Sharon sighed and leaned her head against the pillow wondering just how badly things were going to get. She rubbed her hand on her side, wincing at the pain. She needed to relax, to rest. The doctor had told her the same, but she couldn't. She was worried, worried for the baby, that something was going to happen. She couldn't stay here in bed for weeks, yet, the doctor had just left her room, telling her to do exactly that. She knew something was off last night as she took Emily around the neighborhood to trick or treat. It was silly, really, that her now two year old, just as of a few days ago, would need any candy, but she'd been so excited to see her sweet little girl all dressed up in her princess dress. It was tradition, trick or treating, but Jack had rolled his eyes. He'd stayed home to do work and hand out candy, but Sharon wasn't sure he'd given much out; she had a feeling he had turned off the porch light for most of the evening to not be disturbed. Sharon hadn't felt well the entire time she and Emily had walked around the block, and that was all it had been, just the block. Her back had hurt, and she'd felt some cramping. She shook her head just thinking about it. Of course, she'd been in labor, premature labor, but thankfully, it seemed like the doctor was going to be able to stop it. She winced at the twinge again, patting her side.
"Stay there, kiddo. You have another seven weeks or so to go, at least four from what the doctor said," she spoke quietly. "I can't wait to meet you, but it's too soon."
Sharon closed her eyes to rest, as recommended by her doctor, and yet, she couldn't. Where was Jack? She knew he was in court; his secretary had told her that, but where was he? Shouldn't he be done by now? She'd been here at the hospital for hours. Thankfully, one of the older women from church who adored Emily and watched her often in the nursery had long before given Sharon her number and told her to call if there was ever an emergency. She'd kept that in her wallet, and today, she'd needed it. Sharon had only asked Millie to pick up Emily from daycare and had let them know what was going on. She told Millie that she would have Jack get in touch as soon as they knew what was happening.
"How are you doing there, Momma?" Sharon opened her eyes to see one of the OB nurses now in the room. The woman was checking the strip and looking over at her Sharon. "Looks like you are still having contractions."
"I am," Sharon bit her lip and nodded. "They do seem less frequent. Are they?"
The woman nodded, "They are. It seems like things are starting to calm down. We'll keep an eye on you. You will be here at least overnight.
"Really?" Sharon asked, frowning. "Can't I go home for bed rest?"
She shook her head, "Doctor wants to monitor you with these contractions. It's concerning, and while we don't want you to worry, you do need to realize that we are doing everything to keep that little baby in there for a few more weeks."
"I understand," Sharon nodded. She winced again, but this time, it was a kick, not a contraction. She could feel the baby kicking at her ribs. The nurse saw her and looked to the strip, nodding.
"Good, not a contraction. If it had been, I would have been more concerned," she told Sharon. "Your first baby?"
"No, second," Sharon said with a small smile. "My daughter just turned two just last week. Her name is Emily," Sharon told her, not sure why she was suddenly offering up a lot of information. Sharon was lonely, and she was scared. She appreciated the nurse being there, even if it was her job to check on her. Right now, she was just glad to know things seemed to be slowing down, and the baby was cooperating.
"Ahh, I love kids," the nurse told her. "That shouldn't be a surprise working here," she chuckled and continued to look through Sharon's paperwork. "Can I call someone for you? Your friend dropped you off, right?"
Sharon nodded, "Yes, colleague," she admitted. "I'm a cop, and my colleague wanted to stay, but he was called to a scene." Sharon rolled her eyes slightly. Davis, her colleague had four kids and had been very kind to recognize Sharon was in distress. Their office had been busy the last few weeks, and today had been no exception. Sharon was supposed to be up for the next call out, but Davis, seeing her in pain, had asked about her health. The two had quickly determined she needed to get to the hospital, and he'd rushed her over just as he might have had she been his own wife. She would have to thank him for his help. She was probably just as grateful he hadn't stayed. He was a good cop, and yes, they were colleagues, but they weren't close. This wasn't the type of thing she wanted to share with just anyone, this hospital experience.
"Dad involved?" The nurse nodded to Sharon. "If so, I can call him."
Sharon gave her a tight smile and nodded. Oh, what a loaded question that was, asking if he was involved. Sharon answered quickly, "Yes, my husband is in court, a lawyer. His secretary is trying to get him here, but he's got a jury selection today."
"Oh wow, busy then," she looked to Sharon. "Can I get you anything? I'll let you rest otherwise. Your doctor should be in later, probably around 7:00. If you are stable, I believe he said he'll head home then."
"I'm fine," she nodded. "Thank you." The nurse nodded and left, leaving Sharon again. She winced slightly, now just very uncomfortable. She really needed this baby to calm down and relax for at least another month. November 1stwas too early for delivery, way too early.
Bed rest. This was not what Sharon wanted. She couldn't afford bed rest, on so many levels. She had an active toddler. She had a busy and demanding job. Jack needed her at home. They couldn't afford an extended maternity leave right now. Even with Jack moving to criminal law recently, they hadn't seen much change to their pay. A lot of Jack's "big bucks" depending on big cases, cases he didn't have yet. They had just talked about her maternity leave the other night, agreeing that it would be best for her to just take six weeks this time. It didn't look like Jack would be getting much extra pay until at least the spring, if not the summer. No, she couldn't afford this, not in so many ways. The baby was already such a shock in so many ways, and now it would be a shock to their bank accounts.
Sharon sighed and rubbed her side, irritated that she was even thinking about the inconvenience of bed rest when it meant the safety of their baby. THEIR baby. Sharon and Jack's baby. She would do this, whatever it took, to deliver a healthy baby. This would be their baby. Her mind kept drifting. She hadn't had anything like this with Emily. Of course, no two pregnancies were alike. She continually told herself that. Of course, two might be similar IF they had the same father, which was not the case with her. Emily had been an easy pregnancy. This was not. The baby had constantly had things come up that caused her to worry. All along, the baby had measured on the small side. The doctors had checked all the measurements, but still, yes, the baby was measuring small. Now, the baby was trying to be born seven weeks early. It was too early; the baby had to stay put. Those were just the medical issues she'd had. All along, she kept thinking about Andy, the biological father to this baby. Sharon needed to get him out of her mind and hoped that when the a baby was born, she would completely see the baby as Jack's baby, not Andy's. Jack had stepped in and was the father to this baby, but would she be able to always see that? She didn't want to look at the baby down the road and see Andy's features in the baby, what a mess he still was from the reports she'd read. No, she needed to continue to keep their baby, Sharon and Jack's baby, safe inside until delivery. Jack had taken. This baby on as his own, knowing it was not. She needed to do the same, treat this as her husband's child.
Sharon must have drifted off to sleep for some time because she awoke with a start as Jack came barreling into the room.
"Sharon, are you-" Jack almost yelled as he flew to her bedside. She winced again, this time at the smell of bourbon on his breath.
"I'm fine, Jack," she said, her eyes meeting his. "The baby is not, at least not cooperating. I started to go into labor. They were able to stop it, but the doctor wants me on bed rest for the next month."
"Month!" Jack exclaimed, his eyes darting. As she looked into them, she could see they were red, not from crying, but really from the bourbon. She sighed and looked away, disgusted that he'd been drinking somewhere.
"Hey, sorry I yelled. We can figure it out. Right?" Jack said as he sat on the side of the bed. He took her hand in his and kissed it. "I'm sorry I wasn't here sooner. I know you've been here most of the day. I was in court."
"Didn't realize that they were now serving bourbon in court, Jack," she said coldly as she crossed her arms and looked back to him. "Yes, I have been here for hours, in labor and scared. I've just had to sit here and hope that they can get labor to stop."
"Shar, I had a drink after we worked through jury selection all day. We didn't even finish. By the time I got back to the office, I got your message. That's it. Come on, Shar. You know I wouldn't just leave you here," he sighed. Sharon looked to him, and her eyes watered. She looked away, and she felt his hand caress her face.
Sharon turned back toward him, and he leaned in to kiss her. She responded, her hand grasping his wrist on her face. "Jack, I'm worried. It's too soon for the baby to be born, and the doctor is suggesting a month of bed rest. We can't do that." Jack gave her a small smile and leaned into kiss her again. He wiped away her tear and nodded again.
"Let's focus on-" Jack was interrupted with the doctor stepping in.
""Okay, Sharon, oh, and ahh, Mr. Raydor, I presume," he said, looking to their closeness and then to his chart. "I'm the OB on call." He stuck out his hand to greet Jack, "Sharon, how are you feeling?"
Both men looked to her, and she nodded, "Twinges still, but they are not as strong. I have had the baby kicking at me quite a bit."
He nodded, "I've spoken to your regular OB about everything, and she agrees with bed rest. We'll give it two weeks and see how things are after that. Goal is to get you to 37 week, which we consider full term. Let's see how you are at 35, which is in two weeks. It would be great if baby will calm down and stay there even longer than 37 weeks, but let's try to get to that point. She said you had a very normal first pregnancy. This one," he gestured to her stomach, "not cooperating."
"So, when you say bed rest," Jack asked, as he stood to give Sharon some space and look the doctor in the eye, "what exactly does that entail? I man, what can she do?"
"Off your feet," he looked to Sharon. "I know you have a young daughter. You will need to not lift her, and honestly, do as little with her around the house as possible. We really want you in bed, resting. You can get up to use the bathroom, get something to eat or drink, but that is it. No cooking meals, housework, going to work. None of that. Stay home and off your feet. IF you start having contractions, back pain, or anything else, call your OB immediately, and if it's immediate, intense pain, come immediately to the hospital."
"I'm guessing we can't-" Jack paused and raised his eyebrows at the doctor before quickly glancing to Sharon and back to the doctor. He might have stopped speaking, but he left no question as to his inquiry.
"Oh my goodness, Jack!" Sharon sighed, and closed her eyes somewhat from embarrassment. She hadn't been in the mood in weeks, quite the opposite to Jack, who had told her that her ever growing stomach was putting him more and more in the mood. Sharon had been extremely tired lately,, working long hours-as had Jack, and finally, last night, after getting Emily out of her costume and to bed, Jack had surprised Sharon with a quiet and romantic evening. It had already crossed her mind that their evening activities could have contributed to her early labor now, not that it was the only cause, as she'd been feeling poorly all day and apparently having contractions, but it couldn't have been a good thing to do last night with everything.
"Yeah, sorry," the doctor frowned, giving Jack a sympathetic smile. "None of that, at least for the next two weeks, maybe longer. Let's get you to 35 weeks without incident, and we will see how you are doing. Your OB will evaluate you then."
Jack rubbed the back of his neck with his hand as he nodded. He looked over to Sharon, "I can't work form home right now. That trial is going to start." He loosened his tie and rubbed his neck again. Sharon watched, knowing he'd been working long hours. She was sure that he was warm right now from all of the alcohol. She still wanted to discuss that further.
"I'll be okay," she told him. "Emily will need to go to daycare, if you can mange that. I'll be fine at home and can maybe get some rest."
Jack nodded and looked to the doctor again, "She good to go home, then?"
"No," he shook his head. "She needs to stay for observation. She can go home tomorrow morning pending no issues tonight."
Sharon patted at Jack's hand, "Emily is with Millie from church. You remember her, right?"
He thought a moment and nodded, "Yea, sure, she babysat for us once, right? Older woman?"
"Yes," Sharon nodded. "We can check on Emily here. You can get here and head home. It's already getting late," she said. "Thank you, doctor."
"Of course," he told her. "Your regular OB will probably be in first thing to check on you. That's what usually happens. The on call OB takes things to start, and if you are here overnight, your regular tends to stop by too. Any issues tonight, you let the nurse know. We want a healthy baby, and to get there, we need to keep baby inside as long as possible."
"Understand," Sharon and Jack said at the same time, glancing to each other for saying the same phrasing.
"Night then," he said, as he left. Jack watched him leave and then sat back down on the side of the bed. He nodded to Sharon, "You okay?"
She grimaced again, another twinge. She nodded as she let out her breath. She pulled at Jack's hand to rest it on her hard stomach. "She's right there."
He was quite a moment and then grimaced himself, "Wow, Sharon. That's some kick. That was a kick, not a contraction? She's strong." They didn't know the gender of the baby, but both had said they thought it was a girl. Jack had even told Sharon he hoped it was a girl who looked just like her, as Emily looked a lot like Jack.
"Both," she told him. "Contraction was before. That was a kick. I'm sorry about bed rest, Jack. I know it will be a big problem."
He continued to rest his hand on her stomach and looked at her, "I just need you well and back on your feet, Shar, so we will get through this. We can talk to daycare about more time, and maybe this friend of yours can help some in the meantime." Sharon nodded in agreement as he spoke. Jack paused, and she looked to him. He chuckled, "Well, glad we had our exciting night last night. Sounds like I have to live like a monk for a couple weeks," he chuckled. "I guess that just means that whenever you are off your bed rest, we will have quite the celebration, quite the night."
"Jack," she sighed, rolling her eyes, "is that all you think about right now? I'm so pregnant. I'm not thinking about that."
"Can''t help it," he said leaning in to a whisper at her. "Something about you this pregnant, Shar, it just really turns me on. I can't explain it. If you remember, it was the same with Emily."
"It was all the time with Emily," she said, giving him a look. "Thank you, though,"she patted his hand, "for finding me desirable because I don't feel it at all." She dropped her head, not wanting to discuss his infidelity during that time. It still hurt her. Of course, her infidelity later on was large and round, staring them in the face now. Jack ran his hand up the side of her large stomach, looking her in the eyes. He gave her a small smile, and as his hand continued to wander, up, Sharon finally had to stop its movement.
"Jack,, no, you heard him. For goodness sake, I'm in the hospital in labor, a labor we are trying to stop."
"Okay, okay," he said, sitting upright and gesturing now with his hands. "I was just trying to show you how I feel, that yeah, Shar, you are totally hot, desirable, and if we could," he eyed the bed and continued, "I would right now."
"Stop," she chuckled lightly. "Let's call Millie and figure out the plan for Emily tonight."
A half hour later, jack rose from the chair next to Sharon to leave. He draped his suit coat over his shoulder and looked down at her, "You sure you are okay?"
"Fine," she said, yawing. "See, I'm exhausted. Contractions have definitely slowed. It's very sweet of Millie to keep Emily all night. Please make sure you get her on time in the morning for daycare."
"I will, and I'm going to speak to the judge about a shift in the morning so I can at least get you home. We have more jury selection, but hopefully, we can delay it for at least a couple hours. I'll be by to get you, will get you home, and then, I'll get Emily and run her to daycare before work."
Sharon listened to the long list of tasks he had early in the morning. She could see the stress on his face from working so hard. Last night had not just been about him; she'd enjoyed their closeness too. They had been living such rushed lives lately; it was important for them to reconnect as they had. She knew he wanted her, but she also hoped that he would understand that at 32 weeks pregnant, she wasn't feeling much like doing anything. Jack gave her a soft smile, and Sharon tugged at his tie, hanging there on him.
""Hey, I love you," she said to him, pulling him toward her to kiss him. He leaned down and they were quickly involved in a heated kiss. He chuckled as they pulled away.
"Killing me, Shar," he chuckled. "I'll get going and get home. I've got work to finish before tomorrow. This case, I need to do well."
"Lay off the bourbon," she called to him, bringing up the topic again. He gazed quizzically at her. She gave him a look, "I'm not stupid, Jack. You can't go home and drink more if you have work to do. You came here, late, smelling of alcohol. I know you need to wind down after work, but for me, for us," she pleaded. "It's like I've said at work. Nothing good comes of too much alcohol."
"I'll be fine, Shar," he told her, sighing. "You will be too, the baby as well. I'll be back in the morning. Call me if anything changes tonight."
She nodded, and he turned to leave. "Love you, Jack," she called to him. He turned at the door, and he looked back.
"Me too," he said and left.