I came to and I was once again in that hospital bed, but now I had a roommate. My roommate was my husband and he was watching me in concern.
My mother got to her feet and pushed my hair back, "how are you feeling Stephanie?"
"I did it again, didn't I?"
"You did," she agreed.
I sighed, "It's the stress."
"I'm sure that's it dear," she smiled. "I think I'll leave you two alone for a few moments."
"Okay," I nodded.
She left the room closing the door behind her.
"You're okay," Ranger said hoarsely.
"Well…I've been better," I said with a lop-sided grin.
"Yea," he sighed. "When we started rolling I…"
I smiled, "you know that you scared the shit out of me, right?"
He kept his gaze on mine, "I know."
"Don't do that again," I said softly.
"I will try really hard not to," he assured me with a slight smile. "Stephanie…"
"Hmmm," I licked my lips nervously.
"We still need to talk," he said seriously, "but not here."
"I know," I sighed. "Can I ask one question?"
"Anything," he agreed.
"Will it make me more unhappy to have this conversation than I already am?"
He swallowed and his jaw clenched and unclenched, "I sure as hell hope not."
I stared into his eyes and again, there was no blank face there. His mask was gone. His emotions were there and raw. He was in pain and not just the physical pain that his wounds had given him. His heart hurt. I nodded.
He swallowed again, "I…I heard you."
At one time it would have embarrassed me that he'd heard me, but now…well, he already knew that I loved him. What could be worse? "Okay," I whispered.
"And I never hated you," he said softly. "And I never thought you hated me either," he said sincerely.
"I didn't say that," I frowned.
"No…your father did," he said quietly, "when I was in the coma. He told me that I had to come out of the coma because he couldn't stand to see you hurting and believing that I'd die thinking you hated me."
"Oh," I sighed heavily.
"I never thought that," he winced. "I knew you were angry, but I never thought you loved me any less than you did before I hurt you."
I swallowed and tears filled my eyes and I dropped to my back. "Well…you know me pretty well."
"I know," he sighed.
Celia breezed into the room with my chart in her hand. She smiled and leaned over to stick the thermometer in my mouth. "So you two have been talking?"
Ranger rolled his eyes.
"Be careful there little brother, you might sprain something," she said good naturedly. "Good," she nodded. "Okay Steph…are you still feeling dizzy?"
"No," I shook my head.
She pulled my pajama shirt up and pressed gently into my belly. "We're going to do an ultra sound in a little bit. We're going to do it in here. I just want to make sure that everything is okay."
"Okay," I frowned as my mind searched backwards for something that just didn't feel right.
She walked over to Ranger and clutched the chart to her chest, "how are you feeling?"
"Like I was in a truck that rolled over a few times after being blasted by an exploding building," he said shaking his head.
"Careful, you'll jar something else loose."
"You're funny…real funny," he shook his head. "Celia, why does Stephanie need an ultra sound? Papa told me that she wasn't even checked into the hospital when she arrived with me."
"Papa would be right about that," she said and sank down on the stool between our beds. "She refused admittance because she wanted to be where she would know what was going on with you. She was checked in when she passed out in surgical waiting. We ran a couple of tests while she was in lala land to make sure that there wasn't anything more seriously wrong that we missed the first time. There was a complication we didn't expect and we had to make sure that everything was okay."
"What kind of complication," he frowned.
"Celia," I frowned. "Aren't you an OBGYN?"
She grinned, "Yes I am."
"Is there something wrong with my female equipment?"
"I hope not. I don't think so."
I sighed in relief.
We sat in silence for a few minutes. I mean nobody said a word.
"Why are we just sitting here," Ranger frowned. "Are you waiting for the equipment?"
She took a deep breath, "We're waiting for the parents."
"Celia, what's wrong," Ranger said and I could hear the panic in his voice.
"I'm sure it's nothing," I said softly meeting Celia's eyes pleading reassurance. "They would have told us if there was something wrong…right? You would have said something…Celia?"
The door swung open before she could answer and all four of the parents came in and they had looks of pure trepidation on their collective faces. That couldn't be good.
My gaze swept from one to the other and back to Celia, "if nothing is wrong, then why do they look so friggin nervous?"
"Because they're not sure how you're going to take this," she said with a sigh.
I shook my head in confusion. "How we're going to take what?"
My father came around the bed and took my hand.
"Who wants to tell them," Celia asked.
"I'll do it," Papa said seriously.
"Okay," she nodded.
"Ricardo, get you head out of your ass and live up to your obligations. Stephanie, move home with your husband and work this out."
"But…," I began.
"Shhh," my father shook his head. "This is no longer about just the two of you." He put his hand on my flat belly, "your child deserves to have a normal life with two parents. Think of him or her."
I looked down at my belly and then around the room. I glanced over at Celia, "but…I had the shot."
"It's not one hundred percent effective especially if you're going at it like bunnies."
I blushed hotly.
"Wait," Ranger blinked and shook his head, "we're pregnant?"
"Well," Celia grinned, "technically only Stephanie is pregnant. She's about three weeks along. So…yes, you're pregnant."
"Holy shit," I whispered.
"Well," Papa said and stood up. "That's settled then. Estefania is pregnant and Ricardo is going to raise his child the right way…not in another country or in another state and this baby will know his cousins."
"Holy shit," I whispered again.
Ranger glanced over at me in concern. "Papa…I will do what is right here, but…"
"But nothing," he glared at his son. "And you better come up with the right words to say boy-o or you'll be dealing with me." He got up and walked out of the room.
"And me," my father said joining him in the hall.
"Holy shit," I swallowed watching them leave the room. Soon we were alone in the room and all I could say was, "holy shit."
"Steph…are you okay?"
I swallowed, "what are the odds it's a goldfish?"
His lip twitched and he struggled to control his face before a laugh burst out of him and he bent double in pain even as he winced.
"It's not that funny," I sighed and flopped back in disgust and, well it was probably terror.
Mitch stuck his head in, "all right in here?"
"Peachy," I sighed.
"Dude, you're going to break open some stitches," he said seriously to Ranger. "You're taking the news better than we hoped." He left the room quietly shaking his head.
Ranger sobered, "Steph…"
"No, I'm fine," I said as my hand slid over my belly. "No wonder they were being so careful with me. They were afraid if you died that…" The realization took my breath. This child would be all I had. Tears ran unchecked down my face. "A…a…and we didn't even get a puppy," I said as the sobs came rushing out.
He groaned, "Stephanie…please, I can't come over there and comfort you and…"
I got out of the bed and padded over to him in my bare feet and climbed in beside him and curled up and cried.
He sighed as his arm circled around me and brushed my hair back gently, "it's going to be okay."
"You could have died," I whispered as I sniffed. "You almost did."
"But I didn't," he said softly.
I swallowed and looked up at him, "is it safe to raise a child in the suck zone?"
His lips twitched again.
"Don't you dare Ricardo Carlos Manoso," I glared at him.
"Stephanie," he sighed, "you never disappoint."
Really, that was all that needed to be said at that point.
Celia came back with a machine a little bit later and proceeded to check me out via the ultra sound. "Now…we won't see much. It's too early for anything. Right now, your baby will look like a little bean."
"What kind of bean," I frowned.
"A kidney bean," she shook her head with a smile.
"Why a kidney bean," I frowned. "I mean…it's barely out of the egg stage right? Why doesn't it look like a pea?"
She straightened her face, "I'm not sure. But it looks like a kidney bean. She pushed my pajamas down and put some cool gel on my belly and turned the machine on and began to roll something around on my stomach. The monitor was facing me so Ranger couldn't see anything. He looked a little frustrated and tried to crane around to see before the pain took him back down.
I sighed. I didn't see anything that looked like a kidney bean or a pea. There sure wasn't a goldfish in there.
"There," Celia said in satisfaction and pointed to the screen.
I leaned a little closer and sure enough, there was a kidney bean on the screen and therefore in my womb. "It does look like a kidney bean," I said with a slight frown and a whole lot of awe.
"I want to see it," Ranger scowled in frustration.
"Just a minute," Celia shook her head. "He's always been this impatient." She pressed a button and something started to print and she turned the monitor.
"Where is it," he frowned.
She put her finger on the little kidney bean thing.
"Wow," he blinked. "It's definitely not a goldfish."
"Nope," I sighed.
Celia's lips twitched. "Is this the fish, kitten, and then puppy thing again?"
"Yea," I nodded staring at the picture she handed me.
She pressed the button again and another picture began to print and then a couple more. "Well, that was a ridiculous theory anyway. The only way you learn to be a parent is to be one."
"Great," I groaned. "That can't be good for the kid. I mean what if we screw up? We're prone to that, you know? We could do irreparable damage to the bean before we have a friggin clue."
Her lips twitched again, "you'll find it comes naturally to you."
"Easy for you to say," I scowled, "you're a friggin obstetrician."
"Okay," she nodded and turned off the machine after gathering the pictures. She handed one to Ranger, "this is your child. Get used to it." Then she pushed the machine out of the room without a backward glance.
"But the other pictures," I frowned and called after her.
"Do you really think I can leave this room alive without pictures for the parents?"
She had a point.
"It really does look like a kidney bean," Ranger sighed staring at the picture.
"Do you think it's a boy kidney bean or a girl kidney bean," I frowned.
"I have no idea," he said thoughtfully. "It doesn't have a penis or a bow in its hair."
"Hardeharhar," I sighed. "You're a laugh a minute."
"I try," he shook his head.
"I think it will be a girl kidney bean," I said thoughtfully and with just a hint of malice.
"Why," he frowned and I could see the suspicion on his face. When he dropped the blank mask, it was truly gone. Now, whether that was because he'd just lost it temporarily due to pain or something, I couldn't say. It could be back tomorrow. Or maybe, just maybe, there was something in that truck roll that jarred things around in his head that made him unable to control the mask. What if he couldn't control the eyebrow either? I'd be a little bit ahead of the game then.
"Because you need to get some pay back for not taking any names and we both get to suffer for it," I glared at him. He'd had anonymous sex just for the release my ass. He'd had it with women! I hope. I mean, I'm pretty sure. No…Christian said he screams hetero. It was women he was messing with. "This baby will look just like you and be gorgeous. You're going to want to lock her into an ivory tower until she's fifty."
"Fifty is too soon to let her out if she looks anything like you," he raised a brow.
"Yea well, get used to it because she will be gorgeous."
He groaned.
"And if it's a boy who looks like you, I will have to have myself committed to an institution by the time he's sixteen."
"Sixteen," he raised a brow.
"Because there will be a blue zillion little slutty Joyce Barnhardt lookalikes that will want in his pants."
"Oh God," he groaned.
"Hey, maybe they'll put Joyce and me in adjoining rooms and we can chat."
His lip twitched.
"Don't laugh at me Ricardo," I glared.
"Right," he put his head down and lifted the picture to stare at it.
I sighed and curled up and gazed at the photo in my hand.
He stared at it for a long time before he looked back over at me. He had fear in his eyes and excitement and a few more things I'd never seen before. He also looked a hell of a lot more protective than I've seen him look and trust me when I tell you this. I've seen him look protective. He took a deep breath, "we're going to have a baby."
My breath caught, "a baby." When you say it like that, it's not really a kidney bean at all…or a goldfish. It was a tiny little miracle growing inside of me. It was a piece of Ranger that I'd always have. His DNA was hanging out in my uterus. Yea, I can get a little gross when I'm philosophical. Sue me.
"Yea…we're going to have a baby," he grinned.
I stared at him for a few moments. He was afraid of marriage and children and he had this friggin fish, kitten and puppy theory to learn nurturing and if I didn't know any better, he was happy about this little bean in my belly. I sighed. "You need a nap," I shook my head. "You've had a very stressful day."
"We're having a baby," he smiled and closed his eyes.
I shook my head. The man was nuts. He was happy about this? Did he have any idea how much we had to fix before this little person came shooting out causing me horrific pain and scarring me forever down below in my happy place? Oh shit! This little being was going to come out of my hoohah. It would be larger than Ranger's er…his…er… seed planter. (I was really going to have to work on my potty mouth if we were going to have a kid running around.) It was friggin going to hurt. I groaned.
"What's the matter Babe," Ranger frowned.
"When you get better," I growled. "I'm going to kill you."
"What did I do," he blinked.
"You planted a seed with your seed planter," I hissed.
"I beg your pardon," he frowned.
"You and your….your…your…magic dick got me pregnant."
"Stephanie," he said and his lip began to twitch, "wait…did you call my dick a seed planter."
"That's what it is," I glared. "We have to find new words for things. We have a child to raise. We can't talk like we have done. We have to clean up our language mister."
"Seed planter," he shook his head.
"Well, I don't know a clean word to call it. Do you want me to tell our daughter about penises?"
"No…I do not," he glared.
"But that's not the point mister…I'm pregnant. Eventually the kidney bean will have to come out and it won't be small. You're enormous!" I swallowed the shock and fell back.
"Yes…babies come out," he nodded.
"The baby has to come out…from down there," I pointed.
"Oh…oh," he winced.
"Oh, oh is right," I glared.
"You really very sort of…small down there," he pursed his lips thoughtfully.
"Duh," I said shaking my head.
"That's gonna hurt like a son-of-a-bitch."
"Oh you're damn right it's gonna hurt," I glared.
"I think you should start thinking about an Epidural or maybe having a C-section," he said seriously.
"Cesareans are for women who can't do it naturally. I'm not having an epidural. The baby needs to be born naturally. It's better for her growth and development. The drugs will put her months behind on walking and talking and learning her ABCs."
"I think you need to decide that later, once you've got the facts. I also think you need to stop referring to the kidney bean as a 'her'. We don't know if it's a boy kidney bean or a girl kidney bean."
"Well, karma suggests that it's probable that this is a girl kidney bean," I tapped the photo in my hand.
"I'm going to have to up the security around the house," he frowned thoughtfully.
"And when she comes out of my hoohah, the same friggin route you put her in, may I add, I'll be doing it naturally because it's best for her future development."
"Stephanie…"
"And you're going to be right there with me through the entire thing."
"Babe…"
"Don't you Babe me," I hissed. "You did the fun part. You get to stick around for the rest."
He swallowed and lay back on the bed with a groan. "If I see that happen, I may never be able to touch you again. What if I'm like Elvis and once you're a mother I can't you know…perform?"
"Right…you'll perform. You're one Cuban hormone," I rolled my eyes.
"Hey…you're one huge Hungarian hormone. Don't cast aspersions on our hormone heritage."
"You sound ridiculous."
"Well, this conversation borders on the ridiculous. For Christ sakes Stephanie, right now it's a kidney bean."
"But someday she'll be a gorgeous sixteen year old girl with Cuban and Hungarian hormones," I glared at him.
He swallowed and true fear showed on his face, "She will be… Oh God. I'm in trouble."
"We're in trouble," I said grimly.
"There are always consequences for the good stuff in life."
"No shit Sherlock," I growled.