Sam
Ever since he'd been home for the summer, he'd been to all of Amy's doctor appointments, just as he said he would. For awhile, they'd been every two weeks and now they were weekly. Burt Hummel was a gracious boss and a family man. He let Sam off as often as he needed, to be there for his wife and baby. In exchange, Sam worked odd hours and tried to work quickly and efficiently for the guy.
He was staring at his wife, as they waited, and she caught his eye, looking up from her phone. The hand that didn't hold her phone was resting on her belly. What?" she asked.
"Just thinking about how beautiful you are," he said. "And how lucky I am."
Amy grinned. "I don't exactly feel all that beautiful, while I'm growing out of all my clothes, but thanks," she said. Just then, they called her name to come back. As she stood, she steadied herself briefly before walking back with Sam following behind.
Today, they were getting an ultrasound to double check the position of the baby and then they might have some idea, based on the doctor's exam, as to whether or not Amy could expect to help with glee club auditions during the first week of school. Even though she was tired of being pregnant in the summertime and not looking forward to going back to work during the final stretch of her pregnancy, she still claimed that she wanted to go back, to hand-pick her new seventh graders for the glee club.
And somehow, that was next week. It was the Friday before all the Lima kids started back to school, and they just had a weekend left. Sam had participated in substitute teacher trainings earlier that week. (Again, Burt had been generous and had let him off for these.) And Amy had attended some back-to-school trainings and had set up her classroom, with help from Sam to move all the furniture into place.
Amy laid back and lifted her shirt as the ultrasound technician put the gel on her stomach and began running the Doppler across her belly. She reached for Sam's hand as the image of their baby filled the screen.
"Still head down and facing backwards," the technician announced. "Exactly what we want for delivery. Would you like one more picture from the inside?"
"Sure," Amy said, brightly, as the technician snapped a few still images, plus a video, using the 3D ultrasound machine that was so detailed it was almost scary. Then she put all of those on a disk for them, as well as handing Sam a strip of printed three images, while Amy cleaned the gel off.
The next part was not Amy's favorite, as the nurse took her blood pressure (which was fine) and then weighed her. The weighing was the part Amy objected to. And, much to her amazement, she'd gained two pounds that week, instead of the usual one. "No wonder I feel so big."
"It might also be the fact that you've dropped," the nurse pointed out, and Sam had no idea what that meant but Amy seemed to get it. The nurse, seeing Sam's expression, turned to him to explain. "Towards the end of the pregnancy, the baby begins to descend into the pelvis. She may notice it's now easier to breathe but harder to walk."
All of this did nothing to help ease Sam's anxiety. Everything the nurse had just said made him realize that there wasn't a lot of time left. He had a lot of work left to do for Burt, that he wanted to finish, before he took over Amy's class for the next six to eight weeks. But more to the point, he didn't have much time left to prepare for fatherhood. He vaguely remembered helping with Stacey and Stevie when they were babies, so he wasn't completely clueless, but helping and having your own baby were two completely different things.
The doctor, however, confirmed that they still had some time left. "You aren't dilated yet," he said, as Amy scooted back up on the table, looking a little pained, maybe because of the exam or maybe because they weren't all that close to baby time.
"If I see you next Friday," her doctor went on, as she pushed herself back into a seated position on the table. "Then we can start talking about induction. But, if you want to get things going, there are plenty of natural methods to induce labor."
Sam was pretty sure the doctor had looked at him when he said that, before walking out the door. As Amy got dressed again, Sam mulled that one over. "So, do you wanna try, uh, natural methods to induce labor?"
"Not just yet, sorry," she said, as she offered her shoes to Sam so that he could slip those on for her and tie them. "Believe it or not, I want to go to school this week and hold the auditions. Besides, the baby's not due until Wednesday. So, we're good..."
Sam shook his head at her as she waddled out. "If you say so," he muttered, following her.
Kitty greeted them as they pulled into the driveway, stepping out of the gate. She'd been spending any time that she wasn't babysitting for her neighbor at their house. Now that Artie had been cleared to swim again, they were usually in the pool. Today, however, she was dry and wearing a simple sundress.
"Hi, Kitty," Amy greeted her. "What's the occasion?"
"We're throwing you a baby shower in the back yard," she said. "It's supposed to be a surprise, but I thought you might want to change."
If Amy minded Kitty blowing the surprise, so that she could put on something a bit nicer than the t-shirt and maternity shorts she'd been sporting at the doctor's office, she didn't let on. Sam didn't know if this was the sort of thing the guy attended, too, but then Kitty explained that it was "a couple's shower," in other words, co-ed.
Sam headed upstairs to wait for her to slip into a dress and brush her hair. As for himself, he supposed he looked fine in the khaki shorts and polo he'd worn to the appointment. He wandered around aimlessly as he waited for her.
The upstairs was pretty much their "apartment," for the time being. Sam figured they'd probably live there for the duration of the school year, with the goal to move out next summer. As much as they appreciated being at Nancy's house and having her around to help with the baby, it would have felt strange to live in Amy's childhood home any longer than this. But for now, he was going to take any and all the help they could get.
Stepping into the room that used to be Artie's, he admired the transformation it had undergone recently. Artie harbored no hard feelings about seeing the room's decor changed entirely. The room was furnished with the crib and changing table that had been Artie's and Amy's when they were babies. They'd done an adventure motif, complete with maps and mountain ranges and things that said phrases like "Little Explorer" or "Man Cave." They still needed things like diapers and clothes, though, so a shower was a welcomed treat. Especially when it seemed like everything was happening too quickly to slow down and celebrate like this. Sam spied the crowd in the backyard and saw that there were a lot of people waiting on them. Their families were there, too, and Stacey and Stevie were up in the treehouse.
He was overcome with gratitude.
Amy stepped out in a floral-print yellow and white dress, smoothing the front down over her bump. "I haven't worn this since Easter," she commented, as Sam recalled the one time she'd caved and gone to church with him. "Does it still look alright? I had to wear these ugly flats I don't like. My feet are swelling."
"Looks even better now," he told her, kissing her before they headed downstairs and into the backyard to greet their unexpected guests.
"Surprise!" Kitty said, grinning over her shoulder as she led them out. "Well, close enough anyway. You didn't know until you got home."
"We almost ran out of time," added a tall, slender brunette girl that Sam had met a few times, including at their wedding. Amy hugged her roommate, Hayley, tightly. She hadn't seen her since they stayed at Hayley's apartment during Artie's surgery.
"Whoa, mama, you grew!" Hayley was saying, as she cupped a hand around Amy's belly, something Sam knew Amy was a little tired of by now but accepted when it came from a close friend.
Sam looked around and noticed that while part of the crowd was made up of Amy's college friends and co-workers, a substantial portion was there for him. He spotted several of the glee kids, past and present, sitting in a circle with Artie. Emma and Will were there, too, as Emma sat with her hand perched on her own baby bump.
"I hear Amy's due next week and we were almost too late," Mercedes commented, as she rose from her seat to be the first to hug Sam. "I'm so happy for you both."
"What's his name?" Tina asked, from where she sat by Artie with Hunter, Kitty's brother, on the other side of her, his arm perched around her shoulders.
"Sam and Amy won't share it," Artie answered for them, as Amy circled the backyard greeting her friends and Sam took a seat with his group. "So we won't know for another week or so if it's gonna be little Clyde or Otis or—"
"It's not an old man name," Sam interrupted, with a laugh. "I looked. Nobody in your parents' graduating class had this name." He looked around the yard. "Who planned all this?"
As Kitty pointed at him, Artie grinned shyly. "That would be me," he admitted. "Well, and Amy's best friend from college, I called her up. I didn't really do anything, I just told everyone else what to do. Y'all know that's what I'm good at."
Sam was completely touched, that the guy had gone from hating the idea of his sister with Sam to throwing them a baby shower. He went to hug Artie first, then grabbed them both plates of the little meats and fancy cheeses and nuts (which Artie said was called a charcuterie board, and Sam hadn't been aware it had a name). When everyone was munching, the conversation about the baby resumed.
"How did the doctor's appointment go?" Artie wanted to know.
"Good," Sam said, after swallowing his mouthful of snacks. "The doctor seems to think she'll go past the due date and that he'll see us next week. And Amy's kind of happy about that, because she wants to hold auditions."
"She's crazy," Quinn commented. "When I was that far along, I just wanted the baby out of me as soon as possible."
"Oh, I feel that way too," Amy said, surprising Quinn as she came up behind her. Sam jumped up, to offer his wife a seat, which she didn't hesitate to take. "But I really love leading Next Direction. It's kind of like my other baby. Even if that is a little crazy."
"You make sacrifices when you love what you do," Will said, putting his arm around his wife. "But it pays off, in the long run."
"Listen," Sam heard Kitty saying to Amy. "Your friend and I were talking before we got here. She and I wanna take you out tonight. Get a pedicure, have a nice dinner. You feel up for it?"
"Sure, I could use one more girls' night," Amy said. "Thanks."
They were interrupted by Amy's best friend, who came by to announce that it was time to open gifts. Stevie and Stacey happily transported them from the table to where the couple was sitting. Mostly, everyone had heard that they needed diapers and wipes, plus there were several outfits that Amy would hold up to her belly each time. Sam was surprised when one of the gifts turned out to be baby laundry detergent, as he didn't realize there was such a thing. Pacifiers, a wipe warmer (what?), and something called a snot sucker (say what?). The more stuff she opened, the more overwhelmed he was. It was really happening. Sam almost couldn't breathe.
"You looked like you were going to pass out," Artie was telling him later, as he, Sam, Blaine, and Kurt had an impromptu guy's night. Since Artie was still kind of limited, in terms of physical activity, they just stuck to dining out and then going to the Lima Bean, which was open later on weekends.
"I may have been a little overwhelmed," Sam said, staring at the cup of coffee in his hands. "It seemed like time was going so slowly, back when I was waiting for the semester to end. Now time is flying by."
"As someone who spent most of their summer in bed, I don't know if I agree with that," Artie said. "But it's definitely crazy that it's time to go back to school already."
"Are you going to be okay?" Kurt asked, looking at Artie. There was a good reason to ask that. Artie, who used to be opposed to having others push him, was using his old chair, just to make it easier for people to push him again.
"My doctor cleared me for regular activity, starting the week I go back to school," Artie said. "Which is two weeks from now. He just suggested I not do anything extra til then."
Sam jumped when his cell phone rang. He noticed it was Amy, and immediately, he assumed it was happening now. "Are you okay?!" was his greeting. Not hi, just an immediate assumption that she was surely in labor.
"... yes?" There was a long pause, then she giggled. "Okay, Sam, you've really got to relax. I'm fine. I was just calling because Kitty says you and Artie want to see Guardians of the Galaxy. There's a late showing that starts in twenty minutes, at the theatre in the mall. You wanna go?"
Sam did want to go see it, for sure, because it had just come out, only he'd been too busy to go and assumed he'd probably be renting it and watching it while holding the baby on the couch. Which would have been okay, too, but a movie date sounded amazing.
Amy's friend had to go on back to Columbus, and Blaine and Kurt decided they'd rather spend the rest of the evening with each other. (Although, it seemed like it was only Kurt who didn't want to see the movie.) So, it ended up being a double date.
"We haven't really done this before," Kitty noted, twenty minutes later, as the four of them headed into the movie theater. Sam pushed Artie, who did not object, until they go inside and found their seats next to the open space for the chair.
"The start of a long tradition, I hope."
Sam had noticed that, after Kitty spent nearly every spare moment she had with Artie while he recovered, it had gone a long way in earning her respect from Amy. It looked like Amy would be perfectly fine with having Kitty around for years to come, if that was what they decided someday.
As the previews were beginning, Amy got up to go to the bathroom. She did this about three more times, before they were even done with the first half. The last time she came back, Sam had to check in with her.
"You keep getting up," he observed. "Are you really okay or do we need to go?"
Amy sighed. "It's just that I have to pee all the time," she explained. "The baby's right on my bladder now. Plus, I'm trying to drink all this extra water, to keep my feet from swelling. And these seats are so uncomfortable..."
She settled for pacing in the back of the theater, all the while assuring Sam that she was fine. They finished the movie, but Sam hardly followed what was going on. It looked as though he'd have to rent it after all. As the credits rolled, Artie and Kitty met them out in the hallway.
"Baby time?" Artie asked, and now he was the one who looked nervous.
Amy shook her head. "I'm positive it's not," she said. "Just swollen feet, no bladder control, and uncomfortable seating."
"Sounds familiar," Artie joked. "Well, I mean, you were the one who wanted to have Sam's baby..."
"Better watch it, Abrams," she warned, glaring at him, and it was hard to tell if she was kidding. "I know where you live."
"Sorry, you couldn't enjoy the movie, Amy," Kitty added. "Next time, we'll watch something on the couch."
"No kidding," Amy said, supporting her belly with her hand cradling it. "And hopefully, next time, we'll have this little guy on the outside with us to watch."