February 1, 2006
Dear Sara and Nick,
Congrats on the house. It looks really pretty.
Thank you for the open-ended plane ticket. I'm going to be doing research in the Chemistry department this summer. I've already told the professor I'm researching with that I'm going to Vegas at the end of July to meet my new brother or sister. I've started working on the baby blanket. I'm not too good at knitting, so I'll probably need the next five months to finish it.
How are you feeling? Every time I try to call you, Nick says that you just got done throwing up. Are you sure that you and the baby are okay? When you were pregnant with me, did I make you that sick too? When you go in for your ultrasound next month, please, please, please send me a copy of the picture.
Feel better.
Love you,
Kiddo
PS My spring break is in mid-April. Is it okay if I come out to Vegas?
February 14, 2006
Dear Kiddo,
You are more than welcome to come out to Vegas anytime you want. Just give Nick and me a few days notice so we can take some time off of work. Nick painted your room last weekend. We can't decide what color to paint the nursery.
I remember every second of being pregnant with you. I was so sick during my first trimester. I took primarily night classes at school. You were a beautiful baby. I remember you kicking a lot. It was the weirdest feeling. It always made me smile no matter how sad I was.
Don't worry so much about me. Nick already does that full-time. I'm sure that the morning sickness will get better as I get further into my second trimester. I'll send you a copy of the ultrasound next month.
Study hard, Ms. Honor Roll. Don't ever forget how proud of you I am.
Love you,
S and N
February 28, 2006
Dear Nick and Sara,
I'm going to worry about you until I see that you are okay. I already booked my flight for April 14th. My mom is going to drive me to the airport in Hartford. My flight gets into Vegas at 3:30 pm. Let me know if I should take a cab to the house or to the lab.
You were really pretty when you were a teenager. I put that picture of you and me in a frame. It's on my desk. I look at it a lot when I miss you and Nick. I miss you guys as much as I miss my parents. I think I'm really lucky to have two sets of parents that love me. I know you and Nick aren't married, but he treats us both really well. He's going to be a great dad to the baby. I'm looking at the picture right now.
Feel better. Tell Nick that Chicken-man and I are going to the U-Conn game on Saturday. I'll wave to both of you.
Love you,
Kiddo
March 15, 2006
Dear Kiddo,
Here's the picture of your little sister. I can't believe how tiny she is . . . I can't believe how big I'm getting. I'm feeling a lot better. I promise you that the pregnancy is going to be fine.
Nick and I miss you. He taped the U-Conn game, so I could watch you wave at us over and over again. Nick and I have been talking to about planning a wedding after the baby is born. We've been talking about planning something during your spring break, so you could come to the wedding.
I miss you so much. Tell Chicken-man thank you for getting you on TV again.
Love you so much,
S and N
PS Nick is going to pick you up at the airport. Just give us a call, so we have your gate number and flight number.
March 30, 2006
Dear Sara and Nick,
Did Nick ask you to marry him? You've got to tell me what he did. He asked me a few weeks ago if I thought you would marry him. I told him that he better ask you because he's already a great step-dad.
She's so cute. She's curled up like a little shrimp. I put her picture in a frame on my desk. I'm almost done with the baby blanket. I work on my knitting while I watch CourtTV.
I'm taking a forensic science class next year. I think what you and Nick do is really cool. I've been watching a lot of those shows on TV lately. I'm not really sure if I want to be a doctor anymore. I've been thinking about talking a few classes in criminal justice.
Chicken-man and I are going to the March Madness Game on Saturday. We're making signs this time. Make sure to tape the game.
Love you,
Kiddo
PS Have you started to think of names for the baby?
April 5, 2006
Dear Kiddo,
I can't believe you and Nick had that all planned out. How long were you two planning out the proposal? Say thank you to Chicken-man for getting you on TV with my 'proposal' sign. Nick picked out a beautiful ring. It was perfect.
Nick and I are looking forward to seeing you in just a few days. The baby is looking forward to saying hi to you. She's started to kick.
We'll see you in a few days.
Love you so much,
S and N
April 30, 2006
Dear Sara and Nick,
Spring Break went way too fast. I really didn't want to go back to Connecticut. I had so much fun with you, Nick, and the baby. So have you and Nick narrowed down the plethora names you guys like. Remember only a first name and a middle name – I can't believe how indecisive you two are! I still like Elizabeth Grace. I think Libby would be such a cute nickname. I know you don't want me to focus on this stuff – I promise I'm not going to run out and get pregnant, so I can name the baby.
I told my mom all about how Nick let me spend a day at the crime lab with him. I had so much fun. I'm thinking about taking a short course in forensic chemistry this summer, but I don't want to miss out on any time with my little sister.
Tell Nick that college baseball games are rarely televised. Chicken-man and I are on hiatus until the fall.
Love you so much,
Kiddo
May 15, 2006
Dear Kiddo,
The baby and I are doing great. We are both completely healthy. I've enclosed a copy of the latest ultrasound. She's going to be a big girl. I seem to get bigger and bigger every day.
Nick and I are still working on baby names. Elizabeth Grace is still on the table. The latest ones are Abigail Elise and Jacquelyn Elise. Let us know what you think.
Don't worry about getting to Vegas to be here for the delivery. School comes first. Your education is so important, Nadine. Don't you ever forget about that.
Good luck on final exams.
Love you,
S and N
June 15, 2006
Dear Sara and Nick,
Nick told me that you are on bed rest for the last month of your pregnancy. Are you and the baby really okay? Nick didn't really tell me much about what was going on. He told me not to worry. You have to tell me if anything is wrong.
I've been working in the chemistry lab fulltime for the last few weeks. I'm working on isolating the active site of an endogenous ribozyme. I tried to explain it to Nick when I called last week, but he said that you would understand it so much better than him. It's really exciting. My professor is working on the crystal structure of the protein. It's really cool. I'm having so much fun that I'm going to change my major to chemistry. I think I might do a minor in forensic science.
Call me as soon as the baby is born!
I love you,
Kiddo
June 30, 2006
Dear Kiddo,
I am bored out of my mind. I didn't realize how awful being confined to bed or the rocking chair would be. I think I'm driving Nick crazy because I keep on coming up with things that still need to be done before Libby is born. You should have seen him try to put the crib together. He ended up calling Warrick to help him. They both sat and swore at the crib for two hours before I read the directions to them. We are both getting really excited about the baby coming.
Just find a career that is going to make you happy. That's all that I care about. I want you to be happy.
Nick promised that he will call you as soon as I go into labor. We have your dorm room, lab, and cell phone numbers on the refrigerator.
I love you,
S and N
PS I've been having Braxton-Hicks contractions, so it's probably going to be soon.
Nadine's POV:
Like my mom, my suitcase was packed and sitting next to the door of my dorm room. I was busy in the lab running my samples through the PCR to get a good DNA fingerprint of the active site. My professor walked over to my fume hood and said that my dad was on the phone. Nick wasn't my dad, but he acted like on in every sense of the word. Nick told me that Sara was in labor. I talked to Sara briefly before another contraction started. Nick had already booked my flight.
With my professor's blessing, I ran out of the lab to my dorm. I called my adoptive parents and told them that I was going to Vegas to meet my baby sister. They told me to call when I got there. They were surprisingly support of my relationship with Sara and Nick . . . probably because they always taught me that family was important. I called a cab and nervously waited at the curb in front of my dorm.
The flight seemed to take so much longer than it normally did. I was fidgeting so badly that the woman next to me asked if I was okay. I told her that my baby sister was being born. I told her that I was in a hurry to get home. I had never called Vegas home before, but Nick and Sara made it feel like a home.
Warrick was waiting by the luggage carousel. I grabbed my bag and ran over to him. I asked him if Libby was born yet. Warrick said that Sara was still in labor when he checked in fifteen minutes ago. I told him to hurry up. I really wanted to be there to meet Libby. She after all was one of the only people to share my genetics.
I was out of the SUV before Warrick even put it into park. He struggled to keep up with me as we went up to the labor and delivery floor. Nick met me at the door. Sara had elected to have a natural delivery. He was worried because she was in her fourteenth hour of labor. He asked me to reason with her.
I walked over to the side of her bed. Sweat dripped off her face. I held a washcloth to her head. She smiled weakly.
"Hey, you got here in time for the show," Sara whispered. I began to panic. She looked tired and dehydrated. Her skin was the whitest white that I had ever seen.
"You should really take the epidural. You look like shit, Mom," I said.
"Don't swear," Sara immediately corrected, "Don't worry. Libby and I are hanging on. I gave birth to you naturally. If I could do it at age sixteen, I can do it at age thirty-five."
"Nick's out there freaking out," I replied.
"I know. He was in here freaking out just a few minutes ago," Sara replied with a smile that rapidly turned to a grimace. She clinched my hand as she tried to breathe through the contraction. I held her hand tightly and told her to breathe. Before I knew it, Nick was at her other side telling her to do her Lamaze breathing. Sara didn't look like she was sold on the Lamaze thing.
Twenty minutes later, the nurses were showing Nick and me how to gown and glove up. We entered the delivery room before the nurses did. Nick told Sara that the doctors all went home . . . he said that he would have to deliver the baby. Sara's eyes got wide before she told him that that was the least funny thing she's ever heard. Elizabeth Grace was born thirty minutes later.
I sat with Libby in my arms. Sara was sleeping. Nick was on the telephone with his parents. I had already called my mom to tell her that I had a baby sister. I kissed Libby on the head. I wrapped her in the orange and white blanket I had knitted her. The colors were pale. It reminded me of a dreamsicle.
My world was perfect. My adoptive parents had said that the answers I searched for might not be comforting. The answers I found completed me. It gave me another family that loved me. It gave me a genetic connection to someone besides my mother. I knew at that moment . . . I was the luckiest girl in the world.
FIN
Author's Note: I think this might be the best way to end this story. I might consider writing a sequel later on it will probably be pure fluff about the new baby. Thank you all for the reviews!