Chapter 7:

"How could you even think about having our baby aborted?" Hope asked Aiden.

"How could you even think about allowing yourself to die? You would just leave me and the kids behind like that?" Aiden snapped back.

"It wouldn't be ideal, but my children always come first to me—including my unborn one." Hope said, placing her hands over her stomach.

"So screw the ones you already have, right?" Aiden asked.

"Let me remind you, that it might not even come to you having to choose. You could both come out of this perfectly fine," Dr. Griffith said quietly.

Hope and Aiden both ignored her.

"Ciara will have her father and you—not to mention Dad and Julie—and Chase will have you, Dad, and Julie as well." Hope reminded him.

"None of us can take the place of a mother. And what about me? Hm? You're just going to leave me?" Aiden asked.

"Bo can remarry one day, as can you. You'll have our daughters and your son. You will be just fine," Hope said, a little coldly.

"I can't even talk to you about this. You're being unreasonable!" Aiden snapped.

"Yeah, well, you're being selfish!" Hope snapped back.

Aiden glared at her for a moment, and opened his mouth as if he were about to say something. Then, he closed his mouth, and walked out the door, slamming it behind him.

Hope smiled weakly at Dr. Griffith, her cheeks flushed with embarrassment. "I'm sorry about that. My husband has a temper on him sometimes. I mean, nothing violent of course, but he tends to act very…childish at times."

Dr. Griffith smiled in understanding. "No need to worry. You're not the first couple to argue over situations like this, and you certainly won't be the last. It's a lot to process right now. I'm sure you two will be able to work things out."

Hope sighed. "I hope so."

"And, like I said, it's not even anything definite. For all we know, you'll be able to carry the baby to term without any more setbacks for either of you," Dr. Griffith reassured.

Again, Hope smiled weakly. "I again, I hope so."

Ten minutes later, Hope had signed out, and she and Aiden were in the car on their way back home. They had rode in silence most of the way.

"I'm not getting an abortion. If I have to, I'll have papers drawn up stating that, if the situation where a choice has to be made comes up, I should be the one to die. I'll sign them," Hope said after a bit.

"I see you don't give a crap what I want. You only care about yourself, so there's no use in me arguing with you," Aiden said coldly.

"You know that's not true. I care about our baby. You, on the other hand, clearly do not. You're the one who only cares about yourself, Aiden!" Hope shot back.

Aiden shook his head. "No, I care about you, and our children who are already born. We haven't even met Haiden yet. She isn't even a fully developed person yet! It would be hard to lose her, yes, but since we never even met her, I will be much easier to say goodbye to her than it is to you, my wife."

Hope glared at him. "It doesn't matter if she isn't fully developed yet, she is still a human being—one we created together out of love. You should instantly love her, despite the fact that we haven't met her yet, or that she isn't fully developed yet!"

"I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree then," Aiden said.

Hope nodded. "I guess we will."

They drove the rest of the way in silence, and when they arrived at the house, Aiden didn't even hold open her door for her as he usually did.

"Nice, Aiden!" Hope said sarcastically as she slammed her door.

"What? Being pregnant doesn't make you an invalid!" Aiden snapped.

Hope wished looks really could kill—or at the very least shoot lasers at the person they were aimed at.

When they got into the house, Doug and Julie practically pounced on Hope, while the kids were nowhere to be seen.

"What happened? Did you lose the baby?" Julie asked with worry.

"Are you all right?" Doug asked her.

"The baby's fine," Hope said. "The placenta has just detached a little bit more."

"And she's agreed to kill herself to save the baby if things get any worse," Aiden said.

"What?" Julie and Doug both asked in unison.

"Explain," Julie said, a hand on her hip, and her eyes locked with Hope's.

"The doctor said that if the placenta detaches any more after this, I may have to make a decision between aborting the baby so that I can live, and giving up my life so that she can live. I might not make it through childbirth," Hope explained. "I chose to give up my own life for my baby's life if that happens."

"Are you nuts?" Doug asked just as Julie said, "That's a very noble decision."

Doug looked at her. "Excuse me? Do you mean to tell me you're okay with my daughter dying?"

"Well, obviously it's not ideal, but if it means saving the baby, then yes! This is a terrible situation, and frankly, I don't like either outcome, but sometimes we have to make sacrifices for our children no matter how terrible they may be!" Julie said, tears in her eyes.

"Exactly! Thank you!" Hope said.

"But what about her husband and the children she already has? Shawn, Ciara, and even Chase? What about her granddaughter Claire?" Doug asked.

"Exactly!" Aiden agreed. "Thank you! Plus, we've never met the baby. As awful as it will be to lose the baby, it would be worse to lose Hope, who we've already had years to know and love. You've had even more years to know and love her than I've had obviously."

Doug looked at Hope and pointed at Aiden. "Now you listen to your husband—father's orders! He knows what he' talking about."

Hope shook her head, her hands over her stomach. "I'm sorry, Daddy, but with all do respect, I am an adult now. I don't have to take your orders. I can't allow my baby to die just because I was too selfish. It's just not me."

Doug's eyes grew cold. "You're never too old for me to take you over my lap and give you a spanking!" he said angrily.

Julie swatted Doug on the shoulder. "Oh, stop that nonsense! You should be proud of your daughter! She is doing what is right and noble by choosing her baby over herself."

"Yeah, well, I see nothing noble about leaving her husband and the kids she already has!" Doug snapped. "Or us for that matter! No parent should ever have to bury their child!"

"My thoughts exactly!" Aiden said.

"Well, neither of you have a choice, because if it comes down to me or my baby, my baby will always win!" Hope snapped.

"Stop it!" Ciara screamed, as she ran down the stairs.

They all looked up in surprise.

Ciara had tears running down her cheeks. "Just stop fighting!" She looked at Hope. "I know it's all my fault! I made you so upset and angry when I popped the balloons that it hurt the baby. I never meant to hurt the baby! I'm so sorry!" Ciara ran over to Hope and hugged her. "But please don't leave me because you're mad at me! I don't want you to die! You're my mom, and I need you." Tears were streaming down her face now. "Even if she were a boy, I don't want to lose you just so I can have a baby sibling!" Ciara was sobbing by now.

Chase came down the stairs too, crying as well. Apparently, he and Ciara had both been listening on the stairwell. "Please, mom. Don't leave us. I've already lost a mom. I don't want to lose another."

Hope had tears in her eyes as well as she looked at Chase. "Sweetie, it might not even come to that." She then looked at Ciara. "Ciara, none of this was your fault. It would have happened whether you got angry or not."

Ciara looked up at her, her eyes still streaming with tears, and sniffled. "Then why are you willing to leave me? I don't want you to die, Mom!" She hugged Hope. "Please don't die, Mom!"

Chase started crying a fresh batch of tears. "Yes, please don't leave us. Please don't die." He hugged her too.

Hope couldn't help but cry now as well as she held Chase and Ciara in her arms. She didn't know what to do anymore.

"I can't take this," Julie said, leaving the house in tears.

Doug had tears in his eyes as well. He looked Hope in the eyes. "If this doesn't tell you what the right decision is, then I don't know what will." He then left, quietly shutting the door behind him.

It took fifteen minutes for Hope and Aiden to get the kids back in bed.

"Please tell me you won't leave us," Chase had said.

"Promise you won't die!" Ciara ordered.

"It's not even definite yet. Chances are, the baby and I will both be fine," Hope assured them.

"Promise!" Ciara ordered, more adamant this time.

Hope sighed. "I'll do everything I can to stay alive. That's all I can promise," Hope said.

The kids weren't a hundred percent happy with her response, but it got them to go to bed.

Now, Hope sat on the bed, contemplating what she was going to do. Aiden was in the bathroom. He hadn't said much at all to her directly since arriving home. All he had done was try his best to soothe the children.

Hope was beginning to have second thoughts. She didn't want to lose Haiden. She wasn't sure she could handle losing another baby. Yet, she was beginning to see how her choice would affect the ones she loved, and that simply wouldn't do either.

Suddenly, she felt a slight stomach pain, but she knew from being pregnant three times before that this wasn't anything to worry about. She smiled. "Aiden, come here, quick!"

Aiden rushed out of the bathroom. "What is it? Are you in pain again?"

Hope shook her head. "Just come here."

Aiden walked over to her and sat down on the bed beside her. "What is it?"

She took his hand and placed it over her stomach. "Feel that?"

Aiden felt for a moment, then smiled when he felt movement. "Did she just kick?"

Hope grinned and nodded. "Yes, she did!"

Aiden continued to feel the baby kick. "Wow. That's such an odd feeling!"

"Tell me about it!" Hope teased.

They grinned at each other.

Aiden kept his hand on her stomach, enjoying the proof that his daughter really was alive and living in his wife's womb. He looked Hope in the eyes. "Baby, I'm sorry. You know, I don't want to lose our daughter either. Of course I love her! It's just… I have to be selfish here. I can't lose you. I never met our daughter, but I've been in love with you for quite a while now. I already lost a wife. I don't want to lose another one. I know, you already lost a child and don't want to lose another one, but… I just feel like no matter what choice we make here, someone's going to be unhappy."

Hope sighed. "I know exactly how you feel. I'm starting to have second thoughts about choosing Haiden over me, and I feel terrible about it. But Ciara and Chase need me too."

"And me," Aiden reminded her. "You know, it hurt me when you said I could just remarry. That wouldn't bother you to leave me and have me marry someone else? Because, let me tell you, there will be no one else for me after you. You're the one great love of my life! There is no one else for me but you even after death."

Hope took his hand that was on her stomach and kissed it. "And you. I don't want to have to leave you or the kids either." She gently stroked his cheek. "Aiden, the thought of living without you…I can't bear it! In fact, the thought of you with another woman makes me want to kill her. I just wouldn't want you to be sad and missing me for the rest of your life if something were to ever happen to me."

Aiden sighed. "Well, I'm sorry, but that is exactly what I would be. I'd never remarry."

Hope looked sad. "I don't think I'd ever want to remarry either if anything were to happen to you. I'll never find another love as strong as ours, so there'd be no point in it."

"How about this?" Aiden suggested. "We just take it one day at a time. We don't need to make any decisions now. Heck, we might not ever have to make the decision, so there's no use in worrying over something that might never happen."

Hope smiled and nodded. "Taking it one day at a time seems good to me."

They kissed.

Hope then laid down in bed. "I'm getting tired now. Kiss me until I fall asleep?" she smiled at her husband, her arms out to him.

"Mm… Now that, my Love," He clicked off the lights, then took her into his arms, "is something we both can agree on.

They grinned at each other, then kissed until they no longer had the energy to do so.