A Place In the Sun
33
"Mommy, where are you going?" Kata asked as Gillian brushed her daughter's hair a week after she'd gone home.
"Just to the hospital for a check up to make sure everything's alright," she said, putting the brush down.
"How long?"
"I'll meet you and Daddy at Wildwind, okay?"
"I get to play with Maddie and Sam?" she asked, excited.
"Yes, now you listen to your Daddy while I am gone, and remember, do not open the door for anyone," Gillian warned.
"Yes, Mommy," she said. Gillian kissed the top of her head and then Kata went off to play.
"You leaving?" Ryan asked, coming out from taking a shower.
Gillian nodded, "I will meet you at Wildwind, okay?"
"Of course," he said, giving her a kiss. "I still can't believe about Maria."
"I know. I have got to get going. Bye."
"Bye, Gillian. Be careful," he said as she picked up her keys and left.
"Daddy, who's Maria?" Katalin asked him.
"Huh? Oh, did you hear me and Mommy talking about tonight?"
"Yeah."
"Maria is Sam and Maddie's mom."
"Maddie said her Mommy was in Heaven," Kata said, looking skeptical.
"Well it's kind of complicated," he said, sitting down and pulling her onto his lap. "Everyone thought she was, but turns out she's not."
"Okay," Katalin said, still looking at him strangely.
"You'll meet her tonight," he told her, tousling her hair.
"Okay." Kata sounded somewhat more content and went back to her toys.
……….
Edmund came up behind Maria and kissed her on the neck as she was arranging some flowers for the table.
"You know we have people who would do this for you," he told her.
"I want to do something to get ready," she said, enjoying his embrace.
"Or we could go back upstairs…we still have a few hours until anyone arrives."
"We can't do that 24/7!" she laughed.
"Technically we could…"
"Edmund!" she said turning around.
He kissed her again.
"Oh, I am so grateful," she sighed.
"No, I am. You can't know how many times I dreamed that I would have you right back here."
"You know I think that you have said that or something to that effect about every hour since I've been here," she laughed.
"Because it's true."
"And I don't think either one of us has stopped smiling."
"Why would we?"
They kissed again, but stopped when they heard giggling.
"What?" Edmund asked, as they turned to see both the kids standing in the doorway with their hands over their mouths.
"You keep kissing!" Maddie giggled.
"Well isn't that what mommies and daddies are supposed to do?" Maria asked.
"Isn't it?" Edmund echoed as both of them rushed towards their children, each scooping up a kid in their arms and tickling them.
"Let me down! Let me down!" they protested.
……….
Joe had already checked out Gillian and now Dr. Clader was nearly finished with his examination.
"How does it look?" she asked as he looked at the ultrasound screen.
"Of course, it's so early it's all pretty hard to see," eh said, trying to get a better picture. "But everything does appear to be normal."
Gillian gave a sigh of relief.
"You can get dressed now and I'll be waiting in my office for you," he told her before exiting.
A few minutes later she sat down in a chair opposite of Dr. Clader in his office.
"So, do you think it's safe to say the baby will be alright?" she asked him.
"As I told you before, everything looks normal; the placenta appears to be intact, and that was the thing I was most worried about due to the trauma you experienced."
"July? Right?"
"Late July," he told her. "Now, you already have a child, correct?"
"Katalin just turned four."
"I haven't seen your records from then, so I wanted to ask you some things about how your pregnancy went. Any problems?"
"At first it was normal. Actually, things went smoothly until right before she was born, no really bad morning sickness or anything like that. A few days before she was born, I had some bleeding so I went in to have it checked out and my doctor told me that the placenta had partially detached. I was admitted then and they decided to do a cesarean three days later."
"How many weeks early was she?"
"Seven," she told him.
"Did they know what caused that to happen?"
She shook her head, "No, they could not find the reason."
"Well, I will try and get those records here as soon as possible," he told her. "And this isn't meant to worry you, but I'm going to consider this pregnancy as high risk, partially because of what happened last week and also because of what happened with your previous pregnancy."
"Okay, I understand."
"So we'll be keeping a closer eye on you and the baby, to make sure everything goes well," Dr. Clader said as they both stood.
"Thank you."
"No need, it's my job. You just take care of yourself."
"I will."
"Goodbye."
"Bye."
……….
Bobby held the phone as it rang on the other end. The machine picked up.
"Hey, Kels…it's me again, wish you'd return my calls. It's been a week and it seems like you've just disappeared. Just need to talk, we need to talk soon. Call me back, 'kay?"
"No luck still?" Opal asked as she walked into the room.
He shook his head. "Either she's gone into hiding or she's just avoiding me."
"Very un-Kelsey," she remarked.
"Yeah…I mean I didn't expect her to be here pounding down the door, she's above that. But she's not returning my calls or anything, the total opposite. I'm kind of worried."
"Did you try Joe and Ruth's?"
"If she was there they weren't telling me. It's so weird…"
"It isn't like her to not confront things."
"It isn't."
They both turned toward the door as the bell rang. Bobby offered to get it.
Bobby opened the door.
"Kelsey."