Disclaimer: I do not own 21 Jump Street or its characters. They belong to Stephen J. Cannell and Patrick Hasburgh. I'm just borrowing them.

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Chapter 29

"Jude!" Tom tossed his keys on the table by the door before heading to the kitchen. He opened the refrigerator and got a juice box out. "Jude!" He yelled again as he stuck the straw into the tiny hole before pausing in curiosity. Hanson shut the door, set the juice down on the counter and hurried through the house until coming to a sudden halt at the sight of Rachel standing against the wall and Judy sitting on the bed with her back facing him. Tom stood in the doorway of his bedroom watching Judy attempt to paint her toes. Rachel turned her head to greet him, but he quickly put his finger to his lips in a 'shushing' manner. Judy propped her foot up on a small table that she placed at the edge of the bed as she maneuvered her head around trying to figure out her next strategy.

"Judy, just let me paint them for you." Rachel folded her arms and leaned her left shoulder against the wall as the tip of her right tennis shoe pounded the floor behind her like a jack hammer in slow motion.

"Just give me a minute and push me up if I start to tip over." Judy rolled her eyes. "Again"

"(Sigh) Alright" Rachel impatiently agreed. "But, I don't understand how you're going to paint something you can't see." She threw her hand forward while the other one remained clamped onto her opposite arm. "Much less reach."

"I'm going off of memory….okay?" Judy sarcastically replied before frowning at the uncomfortable cramping she was having in her back and then above her pelvis forcing her to wait before making another attempt. "There's another one." She glanced at Rachel as Rachel studied her watch and calculated the time between this contraction and the last one. Judy tried to stretch her arm around her stomach to get to her foot, but she started to fall sideways again. Rachel rushed to prop her up, but Judy used every ounce of upper body strength she had to keep her self in an upright position. Rachel held her hands behind Judy like a safety net until she saw that Judy was stable before reclaiming her stance against the wall. "See" Judy proudly gloated. "I got this."

"Uh…huh" Rachel nodded as she whipped her long straight black ponytail around to glance at Hanson who was struggling to hold his laugh.

Judy's stomach had grown so much that her legs naturally opened wide enough to allow her belly to drop in between them. She tried using a different tactic, but she couldn't stretch her arms over the basketball shape that her tummy had taken on to get to her foot. The simple task of painting her toes had become another impossible feat that was leaving her breathless. Tom closed his eyes for a second in an attempt to control himself as he leaned his shoulder against the doorway.

"You tried…and you can't do it." Rachel placed her hands at her hips and tapped front of her foot on the floor in frustration. "Now, let me paint them for you." She held out her hand.

"I know that I can't" Judy snapped. "There are a lot of everyday things that I can't do anymore. Just humor me on this one….please?" She pleaded. "I'm not trying to paint them all, I just want to touch one toe and mark it as a sign that I did it with a basketball in my stomach." Judy made one last attempt to get to her foot from the side, causing her to finally fall backwards in exhaustion. She caught an upside down glimpse of her man snickering at her crazy attempts to do something that used to be so easy.

"That… was fun." Tom burst out in laughter as he strolled over to the edge of the bed to stand in front of her. He pushed her form fitting t-shirt up just slightly to kiss her protruding belly on one side and then the other side before sliding her shirt back down over her. "Do you want some help now?" He crawled on top of the bed to lie beside her, giving her a short, but loving kiss on her soft lips. He reached behind him to get two pillows. She lifted her head, so he could slide her pillow under her. After that he rested his head on his pillow and gazed at her in amusement while moving his hand around her very pregnant tummy. "Or do you want to continue your workout?" He smiled as he brushed the stray hairs out of her face.

"Shut up" Judy laughed. "I can't see my feet, but I thought that if I could just get to one. I would feel like I've accomplished something today." Tom pulled Judy's arm toward him to help her roll over to her side to relieve the pain of lying on her back. "I've been on bed rest for eight weeks and it's making me a little stir crazy!" She exclaimed as Tom smiled in empathy.

"Me too." Rachel smirked as she bent over Judy. "I need some caffeine after dealing with you." She wiggled her fingers at Judy. "And your silly little toes." She looked at Tom. "Hi" She abruptly greeted him.

He fought to suppress a chuckle as he raised his fingers next to his face and moved them in a crawling wave. "Hiii"

Rachel squinted her eyes at Judy in frustration. "I'll paint them when I get back." She slowly rose to stand erect before leaving the room.

Judy and Tom laughed after Rachel left the room. "She's not going to make it another five weeks." Tom pointed his thumb in the direction of the door while still maintaining eye contact with Judy.

"Me either." Judy scoffed. "I'm too tired, miserable, and in pain to feel like doing anything, and when I don't do anything I feel useless."

"You are accomplishing something every moment of the day." Tom lightly ran his fingers from her temple to her chin. "You're giving life to the most important things we've ever created."

"When you put it that way…" Judy smiled proudly. "What are you doing home? I thought you and Doug had a buy set up for this afternoon."

"We do, I told him to meet me here….Since he has to bring Clavo over here anyway." He gently stroked the side of her tummy. Tom relished every kick that he felt. Every movement underneath his hand made his chest swell with pride. "Besides, I wanted to spend a few minutes alone with my beautiful wife." He sweetly answered as he grinned at her.

She bashfully smiled in return. "You were worried."

"A little" His cheeks vanished into dimples as he put his finger close to his thumb. "How are you feeling?" Tom raised his brows.

"Alright…I had a little burst of energy, but other than that it's been the same 'ol thing….eat, sleep and pee." Judy smiled as she ran her fingers through Tom's hair. "Don't worry daddy, we're fine."

"I saw your little burst of energy." He chuckled.

She laughed as she held her arm out. "Will you help me up kind sir?"

He helped her into a sitting position. She started sliding off of the bed and onto her feet. Hanson helped her to the bathroom. "How far apart are your contractions?"

"Rachel's keeping track of them and she won't let me look at the clock and she won't tell me." She shouted from their bathroom. "She said that I'll start obsessing over them and that will just speed them up…..but, if I had to guess maybe an hour and a half to two hours."

"They're getting closer together." He stood outside of the restroom with his back to the wall beside the doorway waiting to assist her. "I'll call the doctor."

"Hanson, that's just a guess…" Judy felt an unusual twinge of discomfort and burning that started in her lower back and shot forward in waves for about thirty seconds as she washed her hands. She stared in the mirror for a second, but thought a baby hit a nerve. Since it didn't feel like a normal contraction to her. "I don't know for sure."

"I'll ask Rach when she comes back." Hanson saw her emerge from the door. He helped her out of the bathroom and back onto the bed. He sat on the small table and placed her foot on top of the towel that was draped across his thigh. "I'm going to attempt this." He took a deep breath. "And I have to say" He exhaled as he looked at her feet. "This is the first time that I'm happy you can't see your feet."

Judy giggled. "Rachel can do it for me if you….." Judy propped herself up with one hand on the bed behind her as the other hand caressed her belly.

"Nah" He cut her off as he flung his arms out before grabbing the bottle. "I can do it…. just don't tell Penhall." He rocked his head side to side as he opened the bottle. "Or Booker…Fuller…Mac" He cleared his throat. "As a matter of fact, let's just keep this between us." He whispered.

"Okay" She watched him carefully dip the brush into the raspberry tinted nail polish and then press the brush against the top of the bottle as the excess from one side of the brush flowed and then dripped back into the bottle. She let out a small giggle at the feeling of the cold polish against her nail as he repositioned his hand on her foot, so he could carefully paint each nail like it was going to be examined for accuracy later. "I had this strange pain in the bathroom."

"Like?" He continued to carefully paint.

"I don't know." Judy frowned in thought. "I'm not sure what it was. Like maybe a nerve was hit?"

"Do you think we need to call the doctor?" Tom briefly shifted his eyes up to Judy as he lightly blew on her toes.

"God, I have the sexiest husband on the planet." Judy was too busy gazing at Hanson to hear what he just said.

Tom let out a small laugh as he looked at her in amazement. "Baby, answer my…"

"Your mom's back from the store." Rachel announced on her way back into the room with a half eaten banana in one hand and a can of soda and an apple in the other. "I brought this for you." She handed the apple to Judy.

"Thanks" Judy smiled.

"Judy, do we need to call the doctor, or what?" Hanson raised his voice in irritation.

"No!" Judy fired back. "Baby, you don't have to yell…I'm sitting right here." She pointed downward.

Judy giggled as Tom scowled at her. "You just wait until we get the 'all clear' again." He playfully warned.

"Looking forward to it Thomas!" She flirtatiously challenged him.

"Just answer the question Judith." He licked his lips and smiled that sexy smile that made her give in to whatever he wanted.

She cleared her throat to help her focus. She had to remind herself there would be no playtime for them for awhile. "I already told you…No." She leaned back on her arm. "Our next appointment is in three days." She started to use her fingers on her opposite hand to count. "I'm on bed rest, I've been taking my meds, I'm staying hydrated, and we only have four weeks and a few days left."

"I'm monitoring her, and if she has contractions that get to be under an hour. We'll go and have her checked out." Rachel was getting more worried than she was letting on since the last three contractions that she knew about had been under two hours which meant they were getting closer together. She had been waiting for the opportunity to tell Tom without worrying or upsetting Judy for fear the stress of thinking she was delivering early would definitely send her into early labor. "Don't worry." She gave Judy a once over. "She'll be fine."

"You sure?" Hanson looked over at Rachel.

"Uh…huh" Rachel purposely positioned herself to stand in Judy's blind spot nervously swaying with her hands folded across her chest as she subtly kicked her head in the direction of the door to let Tom know she needed to speak with him. He nodded in acknowledgment.

"Tom!" Mrs. Hoffs called out as she entered the bedroom. "Doug's here."

"Thanks,….I'll be out in a sec." Tom peeked around Judy and smiled. "Let me finish this last one." He studied his work to make sure he stayed on the nail without getting any polish on her skin.

"Is it time?" Delores nervously asked.

"No," Hanson quickly answered. "No?" He looked at Judy as she shook her head. "No, I'm just giving her a quick pedicure."

Delores moved in real close to Rachel as Rachel lowered herself to Delores' height. "Is he serious?"

"Yep" Rachel bounced her head. "It's a shame he doesn't have a brother isn't it?"

"Or a clone…a much older clone." She shook her head in disbelief as she whispered. "Mm…mm…mmpf…with as much time as he spends on the phone with my husband, you'd think some of that would rub off." Delores added as she turned to leave the room and Rachel followed close behind.

Rachel and Delores laughed. "It hasn't rubbed off on Doug either." Rachel whispered back before greeting Penhall. "But, I'm still hopeful." She confessed as Doug gave them a suspicious look.

Tom screwed the brush back onto the bottle of polish. "Baby, I have to go, but…." He placed his hand on top of her tummy.

"If I need anything, call you." She quickly answered as he helped her sit back against the headboard while a mountain of pillows supported and cushioned her back. "The bag is by the door, you already filled out the paperwork at the hospital, but just in case they lost it the other admittance form is sticking out of the side pocket of the duffel bag, if I think it's time…." She continued to rattle off his instructions just like they'd rehearsed everyday since she was hospitalized eight weeks ago for having real contractions. They prescribed Judy bed rest, little to no unnecessary stimulation, and medications used to slow the contractions down in an effort to keep her pregnant as long as possible. "Call you, and then leave the house, and you'll meet me at the hospital." She lifted a brow as she waited for him to say something. "Did I forget anything?" Her eyes shifted up and thought before meeting her eyes with his as he placed a fist on each side of her while seeking out her lips. He lightly brushed his lips with hers. "We can't…." She tried to speak, but he captured her lips and kissed her sensually for a few minutes. Judy released a small moan before stopping as the feeling of a strong cramp hit her hard and fast in a wave of pain starting in her back and spreading to the front. Judy grabbed Hanson's sweater at the shoulder and buried her head in his chest as she rode it out.

"Are you okay?" He asked as she nodded. Hanson slowly pulled away from her. "I'm going to stay."

"That…that was just us. That's why we can't…" Judy bit her lip and sighed. "Even if we could." Judy smiled as Tom moved his hand around her belly to help calm the chaos going on in there. "Tom, go back to work….I'm fine." She reassured him as the pain subsided.

"Are you sure?" His brows narrowed in concern. "Because I can call…"

"Go…Rachel's here and so is my mom." She picked up her crossword puzzle. "Go catch the bad guy." She calmly encouraged him, but he kept stalling as long as he could. Tom didn't want to leave her, even though she had been having uneventful contractions for eight weeks. He made sure that Judy had someone with her around the clock just in case she went into labor while he was at work. His mom spent the first month with her and now her mom was here for the duration. Rachel was sweet enough to come over on her days off. Although, he knew she wouldn't be alone…he still couldn't bring himself to leave her again today.

"This collar shouldn't take long." He bent over to talk into Judy's stomach. "Be good for Mommy while I'm gone." His face lit up as the movement under his hand increased slightly with the limited space that was left. "Daddy loves you too."

Judy placed her hand under his chin to lift his head to look at her. "I love you." She smiled, shifted her eyes and tilted her head in the direction of the door. "Now, go away."

"(Sigh)Alright…alright…I'm going." He pivoted at the hip to reach her lips again and quickly kissed her. "I love you, baby." He added before leaving her there with her crossword puzzle and the remote to the T.V.

Tom entered the living room on his way out the door. He waited for Doug and Rachel to finish their short conversation. "What's up?" He turned to Rachel as he secured his weapon and grabbed his badge.

"Tom, I've been watching her all day and I think we need to take her in." Rachel's perfectly arched eyebrows were steeped in concern. "Her blood pressure has been progressively high, and I haven't been very successful at keeping it down, she's swollen, and the meds she's been taking to slow the contractions since she was 28 weeks is starting to become less and less effective." Rachel dropped her hands to her thighs. "I think her contractions are getting stronger. But, I think she's chalking them up to normal, because she can talk through them and she's been having them for so long….She's had three in under two hours, but before that…."

"There've been two hours or more between them." Hanson nodded as he gently scratched his left jaw with his right thumb as he shifted his weight. "Are you counting the one in the bathroom?" Hanson asked.

Rachel put her right hand on her left shoulder and gently massaged it. "No…that's four in about two hours."

"She had another one a few minutes ago." Hanson scanned the room in thought. "It was definitely stronger than the others have been."

"That's five." Rachel and Hanson shared a knowing look.

"What's on your mind, Ray-Ray?" Doug asked Rachel as he dropped his head in concern before rotating it to look at her. "Do we need to take her to the hospital now or what?"

"I want to." Rachel looked to Tom for confirmation. "How long will the bust take?"

"Not long." Penhall turned to Tom who seemed to be concentrating on his keys as he processed what she just told him. Tom's head started spinning as fear and anxiety rapidly swept through his body under the façade of calm. "What do you think?" Doug nudged him.

Tom exhaled as he lifted his head and rocked on his heels once while dropping his keys to his side. "I have to make sure they're taken care of first." He confessed as he went over to pick up the phone and started dialing. "Mac" Hanson answered as he walked away to finish his conversation.

"You sure about this?" Worry started to wash over Doug's face as his brows narrowed.

"Yeah, sweetie….I am" Rachel nodded as she stepped closer to hug him. She took a deep breath as he hugged her back. "I just hope everything comes out okay."

"It will." Doug pulled away from her enough to look into her eyes while keeping her in his embrace. "You did good" He saw the uncertainty in her eyes. "I love you, you know that right?"

"Of course….I love you too." Rachel kissed him sweetly. "I'm going to help Judy get ready." She smiled as she left him and disappeared into the hallway.

After several minutes, Hanson came back into the room. "Mac's going with you to make the collar." Tom noticed the curious look on Doug's face and Hanson quickly shook his head and waved his hand. "Go over that with him, at this point I don't care how it goes down….just make sure it's clean." Tom cleared his throat. "Mac's going to meet you at the Chapel in the meantime he's calling Ioki and Booker and filling them in. Fuller's picking up my mom and then he's coming back here to get Jude's mom and Clavo." He hit Doug in the side of his arm. "Just make sure you come straight to the hospital after you're done." Hanson didn't want to show Penhall how much he wanted him there for support, but Doug could see it on his face.

"Definitely" Doug agreed as he looked up trying not to get emotional. "I have to keep you from driving Jude crazy." His eyes shifted downward as he shrugged.

"Yeah" Hanson ran his fingers through his hair. "Mom!" Hanson yelled as he threw Judy's bag on the couch and unzipped it to check the contents once more to make sure everything was in there.

"What's going on?" Delores looked around not sure what to think yet as Clavo followed her into the room.

"We think Jude's in labor." Hanson explained.

"It's still too early." Delores started to get a little shaky as Tom walked over to her and hugged her.

"Everthing's going to be okay. We think it's because of her blood pressure. Rach can't keep it down and she says that it keeps increasing. We're just going as precaution." Hanson spoke quietly as he comforted her. He just wished his words could calm the churning pain he was feeling in his stomach like something wasn't right. "I want you to call Dad and let him know what's going on so, he can get a flight out. Fuller will be here in a little while to pick you and Clav up and take you to the hospital." He pulled away from her when he heard her sniffle. "Mom" He smiled as she made eye contact with him. "Cheer up" He gently tapped her chin. "You're gonna be a grandmother."

Delores smiled as Tom slung the bag over his shoulder. "Tom?" She pulled his sweater at the arm as he looked back at her. "Take care of them."

"Always do." Hanson winked before turning his attention to the hallway as he watched Judy waddle into the room. "You ready to do this?"

Judy had one hand nestled in the crook of her lower back for support and the other was draped across the top of her belly. "They're just going to laugh us out of there and send us home."

"I hope your right." Hanson kissed her on the forehead as he helped her out of the door. "But, I don't think you are." He mumbled.