Author: SOAGemmaGemro
Title: Big Surprise
Fandom: Sons Of Anarchy
Pairing: Gemro [Gemma/Nero]
Summary: Gemma & Nero are still together, but they are in for an unexpected surprise.
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: No characters belong to me they belong to Kurt Sutter & FX/Disney.
Author's Notes:See Chapter 1 for full notes
I own nothing, but my OC's which are as follows: Gemma's O.B. Allison Shyer, receptionist Shelly, nurse Melissa, Lucius's caregiver Kayla, Trisha the other receptionist, Dr. Jamie Booker, Dr. Samantha Booker (they are sisters), Dr. Paula Campbell, Dr. Carla Becker (pediatric cardiologist), Dr. Ramona Jessup (one of the NICU nurses, Amy Anderson (baby girl Padilla's primary nurse)
A few notes for this chapter: Perhaps I wasn't clear before, but once again this story is mainly on Gemma/Nero NOT Jax/Tara, they aren't going to be endgame and weren't intended to be as I do not ship them at all. Josh Kohn is a good guy in this story not at all as he was on the show. There will be a bit of Spanish in this chapter with the help of google translate I hope it's accurate.
WARNING TO THE JAX/TARA SHIPPERS: Starting now is when the Jax/Tara pairing will be changing they were never intended to be endgame in this story as I do NOT ship them if any of you Jax/Tara shippers don't like it, don't read this story any further.
Anyway enough of my talking, on with the story...enjoy!
Previously On Big Surprise:
Nero returns with a wheelchair minutes later, he helps her into it and wheels her down to the NICU they arrive there within a few minutes, Nero presses the button for the intercom "Can I help you?" a voice says "Yeah, here for baby girl Padilla" the buzzer rings letting them in as Nero pushes Gemma through the NICU she looks sadly at all of the babies trying to find where hers is finally she spots a name tag on the outside window of an incubator in the way back saying "Baby girl Padilla" Gemma gasps at the first sight of her baby while Nero has tears in his eyes he's never seen a baby so small before just then a young blonde nurse walks over to them she smiles speaking up "Hi there I'm Amy Anderson, your baby's primary care nurse" Gemma looks at the other woman somberly sniffling "Hi" Nero somberly says "Hi" pausing Amy speaks up "Don't be afraid to talk to her" adding "Does she have a name?" Gemma and Nero both nod with Gemma speaking barely above a whisper "Atalaya Bennett Padilla"
Chapter 16: We Love You, Baby Girl So Much
5pm
Amy smiles down at Gemma remarking sweetly "That's a beautiful name" without another word, Amy leaves to check on some of her other tiny patients; Gemma peers into the incubator at her tiny baby girl thinking she's so beautiful from what she can see at this point looks like both her and Nero, her hair is dark brown almost black, her complexion is similar to Nero's, and her she's got Nero's nose, but other than that she can't tell anymore because of all these tubes and wires hooked up to her. Gemma is numb oblivious to everything and everyone in the NICU except her baby girl, she smiles whispering "Hi baby girl, I'm your mommy I can't wait to hold you" her hands shake slightly as she touches her baby's incubator as Nero sniffles bending down peering into the incubator he whispers "Hey Talaya, I'm your daddy" the tiny baby squirms a bit when she hears her parents voices "I think she recognizes our voices, babe" Gemma remarks happily, Nero smiles "Of course she does, Mama" he looks at Gemma then back at his baby girl remarking softly "She's so beautiful" Gemma murmurs "Yeah, she is.." taking a breath remarking curiously "I want see her eyes, what color they are" Nero smiles "Me too, but we will soon enough" a silence falls on the couple, but Nero breaks it "Gem, do you want me to call Jax and tell him about the baby?" she just nods, he kisses her on the lips then says "I'll be right back"
Nero goes out into the hallway dials Jax's number, he picks it up on the first ring.
"Hey Nero, what's up?" he asks taking a few puffs from his cigarette then dropping it on the ground putting it out as he paces around outside his house.
Sighing heavily, Nero starts "Jax, your mother is in the hospital" Jax drops his cigarette on the ground "What?!" he says in shock "Yeah, she had the baby an hour ago" Nero announces somberly, Jax goes silent he doesn't know what to say shuffling himself back inside he sits down on the couch "Okay, is she okay?" Nero asks curiously "Your mother or the baby?" Jax answers "both, but more the baby" Nero sits down in a chair outside in the hallway "Your mom is fine, but the baby isn't she's very sick, Gem is in the NICU right now with her, but she wanted me to call you to let you know what's going on" Jax starts to cry "uh...thanks Nero I'll talk to you later" Nero pauses then speaks "Jax wait..I'm sure your mother wants you here with her and you can see your new sister" Jax closes his eyes swallows hard "Thanks" he hangs up leaving Nero hanging..."Damn" he whispers to himself.
Nero gets up from the chair dialing Kayla's number after a few minutes she answers "Hello?" Nero says shakily "Hey Kayla, it uh Nero" sitting down at the table "Hey Nero, are you okay?" "What's going on?" she barges him with questions "Gemma had the baby an hour ago" Kayla happily responds "Wow, congratulations, is everyone okay?" Nero sits back down into the chair breathing heavily "No, the baby is very sick" Kayla puts her hand over her mouth "Oh god, I'm so sorry, should I tell Lucius?" Nero rubs his hands over his face "No, please don't I'll come by and tell him myself okay" Kayla takes a deep breath "Okay, when will you be coming?" She asks wondering "I don't know, I'll call you back I've gotta get back to the baby and Gemma" Kayla replies somberly "Alright bye" adding "I'll give Lucius your love" Nero responds "Thanks, bye" dropping his on the floor he breaks down crying.
After a few moments, Nero composes himself taking some deep breaths he gets up from the chair and goes back into the NICU walking over to Gemma she looks up at him remarking "You were gone a while" Nero bends down kissing her on the cheek "Yeah, I know sorry" adding "I called Jax and Kayla, but I told her I'd come over later to tell Lucius about his sister" Gemma sniffles, nodding "You should go there now" Nero looks at her perplexed "Are you sure?" he asks standing up.
"Are you going to be okay by yourself?" pausing asking the another question.
"I don't want to leave you when your like this, Mama" he points out taking her hand into his.
"I'll be okay, baby I promise" she replies flashing him a smile; pausing speaking softly "Go..please" he smiles bending down to kiss her forehead "Okay, call me if you need anything and I'll be back as soon as I can, I love you" Gemma squeezes his hand, Nero looks down somberly at his tiny baby girl in her incubator whispering "Te Amo, babé" (I love you, baby) with that he leaves his baby and wife heading to tell his son about his new baby sister once outside the NICU, Nero calls Kayla telling her he'll be coming over, she says she and Lucius will be waiting for him.
Teller/Case Residence: November 15th 6pm
Jax's sitting on the couch with his phone still in his hand looking down at the floor softly crying when Wendy walks carrying baby Thomas whose cooing, noticing Jax's demeanor she quickly put Thomas's blue blanket on the carpet and gently lays him down into it giving him a few of his toys to play with walking over to Jax she sits down on the couch beside him putting her hand on top of his startled he looks up at her somberly she whispers "Baby, what's wrong?" Jax takes a deep breath clearing his throat "Nero called earlier..." he starts then pausing to compose himself before continuing "He uh said mom had the baby" adding "I have a baby sister.." Wendy smiles happily "Baby, that's great we should go see her" The smile on Wendy's face disappears when Jax looks at her again, confusion sets in and she asks "Jax..what's going on?" he sniffles "The baby is very sick Nero said, she's in the NICU" Wendy wraps her arms around him sadly whispering "I'm so sorry, baby" The couple stands up, Wendy says "You need to go see her...and your mother" Jax shakes his head "No, I can't" Wendy takes a deep breath rubbing her hands over her face in frustration "Damn it, Jax she's your sister!" adding "I'll come with you" putting her hand on his arm supportively. Jax jerks her hand away angrily running out of the house leaving Wendy shaking her head whispering to herself "Damn you, Jax"
St. Thomas Hospital:NICU - 7pm
Gemma and Nero are still in the NICU, Gemma who still has oxygen in her nose, Nero is holding her hand while Amy their baby's primary nurse has been checking on the baby every so often, discussing what's going on, explaining what machines and tubes are on her "..as you can see she's got nasal oxygen in her nose and tube down her throat to help her breathe, a nasal gastric tube is in stomach because she can't eat on her own, she's also got some I.V.'s to help her with any pain she may have" Amy pauses for a moment giving them a minute to take this all in, Nero nods for her to continue "the next few days will be critical in seeing how she does"
Seconds later pediatric cardiologist, Dr. Carla Becker comes over greeting the parents "Hi Gemma, Nero" she says shaking their hands, clearing her throat she continues "As you both know your little girl is very sick we are going to do surgery on her to try and correct her heart defect tomorrow.. that is if she's still stable, if not we might have to hold off a few days as we don't want her heart to be too weak to survive it" Gemma takes a shakily breath as Nero rubs the small of her back supportingly.
Teller/Case Residence: 7:30pm
Back at the house Jax is sitting outside in a chair smoking a cigarette, Wendy comes out with Thomas in her arms while Abel is in his room playing with his toys she sits in the empty chair beside him a silence falls on them after a few seconds Wendy breaks the silence "I'm sorry" she says apologizing "Jax, you need to see her I know it'll be hard, but she's your sister" Jax stubs out his cigarette looking at her "Wendy...he starts "I can't go because I know it'll bring back memories of Abel being there and that shit was hard enough to deal with for me seeing him in that toaster and worrying if he'll live or die" Wendy bows her head in silence reminded of the guilt she still has for putting her son into that position and she starts to cry softly as Jax chuckles continuing to speak "Mom had to actually slap some sense into me to go and see him" Hearing this Wendy sniffles wiping her eyes as her head whips around looking at him shockingly "Really?...I never knew that" Jax nods "Yeah" Wendy takes his hand into hers "We'll do this together" he smiles "Okay, let's do this" with that the couple gets ready to head over to the hospital.
8pm:
Nero arrives at Kayla's place within a few minutes turning off the engine he sits there for a bit trying to compose himself, his nerves are shot from all this stress taking the keys out of the ignition he gets out of the car and knocks on the door, Kayla's who is in the middle of playing a game with Lucius in the living room gets up to answer it "Oh that's gotta be your dad, kiddo" she announces adding "be right back" Kayla gets up from the going over to the door opening it to reveal Nero standing there "Hi Nero, come on in" she says stepping aside to let him in he smiles seeing Lucius on the floor "Hey Mijo" he greets the boy smiles at his father "Hey Papi!" he says happily; Nero sits down on the floor beside his son while Kayla sits on the couch, Nero's silent for a bit trying to think of how to tell his son about his new baby sister, he doesn't want to scare him either.
After a few more minutes Nero speaks "Mijo, I came over here to tell you something...you have a new baby sister" Nero watches his son's reaction he smiles joyfully "Yay, can I come see her!?" he asks hopefully, Nero glances up at Kayla who says nothing, but looks at him somberly, he shakes his head, putting his hand on his shoulder "No, not right now" Lucius looks at his dad sadly asking curiously "Why?" Nero's thinking a million thoughts: How am I gonna tell him? What am I going to tell him? Instead he kisses his son on the cheek before continuing "Well because she's very sick and the doctors want to get her better first, but I promise you'll be able to see her soon" after a few moments Lucius says "Okay I understand, Papi" Nero smiles "Good, I have to get back to the hospital so you're going to have to stay over night here with Kayla, but I'll be back tomorrow" father and son say their goodbyes each other as Nero gets up from the floor and heads for the hospital once again.
St. Thomas Hospital: Outside The NICU - 9pm
Jax, Wendy and the kids arrive at the hospital they walk to the elevator seconds later the doors open as they step into it; Wendy pushes the button for the 4th floor while in the elevator Jax breaks the nervous tension "Babe, if it's okay with you, let me see Mom first okay and you stay with the boys" Wendy nods in understanding "Sure Jax, that's fine" Jax smiles squeezing her hand "Thanks" moments later the elevator doors open to the 4th floor they all step off and head toward to the NICU, Wendy sits down on the bench with the boys while Jax peers through doors to the NICU where he sees his mother sitting in a wheelchair watching over her baby, he smiles sadly at the scene before him just as Nero arrives "Hey Mano" he says startling the young man, Jax looks over at the older man who has continued to be like a father figure to him "Hey Nero" Nero looks to Jax remarking "You should go in and see them" Jax looks back at Nero uncomfortably "I can't..."
Nero puts his hand on Jax's shoulder "Look Mano, I know it's hard for you, but your mom needs you right now and that's your sister in there she needs you too, go on..." taking a breath he slowly pushes open the door and goes in as Nero follows soon after, walking over to his mother he puts his hand on her shoulder startling her back to reality she looks up to see her son standing there "Jax..." he gives her a hug and she kisses him on the cheek "Where are the boys?" she asks looking around for them "with Wendy outside I didn't think it was a good idea to bring them in here" She nods in understand "Thanks for coming" Jax looks down into the incubator at his baby sister he smiles at her she was beautiful to him, but at the same time it's gonna be so weird with their huge age differences, but he loves her already he whispers "Hey baby girl, I'm your big brother" Gemma murmurs softly "Atalaya" Jax looks at his mother confused "What?" She speaks up "her name is Atalaya" Jax smiles looks back at the incubator with tears in his eyes whispering to his sleeping tiny sister "Atalaya, what a beautiful name for a beautiful little girl, I can't wait to hold you" with that Jax leaves without another word as Gemma calls out "Jax..."
Jax is outside the room sitting on the bench with his hands over his face sniffling, Wendy puts her hand over his trying to comfort him he looks up at her with his tear stained face "That was really hard for me" nodding in understanding "I know" pausing she asks "do you mind if I go in and see her while you stay here with the kids?" Jax responds "Sure go ahead, I'll watch the boys" Wendy walks into the NICU where Gemma and Nero are whispering to their baby and still watching over her closely, the younger woman smiles as she makes her way over to them "Hey you two" her greets the new parents "Hey, sweetheart" Gemma whispers, Nero smiles "Hey" Wendy's eyes gaze down at the tiny baby in the incubator remarking "Wow..she's beautiful" Gemma smiles "Thanks, I can't wait to hold her" Wendy chuckles "I bet, it's gotta be hard not to be able to" Gemma nods "Yeah it is" pausing a few seconds the younger woman asks "How is she doing?" this time Nero replies "She's doing okay for right now, but the doctors say she's gonna need surgery on her heart soon, most likely tomorrow if she's still stable" Wendy puts her hand on Gemma's shoulder comfortingly "I'm sorry, I hope she'll make it through" Gemma and Nero nod "we do too" a silence falls on the three of them after a few minutes Wendy breaks it "Well, I'm going to go back out and check on Jax and the boys, we're gonna go home and get some rest and hopefully come back tomorrow" Gemma and Nero say nothing as Wendy walks out somberly as they head home for the night.
9:30pm:
Once Jax, Wendy and the boys leave, Gemma who has now been taken off her nasal oxygen and IV's looks at Nero asking "Babe, can you get the blanket I made for her?" Nero nods "Sure Mama, I brought it's in your hospital bag" kissing her cheek softly "be right back" he says leaving to go back in the room and retrieve the blanket minutes later Nero returns with the blanket "Here you go, Mama" he says handing it to her she smiles "Thanks, sweetheart" Gemma gets up from her wheelchair placing the blanket on their baby's little incubator whispering "Here you go, sweetheart, a little something to keep you warm tonight" they give one last touch of the incubator and head back to Gemma's room to try and get some rest as both are exhausted after their long day.
St. Thomas Hospital - The Next Morning November 16th 7am
Gemma stirs slowly opening her eyes she's had a long night as did Nero they were up half of the night worried for their baby girl, but finally were able to get to sleep around 4am. Turning on her side Gemma smiles at Nero who is still asleep beside her, she kisses on his lips whispering "Baby, wake up" turning over to face his wife he opens his eyes "Hey Mama, I'm surprised your up this early" Gemma yawns "Me too, I didn't want to wake you, but I didn't want to be the only one up either" Nero waves her off "It's okay" Gemma goes silent inside she's scared for her baby, Nero knows how she's feeling because he feels the same way, he wraps his arm around holding her close "Mama, she's gonna be alright" Gemma looks at him confessing "I'm scared" Nero responds "I know you know..am I too" Just then the door opens nurse Melissa comes in "Hi, Gemma, Nero, how are you guys doing?" Gemma and Nero look at each other, Nero speaks up "We're going okay I guess" Melissa replies "That's good, Gemma here's your breakfast" she says handing Gemma her food, she takes it thanking her, pausing Melissa adds "the doctors will be in to talk with you guys soon" without another word the nurse leaves the room.
Gemma glaces down at the food which consists of eggs, bacon, toast and an orange juice picking up her fork she takes a few bites of her eggs than puts it down, Nero notices this "Mama, you've got to eat to keep up your strength" Gemma shrugs her shoulders in response "I'm not really hungry" she whispers, he kisses her on her forehead "I know, but you have too" sighing she picks back up her fork and starts eating again, Nero smiles remarking "That's my girl" Gemma shakes her head chuckling "Can you get me my pills, please?" adding "I've gotta take them" Nero nods asking "Sure in your purse right?" Gemma just nods as Nero gets up from the bed getting the pills from her purse, handing the bottle to his wife "here you go, Mama" Gemma takes them from him "Thanks, sweetheart" opening the bottle she pops the pill into her mouth taking a sip of her orange juice to swallow the pill she groans as the medication goes down her throat bitterly.
Seconds later the door opens Gemma and Nero look up to see Dr. Becker and Dr. Shyer entering the room "Hi, Gemma, Nero we're here to talk about Atalaya" Hearing that Gemma immediately panics "Oh my god is she okay?" Dr. Becker puts her hand over Gemma's "don't worry she's okay, still stable" she breathes a sigh of relief pausing the doctor continues "but I'd like to do her heart surgery soon like within the next few hours" Gemma starts to cry as Nero wraps his arms around her trying to comfort his wife "It's okay babe, I'm here" she sniffles nodding silently responding her voice barely above a whisper "Okay" the doctors give them a minute to take all of the news in then say "If you guys have any questions, concerns or need anything let us know, we'll leave you two alone now, but will let you know when the baby will be going into surgery." Nero speaks up "Thanks, doctor" with that the two doctors leave the couple to their thoughts.
After the doctors leave, Gemma starts to cry hysterically "Hey, Hey, Mama..shh, it's okay, don't cry" he says soothingly 10 minutes later she apologizes "I'm sorry" wiping her eyes, Nero smiles "It's okay, I still love you so much, Mama and always will" he holds her close kissing her on the lips whispering "we'll get through this together" they stay like that silent holding onto each other both hoping their baby girl will get through her surgery okay.
20 minutes later, Gemma's calm again and eating the rest of her now cold breakfast groaning "ugh, I hate eating a cold breakfast" Nero chuckles "Well, what do you except you didn't eat when it was hot" Gemma glared at him "stop being a smart ass!" Nero nods holding up his hand in defense "sorry baby, I couldn't resist" she lightly punches him in his shoulder "well stop it, I'm not in mood!" Nero holds his shoulder grimaces in pain "ouch!" she smirks "now you know how it feels" he holds up his hands "Alright, alright I get it I'm sorry look let's not argue we're upset enough okay and besides I don't want to fight with you, Mama" Gemma nods sighing "Yeah you're right, I'm sorry I don't want fight with you either" They kiss each other on the lips to make up "I love you, Gem" he says softly "I love you, baby" she whispers back their foreheads touch as Nero's hand hold hers.
Teller/Case Residence – 8am
Jax and Wendy are already up with the boys making them breakfast, Wendy makes Abel some pancakes while Jax puts Thomas into his highchair after a few minutes the pancakes are done, Wendy puts the plate of food down in front of him "Thank you, mommy" the boy smiles "You're welcome, kiddo" she kisses him on his cheek handing him a fork and some milk to drink while Jax walks over to the fridge to get Thomas's food and a bowl, Wendy pours the rice cereal into the bowl and sits down in a chair by the baby's chair and starts to feed him as she does it suddenly hits her "Baby" she calls to Jax from the kitchen whose in the living room picking up some toys off the floor, he walks back into the kitchen when he hears Wendy's voice "Yeah, what's up?" she stops feeding Thomas replying "We haven't told your mom about our engagement yet" Jax looks at her taken aback "Shit darlin' where did that come from?" Wendy chuckles "Come on, Jax you know we haven't" Jax nods "I know, but I didn't want to tell her because she's got this other shit goin' on because of the baby" it's now Wendy's turn to be taken aback "But this is good news" she points out, Jax nods understanding her point "Yeah true, when we go back to the hospital today we'll tell her okay" Wendy kisses him "Good, well what time do you want to go?" she asks as he looks at his watch "I don't know a couple of hours, I'm gonna call Nero and see what's goin' on"
With that, Jax pulls out his phone dialing Nero's number he answers on the first ring "Hey Mano" the younger man replies barging the older man with questions "Hey Nero, what's goin' on? how's mom, the baby?" Gemma looks up at him who whispers mouthing Jax he hands her the phone she just puts her hand up waving it off Nero nods puts the phone back to his ear "Your mom is okay, the baby is okay as can be, but the doctors wanna do her heart surgery in a few hours assuming she stays stable which for right now she is" Jax sits down on the couch rubbing his hands over his face at the news "Shit, alright we're gonna come up there soon, tell mom alright" Nero sits down in the empty chair in the room "Okay, I'll tell her" Jax pauses a moment than continues "Tell her I love her" Nero responds "Alright, Mano" Jax hangs up so does Nero. Nero goes over to his wife's bed kisses her on the hand "Hey Mama, Jax is coming to the hospital I told him what was going on" Gemma smiles cupping his face "That makes me happy" Nero continues "He also told me to tell you he loves you" she nods happily changing the subject "I want to go see my baby before her surgery" Nero nods "Okay" pausing he asks "Do you want the wheelchair?" Gemma shakes her head "No, that's okay I can walk" helping her out of the bed they walk down to the NICU together hand in hand.
Seconds later they arrive Gemma presses the button for the intercom a voice responds "Can I help you?" Gemma replies "I'm here for baby girl Padilla" the door opens letting Gemma and Nero into the room the couple walk to their baby's incubator which now has her name on it – Atalaya Padilla that's when Amy comes over to greet them "Hi, Gemma, Nero" she smiles "Hi" Gemma says "Hey" Nero replies, Gemma asks "how is she doing today?" looking down at her tiny baby fighting for her life, Amy looks at the older woman stoically "She's doing as well as can be expected at the moment" Gemma starts crying softly, Nero comforts her "Shh, it's okay" taking a deep breath Gemma tries to compose herself "I'm sorry" she says apologizing; Amy puts her hand on Gemma's shoulder sympathetically "It's okay it's normal to feel the way you're feeling" sniffling she wipes the tears from her eyes, clearing her throat Gemma looks at Amy nervously asking "It is okay to touch her?" she smiles responding "Of course she needs that, needs to know you two are there for her and that you love her, but you have to gown up and wash your hands first, so come with me" Gemma and Nero follow Amy to the back of the room, she gives them each a gown they put them on over their clothes then takes them over to the sink to wash their hands properly; after a few minutes all three go back into the NICU and over to Atayala's isolate; Amy opens the little window of the incubator, Gemma takes a shakily breath she's not sure she can do this inside she's scared to death as she doesn't want to hurt her baby, looking to Amy for some guidance "It's okay you won't hurt her, I promise...go ahead" her hand shakes slightly as she puts her hand through the incubator window caressing her baby's little hand the little girl responds by grasping onto her mother's two fingers; Gemma gasps happily at the scene "Baby, do you see this?" she asks looking at Nero, he smiles "I see" she whispers "We love you baby girl, we're here with you, you've gotta be strong and get through this all this okay" a few minutes later she takes out her hand, Nero looks at Amy not sure he should "Go ahead talk to her, touch her" she encourages Nero puts his hands into the incubator stroking his baby's cheek with his fingers softly whispering emotionally "mi niña, papi te quiere mucho" (my baby girl, daddy loves you so much).
Gemma continues watching Nero with their daughter for a few more seconds before stepping out into the hallway to collect herself as her emotional state is all over the place right now she sits down on the bench with her head in her hands just then a hand touches her shoulder startled she looks up to see her son there with Wendy and the boys "Jax..." he smiles sitting down beside her his hands on his pockets "Hey Ma, how you doing?" she looks at him sadly "Not good, son" he apologizes "sorry stupid question" Gemma leans into her son's shoulder, Jax looks at his wife to be and she nods indicating this is the perfect time to tell his mother the news "Mom, Wendy and I have something to tell you" he starts she looks at him curiously wondering what the hell her son's up to now, but inside her head is spinning with thoughts: Great, just what I need more shit on my plate to deal with, I can't handle anymore pausing a few seconds, but then continuing "Wendy and I are engaged" whatever news Gemma was expecting to hear that wasn't it sure she knew they were back together, but this news she can't hide the surprise in her voice "wow" crossing her arms in front of her she looks at both of them Jax's shocked by her reaction he honestly thought she'd be happy as she always loved Wendy "That's it, Mom?" he continues "I thought you'd be happy for us" Gemma scoffs standing up "Jesus Christ, Jax I gotta enough shit to worry about right now with the baby and her surgery in a few hours, excuse me if I'm not throwing a party for you two!" Gemma walks back into the NICU with Nero and their baby emotionally drained leaving Jax unsure of what just happened.
Jax sits down next to his finceé she holds his hand "Jax, your mom is under a lot of stress right now I don't think she meant to react like that to our news it was unexpected and I think once she was calms down and all this stuff with the baby is over she'll be happy about it" smiling he replies squeezing her hand "I hope you're right, babe"
Moments later. Gemma and Nero appear in the hallway together, Jax and Wendy look at them; both looked so tired and drained they sit down on the other bench, Nero holds Gemma's hand as she leans her head on his shoulder, silence takes overtakes them all the boys are also quiet with Abel sitting in between Wendy and Jax while Thomas sitting on Wendy's lap sleeping.
11am:
Two hours later, Gemma and Nero look up to see Dr. Becker walking down the hallway towards them "Hi, Gemma, Nero" the doctor sits down beside the couple announcing "we are going to be taking Atalaya into surgery here in the next few minutes as she still stable now, but I want you two to know that could change while in surgery" Gemma breaks down again holding onto the Nero as Jax and Wendy listen from a few feet away, the doctor continues "We are going to do everything we can help get her better and fix the condition with open heart surgery" Gemma whispers sniffling "I know, I've been through this myself, so has Nero" the doctor nods remembering "Right of course, I'll come and update you as soon as I can, we are going to take very good care of her" with the doctor leaves to prep for the surgery.
11:15am:
It's now time for Atalaya's surgery, Dr. Becker is in the NICU getting her prepared for it, the baby is intubated and has been given medication, with a pulse ox is on her tiny finger to register her pulse; they place her onto the operating table then goes to gown up and wash her hands seconds later she steps into the operation room to start on the operation, she begins with an scalpel incision down the baby's tiny chest as the scrub nurse calls out vitals "pulse ox is 100, heart rate is 140, blood pressure is "79/100" Dr, Becker nods "Okay that's good, let's use forceps to close the hole"
Meanwhile back in the hallway Gemma and Nero are on pins and needles waiting for word about their baby and it's only been a few minutes since she's went to the O.R. Jax and Wendy have decided to stay with them to see anything or some support "Hey Ma, Nero you guys need anything?" Jax asks wanting to help in anyway he could; Nero shakes his head while Gemma waves him off as she starts pacing the floor nervously as Nero sits on the bench "Mama, come on let's take a walk" he suggests wrapping his arms around her guiding her with him down the hallway as the walking feels like it's gone on forever until they suddenly stop finding themselves staring at the doors of the hospital chapel, both look at each other; Nero goes in first with Gemma following close behind, he walks up to the alter lights some candles she soon joins him lighting a few candles of her own, clasping her hands together she closes her eyes and prays while Nero prays in Spanish:
Querido Dios, mantén a mi bebé segura y viva, por favor no la dejes morir, protégela. La quiero mucho, Amén. (Dear God, keep my baby safe and alive, please don't l let her die, protect her. I love her very much, Amen)
In the O.R. the doctors are still trying to close up the hole just then one of the other scrub nurses yells out "pulse ox is dropping, BP is stable, but heart rate is erratic up to 200" Dr. Becker barks "up her oxygen and give her 4 migs of ampiodarone" she continues giving orders "suction, I can't see there's too much blood" the other doctor suctions out the blood; they give give her more oxygen along with the medicine and she finally stabilizes; after an another hour the operation is completed and the hole closed the doctors bandage the baby's stitches up and return her to the NICU to recover.
12pm:
Gemma and Nero return outside the NICU feeling a little better after their stop at the chapel they both sit back down on the bench in the hallway, Gemma nervously plays with her hands, Nero notices this and rubs her arm soothingly seconds later she looks up to see Dr. Becker walking towards them the closer the doctor comes the more scared Gemma gets inside the two stand up along with Jax and Wendy. Dr. Becker smiles at them "your daughter's surgery went well" the doctor starts, Gemma smiles at the news "Thank god" she whispers breathing a sigh of relief, Nero takes her hand into his; pausing for a bit, Gemma notices the other woman's smile fading "What is it, doc?" she asks scared about what the doctor is about to tell her, clearing her throat she continues "during the surgery though her pulse ox did drop a bit and her heart rate was erratic for a time" Gemma gasps as Nero helps her sit down on the bench, the doctor continues once again "but we got her stabilized after a few minutes and she's now back in NICU recovering you can go see her if you'd like" the biker queen's emotional state is all over the place at the moment, looking up at the doctor with her tear stained face taking a deep breath she whispers happily "Thank you!" Nero smiles "Thanks, doc" the doctor nods "You're welcome" she shakes their hands then leaves the family alone.
Gemma leans her head back against the wall sighing deeply she looks at Nero "I'm so happy she's okay and came through surgery" he nods "Me too, Mama, let's go see her" Gemma rises from the bench stretching her muscles she walks over to Wendy and Jax "Thank you for coming and staying with us" Jax stands up giving his mother mother a hug she kisses him on the cheek "No problem, we're family" Gemma gives Wendy a hug "Thanks, Sweetheart for taking care of my grand babies, I love you all so much" the younger woman smiles "You're welcome Gemma, I love these boys so I'm happy to do it" pausing she apologizes "I'm sorry for before I'm happy for you two, congratulations" Wendy looks over to Jax with a look on her face that says I told you so Jax rolls his eyes and shakes his head.
12:30pm:
The couple is still standing beside Wendy and Jax a few minutes later when Jax speaks up "Ma, we're gonna go now and let you spend time with the baby" Gemma grabs his arm calling to him "Jax, don't you want to see your sister, she needs you too you've only visited her once and even that was short" he sighs heavily frustrated "Jesus Christ, Ma I can't do this shit right now" Gemma yells "Damn it, Jax why do you have to be such an asshole!" Jax continues bending down to his son's level "Tell Grandma goodbye, Abel we're leaving" Abel runs over to his grandma she scoops him up giving him a kiss "bye, sweetheart" Gemma puts Abel down as Wendy gives Thomas to Gemma letting her say her goodbye to him "bye baby boy, Grandma loves you" she kisses him on his cheek then gives him back to Wendy who looks at her sadly "I'm sorry" Gemma just nods watching sadly as her son, his fiancé and her grand babies leave the hospital.
A few minutes later Nero comes over to Gemma wrapping his arms around her waist kissing her neck whispering "Are you ready to go and see our baby girl?" she turns herself in towards his body laying her head on his shoulder whispering hoarsely "yes" he takes her hand into his holding it as they walk to the NICU before going in they gown themselves up and wash their hands; 5 minutes later the two walked back to the NICU doors, Nero presses the intercom "Can I help you?" a voice comes through the speaker "Here for Atalaya Padilla" the doors open, Nero walked in first holding the door for his wife she walks into the room beside him they walk a few more steps to their baby's incubator, Gemma gasps loudly at the sight of her baby, monitors were beeping keeping her alive, her tiny body is swollen and she's got bandages all down her chest from the surgery she whispers "Oh my god" her head starts to spin, her heart is racing and feels herself getting dizzy, she then grabs her chest as the pain in it gets intense; Nero turns around to see if she's okay and notices her hand on her chest "Mama!" he says worried rushing over to her, he takes her outside to sit down on the bench where she whispers to him "I can't breathe"
To Be Continued...