Blissful Moments

Chapter 10

Enjoy.

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No parent ever wants to give their child away to a doctor for a procedure. No parent ever wants to rock their child to sleep as the anesthesiologist sedates them. No parent ever wants to see their child go through any of that yet here Emily was seven years old growing even more nervous by the second as she sat on the couch while her parents ensured they'd grabbed everything they needed for the day.

After one too many cases of strep throat in a three month period along with her parents noticing she was breathing through her mouth more than usual, her pediatrician immediately decided that a tonsillectomy was in the little girls near future. The second the parents heard the plan, both of their hearts had dropped for their child and Emily had broken down in tears. Surgery was the last word any child wanted to hear, especially when it pertained to them.

"Mama, can we take Bailey?" Emily stroked the golden retriever's fur as he sat with his head in her lap. He could sense she was nervous.

"I don't think we can, babe." Alex looked up from where she was folding a blanket behind the couch. It was six in the morning and she hadn't slept more than a couple of hours due to being so apprehensive about Emily's surgery yet the exhaustion still hadn't hit her. "But I'm sure he'll be ready to give you all kinds of cuddles when we get home later."

Piper soon appeared from down the hallway, her tote bag hanging from her arm. She was clad in a basic pair of blue-jeans and an old Smith t-shirt, her hair thrown into a messy bun. She on the other hand was sure she hadn't slept at all. Piper was sure she had held her baby all night while after letting her six year old sleep in their bed due to her pre-surgery jitters.

"Are you ready, baby?" The blonde walked over to Emily, setting her bag on the couch next to her. Her heart ached for the little girl. There had been multiple times during the past few days that Emily had asked if she could just keep her tonsils or just not show up. The six year old didn't understand that getting her tonsils removed would help to not be sick as often.

The younger blonde shook her head clutching her favorite stuffed bear in her arms. There had been two weeks from the day the pediatrician scheduled her surgery to now and each day her anxiety grew worse. All she knew about surgery was that you lay on a bed and go to sleep without your parents in the room. The fact that Piper nor Alex would be with her the whole time was almost as terrifying as having a part of her body removed.

Piper looked up at her wife who was shaking her head with a small smirk. She had told Piper repeatedly that there was going to be resistance.

…

The amount of tears streaming down Emily's face was making Alex's stomach clench as she knelt at her daughter's side, essentially holding her down while the nurse attempted to insert her I.V. into dorsal side of her hand. As she looked up at her wife who was sitting behind her daughter with her arms wrapped around her, she found that she too had a small tear falling down her face as she whispered soothingly into her daughter's ear. There were three nurses now in the room compared to the original one due to there being trouble finding a good vein.

"Hey, Emily." The nurse cooed, trying to distract the little girl from the current situation. "Tell me about your puppy that you have at home. I heard you talking to your mommy about him."

"Tell her about Bailey, babe." Piper whispered into her daughter's ear, wiping away the tears that were still trailing down reddened face. She glanced over at Alex who's eyes were glued to the nurse, making sure she didn't cause her baby anymore stress than what she was already under. The blonde's nerves were shooting through the roof at how this experience was already going.

"He's big… and he plays dress up with me." Emily sobbed. "He likes to play with tennis balls, and…he likes to swim with me at my grandma's house."

"You like to swim?" The nurse's eyes went wide as she grinned. "I like to swim too."

"I get..."Emily breathed in as she tried to catch her breath from her violent gasps. "Lessons…and I don't have to wear my floaties anymore."

"You can swim all by yourself?" The nurse was now wrapping the tape around the now successful I.V., ensuring Emily didn't pull it out after they were through. "That's so awesome!"

"I get to start swimming in the deep soon." Emily's tone was somewhat lighter as she began to boast about her swimming skills.

"How exciting." The nurse stood up from her stool, much to the child's surprise. "We're all done. You did a great job, Emily."

The seven year old looked dubious as she looked from her arm to the nurse and back down again. Oblivious to both of her parents exhaling and slumping backwards.

…

Emily's sobs and cries had returned half an hour after her I.V. had been inserted. As Emily laid on the large hospital bed allowing Alex to hold her close and softly stroke her face to try and calm her down, she couldn't help but continuing working herself up as the clocked ticked by. The little girl's pediatrician had just come in and told them that they were twenty minutes away from starting surgery.

When the anesthesiologist came into have Piper fill out forms and educate her on what kind of anesthesia her little girl would be given, she had to force herself to keep it together. The blonde was sure her legs must have bounced up and down a million times as the time ticked down to the operation. The blonde woman knew she was overreacting to such a simple surgery that would take less than half an hour, but the day as a whole obliterated her nerves. She still thought of Emily as a baby and it broke her heart to know that her little girl was having to go through this.

"Pipes, can you pass me her water?" Alex broke Piper away from her thoughts as she motioned for the small cup of water that was on the small bedside table.

Piper watched as she handed the cup over and observed Alex hold the straw up to Emily's mouth. Despite how much Alex denied it, she also still thought of Emily as her baby. She practically gave the seven year old anything she wanted and if not, Emily just pouted her lips and gave her the puppy dog eyes. That was always a surefire way to get Alex to say yes to something and she had surely learned it from Piper.

A few minutes later when two of the nurses appeared to take Emily back, Piper had to use every ounce of self-control not to lose it. Instead she slowly stood up from her chair and walked to the side of her daughters bed who was now about to break out into a full on panic.

"Hey, you're gonna do great, okay?" The young mother smoothed her hand down Emily's face and bent down to her level. "Mama and I are gonna be right here when you wake up."

"You can even take your stuffed bear with you if you want? I'm sure we can find her her own hospital gown to wear so she can be just like you."

Alex raised her eyebrows in excitement in order to perhaps motivate her daughter to be brave since her bear could go with her too.

Emily could only nod in response as she reached for Piper.

Instantly Piper reached out for her daughter and wrapped her arms around her very tight.

"I love you." The mother pressed a kissed to her little one's cheek and then went back to hug her once more. Her heart was breaking a little more each second. She so badly wished the next hour would already be up. "You're so brave, babe. I love you so much."

As Piper stood up from kissing her daughter's cheek once more, she had to remind herself to stay strong for her baby. She knew she was probably overreacting over a surgery that is done so many times a day, but that was her baby.

Alex quickly bent down to kiss Emily and tell her that both them would be there when she woke up, ready to serve her as much ice cream as she wished. The brunette could see the tears welling up in her eyes.

"You're gonna be just fine, baby."

The parents walked alongside Emily until they reached the double doors. At this point, the little girl's grasp was strong around her stuffed bear and the tears began to stream down her face.

"Love you." Emily's lips trembled as the nurses brought the bed to a halt one last time.

"We love you to, sweetie." Piper gathered every ounce of happiness she could to put on a brave smile for her little girl before dipping down to place a kiss to her forehead, Alex following suit soon after.

The moment the operating room door closed, both parents were relieved to not hear any screams or crying. Not a few seconds later Piper was slumped into Alex, her head buried into her shoulder. Alex was already counting down the minutes of this surgery so maybe Piper would ease up some.

"Forty-four minutes and counting." The tall woman whispered comfortingly into Piper's ear as she squeezed her wife a little tighter. "She's gonna be just fine."

Piper was the one who broke the hug, but quickly grasped Alex's hand and led her to the waiting room. Never once did Piper let go of Alex's hand. Not even after the doctor had come out of the operating room to say that Emily did fantastic. She didn't break the hand connection until her daughter was handed to her as she sat in a rocking chair in the recovery room.

When Alex was able to see her two girls cuddled close, she finally felt like she was able to breathe again.

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I uploaded a new chapter of For Better or For Worse yesterday, so go check that out if you so choose.

Happy Saturday!