My plan is to hopefully write the remaining four chapters this week and then post as soon as I get them back. That way, no more week long waiting for the next chapter. I'm kind of sad only four remain. I'll miss these guys once I hit The End.

Thank you, as always, to Kyla713 for looking this over for me. I tinkered a tiny bit with it before posting, so any and all mistakes are mine.

Enjoy!

~.~

Chapter 11-

I'd never really been a nervous person. I was always rational, never letting my nerves get the best of me. Since becoming a husband and father, though, that changed. Through Bella's pregnancy, I was a wreck, constantly worrying. It got to the point that Bella took all baby related books away from me until the Rose's birth, and even then, I was a wreck.

Huge, monumental change was hard.

And now, after one wedding and two kids, I found myself the most nervous yet. Like, pit of your stomach, nauseous, sweats type nervous. Rose's surgery wasn't even due to take place for another twenty-four hours, yet I sat at her doctor's office the day before for pre-surgery checkup, with my heart pounding like it might quit on me, and my stomach in my throat. Not a good combination, if you ask me.

Rose, though, didn't have a care in the world. She was happily playing cars with her brother while Bella and I were slowly losing our nerves. Eventually, just before the nurse called us back, I had to place my hand on Bella's rapidly bouncing knee.

"Calm down, please?" I asked, leaning in to kiss her cheek softly.

"I can't, and I know you can't either," she replied, biting her thumb nail after.

"I know. I know it's not rational, but it is hard to think about the what if." I honestly told her, while looking on at my kids. "What if they say that they can't do this after all? That maybe they were wrong about her being a good candidate? What if it doesn't take?"

Bella's eyes grew soft as she turned to look at me, and complete understanding was what I found staring back at me. "I get it. Trust me. The same thoughts have been on constant rotation since we were told her hearing could be a real possibility soon. But honey, they wouldn't have brought us this far if they didn't want to follow through."

I nodded, knowing she was right, and as I looked at her, I wished she had the same opportunity as our daughter was soon to get. I knew Bella was content and happy with what hearing she did have and didn't mind her aids, but I sometimes wished she could hear all that I could. And there were even times I forgot how truly bad her hearing was. I'd kick myself after, when I'd ask her if she could hear some noise outside or make a comment about the crickets chirping in the summer, and she'd get a look of longing on her face. I knew, deep down, she wouldn't change anything and that she loved her life. To me, it seemed purely selfish that I wished she had more. I wanted her, just like my daughter, to have everything this life could offer.

The nurse called us back, and I scooped up my daughter, while Bella held Toby's hand as we walked back to meet with her ENT. The nurse motioned for me to sit down on the bed with Rose, while she took her vitals before walking out.

It didn't take long for her doctor to come in. He spent the time going over the plan with us. They would only be inserting one implant, which would be for her good ear, instead of both. They wanted to see if it would take first, since the nerve was dead in the other ear. Cochlears worked with the nerve and inner ear to send sounds signals to the brain, so I could see why they were wary to take a chance on the ear with the dead nerve. The plan was to also keep her aids in along with the implant—double the help.

The mention of stitches and cutting into her head ramped up my nerves once again, and when I looked over at my wife, I could tell I wasn't alone. The doctor noticed and assured us both that she was in good hands, that the incision really wasn't that big. Rationally, we both knew we could trust him, as he'd done thousands of cochlear implants, but the worries were still there.

He then went into how to care for the surgery site, bandages and what to expect before and after surgery. It all seemed so much, but I had to keep telling myself that the outcome will be more than worth it.

Just before we left to go, we had to make sure to make an appointment for three weeks after surgery, and then another one three weeks after that, the final one being to turn on her implant after healing. That was our endgame—six weeks from now, our daughter would hopefully hear our voices.

"Oh, before I forget..." Her doctor stood up and handed us a checklist. "No letting her eat or drink after midnight. See you guys at seven tomorrow morning."

"I'll be careful and not feed our little Gremlin," I said, stupidly making a joke, but it caused Bella to laugh, so all was not lost on my endeavor.

The doctor chuckled. "Go home, relax. Six weeks from now, hopefully we will have a little girl experiencing her first sounds."

That night, both kids seemed clingy, or maybe it was just me and my wanting my kids close with such a huge thing happening the next day. Bella got it, though, and didn't make me feel needy or stupid in wanting my kids close. So, we decided to make a blanket fort in the living room and all camped out there.

The alarm going off the next morning came all too soon. Sleepily, Bella and I got ready, while letting the little ones sleep for just a bit longer. Twenty minutes before we were due out the door, we woke the kids up. Toby was not the happiest, but when we told him that he was to hang out with Jasper while Rose was in surgery, it made up for waking up so early.

We dropped him off, after he gave lots of kisses to his sister and wished her luck. Then all too soon, we were at the hospital. Nerves overtook me once again, and as I carried my sleepy daughter, I squeezed my wife's hand as we walked into the entrance, to the elevators and up to the surgery suite.

I had to take each moment on its own to get through this day. First, her surgery check-in, the surgery, post-op, and then moving her up to the floor for an overnight stay. I just hoped everything went smoothly.

Emotionally, Bella and I were a mess but we were doing our best at keeping it together, not wanting to set off Rose. She was the one who didn't understand anything that was going on, and last thing I wanted was for her to cry.

We were taken back, and vitals and blood were taken. Rose wasn't at all happy over that, but Bella was able to distract her while the blood was taken, and a IV was put in place.

It was all becoming more and more real, that soon my daughter would be put to sleep, cut into, and hopefully, the implant would take.

All too soon, we were told to say goodbye and that we'd see her soon. Both Bella and I kissed on our daughter, signed to her that we loved her and would see her soon. Way too quickly for my liking, Rose was then taken back for surgery and we were led out to the waiting room.

The next hour dragged, and I paced back and forth as Bella watched on, while her right leg bounced in nervousness.

As we waited, I thought back to the fiasco with Buster and the hearing aid. Bella made me leave a message with the audiologist about the hearing aid, who then promptly called me back telling me to just use a bleach wipe to clean it and then set it up to dry. He said that it should be okay, and if not, to bring in it. Apparently, we weren't the first to call him with that problem. And he was right, it worked and charged fine overnight.

"Mr. and Mrs. Cullen?"

I turned my head, noticing her doctor was standing there, waiting for us and smiling.

"All went well. The insertion went as smoothly as we'd like it to. She's being wheeled into Recovery. You'll be able to see her soon."

We thanked him, and I turned to hug and kiss my wife.

Thirty minutes later, a nurse came and took us back to Recovery to see Rose. The minute we walked in, Rose sleepily opened her eyes.

All the worries melted away the second she smiled and put her arms up for her Momma.

One hurdle down, a few more to go.

~.~

Thank you for reading!