Bed Rest Week 4
26 weeks pregnant
Ava, Supergirl and Emmi walked up the front steps to the house. "Remember, Emmi, you don't know who I am," Supergirl said, looking down to Emmi who was holding the birthday present for Jake in her hands. "Well, you know I am Supergirl and I work with your Mummy but I'm not Auntie K, okay?"
Emmi sighed lightly as she glared at Supergirl. "I know," Emmi told her, sounding rather annoyed. It wasn't the first time she'd heard this that day. "I am not stupid. I will be seven next week."
"Of course, sorry," Supergirl apologised as she looked to Ava, who was biting her lip to not laugh at her. "Well, we have nothing to worry about then." Supergirl said, giving Ava a little nod. Ava rang the doorbell and it was only a matter of seconds before there was an answer.
"Muuuuuuum," The boy yelled out. "There's more people here for Jake and someone brought Supergirl."
"Well Benjamin don't just stand there yelling in their faces, invite them in." A girl said, appearing behind him in the hallway.
"Sophie, Benjamin, let them in," The woman ushered them away from the door, the pair of them walking back down to the living room, where the party was. "Emmi," The woman smiled at her as she walked into the house, followed by Ava and then Supergirl. "You must be Isobel's friend Ava," The woman held her hand out. "Eleanor."
"Hi." Ava shook her hand.
"Isobel said you were bringing Supergirl," Eleanor smiled up at her, the grown woman looking in awe that Supergirl was in her house. "Thank you so much. Jacob is going to be so excited when he sees you."
"Oh it's no problem," Supergirl said. "I might get called away but I'm here for the kids for as long as I can be." Supergirl and Ava followed Eleanor down to the living room, Ava seeing Izzy was practically being attacked by at least 8 kids, screaming and jumping over her.
"Jacob, Emmi is here." Eleanor told him. Jake looked around and smiled as Emmi put the present down next to the others on the couch.
"Hi Emmi," Jake ran over to her. "Oh wow," Jake gasped. "Emmi brought Supergirl." Jake shrieked in excitement. All the other kids who were play attacking Izzy looked around and ran over, all of them amazed that Supergirl was at the party.
"Oh thank God." Izzy muttered, clearly glad the kids were away from her, their attention now clearly on Supergirl. Izzy walked over to Ava, and gestured for her to follow her. Ava walked up the stairs after Izzy.
"Dude this house is huge." Ava said.
"Yeah," Izzy shrugged as Ava followed her into her bedroom. "Sorry, I should have offered you a drink or something before we came up here."
"I'm okay," Ava said as they both sat down on the bed. "Besides it seems like you needed away from them quickly," Ava laughed. "How long had they all been hanging off you?"
"Too long," Izzy sighed as she shook her head. "They were saying I was a tree and I had to be climbed for safety." Izzy shook her head at the minds of 6 and 7-year olds.
Ava laughed some more. "Well now Supergirl is here so I guess they'll be climbing on her like she's a tree."
"Well I'm sure she'll can handle that for longer than me," Izzy leaned herself back against the headboard. "Thanks again for getting her to come here. Was it hard?"
"Not really," Ava shook her head. "Supergirl is still a big kid at heart." Ava said, a grin forming on her face as she thought about how excited Kara was when she asked her to come to a 7-year-old's birthday party.
"You know her that well?" Izzy questioned.
Uhm," Ava rubbed the back of her head. "Supergirl the hero who is out there fighting aliens, I…not really," Ava shook her head. "But like the not so hero part of her, just you know, the normal her, I guess we are….." Ava pursed her lips, not really knowing how much she should say. "I know her."
"That's pretty cool," Izzy smiled at her friend and Ava gave a little nod. "And Jake and the rest of them looked pretty stoked," Izzy said. "Like, a superhero themed birthday party with an actual real superhero there," Izzy smiled. "Going to be a hard party to top." Izzy noted.
"Yeah." Ava exhaled lightly, looking around the room. Izzy had a room to herself, which wasn't that surprising given the size of the house, but at the same time, she had 5 siblings, so Ava wouldn't be to surprised if she'd have needed to share. Izzy hadn't really talked about what her parents do for a living, but Ava assumed it must pay well.
"So," Izzy spoke softly. Ava had been pretty quiet the last couple of weeks on the whole losing her Dad and baby thing. In fact, if Izzy was going to be honest, she was rather quiet full stop, hardly interacting with anyone at school, her, Ryan and Lily included. "You uh….you doing okay? You want to talk about anything?"
"I have no idea what we need to do for this biology homework," Ava sighed. "It was always my best subject back in Blue Springs too but like this new topic just has me rather confused."
"You know I suck at biology," Izzy told her. "And I was actually talking about you know, the…." Izzy glanced down to Ava's stomach.
Ava momentarily placed her hand onto her stomach, her lips pursed. "I know, but…" Ava cleared her throat. "Uh, Alex is awesome at biology, but I don't really want to bother her right now. She's needs a lot of rest. It's what's best for little Jelly." Ava brought the subject back to school because even though it wasn't that exciting to talk about, it was better than opening up about everything.
"Well I'm sure her sitting at a table helping you out won't do too much to her," Izzy noted. "Maybe some distraction will also be good for Alex."
Ava sucked in her bottom lip as she gave a little nod. "Maybe," Ava mumbled. "Uh," Ava rubbed the back of her head. "You know what we could do?" Ava questioned. Izzy looked to her, a little intrigued at what she'd say. "Yesterday at school I heard Kyle Diaz talking about a party," Ava said, a cheeky glint forming in her eyes. "A seniors party, parents are out of town…." Ava trailed off. "That could be fun. There'll be alcohol….maybe more…." Ava raised her eyebrows suggestively.
"It's a seniors' party," Izzy reminded her. "They're not going to let us in."
"Well you don't know that until we try, right?" Ava retorted. "We can ask Lily and Ryan too."
Izzy looked a little confused. Ava didn't seem the type at all to care about a party, let alone alcohol or more being there. Izzy thought maybe this was a reaction to what had happened with her Dad and her miscarriage, but she knew it was no way to make anything better. "I dunno Ava," Izzy shook her head. "It's probably not good idea."
"Boring," Ava pursed her lips. She felt like crap and she wanted it to stop. She didn't want to talk, she just wanted to forget, and she saw this as a way of that happening. She took her phone from her pocket and sent a text to Ryan and Lily, seeing if they'd go with her. "Just thought we could have a little bit of fun." Ava said, still hoping to persuade her friend.
"We can do something tonight. We can go to the movies or the ice-rink or go bowling or hang out at the mall." Izzy listed off things they liked to do.
"Oh, extreme fun, lets go to the mall." Ava murmured. Izzy sighed lightly. She may not have known Ava that long, so couldn't say she knew every side to her, but this wasn't a side to he she'd ever seen before.
"Well whatever," Izzy shrugged as she got off the bed. "We don't need to go to the mall, but I am not going to this seniors' party," Izzy told her. "Uh….I'm going to go see my brother having fun at his birthday party." Izzy said, walking out of the room, leaving Ava sitting on the bed, staring at her phone as she waited on a reply from Ryan and Lily.
Maggie walked into the house and down to the living room, where she heard voices. She saw Alex giving Richard – her sponsor – a hug. "Maggie, I was just saying it was looking like I was just going to miss you," Richard pulled back from the hug and looked over to Maggie. The bed rest didn't allow Alex to make her meetings right now and Richard had come over to see if she was doing okay with everything that had happened to the family lately. "Nice to see you though."
"Yeah, you too." Maggie liked Richard. He was old enough to be Alex's dad but he was super sweet and had been sober for nearly 20 years. He genuinely cared about Alex and her well being.
"Maybe next time we can get more of a chat," Richard said before looking back to Alex. "I'll see myself out." Richard said, before walking out of the living room, smiling at Maggie on the way past.
"Everything okay?" Maggie questioned, walking over to her wife as she sat back down the couch.
"Fine," Alex nodded. "He just came for a chat. I can't make the meetings right now, so he came to me." Alex told her, Maggie giving a little nod as she sat down next to her wife.
"Where's Mum?" Maggie questioned.
"She's gone grocery shopping," Alex told her. "Ava, Kara and Emmi are still at the birthday party," Alex told her, because she knew that question was also coming. "How was work?"
"Busy," Maggie yawned as she answered. "So, you were left alone?"
Alex sighed lightly as she shook her head. "No, I wasn't alone. Richard was here," Alex said. "But he insisted on making the coffees, so I didn't really get up from the couch," Alex spoke quietly. "You know, I can be left alone, Maggie. I know how to look after myself and I'm not going to do anything to put Jelly at risk, like do you really think I would?"
"No, no," Maggie shook her head. "Of course not, sorry. I just….I want the both of you to be okay, you know. And you have a broken arm too, so you know, you need help because of that."
Alex raised her eyebrows. "I'm okay. I can do stuff. I'm resting like I should be. I don't need 24 hour supervision."
Maggie sucked in her bottom lip. "You had a coffee?" Maggie said, glancing at the cups that were sitting on the coffee table.
"Like half a cup. Of decaf," Alex told her. "It's allowed, Maggie."
"I know it is," Maggie exhaled lightly. She could tell Alex was fast tiring of her and Eliza treating her like she couldn't do anything, but it was only because they cared. "Sorry, I just….I care."
"I know you do," Alex gave her an appreciative smile. "And hey, I get to go out tomorrow. Hospital check-up." Alex looked a little anxious. Although she was glad she was getting out of the house, she was sad it was only to go to the hospital and was feeling anxious about the appointment. She had every reason to believe the baby was okay. She was feeling her moving more and more which could only be a good thing, but until she was there and told for sure, she couldn't relax fully.
"Yeah we do," Maggie put her hand onto Alex's bump. "We get to see our little Jelly, hmm, you going to give Mummies your best smile baby girl?" Maggie looked down to the bump as she spoke. She knew it was about more than them getting to see her, but that gave them something good to look forward too.
"No," Alex shook her head. "She's mad at you."
"She's mad at me?" Maggie questioned. "Why would she be mad at me?"
"Because you've not kissed her Mummy since you got in from work." Alex frowned, and Maggie chuckled lightly as she leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on Alex's lips.
"We should probably have a second, maybe even a third kiss," Maggie said, before sharing more kisses with her wife. "Don't want to risk her still being mad at me, right?"
"She says she's coming around," A cheeky grin etched on Alex's lips before they kissed again. "Says she'll fully forgive you if you go get her Mummy some chocolate spread."
"Oh she did?" Maggie questioned.
"Hmm," Alex nodded. "I mean, I'd go myself, but I'd probably get told off for moving to much by her Mama," Alex said, the cheeky grin appearing back on her lips. "She's the best and we love her but she's being a little overbearing these days."
"Well like she's probably already told you, it'll be because she cares so much." Maggie said, tucking Alex's hair behind her ear then lightly rubbing her cheek.
"Still a pain in my ass." Alex mumbled, and Maggie chuckled lightly.
"Well she'll just have to be that pain in your ass till Jelly has arrived safe and sound." Maggie told her, Alex giving a little nod, knowing at the end of the day, that's all the pair of them wanted, and Eliza too.
"Well Jelly is probably going to keep being annoyed at you." Alex told her.
"Well I wouldn't be a parent if I didn't annoy my kids at times now, would I?" Maggie questioned, and Alex chuckled as she shook her head lightly. "Speaking of Jelly, what do you think of the name Avery?"
"I like it," Alex gave a little nod. "I was going to suggest Reagan to you, actually," Alex told her. "I read it in a book earlier and it's been on my mind ever since," Alex pursed her lips. "Although the list is getting rather big, so we could start cutting names down, not continuing to add more," Alex noted. "And there's Emmi's list too."
"Yeah but we're not really going to consider any of those names, are we?" Maggie scrunched her face up a little.
"A lot of them are actually nice," Alex argued. Sure, she wasn't going to name her daughter after a Disney princess like Ariel or Jasmine, but she did like some of the names that Emmi suggested. "Poppy is cute."
"You want to name our daughter after a troll?" Maggie questioned.
"It was a girls' name before the troll was called Poppy," Alex reminded her wife. "And I'm not saying that's what I want to call her, I'm just saying it's a nice name."
"Mmm," Maggie gave a little nod. "This finding a name thing is hard, huh?"
"Well yeah, it's not like we are deciding where to go eat dinner. This is about giving a tiny human a name," Alex noted. "It's probably a good thing we are putting some thought into it."
"Yeah, true," Maggie agreed. "Well, I shall go get you this chocolate spread then we can work on getting the list shortened." Maggie said, standing up from the couch and picking up the empty coffee cups and heading through to the kitchen to get Alex the chocolate she was craving.
Alex had gone up to bed not long after dinner. It wasn't that she was tired, but she did need rest and some of that rest was supposed to be up in her bed. "Mum." Alex looked up as Emmi appeared the door of the bedroom.
Alex put down the book she was reading and looked over to her daughter. "Hey sweetie, you off to bed?" Alex questioned, and Emmi gave a little nod as Eliza appeared behind her.
"I want you to read me a story. It's been ages since you did and you do the best voices for the different characters." Emmi told her.
"Sure, I'll come read you a story." Alex started to get out of bed, continuing even at her mother's protests.
"You should just stay and rest," Eliza told her. "I've got this story time."
"No," Emmi moaned. "I want Mummy this time." Emmi pouted as Alex continued to walk across to the door of the bedroom.
"Well remember darling that Mummy is on bed rest." Eliza said, looking down to her granddaughter.
"But that doesn't mean I need to be in bed 24/7. I am allowed to move around a bit," Alex said. "You really think it'll be good for me to be in that bed 24/7 for months?"
"Well, no," Eliza shook her head. "But the doctor did say to take it easy."
"Okay well if I promise to only go sit on the bed and read Emmi a story and not take her out sky diving will you let me go read to my daughter?" Alex questioned, and Eliza bit her lip as she hesitantly nodded.
"Thank you," Alex sighed before she walked through to Emmi's room with her. Eliza was still in Emmi's bed, and much to Alex's dismay, still in National City. Even through she tried to tell her that Maggie and Kara had things under control, Eliza insisted she was staying till the baby was born, and probably a little bit after. Part of the excuse was to help Alex with bed rest and Emmi and part of it was because Ava still hadn't grieved. She'd spent the last few weeks moping around and being rather quiet, but they knew that soon, it would come spilling out. Maggie had suggested that Ava go talk to a professional, but that idea was quickly shot down, so Eliza wanted to be there to help them get through everything. "Did you clean your teeth?" Alex questioned.
"Uh-huh," Emmi nodded as she climbed into the little extra bed they'd bought. She'd spent the first while moving around between Ava's bed, Alex and Maggie's bed and sleeping on the floor in her own room, but they'd ultimately decided it was best for her to stay in one place, especially on nights before school, so they'd bought the extra bed to put in her room for her. They'd started on the conversion in the basement, so hopefully soon enough, Ava would be down there, and Eliza could move into the guest room, giving Emmi her own room back. Maggie had held off on doing any more to the baby's room, wanting to wait till nearer her arrival, not wanting to tempt fate with decorating to early given their now fragile circumstances and she'd be in with her and Alex for the first few months anyways. Emmi got herself comfy as Alex grabbed the book. "I had so much fun at the party today," Emmi had already told her this, but was clearly keen to tell her again. "Everyone was so pleased to see Supergirl."
"Aww I bet they were," Alex smiled as she made herself comfy at the side of the bed. "That would be a special treat having Supergirl at a superhero birthday party huh?"
"I guess," Emmi told her mother. "I like her better when she is just Auntie K," Emmi spoke quietly. "She's the one who is special to me not Supergirl."
"Aww," Alex smiled as Emmi's words as she moved her hair from in front of her face, her hand resting on Emmi's forehead. "I like it better when she is Kara too," Alex told her daughter. "Supergirl is special for so many people but only we are lucky enough to have Kara in our lives, huh?"
"Yeah," Emmi smiled widely. "But do you think that Kara will find herself a special buddy again like Uncle James?" Emmi wondered. "He made her eyes sparkle so much. I miss that."
Alex smiled softly. "I'm sure when she is ready to move on she'll find someone special." Alex told her daughter.
"Will she find the love that you and Mama have for each other?" Emmi wondered. "That would be really special for her because you and Mama love each other the most I've ever seen." Emmi's voice went a little squeaky as she spoke.
"You know, I hope she does find someone to love her as much as your Mama loves me." Alex told her. She really wanted Kara to one day, feel ready to move on from James and find love again. She deserved as much after everything she did and had been through.
"Yes. I hope so too," Emmi answered through a yawn. "What story am I getting tonight?" Emmi questioned, looking to the book in Alex's hand.
"Any one you want," Alex said. "You can pick one from here." Alex gave her the book of bedtime stories. Emmi scratched the side of her head, looking like she was thinking of what one she wanted.
"Oh. Yes, I love this one." Emmi said as she started flicking through the book to find the start of the story she wanted Alex to read her, Alex watching her daughter with a smile on her face.
Lily decided she'd go to the party with Ava. She didn't particularly care for parties, but she didn't want her going alone. If Ava needed this night to make her feel better, then she'd be there for that. She was worried for her friend and wanted to help her get through this, even if going to a high school seniors party wasn't the smartest idea because it wouldn't really solve anything, and they could just end up getting in trouble if they were going to go by how Kyle Diaz's past parties had ended up going. Lily was worried they wouldn't be allowed in. They weren't in senior class and they probably didn't know anyone who was there, but when they arrived, the door was open, and people were out on the front yard, dancing and talking and some people even play fighting, or at least, Ava and Lily both hoped it was play fighting. They walked into the house, the music deafeningly loud. They walked over to the table, Ava looking to the punch bowl in the middle of it. "Hey," Kyle walked over to them. "I've seen you around school," Kyle said, smiling at Ava. "You are pretty new right?"
Ava looked to Lily before looking back to Kyle. He was actually talking to her. He didn't seem to care they never got invited. That they'd just showed up. "Uh, yeah. I uh…I moved from Nebraska to live with my sister and her wife."
"Right. Didn't your Dad like try to kidnap you and cause a car crash?" Kyle questioned.
"Uhm," Ava cleared her throat as she nodded. "Yeah."
"Shit, you got some family drama," Kyle said, before finishing his drink and looking to the punch bowl. "Vodka, Rum, Gin, Tequila and Scotch all mixed together. It's vile but gets the blood pumping," Kyle put some in his cup before getting a cup for Ava then handing one to Lily. "You bring your boyfriend?"
"I don't have a boyfriend." Lily said as she took the drink from him. She stared down at the pure alcohol concoction for a moment.
"Then who's the dude who is always with you? Blond hair but it's always stuck under a beanie?" Kyle questioned.
"Ryan," Lily said. "He's just a mate."
"Hmm," Kyle looked around to his mate who was lingering not that far away. "Tristian, he's just a mate." Kyle yelled over to him. Tristian smiled and walked across to join them.
"Hey, I'm Tristan." Tristan introduced himself.
"Ava and Lily." Ava told them.
"I'm Kyle. But considering you came to my house party you should know that," Kyle said before glancing at Tristan for a moment then looking back to the two of them. "You two want to come out back?" Kyle questioned.
"Uhm, we are fine -" Lily started to talk but Ava spoke over her.
"Sure," Ava said, following after them as she pulled Lily with her. They walked out of the house and into the back yard, more teens hanging around the place, some of them in the pool. Kyle sat down on the chair on the decking, Tristian sitting in the other one. Kyle patted his knee and smiled at Ava. Ava took a drink, choking as it burned her throat.
"You don't feel it after a while," Kyle said, tapping his knee once again. Ava pursed her lips before she sat down on his knee, Kyle wrapping his arm around her, holding her close to him. Tristan tapped his knee too, but Lily shook her head and leaned against the railing of the decking as she took a drink. "So Ava, what made you decided you wanted to come to this kick ass party tonight?" Kyle questioned.
"I just uhm….I wanted to have some fun," Ava told him. "It's a Friday night and I've had a pretty shitty last couple months so…..yeah." Ava shrugged.
"Well it's if fun you are after you have definitely come to the right place." Kyle told her, a wicked grin on his face as he looked to Tristan who was also smiling. Lily stared between, her lips pursing, knowing that she shouldn't have brought Ava here as she watched her take a rather big drink of the alcohol.
Eliza walked down the stairs and saw the kitchen light was already on. She saw Maggie sitting at the breakfast bar, a glass of water in her hand as she was staring at the fish bowl, watching them swim around. "Everything okay?" Eliza questioned as she grabbed herself a glass and walked over to the fridge, putting it under the water dispenser.
"I couldn't sleep, and I didn't want to disturb Alex, so…." Maggie looked over to her mother-in-law. "You?"
"I woke up with a really tickly throat," Eliza cleared her throat before taking a drink of her water as she walked over to the breakfast and got up onto the stool next to Maggie. "Thought too much coughing would wake Emmi so I came down," Eliza added. "Something on your mind?" Eliza wondered.
"When is there not these days?" Maggie questioned. "If it's not Jelly or Alex it's Ava or it's fear of Emmi being taken again, and I know that Eileen and Tina are in Camp 17 and there's no way they'll ever get out of there, but what if more people from Warlees come?" Maggie questioned. "What if she's…I….." Maggie shook her head as she stopped talking.
"Don't," Eliza put her hand onto Maggie's arm, stopping her from continuing with her thoughts. "All that trouble with Emmi has passed," Eliza assured her. "And Alex is resting, and you have the hospital appointment tomorrow which is going to ease your concerns for Jellybean," Eliza said. "Now, Ava, I understand the frustration and that you just want her to open up about this, but until she is ready to face it, it can't be done. We can't push this on her. We can't force her," Eliza shook her head lightly, speaking softly to her daughter-in-law. "I know you want to help her and get her to talk this over, but until Ava wants too, it doesn't matter what we do," Eliza told her. "She won't talk until she is ready."
"Mmm," Maggie nodded lightly. "I thought I was bad at this talking thing, but Ava," Maggie exhaled as she rolled the water around the glass. "She's really something."
"Well she's got a lot of people around her to love and support her," Eliza reminded Maggie. "She'll get there in the end. It seems like it'll take her a while, but I know she'll get there," Eliza lightly gave Maggie's back a comforting rub. "You always do, right?" Eliza questioned. Maggie gave a little nod. "And so will she. We just keep showing her that we are here for her when she is ready."
"Yeah, I….I always let her know that," Maggie said, taking a drink of her water. "I just…I worried, Eliza. More so now than when it first happened. She still talked to us. Not about Oscar or the baby, but she talked about normal things," Maggie spoke quietly. "Today she was really quiet. She went to that party with Emmi and Supergirl because it was for her friend's little brother but then she came home and was in her room and then after dinner she went straight back to her room and was up there the whole night. I thought maybe she'd go meet her friends or something, you know, it's a Friday night, but she's not come out of her room since dinner."
"Well she is a teenager," Eliza shrugged. "Alex spent a fair portion of her teens in her room rather than sitting with me and Kara down the stairs."
"Yeah but had she just lost her father and had a miscarriage?" Maggie questioned.
"Well, I can't say she had a miscarriage but at one point, she did think she'd just lost her father," Eliza replied. "But, Maggie, sitting up in her room isn't that un-normal for a teenager."
Maggie pursed her lips. "Ava was down here a lot then Oscar shows up and she loses the baby and now she's like a recluse up in her room," Maggie shook her head. "I mean, she wanted this. She wanted us to be her guardians and now it's happened she'd pulled herself away."
Maggie looked close to tears, Eliza knowing she was worried about her little sister. "Look," Eliza rubbed Maggie's back again. "I know you just want to help her, but right now, giving her the space that she wants and letting her come to you when she is ready is probably what's best. You try to push at her and it could ruin what you two have already and you don't want that, right?"
Maggie shook her head. "I just want her to talk and work through the loss."
"I know, we all do," Eliza kept rubbing Maggie's back. "And it has to come out one day, one way or another and when it does we are all here for her and for you." Eliza assured her, Maggie looking to her mother-in-law with a thankful smile, hoping that she was right and that one day, hopefully soon, Ava would begin grieving her loss.
Thanks for the support so far. Means a lot. As always, reviews are really appreciated. :)