Chapter 24
As Joey parked the car, she looked down and checked the time once more. She had left a few minutes early to allow herself to walk-or waddle- from the parking lot into the airport. She had gotten off the phone with Dawson the night before, and he had told her not to worry about picking him up; that he'd just take a cab back home. But Joey would have none of it. She kept quiet about it, deciding to surprise him at the airport. She cursed her growing body as she tried to hurry up unto the airport.
"This would be a lot easier if I wasn't six months pregnant," she mumbled top herself, remembering the mad dashes she had made in the past to catch Dawson at airports. She smiled, putting her hand on her stomach, thinking how far they had come since then. By the time she had arrived where she was supposed to be waiting, Dawson's plane had just landed and the passenger had already started getting off the plane. She tried to stand on her tippy toes, anxious to see him in the crowd of all the people.
A wide grin spread across her face as she suddenly caught view of him. She stood there and waited for him to look up and notice her standing there. Finally after a few seconds, Dawson looked up and did a double take, spotting Joey waiting for him. His grin matched herd as he walked over to her, putting his small carry-on bag down on the ground beside him. He pulled her into his arms and kissed her passionately. What's one more romantic kiss at the airport? he said to himself, not caring if the entire world was watching. He had missed her terribly the entire week he had been gone. He hugged her tightly, yet softly; careful not to hurt the baby after they ended their kiss.
"I missed you so much," he whispered.
"I missed you too," she said, looking into each other's eyes.
"Let's go home, huh?" he suggested, just wanting to be alone with her.
She smiled. "Though you'd never ask."
"So what'd you do in L.A?" she asked curiously, sitting on the bed watching Dawson unpack. He had drove home, telling her she had driven there so it'd only be fair if he drove them home. Before they swung back home, Joey had made him stop to McDonalds, having been craving food from there for a few days now. Dawson just laughed, having had missed these whacky food cravings she went through. When they got home, he began to unpack the car, having a few boxes of his possessions with him; the rest, he sent back home.
"Well, I spent most of my time packing up my apartment," he told her truthfully. "Taking care of all that kind of stuff; the phone, water, electricity. I had to pick up the place before I turned in my key," he explained.
"Wow, sounds like you kept busy," she said.
Dawson laughed. "It did. But it's worth it, now I'm officially living here," he said. Joey smiled as well, happy to hear that it was now official.
"So how was it?" she asked as he walked into the bathroom, carrying his toiletries he had brought with him.
"How was what?" he asked, still in the bathroom putting things away.
"Visiting the set," she said. Dawson walked back out, and continued unpacking. He paused, putting his hands on his hips, looking down at the suitcase, then looking up at her.
"It was weird. Feels like I've missed out on so much of the production the past five months or so," he explained. "Felt even stranger letting everyone know that I wouldn't be coming back," he added finally. Joey looked up, totally surprised to hear his last statement.
"You what? Dawson…" she began.
"Jo, it was something I had to do. And it's not like I can't ever be involved with it again," he told her. "Writer's do that all the time; they stay with a show for a few years, then decide to move on to other things. But unlike most of them, I'm making sure my show is in good hands," he explained.
Joey had to hold back a laugh. "Leaving Todd in charge of your show isn't exactly the smartest choice you've made," Joey said.
"Yeah, it probably wouldn't have. Sammy would have ended up as some hooker or stripper- or both. I don't even wanna know what he'd do to Colby," Dawson began. "Which is why he isn't in charge."
"I don't get it. Then who's taking over for you, Dawson?" she asked.
"My friend Steve is. He's been on board with the show since the beginning, so he knows the show pretty well. He also had a 'Sammy' growing up," he explained.
"Where's Todd then?" she asked.
"Oh, well, he says hi; I almost forgot. Actually he said a few more things, but I'm not about to repeat them," he said. Joey rolled her eyes, only imagining what Todd said.
"I always had a feeling he liked me," Joey admitted.
"I think he kinda does," Dawson agreed. "But in any event, Todd also said that he was going to give me a call in a few weeks to tell me he wasn't really interested in the show anymore. Said something about Colby being a 'bloody moron' for not sleeping with Sammy already." The two laughed, picturing Todd saying that.
"Yeah, that's definitely Todd," Joey said, laughing. She then paused, thinking for a second as Dawson finished unpacking while they talked.
"So this is it; the show, L.A. all of it?" she asked.
"For the most part," Dawson said. "It's not like I can't ever go there, or call and find out how the show's going, but yeah," he said.
"Hey, how was the appointment?" he asked, wishing he himself had been there with her. She smiled at the mention of their baby.
"It went great; everything's developing like it should in there," she said as she rubbed her stomach. Dawson smiled, zipping up his now empty suitcase and put it on the floor. He then walked over to the side of the bed where Joey was sitting, and sat down beside her.
"That's a very good thing," he said, kissing her on the forehead. He then placed his large hand over her stomach, putting his other hand around her. He had missed holding her in his arms, missed feeling their child kick inside her. Right now, he was in heaven.
"I'm glad your home," Joey said, resting her head against his shoulder.
"Me too," he said. He smiled when he felt the baby begin to move inside her. They both laughed.
"Guess there's someone else who missed you too," Joey said, her hand now resting on the side of his. She then jumped, suddenly remembering something.
"What?" Dawson asked quickly as Joey got up from the bed and walked out of the bedroom. He frowned as he followed her out into the kitchen; boxes he had sent from L.A littering the hallway while the rest we're stacked in the living room.
"I got ultrasound pictures from the appointment," she explained as she picked them up from the counter and handed them to him. "Things are more visible in there now that I'm six months along," she explained. Dawson looked at the pictures in awe, being able to actually tell what things were in the ultrasound. He was amazed how this tiny little person he and Joey had created was growing so fast, and that they'd be able to meet their baby in three more months.
"Wow," he said, not being able to take his gaze off from the pictures.
"I know," Joey said. "The um, gender of the baby came up again, but since you weren't there…" she trailed off. "Plus, I'm pretty sure we decided on waiting 'till the baby was born."
"Yeah, I think we decided on that too," he said, finally looking up at her. "God I missed you guys," he said. Joey smiled.
"Well we kinda missed you too," she said, causing Dawson to smile.
"Kinda?" he said, playing along.
Joey nodded. "Yeah." He smiled as his gaze went over Joey, into the kitchen where he finally noticed all the baking she had done.
"Wow," Dawson said. "Are we expecting company? Perhaps all of New York City?" he asked.
"No silly," Joey assured him. "I just felt like baking," she explained, "and I talked to your mother on the phone abuot different recipes to make."
"Uh oh. I should have known," he said.
"What?" she asked as the two of them walked into the living room.
"My mom; when she was pregnant with Lily she was always either cleaning or baking," he explained.
"Yeah, I remember that," Joey said. "Oh, and there was another box that came," she said, walking over to the couch and sitting down next to an opened box.
"Of mine?" he asked.
"Nope. This one is from my sister and your mom," she said, digging into the box and pulling out a baby outfit.
"Oh no," Dawson said, taking a seat on the other side of the box.
"Yeah. I don't think we have to worry about buying baby clothes," she said as Dawson began to look through the box.
"Uh Jo? These are all girl clothes," he observed.
"Yeah I know, this is the box of girl clothes. The box filled with boy clothes are over there," she pointed, beside the couch.
"Wow, this is a lot of clothes," he said, rubbing the back of his head.
"I know. We should probably go through them in a few days and sort what we want and what we don't want; send the stuff we don't want back to them," she said.
"Yeah, that's a good idea. For now we can just put the boxes in the nursery," he said. "right now, I think I have a better idea of what we could to together," he said, getting up from the couch.
"As much as I love you, my back and body hurts way too much to have sex with you," she said. Dawson stood there for a second, holding back laughter, and instead, grinned.
"Joey Potter, are you having sexual thoughts about me?" he asked, squatting in front of a box. Joey blushed, realizing he wasn't referring to sex.
"Okay, in my defense, I thought that's what you we're talking about-" she began.
"That's your defense?" Dawson cut in, rummaging through a box.
"…Pregnant women often times think about sex more then women who are not pregnant. I read it in my pregnancy book," she said quickly. Dawson grinned, pulling out what he had been searching for.
"Suuure," he said, teasing her, but remembered reading something along those lines a while back. "But getting off the topic of your dirty thoughts," he began, "I figured we could celebrate and spend some time together by watching a favorite movie of ours; more of a favorite of yours, but… it's okay," he said, programming the DVD player and putting the DVD in. Joey grinned, realizing what movie she was referring to.
"Have I told you lately how great you are?" she said. "I think Christopher took a few of my movies with him when he moved out, and I think my E.T was one of them," she explained.
"I knew I didn't like him," Dawson said as he returned to Joey's side on the couch. Joey laughed as she curled up beside him and watched the movie.
Three Weeks Later…
"Ow, damnitt!" Dawson exclaimed from the baby's room. Joey just laughed as she got up from the couch and walked towards the room, her hands on her back. Now being seven months pregnant, Joey experienced more aches and pains in her back and feet- which only made Dawson more protective over her. She smiled, thinking of him.
"Dawson, that's the third time I've heard you curse in the past half hour," Joey said, trying to hold back a giggle as she walked over to the rocking chair and sat down, her hands instinctively resting on her stomach, which had grown increasingly over the past few months.
"Okay, did I say anything to you about your cleaning sprees?" Dawson asked, referring to the cleaning sprees Joey had gone through a week or two back; cleaning every inch of the apartment whenever he turned his back. He had teased her about how Gale had done the same thing when her due date grew closer with Lily.
Joey laughed. "Alright, fair enough," she said, as she began to rock back and fourth in her chair. Dawson had brought it home one day and surprised Joey with it one day when she got home from work. Joey sat there, rocking in her chair as she watched Dawson continue working on the crib.
"So how's the script going?" she asked.
"Pretty good actually," Dawson said. "Although with the due date only a few months away…" he trailed off. Joey smiled as she closed her eyes and rested her head on the back of the chair. A few minutes later, Dawson looked up to see Joey's eyes closed, still rocking slowly in her chair. He stopped working on the crib and took a few steps closer to her before squatting down beside her.
"Hey Jo?"
"Hmm?" she mumbled, her eyes still closed.
"Are you feeling okay?" he asked worriedly. The past couple of days he had noticed the lack of energy Joey seemed to have compared to the weeks before. Joey's eyelids fluttered open and she smiled.
"I've just been feeling tired lately," she explained.
"I know, that's what's been worrying me," Dawson said. "Maybe you shouldn't go to work tomorrow? Stay home and get some rest." Joey sat up, rubbing the side of his face with her hand.
"I'm fine," she assured him, his face still filled with concern. She leaned forward and kissed him. "Dawson, I'll be okay," she reassured him once more.
"You sure?" he asked.
"Yes," she said quickly. Deciding to let it go for the time being, Dawson kissed her forehead and swatted there beside her, looking at the half built cradle. He scratched the back of his head, both of them looking at it.
"Well on the plus side, it's almost done," Joey said, teasing him. "Ya know, if I remember correctly, you were never much of a carpenter," she reminded him. Dawson looked up and gave her 'the look.' Joey smiled before a large yawn escaped her.
"Uh oh, sounds like it's somebody's bedtime," Dawson teased back as he stood up.
"Shut up," Joey said at the end of her yawn.
"I love it when your forceful," Dawson said grinning as he helped her up. Joey smiled, both of them remembering when Dawson had first said that to her.
"C'mon, let's get you to bed," Dawson suggested, now holding her hand,
"What about the crib?" Joey said. Dawson threw a glance over to the crib, cringing at the thought of continuing the battle with it.
"I'll finish it tomorrow before you get out of work," he assured her as they walked out of the room, Dawson shutting the light off on his way out.
Joey stopped in the hallway of the publishing company and took a breath, feeling out of breath once more that day. There was so much running around to be done, not to mention the meetings she had all in that one day. She was barely able to eat the bagel she had brought with her for breakfast. She knew the week would be hectic, she just wasn't prepared for just how hectic it was. But as stubborn as she was, she refused to give up; pushing as hard as she could knowing she had only a week left before she was on maternity leave.
"Joey, we have a meeting starting now in he conference room. Better hurry up," one of the other editors said as she rushed by her. For some reason, the entire building seemed hectic. In her three years working there, she had never seen it so busy in February.
"I'll be there in a minute," she assured the woman, as she hurried to her office to put the stack of scripts down before heading off to the meeting. As she sat down in the conference room, she began to feel dizzy. She saw the pitcher of water on the table in front of her. Deciding maybe sipping water would help, Joey poured herself a cup of water and slowly began sipping it as the rest of the employees made their way into the room. After a few sips, Joey still felt terrible. She rested her head in her hands and closed her eyes, desperately trying to make the room stop spinning.
"Joey, are you okay?" Beth, one of Joey's friends asked as she took a seat beside her. Joey put a hand on her stomach.
"I-I don't know. The room is spinning," Joey explained. "I feel like I'm going to faint."
"Why don't you come with me hon, okay?" Beth said as she helped Joey to her feet.
"I-I can't. The meeting-" she began.
"Isn't important," Beth finished. "It'll be okay; we'll just be away for a few minutes," she assured her as they slowly headed out the door. As soon as the two reached the hallway, Joey stopped, raising her hand to her head once more.
"Joey?" Beth asked worriedly.
"I just need to sit down for a second," Joey said, her voice low. Joey took two more steps before fainting.
"Oh my god, we need help!" Beth yelled, kneeling beside Joey. "Joey? Joey?" Beth said worriedly, shaking her gently. Workers began crowding around Joey while a few rushed to the phone to call the hospital.