*** I dedicate this next part to MzMocha (thanks for the links, I'll give them a look-see when I'm not so busy writing!), Rach6, Ally37, Luvcarlo, and Wareagle05. Your kind words and enthusiasm inspire me. Thanks! ***
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Carly woke up the next morning to a grinning redheaded little boy jumping up and down on her bed. She rubbed her eyes with a loving smile on her face.
"Mr. Man – what has Mommy told you about jumping on the bed?" she asked sleepily. Michael fell to his knees on the bed and crawled up to where her head was. He lay down next to her and grinned.
"If I keep doing it, the bed will get angry and come jump on me," he said. Carly nodded solemnly.
"Yes. And look at this bed. It's really big, isn't it?" she asked, brushing the hair off of Michael's forehead. The boy nodded.
"But I'm big, too, Mommy," he whispered conspiratorially. Carly smiled.
"I know, baby. I know you're big, too. But the bed is so much bigger – and we don't want such a BIG bed jumping on a BIG little guy, do we?" she asked. Michael giggled as he shook his head earnestly.
"You're silly, Mommy," he said snuggling up to her. Carly grinned as she wrapped her arms around her little boy and squeezed him. Michael made a gagging sound as if he was being squeezed to tight, causing Carly to laugh and release him.
"I know, I know. You're getting too big to cuddle with your mother," she laughed more to herself than anything as Michael sat up. He flexed his arms up to show his biceps.
"See how big I am Mommy?" he asked, twisting so that she could see both of his arms. Carly gasped in feigned surprise, causing her little boy to giggle again.
"Wow, Michael, your big and strong," she said before ruffling his hair.
"That's right, Michael. And to stay big and strong, you need to eat some breakfast," a voice said from the doorway. Michael and Carly looked over.
"Hi, Aunt Courtney!" the little boy cried. The blond woman smiled.
"Good morning, Michael. Your daddy has breakfast ready downstairs for you," she said. Michael grinned and ran out of the room. Carly shook her head with a chuckle.
"Whoever said a way to a man's heart is through his stomach was certainly correct in my son's case," she laughed. Courtney smiled as she watched Carly get up. Carly knew there was something on the younger woman's mind, but she wasn't going to force it out of her. After a few seconds of silence, Courtney sat down on the edge of the bed.
"Carly, is what Jason told me true?" she asked. Carly looked over in question. "About the car? Did you get rid of it?" Carly hesitated for a few seconds, debating whether or not to tell her the truth.
"Yes, Courtney. You know Jason doesn't lie," she said. Courtney nodded.
"I know," she said. After a second, her frightened blue eyes locked on to Carly's. "What's going to happen if they find the car?" Carly sat down next to her.
"With any luck, Courtney, they're not. That part of the water is like – well, it's like a black hole – which, for most citizens of Port Charles, is a lucky thing. The chances of them finding the car are very slim. If they DO find it, it will be a while from now, giving Sonny and Jason time to figure out what really happened, okay?" Carly asked. Courtney nodded solemnly.
"But what if I was driving, Carly?" she asked. Carly sighed as she took Courtney's hands in her own.
"If you were driving – and that's a big IF – then Sonny and Jason will fix it. It's what they do. And for you, they would do anything. And I would too," Carly added. Courtney looked over at her.
"Jason said that Alcazar told you he saw me do it," she said. Carly hesitated again before nodding.
"And you believed him. That's why you took the car, put yourself in jeopardy, and got rid of it," Courtney continued. She stood up and started pacing. Carly raised her hand up to stop Courtney's train of thought.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. I didn't say I believed you did it. I acted without thinking, Courtney. I took the car because I knew that it would implicate you no matter what – whether you did it or not. I was trying to save you a lot of grief," she defended. Courtney turned back to Carly, her eyes serious.
"Alcazar says I was the one driving. Do you believe him, Carly?" she asked. Carly opened her mouth to speak and then closed it again. She had to think this one through in order to not hurt Courtney.
"Carly, I want the truth. Do you believe him?" Courtney asked again, this time tears filling her eyes, the guilt settling on her face. Carly closed her eyes.
"I believe Lor – I believe Alcazar thinks he saw you driving the car," Carly fibbed. Courtney saw right through it and gave her a disbelieving look. Carly let out a sigh and threw up her hands.
"Fine, Courtney. Yes, I believe Alcazar. He has no reason to lie to me -" she started as she stood up.
"Except to make you like him, to make you want to thank him for covering for me," Courtney cut in. Carly grasped Courtney's shoulders lightly.
"Listen to me, Courtney. What happened was an accident, okay? You were taking those pills, which you have since stopped doing. You had no clue what was going on and it wasn't like you were going to intentionally run Elizabeth down. Since Elizabeth is going to be fine, and there is no incriminating evidence to prove you were the one to do it, we just need to let it go. I got rid of the car, Elizabeth can't remember, and Alcazar will stay quiet, I promise you," Carly insisted.
"But Alcazar hates Sonny, Carly. He could turn me in to get back at him," Courtney said, closing her eyes. Carly shook her head vehemently.
"He won't," she said firmly, her faith in the man taking hold of her heart.
"But how do you know? You can't possibly know," Courtney said.
"Trust me, Courtney. He won't say anything. He promised me," Carly said. Courtney looked at Carly oddly for a moment.
"Carly -" Courtney started, but was cut off when Carly looped an arm through hers.
"No, Courtney. We're not going to talk about this anymore. What we ARE going to do is go downstairs and eat breakfast like two women who haven't a care in the world – because we don't, okay?" Carly asked with a large grin. It took a second or two, but Courtney finally nodded and grinned back. Carly's shoulders dropped in relief as the two women made their way downstairs. As she stepped into the dining room and watched Sonny fuss over Michael, she could only think back to her words to Courtney. Not a care in the world? What a joke.
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Carly was sitting watching Michael draw in the living room when the pains started coming. At first, she just thought it a cramp from not doing her morning exercises, but as the afternoon came and the pain had not receded, she could feel something was not right. She'd also had a back ache all day, which she had attributed to being on her feet so much in the past few days. That had worsened considerably. As she made to stand up from the couch, she was alarmed to realize that she couldn't. Don't panic. Stay calm. Don't panic. Even that mantra couldn't keep the waver from her voice as she called out to her son.
"Michael," she called. Michael dropped his markers and made his way to Carly. A worried look crossed his face as he watched his mother struggle to grasp his hand.
"Are you okay, Mommy?" he asked, kneeling next to her.
"Michael, I need my purse. I need you to get my purse, honey. Mommy keeps her phone in there," she said, her breathing coming harder now in order to control the pain. Don't panic! Stay calm! Michael ran quickly to pick up the requested item and return it to Carly. Searching quickly with heavy limbs, Carly pulled the phone out. The world tilted slightly and then went back to normal. She handed the phone to Michael after she pressed a number on the phone.
"Honey, tell Jason – mommy – needs to go – to the hospital," she said between breaths as she fought to focus on her child. Giving up, she leaned back on the couch and closed her eyes.
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Carly's eyes opened slowly. It took her a minute to focus on where she was. She was at General Hospital. A turn of her head confirmed that Jason was next to her. Her mother was standing next to him. She brought a hand up to her stomach to confirm that her child was safe. As if on cue, her baby kicked, causing a tired smile to crack on her dry lips.
"Carly?" her mother asked.
"Hi, Momma," she said hoarsely. Bobbie reached out and gripped her daughter's hand.
"You scared the hell out of us, baby. Jason was at Kelly's when Michael called," Bobbie said. Carly smiled again.
"My Mr. Man. Courage under fire," she said lovingly, causing Jason and Bobbie to smile. A frown came over Carly's features. "What happened?" Jason pulled a chair up to the bed.
"We're not sure, Carly. The doctor should be in soon with test results," he said. Carly nodded as she adjusted herself in the bed. Her back still ached, but it wasn't nearly as bad as before. The cramping was completely gone. Suddenly the door burst open and a frantic Courtney stood in front of the bed.
"Oh God, Carly! Are you okay?" she asked worriedly as she rounded to the opposite side of the bed. Carly smile warmly at her sister-in-law as she took her hand.
"Courtney, everything's alright. Don't worry," she said. Courtney shook her head.
"I was with my dad. I was just on my way back. And when I got there, you and Michael weren't there. I wasn't sure what happened until one of the guards told me. God, Carly, I should have been there with you, to help you!" the guilt ridden woman said.
"Courtney, it would have happened either way, had you been there or not. This is no where near your fault. You've had enough guilt trips over the past few months. Don't place blame on your shoulders when you have no reason to. I got the help I needed, I am fine, the baby is fine. No worries," Carly said with a little laugh. Courtney relaxed at Carly's words and smiled.
"Good," she said. Just as she said that, Dr. Meadows walked into the room. Carly sat up straighter, confident that the doctor's news wouldn't be catastrophic.
"Mrs. Corinthos," the female doctor greeted. Carly nodded. "We've run some tests and examined you. The baby is fine, and you will be fine as well. As far as we know, you are severely dehydrated. Because of that your body put a terrible strain on your muscles and your systems, mainly, your kidneys. We've been pumping liquids into you via IV so your pain should be lessening as things begin to right themselves."
"So, this is just temporary? No major problems?" Carly asked. Dr. Meadows looked at her sternly.
"Carly, at this point in the game, anything can be potentially dangerous. That being said, we would like to monitor you for the next couple weeks. The strain to your kidneys has us worried. If your body wasn't caring for two, Carly, we'd be less concerned. But since it is, we have to make sure they get back to functioning properly," the doctor explained. Jason leaned over to grip Carly's hand.
"What does that mean, Doctor?" he asked. Carly began to nervously chew on her lower lip. She didn't like how this sounded.
"It means that if carrying this baby to term does not allow Carly's body to heal properly, we will possibly have to induce labor," the doctor said. Carly sucked in a breath.
"How soon?" she asked quietly.
"Like I said, I'd like to have you monitored over the next couple of weeks. If there hasn't been improvement by that time, then we will do it as early as we can taking into account both Carly's health and the baby's health," Dr. Meadows explained. Carly blew out a relieved breath that the doctor wasn't counting her baby out.
"Anything else, Doctor?" Bobbie asked. Dr. Meadows nodded.
"Yes. Carly should probably stay here for the next couple of days to make sure that she gets properly hydrated. After that, we will set up a weekly appointment to make sure she is okay. Bed rest won't be necessary at this point, but -" Dr. Meadows turned to Carly. "I expect you to slow things down considerably. No running all over town. Have help taking care of your son. Make sure you eat three meals a day and drink plenty of fluids." Carly had to hide a smile. No getting kidnapped. No tumbling off of cliffs, she mentally added to the doctor's list of do's and don'ts. After the stern lecture, Carly thanked the doctor before she departed. Jason sat down on the bed next to her.
"Jase, I don't want this baby to have to fight like Michael did," she said miserably. He put his arm around her and pulled her close. Her head fit neatly into the crook of his shoulder.
"I know you don't, Carly. That's why all of us are going to help you. If we have to chain you to the penthouse to keep you safe, then that's what we'll do," he said. Carly's eyes closed at the thought of being chained to anything again. Jason must have read her expression because he mumbled a 'sorry' into her ear and squeezed her shoulders one more time.
"Where's Sonny?" she asked as she sat up again. Jason looked to the floor.
"He had some things to take care of," he said quickly. Carly just nodded as she sat back against the bed. She was worried at what 'things' Sonny felt he had to take care of.
*~*~* Hope you liked this part! I am by no means a doctor, nor did I want to research for hours on end about pregnancy and all that stuff, so I just came up with something that sounded believable. If it came too far from left field, let me know. I can figure something else out, okay? *~*~*