Note: Gentlebeings all, we're entering the home stretch. This chapter officially marks the beginning of the last trimester. (Yes, we know it's a lame image and not entirely fitting, but given that we're still wallowing in babies ... bear with us, okay?) Anyway, enjoy as usual, we hope, and don't forget to leave by way of the feedback box. (Brownie points for everyone who guesses where this baby's name comes from. Hint: there are 3 sources ...) CR/DB
Seasons To Remember
Chapter 20: Speedy Delivery
Lynne rejoined the company after nursing Ricky and putting him down for a nap. She sighed heavily as she sat down, still feeling twinges from her c-section.
"You'd think that since this is my second child, things would be a little easier, but no...."
"You're just out of practice, Princess," Jay murmured, giving his wife a gentle kiss. "With eleven years between Scott and Ricky, it's like we're starting all over again."
"Was your pregnancy difficult?" Rachel asked.
"Not really, but Dr. Stevens was concerned because at thirty-five, I'm what they consider 'advanced maternal age'," Lynne explained, grumbling about the appellation. What woman likes to be referred to as 'advanced age' for anything!
"I probably could have had a regular delivery if Ricky had been turned properly," she continued.
"At least they discovered that before you had to endure umpteen hours of labor," Jay remarked.
"When I had the twins, it took so long that I was begging Dr. Stevens to take me into surgery," Trini said, recalling her ordeal in giving birth.
"Brandon was such a big baby, it felt as if he was going to get stuck when he was only halfway out," Jasmine contributed to the topic.
"What about you, Mom?" Oliver asked, "Any horror stories from when you had the three of us?"
"No, you were all 'textbook' deliveries," Kat replied. "Not too big, right on time, and I wasn't in labor an excessive amount of time."
"I hope you have that kind of labor," Jared said and leaned over to kiss his wife.
"Jared? Rachel? Are you two expecting?" Kat questioned excitedly.
"Yes," Rachel confirmed. "We just found out the other day."
The beaming couple was swamped with congratulatory hugs and kisses from their close-knit family.
"When are you due?" Kat wondered.
"July or August. We'll know more after my ultrasound," Rachel answered.
"I think I know who'd win the Purple Heart for most difficult pregnancy and delivery, though," Tommy spoke up. "Kimberly ...."
"Oh Lord, yes!" Kat agreed. "When she was pregnant with Trini... what a nightmare! It seemed like anything that could go wrong did."
"Especially on the day she popped out," Tommy said as he favored his baby girl with a smile.
"And she hasn't stopped causing trouble since," Jay interjected.
"Hey!" his sister protested as she swatted him good-naturedly.
"What happened?" Rachel wondered, intrigued.
"At the time she was pregnant with Trini, Kim was thirty-two, not that old, really. Certainly not 'advanced maternal age'..." He glanced mischievously at Lynne, who promptly stuck her tongue out at him in a most un-ladylike manner.
"You know how petite Kim was," Kat continued, "when she was near the end of her term, she looked absolutely huge ...."
~*~
"I am so tired of being pregnant," a very worn, very round Kimberly complained as she attempted to leverage herself out of her chair to go answer the doorbell.
"You're in the home stretch; only two weeks to go," Kat responded with sympathy. Only last year she and Jason had had their second child; she well remembered that final month and how impatient she had been to be done with it. "Sit, Kim; I'll get the door."
Kim did as she was told, grumbling all the while, "And I hate being babied."
She hated the exceptionally solicitous care because it always served to remind her that this had been a very difficult pregnancy for her.
In the three years since Jay had been born, Kim had had trouble getting pregnant again. The early miscarriages had been devastating, and the doctors' platitudes and less-than-helpful recommendations had been frustrating. She had begun to think that Jay was destined to be an only child when she found herself pregnant at last.
Unlike the first time with Jay – when she'd been as healthy as a horse – she had complications galore the second time around. Infections. High blood pressure. False labor. Weekly sessions on the natal heart monitor .... She sighed. As much as she hated the overcautious treatment, she followed the doctors' orders to the letter. She didn't want anything to happen to her little girl.
Yes, she was going to have her little girl at last. They hadn't found out the baby's sex when she'd had Jay, but this time, she had to know ahead of time.
Tommy honored his best friend and his brother when we named Jay 'Jason David'. Now it's my turn to honor my best friend.
"Hello, Connie," Kat greeted the young woman at the door.
Consuelo DeSantos was Rocky's youngest sibling. She'd recently graduated from college with a BS in Nursing and had just taken her State Boards to get her license. Tommy had 'hired' her to help Kim out during her last trimester. While Kim didn't mind providing Connie with a job, she wished she wasn't the one being babysat.
"Hi, Kat. Hi, Kim," the pretty brunette greeted her brother's long-time friends. "Are you ready to go see Dr. Woods?"
"I suppose I should go get this over with," Kim muttered. Kat used to go with her to the obstetrician when Tommy couldn't, but lately, he'd asked Connie to go with her instead.
Would he have been this bad had he been around for my first pregnancy?
Kat, however, took the switch to babysitter in stride.
"Tommy can't make it today?" Connie asked.
"The guys are working on a new database for the dojo; Tommy wants to get his part of the files updated before next week so he can be free and clear when the baby arrives," Kim said.
She winced as she felt her abdomen tighten. She'd been having twinges all morning. She figured it was more false labor pains; she'd have to tell Dr. Woods about them.
"You know, they say the second baby comes faster than the first," Kat informed her expecting friend. "Lynne arrived four days earlier than Oliver did."
"Don't forget, this baby is an Oliver. They're always late. Remember Jay? An Oliver to the bone," Kim chuckled. "He was a week late. This means Trini should arrive right on time."
"You never know," Kat cautioned her.
"Do we have to leave immediately?" Connie wondered. "I could use a cup of coffee, and I'd love to see the boys."
"We have a little time yet," Kim assured her.
"Where are the kids? It's awful quiet."
"Lynne is sleeping, and the boys are in Jay's room," Kat said.
Connie was all set to pay a visit down the hall when there came another knock at the door. Being the closest, she answered it. The new visitor proved to be Billy.
"Hello, I ... uh ... is Kimberly home?" he fumbled upon being confronted with a very lovely young lady who seemed vaguely familiar.
"She sure is, Billy; come on in," she invited.
"Billy!" Kim exclaimed and waddled over as quickly as she could. She gave him an exuberant, if awkward, hug. "When did you get back?"
"Late last night," he answered. He had spent the last several months in Europe consulting on a project. "I thought I'd stop in to see how you were doing."
He had known when he left that she was expecting her second child, but not that her condition had been so delicate.
Kim frowned at him, seeing his thoughts in his eyes. Billy never could hide things from her for very long. "You stopped by the dojo and Tommy asked you to look in on me," she challenged. "That worrywart!"
Billy smiled sheepishly, as if to say 'guilty as charged'. "I really had intended on stopping by just to see you."
"Well, if you go back to the dojo, you can tell Tommy that between Kat and Connie, I'm in good hands," she assured him. She observed his blank expression when she mentioned Connie's name. Belatedly, she recalled that he hadn't been around when Tommy hired her nurse. "You remember Consuelo DeSantos, Rocky's baby sister."
"Little Connie?" he gulped, stealing an appraising glance at the young woman. When he thought of Rocky's little sister, he thought of a skinny little girl with braces and braids, not the striking beauty before him.
"The same," Connie replied, smiling. She could almost read his thoughts. "I'm not a little kid in pigtails any more."
"So I see."
"Connie is one piece of paper shy of being an RN," Kim supplied.
"Really? Congratulations," he said. "As I recall, you always did ask the most insightful questions."
"And you always provided the most thorough answers," Connie countered.
Kim and Kat traded knowing smiles. Billy had never known, but once upon a time, the youngest DeSantos had a huge crush on him.
"Getting back to the reasons for my visit," Billy said, gathering his wits once more, "I also wanted to see just how much my nephews have grown."
Being the only unmarried member of their circle of friends, Billy took his role as honorary uncle very seriously. He genuinely delighted in the children of his companions.
"You haven't been gone all that long," Kat laughed. Really, he could be as bad as the grandparents!
"Kim, are you okay?" Connie asked suddenly, noticing Kim's pallid face and the puckering of her brow as she placed her hand on her abdomen.
"My stomach's just a little upset," she claimed dismissively.
"Well, Billy, I think you're about to get your wish...."
The words were scarcely out of Kat's mouth when a pair of lively three-year-olds came tearing into the living room. Oliver was trailing a blanket behind him as Jay gave chase.
"Mine, Ah-ver, mine!" Jay shouted. Oliver had absconded with his precious blanket.
"You hide my bear!" Oliver accused in turn, his teddy bear being his most prized possession.
"Boys, that's enough ...." Kim raised her voice to be heard above the din while Kat endeavored to catch the rambunctious duo. Oliver dashed around Kim, tangling the blanket about her ankles. Jay sought a shortcut between his mother's legs.
"Boys!" Kim shrieked as she lost her balance.
"Kim!" Billy yelped and quickly grabbed hold of her to keep her from falling.
However, nearly toppling Kim slowed the boys enough to allow Connie to snag Oliver while Kat nabbed Jay.
"Okay, you two ...." Kat scolded as the two women returned the hellions to the bedroom.
"Are you all right?" Billy queried as he guided Kim to a chair. Her breathing seemed unusually ragged.
"No, Billy, I don't think I am," she groaned. "I don't think these are false pains."
"All right. Stay calm ..." he stammered, momentarily at a loss as to what to do. He had textbook knowledge of how to deliver a child (having looked into the subject three years ago when every female of his circle of friends had been expecting – one never knew when an emergency might arise), but he had never been called up to use it. Now, in the moment of truth, he couldn't remember the information.
"Connie!" Kim called out, her shout cut off by another agonized moan. To Billy, she said, "Help me time my contractions."
Connie came running and found Billy easing Kim to the floor. She sized up the situation immediately.
"Kat, call Dr. Woods," she ordered. Glancing at Billy, she asked, "How far apart are they?"
"Not far. About a minute if I'm timing this correctly," he reported.
"Let's get you to the hospital," Connie decided.
"I'm not having my baby in the car!" Kim gritted out between toe-curling contractions. Lord, but she'd slipped into the late stages of labor faster than she imagined possible!
"You're that close?" Connie gasped. "Kim, how long have you been having contractions?"
"All ... morning ... thought ... false ones ... again."
"I'm calling 911," Billy said, snapping open his cell phone. "I think an ambulance might be in order."
"Good idea."
"I've called Tommy, too," Kat said as she joined the trio. "I told him I'd keep my cell phone handy just in case."
"You'd better call someone to watch the kids," Connie suggested. "I'm going to need your help here."
"Right." And Kat was on the phone again.
"Remember your breathing, Kim," Connie instructed, trying to recall everything she'd learned in her obstetrics class. "Has your water broken?"
"... guess so. Thought it was ... weak bladder ...." Kim let out a pained cry.
"Connie ...?" Billy began, his question cut off as Kim squeezed his hand so hard, it felt as if she was crushing the bones.
"Helen's on her way over; she's the only one at home," Kat reported. Thankfully, Jason's parents lived just around the corner.
"I need a sheet or something," Connie ordered. "Kim, we have to get you undressed; I've got to see how far you've dilated."
"Will this do?" Jason's mother asked, announcing her arrival, as she handed the youngest DeSantos the afghan from the couch.
"Fine. Kat, help me get Kim's pants and underwear off."
"Helen, here's my phone in case Tommy calls," Kat instructed.
"Mrs. Scott, see if you can get someone from AG-OB/GYN on the phone; I want a doctor to coach me through this, just in case," Connie requested.
"Use mine," Billy recommended and handed over his cell phone.
"Can I push yet?" Kim panted.
"Hang on, Kim; it's going to be all right," Billy soothed, feeling totally helpless – a condition he had never liked. What good was all his intellect if he couldn't use it to help his friends?
"Like hell it is! I'm having a baby in my living room!" she snapped, groaning. "Where's Tommy? I don't think I can wait for him .... Oh Gooooddddd ...!"
~*~
Tommy was presently on Jason's motorcycle tearing down the streets of Angel Grove en route to the hospital. Jason had offered it so he could maneuver through traffic easier.
I am not going to miss my daughter's birth, he repeated over and over. Thus far, he'd been fortunate enough to hit every green light between the dojo and the hospital. However, as he neared the next intersection, his luck changed.
Damn! He skidded to a stop, the smell of burnt rubber filling the air. Sorry 'bout that, Bro.
Why wouldn't the light hurry up? It was taking forever, so Tommy decided to check in with Kat to see how Kim was doing. Thankfully, Rocky had tossed him the cell phone before he'd left the dojo, otherwise he'd have forgotten it – just like he'd forgotten Jason's helmet.
"Kat, how's Kim ...?"
"Tommy?"
"Helen?" What was Jason's mother doing with Kat's phone?
"Kim's having the baby now ...."
"Is she at the hospital already?" He figured he was closer to the hospital at the dojo than Kim was from home. "Or is she at the doctor's office?"
"She's having it in the living room!"
"Shit!" he swore. Light or no light, he revved the motor and made a u-turn. He'd have to double back.
As he sped along, he heard a siren coming up behind him, loud and fast.
The cops can just follow me home and give me the damned ticket there, he grumbled. Moments later, an ambulance passed him.
Looks like they're going my way.
He floored it, drafting in the wake of the ambulance and followed it all the way home. Somewhere along the way, he thought he'd heard another siren, but he paid it no heed. All that matter was getting to Kim in time.
The rest of the trip passed in a blur, and soon his house was before him. Later, he wouldn't be able to remember parking the bike nor dismounting. He only recalled leaping over Kim's plants and sprinting across the lawn to get to the front door before the paramedics.
"Kim ...!" he called out breathlessly, skidding to a stop as he took in the scene: Billy propping Kim up, Connie kneeling between her legs, and Kat with cell phone in hand relaying instructions.
"Tommy ...." Kim sobbed, her face lighting up with relief.
"Come on, Kim; another push ...." Connie coaxed. "Kat, tell Dr. Woods I can see the crown of the head."
"The ambulance is here," Tommy said as he held Kim's hand and stroked her brow.
"Well ... she's not a typical ... Oliver ...." Kim joked in spite of her overwhelming pain.
The paramedics were coming in the door with their equipment as Connie announced, "Here she comes ...."
And Katrina Michelle Oliver made her way into the world....
~*~
"I don't see how Mom managed without an epidural or muscle relaxants," Trini murmured, recalling her own labor. She wouldn't have managed without the pain medication.
"She was lucky she didn't have any complications," Lynne added.
"I can't believe your father tailed an ambulance," Ramon murmured with a shake of his head.
"He was lucky Captain Anderson was in a generous mood that day," Kat said, glancing Tommy's way. "Speeding, no helmet, not to mention the fool stunt of tailgating an ambulance ...."
"The ambulance driver had radioed the police that some maniac on a motorcycle was riding their bumper," Tommy related. "Anderson was the one who responded to the call. He was right behind me the whole way home."
"He could have nailed you good," Jay interjected.
"I figured he would, too, but he just gave me a warning and told me that I'd better stick close to home next time my wife was pregnant." Tommy's face grew sad as he made that statement. Kat noticed and caught his hand in hers, offering him comfort.
"Then it's a good thing Aunt Kim didn't have another one," Oliver laughed, unaware of his uncle's reaction.
"She didn't have a choice in the matter, hon," Kat said quietly.
"What do you mean?" Jasmine asked.
"Kim wanted another child, but after Trini, the doctor said that it'd be too risky for her to have any more," Tommy replied.
"Is that why Aunt Kim was almost as bad as you when it came to mothering me?" Jared asked his mom.
"Yes – and you always hated having two mothers," Kat chuckled.
"But there was something good that came out of Trini's bizarro birth," Lynne spoke up, ribbing her sister-in-law.
"That's right! If it weren't for me, Aunt Connie and Uncle Billy wouldn't have gotten together," Trini declared triumphantly.
"Don't tell my dad that," Ramon said. "It still weirds him out that one of his friends married his baby sister."
"I thought he'd gotten over that," Kat sighed.
"Are you kidding? It'll never happen," Tommy laughed.
"I don't get it. I thought Uncle Rocky and Uncle Billy liked each other," Jared said.
"They do. Rocky couldn't have asked for a better husband for his sister – not that he'd ever admit it," Tommy assured him.
"It's a big brother thing," Jay said sagely. "We have to look after our little sisters."
Lynne and Trini burst out laughing.
"That's the most ridiculous thing you've ever said," Trini snorted contemptuously.
"You and Oliver spent years trying to figure out ways to be rid of 'The Pests'," Lynne reminded her husband.
"True, but if anyone else had ever picked on you two, we'd have clobbered them," Oliver said.
"I think we were lucky to have dated at all during high school," Trini realized, turning to Lynne and rolling her eyes. Their brothers seemed to forget that they could more than take care of themselves.
"Rocky just can't get past the ten-year age difference," Kat interjected.
"So that's why Dad calls Uncle Billy a 'dirty old man'," Ramon realized.
"Precisely."
"That's nothing," Rachel interjected with a wry grin. "Your father calls me 'cradle robber'!"
"Well, Jared is four years younger than you," Ramon said pointedly.
"So, I like older women," Jared snickered.
"You and Rachel are good for each other. And now you're going to be parents ... my baby's going to be a father ...." Kat sniffled.
"Aw, Mom," Jared muttered as he hugged his misty-eyed mother.
"You've started on a whole new adventure," Tommy added. "One that's more fulfilling – and more frustrating – than being a Power Ranger ever was."
"Amen to that!" Ramon murmured, which garnered him a suspicious glance from Trini.
"Well, you guys managed both ... you made it seem so easy," Jared remarked. "You guys always seemed to know just what to do ...."
"We were lucky," Kat said. "You children were really very good, for the most part."
"For the most part?" Jay challenged.
"Let's just say, you had your moments," Tommy remarked sagely.
To Be Continued ...