The first time it happens, it throws Andrea off, rushing to the bathroom and emptying the contents of her stomach into the toilet. Figuring that she it was morning sickness appearing late in the pregnancy, she brushed it off and went back to cleaning the apartment.
But after three trips back and forth, only making it to the bed afterwards, Andrea knew something was wrong. The pain was unbearable, her stomach twisting and turning and her head pounding after the force of vomiting left her breathless. She could barely reach her communicator off the nightstand, holding it lightly in her hand as she called for her husband.
"McCoy here," he answered.
"L-Leo?" she winced, clutching the bed sheets with one hand. "Come home."
"Andy? Did you just wake up?" he asked.
She bit her lip to hid the whimper that threatened to escape, "Come home," she said a bit louder now.
He sighed, "Andy, I can't come home at the moment. I've got a shitload of paperwork that needs to be sent out by tomorrow night."
Andrea groaned, "Something's not right," she gasped, as another sharp pain ran across her belly. "Come home, now!"
"What's wrong?" he asked, growing alarmed at how fast she was breathing. "Andy, what's wrong?!"
She whimpered, "I don't know. It hurts so much!" she said, before gasping.
Andrea heard him cursing, shouting for M'Benga and Chapel, before returning to the line. "Stay right where you are," he said. "I'm coming with M'Benga."
"Hurry."
He hung up quickly and Andrea dropped her communicator onto the bed next to her. Rolling onto her side, she held her belly tightly, bringing her knees as far up as possible.
"It's okay, baby," she winced, rubbing her ever expanding belly. "Shhh, Daddy's coming and it's going to be okay."
….
"It seems as if Andrea has food poisoning," M'Benga said, twenty minutes later. "What have you eaten in the last day or two?" he asked.
Andrea groaned, "I don't know. Food."
"She had her usual food plan that we came up with," Leo shook his head. "She did have ice cream though, from the mess hall."
M'Benga nodded, "I've had two cases this week that resulted from the dairy products in the mess hall."
"But I eat dairy all the time," she gasped, as Leo rubbed her belly. "I have to eat dairy! You put it in my meal plan!"
"The cheese and milk are fine, "M'Benga said. "But it seems that the products used for the ice cream, along with the bad batch of eggs that are being served, have caused a few issues."
Leo nodded, "We'll have to let Jim know," he said. "Can't have crewmembers coming down with another stomach virus again."
Andrea shifted against the pillows, "So what does that mean?" she asked. "I can't eat eggs and ice cream now?"
M'Benga and Leo exchanged looks, "I will test the stock we have now," M'Benga said, setting the PADD down. "But until then, I don't want you eating any dairy products. No cheese, milk, yogurt. Anything with dairy in it is out."
"But!" she started, before Leo silenced her with a stern glare.
"We will find something else for you to snack on," he said, as she pouted. "Andy, it's not the end of the world if you can't have a little ice cream."
"I'll give you a mild vaccine to counteract with the bacteria," M'Benga said, digging around in his med-kit. "I'll leave the extra hypo with you, Doctor McCoy. Make sure she takes it before bed."
Leo nodded as M'Benga administered the hypo, before setting the extra one down on the bed. "That should kick in shortly and I want you on fluids only for the next two to three days," he said, picking up his things. "Make sure to put some vitamin boosters into her water or soup and no getting out of bed, unless it's to use the bathroom or shower."
Andrea sighed, as Leo walked him to the doorway of their bedroom. "I will come by tomorrow to check on you," M'Benga said. "Feel better, Andrea."
Once he left, Leo came back into the bedroom with a cup of water. "Don't look so sad, Andy. It could've been a lot worse."
"Baby isn't even here and he's already being a brat," she mumbled, as he sat down next to her. "Who can I kill for serving bad dairy?"
Leo shook his head, "Andy, it happens," he moved the extra hypo to the nightstand. "Just lay back and relax for a while."
Andrea scooted down so Leo could cover her with the quilt, before pushing her hair back. "How's your level of pain? Is it still unbearable?" he asked.
She shook her head, "Just a dull ache," she mumbled. "Could you leave a trash bin near by just in case?" she asked.
Leo nodded, "I will," he promised, looking at the time. "Scotty should be here in an hour with the blueprints for the nursery. I'll call down to medical and tell them that I'll be up here for a while."
"Do you think Scotty can fix the replicator so it gives out non-rotten ice cream?" she asked, yawning.
"Scotty's good," he said, kissing her forehead. "But not that good, darlin'. Just do what M'Benga said and you'll have your ice cream soon."
…..
"You know," Leo said, as he sat down at the table in the messhall. "I really don't appreciate you sending pictures of ice cream to my pregnant wife, especially when she can't eat said ice cream."
Jim grinned, "Did you see that black cherry and almond one?" he asked, licking his lips. "Sounds really good!"
Leo rolled his eyes, "She cried all morning over those pictures," he said, poking around at the food on his dish. "Jim, I wouldn't laugh if I were you. She wants to kill you."
The Captain snorted, "Andy'll get over it," he shrugged. "M'Benga sent me the report and I've requested a new shipment of a dairy supplement to replace what we had to throw out. So she'll get her ice cream back by the end of the week."
"I'm tempted to cut her off from it," Leo admitted. "If we were home right now, that girl would be eating ice cream all damn day."
Jim snorted, "Pike would let her do it too," he picked up his glass. "You know she got that from him, eating ice cream like its going out of style."
Leo shook his head, "Well, he ain't here and I'm her husband," Leo said. "She's gonna have to deal with it. No damn ice cream until I say so."
"You tell her, Bones!" Jim nodded. "I can't wait to see the black eye she'll give you."
"That's nothing compared to the screaming match she tried to get into with Scotty," he shook his head. "Poor guy asked her a simple question about where to put the console in the nursery and she flipped out."
Jim snorted, "So that's why Scotty came by with a nice bottle of moonshine!" he shook his head. "I figured he had a bad day down in engineering."
Leo sighed, "She's becoming a monster," he groaned. "My little, sweet wife, has turned into a raging hormonal monster."
"Worse than Jocelyn?"
"She's getting there," Leo shook his head. "She was watching some movie the other night, you know, one of those sad ones. And she laughed like a maniac throughout the entire thing! Every single death scene had her rolling on the couch. I thought she was gonna laugh the damn baby out!"
Jim laughed, "You can't laugh a baby out!"
Leo rolled his eyes, "No shit, Sherlock!" he snapped. "This is why you're the Captain and I'm the CMO."
"Whatever Bones," Jim rolled his eyes. "Hey, how about you substitute the ice cream for cookies? Or, we can figure out a way to make Nyota's famous brownies! You know, the ones with the mini-chocolate chips in 'em?"
"I'll call her after her shift," he said, picking up his fork. "Until then, I want to get through this week and not have to hear my wife crying over pictures of ice cream," he shot Jim a warning look.
"Fine, fine," Jim laughed, holding up his hands. "I won't send anymore pictures of ice cream sundaes!"
…..
By the end of the week, when the diary supplements arrived, Andrea had moved on from ice cream. Instead, during her days stuck in bed, she searched through cooking websites and found various plates of mac and cheese. She programed the replicator in their room to make whatever it could, spitting out various plates. Leo managed to take control of her daily intake, from the kind of pasta and cheese supplement that was used, to the portion size.
Not caring that it was a small portion, Andrea gladly accepted her new favorite snack with a smile on her face. She even shared with Leo, which was something she refused to do when it was ice cream that held her heart.
"When we go home," she said, swallowing a forkful of bow-tie mac and cheese, "I am going to make all the mac and cheese in the world. I will use every type of pasta and every kind of cheese."
Leo snorted, "By the time we go home, you'll be over mac and cheese."
Andrea shook her head, "No way," she pierced the noodles with her fork. "My new best friend," she said, licking her lips.
Leo watched as she chewed slowly, "Mmm," she sighed. "You know, besides the fact that I'm carrying your child," she swallowed. "My favorite things about being pregnant are the sex and food."
He snorted as she continued, "I mean, this is probably the best sex I will have until I recover from pushing the kid out," she shrugged. "But the fact that I can eat like a pig and not give a fuck what anyone thinks?" My god! It's like, the best thing ever!"
The chime from the computer started going off, as Leo took a bite from her fork. "Hold that though," he said, getting up to accept the call from the other room. "And don't you dare order anymore!" he warned,
Once she was sure that Leo was busy on the vid-chat, Andrea went back to the replicator and ordered more mac and cheese, looking over her shoulder as the replicator beeped. Taking the bowl out, Andrea shuffled back to the sofa and sat down. Just as she picked up her fork, Leo stepped out into the living room.
When she saw the look on his face, Andrea quickly lowered the fork. "I didn't take much!" she exclaimed.
He blinked, "What?" he asked.
Andrea frowned, "What's wrong?" she asked, setting the bowl down on the table. "You look like you've seen a ghost."
Leo shook his head, "That was Jocelyn's attorney," he said, blinking.
She stood up, "What happened now?" she asked. "Did something happen to Jo? Did we mess up on the adoption papers?"
Leo shook his head, remaining silent. Andrea moved around the table and went over to him, placing her hands on his. "Baby, what happened?"
He cleared his throat, "Joss.." he shook his head. "Jocelyn's dead."
Andrea gasped, "What? How?" she asked.
"Car accident," he shook his head. "There was an ice storm in Atlanta last night and she was on the way to pick up Jo from my parents…"
Andrea covered her mouth, "Oh, Leo," she gasped. "I'm sorry."
He nodded, unable to think. "Come on," she said, wrapping her arm around him. "Lets sit down."
Leading him back to the sofa, Andrea carefully pushed him down onto the cushions, before taking a seat next to him, holding his hand in hers.
"Is Jo alright?" she asked.
"She's shaken up," he rubbed his hand across his face. "I have to go out there and talk to the lawyers. Jocelyn's attorney said that she changed her will and left Joanna in my care."
Andrea sighed, "Oh Leo.." she rested her forehead against his arm. "I'll call Jim. I think we're still close to a star base. I'm sure there's a ship heading back to planet side for a few days."
Leo nodded, "I'll call Pop," he said. "We'll have to pack up her stuff and transport it to San Francisco."
"Just focus on getting to Atlanta to see her," Andrea said, getting up. "Everything else will be settled after that."
He nodded again, "Oh god, Jo," he covered his face.
Andrea looked at her husband sadly, her heart breaking for his pain as well as Joanna's. While she never got along with Jocelyn, she was still Joanna's mother. And she was still the woman that Leo once loved, many years before he ever loved her.
"Hey," she said, sitting down on the table. "Come on, don't cry. Jo can't see you like this when you call her," she said, wiping his face with her hands. "You gotta be strong for her."
Leo nodded, "You're right," he said, wiping his face.
"I'll stay with you when you call her," she said. "IF you want me to."
He nodded, "Please?" he asked. "I don't think I can do it alone."
Andrea nodded, "You don't have to, Leo," she said, squeezing his hand in hers.
She then stood up and started towards the bedroom, before Leo's hand on hers stopped her. Turning around, she looked down at him.
"Thank you," he said quietly. "I don't know what I would do without you."
Andrea nodded and leaned down to kiss his cheek, "Ditto," she replied, before letting his hand go.
