"How much longer is this gonna take!" Zoey exclaimed.
"Patience, darling," Catherine replied, monotonously. She'd been answering that question all evening. "I'm bored of patience"
"Zoey, be quiet! I'm sleeping," Ellie mumbled.
"Well, wake up!" Zoey ran over, took hold of Ellie's arm, and tried to pull her out of the chair.
"Leave me alone!" "Fine!" Zoey shouted back, turning her attention to her clearly exhasperated grandmother. "Grandma, how much longer"
"Couldn't tell you, Zoey"
"Why not"
"Because I have no idea," Catherine said. "Why not? You're…Grandma! You're supposed to know these things"
"Well, I don't, do I"
"I don't know. Do you"
"Zoey, shut up!" Ellie cried. "No! I want a baby brother! I want him right now"
"Whoa there, kid," Liz said, entering the waited room, with Annie in her arms.
"Liz"
"No one said anything about a baby brother"
"Yes huh! Too many girls already. God's gotta shake it up a little," Zoey replied.
Liz rolled her eyes and sat down beside Ellie. "God doesn't have to do anything"
"Yes, he does," Zoey argued.
"Zoey, it's gonna be a girl. Face it," Liz stated.
"I don't want a girl! I'm the baby girl in this family. He can be the baby boy. I'm the baby girl! Me"
"Zoey, stop. You're acting like a spoiled brat," Ellie murmured, her eyes still closed.
"Maybe I am a spoiled brat"
"You're not, so stop it"
"You stop it!" Zoey exclaimed.
"I'm not doing anything"
"Grandma"
Catherine dropped her head into her hands and sighed audibly. "Zoey, sweetheart, you need to calm down. You're driving everyone crazy"
"I want a baby brother, Grandma"
"At this point, I really don't think anyone cares, honey"
"Hey"
"You don't get to choose whether it's a boy or girl. Nobody does. You're just going to have to live with whatever pops out of your mother's body"
"Ew, Grandma," Ellie complained.
"Ew yourself, Eleanor." "How did I end up in this family"
"Pure luck, kiddo. Pure luck"
Abbey's head fell back against her pillow, her face showing signs of her sheer exhaustion. The pain had stopped momentarily, but the anticipation of the pain that was to come in just over two minutes overwhelmed her just as much as the pain itself. She closed her eyes and took a few deep, relaxing breaths. She knew the calm would only last a few seconds, but those few seconds were precious to her.
Abbey heard the door creak open, but kept her eyes tightly shut. Just by the sound of his footsteps, she knew it was him. He approached her slowly and she finally opened her eyes when he was beside her bed.
"Hi, Tom"
"How ya doin'?" Dr. Sussin asked.
"Oh, you know, just having a baby. Yourself"
"You are the absolute picture of wit and guile, Abbey"
"Thank you," Abbey said, her smile conveying the laughter she couldn't quite summon up at that moment.
"Jed's outside"
She sighed, and sat up, pushing her pillows up behind her.
"Yeah"
"He wants to apologize"
"Good"
"Come on, Abbey"
"No, Tom. I'm in here suffering through the agony that comes with bringing his child into the world, and…oh, God, that just made me sound like a horrible person"
"A little bit, yeah"
"You knew what I meant"
"Sure," Tom replied.
"I just mean that I'm in here trying to give birth to his child, and he's yelling at me"
"He didn't yell at you, Abbey"
"You weren't there. How the hell do you know"
"Because I know Jed, and I know he'd never yell at you while you're in the hospital"
"Yeah. Well. It felt like yelling," Abbey said.
"That's because you're very emotional right now, and you made a bigger deal out of it than it really was"
"He accused me of hiding things from him. As if I really wouldn't tell him if something was wrong with the baby"
"But you are hiding things from him," Tom said.
"I know," she replied. "But it's not what he thinks"
"I know that, but he doesn't"
"Yeah. Okay, send him in"
"Good girl. I'll go get him"
"Thanks, Tom"
"I'll be back in a few minutes to check your progress," Tom said, as he exited the room.
By the time Jed reached her room, her next contraction had already started. Remembering how she'd had to go through three contractions by herself while he was off being a coward, he forgot all his convictions and ran to her side. Once he was close enough to reach, she instinctively reached for his hand and used it as her own personal stress ball. Despite the pain she was now bestowing upon him, he didn't complain once. He only winced and gritted his teeth, reminding himself that she was in far more pain than he was.
"It's okay, baby, you're doing great." He glanced over at the screen beside her. "It's almost over. Almost over. Okay. There you go"
He pressed a damp face cloth on her forehead and squeezed her hand gently.
"You okay"
"Yeah," she whispered. "Listen…I'm sorry"
He stared at her with confusion for a moment, trying to replay her last line in his head.
"You're sorry?" Jed asked. "What the hell are YOU sorry for? I'm the one who acted like a jackass. Yes, I just called myself a jackass. I saved you the trouble"
"I should have just told you"
"Told me what"
"There's nothing wrong with the baby. Well, that we know of," Abbey confessed.
"But you said"
"No. It's me. It's not the baby"
"What"
"No. Nothing's wrong with me, it's just…oh, God, this isn't going well"
"Abbey, what are you talking about!" Jed demanded.
"I was afraid, okay! These last few months you've been asking me if I was a little scared. Because this pregnancy was so unexpected, because I've been so stressed lately, because I'm old! And I said 'no, of course not.' Well, I lied. When my water broke in the car today, I was scared to death. That's why you caught me crying earlier. I've been pestering Tom all evening, because I've been so sure something was wrong with the baby. It's just…I don't know, intuition or something. He keeps telling me I'm wrong, that everything's fine. And I trust him, I do, but I can't shake this feeling"
Jed smiled reassuringly and held her hand tighter.
"Oh, honey. Why didn't you just tell me that"
"I don't know. You were already losing it. I wanted to be the strong one"
"Telling me you're afraid doesn't make you any less strong than you are now"
"Yeah"
"Yeah. And if Tom's says everything's all right, we have to believe him. For once, he's the doctor in charge. Not you. Okay"
She nodded.
"Okay"
"Now. You ready for another contraction, but it looks like another one's on its way," Jed said.
"Already"
"We're on our way, babe. It's not gonna be long now"
