. You are my life. And I'm here and I will always be here."
"But you aren't happy about the baby."
He sighed and pulled away to look at her. "I'm not happy that you made this decision without me. We should have made it together. And I'm worried about what is to come with you off the medication. As much as we want a child, I don't think it's worth the risk to you and your mental health. But I'm going to be here for you during this."
"But you still haven't said that you want the baby or happy about it. John, I believe everything will be fine with this pregnancy and at the end we will have a sweet little baby. So, are you happy about the baby?"
"I don't know how to feel about the baby. I'm excited about the prospect of becoming a father. And I'm worried about you."
"I guess that's all I can ask for right now." She said pulling away. "I'm going to make fajitas." She said turning to the stove.
"Alright. I'm going to be in the office." He said kissing her and walking out.
Mike sat in his parents' living room. "So, you saw Dani. Did you convince her to go back on the meds?"
"She threw us out."
He sighed. "So what are we going to do?"
"Well, John isn't happy about this. So I mentioned to him about petitioning to be able to make decisions for her and then getting an abortion. I think an abortion is the best thing."
"My wife sees things differently."
"I don't know why Jenna is okay with this." Melanie replied. "Maybe it's because she and John have never really see Dani's illness. They don't understand."
Well let's hope John sees reason and agrees to file the petition." Mike added.
"What about your wife?"
"What about her? I hope she comes around too and realizes how stupid this is." He said getting up. "I just don't know what to do about Jenna. I love my wife but how can she support this? She should support my point of view because we're married."
"And that's what Dani wants from John." Ted said walking in. "He's her husband and she wants him to support her. And I think he just might."
"What did you do?" Mike asked his brother.
"I supported my sister."
"Ted, what are you talking about?" Melanie asked.
"I talked to John. And told him if he wanted to leave because he couldn't be there for Dani, I would move in and help her. But he said he doesn't want to leave. And while he doesn't exactly completely support her decision, he is going to be there for her and help her through this."
"So you convinced him to let her do this?"
"I didn't have to convince him. He loves Dani and he said he would never leave her. He had made the decision to stay before I talked to him." Ted looked at his brother and then his parents. "You have to realize that this is what Dani wants and she is willing to take the risk. The least we can do is support her. Because she's the one that will going through everything."
"And she doesn't have to do this to herself."
"Then how would she and John have the family they want?" Ted asked. "They can't adopt because of Dani's mental history. This is their only chance to have a baby. It's something she wants. And she's willing to go through all she has too. She went off the lithium to make sure the baby was healthy and had no birth defects. You know how much Dani wants to be a mother."
"This isn't about what she wants. It's about her health."
"You all aren't even listening. Dani knows what's going to happen. But she's willing to go through it to get what she wants. A baby." He looked at him. "And I'm going to support and help her anyway I can. And John will too. So you all just have to deal with it." He didn't say more before he headed upstairs. He was currently staying with them while his condo was being painting.
Mike looked at his parents. "We have to do something. We can't let Dani do this. She could hurt herself or others. What if her depression gets so bad that she kills herself.? Or what if the manic stage gets so bad that she's taking undue risk. We can't let this happen."
"I agree." Ted Sr. replied. "I will call the lawyer and see what our options are. We will do whatever to stop this." Mike and Melanie nodded. They were only trying to help Dani. They didn't want her to go back into that stage. They wanted her healthy and if that meant making her end this pregnancy, they would.
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