Author's notes: Hi, big thanks to all two of you who reviewed my last chapter! And everyone who reviewed the previous chapters. Thanks, as always to Em who went and made corrections. Not to mention the discussions about spelling and gestation periods for women. Ok, for all of you who are wondering, between the two of us, Em and I managed to get it pretty accurate. I checked the gestation period and it is 40 weeks for those of you who don't believe that's what it is. CoughEMCough. Just kidding.

Don't own 'em

Chapter 4-Revelations

After 42 weeks of pregnancy and 3 weeks of her mother, it was now only a matter of hours until it was all over. Okay, so she wasn't in active labor, but with nearly two weeks past her due date at least she was finally in the hospital!

"How about Jacob?" Richard asked, scanning the baby-naming book in his hand with a determined look on his face. He didn't like to leave anything to chance, and this baby was going to have a name before it came out if it killed him.

"And if it's a girl?" Maggie asked from across the room.

Richard laughed. "Who, may I ask, is the doctor here? I saw the ultrasound and he is definitely a boy."

"Well, I still think it's a girl," Maggie told him defiantly.

"Ok, I'll tell you what," Richard smiled pompously. "If I'm wrong, and I sincerely doubt it, but if I am and it turns out to be a girl then you can name her."


Maggie murmured something inaudible causing Richard to look smugly at her, satisfied that he had won the argument, before returning his attention to the book.

"Michael?" he suggested.

Abby shook her head tiredly. "Everybody would call him 'Mike' or 'Mikey'…Maybe we could do this some other time. It's hot, I'm tired, an-"

"Daniel!" Maggie offered suddenly, jumping up from her chair with excitement.

"It's…nice. Can we keep it in mind, Richard?" Abby murmured, wanting to encourage her mother but realizing she was fighting a losing battle when Richard simply ignored her and countered Maggie with another suggestion.


"Alexander?"

"Adam," Maggie suggested.

"Joseph," Richard challenged.

Abby sighed. Even naming a baby had to become some horrible competition for her mother and husband. Why couldn't they just leave each other alone for two seconds?

"You know for most people this would be a happy day," Abby said pointedly. "A day where families can come together to celebrate the birth of a new addition to the family...at least that's how it was for the people I used to see…"

Richard paused, "It would be more enjoyable if the kid had a name."

Before either of the two women could respond a nurse walked into the room and headed straight towards Abby's bed.

"Hello Mrs. Lockhart. How are you today?" she asked, a little too perkily for Abby's liking.

"Fine."

"That's great! Ok, I'm just going to check to see how far you've dilated. The last nurse should have explained it, but if there are any other questions-"

"Thank you, but I'm an O.B. nurse. I know what you're doing," Abby explained irritably. How old was this girl? She looked barely more than a child herself and Abby was supposed to entrust the birth of her child to her?

"All the better then!" Nurse Perky smiled. After a short pause to check Abby's cervix she looked back at Abby with that eternal grin still plastered on her face. "Alright, you're dilated to four now so here's the big question: do you want an epidural?"

Abby turned her head to the side to see that in the time she was talking to the nurse, Richard and Maggie had managed to become immersed in a heated discussion about something that was probably pretty petty.

"Got anything stronger?" she asked dryly.


A puzzled smile crossed Nurse Perky's face as she tried to work out what Abby meant. Deciding that it was supposed to be a joke she smiled brightly and practically skipped towards the door. "Wonderful! The doctor will be in shortly, and if everything's in order you'll get your drugs!" With that she left the room, leaving three very tense adults in her wake.

"Wonderful!" Maggie imitated, crossing her arms over her chest and rising from her chair. "I'm going for a walk."

"Can you go with her?" Abby asked Richard tiredly, watching Maggie's retreating figure.

"She'll be fine. Besides, we need to find a name," Richard said, not lifting his eyes from the baby naming book.

Abby thought about pushing the point but realized that she just didn't have the energy anymore. Finally, in complete resignation, she closed her eyes and threw out a suggestion. "Hunter?"

"I dunno. Hunter Lockhart? Sounds kinda…funny," he shrugged. "Maybe Cody or Matthew or something?"

Abby sighed. Who really cared anyway? The idea that this child would bring them closer together had completely backfired. Richard and Maggie were at one another's throats constantly, and all Abby could think about was the possibility that the child could be bi-polar.

"Are you sure it's a boy?" Abby asked suddenly. She wanted to fight, and if she was going to it might as well be about something they didn't have control over.

"Yeah, didn't you look?"

"Well, no. I wanted to be surprised…but that didn't happen did it?"

"Yeah, because it makes you a better parent to be surprised," Richard retorted.


Abby didn't have time to decipher the comment. O.B. walked in just as Richard finished his sentence.

"Hello, Mrs. Lockhart, Dr. Lockhart," Dr. Morgan said, looking through her charts.

"Hi," they murmured in unhappy unison.

"Ready for the epidural, I see," she asked, a playful smile crossing her lips.

Neither answered.

"Alright," she said, noting the coldness and turning to read the heart monitors. "Everything seems to be fine. Your…" she then stopped to look through her charts.

"Son," Richard said shortly. "I checked myself," he added somewhat proudly.

She closed her notes. "Thank you. I couldn't remember if it was son, daughter, or child," she laughed. "Alright, your son seems to be doing just fine. Dr. Jones will be in in about five minutes to give you the epidural."

Saying this she gave Abby's hand a reassuring squeeze and turned on her heel to leave the room. As soon as she left the door opened again and the anesthesiologist walked in.

"That was fast," Richard murmured, obviously impressed.

Dr. Jones nodded, and quietly went about doing his job.

"Ok, arch your back…Great. Mr. Lockhart, could you come here please? Ok, good…"

Without another word the doctor inserted the needle into her spine. When she had seen it done on other patients this procedure had seemed to take only seconds, but as the pain shot through her back Abby could have sworn that it was closer to forever!


When he was finished he gathered his equipment and left without so much as a smile or a 'good-luck'. Abby laughed inwardly. Maggie would like this guy; he isn't perky at all…

Maggie. She had forgotten that Maggie had gone for a walk. She had been gone for at least a half hour, possibly longer, and as she realized this Abby began to worry.

"Mom should be back by now…"she mused to Richard.

"I'm sure she's fine," he said unconcernedly.

"Can you go find her?"

"Abby! She's a fully-grown woman! You don't need to take care of her."


"Richard. Please!" Abby pleaded.

Richard sighed heavily, pulled himself out of his chair, and stalked out of the room without saying another word or even looking at her.

Abby lay back against the bed. Why did things always have to be such a drama? Why couldn't he just be a nice, helpful, loving husband? Why couldn't her mother be normal? Why couldn't she be normal? She couldn't think for long. Her contractions were becoming more frequent but somehow she didn't care that no one was in there with her.

What surprised her most was the time factor. Everything seemed to be taking forever, but at the same time it was going so quickly. A nurse came to check on her, followed shortly by Richard and Maggie. Abby looked at the clock to find that it was half an hour since he had originally left to search for Maggie.

"Do you know where she was?" Richard roared. He couldn't have seen the nurse or he wouldn't make a scene.


"Dr. Lockhart, I don't think that this is the appropriate forum to vent your anger!" the nurse admonished.

Richard glared at Maggie, who was now sitting beside Abby looking quite unhappy. Abby looked between the two and offered an apologetic look to the nurse before inquiring as to Maggie's whereabouts.

"Down on the street! She was 'just having a drink' with some bum!" he said angrily. "I swear, we can't keep digging her out of problems. One of these days…"

Shut up, shut up, shut up! Abby thought angrily. He didn't know how to handle Maggie…or Abby for that matter. And as for her? She couldn't handle Maggie and she couldn't handle Richard. Maybe they should all go to separate ends of the earth…

Maybe that wouldn't be far enough.


"I'm just being unreasonable", she said to herself, surprised by her own irrational thoughts.

Again, the nurse left quickly, not wanting to be part of the conflict. Before going she informed Abby that in an hour she had gone from four to eight centimeters, and was now completely effaced. The only hope for the day was knowing that at least the birthing would be over soon, even if she still had to deal with Maggie and Richard.

~~~

"Ok, that's it. Give me another big push Abby," Dr. Morgan shouted encouragingly, watching intently for a head.

"She's gonna be stubborn just like you!" Maggie exclaimed as she leaned over a nurse's shoulder in hopes of catching a glimpse of her grandchild.

"He," Richard corrected absently. "3...2...1" he said, returning his attention to Abby.

Abby relaxed against the pillow, breathing heavily, and waited for the next contraction.

"Mom, do you want to wait outside?" she hinted, not wanting to spend the first moments with her child worrying about what her mother was going to do next.

"Nah, I'm fine," Maggie said, oblivious. "What's this?" she asked, picking up the forceps on the table beside the bed.

"Maggie, put that down!" Richard said quickly.


"Ok, push," The doctor ordered.

Abby complied.

"Demanding aren't we?" Maggie said, obviously in a delayed reaction to the statement. "You know, the doc I had when Abby was born, he was a great guy. He wasn't demanding at all! You know, all doctors should be like him. Speaking of, can you tell me, why do doctors pu-"

"The head's out. Don't push!" she said, pulling Maggie's ramblings to a temporary halt.

Maggie leaned over his shoulder, now able to see the head as the doctor suctioned the nose and mouth.

"Oh, if I had known I was doing this when I gave birth…" Maggie began, enthralled. "You should see her though, Abby. She's so beautiful. Granted I can only see her face…Oh and shoulders now…"

Maggie narrated the doctor's actions as she maneuvered the baby out, but Abby didn't need to listen. She knew how doctors helped birth babies.

"Dr. Lockhart, I think you need to go back to med school," Dr. Morgan announced with a laugh. "You have a little girl!"

The baby didn't cry for a moment-a very long moment. The nurse in Abby knew there was nothing to worry about, but she still felt an incredible fear grip her chest up until she heard the baby's strong cries fill the room.

"There we go," Dr. Morgan cooed as she weighed and measured the baby. She then wrapped her in a fuzzy yellow blanket and placed her on Abby's stomach. "Six pounds, three ounces and twenty inches long. She's a little one!" the doctor announced happily.

The baby calmed down quickly. Abby touched the delicate features that made up her little girl's small face. She touched a finger to the soft baby skin and felt the soft down on her face. She took in every intricate detail about her little baby-the one who would depend on her for the rest of her life…


Abby had never been so terrified in her entire life.

"She is so beautiful," Maggie whispered reverently. "Can I hold her?"

Abby looked wearily at her mother. "Maybe later." She knew her mother well, but not well enough to know which moods would come next in an "episode" when alcohol was involved. Of course, it didn't help that there was no logical order for the moods in an actual episode, let alone an alcohol-induced one.

Maggie knew what Abby was thinking. "I was excited," she reasoned. "Everybody gets excited!"

"Yeah, maybe later…"Abby said quietly.

"Abby! I WAS EXCITED!" Maggie cried out in frustration.

Startled, the baby began to cry. Maggie looked down at the baby. Then realizing she had made her cry began to cry as well out of absolute remorse. "Abby, I'm so sorry! Please don't hate me!" she wailed, looking through tear-filled eyes at her daughter.

Maggie collapsed onto the bed beside Abby who quickly handed the screaming baby to Richard. Richard left quietly to bring the baby to the nursery.

Despite the urging of every fiber in her entire body to push the woman away, to tell her to get out of their lives, Abby comforted her mother. She forgave Maggie as she always did, and as always Maggie swore that she would never screw her life up ever again as long as she had another chance. Abby listened with a sort of wall around herself. She listened, but she no longer believed.


"Mom," Abby said quietly when Maggie's cries had quieted. The doctor and nurses had left so she could talk to her mother in private

Maggie wiped her eyes and looked closely at Abby, giving her her full attention.


"What if I become bipolar?" Abby asked, suddenly unable to speak above a whisper.

Maggie paused a moment, deep in thought, before looking Abby straight in the eye and replying. "It would have happened already, right? Abby, you can't live in what-ifs. It just doesn't work that way. You aren't bipolar, and if you are? Well…" She didn't finish. She knew a hundred ways to finish, but not a single thought was appropriate.

That did nothing to lessen the worry Abby suddenly felt. If anything, she became even more worried, knowing that because of her, the child would have a horrible life. Maggie leaned over and brushed Abby's hair from her face.

Abby swallowed hard. "What if the baby is bipolar?"

The question was barely above a whisper, but she held some dignity in her tone. No one was going to see Abby Lockhart break down and cry, not even her mother.


Maggie shook her head. "I don't know. Whatever else happens you have a healthy baby, so don't ruin your enjoyment of her by worrying about that right now. She won't hurt you like I did…"

"That's not what I'm talk-" Abby began. But Maggie stopped her.

"Abby. You are a strong, strong person, and if your baby is half the person you are then she'll be just fine…EVEN if she is bipolar."

Abby sighed. That wasn't the answer she wanted. Then again, she didn't know what answer she actually did want. She wanted affirmation that her baby would live like other children and, when she grew up, like other adults. She didn't want people to look at her kid and say 'poor sick little girl' or 'poor sick woman'. She didn't want the same situation Maggie had had. She didn't want Richard, or boyfriends, or anybody to leave her baby because of the disease…but could a sick woman give Abby the reassurance that nothing like that would ever happen?

"This baby isn't me," Maggie assured Abby, as if reading her thoughts. They stared at each other in silence for a few moments until the peace was broken by Richard crashing through the door.

"Abby, the baby's all settled down," he announced.

Maggie shifted uncomfortably. "I know I upset her, but do I still get to name her?" Abby smiled. She looked so much like a child right then. Like the older sister rather than the grandmother.

"Why would you get to name her?" Richard asked. "She's my daughter."

"Because you said she could…" Abby reminded him. "You swore blind it was going to be a boy, and that if it was a girl Maggie could name her."

"She was acting like a complete idiot through labor, then with the whole yelling thing, and she gets rewarded for it?"

Abby didn't respond. There was no need.

"Fine! Name the kid," he huffed, throwing himself into the nearest chair. "It's not like we had any girl's names picked out anyway."

"You didn't have any boy's names either," Maggie told him, somewhat antagonistically.

"Mom," Abby warned with a barely detectible smile playing on her lips.

"So, do you even have a name picked?" Richard challenged.

Maggie nodded. "What was the name of that one girl? I think she was your best friend in fifth grade. You know, the nice one…"

Abby thought for a moment. "The one who loved sleeping over because it was always an adventure with you?"

Richard sighed and simply glared at Maggie.

"Yeah! What was her name?"

"Grace," Abby said with a smile. Grace had been the only neighborhood kid who had never teased Abby about her "psycho mom", the only one who ever had the guts to stay over at the Wyczenski house.

Maggie clapped her hands gleefully. "I'm going to go visit Grace!" She announced as she quickly left.

"Why did you let her name the baby?" Richard asked immediately when the door had closed.

Abby pulled her blanket up over her body. Despite the childbirth and August heat, she had become cold. "You said she could. Maybe that will teach you not to be cocky next time…" Yeah right, like there's ever going to be a next time.

Richard obviously shared her sentiments. "Next time?" he laughed. "You actually want to have another one? Don't be stupid Abby. This one already has a great chance of becoming bipolar. Just think about the likelihood of two children. Either one or both!"

Abby kept her mouth shut. She was too tired to yell, but the anger was building up inside of her.

"Abby, why did you have this baby anyway?" He sounded surprised by his own question, but still found himself waiting for an answer. When none was forthcoming he threw his hands up in the air and laughed coldly. "You're absolutely incredible, you know that! You've got your mother to take care of, and now you want to risk taking care of your bipolar child too? Do you like feeling miserable? Do you like knowing that you're ruining your marriage because of this bipolar crap?" Richard stopped. He had gone way too far. Even if he had meant it, the best time to talk to someone about it was not after giving birth.

Abby felt like crying…She laughed instead. "You know, I really do, Richard. I like feeling miserable! I like making everyone around me miserable! I like knowing that our marriage sucks because I try to help my mom!"

She was only whispering, but in her own ears she seemed to be yelling every word and the whole hospital now knew that their marriage was falling apart. They hadn't worked at keeping their marriage together; what they had worked at was hiding the fact that their marriage was falling apart before them and there was nothing they could do about it.

"You couldn't have waited until we were at home, huh?" she asked. To her surprise she was crying, although barely perceptibly, and the look on Richard's face showed that he didn't know what to do in this unknown situation. "You know, I don't need your help, Richard. You obviously don't want to be bothered with a child that is less than perfect so I'll have to do it alone. I can raise a kid on my own. If I took care my mother and raised my brother I can take care of a little baby."

Her façade had once again fallen over her. Her tears were nonexistent, and now she showed only the self-sufficient, self-assured person Richard had always known. To the world Abigail Lockhart was strong and able to take on anything. To Abby she was a weak person who had just gone too far. She couldn't do it all anymore. She couldn't take care of a baby and pay his way through med school, couldn't take care of her mother, couldn't fix her relationship with Richard…and couldn't pretend to love him anymore.

Richard didn't know what to say. He had gotten to the point where he didn't care anymore. Maggie drove him crazy, and he never understood why Abby always ran back to her. Along with that, Abby was a walking enigma. He never had figured her out. While that had attracted him to her years ago he couldn't handle it anymore. So he did something both he and Abby had become good at…he ran away.


"Alright then," he whispered. "You deal with your bipolar mother and your newborn baby. I'm done Abby. You aren't my responsibility anymore."

He left too soon for Abby to mention that she had never been his responsibility. Oddly Abby didn't feel sad. If anything she felt relieved…until she realized that she didn't have anywhere to live.

"Aren't I going home with Richard?" Maggie asked, popping her head inside the door to Abby's room.

Abby shook her head. "Nope. You're going to want to head back to Florida soon." This was all she could think of to say. Her brain seemed incapable of forming a proper thought after all she had been through in the last 24 hours.

Maggie shrugged. "I suppose. He was driving me nuts anyway. Listen, they let me bring the baby back here. Do you want to see her again…I think she's hungry."

Before Abby could answer, Maggie wheeled the basinet into the room. Then she carefully picked up her granddaughter and handed her to Abby.

Looking at the tiny face of the baby nestled in her arms, Abby couldn't help but wonder if she had done the right thing. Probably not, she told herself, but she was too proud to crawl back to Richard.

"Do you think we can manage?" Abby asked the baby.

Grace cooed a happy reply, and for the hundredth time since the child had been born, Abby's heart melted. Each time Grace did something, anything; Abby couldn't imagine what would have happened had she had an abortion. Richard didn't know what he would be missing out on with this baby. But…

They would manage just fine on their own.

_______________________________

Ok, it was long, I realize that. Next chapter will be getting back to Carter, so just stay with me here. It was eight pages on it's own, so I figured I would just not have Carter's part this time. I really hope you guys liked it. Please tell me what you thought about it. I would really like to make improvements for next time.