Thanks for the reviews for the last chapter. This is the last of the "birth series" chapters, I hope you enjoy!
Alison McCord swallowed thickly as she looked at the forms that had been placed in front of her by Dr Clarke.
"...and this one is for Lola's Social Security Number..." the doctor continued as Alison became more and more overwhelmed with the weight of taking on the legal responsibility for her daughter. The most official form she'd signed until today had been her driving licence! Now she was completing insurance papers, birth records, hospital forms, Social Security paperwork...the list seemed endless and her mind swam.
Lola's jaundice had stabilised overnight and both Dr Clarke and Dr Mitchell were happy to release her daughter and she, with the instruction that Lola be placed in sunlight to help her body process the toxins that were causing the jaundice. The news had come at 7am and it was now 8.25am and she was getting ready to leave the hospital to hopefully make her exam, although exactly how well she would do she had now idea. Her dad had brought the car seat in yesterday and Lola was strapped in and covered by a blanket as she slept soundly. She'd been lucky enough to take another shower whilst her parents watched Lola and the hospital prepared the relevant papers earlier this morning, now all she had to do was sign them and she'd be free. She gratefully accepted the pen that Dr Clarke handed her and dutifully signed in all the places the doctor indicated.
"Well, that's it. Congratulations Alison, you're all discharged!" Dr Clarke announced. "I'll see you in a week for your check up"
"Thanks" Alison replied, relief evident in her tone. She took one last look around her room and a wave of sadness washed over her. So much had happened in the room over the past 36 hours. She'd learnt how to breastfeed her daughter and change her nappy. She'd learnt how to bathe her and dress her. And it was in this room that her daughter had been named. Part of her felt bittersweet and sad to be leaving, the other part of her just wanted to get home and settled with Lola. Gingerly she moved from her bed, wincing as she felt the bruises tug in her nether regions - how she was going to sit for the next 3 hours to do an exam she had no idea.
"Ready?" she asked her mum.
"Yep" Elizabeth replied enthusiastically as she picked up the baby carrier, suddenly remembering just how heavy and bulky they were. Henry was riddled with guilt that he couldn't be here to take his granddaughter home but unfortunately he was busy with exams himself today too - setting them rather than taking them though. Elizabeth was still officially 'working from home to be with her daughter in the late stages of pregnancy' and was on babysitting duty whilst Alison took her exam. She could not wait to spend some quality time with her granddaughter, even if Lola had kept her awake for best part of the past 48 hours.
"Ma'am, we've had some reports of paparazzi in the hospital so we're sending a decoy motorcade to the front of the hospital whilst we exit underground" Matt informed his charges seriously.
Elizabeth nodded in confirmation and together the McCord women with the DS agents moved towards the door of the room, a nurse suddenly appearing with a wheelchair.
"Oh, we're just leaving" Alison explained to the nurse.
"Sorry, it's protocol" the nurse stated apologetically. "We have to wheel all the discharges out"
"No way!" Alison exclaimed in an annoyed tone "I'm fine to walk".
"Sorry, Alison. The nurse is right, it's hospital policy I'm afraid" Dr Clarke agreed in an apologetic tone.
"Fine!" Alison huffed as she reluctantly sat in the chair. It was now 8.35am and she needed to be at her college in the next 35 minutes for exam registration.
The small group made their way through the hospital and Alison felt her cheeks heat in embarrassment as their group attracted attention from the people they passed. Luckily the hospital administrator greeted them at the elevator and gave them priority access to the basement car park so at least they didn't have to stop on every floor of the hospital to be gawked at as the elevator doors opened. As they exited the main hospital into the basement car park she felt cool, fresh air hit her face, and despite the whiff of petrol that she could detect, the breeze felt lovely and refreshing on her face having spent nearly 2 days in an air-conditioned room with recycled air.
She was the first to get into the SUV and then one of the DS agents kindly lifted in the car seat before her mum got into the vehicle. Together the two elder McCords made sure the car seat was safely strapped in before they themselves secured their seat belts and departed the hospital. Despite the bumps Lola continued to sleep soundly and Alison couldn't take her eyes off her peacefully sleeping daughter. Already she looked different from when she was first born, her head had rounded out and wasn't cone shaped anymore. Alison was oblivious as the motorcade started moving and was startled when she heard her mum's voice.
"We're here, Noodle"
Alison looked up in surprise to see they had reached her community college. Nervousness and anxiety washed over her and she felt tears spring to her eyes.
"What's the matter, Ali?" her mum asked with concern.
"How am I supposed to leave her?" Alison sobbed as she looked down at her perfect daughter. The 2 hours Lola had been gone for tests when she was first born had felt like an eternity, now she was leaving her for 3 hours! Voluntarily too!
Elizabeth smiled sympathetically at her daughter recalling all too well the anxiety of leaving her children for the first time.
"It's going to be ok, Noodle" Elizabeth reassured.
"But what if she needs me?" Alison sobbed as she looked tearfully up at her mother.
"She's going to be fine. I've got the colostrum you expressed earlier in case she gets hungry and we're just going to go home and hang out before coming to pick you up in a few short hours" Elizabeth comforted.
"But what if something happens?" Alison asked in a distressed tone.
"Nothing is going to happen" Elizabeth replied in a confident tone. "I have done this before and Lola is surrounded by the finest DS agents this country has to offered" she added in a joking tone, to which Alison shot her a devastated look.
Elizabeth sighed heavily. "I know it's tough, Noodle, but everything really is going to be ok. You've worked so hard over the past few months now go and make yourself, and your daughter, proud. I've got this" she encouraged in a serious tone.
Alison looked down at her daughter. She wanted Lola to be proud of her and she wanted to show her that anything was possible if you put your mind to it. Her exam today was the start of that.
"Ok" she croaked as she wiped the tears from her eyes. "It's just a few hours, right?"
"Right, just a few hours and you can see her again. Good luck, Noodle" Elizabeth wished her daughter as she tenderly tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear. "You're going to do great".
Alison shot her mother a watery smile before nodding to the DS agent who immediately opened the door for her.
"Bye Lola, love you" she called to her daughter as she exited the vehicle.
Elizabeth watched with pride as her daughter entered the college building. Sitting an exam less than 48 hours after giving birth was admirable and she was so proud of Alison for what she was trying to achieve, she just hoped the exam went well and Alison got the grade she deserved.
"Your mother is amazing, do you know that Lola?" she cooed to her granddaughter, before a vibration in her pocket garnered her attention. She read the text and let out a heavy sigh at what she read.
"Matt, there's been a change of plans..."
Elizabeth McCord confidently strode along the corridors of the White House as she headed towards the situation room.
"What's going on?" she demanded as she entered the room, noting the military commanders and Chiefs of Staffs that currently occupied the room.
"About two hours ago we were given intel indicating the terrorists who were responsible for the bombing in Cancun back in January are holed up in a abandoned town in Algeria. Now we've...what's that?" Russell Jackson demanded mid-flow as he suddenly noticed the item in the Secretary of State's hand.
Elizabeth looked down at the baby carrier before looking back up at Russell and stating the obvious.
"It's my granddaughter" she replied as she heaved the baby carrier onto the long table.
"She can't be in here" he stated in an obvious tone.
Elizabeth looked at the President's Chief of Staff incredulously "Excuse me?"
"You need to get her out of here, she's a distraction"
"She's sleeping, how exactly is she distracting anyone?"
"And this is a matter of national security..."
"You've got to be kidding me! She's not even 48 hours old, Russell! I doubt she's going to be selling our secrets to the Russians!"
"It's not protocol..."
"Alright..." President Dalton placated as he held up his hand to silence his Chief of Staff and Secretary of State. Whilst Russell was technically correct that the newborn did not have security clearance and could potentially cause a distraction, he had worked with Bess long enough to know that she could multi-task. Hell, his office in the CIA had practically become a second bedroom for Stevie and Alison when they were youngsters and Bess had been called into work whilst Henry was on missions for the NSA. If anyone could handle a security emergency and a newborn, it was Elizabeth McCord.
"She can stay. If she starts to cause a distraction we'll deal with it then" he stated with authority.
A wave of relief washed over Elizabeth. With Henry invigilating exams, all of her three kids currently sitting exams, and Will and Sophie visiting family in England, she had no idea who would have been able to look after Lola if the president hadn't agreed to her being in the Sit Room.
"Fine, fine..." Russell agreed with a shake of his head. "Anyway, as I was saying, we've located the terrorists however, it looks like they are preparing to move again. Our timeframe is small if we want to eliminate them and so far the Algerian government have not been receptive to us conducting a drone strike..."
"So you need me to speak with Algeria to get their permission?" Elizabeth interrupted.
"You are the one who managed to get the General to turn on his best friend and become the interim President... " Russell inferred.
Elizabeth sighed. The downside of being so good at her job was that people expected her to conduct miracles, even when she'd barely had any sleep and was babysitting her new granddaughter.
"Mr President, can I use your office?" she asked in a resigned tone. The sooner she performed this particular miracle the sooner she could go home with her family - and maybe catch up on some sleep.
Alison sat at her desk consumed with amazement and disbelief.
She'd had a baby.
She'd just finished her first exam.
She'd had a baby and she'd sat an exam.
The past 48 hours had gone by in a whirlwind and it was a completely surreal experience. 72 hours ago she'd been pregnant and revising for exams. Now she was a mother and she'd finished her first exam, although how well she'd done she had no idea as she'd barely slept over the past 48 hours and she was still exhausted from giving birth. However, she was pleased that she had managed to answer all the questions and finished with 2 minutes to spare, despite having to use the bathroom mid-way through her exam to change her maternity pad.
Relief and happiness washed over her as the invigilator called the end of the exam and collected the paper. As she walked through the hallways with her classmates discussing the exam she noticed they were looking at her strangely, it was only then that she realised they didn't know she'd given birth. The last time they'd seen her she'd been very heavily pregnant, now she still looked pregnant but more like she was 6 months pregnant and they were probably trying to figure out if she was still pregnant or not. No one outside her close family knew about Lola and she wanted to keep it that way for as long as possible, so she was very glad when she saw her mum's motorcade parked outside.
"I'll see you guys in tomorrow!" she called as she headed towards the vehicles. Normally she would've been embarrassed by her mum's motorcade but today she didn't care. She could not wait to see Lola - and not because her breasts were starting to tingle which she'd noticed meant Lola needed feeding - she'd missed her so much! Her heart and body ached to hold her again and she could not wait to get home to spend the rest of the day with her daughter. One of the DS agents opened the door for her and she got into the vehicle, her blood running cold when she realised she was the only passenger.
"Where's Lola?" she yelled desperately.
"Alison, there's been a change of plan..." the DS agent informed her calmly as the SUV pulled away from the curb.
Elizabeth gently jiggled the baby in her arms as she cast a nervous look at the clock in the Oval Office.
Alison should be here any minute.
It was almost 2 hours since Lola's last feed and she was starting to get fidgety indicating she was hungry. The only problem was, she didn't have any colostrum left to give her as she'd unexpectedly finished it all in her last feed.
In fact the lack of food was not her only problem, the other one being she was still in a phone conference with the President of Algeria, the same call she'd been on for nearly 3 hours as she tried to convince him to give the USA permission to launch a drone strike in his country. Granted it was highly unusual for the Secretary of State to be negotiating whilst babysitting, but she literally didn't have a choice. In the words of Russell Jackson 'Sometimes you have to walk and chew gum' and that's exactly what she was doing.
"Mr President, you've seen the evidence we have. The footage is right there showing the terrorists we believe are responsible for the attack in Cancun in January. If we miss this opportunity we might not get another one and who knows what they'll plot in the meantime" she repeated for the umpteeth time.
The President considered the footage one last time. "Ok, but it will be Algeria that claims victory for the kill"
"With the assistance of the USA" she amended.
The Algerian considered the Secretary of State's offer. "That is acceptable. I will prepare to send my soldiers to the site to confirm the success of the hit and to record footage for the media".
"Fine" she agreed in an annoyed tone. At this point she could not care less who claimed responsibility for the drone strike as long as the terrorists were eliminated. This was not how she envisaged spending her first day out of the hospital with Lola and she was frustrated that such a simple request was taking so long.
"Good day Madam Secretary"
"Good day to you too Mr President" and with that she terminated the call. No sooner had she replaced the receiver did the sound of her daughter's voice cause her head to whip around.
"Mum! What are you doing here?" Alison seethed. She was beyond angry with her mum. Lola should not be at the White House on her first day out of the hospital!
"I'm so sorry, Noodle, and I'll explain it all later, but I have to go now" Elizabeth replied as she moved over to her daughter and placed the tiny bundle in her arms.
"Mum!" Alison exclaimed angrily once again as Lola emitted a tiny cry. "Shh, it's ok, mummy's here now" she soothed as she turned her attention to her daughter.
"I'm sorry, Noodle" Elizabeth replied in a helpless tone as she cast her daughter an apologetic look before turning and exiting the room.
Alison stared in shock after her mother as she suddenly realised that for the first time since Lola had been born she was all alone with her daughter. She was overcome with the weight of the responsibility and felt terrified that she would do something wrong now that she was on her own. What was she supposed to do?
Feeling her daughter's movements become more frantic against her, and feeling the tingling in her breasts intensify, she suddenly knew what she had to do. She had to feed Lola. If Lola started to cry and became distressed she'd never be able to feed her. She looked around the room before shrugging and gingerly sitting on the couch. Wherever her mum was going the President was obviously there too so it wasn't like he would be needing his office anytime soon. She unclipped her maternity bra and lifted her top so that she could place Lola into position, her daughter hungrily latched on to her nipple. She placed a blanket over them just in case someone came in and she watched in contentment as her daughter fed, a random though popping into her head:
Exactly how many women had breastfed their children in the Oval Office?
Elizabeth watched as the screen turned orange indicating the missile had reached its intended target. Once the smoke had cleared all that remained of the house where the two terrorists and their recently arrived associates had been hiding was a hole in the ground.
"Job well done" the President exclaimed before he dismissed the group.
Elizabeth was too exhausted for praise as she walked back to the Oval Office with Russell and Conrad, briefing them on how she had got the Algerians to agree as she walked. There had not been time to brief them before the strike as the group had been packing up the vehicle and preparing to leave just as she had arrived back in the Sit Room. The trio walked into the Oval Office and her heart dropped into her stomach at the sight before her.
Alison sat slumped over to one side fast asleep with Lola held against her shoulder, also fast asleep. A soft pink blanket was draped over Lola to keep her warm.
A wave of guilt washed over Elizabeth that she had abandoned her daughter in the Oval Office to breastfeed. She felt like such a terrible parent and grandparent, but at the time it had been imperative that she get the information to the Sit Room. If she hadn't left when she did they might have missed the terrorists.
"Why don't I give you a minute?" Conrad said softly with a knowing smile as he exited his office, Russell in tow.
Elizabeth moved over to her daughter and gently touched her shoulder.
"Noodle" she called softly.
Blearily Alison opened her eyes and instinctively the hold she had on her daughter tightened. She looked at her surroundings in confusion before it all came rushing back to her.
"You left me" she mumbled tiredly, annoyance and hurt still evident in her voice.
"I know and I'm really sorry" Elizabeth replied simply. "But I had just got something agreed that the President needed to know about right away. It really was a matter of national security"
"Isn't it always" Alison replied scornfully, causing a stab of pain and a wave of guilt to wash over Elizabeth.
"If it's any consolation, the world just got a little bit safer for you and Lola. And that's why I do this job, so that you can grow up in a better world" Elizabeth replied sincerely.
Alison considered her mother's response. She'd found it tough not having her mum around the past few years and sometimes she missed the days when her mum was a college professor and was around more. However, now that she had Lola she could understand why her mum had sacrificed as much time away from her family as she had. Her mum just wanted the world to be safe for her family, and humanity, to live in. If that meant she didn't get to see her mum as often as she used to, then so be it. At the end of the day, her mum had looked after Lola even though she had been dealing with some international crisis that she couldn't talk about.
"I'm sorry I snapped" she replied remorsefully.
"That's ok, I understand. I would have been mad too if I were in your shoes, but you have to know that I would never let anything bad happen to Lola, or you" Elizabeth stated emphatically.
"I know, but can we please go home now? I'm so tired and I have a ton of studying to do for my exam tomorrow" Alison asked desperately.
"Most definitely! I need some Lola cuddles!" Elizabeth asked excitedly. Maybe her first day at home with her granddaughter would be like she envisaged after all.
Author's note: I wrote this chapter before I found out that in the US you can re-schedule exams. In the UK pregnancy is considered a "preventable condition" and is not accepted as a reason to miss an exam (at least that was my friend's experience - luckily her baby was late and she managed to sit all her exams with 2 days to spare!) and I assumed it would be the same in the US. I just thought it would funny, and probably realistic, to have Elizabeth called into work when she was babysitting and how she would handle that. Anyway I hope you enjoyed the chapter nonetheless.
Oh, and I wasn't sure if Alison would have her own medical insurance as she is over 18 or if she would fall under her parents' medical insurance, and who would sign the medical insurance paperwork - Alison or Elizabeth. I went with Alison as it worked with the whole weight of responsibility thing. Medical insurance is a completely foreign concept for me so I did my best!
Reviews welcomed as always.