Previous Disclaimers Apply
Chapter 54
During their much needed sleep, Olivia had now turned onto her back and Natalia was cuddled up next to her wife on her side as best as possible. Natalia's head was on Olivia chest, her arm draped over Olivia's torso. The covers were pulled tight around them. They were in their own little cocoon.
Olivia was semi dozing. She could hear that the wind was whipping outside; that meant that the weather forecast was for a winter storm would probably be accurate. The thought went through her head to pack an overnight bag for her and Natalia if they got stuck at the hospital.
Aside from the howling wind outside, Olivia was completely content lying in their warm bed just holding her wife…that is until she felt a quick jab to her side. She knew immediately what it was or rather who it was and a huge grin came across her face. Apparently one or both of the twins were ready to get up. She tried to move from her wife's embrace only to have Natalia instinctively pull her wife closer to her body. Olivia lay still for a few more minutes before trying again to get out of bed and for the second time her wife prevented her from exiting the bed. This time she heard the tell tale giggle from her wife.
"You big faker! You're awake. Here I am trying to not wake you up and you've been awake the whole time!"
"My pillow kept trying to move on me."
"Well, your son or daughter or both kept kicking me. I think they are ready for their Ma to get up."
"Yes, they are dancing on my bladder again. You seriously need to have a talk with them about that."
"I'll try Sweetie, but I don't think they comprehend English yet."
Natalia finally shifted to allow Olivia to move. Olivia promptly pinned her wife to the bed and planted a very passionate kiss on her; one that lasted until they both had to come up for air.
"So did you and the twins have a good nap?"
"We did. Now I really need to go to the bathroom."
Olivia moved so that Natalia could get up. Olivia went to the closet to get jeans and a sweater for herself and an outfit for Natalia.
"Olivia! Come Quick!"
The scream from her wife was startling and Olivia knew it wasn't good. She dropped the clothes and rushed to the bathroom. There she found her wife in tears.
"I'm spotting!"
"OK. Let's get dressed and I'll call Dr. Butler from the car."
They quickly dressed and left for the hospital. Olivia reached the doctor and Dr. Butler said she would be waiting for them. Olivia also called Ava. She told them about Natalia's spotting and asked Ava to relieve Buzz. She hoped Ava would distract Rafe long enough till they knew what was going on with Natalia.
Ava was thankful when she got to Rafe's room she found that Carlos and Rosita had arrived and Buzz had already left a while ago. No sooner had she walked in did the nurse arrived to check and redress Rafe's incision. She decided to tell her grandparents about Natalia's spotting and asked that they help her to distract Rafe until they found out anything concrete. Ava saw Rick in the hallway and asked if he could find out Natalia's status. He said he would see what he could find out.
Olivia and Natalia arrived at the hospital and Dr. Butler's nurse brought them immediately back to an examine room. The nurse and Olivia were helping Natalia change when Dr. Butler arrived. The nurse began taking Natalia's vitals while Dr. Butler prepared for the external examine. After the nurse had finished with the vitals she setup the ultrasound machine.
"OK. Let's take a look at the babies." Said Dr. Butler.
The image popped up the screen. Olivia and Natalia could see the babies. They were moving slightly and you could hear the heartbeats pounding away.
"Everything looks good. Heartbeats are strong and steady. Their position is good. Light spotting is not that uncommon. One thing that does concern me is your blood pressure. It is a bit elevated; higher than I would like it to be."
"Gail, we've had a rough go of it the last 24 hours. Our son Rafe is in the hospital. He was in an accident at work and had to have surgery to replace his femur with a steel rod. We spent the night in his hospital room."
"OK. That's not good. You couldn't have rested comfortably."
"Well, Dr. Bauer had another hospital bed brought in. We shared it last night." Added Natalia.
"What about food and your fluid intake?"
"It wasn't really my focus last night." Said Natalia.
"I practically had to break her arm to get her to eat some dinner last night. With Rafe's help, I finally got her home this morning. We had breakfast and got about 4 hours of sleep in our own bed. We were getting ready to go back to the hospital when Natalia discovered the spotting."
There was a knock at the door. The nurse went to answer it.
"Hey ladies. Mind if I interrupt?" Asked Rick.
"No, Rick, please come in." Said Natalia.
"Ava told me you were here. She was hoping I could get an update for her."
"How's Rafe?"
"He's fine Natalia. Your parents arrived a while ago and sent Buzz on his way. So what is the story here?"
"High blood pressure, related to stress I believe. The spotting is light and has stopped." Said Dr. Butler.
"Recommendations?" Asked Rick.
"Complete best rest for one week; back on track with meals and fluids and I'll see you in a week." Replied Dr. Butler.
"No, I have to be there for Rafe." Whined Natalia.
"Princess, you let me worry about Rafe. You need to take care of yourself, Rolo and Reese."
"Rolo and Reese?" Asked Dr. Butler.
"Olivia likes nicknames. Our daughter Emma is Jelly Bean. She decided to stick with candies for the twins' nicknames."
"OK, well then…for Rolo and Reese, Natalia, I only want you up to go the bathroom and to shower and limit your showers to 15 minutes. So stock up on books, DVDs and keep the laptop charged. Understood?!"
"Yes, Doctor." Said Natalia.
Rick left to go fill in Ava. Dr. Butler and the nurse left to allow Natalia to get dressed. They made the follow-up appointment for a week later and then headed towards Rafe's room. They promised Dr. Butler they would stay no longer than 30 minutes and head home. By the time they reached Rafe's room it was nearing 3pm.
"Gosh, Ma! I'm surprised you weren't here at 1pm sharp?" Asked Rafe.
"Rafe? I had to go see the doctor."
"What? Why?"
"I was spotting earlier. We needed to check on the babies."
"Is everything OK?"
"Mostly, yes. But the doctor wants me on complete bed rest for a week. She thinks with everything that has happened with you has put me under stress and caused my blood pressure to rise higher than normal."
"Ma! See why I wanted you to go home."
"Well, she is going home in less than 20 minutes; doctor's and wife's orders." Said Olivia.
"I think you all should go. There's not much to do here; I've been watching a lot of TV. There is bad weather coming in. So I want you all to go home." Begged Rafe.
"You guys go. I was planning on staying at the Beacon tonight anyway. I can stay a while longer before I need to leave." Said Ava.
Everyone agreed and said they good-byes. Carlos and Rosita left with Olivia and Natalia. With the impending storm and extra house guests, Carlos and Rosita offered to stop by the store for groceries; the ladies gave them a quick list of a few things they would need. Then they went there separate ways.
As soon as they were home, Olivia got Natalia upstairs. Natalia changed into her pajamas while Olivia changed into a pair of yoga pants and a long sleeve tee shirt. They were sitting up against the headboard with Natalia leaned into Olivia as they had every night reading the baby name book. Both ladies were quiet. Olivia was gently stroking Natalia hair. They heard the back door and assumed that Carlos and Rosita had arrived. A few minutes later Carlos arrived at their door with his and Rosita's bags heading to the guest bedroom.
"Everything OK?" Asked Carlos.
"Yes, Papa. Thank you."
"You're welcome Tali. It's starting to snow by the way. Your Mama is putting away the groceries and is going to get dinner started. You two take it easy and get some rest."
Not long after, Olivia realized Natalia had fallen asleep. She gently nudged Natalia to slide down in the bed and get more comfortable to which Natalia listened. Olivia stayed a while longer to see that Natalia went back to sleep. Olivia then went downstairs. She stopped in the living room long enough to call Ava, Sam and Emma. Ava was back at the Beacon and so far things were running smoothly there. Olivia found Sam at the hospital in Rafe's room. Ava had called him and filled him in. So Sam packed a bag and decided to keep watch over his nephew.
When Olivia called Phillip, she told him of the spotting and they decided to tell Emma together. Phillip took Emma to the library in the mansion and put Olivia on speaking phone. Emma was scared and felt better after Olivia promised to have Natalia call her as soon as she was awake. Phillip offered to bring Emma home, but Olivia didn't want them traveling in bad weather. She finished up her call and went to join her in-laws in the kitchen.
"Honey, how is Tali?" Asked Rosita.
"She's sleeping now."
"Good. Dinner will be ready in about an hour. Why don't you go rest too? The last couple of days have been hard on you too." Said Rosita.
"Now I wouldn't be a very good host if I did that."
"Please, Olivia. Let us help. We weren't there when Tali needed us before; let us be there for her now, for Rafe and for you?" Pleaded Carlos.
"Alright. There's a card table in the basement and folding chairs. If we bring those upstairs we can all eat together. Carlos, if you'll help me with those, I promise I'll go lay down."
Olivia led Carlos to the basement. He got the table and Olivia got two of the chairs and they brought them up to the bedroom. They left them in the hallway as to not disturb Natalia. Carlos went to get the other two chairs and Olivia went into the bedroom to join her wife. Olivia pulled back the covers and got in bed. She lay down on her side of the bed on her back. Even in her sleep, Natalia could since her wife's presence. Natalia moved into Olivia's personal space and cuddled with her wife. In less than a minute, Olivia was asleep too.
The snow storm passed and two days later Carlos headed for home leaving Rosita behind to help Olivia with Natalia and Rafe. By the third day, Natalia was going stir crazy. Thankfully it was the weekend. Phillip brought Emma home and Emma was so on point for entertaining Natalia. Rosita stayed at the farmhouse while Olivia went to the hospital to be with Rafe when they moved him to rehab. He was healing nicely. The swelling in the knee had gone down considerably. First order of business was to get Rafe into the pool. Water therapy at the start was so much more helpful because of water keeps the added weight and pressure off of the legs and allows the limbs to be exercised without undo pressure.
Finally, the week had passed. There had been no more instances of spotting. Natalia got a clean bill of health from Dr. Butler. Her blood pressure was back to normal. The doctor did however recommend that Natalia stop working and take her maternity leave immediately. Blake understood and told Natalia to take care of herself and the babies. Work would be there when she was ready.
The ladies accepted Rosita's offer to stay on for the duration to help. With Rafe being out of commission, Olivia was thankful for the help. By the time Rafe's two weeks were up, he was able to use the crutches, but he was limited to only going to and from the bathroom, else he was to use the wheelchair. It would still be a while yet before he would be allow to solely use the crutches. Before Rafe was discharged, Carlos, Tony and Sam helped get the farmhouse setup for Rafe with a hospital bed and such.
Once Rafe was home, they fell into a good routine. Rosita would take care of Emma in the morning, seeing to her breakfast and getting her ready on time for the bus. Olivia was in charge of helping Rafe. He needed help getting dressed and seeing to his morning routine. He showered at night when Sam would come by to help him. He has his therapy appointments mid morning, so Olivia would take him to and from the hospital. She would sometimes stay with him or sometimes go run errands while she was in town.
Now they had finally reached the 3rd trimester. Rafe was now on crutches fulltime. His left leg had healed nicely and ahead of the damage to his right knee. The Spencer-Rivera clan as well as most of Springfield were on full alert baby watch. They were hoping the twins would not come early, but they were trying to get prepared if they did. It was getting harder for Natalia to make trips up and down the steps, so once Rafe was able to navigate the stairs back to his apartment Natalia took over his hospital bed. That however only lasted one night. The next day the hospital bed was gone and Olivia had a set of bed rails and new mattress delivered. This way she and Natalia could still share a bed; otherwise neither woman would sleep soundly for the next couple of months.
TBC
