Protecting the Heart
Disclaimers: I do not own any part of Glee or its characters. This is purely for pleasure I get nothing else for this. Want to give a special thanks to Niekie for helping proof read this story for me. She's all kinds of awesome and an amazing author herself. Check out her Glee fic too.
Chapter 11
The rest of the week went by quickly and it was now the last day of Hanukah. Rachel was in the kitchen finishing cooking her latkes since the brisket was almost done. They had found out that Will was also Jewish so they had invited them over to dine with them on the last night. The radio was on and Teddy was sitting at the breakfast bar singing along with her while he helped form the latkes into patties.
Rachel looked over to Teddy as he squealed excitedly to the intro to the next song and with a smile she started singing. "I really can't stay."
He just beamed at her. "But mama it's cold outside."
"I have to go away."
"But mama it's cold outside." Those were the only words he knew but he didn't care. He loved this song and loved to hear his mama sing.
He hopped off his stool and they danced around the kitchen as they say along with the song. This is how Santana found them. She had been in the garage when Danial, Will, and Ely came over so she walked them in.
She shushed them and just listened for a minute until she caught Teddy's eye and winked coming up behind Rachel wrapping her arms around Rachel's waist as she sang 'I got to get home'. "But baby you'd freeze out there."
Rachel laughed and turned in her arms. "Say, lend me a coat."
Santana twirled her lightly. "It's up to your knees out there."
They continued to dance around each other playing up the act. As the song came to its end Santana scooped up Teddy and the three of them finished it off together. "Baby its cold outside."
They laughed and turned toward the door where Daniel, Will and Ely were all clapping. Will stepped forward taking Rachel's hand. "Oh my goodness, I had no idea the two of you could sing like that. And Tony, you are a little natural aren't you."
Teddy just beamed. "I have had extensive training."
They all laughed and Rachel blushed at the look Santana gave her. "We just sing for fun but I may have given him a few pointers here and there."
Daniel smiled. "Well if you guys can sing like that we should go caroling tonight after we light the menorah."
Santana wrapped her free arm around Rachel, "Nope, not happening. If she were to fall on the ice and snow it could hurt the baby."
Both men conceded and Rachel smiled brightly changing the subject. "Dinner is almost ready if you want to help the boys set the table Ana. I'll just finish up in here and we'll eat in about 45 minutes."
They all agreed and Daniel went to help Santana and the boys set the table leaving Will to help Rachel finish up dinner. Rachel moved to the stove to pull out the latkes and hissed in pain as she bent.
Will rushed to her side quickly. "Are you ok?"
She just stretched and waved off his concern, "Just little pains in my back. I've been having them for a week or so now. Nothing to worry about, I'll just be glad when this is all over next month and I get my body back."
Will chuckled as he gently pushed her to the side and pulled the food out of the oven himself. "Well regardless why don't you sit over there and let me finish this up? It's just the Latkes right? I'll have Daniel come get the brisket. It smells wonderful by the way."
Rachel huffed in exasperation but didn't argue. Her back was really bothering her today so she sat and talked to Will as he finished up. When it was all done everyone came in and helped carry dinner to the table and they had a wonderful meal. Once they finished eating they took everything into the kitchen and Santana and Daniel insisted on doing the dishes since the other two had cooked. Rachel and Will went to the living room to get things ready to light the menorah and pass out gifts.
They all stood together and prayed while lighting the menorah then sat together handing out the gifts they had gotten for each other. The adults agreed to only buy for their own family and they kids. Will and Daniel got Teddy a robotic dinosaur that walked and roared. Santana and Rachel got Ely an Avengers play set and were shocked when Will handed them a present for the baby.
He just shrugged. "She's one of the kids too."
They smiled and laughed when they opened it to find a little onesie that said 'Half Jewish' on it with little booties that had the Jewish star on them. Rachel stood to hug Will and doubled over with a pain.
Santana moved quickly to stabilize her. "Ok that wasn't normal back pain baby."
Rachel regained her breath and shook her head. "That was the worst it's been just give me a minute."
She stood there a moment then doubled over again with a loud cry. "Ana I think…" She looked down and sighed. "… my water just broke." She looked to Santana panicked. "It's too soon."
Santana held her close. "Hey, it's going to be fine. Baby boy was born two months early remember? Just breathe and I'll get you to the hospital and she'll be just fine."
Rachel nodded then almost dropped to her knees as another pain hit her. "Oh god Ana something is wrong."
Daniel came up beside her and gently picked her up bridal style. "Ana go pull the car in the garage enough so that we don't have to walk with her on the ice."
Santana looked to him starting to panic herself put Will handed her the keys and pushed her toward the door. "Go, you need to get her there."
She snatched up the keys and ran out the door. Daniel sat with her in his lap and they helped her get her coat on then he stood again and took her out the garage door. Teddy ran to the closet and pulled out a suitcase and drug it to Will. "Mr. Will this is the hospital bag."
Will smiled down at him and kissed his forehead. "Good thinking. Let's take it out to them then we'll get in my car and meet them at the hospital to see your sister."
Teddy nodded vigorously and they went out the garage door putting on their coats. Will put the bag in the back as Daniel settled Rachel in the passenger seat then looked to Santana, "We'll meet you there and we'll lock up the house for you and bring Tony with us."
Santana shook her head. "He can ride with us."
Daniel took her hand. "No, you need to be able to concentrate solely on Maria. We got T-man; you just take care of mama and baby."
She nodded quickly then scooped up Teddy in a tight hug kissing his head. "We'll see you there mijo. We love you."
He kissed her then held his arms out to Daniel who took him to kiss Rachel too then they were off. Santana drove as quickly as she could safely with the new snow that had fallen throughout the day. She kept stealing glances at Rachel in the seat next to her trying to breathe as she hit speed dial on her cell for the doctor. Once she finished telling him all that had happened she turned back to Rachel. "Everything will be ok baby. We'll be there in a few minutes, just breathe deep love."
Rachel had another pain and started crying. "Somethings wrong Ana. Something doesn't feel right please hurry baby please."
Santana gave her another look then sped up. "I'll get you there baby I promise. She'll be just fine." She grabbed Rachel's hand and the rest of the ride was silent except for her labor breathing.
Luckily they pulled into the ambulance bay at the hospital with no problems. Daniel pulled up right behind them and Will jumped out grabbing the keys from Santana. "We'll park the cars you two just get in there."
Santana nodded as a nurse came out with a wheelchair and she started telling her all that had happened so far. They quickly took her up to the maternity ward and got her checked in and hooked up to monitors. A few moments later their doctor came in and checked all of the machines and Rachel's vitals.
"Hello ladies I see we have a little one trying to come early for Hanukkah." He said as he read the report coming from the baby monitor.
Santana stood close to Rachel's side practically on the bed. "Is everything alright? She keeps saying something is wrong doc. Is our baby ok?"
He pulled over the ultra sound machine and quickly took a look. "She's right, the baby's in distress. It looks like the cord is wrapped around her neck and we're going to have to go in and do a C-section to release her. It's the only safe thing to do."
Rachel gasped holding her stomach and looking to Santana scared. "Ana?"
Santana kissed her temple reassuringly then looked back to the doctor. "Is the baby going to be ok? Can I go with her?"
"The baby should be just fine but she is in danger right now and we need to move quickly to insure that she is ok. It's a good thing you reacted so quickly and got her here. You can go back with her but you have to stand to the side out of the way." He took Rachel's hand and smiled. "Maria, you'll be able to see and hear her but she can't be in the way of what I need to do. Trust me and I'll see you through this."
Rachel and Santana both nodded and he looked to the nurse. "Get her prepped for surgery. I want her down there as quickly as possible. I'm going to scrub now."
The nurse gave him a nod and left the room to get the things she needed to prepare her. Santana wrapped her arms around Rachel as she buried her face in her chest. "She has to be ok. We can't lose her."
Lifting her face to look in her eyes Santana kissed her lips lightly. "Just pray and have faith. She'll be ok. I made sure we had the best doctor around when we moved her and I have every confidence that he will keep her safe. Just try and stay positive baby. I'll be right here with you and even though I can't touch you in the operating room I will still be right there where you can see me. I promise I won't leave you."
Rachel nodded and fell back into her on a sob and they just held each other until the nurse came in to prep and move her. As they took her down the hall Santana saw Will at a vending machine so she let him know what was going on then followed quickly behind them.
They pushed Rachel into the operating room and made Santana go into the washroom to scrub in as well. They gowned and gloved her then took her in to where they had Rachel fully prepared. Santana moved to her and kissed her lips lightly. "Hey baby, how are you doing?"
Rachel let a tear escape and leaned her forehead to Santana's. "I'm scared Ana. I need her to be ok."
Santana kissed her again and rubbed their noses together trying to help her stay calm. "I know querida, and she will be. Give doc just a little longer to get her out and safe then we can hold her and you can feed her and give her all your amazing snuggles. That is as long as you save some of those for me and our boy."
Rachel chuckled and the nurse came over to tell Santana where she needed to stand when the doctor came in. She nodded and looked back to Rachel. "I'll be right over there ok? You just stay brave and we'll have our little girl very soon."
Rachel sighed and leaned up into the kiss Santana gave her. "Ok, I can do this. I can do this and she's going to be just fine."
Santana nodded and looked to the door as the doctor came in then with one last kiss she moved over to where the nurse told her to be.
The doctor came over and smiled. "Ok little mama, we're going to get started. You're going to feel pressure but you won't feel any pain. Once we start it's going to go really fast so just stay calm and we'll get your baby out and safe ok?"
With a nod Rachel looked over to Santana holding eye contact with her trying to stay calm and positive. Santana never let her eyes wonder sensing that Rachel needed her attention more that she herself needed to try and see what the doctor was doing. When she saw a look of discomfort or fright come over her wife she would start talking about all she wanted to do for Christmas with their son and now with their daughter too. Rachel just chuckled and commented that it was a good thing that Santana couldn't control herself while shopping and that there were actually presents at home for the baby under the tree.
A few minutes later they both looked over as the doctor spoke. "Ok little one," he said as he pulled her out and gently but efficiently unraveled the cord from around her neck.
They were all silent as they watched and finally heard a large intake of breath before their daughter let out a wail and started crying loudly. Santana and Rachel both let out a relieved breath and locked eyes again happily.
"Come on over Ana and you can cut the cord." The doctor said causing Santana to rush to his side.
She looked on in reverence getting her first good look at their daughter as she cut the cord, "Oh my god baby. She looks just like you. She's gorgeous."
Rachel smiled brightly. "Can I see her?"
The nurse wrapped a blanket around the baby and handed her to Santana nodding toward Rachel. "Only for a moment, I need to take her and check her out but from the sounds of it she seems just fine."
Santana held her in her arms and moved over to where Rachel could get a good look at her then laid her on Rachel's chest. "Look baby."
Rachel's smile widened as she ran her finger lovingly over the baby's cheek, "Our little Rosie."
Santana beamed kissing Rachel's forehead. "Yea," was all she could say as tears of joy filled her eyes.
In that moment Rachel's eyes closed and the monitors started going crazy. Santana looked down at her and quickly took the baby back off of her chest, "Baby? Hey, what's wrong?"
Everyone in the room quickly jumped into action and the nurse moved Santana to the side taking the baby. "Let me have her. I need to do my checks."
Santana watched as she rushed away with her daughter then looked back to Rachel. "What's happening?"
Another nurse came over and ushered her toward the door. "I'm sorry ma'am…"
She was cut off by the doctor's voice. "She's hemorrhaging, hand another bag of blood and give me more suction."
Santana gasped and whipped her head to the monitor that was now flashing with a steady tone. "Dear god no…"
The nurse looked at her sympathetically and pushed her the rest of the way out the door. "You can't be in here now. Just let the doctor do all he can and we'll come update you as soon as we know anything." She motioned for another nurse to grab Santana and rushed back in as soon as she was out of her arms.
When the doors opened again Santana could see a flurry of movement and still hear the monitor with that awful tone. As the doors closed she slid to her knees as sobs over took her body.
A/N: Ok my lovelies. I know leaving it at such a place is just mean but that's how I roll. I promise not to leave it there for too long before I update again.