CHAPTER 14

Charlotte rinses the dishes before handing them to Cooper to load into the dishwasher. They're babysitting again this evening so Nicky can go with Andie for a follow up ultrasound after he comes home from work. They hear eleven month old baby Michael Nikolas screaming in the living room. Three year old Charley runs into the kitchen to tell his grandparents, "Harpa made Mike-oo cry."

"We can hear that." Charlotte puts a plate down and follows Charley into the living room. "What happened, Harper?" Charlotte notices Michael Nikolas's face is bright red. His fists are clenched tight and he's screaming at the top of his lungs. "He's steamin' mad, Harper. What happened?" Charlotte picks Michael Nikolas up in her arms.

Charlotte's eight year old granddaughter is sitting on the floor stringing a bracelet out of colorful beads. "He tried to get my beads so I grabbed them out of his hand and smacked him." Harper informs Charlotte. "He can't have my beads, he'll choke on them."

Michael Nikolas arches his back and kicks his feet wildly while thrashing in Charlotte's arms. "Harper, you know you're not supposed to play with your beads while the baby is under foot."

"But I promised my momma I would make her a bracelet."

"Put the beads away now, Harper!"

"But I'm not done with momma's bracelet yet." Harper informs.

"I said put the beads away now!"

"That's not fair! Put the baby away now so I can finish momma's bracelet." Harper protests.

"Do not sass me, child! I'm not telling you to put those beads away one more time." Charlotte orders.

"You're mean." Harper mutters to herself while she collects the beads and throws them back into the box.

Cooper strolls into the living room now after finishing cleaning the kitchen. He catches on to Harper's last comment and sees Michael kicking and screaming in Charlotte's arms.

He looks at Charlotte. "What's going on?"

Charlotte places the screaming baby down into his play yard. "Harper and Michael were fighting over the beads."

Cooper looks at eight year old Harper. "You were fighting with a baby?"

"He was stealing my beads. He'll choke on them, so I hit him."

"Harper, go upstairs and sit in the guest room." Cooper instructs his granddaughter.

"I didn't do anything wrong. Michael can't have my beads." Harper insists. "I saved him from choking to death."

"Don't backtalk your grandfather, young lady, go upstairs." Charlotte scolds Harper, sharply.

"Fine!" Harper stomps her foot on the floor. "The next time I'll let him choke to death. How would you like that?"

Charlotte glares at her grandaughter. "You did not just say that to me. Now, get upstairs before I call your father and tell him you're misbehavin'."

Harper stomps up the stairs. "I'm telling on you! You're going to be in big trouble when my momma gets home!" Harper stomps into the guest room and slams the door.

Charlotte rolls her eyes, telling Cooper. "That child inherited her father's temper."

"So, did Michael. I saw the way he was kicking and thrashing when you were holding him." Cooper looks over at the play yard. Michael Nikolas has quieted down but he's still his arms and legs are still thrashing. "Charlotte, take a look at that…Is he?"

Charlotte looks. "He's having a seizure!" Charlotte and Cooper rush to his side. The door bell rings, three year old Charley opens it, telling Michelle "Hewwo"

"Hello." Michelle walks in the house carrying a box. She spots Charlotte. "I brought some wedding cake samples over for you to try."

"The baby's seizing." Charlotte tells Michelle. "I need you to stay here with Charley and Harper while we drive him to the hospital."

"No problem." Michelle puts the cake down to get a look at the baby. "Poor thing. Where's Andie?"

"She's at the hospital having an ultrasound."

Cooper grabs his car keys while Charlotte rushes out the door with Michael Nikolas.

"Drive Careful!" Michelle calls out to them as she watches them leave. "And don't worry about a thing here!" Michelle looks at Charley. "So, do you want to sample some wedding cake, kid?"

"Yay!" Charley smiles.

Cooper drives to St. Ambrose while Charlotte sits in the back seat with Michael Nikolas.

Andie's relieved after the doctor tells her that the amniocentesis results came back negative. Aside from the heart defect and the cleft lip/ palate the baby tested negative for any genetic disorders. She climbs up on the exam table. Nicky stands by her side. The doctor does her ultrasound instead of a tech so he can keep an eye on the heart defect.

"So," The doctor starts the ultrasound. "How are you feeling?"

"Not bad for twenty eight weeks. I haven't gotten as big with this pregnancy as I did with the others." She tells the doctor.

The doctor looks at the monitor and informs them. "There's no change in the heart from your last ultrasound but I want you to come back for another one in two weeks."

"Why's that?" Nicky asks with his hands in the pockets of his favorite jeans.

"At the time of Andie's last ultrasound the baby was in the 50 percentile in size which is average size."

"Okay?" Nicky asks rocking on his feet with his hands still in his pockets.

"Now the baby is in the 25 th percentile."

"Is that bad?" Andie asks.

"Not necessarily," the doctor says. "It just means the baby is a little smaller than average."

"My brothers were small as kids." Andie informs. "So why do I need to come back in two weeks?"

The doctor wipes the gel off her belly. "I want to watch the growth curve to be sure that the baby doesn't drop further. We like to see the growth pattern stay even. We don't like when it suddenly drops. That's a sign the baby isn't growing in the uterus but right now the baby is still on the growth curve so I wouldn't worry too much about it."

Nicky's phone rings. He takes the call out in the hallway while Andie gets dressed. A few minutes later he calls into the room. "Andie! We gotta go. Your parents brought Michael into the ER. He's having a seizure!"

"Good grief. How much more am I supposed to take?" Andie rushes out of the room. Andie and Nicky make their way to the ER as fast as they can. Cooper meets them in the hall. He puts his arm on Andie's shoulder. "He's okay. Michael's okay."

"So, he didn't have a seizure then?" Nicky asks.

"He did," Cooper nods. "But we gave some meds in his IV and the seizure was brought under control."

"Where is he?" Andie asks.

"Your momma's with him. They're setting him up for an EEG now." Cooper tells.

"What happened?" Andie asks." Did he have a fever?"

"No." Cooper sticks his hands in his pocket. "He wasn't sick. He ate his dinner. The kids were playing together in the living room. He got into Harper's beads. She took them away and smacked his hand, he threw a fit. He was mad, kicking and screaming so your momma put him in the playpen and the next thing we know he's having a seizure." Cooper explains.

"Do you think it's epilepsy?" Andie asks Cooper.

Cooper nods. "Considering you have epilepsy, yeah I do."

"Damn!" Nicky exclaims. "Why can't we catch a break?"

"Andie's had epilepsy her whole life and she's dealt with it fine." Cooper assures Nicky. "This isn't something to get all worked up about." Cooper advices.

Nicky leans his back up against the wall. "It's just that the shit's all hitting the fan at the same time. The new baby has medical problems and now Michael Nikolas is having seizures. What's next? How much more can we take?"

Charlotte comes out of the room. She can see Nicky's upset. "Michael's okay, he's sleeping. He'll sleep through the night. You two look exhausted. Go home. Your father and I will stay with Michael tonight."

Andie thinks about it. She knows from having seizures herself that Michael Nikolas will be sleeping for hours and not miss her. "Thanks, momma." Andie gives Charlotte a hug. "You're a lifesaver."

"I'm a mother." Charlotte shrugs. "Same thing."

Andie and Nicky both give a sleeping Michael Nikolas a kiss goodnight before heading home.

Chase walks in the door of his parent's house. Michelle is giving Harper and Charley temporary tattoos.

"Look, Uncle Chase!" Harper runs up to him. "Michelle gave me a butterfly tattoo on my cheek."

"Amazing." Chase smiles.

"I gots one too." Charley shows Chase a train tattoo on his hand.

"That train is the awesomest." Chase hand slaps with the three year old.

"Okay." Michelle tells the kids. "I set the chocolate chip cookies we made before and some milk out on the kitchen table for you. Have your snack now before it's bedtime."

"Yay, those are good cookies." Harper tells Chase. "You should try them."

Chase smiles. "Aunt Michelle has made cookies for me lots of times and you're right they're the best I've ever had."

Harper runs into the kitchen with Charley trailing right behind her.

"Did you really mean that about my cookies?" Michelle asks.

Chase sits down on the couch. He pulls Michelle onto his lap. "I love all of your cookies." He tries to give her a kiss.

She gently nudges him back. "Sorry, love, but not with the kids a few feet away."

Chase grins. "You're going to be a great mom."

Michelle scooches quickly off his lap and settles down next to him on the couch. "Why?" She teases. "Because I give awesome tattoos and make good cookies?"

"The kids love you." Chase says. "You're a natural with them."

"They're fun." Michelle lowers her voice. "I need to talk to you about something."

"It sounds serious."

"It is." Michelle nods.

"Okay." Chase crosses his leg over his knee. "Shoot."

"I need to know that you really love me before we get married next weekend."

"Where is this coming from?" Chase asks.

"I just need to know that you love me and want to marry me for me, not because you can't have Tess."

Chase cups Michelle's chin in his hand. "I love you, Michelle."

"Good, then I made the right decision."

"What decision?"

"Benn came by to see me this morning. He wants to get back together."

"What did you tell him?" Chase furrows his brow.

"I told him I'm in love with you because I am." Michelle places her hand on Chase's knee, giving it a squeeze.

"Then why were you even questioning if you made the right decision?"

"Because you said I love you, Tess, when you were making love to me, remember that?"

"I said I was sorry and it wouldn't happen again."

Michelle sighs. "I know you didn't say it on purpose but I'm worried you're still in love with Tess and marrying me because you can't have her. I don't want that. I want to make sure we have that straight before we get married. If you're still in love with Tess I'll go back to Benn. I don't want to be anybody's second choice."

"You're not my second choice. I told you I'd be miserable with Tess because she doesn't want kids yet...-"

Michelle cuts him off. "And I do... I know... I know, but that doesn't mean you love me it just means you're settling for me because I want a baby and Tess doesn't."

"Would you stop it." Chase kisses her. "I love you and that's my final answer."

"Okay. I believe you" Michelle giggles. "Now stop kissing me before the kids walk in and catch us."

Chase backs off again. "I guess I'll have to get used to it for when we have kids of our own."

"That's right." Michelle nods. "Now, where do you want me to put your tattoo?"

"Let's save the tattoos for later when we get home."

"I like that idea." Michelle smiles.

Harper walks into the living room. "When is my momma coming home?"

"Your momma just texted me. They're on their way here to pick you up now."

"So, we can stay up and wait for them?" Harper asks.

"Yep." Michelle nods. "They'll probably wake you up when they get you in the car to drive home so you might as well stay awake."

Yay! Let's make some bead bracelets while we wait." Harper gets the box back out.

Chase helps Charley make a bracelet out of beads while Harper and Michelle do their own.

"I like this," Michelle looks over at Chase. "This is exactly what I want.

"Me too." Chase smiles.

A/N- We'll hear more about Tess in the next chapter.