Chapter 37: I Am The Fire
April 23rd, 2014 - 1600 (4:00 pm)
After a nap that ended up being over five hours long but did wonders to refresh her after the long night, Rachel walked back into the Medical Bay to see Kara and Danny both awake and struggling to dress their tiny son. They were both smiling radiantly, laughing and exclaiming over the baby as he wiggled and generally made it difficult for them to put a new diaper on him.
"How's it going in here?" she asked, walking over and picking up the baby's chart. Doc Rios had done a fantastic job keeping an eye on the baby's vitals, and she perused the information carefully. "It looks like Frankie is a bit of a superstar! No oxygen needed, blood sugars look fantastic, and his APGAR score was 8! What a little champion!"
Kara grinned brightly, nodding as she managed to fasten the diaper around Frankie's waist, carefully folding down the top so as not to irritate his cord. "He's doing great," she said. "You were right."
"And how are you, Kara?" Rachel asked, swapping charts to look at the new mother's.
"I'm exhausted, and everything hurts," she admitted, and she did indeed look tired. "But I couldn't be happier. Well," she amended. "I would be a little bit happier if I could put his clothes on without worrying that I'm going to break his tiny arms!"
Rachel chuckled and walked over, taking the onesie from Danny and opening all the clasps.
"They're really not as fragile as they seem. You don't have to worry about hurting him while dressing," she said, and carefully slipped a hand under Frankie's head before pulling the onesie on. She showed the new parents how it stretched for exactly that purpose, making it easier to put on over the infant's head without having to move him too much. "The arms are the hardest, but they're pretty flexible. See, like this," she said, and cupped Frankie's tiny hand closed in order to lead it through the sleeve of the light blue onesie. "After the arms it's easy. Just grab their feet like so and lift them, pull it down over their bum, and snap it closed."
Kara watched in wonder as Rachel finished securing the cloth around Frankie before picking him up and settling him in the crook of her arm. The little boy stared up at her, his eyes bright and unblinking.
"You make that look so easy," Danny commented, and Rachel chuckled as she rocked the newborn.
"For my medical degree I did a rotation on the maternity ward. I also did a lot of maternal and newborn care in my time with Doctors Without Borders. It becomes second nature after a while," she said, and used her time holding the baby to check his reflexes and muscle tone. He gripped her finger tightly and squealed when she rubbed her finger across the bottom of his foot, kicking into her hand. "Everything looks good. He's got solid reflexes and his grip strength is great. Is he nursing well?"
Kara nodded and laid back on her pillows. "Yes. He's nursing a lot."
"Well, he has some extra weight to put on," Rachel said, humming as she rocked the baby. "Rios weighed him at 5 pounds and 8 ounces, more than I would have thought. An average newborn is 7 pounds and 8 ounces, so he has a ways to go before he's a normal birth weight. Keep feeding him whenever he's hungry, and don't be shocked if he loses a few ounces before he starts gaining. That's normal, nothing to be concerned about. If he doesn't start gaining soon, we'll supplement with formula."
"Sounds great. Thank you," Danny said, and then looked up in surprise when the med bay door opened for a second time.
Tom walked into the room wanting to congratulate the new parents again and check in on Frankie before he headed for the Bridge, but found himself stuck in the doorway as he took in the sight of Rachel, still a little disheveled and sleepy after their long night, holding a newborn baby in her arms.
He opened his mouth, but was unable to speak before Rachel shushed him.
"Not the time or place," she said quickly, and Tom grinned mischievously.
He knew that he had a thing for seeing her pregnant, but he also, apparently, had a thing for seeing her with a baby in her arms. Who knew? He certainly didn't until this moment, but he very much wanted to take her straight back to their cabin and explore this new kink with her. Without the baby, of course, because his thoughts were not very child friendly.
"I thought you told me last night that it would be a very long time before I saw something sexy happen in this med bay," he said, ignoring her warning as well as the hard look she sent him.
"Tom," she warned, and his grin only grew.
"But you," he said, stalking toward her and leaning down to whisper into her ear. "Are very sexy right now."
Kara and Danny were both chuckling as he leaned back, pleased with himself and the blush he had managed to put on Rachel's cheeks.
"Do you want to hold him?" Kara asked through giggles, and Tom nodded quickly.
"I'd love to," he said, and felt his breath catch as Rachel carefully shifted the newborn into his arms.
He was entranced, all dirty thoughts forgotten, as Frankie yawned and opened his bright blue eyes. Newborn blue, he knew; they would probably change soon to take after his mother and father's eyes. The baby waved his tiny arm in the air, and Tom reached out to let him wrap his little baby fingers around his thumb.
Rachel smiled as she watched their big, scary Captain be reduced to a puddle of goo by a five pound baby. It was quite a sight, she had to admit, seeing Tom, who was so large and imposing and intimidating, holding the infant so carefully. He was staring down at Frankie with wonder in his eyes, a smile on his lips.
"He's amazing," Tom whispered, and Rachel watched him with soft eyes, one hand on her stomach. "You guys did good."
Danny leaned down and kissed Kara on the head, wrapping an arm around her while they watched Tom hold their baby. "We did, didn't we?"
Kara smiled and nodded, and then motioned toward Rachel's abdomen. "And soon, he'll have a little best friend, huh?"
"17 weeks," Rachel confirmed. "I can't wait."
April 29th, 2014 - 1000 (10:00 am)
"All right, let's get a look at this little one, and see how we're growing," Rios said. "A little later than we wanted to check in, but Frankie and his surprise entrance threw us off."
"Yes," Rachel agreed as she laid back on the cot. "Also the fact that we found a lot more survivors in Hawaii than we anticipated. I don't think I've left the lab to do anything except sleep and eat for a week. Tom has been wonderful, however," she added, smiling up at the man who would soon be her husband. "He took the role of mothering hen quite seriously this week."
"Well, someone had to make sure you ate and rested," he argued, sitting down in the chair beside her. "You made almost three thousand doses of the cure in five days. And you tend to forget your own health when the health of others is on the line."
"They were dying, Tom," Rachel said, frowning at the memory.
Their mission had been largely successful, thus far, but the situation in Hawaii had been unique. Over three thousand survivors had been found, and while the crew had been ecstatic at first, the virus had started sweeping through the camp on day two of their visit. Rachel had had to rush to create enough of the cure to keep everyone alive. The sickest had gotten the doses they had on hand first, and it had been a race against the clock to keep up with the infected. They had only lost a few of the villagers, in the end; ones who had preexisting conditions that had made the virus move more quickly than normal.
They had saved almost three thousand people, and had left their scientists with the materials and knowledge to make more. It had been a huge win, but it had been a long week.
"Yes, it was a tough situation," Rios agreed, turning on the ultrasound machine and pressing the wand to Rachel's lower abdomen. "But we were successful, and now we can relax while we make our way across the North Pacific Ocean. How is the weight gain going?"
Rachel bit her lip. "I've managed to gain quite a bit, but I didn't reach my goal. I've gained 12 pounds, but I know it should be a little more than that."
"That's pretty good," Rios said, smiling at the scientist. "You're eight pounds up since the last time we measured. Maternal weight gain, or lack there of, is a contributor to premature birth, so keep doing what you're doing to gain as much as you can. All right, starting in the second trimester we measure head to toe, rather than head to bottom, so it sounds like we're expecting a lot of growth but it isn't that extreme. We're shooting for about 11 inches at 24 weeks, and about 1 pound and 3 or 4 ounces. Let's see how baby Chandler did."
Rachel nodded. She knew almost all of the information that Rios was telling them, but knew it was different when it was your own baby. She waited impatiently while Rios took the measurements, holding tightly to Tom's hand. He kissed her knuckles, eyes glued to the image of their baby on the screen.
"Well," Rios finally said, and he smiled as he turned to face them. "Baby Chandler has not only caught up to his peers, but he has surpassed them as well. 12.5 inches, and approximately a pound and a half. He's just a late bloomer, as it turns out."
Rachel breathed out a sigh of relief, turning to face Tom with a huge smile on her lips. Tom met her gaze and squeezed her hand, leaning over and kissing her sweetly on the lips. There was moisture in his eyes, but she didn't mention his display of emotion. She knew he'd been worried, probably even more than she had been, since he'd experienced this before when Sam had been born premature at 31 weeks. They both knew that the Nathan James didn't have the equipment to support a severely premature infant, or even one as premature as Sam had been.
"Thank God," he whispered, and he kissed her again. Rachel laughed, reaching up to press her hand to his cheek, brushing away a tear before it could fall.
"I love you," she said, and Tom smiled, pressing his lips to her hair, breathing her in deeply while he collected himself.
"You amaze me," he responded, and pulled back, still holding tightly onto her hand. "I am in awe of you, and everything you've done for the world, for me, and for our child."
Rachel was so overcome with emotion that she could only smile.
It was the smile that Tom loved so much, the one that made her eyes squint closed and the dimples on her cheeks appear.
As soon as the ultrasound wand was removed and the gel wiped off of her stomach, Rachel sat up and wrapped Tom in her arms. He hugged her back, squeezing her tightly against his chest. He breathed in, glancing up at the ceiling and trying to fight back tears before burying his face in her hair.
April 29th, 2014 - 2100 (9:00 pm)
"We need to decide on a name."
That night, after finally managing to get Sam and Ashley to fall asleep after three very long chapters of Harry Potter, Rachel and Tom lay in their bed, relaxing after the emotional roller coaster of the day. They were stretched out side by side, Rachel laying on her back while Tom pressed his body into her side. He was running one hand through her hair, kissing her cheek and neck and lips, his other hand splayed out over her bump while he waited for their baby to move. The baby had been active all day, and Tom, who could finally feel the movements, was obsessed.
"Mm. Yes, we do," Rachel agreed, rubbing the taut skin of her stomach. The baby rewarded her with a swift kick to the left of her belly button, and Tom hummed, happily caressing the little foot beneath her skin. "Did you know, he can hear us now?"
Tom grinned, pressing a kiss to her cheek.
"That," he said, voice rough. "Is both amazing and also a little concerning. Do we need to be more quiet when we're making love so as not to mentally scar him before he's even born?"
Rachel giggled and rolled her eyes, ignoring his comment.
"I was thinking about a name, actually."
"Oh, really?" Tom asked, intrigued. He continued kissing a path down her neck, slipping his fingers under the neckline of her shit to caress the warm skin underneath.
"Yes. I really like this one. It means 'rest', and I think that's fitting. After all of the chaos, and all of the death, and after the race to create and distribute the cure... the world, and we, need rest."
Tom hummed, indicating that she should continue.
"I want to name him Noah."
Tom looked up at that, his expression thoughtful.
"Noah. Noah Chandler." Then he smiled, and laughed. "Fitting, considering we've spent almost a year on a boat in the middle of the sea."
Rachel reached up, caressing his cheek, brushing over the stubble on his chin. "I didn't even think of it that way, but yes, it is very fitting."
"I love it," Tom decided, and then leaned over, planting one hand on either side of the bed to hover over her. He leaned down to kiss her, deep and searching, loving the way her body arched up into his as he cupped one hand behind her head to bring their mouths even closer together. Her hands did not remain idle, one brushing down his back and up under his shirt while the other tangled in his hair.
"I love you," Rachel said, breaking away to breathe while Tom kissed a path down her neck, grumbling when he was met with the fabric barrier of her t-shirt. He quickly removed it, tossing it to the side so he could kiss between her breasts and down to her bump. He moved both hands to frame her stomach, kissing gently from her belly button to the bottom of her stomach, thumbs caressing the stretch marks that had begun to appear over the past few weeks.
"I love your body," Tom groaned, staring up at her from his place at her hips. "I love watching you grow with our baby. I love these marks," he said, following the path of one of the stretch marks with his tongue.
"I hate them," Rachel groaned, frowning as she tried to push his attention away from them. He refused, kissing each one before moving back up her body, resting his forehead against hers.
"They're beautiful," he argued, catching her gaze and smiling. "They're proof that you grew, and nurtured, and loved our baby while he was still in your body. They are a badge of honor, a reminder that you sacrificed for Noah, to bring him into this world healthy. I love them and I love you."
Rachel sniffled, smiling, as he returned to worshiping the skin of her belly.
It didn't take long before she was squirming, though, wanting him to move things along already.
"Tom," she groaned, fingers gripping the strands of his hair tightly.
She couldn't decide whether she wanted to pull him up to kiss her again, or push him down past her belly to the place she really needed him, so instead of doing either, she twisted his hair sharply, the way she knew he liked, and let him decide.
"Fuck," he grunted. "Can I... ?" he trailed off, reaching to remove her panties and looking up for permission. Rachel nodded breathlessly, groaning as he tossed them into the ever growing pile of clothes on the floor. His shirt and jeans followed, leaving him in just his boxers while he helped her settle her feet flat on the bed, opening her thighs to him. She let her legs fall open, framing his shoulders as he settled between them.
"So beautiful," he moaned, and Rachel cried out as he finally gave her what she wanted, bringing her quickly to the edge as he licked and kissed and nibbled on her sensitive skin.
"Please," she whispered, and he brought her to orgasm quickly before sitting up, removing his boxers, and pressing inside her, deep and hard, prolonging her pleasure.
He held still for several moments, letting her calm down a little before kissing her, pulling her to sit in his lap. She groaned into his mouth as he slid even deeper, wrapping her legs around his waist and sitting still for several moments, letting her body get used to the feeling of him stretching her. He always went deeper in this position, and she loved it.
"Move," she finally begged, her hot breath caressing his ear, and he obliged, starting a gentle, unhurried rhythm. He captured her mouth in a kiss, one hand settling on the small of her back while the other caressed her stomach and her breasts, flicking her sensitive nipples. Each touch sent a bolt of pleasure to her center, and she moaned, trying to make him move faster.
"Patience, baby," he whispered, and refused to change his rhythm.
He brought her off that way, slowly, unhurriedly, the pleasure coursing through her entire body from where he was biting at her neck all the way to the tips of her toes.
When she came again she sobbed, overcome with emotion, burying her head in his shoulder as she shook in his arms.
"There you go, love," he whispered, holding her tightly to his body as he finally let himself go, releasing inside of her with a groan.
They stayed that way for several minutes, unable and unwilling to separate. Rachel curled herself into Tom's arms, her head on his sweaty chest, matching her breathing to his as her heartbeat slowed.
It was several minutes before Tom kissed her on the forehead and gently pulled out of her, causing her to groan at the loss.
"Stay here," he whispered.
He came back quickly, wiping them both down with a warm rag before curling into the bed behind Rachel. He wrapped his arms around her tightly, kissing her neck and settling one large, warm palm over her belly.
"Goodnight, Rachel," he whispered, smiling when she hummed sleepily in response. "I love you."
"Love you, too," Rachel breathed, and they both laughed sleepily when Noah kicked against his father's hand.
"And I love you, too, Noah," Tom added. "Sleep tight, my loves."