Amy and Jake

"Are you ready?" Amy was pacing back and forth, she hoped Jake was, because she was still unsure if she was ready.

Jake nodded, although reluctantly, "yes, let's do this, it's time, it's been six days. I leave tomorrow, and I don't want him visiting at our apartment, and he is my best friend, he just hurts me when he's sad, happy, excited, horny, sick, and nervous."

Amy took a deep breath, "okay, here goes." She pressed the nurse's intercom, "okay, send him in." They heard a shout of some sort, followed by some warnings from the nurse, then the doorknob turned, and Charles walked, almost ran, in and fell to his knees next to Jake's hospital bed.

"Jakey, it should have been me. You're too beautiful to go through all this. Too beautiful and brave."

"Charles, chill man. I'm doing better, I'll be fine."

Charles stood up and surveyed all the machines Jake was hooked up to, "I heard you lost half a kidney, I've already offered one of mine if it will serve you."

Amy laughed, part amusement part disgust. Jake rolled his eyes, "Charles, please sit down. My biggest danger now is you hurting me, like tackling me after you found out Amy was pregnant."

"That's on you for holding it from me."

Jake pointed at him, "no, it's on you for not reacting like a normal person, Charles, normal people don't hurt their friends for good news, or for all the reasons you tackle me."

Charles' gaze was focused on Amy's stomach, "Charles, knock it off, quit staring at belly or I'll mace you so fast..."

Charles grinned and tried to place his flat palm over Amy's stomach before she slapped it away with a lot of force.

"Sorry, Amy, just so excited. So, when do we find out if it's a little Amy or a perfect little Jake?"

Amy shared a look with Jake, she was already tired of him, but he loved Jake, more than anything, so she would be patient, "we are going to try on my next visit to my doctor, Monday, the third, it will be just eighteen weeks, so it could be difficult to see for certain, but that's the plan."

Jake smile at her, "September third and I'll know whether to expect a small version of Amy or a hellraiser, crap, all of a sudden all girls sounds better."

Amy frowned, "that's no guarantee, at all. It's not the cartoons where all the boy dogs look like their dad and all the girl dogs look their mom."

Charles beamed, "but that would be awesome if you Lady and the Tramped it, one little Jake amongst a litter of Amy's."

Amy hit him on his harm, "Charles, do not refer to anything having to do with my pregnancy as a litter, I'm not a dog."

"Yeah, Boyle. Be cool or she'll have you banned."

Charles hung his head, "I'm already on my third and final warning here because I tried to sneak in, twice, once on Tuesday and again yesterday. Why wasn't I allowed to see you? I am your besty after all."

Jake laughed and grabbed his side, Amy's eyes narrowed, "Charles, we both love you, you are our good friend, but you go overboard and hurt Jake, he has broken ribs and had internal damage that resulted in half a kidney being removed, so you were a risk we couldn't take. The same might be true for our baby when it is born if you can't learn to control your emotions when it comes to Jake."

Charles shuffled his feet and bobbed his head around, "okay, I get it, Genevieve and Terry both pretty much said the same thing."

After a very long hour, Charles was gone and Amy laying next to Jake on his right side, his less injured side, he was asleep, and she marveled at his strength. She knew he was scared and nervous, he had been before it happened, but he was so determined to be strong for her that he was putting aside his own fears and insecurities, he had come a long way since they started dating.

Both of them were awakened by the doctor, Amy felt a little embarrassed for sleeping on her injured husband, but Jake insisted on it and he told her he slept better with her on the bed with him.

"Detective Peralta," Doctor Ingram was a short, balding black man with a thick moustache, "everything is continuing to look good, so barring any unforeseen changes, you will be discharged tomorrow in the early afternoon. Your vitals remain excellent, no signs of infection, your remaining kidney seems to be functioning normally."

Amy squeezed his hand, "Doctor, will he be required to change up his diet? I know a partial nephrectomy is fairly rare, or so I've read."

Dr. Ingram nodded, "yes, that's why it took so long to get Jake out of surgery his first day here, we thought it would be more straight forward because of the lacerations and their locations, but it's never simple, once the broken bones were set our best kidney surgeon and specialist, Dr. Hudson came in and took off more, I don't know if you were told all this, it's not really necessary to know as the surgery was success, it just took a long time." Dr. Ingram looked at Jake's chart and CT scans, "you are fortunate Mr. Peralta, with a partially functioning kidney, in addition to your other kidney, the diet requirements are fairly minimal, which from what I've been told about your eating habits by the nurses is fortunate. You seem to really like sugar. A lot. You need to drink a lot of water, way more than you do know, and make eating vegetables a more regular thing, these kidneys keep you alive Mr. Peralta, treat them nicely."

Amy glared at Jake quickly, she then remembered something. "Doctor, I have an ultrasound in three days, will Jake be able to come with me? I know he is required to rest for a long time, minimal activities, and no strenuous activities for five to six weeks, I would love him there, I just don't want to push him if it's too soon."

Dr. Ingram rubbed his chin, "actually, I was considering something." He looked at Amy, "Sergeant Peralta, I was told you were punched in your kidneys, rather brutally, at the beginning of your pregnancy, forgive me if this painful to hear or re-hash, but as a kidney specialist, I would like to take a look at them, just to make sure your pregnancy combined with what you went through isn't placing too great a strain on them. As we do this, we can determine the sex of the baby. We don't always recommend CT scans for pregnant women, it's normally avoided, but the risk of any radiation or adverse effects is minimal and the benefits of getting a good look at your kidneys and the baby outweigh the risks for me. It's your decision, I am just curious and am always trying to find out more about renal strain during pregnancy."

Amy grinned, she had read about CT scans and pregnancies, weeks ago, most doctors avoided them, but it was truly not a big deal. "That would be awesome, I would still need to go to my ultrasound and see my doctor, but absolutely."

Dr. Ingram nodded, "great, I'm not overly concerned, but renal strain in pregnant women can be overwhelming, and with what you went through, I am curious to say the least, and again, I'm hoping I can learn something."

After Dr. Ingram left, Amy was elated, "Jake, we get to know today! I'm so nervous and happy all at once."

"Ames, that's cool. Cool, cool, cool, but what about your kidneys, what if they're not great."

Amy rolled her eyes at him, "Jake, I'm fine. I've felt great, I've read about women with renal issues, I don't have that, no blood in urine, no pain, I'm good."

"I don't know what renal issues are, but it sounds like butt problems."

Amy hit his leg, "no, Mr. Kidney problems, renal means kidneys, do you ever pay attention to doctors?"

"No, then I have an excuse to eat the way I do."

"Jake, you have to eat better. You've improved, but now, with a baby on the way and half a kidney down, it's time to step up and eat like an adult, for us."

"Damn, ignoring myself is easy, but ignoring you and baby Peralta, not as easy."

Twenty minutes later, a nurse came and escorted Amy to the diagnostics lab on the next floor up. Jake turned on the television and was happy to find Die Hard on. Bruce Willis was a bloody mess, normally, this caused Jake to feel excited for the ending, but now, it was different. He hadn't watched since Amy's captivity and torture, and now, after his own near-death experience, he couldn't watch it, he had been a bloody mess and was told more times than he could count that he was lucky to be alive. He sighed loudly and changed the channel, in a state of disbelief that he couldn't stomach his favorite movie. He watched a Met's game now, they were lousy and already out of playoff contention, but he loved the Mets. He had wondered once why he loved the Mets so much, they were occasionally good, but often bad if not terrible, then Amy forced him to watch Ken Burns' Baseball, and he had his answer.

Roger Angell, a sports writer Jake had liked and read his entire life explained that the Mets represented the common man, who lost more than they won, and that this fact resonated with people. The Mets of the sixties had lost record amounts of games and still brought in more fans than the winning Yankees, because people felt a connection with the Mets, they were more like themselves. Jake needed that, he felt that he lost, a lot. Going to prison, his current injuries, Amy's ordeal, they were terrible and difficult to deal with and comprehend, but if he was like the Mets, then that was okay, losses were expected, part of life, it made him feel a little better about things.

Amy was wheeled into the room smiling, Dr. Ingram pushed her, "Detective, your wife insisted I wait to tell you until she was with you, which not everyone would do in her shoes. He put Amy next to Jake, then removed a photo from his folder, "this is the image of your child." Jake squinted, he wasn't sure what he saw, Amy teared up, "Jake, I can tell you are not unlike many fathers, but you are having a baby boy. Congratulations. Also, on an equally happy note, there appears to be no renal damage, things look excellent."

Dr. Ingram was soon gone, and Jake and Amy were still silent, Amy was smiling, and Jake looked like he was in shock, when Amy noticed his look she rubbed his leg, "Jake, you look sad, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, I just kind of wanted a girl, a little Amy, a little princess to spoil. I didn't say anything, but it's what I was thinking."

Amy kissed him, "only you, Jake, only you. You aren't excited for a boy?"

Jake moved uncomfortably, "sure, but what if he's like me, I was not easy to deal with, despite my claims, I don't always think I'm awesome."

Amy rolled her eyes at him, "yes, I know, we are married. You were normal, your mom told me you could be hard to deal with sometimes, but that you were also her protector and cook and cleaner, she thinks that's why you were such a slob when you lived on your own."

Jake nodded slightly on his pillow, "yeah, maybe, but still a punk. Do I want Bruce Peralta to be like that?"

"First, no Bruce, second, our son will have his difficult times, they all do, but he will be ours, and we will love him no matter what and make the best of it, like your mom did with you, like my parents did with seven boys."

"What about him being a Peralta? Roger was terrible, his dad was a drinker, I'm good, but it took a lot of bad examples to get me there. Not to mention you, you, and you. Did I mention you?"

"Jake, you are not a good person and husband just because your dad left you and you met me."

Jake sat up a little, "Are you sure? I was still a tool when we met, I hurt you, I was more selfish, I didn't take care of myself."

"And I was overly obsessed with my career, I was judgmental, and I had never been in love. You changed that, I cared about someone else. You brought me out of my safe zone and helped me realize there was more to life, that it was okay to enjoy things and have a good time while I walked my path to my plans. You also support me more than anyone ever has, including my parents, so give yourself a break."

Jake thought about things for a minute, he watched the game a little as Amy continued to take in the image of their son. "Ames, you sure you want the name William? It just sounds so formal."

"I do like it, but it's far from a final decision, it would be easier if you came to the table with actual serious names and not only movie names or puns."

"Yeah, okay. I've kind of started wanting to give our baby a Hispanic name, since his last name won't reflect his Cuban roots."

"Okay, I'm fine with that, but it doesn't have to be that either, you don't have to do it for me or my parents, my name is Amy after all."

"No, I'm serious, this baby will be Jewish and Cuban, the nose will probably give away the Jewish like me, so I'm thinking the first name should give away the Cuban."

Amy rubbed his leg lovingly, "okay, do you have any you like or have thought about?"

Jake shook his head slightly, "well, the only one I've thought about is José, because of your Grandpa Santiago."

"And for a middle name? Hispanic or other?"

Jake looked away, slightly embarrassed, "well, honestly, I wanted José Jacob Peralta, and we could call him JJ when he's young, I like the sound of JJ Peralta."

Amy nodded and considered it, "I kind of like, I love your name for his middle name, I'll think about it, not one hundred percent sure, but I like it, my dad would be beyond thrilled, they were really close, and he says he's always felt bad that he didn't name one my brothers José."

"C'mon Ames, JJ Peralta, it has a ring to it, a very nice ring."

Amy leaned over and kissed him, "I'll think about it, for reals."

Jake smiled, "that's all I ask."