Sully stared at Michaela as if she had just said something in another language. The look on her face told him this wasn't good. Contractions weren't supposed to happen until the end of the pregnancy, and Michaela was only in her sixth month.
"It too early," she whispered with tears in her eyes. She clutched her stomach and Sully got out of bed, pulling his clothes on quickly.
"What should I do?"
"Maybe nothing. It could be false labor."
"False labor? That sounds good. What's that?"
"It's when the woman has contractions but they turn out to be nothing," Michaela explained.
"Well, what do we do to find out if it's false labor?"
"All we can do is wait," Michaela said nervously.
"Okay," Sully said softly, hoping to God that this was false labor. He didn't know what he would do if he lost Michaela and his children.
He helped her lie back in bed, and he covered her with a blanket.
"I'm gonna go downstairs and make you some tea. You just rest, alright?"
"Don't leave me," she cried. Sully saw the fear in her eyes, and he knew better than to leave his wife while she was scared and in pain.
"I won't leave," he promised. "I'll never leave you." He kissed her hand. He reached over onto the floor where Michaela had early discarded her gown. He helped her slip it back and lay back down comfortably.
"Thank you," she whispered. He nodded slowly and gave her a smile.
"Kids!" he called out. The children hadn't been sleeping yet, so when they heard their father call for them, they ran up the stairs and down the hall. The door opened and all three children, Wolf, and Pup came piling in.
"What's wrong?" Colleen asked immediately.
"Colleen, will you please go downstairs and make your ma some tea?" Colleen noticed the sweat coating Michaela's face, and she knew something was wrong. She didn't want to make a fuss to worry her mother even more, so she did as Sully asked. "Matthew, I want you to ride into town and get your grandpa."
"No, I'm sure it won't come to that," Michaela whispered. Sully looked at Matthew.
"Go on." Matthew nodded and rushed out of the room. Sully looked at Brian.
"What do ya want me to do?"
"I want ya to climb into bed beside your ma and hold her hand. Can ya do that?" Brian nodded. He climbed into the bed to sit beside Michaela, and he grabbed her hand.
"Don't worry ma, it's gonna be alright." He wasn't sure what was going on, but from the look on her face, he knew she didn't feel very good. Michaela swallowed hard and closed her eyes, trying not to focus on the pain she was in. "I'll tell ya a story. That's what you always do for me when I ain't feelin' too good." He began to tell a story, and Sully sat on Michaela's other side, listening to his son trying to make his mother feel better. Michaela's and was gripping Sully's tightly, but her grip seemed to relax as Brian told her the story.
Colleen reappeared shortly with a cup of hot tea. Michaela sat up a little and accepted the cup graciously. Colleen sat down in a chair next to the bed and put her hand on her little brother's back and he continued his story. By the time he was finished, he had actually fallen asleep next to Michaela.
"I'll take him back to bed," Colleen offered. Michaela nodded, and Colleen picked Brian up and took him back to his room.
"How are ya feelin' now?" Sully asked, putting his hand on her belly.
"Better. The pain hasn't come again."
"Well, just to be sure, I want your pa here tonight incase it happens again." Michaela nodded, feeling too tired to argue with her husband. She saw the worry in his eyes, and she gave his hand a squeeze.
"It's going to be alright. The pain's gone, and I'm sure that these babies will arrive when they're supposed to." Sully hoped she was right, but he was still worried for his wife and their unborn children.
"Michaela I'm worried about you."
"I'm fine."
"I want you to cut back on your work hours."
"You're going to boss me around now?"
"No!" Sully exclaimed frantically, not wanting her mood swings to come back. "I just want you to take it easy for your sake and the babies'. Maybe we should be makin' love either."
"What?" Michaela asked, sitting up a little.
"Well, maybe that's what started the false labor. What if it ain't false next time?" Michaela knew he was right. Women with multiples were at a higher risk of delivering early, and cutting back on the physical exertion would help the babies stay in longer. Then a dreadful thought came to her mind. She began to sob. "Michaela? What is it?" Sully pulled her into his arms.
"You're going to get bored with me!"
"What?" Sully asked incredulously. "That's ridiculous! I could never get bored with you!"
"Yes you will! If I can't please you, you're going to get bored and you won't want me anymore." He knew that this was a mood swing, but the words still stung.
"Michaela, how could you ever think that? I don't want anyone else! I only want you, and if I've gotta wait for awhile for the sake of our children before I can make love to you again, I will! You and the kids mean more to me than anything else in this whole world. Keeping you and our babies healthy is most important right now. Don't ya know that by now?" Michaela sniffled and nodded.
"Yes. Oh, Sully, I'm sorry."
"It's alright. You've been through a lot tonight. Matthew should be here with your pa soon, so you just get some sleep."
"Don't leave me."
"I told ya I'll never leave ya. I mean it, alright?" Michaela nodded and Sully held her close and rocked her to sleep, not letting her go for the rest of the night.
When Michaela woke in the morning, she was feeling much better. She was still wrapped in Sully's arms, and she loved waking up to being held by him.
Her waking made Sully stir, and he slowly opened his eyes. Michaela smiled at him and gave him a kiss on the nose.
"Hey. How ya feelin'?"
"Much better," she whispered.
"Want me to go downstairs and get ya somethin' to eat? Smells like Colleen is cookin' breakfast."
"Alright," Michaela replied. "I'll just stay here." Sully smiled and left the room. A moment later, Michaela heard the door open again. Josef and Elizabeth walked in.
"Good morning, Mike," Josef said with a pleasant grin.
"Father! Mother?"
"How are you feeling?" Elizabeth asked.
"Much better," she answered. "The pain only came once and it was gone a few minutes later."
"Good," Josef said with a pleased smiled. "Well, your mother and I have decided to stay here until the baby's born."
"What?" Michaela asked.
"No arguments, Mike. We're going to stay here in case anything happens in the night. I know you want Dr. Bernard to deliver your baby, but we're going to be here in case there are any more incidents like the one you had last night. Brian already offered to give his room up."
"Are you sure?"
"Our house is almost finished, so we should be out of your hair once the baby arrives," Elizabeth promised. Michaela swallowed hard and wondered if having her parents under her roof for three more months would actually be more painful than giving birth.
"Mike I would like to examine you," Josef began.
"What?" Michaela asked frantically.
"Sully wants me to make sure everything is absolutely fine."
"Father," she started.
"I know it might be uncomfortable because I'm your father, but for the time being, I'm not your father. I'm your doctor."
"Please, Michaela. Don't be stubborn. Your father just wants to give a second opinion on your condition." Michaela swallowed hard and nodded. Elizabeth sat at her daughter's side while Josef performed the examination.
Sully walked into the room just as Josef was finishing up. He put the food down on the bedside table.
"Everything seems fine," Josef concluded as Michaela sat up and he went to wash his hands. Michaela pulled her blankets up around her, a bit embarrassed that her own father had had to give her an examination. It seemed that Josef hadn't realized that Michaela was having twins, and she was grateful because she wanted it to be a surprise. She realized that he was more concerned on hearing the one heartbeat inside of her belly than anything, and once he'd found that, he had been satisfied with what he heard. "I want you to take it easy, Mike. Once September gets here, you can do all the things you've been up to doing until now. Just please wait until September."
"But my practice."
"I'll take care of it," Josef replied. "You and the baby are most important right now. I want you to stay right here and rest. I don't want to risk taking you into town. Any exertion could cause you to go into false or even premature labor." Michaela nodded worriedly. Josef put a hand on her shoulder. "It's going to be okay, Mike." Josef and Elizabeth left Sully and Michaela alone, shutting the door behind them when they left. Sully sat down with Michael and handed her a plate of food.
"Did you eat?" she asked.
"I ate before I came up here," Sully said with a nod. "You eat now. You and the babies need to keep up your strength." Michaela nodded and ate silently. "Did your pa tell you he and Elizabeth are movin' in?"
"Yes," she replied quietly.
"You okay with that?"
"I suppose," she mumbled. Sully smiled and squeezed her knee. "It'll be alright, Michaela. Just give it some time." After awhile, a knock came to the door.
"Come in," Michaela called. The children walked in.
"We came to see if you're okay," Matthew explained.
"Your ma and the baby are doin' fine," Sully said with a reassuring smile.
"We best be getting to school," Colleen said softly.
"But if you need anything, we'd be more than happy to stay home," Matthew said quickly. Michaela chuckled.
"I'm sure you would be. But I'm fine. You three go on and say hello to Miss Tucker for me." The children left reluctantly and Sully smiled at his wife.'
"They'll be great with our babies," he whispered. Michaela nodded. She saw something flicker in his eyes and wondered what was wrong.
"Sully?"
"Hmm?"
"What's wrong?"
"Nothin' is wrong."
"Tell me," Michaela demanded. "You can't lie to a pregnant woman." Sully sighed and put his hand on her belly to feel the reassuring kicks of his children.
"I'm worried about you and the babies. I'm worried somethin' is gonna happen. I know I keep sayin' that it's all gonna be okay, but I can't help but worry." Michaela took Sully's hand in hers and kissed his knuckles.
"Sully, the night Abagail came to me, she told me that everything is going to be alright. I still believe her, Sully, despite what happened last night. I know that I'm going to pull through, and so will our babies."
"You really think so?" Sully asked, not sure if he should feel comforted that his dead wife's spirit told his new wife that she was going to be alright.
"Yes," Michaela said softly. "I think that Abagail and Hanna are looking out for us in their own way." She squeezed his hand. "I have faith in that, Sully. You need to have faith that they'll be okay." Sully nodded and kissed his wife.
"Thank you for sayin' that. It helped a lot." Michaela smiled and brushed a tear from Sully's cheek. "I love you."
"I love you too."
The rest of the afternoon consisted of Michaela resting and Sully doing work around the house. He was now taking responsibility for keeping things clean, helping the children with their schoolwork, and other things that Michaela would do. Michaela hated feeling so helpless, but she knew that rest was the best thing she could do for her babies right now.
Michaela received several visitors throughout the day. Dorothy came to visit with some supplies from the mercantile that would tide the family over for a few weeks. She sat with Michaela and talked about all of her agonizing labors and deliveries, which didn't help Michaela with the worry she was harboring. She was terrified of giving birth, but she was trying to keep the faith that she was going to be able to do it.
Grace stopped by, talking about how she and Robert E. were still trying to have a baby, and she would assure her friend that women had been having babies since the beginning of time.
Myra stopped by, telling Michaela that she wanted her to be her maid of honor at the wedding. She told her that she and Hank weren't getting married for awhile, so she didn't need to worry about it.
Holly, too, stopped by and offered support for her friend. Michaela enjoyed talking with all of her friends, although she didn't much care for Dorothy's horrid birth stories. That gave her a sense of uneasiness, and she hoped she would be ready for the birth once the labor really did start. She had to hold onto the thought that Sully assured her he'd stay with her at all times. She just hoped she would be strong enough to give birth to two babies, and she hoped that there would be no complications for her sake, the babies' sakes, and Sully's sake. She didn't want him to go through what he went through with Abagail again. She had to keep thinking of Abagail's visit. She had to think positive and believe that it was all going to be alright.