Chapter 17

Magic Beans (Part III)

In the final part of our three-shot, Sunday dinner discussion centers around the new little bean's ultrasound (or blueberry at this point in time) while Danny and Linda are still at odds over the results from the appointment with Dr. Geisner. Eddie feels a bit of a chill from her new sister-in-law for reasons she can't understand before another appointment with the doctor steers our older lovebirds on towards the next stop in their journey.


"So when do you think you'll tell Kaylin? It's hard for me to remember sometimes not to say anything directly about the baby in front of her," Erin asked as the three Reagan women were gathered in the kitchen while putting the final touches on a Sunday dinner comprised of a Greek-style bell pepper salad with of huge chunks of crisp peppers, slices of fresh cucumbers, loads of salty Kalamata olives for everyone but Jamie who was allergic, a big dice of tangy goat feta cheese and a few pieces of crunchy walnuts for a bit of a finishing touch, plus grilled steak, roasted little red potatoes and steamed green beans. Jamie was serving as grillmaster on this chilly weekend in October and was making frequent trips in and out to the back porch as he tried to cook everyone's beef exactly to order. Ironically, Eddie found herself fixing a plate with only simple salad greens, plain tuna and crackers since any heavy intake of high protein at this time of day was sure to trigger another extended stay in the bathroom as it would all just make a rapid reappearance, anyway.

"Oh, all the online chat rooms say to wait until the beginning of the second trimester when I start to actually show," Eddie revealed as neither of the two women had noticed how quiet Linda had become. "Jamie thinks she needs to see a better picture of the baby to understand it's real and right now the ones we have would probably give her nightmares of alien abductions," she laughed. "She's already wondering why I'm sick every day, but I think we can pawn it off as the afternoon tummy flu for a few more weeks until hopefully this passes. What about you, Linda?" Eddie asked innocently as she glanced to the side where her sister-in-law was cleaning and slicing the veggies. "How did you tell Jack about Sean coming?"

"Oh, um… I don't really remember," Linda replied rather curtly. "I'm sure Danny probably spilled the bean… well, I mean he can never keep a secret like that. If you'll excuse me, I think I left my phone in the car," she hedged as she hurried out of the room while her device sat plainly next to her purse on the counter, garnering puzzled raised eyebrows at her actions by Erin and Eddie.

"Did I say something wrong?" Eddie blinked in confusion.

"No, I don't think so," Erin assured as she moved and took over the task of preparing the vegetables and adding the beans to the steamer. "Danny mentioned something earlier before you got here about Linda having some family problems from her side, but that she doesn't want to talk about it. Her parents are getting older, maybe they got some bad news… her sister is a real piece of work to deal with, too. Could be anything."

"Oh, well, I still feel bad if I upset her," Eddie replied. "I sure know what it's feels like to have issues with that…" she trailed off. "I'm not half as worried about telling our three-year-old daughter and having her understand as I am my own mother."

"She won't be happy?" Erin asked as she set the timer for five minutes. "She seemed to get so close to Kaylin when she was here for the wedding and Dad said she was very affectionate with her as she said her goodbyes when they dropped her off at the airport the next day. I would think she might like another grandchild, especially a new baby this time."

"My mom is a real fickle pickle, if you haven't noticed," Eddie admitted with a small snort as she used her father's long-ago pet name for Eva. "She'll eventually accept it… even be happy after a little while I think, but before we got married, she warned me about doing something like this too quickly and putting so many people before my own needs right away… I'll have some 'splaining to do, especially because I told her I was going to focus on becoming a detective this year. She really wanted that for me. I mean if I'm gonna be a cop she thinks that I'll be safer behind a desk more often than not instead of out on the street on patrol every day. Maybe I'll have to play up that part of it," Eddie sighed. "I'll be stuck as a big, fat house mouse for months now while this kiddo is sucking me dry. Speaking of pickles," she veered off topic. "I swear I would give anything right this second for an extra large greasy cheesesteak from Chickie and Pete's with a pile of cooked onions, peppers and pickles plus an order of their super hot spicy fries. I've been addicted to that place since my dad and I took a day trip down to Philadelphia years ago to watch the Giants play the Eagles. With Jamie's genes in here though, that would probably just about kill me," she added with a sad huff as the back door opened and her aforementioned husband arrived inside shivering and bearing a loaded plate of perfectly seared steaks. "More plain lettuce and tuna for me I guess, right dear?"

"Sounds good, lambchop," he agreed, oblivious to the whole of their previous conversation as Jamie himself was dreading the big grandmommazilla reveal and frankly happy that Eddie had decided to put it off until Thanksgiving week or so. "You need protein, but tuna no more than once a week because of the mercury. The blueberry is making the umbilical cord and private areas right now. Gotta stay healthy. You should really add some milk or yogurt for the calcium," he advised. "I'll take this out to the table. Everything else ready?"

"Right behind you, papa bear," Erin teased with a friendly elbow to his back as she carried a few serving dishes with her before turning around while Nicki suddenly appeared in the doorway to help them as she had finished setting the table.

"Blueberry?" she questioned her aunt.

"That's how big the baby is right now," Eddie sighed as she explained. "We use those words for it around Kaylin so she doesn't pick up on everything we're talking about. Your uncle has obsessively memorized each and every weekly stage we'll be going through, what size the munchkin is compared to fruit or vegetables and what's happening with what at that precise moment in there."

"Well, then you're right Eddie," Erin whispered to her sister-in-law now following behind her. "I don't see you getting that cheesesteak anytime soon. Call me if you get desperate though and I'll arrange to smuggle something in for you when the food warden isn't looking. What he doesn't know won't hurt him."

###

"I have to give it to you girls, this new pepper salad is fantastic and I think this is some of the best steak I have ever tasted," Frank declared as he sat with fork and knife raised in the air. "Just about melts in your mouth," he proclaimed before offering a sheepish look towards his newest daughter-in-law as he noticed her grimace and wrinkled nose while she took another deliberate bite of her lettuce and tuna.

"Mmm hmm... yummy... yummm...," she trailed off with a frown and sighed.

"Grass-fed organic free-range beef from the mountain pastures in Idaho," Jamie explained as he ignored his wife's comment since it was his turn to provide the main fare for this week's dinner and no one else in the family was a big fan of fish or vegetarian dishes except for the occasional salmon Linda prepared. "Annabel's father, Bill, runs deliveries from the distributer in the city so he gets it at wholesale. We're gonna have to try their Bison rib-eye next time."

"Well, I'm certainly game for that," Henry declared as he looked down the line at a rather quiet right side of the table. "What's the matter with our Staten Island contingent?" he asked. "Normally the three of you would chow down over a meal like this and be fighting for the table scraps. Kaylin's big kitty cat got all your tongues?"

"It's Bear, Pop Pop, and he can't catch 'em! He's back home at my house 'gain!" the little girl insisted as she happily dipped the little meat pieces and all her vegetables into her favored ranch dressing, or white gravy as Jamie had taken to calling it since it flavored just about everything she ate these days. Even her hypervigilant daddy knew not to mess with a good thing though as long as an otherwise balanced dinner went down one way or another for the tiny but finicky pre-schooler who had an upcoming appointment at the pediatrician which would no doubt result in another lecture about where she fell on one of those damn height-weight charts again, averaging around just the third percentile in weight and tenth in height. Jamie was adamant they find somewhere new to take her after he nearly lost his temper with one of the rather preachy doctors there the last time, while Eddie appreciated the convenience of their sick-child 24-7 emergency clinic which was located just a few blocks from their new home so it was a standoff at this point, especially with the new addition on the way.

"Just been a long week, Pop," Danny acknowledged quietly for the whole family as he picked at his plate. The tension in their house had been evident over the weekend as Linda fought to control her emotions and both boys had nervously picked up on it… concerned that it meant a return to that time when their parents had separated for a few weeks and Danny went to live with Jamie and Eddie. They couldn't know of course what was really behind the issue and the fact that their father was doing everything possible to remain supportive while renewing his stance that having another baby was something they probably shouldn't do. The couple would have begged off on this dinner today in fact if they could have come up with a reasonable excuse on such short notice, hence Danny's deliberate, but not wholly truthful reveal to Erin that Linda was having family issues and didn't want to talk about it. The rest of the Reagan family was thusly fooled as to the cause of her angst and warned to tread lightly around her. Unfortunately that tactic backfired when it left the other major topic of the week up for open discussion… Eddie's first ultrasound.

"So Aunt Eddie, what was it like seeing the 'blueberry' for the first time?" Nicki asked with a snicker and air quotes around this week's descriptive term. "I heard that Uncle Jamie was afraid there was a whole fruit salad in there."

"It was pretty incredible," Eddie admitted. "We didn't expect it to look so… um, well so berry-like already. Word of advice though," she added. "If you are ever in that situation, take a tranquilizer dart with you for the hubby unless you appreciate being internally strip searched to make sure there was only one. Happy the rest of them will be done from the outside," she emphasized with a roll of the eyes.

"That still must be so cool, though," Nicki continued to ask for details as her curiosity was piqued, much to her mother and Linda's dismay. "When can you find out, you know… what kind of melon you might have? I mean will you? Or do you want it to be a surprise?"

"Oh, um… not for another ten weeks or so," Eddie admitted as she glanced at the side for confirmation. "And we really haven't had time to think about it yet, did we dear?" she asked pointedly although the pair was already divided on that point with Eddie wanting to wait until the birth to find out if it was a boy or girl to keep the surprise while a pragmatic Jamie would rather be sure he was painting the nursery the right color. "What size produce are we looking at by that point?"

"Bell pepper just like these yummy vegetables Mommy made for you, right Kaylin?" Jamie answered automatically as he ducked that loaded first question and tried to keep his daughter interested in the food while he popped another bite in his mouth before filling in the details. "Fingerprints form, eyes face forward and start to see, well at least detect light."

"Peppers see me?" came the surprised question from the precocious three-year-old as she hesitated while dunking that next veggie in the dressing and suspiciously pushed her plate away. "Greenie beanies, too?"

"No, baby… Daddy is just joking," Eddie huffed as she nudged the dish back. "Greenie beanies and other vegetables are still yummy for your tummy to eat... they can't look back at people. You and your bright ideas, Harvard," she hissed at Jamie under her breath as she watched her daughter self-impose yet another restriction on their meal-planning. Pretty soon they were going to be back to the dreaded all-you-can-eat grilled cheese sandwich stage again.

"Funny, I thought everyone in this family knew the reason potatoes make good detectives," Jack snickered as he came out of his shell a bit and offered a joke to lighten the mode. "It's because they keep their eyes peeled."

"Watch it weisenheimer," Henry warned as he picked up a roasted spud with his fork and took a deliberate bite in front of Kaylin. "See, sweetheart… the nice vegetable never saw it coming. Anyway back in my day," he continued as he tried to change the subject before it went any further down that road. "We didn't need to have these conversations. There was no highfalutin fancy way to look at it. If the rabbit kicked the can you waited nine months, when it was time the woman got knocked out cold until it was over and then the doctor handed you a cigar and took you to the nursery to look at whatever God blessed you with behind the glass once it was there and cleaned up. That's how we ended up with Francis," he added with a smug grin. "If my Betty and I had seen the mug on that big ten-and-a-half pounder beforehand we might have sent him back," he kidded.

"Well I think having all of this information beforehand is a wonderful thing," Erin added. "I mean it helps you bond by seeing the development and on the outside chance they do find something wrong, there have been such advances in fetal medicine... a lot of times they can fix it before the birth or be prepared to do it right after. I only got to have two ultrasounds with Nicki, but they were both incredible experiences," she added as she reached over and squeezed her daughter's arm. "I'll never forget them. What do you think, Linda?" she asked without knowing how that question was directly related to what was currently between Danny and his wife. "I mean in the years since you first started nursing, hasn't all the technology and testing improved the outcomes?"

"Yes, but sometimes I think it's better to rely on faith like before," Linda answered quietly with a tight throat as she stared down at her plate and pushed the food around. "Too much information can be a bad thing if it keeps you from following that," she stated considering that all those same sort of facts they had just been given had spooked her husband right back into the 'we shouldn't even consider this' camp.

"Well, I'm with Erin; I think the more you know, the better," Danny insisted as he surprisingly inserted himself into the conversation in agreement with his sister and he vigorously cut off another piece of meat with his steak knife to make his point. "Especially if there are other things to consider and it saves someone from getting hurt," he emphasized cryptically with a final scrape on the plate as he stabbed his loose beef with his fork and waved it in the air. "Sometimes we have to be thankful for not taking a wrong turn. What do you think, Dad?" he challenged as Frank looked on with a wrinkle of concern at the palpable tension between the older couple as he had been unable to get a clear reading of what was going on between the two yet, and this little interchange had done nothing to dispel that.

"I think that considering my parents, I was pretty lucky to be born at the time I was," Frank admitted with a frown and eyebrow directed towards Henry. "But it's not the information that is a good or bad thing, just what you decide to do with it. Now, please pass those observant potatoes," he added in his typical method of defusing a potential heated exchange at the table.

###

"Eddie, please go sit down and rest, I'll get it," Jamie admonished after he came back inside from cleaning and storing the grill for the winter and found his wife in the kitchen at the sink scrubbing the last of the serving platters. "You shouldn't be doing that."

"Jamie, I'm fine," she insisted. "It's a blueberry, not a pumpkin yet, remember? And can we just go back to bean for this week? Blueberries kinda creep me out with that little pucker exploded-looking thing there on the end. Besides, we're the only ones still here. I think Pop is playing checkers with Kaylin; your dad got a call from work and went in his office; Erin had to run Nicki back to school for some sort of study group and Danny and Linda already left with the kids. It was weird though, don't you think?" she noted as her hands stopped in the soapy water and she made her patented frowny face. "I mean the way they acted around me today. It was like she couldn't even be in the same room and had to get out of here. I hope I didn't say anything wrong earlier, although I'm not sure exactly what that could have been," she puzzled with a hurt look on her face. "You don't think they're having problems again, do you? Maybe she's upset because I helped Danny the last time? The boys were quiet too in the beginning."

"Something was definitely up, but I can't imagine it was anything about you, lambchop," he assured as he slipped in behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist before letting his hands slide into the suds as he took over the dishwashing. "Besides it looked like they were into it before we even got here. It couldn't have been anything you said. They'll work it out, whatever it is. Don't worry about it," he offered as he breathed on her neck and offered a soft kiss. "Maybe you should concentrate on this, instead."

"Oh, Mr. Reagan," Eddie sighed as his close presence jumpstarted another happy side effect of this unexpected pregnancy as her hormonal havoc had definitely heightened her already healthy sex drive… something her new husband was only too happy to exploit on every possible occasion. "Maybe once we're done here, we can ask Pop to keep an eye on Kaylin a little longer while we run some errands for an hour or so," she added suggestively. "What do you think?"

"I'm thinking this little magic bean is the best wingman I've ever had," Jamie admitted with a sly smile as he pulled the drain so the water could run out of the sink. "Daddy owes you big time, sprout. Let's get out of here."

###

"Linda… Danny, so good to see you again," Dr. Geisner greeted the couple at their appointed time more than a week later. "Dr. Jacobs and I reviewed your charts and old films last Thursday, but first before we get into that I'd like to know if you have any more questions for me."

"No, not really," Linda admitted as they took their seats on the other side of the doctor's desk. "We've talked about the increased odds for genetic problems and the fact that terminating a pregnancy in the event something like that came up is against our beliefs," she informed her.

"Well, again… the odds against a problem like that remain heavily in your favor, even at this later stage, but it is certainly good to be on the same page with each other should that become an issue," the doctor agreed as she looked up and noted the quiet and more reluctant expression on Danny's face had remained since their last visit and he shifted rather uncomfortably in his seat as an incident from the past weekend had threatened the necessity for this very appointment, but that was a story for another day. "Alright, I'm sure you are most anxious to hear about Dr. Jacob's perspective on the possible complications of the bullet as it remains, so let's proceed with that," she counselled while flipping back to her previous notes.

"First, as you know the decision not to operate and remove that fragment was a clinical one and based on a careful risk-benefit analysis. Your immediate spinal cord area was not compromised and normally scar tissue develops in one to two weeks that stabilizes the position. Considering the fact that you report no pain or disfunction after your initial recovery that was probably the safest option at the time."

"That's good then, right?" Linda edged. "It's been almost eighteen months since that day and aside from a little stiffness here and there if I'm on my feet all day, it isn't really bothering me anymore."

"Yes, that's a very good thing," Dr. Geisner admitted. "However since the fragment is lying near the sympathetic nerves around L2 I mentioned which do affect the reproductive system, Dr. Jacobs would advise having an EMG, an electromyogram and nerve conduction study done to test your nerve function. That test is very safe and performed in an outpatient setting," she added quickly as she saw Danny's concern mount. "Tiny electrodes are put to the skin and very small amounts of electricity are run through them to test the nerve and muscular response."

"And what is he looking for?" he questioned as he sat forward.

"Well, the presence of the bullet may lead to future complications such as development of neuropathic pain, migration to cause further damage, and inflammation. One of our main concerns though would be the effect on the uterus which is a muscle and does need to be able to contract and function throughout the pregnancy to avoid complications, even if you elect to have a scheduled c-section. There are still small contractions that aid in turning the baby and the musculature supporting it in the womb, although I must note that even women with full paralysis can and have had successful healthy deliveries," she emphasized.

"You said that is one of your main concerns," Danny latched onto her words as any good detective would. "What are the others?"

"My other worry would be the growing pressure a pregnancy would place internally on the fragment which might cause it to migrate or press up closer against the spinal nerve root," Dr. Geisner admitted. "Weakness may occur for any muscle that is innervated by the pinched nerve. Long-term pressure on the nerve can produce atrophy or wasting of that particular muscle and you could experience intense lower back pain, muscle spasms, localized pain and tenderness and loss of motion among other things. There is a possibility that such things could become permanent."

"Well then that's it, right Linda?" Danny asked as he turned to his wife who had remained quiet. "Even if the chance is low, we can't risk your health like that. I mean you've made such a good recovery after the shooting… we have to be happy with that and the fact we already have two healthy boys. We're talking about the quality of the rest of your life here!" he began to insist.

"I know you're right, Danny," Linda admitted quietly as she controlled her response. "It was so easy before for us before I never thought... but still…" she implored as she looked up at the doctor.

"Again," Dr. Geisner emphasized. "We are dealing with the unknown as I do not know how we could test for such a thing beforehand. Other options for a biological child would include surrogacy, the overall cost for which can be between $80,000 to $100,000 if the couple can donate their own eggs or frozen fertilized embryos. Domestic adoption could be another avenue, but that still could reach into the tens of thousands," she offered.

"Not gonna happen unless we hit the lottery," Danny acknowledged sadly.

"What if we take the bullet out first?" Linda asked suddenly as the thought occurred to her. The last week had given her time for introspection, and although this was still a painful topic, it was easier for her to approach it now from her more clinical medical background as a nurse once she was able to temper her emotional response. "If I recover from that well then there wouldn't be any issue, right?"

"That would be a discussion you would need to have with your neurosurgeon and your husband," Dr. Geisner answered thoughtfully. "For this part, yes that would likely resolve the issues you would be facing, but I cannot speak to what Dr. Jacobs would advise… we did not discuss that possibility. I would suggest you make an appointment directly with his office. I'm sure he would require you to have a new CT scan and perhaps that EMG before he could counsel you."

"Linda..." Danny warned.

"Danny, I have to know before we just give up," she begged. "He never told me it was too dangerous to take it out, just that it wasn't necessary because the bleeding and everything else was controlled and it wasn't likely to move or cause further issues if he left it there. At the time, I thought we were done, and I never brought up the possibility of having another baby. I promise I'll move on if he thinks it's the wrong thing to do. Please?" she pleaded. "Let's just have a little more faith? We've come this far… I need you to do this one more thing for me."

"Alright," Danny sighed as he reluctantly gave in. "Call him and make an appointment and we'll go from there. Linda, you know I love you and would give you the moon if I could," he trailed off in guilt once more that they had waited to this point.

"I know, Daniel," she acknowledged softly as she grabbed his hand for the first time during the whole appointment. "And I love you more."


So all hope is not lost for our older lovebirds, but there are still issues to consider and it will take them a while to get that appointment with a specialist and the testing done which will bring that storyline into the next installment. Next up starting Monday will be a two-shot chronicling Kaylin's last outdoor soccer game of the season which took place just two days before this appointment and sees Jamie's NYPD "Blue Shieldz" PAL team come up against the FDNY "Red Dragons" smoke eaters of Station 54 in a battle of the heretofore undefeated sides, which of course will have nearly the whole competitive Reagan clan showing up for support except for Eddie who is stuck at work and demanding periodic updates. Add in an evident clash of coaching styles between the brothers, a rather painful error in judgement for Uncle Danny, a trip to the pediatrician for several ouchies for Kaylin as well as a near brawl on the sidelines which requires the Police Commissioner's tactical finesse to thwart and we'll have just another typical weekend kid's sporting event.