Alex and Maggie exchanged a glance with each other, both of them widening their eyes in shock and worry, and also, a little confusion. "What do you mean?" Maggie questioned. "The doctor said you were okay? They checked you over?"
"They also said they wanted to come back and do more checks," Lena answered. "They checked my memory, you know they made sure I didn't have amnesia, that I knew who I was and all that," Lena said, her heart was beating faster and faster. She couldn't be paralysed. "They said they'd come back and do the rest of the checks on me later after I had time with Kara." Lena welled up, her voice breaking.
"Seems like a pretty important thing to look over," Maggie murmured. "You'd think they have done that early on." Maggie sounded annoyed at the doctors for not doing all the necessary checks right away. She understood Lena and Kara would have wanted time with each other, but the doctors should be doing their job first.
"What am I going to do?" Lena's voice broke as a tear escaped her eye. "I can't be paralysed. I need my legs and Kara isn't going to want to be stuck with some cripple."
Alex stepped forward and rubbed her arm in comfort. "C'mon, don't be silly. Kara loves you and she wants to marry you. This isn't going to change anything." Alex assured her.
"It changes everything, Alex," Lena raised her voice. "I can't feel my legs. I'm not going to be able to walk," Lena barked. "I'm going to be stuck in a wheelchair for the rest of my life." Lena sounded angry. Not necessarily at Alex, but just at the situation in general.
"Maybe instead of jumping to conclusions we should get the doctor called in," Maggie suggested. "He can let you know what's what." Maggie said.
"I don't need the doctor to tell me I can't feel my legs." Lena sniffed back as tears threatened to fall from her eyes.
"I didn't mean that," Maggie replied. "I meant that he could assess you and see what's wrong. Maybe this is fixable. Maybe surgery can fix whatever it is that's stopping you from feeling your legs," Maggie sounded hopeful as she spoke. "Or maybe it's not going to be permanent. Maybe the feeling is just taking its time to come back from the anaesthetic after your first surgery," Maggie told her. She didn't really have a clue about these types of things but she hoped there was a chance this wasn't a permanent thing for Lena now. "Don't just give up before you even know what's gone wrong." Maggie said.
"Yeah, she's right," Alex gave a little nod, agreeing with her wife. "I mean you hear about it all the time," Alex exhaled as she sat down on the chair that Kara had vacated. "People get in accidents and need to learn how to walk again." Alex felt a little light headed so she reached for the jug of water and picked up a plastic cup, pouring herself some and taking a drink.
"Look, I know you two are just trying to be positive but let's face it," Lena shook her head. "The likelihood of any of that happening is probably very slim," Lena sighed. "Especially to me with my luck," Lena cleared her throat. "No, I uhm….I'm pretty sure I am wheelchair bound." Lena was pretty sure this was her for life. She didn't want to entertain anything else because she didn't want to get her hopes up.
"Well, there's only one way to find out for sure," Maggie said, glancing at her wife who looked a little off, Alex still sipping on the water as she was taking deep breaths in between. "Al, you okay?" Maggie sounded extra worried now. She was worried for Lena and now she was worried because Alex didn't look good.
"Yeah," Alex took another drink of water. "I just need to eat something." Alex said, her hand resting on her stomach.
Maggie glanced at her watch. "Well we can go get lunch before I need to go to work," Maggie was on the late shift but Alex had called in sick. She was feeling really crappy in the morning but she also wanted to be there for Kara and Lena. "And you," Maggie said, looking to Lena. "Get the doctor in to give you a proper examination." Maggie scolded and Lena pursed her lips as she gave a little nod.
Lena was about to say something when the door opened and Kara walked back in with a cup of ice chips. "Here you go, hun," Kara handed them down to her, Lena giving her a weak smile. Kara knew immediately by the look on her face that something was wrong. She looked to Alex and then to Maggie, wondering why the room had gone so quiet. "What's up?" Kara questioned, looking around to everyone.
Lena cleared her throat as she looked from Maggie to Alex and back to Maggie. "Well, Al and I are going to go for lunch," Maggie said, seeing Lena wanted some privacy to tell Kara that right now, she couldn't feel her legs. Alex finished the water and put the cup back on the cabinet before she slowly stood up. "See you later." Maggie gave Lena a smile.
"I'll be back this afternoon," Alex said, rubbing Lena's arm before looking at her sister, rubbing her arm also. "You get something to eat too." Alex told her, Kara giving a little nod, still feeling a little confused as she watched Maggie and Alex leave the room.
"Am I missing something?" Kara wondered, looking back around to her fiancée.
Lena took a deep breath. "Come here." Lena put the ice chips on the cabinet as she held her hands out. Kara tilted her head to the side as she stepped closer to the bed and took Lena's hands in hers, rubbing over them with her thumbs.
"Lena, you are scaring me," Kara told her, her heart starting to beat faster within her chest, worried for what Lena was about to say. "What is it?"
Lena took a moment to collect herself before she once again took a deep breath. "I can't feel my legs." Lena immediately broke down as she told her fiancée.
Kara gasped, not expecting Lena to say that, especially when they doctor told her everything seemed fine with her. "What are you…..but how…..oh honey." Kara let go of Lena's hands and leaned down, wrapping her arms around her fiancée and pulling her into an embrace. Lena wrapped her arms around her, holding her tightly as she just needed at moment with her fiancée before she knew they had to call the doctor back into the room to see what was going on.
Alex had managed to eat a large amount of the lunch that she'd ordered and hadn't felt like she was going to be sick, which pleased both her and Maggie. It had been hard for Alex to keep anything down lately, which would obviously have a lot to do with why she was always feeling so tired and generally like crap. Maggie paid for the lunch then she and Alex left the restaurant, Alex slipping her hand into Maggie's as they walked down the street. "Can we have a look in here?" Maggie questioned, stopping outside a shop that sold baby furniture and clothes.
"I thought you had to get to work?" Alex questioned.
"Just 5 minutes, please," Maggie gave her a pout. "A quick look."
Alex gave a little nod as she walked into the shop, Maggie coming in after her, a spring in her step. They walked over to the section with clothes, Maggie immediately picking up a t-shirt with the Supergirl logo on it and the word Superbaby underneath. "Ah-ha we so need to buy this," Maggie showed it to Alex and Alex chuckled. "Aww and those are so cute. Riley would go crazy if we put the baby in these." Maggie picked up a pack of 3 sleepsuits, the base colour being white. One of them with green dinosaurs on, one of them with red dinosaurs, and one of them with yellow dinosaurs on.
"Don't go buying too much at once," Alex said. "We have like over 6 months, babe." Alex told her, Maggie keeping the clothes in her hand as they walked through the shop to where the furniture was.
"Oh my gosh, look at this cot set," Maggie ran her hand over the dark walnut coloured cot, and glanced at the matching wardrobe and changing table. "Aww I totally want this set," Maggie said, looking up at Alex, with pleading eyes. "Don't you love it?"
"It's nice yeah," Alex ran her hand over it and smiled before looking back to her wife. "But I thought we were going to use Riley's cot?" Alex spoke questioningly.
"So, Riley gets everything new and my baby has to have second hand stuff?" Maggie questioned.
"Your baby? So, what? Riley is just mine? This baby is just yours?" Alex asked, her hand resting over her stomach. She was sure that wasn't what Maggie meant, but it was how she made it sound.
"No," Maggie sighed. "I didn't mean it like that," Maggie pursed her lips. "I just meant that -"
"We kept Riley's cot for this exact reason," Alex told her. "There's a perfectly good cot in the basement," Alex said. "We don't need to buy everything new," Alex told her. "You know how expensive babies are and we've already spent a lot of money trying to get this baby." Alex sighed.
Maggie sniggered. "Well I'm sorry I wasted money by losing so many babies."
"Maggie, I didn't mean it like that," Alex told her. "But there's nothing wrong with reusing Riley's cot." Alex exhaled lightly. Of course they were going to buy new stuff for the baby, but some of the bigger stuff, like the cot could easily be reused from the ones they bought for Riley.
"It's not like we don't have any money, Al," Maggie sighed. "You get a pretty nice pay packet," Maggie said. "And yeah, I might not make as much as you but I hardly get paid peanuts," Maggie argued. She didn't make as much money working as a detective than her DEO agent wife made, but they made a very comfortable living. "I just…I want everything to be perfect for our little nugget."
"And it will be," Alex assured her. "But perfect doesn't have to mean buying everything new," Alex sighed. "What was the point in keeping back Riley's stuff if we weren't going to use it again?" Alex questioned.
Maggie shook head before she glanced at her watch. "I'm going to be late for work," Maggie mumbled. "I'll let you decide if we can buy these or not." Maggie threw the t-shirt and sleepsuits in Alex's direction before she turned around, and started walking out of the shop.
"Maggie." Alex sighed as she picked up the clothes and took a few steps forwards but Maggie had already walked out of the shop.
Alex picked up Riley from day-care then they went to the hospital to see Lena, hoping that Kara would come home with them to get some dinner. "Auntie Lena," Riley ran into the room, holding a bunch of flowers in her hand. "These is for you." Riley told her, handing the flowers up to her.
"Aww, thank you sweetie they are lovely." Lena looked down to them for a moment before she passed them to Kara, Kara setting them up on the cabinet for now, making a note to eventually go and see about getting a vase for them.
"Made this at day-care." Riley said, handing her up the handmade Get Well Soon card. Two little stick people of the front with stars, love hearts and a flower.
"Aww it's soooo good," Lena tried to be as enthusiastic as she could about it. "Thank you, Riley." Lena smiled as Riley went all shy and turned around and hid against her mother. Lena put the card up on the cabinet before looking back to Alex and Riley.
"So how's things?" Alex questioned, her hand running over Riley's ponytail. She left it general enough so that Lena only needed to tell her how she was feeling. She didn't need to mention anything about the loss of feeling in her legs if she didn't want too.
"Uhm," Lena cleared her throat. "I am going to go for some more scans," Lena told her, Kara rubbing her hand as she spoke. "They're going to see if they'd missed anything from the first lot or if something changed while I was in surgery." Lena informed her.
"So," Alex rubbed the back of her head. "Is it possibly something that can be fixed?"
"Well the doctor didn't sound very sure himself," Lena spoke with a sadness to her tone. "We are just going to have to wait and see." Lena exhaled, looking around to Kara.
"No matter what, it'll be okay," Kara assured her. She'd be with Lena to help her in any situation. Whether that was Lena having to learn to walk again once feeling returned - which was the scenario Kara was most hoping for – or whether it was adjusting to life with Lena in a wheelchair, they'd get through it together and Kara knew they'd have the help and support of Alex and Maggie as well as from their friends, and of course Eliza would no doubt offer to do anything she could to help out in Lena adjusting. "We can get through anything together." Kara assured her. Lena gave her a smile as she nodded her head, so thankful to have the love and support of Kara.
"So," Lena took to deep breath looking around Riley who was sitting on Alex's knee. "What did you get up to in day-care today then?" Lena questioned, Kara and Alex seeing that Lena just wanted to have a normal conversation. She wanted to be distracted from everything else and what better way to do that than by talking to a small child.
"Uhm," Riley scratched the side of her head. "Mades you the card," Riley told her. "Played with Ben and Sophie on the slide," Riley continued to tell her what she'd got up to. "I painted a picture for my Mummies," Riley said. "We gots milk and a cookie," Riley widened her eyes, clearly excited for getting a cookie. "Built a big tower and played with the dinosaurs with Caleb." Riley scratched her head, like she was wondering if she'd missed anything out.
"Woah," Lena widened her eyes. "Sounds like you had a great day then."
"Uh-huh," Riley nodded. "Day-care is fun," Riley told her Auntie. "Best when Sophie, Ben and Caleb is there." Riley said, the four of them a little group of friends.
"Ah are they your best friends?" Lena questioned.
"Ben is my boyfriend." Riley said as she gave a cheeky giggle before turning her head and hiding against her mother. Alex laughed at Riley's comment as she rubbed her back.
"What does having a boyfriend mean?" Alex asked her daughter, curious as to what she'd say. It was the first time that she'd ever heard Riley refer to Ben as her boyfriend. Of course, they were only 3-years-old, she knew it would be all innocent but she was still intrigued.
"We play together and sit next to each other." Riley answered.
"Oooh young love," Kara teased. "Are you going to marry him?"
"No," Riley furrowed her eyebrows as she looked across the room to her Auntie. "We is only 3," Riley told her. "Too little."
"Ah so you have to be a big girl to get married?" Kara questioned and Riley nodded her head.
"Maybe 9 or 10." Riley said, Alex, Lena and Kara giggling at her answer which once again made Riley hide her face against Alex. Kara looked to Lena and smiled. It was nice to see her laughing as they teased Riley. She knew Lena was worried about the scans and what her future was going to be like, but she admired the strength in her, at least, the strength she had for now. She just wasn't sure how that may change in the near future.
Alex was in the bedroom when she heard Maggie get back in from work. It was late and Alex should have been sleeping, but it was something she could never do till she knew that Maggie was home safe. Maggie walked into the bedroom, not even bothering trying to be quiet, because she knew that Alex would be waiting up for her, even if they did part on a fight earlier that day. And they tried not to go to bed on a fight either, so Maggie knew that Alex would want to talk about what happened. Alex put the book down she was reading and sat herself up a little more in the bed, Maggie walking over to the wardrobe as she kicked her boots off and put her jacket back on the coat hanger, neither of them looking like they were going to be the first to say something. Maggie walked into the en-suite, both of them still silent. Alex twiddled her thumbs and waited for what seemed like ages, Maggie eventually appearing back into the room dressed in only her panties; her jeans, shirt, socks and bra had obviously been discarded into the laundry basket that sat in the bathroom. She walked over to her side of the bed and it was then she noticed the bag. She looked to Alex as she pulled her sleepshirt out from under her pillow. She put it on then picked up the bag as she pulled back the covers and slipped into bed. She pulled out the Superbaby t-shirt and the dinosaur sleepsuits. "So, what else can we buy?" Maggie broke the silence. Alex sighed. She was still mad at her. Her complete silence when she walked into the bedroom should have given that away though. "Maybe one teddy? One or two blankets? A towel?" Maggie held her hands out to the side as she spoke.
"Maggie," Alex sighed. She felt like Maggie was taking this the wrong way. It wasn't like Alex said they couldn't buy anything for the baby. She was just stating that she thought they'd agreed on using the same cot. "I never said we couldn't buy anything for the baby. It's going to need a lot of stuff," Alex exhaled. "All I was simply saying was -"
"You don't get it, do you?" Maggie spoke over her wife, and judging by the look on Alex's face, she clearly didn't know why Maggie was making such a big deal out of this. "This is all I can do to make myself feel as involved in this pregnancy as I can," Maggie told her. "All I can do to feel part of this is pick out stuff to buy, and think about how we are going to decorate the nursery, because I can't carry the baby," Maggie's eyes glossed over with tears. "I don't get to feel the baby growing inside me, or kicking, or even have to put up with how shitty it can make you feel," Maggie sniffed back. "So, I need this, Alex." Maggie hit her hand against her chest as Alex watched a tear roll down her cheek.
"Babe," Alex reached forward and cupped Maggie's cheek, rubbing her thumb across it to remove the tear. "We are going to buy the baby plenty of things," Alex told her. "You are going to decorate the nursery any way you want too," Alex said, Maggie giving a weak smile. "I just thought we'd decided that we didn't need new furniture but if it means that much to you, then we'll take Riley's to the second-hand shop or a charity shop and we can get new stuff for Nugget." Alex told her, rubbing her cheek again as the smile on Maggie's face grew larger. Alex knew it must have been hard for Maggie to have to see someone else carry a baby she should be carrying, so, if Maggie wanted to do this to feel like she was more involved in the pregnancy, then Alex wasn't going to stop her.
"I'm sorry," Maggie sniffed back. "I know it might seem really stupid because it's just some furniture but I'm not ever going to get to experience pregnancy so the best I can do is make sure that everything is sorted for when the baby arrives." Alex pursed her lips as she moved closer to her wife, her hand once again taking her cheek and wiping away a tear.
"Okay," Alex told her. She'd never be fully able to understand the pain that Maggie must feel at not being able to carry a child. "I'm sorry," Alex felt the need to apologise. She didn't think about there being more of a reason as to why Maggie was so adamant about buying the furniture new. "We can get anything you want." Alex assured her.
"Thank you," Maggie gave her a smile. "I'm so grateful that you are doing this for me – for us – to get our second child," Maggie pursed her lips, her head bowing. "But I really wish I could have done it myself, you know?" Maggie shut her eyes, trying to push away tears that wanted to fall.
"I know," Alex put her hand on Maggie's chin as she gently brought her head up to face her again. "But by April we are going to have a beautiful little baby, and it won't matter which one of us it came from because we are going to be so in love with our new baby and all that will matter is that it's here and it's healthy and we get to start our life as a family of four," Alex spoke softly, Maggie biting her lip as she gave a little nod, agreeing with what Alex was saying. She knew once the baby was here that it wouldn't matter who carried it. They'd have a new precious baby and that would be all that mattered in the end. That they'd expanded their family.
"And then we can get Cody the Golden Retriever, right?" Maggie gave a cheeky smirk as she wiped away a tear from her cheek.
"Yeah," Alex nodded. "But it's Gertrude the Maltese." Alex murmured.
"That's what you think." Maggie quipped before giving Alex a smile, the pair of them chuckling at the fact that neither of them were giving up on the dog they wanted or what to name it. They both leaned in at the same time, sharing a quick kiss.
"I love you baby." Alex told her.
"I love you too." Maggie replied as they lay down in bed together to sleep. Alex reached over and turned her side light off as Maggie nestled herself in the crook of Alex's neck, her hand gently resting on Alex's stomach as they both drifted off to sleep.
Thank you for all the support so far on this story. As always, reviews are appreciated :)