Throw Me to The Wolves & I Will Return Leading the Pack
Summary:Morgan, the newest member of SVU hasn't had much luck with men, but her new partner might just be the one for her, if only she could let Sonny Carisi know. Men come much easier to her friend Riley, who's maybe not prepared for the challenge that Peter Stone provides.
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters of Law and Order SVU, Morgan and Riley however are all mine.
Chapter 31:
Morgan had been glad to get back to work but she missed Michael every day that she left him with the babysitter. It was hard, but Amanda had talked her through it, helped her with some tips and tricks that made leaving her baby with someone else easier so that she could do her job with a little more focus.
She constantly thought of him though, but she could be both a mom and a detective, she loved her job, nothing was going to stop her from doing it.
Nonetheless, each and every evening that she walked into the house and laid her eyes on her baby boy, her heart swelled with pride. This baby was everything to her, she'd do whatever she had to in order to provide for him, to protect him and to lead him towards a decent life.
More often than not Sonny was the one who arrived home first and as such, he usually stopped and picked Michael up from the babysitter, who just happened to be his mother, at least for the time being. Her mother had offered her services as well and was on speed dial for the days that Sonny's mom couldn't do it but so far, in the weeks that she had been back to work, they hadn't called Charlotte yet.
Today there was an extra person in her house and when she spotted Riley sitting on the couch holding her baby boy, she let out a laugh and made quick work of joining her best friend in the living room, leaving Sonny in the kitchen to work away at dinner.
"I was not expecting you here." Morgan grinned and as soon as she was sitting down, Riley handed the baby over, knowing that she had gone all day without seeing him. "Pleasant surprise though."
"Peter's working late tonight." Riley offered up and Morgan cocked her head sideways in confusion. Sonny hadn't mentioned any big cases, but that didn't mean Peter couldn't have something to do, did it? "He's making up for taking the afternoon off last week."
"Oh." Morgan was still confused but she didn't want to press it. She found, more often than not, that she was forgetting things way more easily than she had been prior to Michael's birth. It didn't surprise her, Riley's life was her own and she had bigger things to focus on, so neglecting a detail that she might've mentioned long ago wasn't concerning to her. "Right."
"Mo." Sonny scolded from across the room. "Don't pretend you know what she's talking about."
"She can though, I never actually told her. The only reason you know is because Peter told you." Riley looked over the back of the couch at Sonny, who happened to know a lot more about Peter's personal life because he worked with him, in close proximity. He knew why Peter had been absent that particular afternoon, he knew because he was responsible for covering his workload while he was gone.
When Riley turned her attention back to Morgan, Morgan merely stared at her while gently rocking Michael in her arms, waiting for Riley's full attention. It was nice to see her friend getting along so well with her husband, sort of weird that Sonny seemed to know more about Riley than she did, but definitely nice.
"So what are you talking about? Why's Peter at work still?" Morgan pressed.
"We went for our second round of in vitro last week and since he's involved in the process, he was required to be there. He wanted to make up some time at work and tonight was as good a night as any for him to stick around."
"He was needed for his sperm." Sonny threw out from the kitchen and Riley snorted at him. "What? That's what-"
"Yeah, I know how it works." Morgan cut him off, rolling her eyes at her husband's words
"You do?" He countered.
"Riley told me all about how it works, step by step, even showed me a pamphlet. It's actually kind of…"
"It's weird." Riley supplied.
"Okay, yes, let's go with weird." Morgan grinned. "Didn't Peter show you the pamphlet Sonny? It's pretty educational."
Sonny threw his hands up in surrender and tried to ignore them while he worked on making dinner. In all honesty, he didn't really want to think too much about it, he already figured he knew way more than he wanted to no thanks to Peter. He was a supportive friend though, so he'd participate in the conversation if he could, that didn't mean he wanted the details.
Morgan stuck her tongue out at his back but turned her attention to Riley. She knew Riley was at her home more for moral support than actual dinner, so Morgan was going to provide her just that. They were still best friends, even if they were both married, and even though Sonny seemed to know more about her.
"I just didn't want to be at home by myself." Riley stated. "I get in my own head and then I end up worked up to the point where I feel like I'm going to vomit. Then I get really bad chest pains from the sheer anxiety of it all."
"That does not sound fun." Morgan replied, sympathy lacing her tone. "I'm sorry you have to deal with that."
"Well it might not be so bad but I went off my anti-anxiety meds before this round." Riley explained.
"Oh Ry, that's shitty." Morgan murmured, reaching out and giving Riley's knee an encouraging pat. "So when do you get to find out if it worked?"
"A couple of weeks." Riley answered, glad to be away from the topic of her anxiety problems.
"Oh man." Morgan sighed and quickly handed Michael over to Riley in an effort to provide her with a lovely distraction. "You're not good at waiting."
"Nope." Riley shook her head and settled Michael in against her chest, staring down at the baby's beautiful face and watching his eyes slowly shutting. He was such a peaceful baby, at least any time she saw him, but Morgan always told her otherwise whenever they spoke.
He still wasn't sleeping all that well through the night, which left both Morgan and Sonny tired, but that seemed typical for most new parents, right? Riley continued to stare at Michael, silently praying for one of her own someday, but she was starting to consider what other methods would look like.
Surrogacy sure, that was definitely an option and honestly, it wasn't as low on her list as it once had been. If in vitro didn't work this time, she wasn't sure what she'd do, but she did know that her and Peter had agreed on two attempts.
It was expensive, and Riley didn't figure her chances of it working were all that great.
There was also adoption, but adoptions weren't always simple. Sometimes there were complexities to them, like whether there was outside family wanting the child, or the fear that the mother would turn around and decide she wanted to keep the baby after all.
Fostering was another thing that crossed her mind but the odds of winding up with a baby, or a child young enough to still be considered a toddler, weren't very likely. Still, she knew it was a decent option, and maybe one day she'd be desperate enough to do it.
"You've got a good man." Morgan spoke softly, breaking the silence that had fallen over them. "He's so patient."
"Patient is what I need." Riley teased, but there was definitely truth to her words. "I just really hope it works this time, you know?"
Nodding her head, Morgan merely watched as her friend cuddled her baby, wanting nothing more than for Riley to feel the happiness that she felt because of Michael. He was such a joy, even if he was troublesome at night. There wasn't anything that she wouldn't do for him, she loved him that much and it had been instant.
The second she had laid her eyes on him at the hospital, she had known that this was who she was living for. Michael was her son, her purpose for living, and dammit if she wasn't going to be the best mom possible for him.
"Thank god we didn't have to deal with that." Sonny called over, the two girls letting out laughter at him. "Natural methods are so much more fun."
"I won't disagree with you on that." Riley smiled.
Another blanket of silence fell over them and Riley seemed genuinely happy just to sit on the couch with Michael in her arms. Morgan was quick to produce her phone and snap a picture of her best friend and son, then she sent it to Peter, who was at work still. She wasn't expecting a reply, so she set her phone on the couch cushion between her and Riley and relaxed into the back of the couch.
"When you have your baby, take a lot more time off after they're born than I did." Morgan suggested.
"Yeah?"
"God yes, I miss him so much when I'm at work." Morgan whimpered. "He's my little baby boy."
"You could've taken more time off Mo, we can afford it." Sonny tossed in but she shook her head no.
"It would've had to happen eventually, and the longer I would've stayed off with him, the less likely I would've wanted to go back."
"So maybe you took a good amount of time off?" Riley quipped.
"I mean…yes but also no…but definitely nice to get back to work." Morgan let out a sigh. "I don't know, on one hand I'm glad to be back at work with other adults, but on the other hand, I just want to be with Michael forever, you know?"
"But Sonny's mom watches him, so that's got to take some of the anxiety away, right?"
"Again, yes and no. It's nice because I know the woman looking after my child, but on the other hand, I don't want her to feel pressure to look after him if she doesn't want to."
"She definitely wants to Mo." Sonny added. "She loves that boy."
Morgan pressed her lips together and made a funny face at Riley, who bit back a laugh so as not to get Morgan in trouble with Sonny. When Morgan leaned forward and ran her hand over Michael's back soothingly, Riley knew that this was exactly what she wanted.
She wanted to be a mom, she wanted to spend her evenings with Peter and their child, she just hoped that it was possible. They had already failed numerous times already and Riley was fully aware that her issues were serious, more serious than she originally believed. The natural method hadn't worked, neither had artificial insemination and now she was on their last chance of in vitro.
As if she had anxiety issues before, now she was dealing with a whole new bunch of them, which definitely didn't help.
"You two got lucky with this kid right here." Riley complimented.
"Oh definitely." Morgan nodded her head enthusiastically. "He's a pretty good baby."
"He's a great baby!" Sonny shouted.
"He's a great baby, much easier to take care of than the big lug of a baby that I have working away in the kitchen right now." Morgan cackled.
Riley could only laugh along with her friend and hoped to god that she wound up with a baby this go round.
There were too many unknowns that she didn't want to think about if she didn't.
XxxxxxXxxxxxXxxxxxX
Holy shit, no this couldn't really be happening, could it? This had to be a dream, or at the very least a hallucination. Was someone going to jump out and yell 'just kidding', maybe it was April Fool's day, or maybe it was possible that Riley wasn't dreaming at all. Maybe she was in the middle of a very real situation that she had not been expecting.
Her eyes were locked on the screen of her phone, her heart beating rapidly inside her chest, and tears were already welling up in her eyes, tears of joy of course. She wasn't totally expecting this, she wasn't really prepared to be anything other than disappointed but the clinic had called and told her otherwise.
It wasn't possible, she couldn't really be pregnant, could she?
Her fingers wrapped around the edges of her phone and she lifted it upwards, closer to her face so that she could get a better look at the screen. The call was over but the words were playing over and over in her head; they had said her blood test had come back and the results were good. She was definitely pregnant.
With a low yip of excitement Riley wound up and tossed her phone onto the bed, watching as it bounced once and then landed face down on the covers. She headed into the bathroom and leaned against the counter, staring into the mirror over the sink and studying her face.
With a sigh, she bent over further, dropping to a squat in front of the bathroom cupboard and pressed her forehead against the cool edge of the countertop. Her eyes squeezed shut and she tried to fight back the tears of sheer joy at the news.
"Good god." She muttered, pulling her hands away from the countertop and burying her face into her hands, letting the tears fall from her eyes.
She cautiously set her butt on the tile floor of the bathroom and scooted across to sit with her back against the side of the tub, letting out a deep breath she hadn't even realized she had been holding. Her head tipped back and she looked up at the ceiling, squeezing her eyes shut and praying that Peter would be just as happy as she was.
She had to tell him and she couldn't wait to do it. She was going to be able tell the man that she loved, that she adored to pieces, that she was finally pregnant. Was this what he was expecting too, was he thinking that this last time would work for them or had he prepared himself to face the fact that Riley wasn't likely going to get pregnant?
This was what they wanted though, what they had worked so hard for before they were even married. They had moved into this house with the thought of having a child, it even had a bedroom for when it came into the world. Everything was finally falling into place.
Riley let out a joy-filled sob and leaned to the side, moving to lay down on the floor and bringing her legs up, curling into the fetal position. She curled her arms around her knees and remained there, so in shock at the news that she didn't know what else to do. She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to come up with a plan: step one, tell Peter what was happening, step two…step two…okay so maybe she hadn't gotten any further than step one, she was freaking out, this was such great news!
She uncurled her legs and pressed her palms against her stomach, grateful that in vitro had worked this time. It was better than anything else they had done thus far and she was going to do her best to make sure it resulted in a baby.
Slowly Riley made her way back up into a sitting position and let her legs extend out in front of her. She continued to rest her palms over her belly button and let out a loud sigh.
At the sound of the front door to the house shutting, she tensed slightly but didn't move from her spot in the bathroom. She wasn't sure what she was waiting for, maybe for Peter to call out to her, to ask where she was, or maybe she was waiting for him to come looking for her, to find her sitting on the floor in the bathroom with tears in her eyes, tears of sheer joy. He had to know that something was up, especially if he walked in on her; maybe that would make it easier for her to tell him.
"Riley?" He called out to her and she swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat from the crying.
"In…in here!" She tried to call back to him but her voice caught, she just hoped that he had managed to hear her.
"Where's here?" Peter asked and she heard his footsteps mounting the stairs to the second floor, the floor she was currently on.
"Bathroom!"
"Bathroom?" He quipped and she knew for certain that he was confused. Did that mean he wasn't going to come and find her because he thought maybe she was busy in the bathroom, potentially using the facilities maybe?
"Yeah." She mumbled and slid down ever so slightly, resting the back of her head on the edge of the tub.
Riley didn't say another word, she merely sat and waited. She didn't have to wait too long before the bathroom door, which had been partially closed, swung wide open, Peter standing in the doorway.
"What are you doing in here?" He asked and stepped forward. She locked her eyes on his and felt the tears welling up even more. His expression faltered and he rushed towards her, crouching down next to her, offering her his hands as a gesture of comfort. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong." She whispered and Peter leaned forward, wrapping his arms around her as she started to cry harder. She just couldn't fucking believe it! She was actually pregnant!
She buried her face into his shoulder and moved her hands up, resting her palms against his chest before balling his shirt in her fists. Not wanting him to get too far away from her, she held him tight and he leaned back slightly, making a move to brush away the tears but she turned her head and took her lip in between her teeth.
"Hey shh, calm down, I'm here, right here Riley."
"No," she shook her head, "it's not bad."
"What?" Peter narrowed his eyes in on her and she turned her head back to face him straight on. "Talk to me Riley, what's going on?"
"It worked."
His entire body stiffened and Peter moved down to sit next to her, slowly peeling his body away from her but slipping his arm around her shoulders instead. He pulled her against him and pressed a kiss to her temple but the tears continued to escape from her eyes.
"Riley, are you…" He murmured and she dropped her head against his shoulder but leaned back slightly and looked up at him.
"Pregnant." She sucked in another breath and held it, trying to calm down the slightest bit. Peter ran his hand across her back in a comforting gesture and Riley scooted closer to him, draping her legs over his. "I'm pregnant."
"Really?" His eyes lit up at her words but all she could do was slowly nod her head. His grip on her tightened and he buried his face into her hair, hugging her tight against him, fearful that if he let go, he'd wake up from this dream. It felt too good to be true, but he could hear her breathing, he could touch her- it was all real. It was really happening!
"Fuck Peter," she trailed off and her heart picked up in pace, "I wasn't…this isn't something that I really thought would happen."
"It did." Peter smirked at her and she stared at him, hearing the words he said and letting them sink in. Yes it was really happening for them, she was actually pregnant, but it still didn't feel real. "I can't believe it."
"I know, me neither." Riley whispered and just held on to him, letting him hug her.
They were silent for a good few minutes before she let out a soft sigh, lifted a hand up to swipe at her joyous tears and then set her palm on his thigh. He ran his hand up and down her back, trying to keep her calm, knowing that this level of excitement would maybe wind up as a different sort of panic attack.
"I think you're going to be a wonderful mother." Peter pressed another kiss to the side of her head.
"I wouldn't go that far." She looked up at him, her eyes wide and shiny.
"I would."
Riley let out a sigh and curled up against his side, bringing her knees up to her body. Peter took her in his arms and she looked down at his feet, wondering if this was actually happening. Would they really have a family of their own?
Riley relaxed in his hold and moved her one leg over so that she was straddling his thighs. She leaned back and gently set her butt on his legs, his arms moving around her back, holding her against his chest. A small, nervous smile took up residence on her face and Peter found that he was smiling along with her.
"Are you happy?" She asked, her voice barely louder than a whisper.
"So happy." He breathed the words out.
She took her lip in between her teeth again, looking at Peter, who slowly nodded his head yes. She leaned forward and pressed her forehead against his, letting out a humming noise as Peter's hands moved up her back, hugging her against him tightly.
"I love you." Riley murmured and settled in against his chest, setting her head against his shoulder. He pressed a kiss to the side of her head and tightened his grip on her.
"I know. I love you too."
XxxxxxXxxxxxXxxxxxX
"Prescott, you had lunch yet?"
Riley turned her head sideways, pulling her focus away from her work computer in front of her. She locked eyes on her female co-worker Reeve Bannon and forced a smile onto her face. Shaking her head no, she then peered at the time at the bottom right corner of her computer screen, making note that it was well past lunch time.
"It's not Prescott anymore." Riley teased and made her way to her feet. "But no, I haven't had lunch yet."
"My bad, Stone. You want to join me for some food, I'm heading down to that place on the corner."
"No, I'm not feeling like lunch right now."
She knew she should be eating but honestly, ever since she had gone to bed the night before, things hadn't been all that great. Her stomach had been bugging her from dinner and it never got better before she went to bed. When she woke up that morning, she had seriously debated staying home from work but decided that it was probably just a bad pregnancy day.
If she missed work simply because she was struggling with her pregnancy so early on, then what was it going to be like when things got worse. No one at work knew, in fact, the only people that did were Peter, Morgan, Sonny and her mom.
She hadn't wanted to tell a whole slew of people until she was further along, until it was approaching a relatively safer announcement time. She was about seven weeks pregnant and last night had been the worst of it so far.
"You sure? Skipping lunch isn't always a great idea, plus I got the company credit card." Reeve grinned, even going as far as to pull the shiny black card belonging to the engineering firm from her pocket, waving it around for Riley to see. "Free food."
Rolling her eyes, Riley stretched her body out and ran her hands through her hair, lamely brushing it out and tossing it over her shoulders. She shook her head no and Reeve shrugged her off, leaving her alone in her office while the girl headed off to get lunch.
Lowering her butt back down, she sat on her chair again and sucked in a breath, holding it for a few seconds before letting it out slowly, wondering if maybe she should've taken Reeve up on the offer but honestly, she wasn't really hungry. The more she thought about food, the more knotted her stomach started to feel.
Maybe today was a good day to head home and work from there, at least once she walked through the doors, she could maybe find something to eat that didn't make her stomach turn at the thought.
Shooting an email to her boss to let him know she was heading home to work, she then packed her stuff up quick, leaving the office to head home.
The ride there was quiet and Riley felt her lower back starting to ache. Was it from all the sitting at the office without taking a break? Or was it because of her pregnancy? Honestly, she didn't know but she did know that it was hurting something awful and once she pulled into her driveway, she let out a frustrated sigh at the pain.
Climbing out of the car, Riley paused and leaned against the side of it, feeling the pain in her lower back increasing with the movement. She needed someone to talk to, someone who would help her relax because she wasn't sure if this pain was normal or not.
Morgan would work, she had gone through a pregnancy once already, she was the most obvious choice.
Wandering towards the front door but leaving her stuff in the car, she freed her phone and dialed Morgan's number. Morgan picked up as soon as Riley was inside the front door and suddenly Riley felt a little bit guilty; just because she had the ability to work from home didn't mean Morgan could just drop her job and come to Riley.
"Hey friend!" Morgan chirped and Riley groaned at the sheer excitement of Morgan's tone. She had shut the front door behind her and dragged her feet into the living room, flopping onto the couch with a huff and pressing her hand into the flesh of her lower back.
"Are you busy?" Riley asked instantly. She didn't want to keep bugging her if she was distracted by work, but she also didn't want to just let Morgan go without the possibility of being able to talk to her.
"Uh…I mean…I can take a lunch break." Morgan offered and Riley rolled onto her side, feeling a cramp pinging in her back. "Why, what's up?"
"I'm just at home, in pain." Riley breathed the words out, hoping she didn't sound too freaked out. It hurt too much, it felt too weird, but she didn't know who else to call because it was very likely that Morgan would tell her that it was normal and she was fine.
"Give me a few, I'm on my way." Morgan hung up the phone before Riley had a chance to object, or say anything else. Instead she stretched her legs out, dropped her phone to the floor and drove her fingers into her hips in an attempt to alleviate the pain radiating from her lower body.
She was familiar with bad cramps because her periods were never that calm, but it still bothered her time and time again; except now she couldn't just down a bunch of over-the-counter pain pills in an attempt to get the pain to stop.
Her eyes fell shut and she tried to focus on her breathing, much like she would for a panic attack. She felt the familiar starting of pain in her chest at the thought that something was wrong because there was no way pregnancy was supposed to feel like this. It was too much and it had come on when she wasn't expecting it.
Even if this level of pain was normal, it would still scare her, especially with her background.
Groaning, Riley forced herself to her feet and sauntered into the kitchen, taking a seat at the island and grabbing her hips again, squeezing slightly while praying to god that she and the baby were both okay.
Before too long, Morgan came bounding through the front door and immediately set her sights on Riley, looking at her with concern and confusion. She flipped her shoes off at the front door and joined her at the island, her hand going to her back and rubbing circles there. Riley turned her head towards Morgan and knew that she couldn't contain the tears that were threatening to spill.
It hurt too much and she was too scared, so scared that her chest felt tight and she had to focus really hard in order to breathe properly.
"Hey, what's going on Ry?" Morgan murmured and leaned in closer to her, her hand moving in larger circles on her back. "What's wrong?"
"Mo it hurts." She whimpered and felt herself slump against Morgan, resting her head on her pal's shoulder. "And I don't know what to do to get it to stop."
"It hurts?" Morgan pressed. "Bad?"
"Yeah, my back mostly but my hips hurt like when I get my period."
Morgan's hand never once stopped moving on her back and Riley let out a moan of pain, wondering if she should've called Peter instead of Morgan.
"Like cramping?" Morgan questioned, and Riley nodded her head yes. "Did you eat something bad?"
Riley shook her head this time and let out a hiss of pain, "I haven't really eaten much today at all, haven't felt that great."
"Ry, you can't just not eat." Morgan groaned. She was quickly growing frustrated at the whole situation (mostly because she didn't know how to truly help) and while it wasn't her friend's fault that she didn't want to eat anything, Morgan couldn't help but grow even more concerned. If Riley didn't eat, the baby didn't get nutrients, it was simple math but it didn't matter, the amount of pain and discomfort Riley claimed to be in was trumping any desire to eat.
"It hurts." Riley whined and pressed her fingers into her sides again, digging them into her flesh harder. "I know I should have eaten something but right now it feels like someone's got a hold of my stomach and they're just twisting it."
"Ry, that's not normal." Morgan stated calmly but inside she was starting to worry even more. She had a lot of typical pregnancy issues before she had Michael but not once had it felt like someone was twisting her stomach, if anything, Morgan could never get enough food.
"What do I do?"
Morgan held her breath and considered her friend's question. What did she do? It wasn't like Morgan was a doctor, she had no idea what was going on, or if there even was something wrong, but if it was hurting her this much, the least she could do was suggest getting herself checked out by a medical professional, right?
"Hospital?" Morgan suggested.
"I just want to lay down." Riley whimpered.
"Ry I don't think that's a good idea." Morgan tipped her head sideways, studying the slumped over form of her best friend. "Maybe just try to eat something?"
"We could try…" Riley paused and leaned back on the stool, stretching out her abdominal muscles, "I have yogurt, we could try that, or anything at all like that? That's really all that sounds ever remotely enticing."
"First of all, that's probably just going to make your stomach feel worse." Morgan pointed out and both girls turned towards the fridge in the kitchen. "Dairy is rarely the right choice."
Riley merely looked at Morgan and let out another low hiss of pain. She had been experiencing the worse than average cramps for the last little while, which is why Morgan was even at her house to begin with, yet the pain seemed to be getting worse and not better.
"Make it stop." Riley muttered and brought her one leg upwards, hugging her knee against her chest as she balanced on the stool with Morgan's help.
"Hospital Ry." Morgan countered and Riley merely grumbled in protest. Going to the hospital meant admitting that something was potentially wrong and she wasn't prepared to do that, not yet anyways. "How far along are you again?"
"Like seven weeks." Riley answered and leaned forward, the edge of the counter digging in to her abdomen. She let out a low groan and scooted the stool back before dropping down to sit on the floor. Morgan was quick to follow Riley's lead, moving to sit on the floor next to her best friend before taking her into her arms and running her hands up and down her back.
While it hadn't been a very difficult pregnancy so far, Riley knew that this was beyond normal pregnancy problems. She usually had constant morning sickness (though it wasn't terribly bad), and she did complain about body aches all the time; but now she was suffering from pretty bad cramps.
"How about I make you some soup and then I'll go lay down with you?" Morgan offered and Riley let out a scoff. "What? What's wrong with that?"
"How about the fact that soup sounds awful and I'd rather not let you cook me food." Riley forced out a chuckle before moving away from Morgan's hold. Morgan glared at her but quickly made her way to her feet before offering a hand to Riley, who took hold of it and hauled herself to her feet. "Can't we just skip food and go right to laying down? Morgan I really don't feel good."
"Okay but if it gets any worse-"
"I'll let you know." Riley cut her off with a dismissive wave of her hand. Laying down sounded really, really nice right about now. "Come on Mo, my bed is calling"
Morgan slipped an arm around Riley's back and gently ushered her out of the kitchen leading her up the stairs and essentially tucking her under the covers before carefully laying down next to her. She watched as Riley curled into a ball, stuffing a pillow under her head and letting out a soft groan as she settled in for a nap.
She gave a silent prayer that Riley was going to be alright, she had fought so hard to get pregnant and Morgan didn't want to see that jeopardized, Riley deserved to be a mother.
After a few minutes, she felt Riley relax next to her and stealthily she pulled her phone out of the pocket of her pants, shooting a text message to Peter to let him know that Riley was at home with her and that she was feeling something awful.
If Riley wasn't going to tell him herself, the least Morgan could do was keep him in the loop.
XxxxxxXxxxxxXxxxxxX
The text from Morgan had rattled Peter, it had rattled him so much that he immediately grabbed his jacket, stuffed his phone into the pocket and took off for Sonny's office, popping his head in without even bothering to knock. He had to get home to Riley, he had to make sure she was fine, even though the concerned text Morgan had sent him suggested otherwise.
Sonny looked up at the sight of his friend in the doorway and furrowed his eyebrows together in confusion. It was the middle of the afternoon, much too late for lunch, and it was definitely odd that Peter was dressed like he was ready to head out of his office, jacket on and everything. Peter Stone didn't just leave.
Did he have somewhere to be that Sonny didn't know about? Was he on his way to meet with a client somewhere that wasn't here?
Sure it was possible but if Peter was leaving the building, especially at this particular time, that meant Sonny would be the one looking after his clients and workload for the rest of the afternoon, which usually required Peter to tell him ahead of time that he was going to be heading out; it gave Sonny a chance to prepare, but there had been no warning. He hadn't done anything of the sort, which begged the question: what was up with Peter Stone?
"I have to head home." Peter stated firmly, and Sonny felt even more confused than he had mere seconds ago. Peter had never once headed home in this manner since he started as ADA, something was up. "Morgan texted me, she's there with Riley, who left work early and apparently she's not feeling too great."
"She okay?" Sonny asked, wondering how bad it must be for Peter to be heading home to check on her, or to be with her. He was well aware that she was pregnant, but surely this was more than just the usual pregnancy symptoms for Peter to have been called home by Morgan- speaking of; why was Morgan with Riley?
Wasn't she supposed to be at work?
Oh god, if Morgan had stepped away from work to be there for Riley, something was definitely not right. She had even gone as far as to text Peter and let him know that Riley wasn't feeling good, that had to mean that whatever he was going to walk in on at home wasn't going to be good.
"I don't know." Peter shook his head, was Riley okay? It wasn't like she had been the one to contact him, no, Morgan had. That meant that Riley had contacted Morgan first. "Morgan didn't tell me much about what's going on but Riley rarely comes home from work early."
"Oh no, so it must be pretty bad." Sonny frowned, hoping that his friend was going to be okay. Maybe she was just having a rough day, maybe it was just an extra hard bout of nausea and body aches.
"I don't know." Peter looked down at his feet. "I doubt I'll be back either."
"Right, yeah of course." Sonny forced what he was hoping was a reassuring smile on his face. "I got things here, just let me know when you know?"
Peter let out a soft sigh, gave him a nod and took off down the hall. His heart was pounding and his nerves were shot. Whatever was wrong with Riley, for whatever reason she was complaining that she wasn't feeling good, Peter was scared.
They had tried so hard to get pregnant in the first place and now, not even two months into it, she was struggling. She had never once come home early from work since getting pregnant but if she wasn't feeling great, then maybe home was precisely where she needed to be. Riley had anxiety issues on a good day, he couldn't imagine how much more stress being pregnant was adding.
By the time he got home, the worst possible thoughts that he could come up with were running through his head and he was pretty scared of what he was going to find inside his home. Was something wrong with the baby, was Riley's pregnancy in danger? Hell, was Riley going to be okay?
He just needed to get to her to find out how bad it really was, and now that he was home, he was so close to seeing his wife, there was hardly anything left between him and getting to Riley.
Morgan had heard the front door opening, she had remained curled up against Riley's side even as she heard Peter make his way up the stairs. Glancing down at her best friend, Morgan made a mental note to tell Peter to leave her sleeping, she looked too peaceful to disturb and at least if Riley was in dreamland, the pain from the cramping wasn't bothering her.
She didn't make a move to pull away from Riley, not until Peter stepped into the bedroom and lowered himself down onto the bed behind his wife. Morgan carefully slipped away from Riley's grasp, moving slowly and stealthily so that she didn't wake the sleeping woman. When she was free from Riley's hold, she quickly made her way to her feet and flashed Peter a smile.
"Has she been sleeping for very long?" Peter asked in a hushed whisper.
"Maybe for the last half an hour. She told me she hasn't eaten much today but I couldn't get her to eat anything; she kept saying that nothing appealed to her and that it hurt too much." Morgan answered, her voice soft.
"Is that normal? Should I be worried?"
"I don't think it's abnormal but I don't know that it's good either. If her stomach doesn't stop hurting soon, maybe you should consider taking her to the hospital, or maybe even calling the doctor."
"Good plan." Peter nodded and he and Morgan both tensed as Riley stirred slightly.
"I'm going to head over to Sonny's mom's place and get Michael. I'll be out of your way, and your house, in a second." Morgan smiled and turned her back to the couple. She made her way to the door, pausing inside the frame to glance back at the two of them.
Riley was waking up and Peter had leaned down, slipping his arms around her to hold her close. Morgan let out a contented sigh and turned around to face forward one more time and that's when it happened; that's when Riley let out an ear-piercing cry.
Whipping back around to face Riley and Peter, Morgan's eyes widened at the sight. Riley had tossed the blankets to the side revealing blood, a lot more blood than she had seen in a while. This wasn't good; sure spotting was common in some pregnancies but this was bright red and staining the sheets of the bed.
"Oh fuck." Morgan muttered and rushed forward, ripping the covers off the bed and tossing them to the ground. "What the hell?"
"It hurts! Make it stop!" Riley shrieked and curled into a ball, burying her face into the pillows. "Please make it stop!"
"Morgan can you grab some towels and take them out to the car? I'll get her ready and meet you in the driveway. I'm taking her to the hospital-"
"I'm coming with you." Morgan cut Peter off and before either one of them had a chance to argue, Riley let out a heart-breaking sob, clutching her stomach as she did so.
"Let's go."
Morgan took off in a run and headed for the bathroom closet just inside the door. She pulled the closet doors open and grabbed hold of a bunch of towels off the top of the pile before turning around and taking off back into the bedroom, spotting Peter lifting Riley up off the bed and carrying her bridal style out into the hallway.
The three of them made their way to the front door, Morgan rushing ahead and pulling it open before letting Peter get outside, still carrying Riley as he headed for the car.
The evening air was chilly and it bit at her skin. It didn't slow her down though, she rushed right for Peter's vehicle, which was parked in the driveway, and grabbed hold of the door handle, desperately trying to get it open. She ripped the door open and threw the towels down on the passenger seat before heading right back into the house in search of her purse and her own car keys.
Peter made his way around the vehicle, still firmly carrying Riley in his arms. The girl was clutching her stomach and she had a blanket wrapped around her, almost like a cocoon, which she had grabbed off the bed when Peter had initially lifted her up into his arms. Struggling slightly, he managed to get Riley into the front seat of the car, watching as she laid the seat down and curled into yet another ball.
At the sight of Morgan getting into her own car and turning it on, Peter halted in his movements and stared at her.
"Hey, you can come with us." Peter called out to her and Morgan was in total agreement. She made her way out of her car, slammed the door shit and ran over to the backseat of Peter's vehicle, hopping into the back and immediately reaching into the front seat and running her hand over Riley's back.
He hesitated for a second longer before he closed the passenger side door and jogged around the front of the car, climbing in to the driver's side. When Morgan leaned back in the seat and let out a sigh, Peter readied himself to drive off, backing out onto the road and heading to the hospital in one vehicle, frantically hoping that everything would be okay.
XxxxxxXxxxxxXxxxxxX
"Where's Ry?" Morgan questioned as she came jogging in the doors marked 'emergency'. Once they had arrived at the hospital, Peter had taken Riley inside while Morgan was left to park the car. It was only about ten minutes since Morgan had watched him carry her inside but Riley was already nowhere to be seen.
"They uh, they took her, down the hall somewhere." Peter stumbled over his words but looked at Morgan, a scared look on his face. "I just, I shouldn't have…I should've been there with her today, she should've called me."
"She thought maybe I could be more helpful since I've been pregnant before." Morgan offered and took a step towards him, not entirely sure whether a hug would help him or not. "Peter it's not your fault, whatever is happening isn't because of something you did or didn't do."
"I don't know what's happening." Peter mumbled and dropped his gaze to the floor. Without a second thought, Morgan rushed forward and enveloped him into a warm embrace. He clung to her, she felt him tense slightly, and she ran her hands up and down his back in a lame attempt to comfort him.
"Ry's strong, she'll be okay." Morgan said softly and Peter relaxed the slightest little bit.
"And the baby?"
"I don't know Peter, that was a lot of blood."
After a few more seconds of clinging to her, Peter slowly peeled himself away from Morgan before shoving his hands into his pockets. Morgan flashed him a sympathetic smile and motioned towards the chairs just a little bit further down the hall. He shook his head and paced across the hallway before turning around and letting his back connect with the wall.
"You don't have to stay." Peter stated.
"She's my best friend Peter, I'm going to stay." Morgan countered, her tone firm and commanding.
A blanket of silence fell over them and they remained quiet for a good ten minutes. When a pair of footsteps echoed in the vacant hallway, both of them turned their heads towards the source and spotted a woman dressed in scrubs approaching them. Thank god someone was finally coming out to talk to them because he didn't know what he'd do if he had to wait much longer.
"Stone?" The woman questioned and Peter pushed himself away from the wall, moving closer to the woman. "Riley Stone, she's your-"
"Wife." Peter finished for the woman and Morgan quickly moved to stand beside him.
"Okay well we're just about to do an ultrasound to see if we can't figure out what's going on-"
"So the baby's okay?" Morgan cut in.
"Well that's one of the things we'll be looking for is the heartbeat."
"Oh well is Ry okay?" Morgan prodded and slipped her hands around Peter's arm, holding on to him as if to signify that Peter wasn't going to get to go anywhere without her. Riley was her friend, the sister she never had, there wasn't any way she wasn't going to stick by her in her time of need.
"We've managed to calm her down, as far as we can tell at this point, she'll be fine, our priority has moved to the baby."
"Can we see her?" Morgan asked.
"Yes, of course. If you'll follow me, I can take you to the room where the ultrasound will be performed."
Morgan ran her hands down Peter's forearm and carefully took hold of his hand. Peter held on tight and moved forward alongside Morgan as the woman led them down the hall. No one said a word, they merely followed the woman and when she opened a large, wooden door, the two of them stepped inside, still clinging to each other's hands.
"Ry!" Morgan let go of Peter and rushed forward, stepping up beside her friend, who was propped up on an examination table. Peter quickly took up residence on the other side of Riley.
"Hi." She murmured and reached out, trying to grab onto Peter. "I'm sorry."
"No, no you don't have anything to be sorry for." Peter countered and leaned down, pressing a sweet little kiss to her forehead. Tears welled up in Riley's eyes and Morgan brushed her hair away from her face, trying not to cry herself.
"I should've just eaten." Riley muttered and clung to Peter's hand, pulling him closer to her. She buried her face against his chest and he continued to press kisses to her forehead, his fingertips gently running over her knuckles.
"There was nothing you could have done to prevent anything." The woman broke in. "Sometimes these things happen without explanation. In fact, your baby could be perfectly fine, we just have to see if we can't find a heartbeat."
"Yeah, yeah we have to do that." Morgan nodded. She lifted her butt up and sat down on the table next to her friend, running her hand over Riley's shoulder in a gesture of comfort, but also to give Morgan something to do with her hands, to occupy her and set her focus on trying to comfort Riley instead of freaking out herself.
The three of them were huddled together, Peter pressing kisses to her forehead and murmuring that it wasn't her fault, but Riley was breathing hard, like she couldn't get enough air into her lungs. She was bordering on a panic attack and Peter was trying his best to keep her calm, or calm enough that she wouldn't break down into a full-blown attack.
Sucking in a breath, Morgan glanced over at the woman and locked her eyes on the machine. Black and white swirls filled the screen and Morgan furrowed her brow as she watched, knowing that Peter and Riley weren't going to want to bear witness to this particular ultrasound.
"Anything?" Morgan asked in a low tone and the woman shook her head no.
"I want to go home." Riley whined and twisted her upper body slightly, her hands wrapping around Peter's shoulders.
"Soon Ry." Peter murmured back and held on to her.
An eerie calm, apart from the ultrasound throwing out random noises here and there, fell over them all and Morgan could feel the tenseness in Riley's body easily. Morgan glanced at the couple, curled together, hanging on to each other, and prayed that the woman would find something, anything to signify that the baby was okay.
"...still looking…" The woman muttered to herself and Morgan pulled away from them now, her hand still running over Riley's shoulders but she wasn't huddled up with them anymore, no she was staring at the screen, daring it to show her anything.
"Please, please, please." Morgan whispered and crossed her arms over her chest. She squeezed her eyes shut and listened.
"Maybe if we just…" The woman's voice carried through the room but it was quickly lost by the sudden gasp that the woman let out. "Okay, no…nothing…"
Morgan's eyes popped open and she merely stared at the woman working the ultrasound machine. She had to be wrong, she just had to be. There was no way that Riley wasn't pregnant, not after all the troubles she had gone through just to get to this point. When the woman turned to look at them though, Morgan felt her heart drop.
Riley's entire body tensed and the tears filled her eyes, wondering what she had done wrong, what had she done to deserve this? Peter pulled his eyes away from Riley long enough to look at Morgan, seeing the sadness on her face, before going right back to focusing on Riley, who's tears were running down her cheeks by this point.
"No." Riley's voice was soft and scared as she stared straight ahead, her eyes locked on the ultrasound screen. "No please."
"I'm…I'm so sorry." The woman bowed her head and stopped with the ultrasound, giving Riley a somber look. "I believe you've had a miscarriage."
"No." Riley repeated and whimpered at the thought. "Please don't say that…"
"Ry." Peter murmured, pressing a kiss to the side of her head. "Riley…"
"I'm so sorry." The woman merely repeated her words from earlier and made a move to stand up. "We'll have to do some follow up tests and make sure…make sure that there's nothing dangerous going on..."
"Thank you." Peter replied, but he wasn't entirely sure what he was thankful for. Riley was falling to pieces in his hold and there was nothing he could do for her. Their baby, the baby they had tried so hard for, was no longer with them.
"I'll just uh, leave you three alone for a few minutes."
The woman stood up and made her way out of the room, the door clicking shut behind her. Morgan let out a sigh and ran her hands through Riley's hair one last time before heading for the door as well, her and Peter deserved a minute alone without her, she would give them that much, and call Sonny to let him know while she was gone.
Riley straightened up and stared at the door as it fell closed after Morgan had left, she then turned towards Peter and dropped her head down. He moved in to hug her and felt her hands on his back, balling into fists by his shoulders.
When she began to sob, all he could do was hold her tight and try his hardest to let her know that he was right there with her, hurting just as much as she was.