Chapter Twenty-Eight


Chasity had no more scares while hospitalized and had been released from the hospital after a three day stay. She was back home and resting comfortably. Unfortunately, due to Kaleb's unplanned, and thankfully unsuccessful attempt at an early arrival, she and Jon had spent Christmas in the hospital. Therefore Jon had gotten his wish. No tree for Christmas; at least, this year. Part of Chasity was disappointed she wasn't able to have a traditional Christmas and get a Christmas Tree, but the other, more rational part of her was just glad she was still pregnant because it was still way too early for Kaleb to make his entrance into the world.

Upon here release from the hospital, Doctor Mitchel had placed her on strict bed rest. She was only allowed to get up to use the bathroom and then she was to get right back into bed and keep her feet elevated.


While Jon was on the road, Tara – who Chasity had called as soon as she'd gotten the chance while in the hospital – had agreed to stay with her and make sure she had whatever it was she needed. Doctor Mitchel had said this could last the rest of her pregnancy, or it could be a temporary thing that may only last a few weeks, but either way it was what was best for Kaleb right now. So while Chasity absolutely despised it, she would do it because Kaleb's life depended on it.

While he was away, Jon was calling and/or texting once every hour; or every other hour if he got busy in the ring or at the gym, to make sure she was doing what she was supposed to. She had only been home two days and already he was driving Chasity up a wall. She understood his concern, but there was no need for a phone call once every hour or two. If something were to happen, Tara would contact him; that's what she was there for, after all.

Hearing her text tone go off Chasity knew without looking at her phone that it was Jon. She let out a frustrated grunt and Tara – who was now standing in the bedroom door way – chuckled. "You know he's only concerned about you and Kaleb. I know it's annoying, but know that he's doing it out of love." Chasity nodded as she quickly typed a response out on her keyboard.

"I know, but that doesn't make it any less annoying." Chasity put her phone down on the night table beside her. "As much as he hates technology, I have moments where I hate it just as much, and I wish I could just put my phone down and ignore it for a while. It'll help me relax a lot if I can just ignore the phone, but if I ignore it, and it's him – and chances are it will be because he's not giving it a read – he'll start calling your phone thinking that something's wrong," Chasity said as she leaned her head back against her pillows that were propped up behind her back against the wall. Tara chuckled.

"Alright, I have an idea. Give me your phone," Tara said. Chasity looked at her like she was insane.

"What are you going to do with it," she asked as she handed the electronic gadget over to her.

"I'm not going to do anything with it. You just rest like you're supposed to, and I'll handle your phone and Jon for a while. This way he's getting the satisfaction of knowing you're fine, and you're getting the rest and relaxation you so desperately want and need," Tara said, nodding as she dropped the phone into her pants pocket.

"Well, you had your 'genius' moment for the day," Chasity joked.

"Haha, very funny," Tara responded in mock sarcasm. "Now, for the actual reason I came in here, are you hungry? I was going to make some lunch, but I wanted to see if you wanted anything first," she inquired.

"Lunch sounds good, sure. What are you planning," Chasity questioned. Tara shrugged.

"I'm not too sure. I was just going to see if I could find anything that interested me, but if you can think of anything specific you're in the mood for, I can make that," Tara said, as more of a question. Chasity contemplated what she said as they heard her phone's text tone go off again, causing her to roll her eyes as Tara laughed and fished it from her pocket. Unlocking the phone Tara laughed as the text.

"What did he say now," Chasity questioned, curious as to why her friend was laughing.

"He wants to know what you're doing to keep yourself occupied..." Chasity rolled her eyes again.

"There isn't much you can do on bed rest. Duh!" Before Tara could respond the phone pinged again, signaling he'd sent yet another message. Tara read it and gasped a bit.

"Oh dear. I guess I should inform him that I have control of your phone." Chasity's brow furrowed.

"Why, now what did he say?" Tara shook her head.

"He umm…" She trailed off. "Oh man, he uhh…" She wasn't sure how to spit it out.

"He what, Tar?"

"Well, he uhh…" Tara coughed. "He basically asked if you wanted to sext with him because he's got nothing better to do at the moment," Tara mumbled. Chasity laughed.

"Oh Jon," Chasity chuckled. The horrified look on Tara's face was too comical not to laugh at. "Seriously, only he would think about that while I'm stuck on bed rest," she said shaking her head. "Yeah, just tell him I'm taking a nap or something," Chasity told her. Tara nodded and quickly responded to Jon letting him know it's her and that Chasity was napping.

"Alright, so back to the other conversation at hand, anything specific you want for lunch," Tara questioned, quickly locking Chasity's phone and re-pocketing as she attempted to forget about the conversation with Jon. Chasity shrugged.

"A grilled cheese sounds good." Tara nodded.

"Grilled cheese it is then. I'll bring it back to you as soon as it's ready," Tara told her, leaving the bedroom as Chasity got comfortable and started reading a book.


Chasity was halfway through another chapter of her book when Tara came back into the room with a tray holding a grilled cheese sandwich, a bowl of tomato soup and a cup of homemade unsweetened ice tea. "Lunch is served," she announced, placing the tray down over top of Chasity's legs. "I'm not sure how great it's going to taste because I'm not the best cook, but at least I made it so it was edible," Tara shrugged. Chasity laughed as she placed a bookmark in her page of the book and set it aside on the night table as she eyed the sandwich and soup on the tray before her.

"Looks yummy to me," she said grabbing the sandwich and taking a bite. Chewing she swallowed before using the spoon she scooped a mouthful of the soup into her mouth as she nodded her head. "Tastes good, too. You have nothing to worry about, girl," Chasity assured her. Tara smiled.

"Thanks for the reassurance." Chasity shrugged.

"Hey, what are friends for? I mean, you're here making sure I don't have to get out of bed while I'm on bed rest. The least I can do is eat your cooking and like it," Chasity said. "And if I don't like it, I'll just choke it down and fake it. I'm pretty good at that," Chasity joked, winking and laughing. Tara shook her head and chuckled.

"That's not funny," Tara mumbled around a bite of her sandwich. Chasity smirked.

"Oh, it's not? Then why'd you laugh?" Tara glared at her playfully.

"I'm sure Jon wouldn't find that funny," she retorted.

"Sure he would because he knows it's not directed at him," Chasity smiled, taking another bite out of her sandwich.

"Are you sure he knows he satisfies you," Tara questioned. Chasity nodded.

"Trust me, he knows," she assured her, but Tara didn't looked very convinced, so Chasity proceeded to convince her. "The night before I went to the hospital, right after we finished decorating and you left, we had fun with strawberries, chocolate syrup and whipped cream… twice… on the living room floor." Tara's eyes bugged out of her head as Chasity smirked. "And our first night together, after I finally got him to cave, we wound up going three rounds." Tara shook her head and held her hands up over her ears.

"Okay, okay, you've made your point. My poor ears," Tara exclaimed. Chasity laughed.

"And I think that text he sent earlier should have been plenty of proof, but we won't talk about that," Chasity laughed as Tara squeezed her hands harder over her ears.

"I said no more, Chas. Please stop!"

"Alright, alright, I'll stop," Chasity said, holding her hands up in an 'I surrender' manner. "But on a serious note, did he say anything else after that?" Tara shook her head.

"Not really, just said to have you text or call him when you woke up." Chasity nodded.

"I should probably get back to him soon, or he's gonna start to worry," Chasity said. "But let's finish lunch first, then I'll worry about getting back to him." Tara nodded in agreement as the girls went back to their sandwiches and soup.


Once Tara had the lunch mess cleaned up and Chasity was comfortable in bed again, Tara gave her back her phone. "Get ahold of your man before he starts blowing up both our phones worrying that I lied to him, or something," she said. They got halfway through their lunch when Chasity's phone had started going off incessantly. Just as she had suspected, Jon was clearly beginning to worry. While his concern was endearing, it was also quite annoying. In the midst of lunch, her phone had gotten so annoying, Tara flipped it on to silent mode just to shut the ring tone up, so they could eat in peace.

"Yeah, let me put his mind at ease before he has to go into a match and gets hurt or something," Chasity said, unlocking her phone and reading the last message he had sent. She rolled her eyes. "Texting isn't going to work, so let me call him so he can hear my voice. At least then he'll know I'm definitely fine by the lack of pain in my voice," she said, hitting send on his contact information.

Tara nodded before leaving the room. She decided to go tidy up the rest of the apartment while Chasity was on the phone with Jon. She was here to help her friend out, not invade her privacy and eaves drop on her phone conversations with her boyfriend.


Jon's phone started ringing and he dove halfway across the locker room just to get to it. Joe and Colby both gave him looks that said 'you are absolutely insane,' but Jon didn't care. He was worried about his girlfriend and son, so he had a right to be insane right now. Seeing Chasity's name displayed on the screen he quickly answered the phone. "Chas? Where the hell have you been? And don't tell me napping because I know that would be a lie. You never nap for more than two hours," Jon shouted.

"Yeah about that, I wasn't napping at all. I was reading a book and relaxing. Tara told you I was napping because you're driving me insane and stressing me out, and I told her to tell you I was napping," Chasity admitted. "I get that you're worried about me and Kaleb, really I do, but checking in every hour or so is not helping me; it's only stressing me out. If something happens, Tara will notify you. That's one of the reasons she's here, after all."

"But I told you I was going to check in every few hours, or so. It's not like I surprised you with these check-ins; they're not random," Jon said.

"Yes Jon, every few hours, or so. A few is actually equal to three, and 'or so' doesn't mean it has to be less than one. You know sometimes I hate technology almost as much as you do, and I just want put my phone down and ignore it, so texting me every couple hours, after a while, starts to aggravate me. I want to be able to put my phone down and ignore it sometimes," she repeated, trying to get him to understand. "But with you, I can't do that because if I do, you'll start calling Tara thinking something is wrong. If something happens, Tara will call and notify you. I promise. But otherwise, try to cut back on the calls and texts to like every five or six hours, please," Chasity almost begged.

Jon could hear the stress lacing her voice and realized what she was saying was true. He didn't want to stress her out; that was never his intention. "Okay, you're right. I'm sorry. I just want to make sure you guys are okay. I hate being away from you while this is going on," Jon admitted. Chasity smiled.

"I get that, and I know you do, but stressing me out isn't going to help the situation anymore."

"Alright, how about this, I'll text you every four hours and call you once in the morning after I get up to say good morning, and once at night before I go to bed to say good night." Chasity nodded.

"Okay that I think I can deal with, and if not I'll be sure to let you know and we'll come up with another plan. And like I said, if anything happens between texts and calls, Tara will call you. I'll make sure of it," Chasity promised.

"Okay, deal," Jon agreed. "Now, aside from my unintentional stressing, how has your day been?" Chasity chuckled.

"I'm on bed rest. How do you think it's been?" Jon saw her point. It sounded pretty boring, so he could only imagine how boring it truly was.

"I'm sorry it's been a sucky day, but just remember you're doing this for Kaleb." Chasity nodded.

"Yup, that's what I keep reminding myself, and he helps remind me every time he moves and I remember if he had been born he'd be in the NICU hooked up to tubes and needles right now instead of beneath my hand kicking it."

"There we go, just keep thinking about that if it helps you get through this." Chasity smiled.

"I am and will."


After they hung up, Chasity went back to reading her book and after she got sick of that she started playing games on her iPad until dinner time when Tara brought in her dinner, so she put it away to eat dinner and converse some more with her friend.


Once dinner was finished, Tara helped her get ready for bed, and then Chasity started watching TV until Jon called to say goodnight. Shortly after that, she dozed off for the night, hoping tomorrow would go just as smoothly as today. Each day Kaleb remained in utero was another successful day toward making their goal of thirty-seven weeks. If they could get passed that, it would be even better. So every boring day she had to endure in bed may be long, but she would endure it as long as she had to because it was another perfect day of keeping Kaleb happy and healthy.