"It's a pregnancy mattress. I ordered it for you last week. There is a section that comes out, and you can rest your belly in it, so you can sleep on your stomach. Go ahead, try it out".
She went over to the bed and he pulled the section out, and she laid down on her stomach and stuck her belly in the cut-out part of the mattress.
He went and laid down next to her.
"What do you think?"
"It's heaven. Thank you". She leaned up and kissed him.
He helped her up, and they went and changed clothes, and then she laid back down in the bed so that he could give her a massage.
After a nice hour-long massage, she was all relaxed and calm.
They napped together for a little bit, and then she woke up and climbed on his back.
She gave him a back scratch, and a deep tissue massage.
He woke up just before dinner, and they went downstairs to find that Max had prepared them a gourmet meal.
"What do we have, Max?"
"Shrimp and grits, salad, and key lime pie for dessert".
"Sounds great".
After a nice dinner, Jonathan built them a fire in the fireplace, and they snuggled up on the couch.
"Darling, we talked about naming her Jessi Lynn. But now I am thinking no…"
"What are you thinking?"
"I'm not sure. I just don't feel like Jessi Lynn is her name…."
"Well, we have till she's born to pick a name. If you don't like it, we can change it to something else".
"What do you like?"
"Whatever you like".
"Jonathan! If you like something, will you just tell me?"
"I don't have a clear favorite, babe. I don't. If you say a name and I don't like it, I will tell you".
"Did you ever think about what you were going to name your kids when you were growing up?"
"No. I honestly never did".
"I've always liked names that are like two names put together".
"So, you want us to name her Jonniffer? Or Jennithan?"
She started laughing.
"No, silly. I mean like Anne Marie, or Martha Ann, things like that. But in our case, it has to start with a J".
She went and got the baby name book that she had bought, and turned to the J section.
She grabbed a legal pad and a pen, and they made a list.
Jennifer liked Josie, Jolie, Jessica, and Jaycie. Jonathan liked Jamie, Jenna, and Jayde.
They both liked Jessa, Janie, and Jana and Jordyn.
Jennifer wrote down everything, and leaned against him, while she made up all the different combos of first names and middle names.
By the time she was finished, he was asleep.
She sat up, and kissed him, and rubbed his chest.
"Darling…come on."
He woke up and they went upstairs to bed, and fell asleep rather quickly.
***Middle of the night***
Jennifer woke up with a start around 3 a.m.
She started nudging Jonathan.
"Darling….Jonathan….."
"I love it when you wake me in the middle of the night".
"No, not that. The baby."
"Are you ok? Do we need to go to the hospital?"
"I'm fine. I just had this dream, and her name was Jillian. I want to, Jonathan. I want to name her Jillian. We have to name her that, her name is now Jillian!" She was being very insistent.
"Ok, babe".
"Jonathan, I'm serious".
"Ok, I believe you".
She nestled down on to his chest and lightly scratched his chest.
He held her closer.
"Goodnight babe, I'm going back to sleep now".
She kissed him and a few minutes later, she fell asleep herself.
***Later that morning***
Jonathan woke up at 7 when his alarm went off.
He eased out from under Jennifer, and headed for the shower.
When he was finished, she was up, and got in the shower behind him.
They had breakfast together, downstairs in the kitchen.
"Darling, my appointment with the new doctor, Dr. Perkins is at 11. Can you make it?"
"I certainly will".
"Perfect. Her office is on Willshire, the building across from the light, suite 304."
"I will be there at 10:45".
She leaned over and kissed him.
After they finished eating, she walked with him to the door.
"Bye darling, I love you".
"I love you past the moon and back, twice. Just for starters".
She chuckled as she kissed him.
"Bye, I love you".
One more kiss and he was out the door.
She worked on an article until about 10, and then she got ready to go to the appointment.
"Max, I'll be back later".
"Ok, Mrs. H."
She got in the car and headed out, and pulled up at almost the same time Jonathan did.
"Hi Darling. Perfect timing".
"Perfect indeed".
He wrapped his arms around her waist and leaned in for a kiss.
They walked inside and Jennifer got signed in.
She was called back as soon as she filled out the paperwork, and they were taken to an exam room.
The nurse came in and took her vitals and asked her some basic questions.
The doctor came in a few minutes later.
"Hi, I'm Allison Perkins."
"Hi. I am Jennifer Hart, this is my husband Jonathan. We were referred to you by Megyn Watkins and Maddie".
"Oh, how sweet. I love them".
She told them all about her practice, and what the basic policies were.
"Now, since it's your first appointment, I want to do an in-depth ultrasound, if that's ok".
"Perfect. We would love to see our princess".
She laid back on the table, and undid her pants, and they started the ultrasound.
Pretty soon, there she was on the screen.
"Hi sweetheart".
"Looks like she's waving at us".
"Ok, Mrs. Hart. I have you measuring about 2 days ahead, which is normal for this stage. You are right at 20 weeks. I find that your daughter is perfectly developed, and growing normally. So, from here on out, she will get eyelashes and fingernails, and then her skin will start to take shape. As her skin gets thicker and more solid, she will just grow bigger, which is what we want. So, while I know that women don't usually like to gain weight, in this case, you want to gain weight because the more weight you gain, the more weight the baby gains. And the more weight the baby gains, the healthier at birth she will be".
She nodded.
"Now, I see in your chart that you were diagnosed with high blood pressure. The medicine that you are taking seems to be working, so I am going to write you a prescription, and I am going to give you enough refills to last the pregnancy. If you can't find your pills or run out, just call me and I will get you more. It's very important that you take these pills because high blood pressure in pregnancy can be harmful to the baby if not treated."
"When do we do the gestational test?"
"I want you to make an appointment for next week and you can do it then".
"Ok. What do you think about us flying somewhere for Christmas?"
"Where?"
"Maryland, to my father's house".
"At this stage in pregnancy, normally I would have no objections. However, given your blood pressure issues, I'm afraid I have to say no, due to how long you would be in the air. It's just too far, I'm sorry".
She looked sad, but nodded.
"Do you have any more questions?"
"Given my blood pressure issues, is it safe for us to have sex?"
"Yes. Just don't go trying the karma sutra, or anything wild and crazy. And laying flat on your back isn't recommended either, as it will cut off blood supply to the baby. So, wedge a pillow under one side of your back. And, while we are on the subject, when your delivery is imminent, and your water breaks, that's it. No more sex, come to the hospital".
"Thank you, doctor".
She printed them a few copies of pictures of the baby and made them a DVD.
"And just for good measure, I can confirm for you that you are indeed having a girl, and just the one. Only one baby".
Jonathan leaned over and kissed her forehead.
"Do you have a name picked out?"
"I kind of like Jillian".
"Kind of? Darling, you sat up and practically screamed it to the neighborhood in the middle of the night".
She started laughing.
"Ok, so it's a favorite".
"Jillian is a lovely name."
After they went over what to expect next time, they shook hands with her and headed out.
Jennifer made her appointment and then she and Jonathan headed to the car.
"Want to grab some lunch, babe?"
"Do you have time?"
"Yeah, I can make it work".
She rode with him and they went to a Mexican place that they loved.
"I think I am going to have to go get a new wardrobe today. It's time".
"You get whatever your heart desires, darling."
"Babe, we talked about cars, but we never went and test drove one. Can we do that tomorrow night?"
"Sure. After dinner".
"Great".
She was quiet for a bit. She turned to look at him.
"Is there anything you want?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, is there anything you want? I keep telling you what I want to do and buy and you keep telling me to go for it. So, what do you want?"
"I want you to be happy and taken care of and our daughter to be happy and taken care of".
"Well you are doing that, darling. But what do you want?"
"Promise you won't laugh at me?"
"Promise".
"I want us to do the doll that Susan gave us".
"You do?" She looked at him incredulously.
"Yeah, I do. I want to practice before JJ gets here, and that's the best way I can think of".
"JJ?"
"Jennifer Jr. I want her to look like you".
Jennifer teared up.
"I love you".
She leaned over and kissed him nice and slow.
"We will do it this weekend, on Friday".
"Sure".
He grabbed her hand and laced his fingers through hers.
"I know that you had your heart set on going home for Christmas. I promise you, we will have the best Christmas right here, just you and me".
She nodded.
"I just wanted a snowy Christmas. And Walter's caramel apple cider. And the smell of my dad's pipe tobacco wafting through the house. And, I was itching to get into my mom's recipes and make some of her old favorites".
"I know. But you heard the doctor, it's not safe. Jillian deserves to have the best shot at life, and we can't give her that unless we do everything we can to make sure that she stays where she is until it's absolutely the right time for her to come. I promise you, next year, when she's here with us, we will all three spend her first Christmas in Hill Haven".
She nodded. She was sad but she understood.
"Which recipes of hers would you make?"
"Well, her sausage stuffing is always a favorite. And there are a few salad recipes of hers, like her bleu cheese and grape salad with the onion dressing, and the rainbow salad she used to make. And she used to always make three different kinds of sauces. And every year we had ham, and she would always make mustard sauce, a sweet and sour sauce, and a horseradish sauce. The mustard one was my favorite, but we always had the other two as well. I just miss her cooking sometimes, but especially at the holidays."
They finished their lunch, and paid the check, and he took her back to her car.
"Are you sure you're going to be alright?"
"I guess. I just have to wrap my mind around it".
He opened the door for her, and got her all buckled in.
"I love you, I will see you in a few hours. Please be careful".
"I will. I love you too".
He leaned in and kissed her, and then she left.
She shopped all afternoon, and bought several outfits and several separate pieces from several places. She bought clothes for herself and also clothes for the baby.
She found a baby book she liked as well.
She was pretty tired when she got home. Max came out to help her with the packages.
He carried them up to the bedroom for her.
"I'm going to take a hot bath, Max. I'll be down in a little bit".
"Ok, Mrs. H. As soon as Mr. H. gets home, dinner will be ready".
"Sounds great, Max".
After her bath was over, she put on some pajamas and started putting her new clothes away.
"Jennifer?"
"Up here".
He came in the room and saw her putting something in the closet.
"Hi, what are you doing?"
"Oh, just putting new clothes away".
He came to her and kissed her.
"Max says dinner will be ready soon".
"Great."
He changed clothes and then they headed downstairs.
They were on the couch, he with a cocktail and her with sparkling water.
"Darling, the ladies at the office want to throw us a shower. I told them it was fine. They are going to get back with me about a time and date and all that".
"That's so kind of them."
He looked at her.
"Are you feeling ok? Your face is awfully red".
"I'm fine. I took a hot bath before you got home, maybe that's why".
"Yeah, maybe".
"I found this lotion today while I was shopping. And they gave me a sample of it, and I liked it so much I bought a big bottle of it. I think you might like it too. Here, smell".
She put her wrist in front of his face.
"I do like that smell. Smells like gardenias and jasmine".
"Yep, that's what it is-jasmine and flowers".
Max came in just then.
"Dinner's ready folks. Trying a new recipe tonight. Stuffed steak, roasted vegetables, and wild rice".
"Sounds wonderful".
He helped her to the table, and everyone got settled.
Jennifer took a bite and moaned in delight.
"Max…this is amazing! What is in it?"
"Well, the steak is stuffed with bleu cheese and artichoke hearts. I also rubbed the steaks with olive oil and red pepper flakes".
"This is so good. I love this, Max".
"Yeah Max, this is pretty good."
"Thanks, guys. I like new recipes".
Jennifer liked it so much that she had a second helping.
After dinner, she and Jonathan did the dishes, while Max headed out to a poker game.
After the dishes were done, Jonathan and Jennifer went upstairs to bed.
She showed him the baby clothes she got, and the baby book.
"I can't wait to see her in these clothes".
"I just want to see her".
They fell asleep rather easily, and he had his arms around her.
Around 2 a.m., she woke up to go to the bathroom.
She came back to bed.
"Jonathan, I don't feel so well".
"Mmmm".
"Jonathan….Jonathan…."
He sat up.
"I don't feel so well".
"What's wrong?"
"I'm itching all over and I'm hot".
He leaned up and turned the light on.
He looked back at Jennifer.
"Ok, darling. It's going to be ok. Get dressed, I am taking you to the hospital".