No Love Without Sacrifice
Love is friendship that has caught fire. It is quiet understanding, mutual confidence, sharing and forgiving. It is loyalty through good and bad times. It settles for less than perfection and makes allowances for human weakness. Elizabeth McCord didn't take things for granted. Especially not when it came to her family and her new job as Secretary of State. But sometimes she felt as if she was dropping the ball in what was meant to be the most important thing her life.
Love, love Madam Secretary and sadly I don't own a thing! Just my love for Hannah and the show!
Chapter 11:
Her babies were here. Both the girl and the boy, first had been Nicholas James McCord. He'd been bigger than his sister and almost seemed as if he hadn't been born at 32 weeks. Elizabeth didn't remember much about the birth because as Henry had told her they had had to perform an emergency C- Section to make sure everyone had a chance of surviving.
Then came their little girl. Hannah Catherine McCord. Henry had told his wife the little girl hadn't cried because she had trouble breathing.
"Where are them? I want to see them..." Elizabeth begged as soon as she regained consciousness. Henry was there by her side, holding on to her hand, and so was Stevie. Ally and Jason had been sent home with Henry's dad who had made the trip as soon as he heard of the news.
"Lizzie." Henry kissed her forehead sweetly. Stevie held on her other hand, tears streaming from the girl's face as she smiled at her. "You need your rest babe..."
"Are they..."
"Hannah is in the NCIU." Henry said softly. "She had some trouble breathing so they took her in to run some tests." Elizabeth's face was full of worry. "Nicholas is in the nursery."
"Is he okay?"
"He's fine." Stevie said. "The doctor said she'd bring him as soon as you woke up." Elizabeth smiled gratefully as she squuezed her child's hand.
"There we are." A nurse came in a moment later, carrying what it look to be an incubator. "Elizabeth, how are you feeling?"
"Like I've just had two babies." She huffed.
"It sure doesn't look like it." the nurse smiled. Henry reached out for his son as soon as the nurse took him out. "You want and try to feed him?"
"I'm going to go call Ally and Jason to tell them you're awake." Stevie said. "I'll be back."
"Take your time..." Elizabeth smiled as she held on to Nicholas for the first time. He opened his big blue eyes staring right at her. "Hello there mister, you couldn't wait to meet us,huh?"
Elizabeth McCord wasn't good at sitting still, she had to be doing something in order for her not to loose her mind, but she had been order at least a week of rest, if not more. In her line of work, 14 days was a long time.
The only good thing about this reinforced vacation time was that she was actually home when the kids came home, Hannah specially as her guys had gone to pick her up. Her detail guy, in charge of his toddler, almost a godsend as she adored him. Thomas opened the door to let the little girl in. Elizabeth was in her computer, suspiciously not working as her little girl came into the living room.
"There she is" Elizabeth voice perked up as soon as she saw Hannah, she dropped her bag and went on to kiss her mother. "How was school munchkin?"
"Okay." She said simply. "Mommy?"
"Yeah sweetie?"
"How come we don't have horses anymore?"
"Well, our house in Virginia was bigger, wasn't it?"
"Yeah, it was a ranch, we had the biggest backyard..." Elizabeth smiled as she gestured it with her arms. "We don't one here..."
"No. You are right, we don't. That's why we don't have horses anymore."
"Oh." Hannah muttered. "I wish we did."
"Me too kiddo, I miss our riding..."
"Ya, me too." Hannah cuddled into her mother as Elizabeth kissed her forehead. Those afternoons riding with her kids were the highlight's in Lizzie's life, in a time were Stevie was yet to leave home and Ally wasn't as mature and Jason loved riding alongside Nicholas on their horse.
Back when her life was yet to become a nightmare. "Mommy?"
"Yeah, sweetie?"
"When do you have to go back to work?"
"Not in a little while. I'd much rather be here with you..." Elizabeth smiled.
"Cause you still sick?"
"Well, not so much anymore, no... but you know what? I think being here with you makes me feel a whole lot better..." the little girl nodded as her stomach made a brutal sound. "You´re not hungry, are you?"
"A little.." She said shyly.
"Just a little? Thomas, come here for a second..."
"Yes Madam Secretary?"
"Did that sound to you like she was just a little hungry?" Elizabeth winked at the younger man. He smiled softly.
"I wouldn't know, just if I heard it again, maybe I would ma´m..." And just as on cue, the little girl's stomach rumbled once more. "Was that..."
Hannah broke into a laughter fit.
"How about I make the two of us a snack huh?" Elizabeth stood up and carried her child over to the kitchen, placing her on the counter."What would the little lady want?"
"Peanut butter and jelly sandwich" She mused.
"One P&J sandwich coming right up..."
And so she made it, and she and Hannah sat in the kitchen, Elizabeth stared at her youngest one, her face full of sadness in a moment.
"What is it honey?" She asked, worried she might as well be chocking or something. "Is it not yummy?" the little girl nodded.
"Nicholas liked the jelly... didn't he?" Oh right in the gut. Ever since she had landed herself in the hospital, Hannah seemed to have been remembering more and more about her twin sibling.
And so had she.
Her babies were a year old. She couldn't believe it had been that long since they had come home. Her blonde, blue eyed boy and her Henry's carbon copied girl. Both of them were now a year old. 12 months since her ordeal at the hospital began, Nicholas had been almost discharged over the next few days while Hannah struggled to gain weight and come off a breathing tube.
They sure had come a long way since then.
Hello! So sorry for neglecting this a bit but it seems my muse has hit a brick, so I don't think they'll be much of the story left, maybe three more chapters or so!
thanks for supporting! Stay tuned for more, hopefully with Christmas coming I'll have more time to write and finish this the right way.
