Chapter Two
(She's twenty weeks or five months)
"Atem! Atem, come quick!" I called to the kitchen.
"What?! What is it, Cupcake?!" he exclaimed as he ran over to me.
"The baby's kicking. Feel," I said, placing his hands on my stomach.
"Woah," I heard him whisper.
"I know. Isn't it amazing?"
He nodded and kissed my stomach.
"When I go to my appointment tomorrow, do you want to know the gender of the baby?" I asked.
"No. I'll leave the room when you're told that. I want to be surprised," he answered.
"What if it's twins?"
"I don't know, Cupcake. At your last ultrasound, there was only one heartbeat, so I doubt it."
He kissed me on the cheek.
"Dinner's almost ready," he whispered as he returned to the kitchen.
I stayed at my spot on the couch until Atem yelled that it was time for dinner.
We sat on the couch and watched TV.
As we were watching, Atem abruptly muted the TV.
"Hey, I was watching that!" I said.
He scooted closer to me and wrapped me in his warm embrace.
"I love you so much, baby," he whispered.
"I love you too," I whispered back, "But I'm missing my show."
He chuckled and turned the volume up. "I love Your Lie In April," I sighed.
"I know you do, lovely."
He smiled.
We watched close to five more episodes and then went to bed.
~The Next Day~
I shook Atem awake.
"Atem, wake up, it's almost time to go," I said.
His eyes shot open as he jumped up to get ready.
Once we were there, I talked to the technician in private.
"He doesn't want to know the gender," I said, "Don't tell him if were having multiples, either. But, I want to know."
She nodded and said, "I totally understand."
I smiled as she let Atem in.
"Okay, Miss Muto, lie down and lift up your shirt," she told me.
After I did as told, she placed the Doppler on my belly.
"Well, Mr. Muto, I'm sure the only thing you want to know is if the baby's healthy, in which case, it is," the technician said a few minutes later.
Atem nodded.
"I'll take my leave then," he said as he kissed my forehead, "I'll see you in the waiting room, Cupcake."
I nodded.
"I won't be long."
After he left, I turned to the technician.
"Okay, what gender and why does it sound like it's heart's beating twice as hard?" I asked anxiously.
"Okay, I'll answer the second one first. You're having twins and it's girls," she answered, just as excited as I was.
"Oh, my gosh! And they're both healthy?"
She nodded.
"Both of them. Mr. Muto will be thrilled in a few months," she said.
I smiled.
"Yes, but I don't think he'll know what to do with two girls," I said with a giggle.
She laughed along as she wiped the gel away from my abdomen.
"Okay, you did good, Miss Muto. I look forward to seeing you next time, hopefully, with contractions. Most moms don't have any more ultrasounds after this one. But, I might be lurking around during labor," she said happily.
I nodded with a smile.
I didn't have the heart to tell her I wouldn't be having the baby at the hospital.
After I met Atem in the waiting room, we went out for lunch and went home.
I started to prepare my bags for when we started to stay with Atem's mother for the birth.
"Don't you think you're a bit ahead of yourself, baby?" Atem called from the living room.
"One can never be too prepared, Fluffer Nutter," I called back.
"Well, one ought to take a break and watch some Gilmore Girls," he said.
I sighed.
"Fine, but only because it's Gilmore Girls," I said as I sat down.
He chuckled.
"I knew that would work."
I nestled into him as we watched TV.
Halfway through, Atem placed his lips next to my ear.
"Calm down, Cupcake," he whispered, "I can feel your heart beat against mine."
I looked into his eyes as he kissed me passionately. I almost kissed back, but stopped myself.
"You promised we wouldn't do anything until the baby is born," I whispered.
"I know, but let me make out with you this once," he whispered back.
"Fine."
I returned the kiss as he put his arms around me.
After a few minutes, I separated from him.
"Come on, baby. Let's finish our show," I whispered.
He nodded.
He kept his arm around me as he pulled me closer. I rested my head on his shoulder.
After we had dinner, we went to bed.
~Three Months Later~
We started staying at Atem's mother's house a few weeks ago, as I started to get Braxton Hicks.
She said they're a natural part of pregnancy, but that I should stay anyway until after the babies (she said baby's, but whatever) were born.
Which should be next month.
Many times, I found myself in the kitchen, eating random foodstuffs from the pantry. I didn't care what I ate, as long as it was food. I felt a presence behind me.
"Baby, you need to sleep. You need your strength for the baby."
"I know, Fluffer Nutter, but the Nutella was calling me," I answered as he rubbed my stomach.
"Cool it in there, baby, you're causing your mom grief," Atem said into my stomach.
I giggled as he placed his ear on my tummy.
He nodded.
"He says he'll stop, if you stop getting up past midnight," he informed me.
"It's a deal, sweetheart," I said with a giggle, "But you have to do your share, too."
Atem smiled and kissed me.
"Come back to bed, Cupcake," he whispered.
"Sure thing, babe," I whispered back.
~The Next Day~
"Sweetheart, wake up," said the voice next to me, "I've got a cardio exam today. We can get lunch afterwards."
"Mmm, food," I mumbled as I got up and got dressed.
I walked like a zombie to the door, where Sabine was.
"Where do you think you're going?" she asked in her thick Egyptian accent.
"Your son has to see the heart doctor today," I groaned.
"You're not supposed to go anywhere until my grandchild is born."
"Mrs. M, I respect that, but I have to go to this. Atem's health means a lot to me," I begged.
She sighed.
"Fine," she huffed as she returned to her room.
I giggled as I told Atem, "It was the puppy dog eyes. Everyone falls for them."
"Even me," Atem said with a chuckle as we got into the car.
We talked the whole way there and in the waiting room.
"Mr. Muto," called the nurse.
We both stood as the nurse took to a room where she weighed Atem.
"Lay off the donuts for a while," I told him.
He chuckled slightly at me, even though he was trying to be serious.
The nurse then took us to an exam room, where we waited for the doctor.
When he arrived, he took Atem's blood pressure and pulse and looked at some other stuff.
"Okay, sir, I'm gonna need you to remove your shirt for this part of the exam," said the doctor.
"Of course," answered Atem, who immediately took of his shirt.
When he did so, I erupted into a fit of giggles like a schoolgirl.
He raised his finger to his lip to shush me, but to no avail.
I continued giggling and felt something wet above my lips. I touched it and looked. Blood.
"Well, crap, I've gone and gotten the anime nosebleed again. I got napkins in my purse," I said through my incessant giggling.
I took them out and wiped, then stuffed some extras in my nostrils.
"I'm good now," I said, clutching my stomach from the laughing.
"Wife?" asked the doctor.
"Fiancee," he answered.
"Ah," the doctor said, "Okay, anyway, back to the exam. Please lie down so I may feel your heartbeat."
Atem did as told and laid down.
After a minute, the doctor said, "Okay, everything feels fine. Now, you probably remember this from last time, but I've gotta explain it anyway. I'm gonna use this stethoscope to listen to your heart."
I sat and watched as the doctor placed his stethoscope on different places on Atem's chest.
I felt very unneeded.
The doctor noticed and whispered something to Atem, to which he replied, "Sure."
The doctor turned to me.
"Have you ever heard your fiance's heartbeat before?" he asked me.
"Y-Yeah, when we're cuddling. Never through a stethoscope, though," I answered, embarrassed at the oddness of the question.
"Don't you wanna try it?" asked Atem, whipping out his own puppy dog eyes.
I eyed the both of them, then sighed.
"Why not?" I asked myself aloud.
The doctor placed the earpieces in my ears and the chest piece over Atem's heart.
I closed my eyes and listened quietly to the sound that provided my Fluffer Nutter's life and the soundtrack to so many of my naps.
"It sounds so much clearer through a stethoscope. It relaxes me so much, I could listen to it all day," I whispered.
"Yes. You know, that baby inside of you is listening to yours all the time," the doctor told me, "Okay, returning to the examination. Mr. Muto, lie on your left side. Um, Miss...?"
"Muto. I go by Muto as well," I answered.
"Oh, okay. Miss Muto, stethoscope please."
I passed it back to him.
He continued with the exam. Soon, he was finished.
"Okay, everything is good. I found a murmur, but I wouldn't worry too much about it. I find this particular murmur in athletes a lot. So, I guess you're just in shape," he said with a chuckle.
"That's good," I said as I turned to Atem, "Is it lunchtime now?"
Atem chuckled.
"Yes, it's lunchtime now," he said as we walked out.
I smiled.
"I'm thinking Zaxby's or Olive Garden?" I offered a suggestion.
"I say Olive Garden, it has a very romantic atmosphere," Atem told me as he kissed me.
I smirked as he drove us to the restaurant.
Once we were seated, I said to Atem, "It's been three, almost four months. Are you sure you don't wanna know the sex of our baby?"
He shook his head.
"No. I want to be surprised. Completely," he said.
"Oh, you'll be surprised alright," I thought.
The meal went by very quickly.
I kept Atem preoccupied the whole ride home.
"You have asked me the same question five times in the last fifteen minutes. The answer is still no," he told me.
"Well, I thought you might have changed in the last- Watch out for that car!"
There was a bang and we crashed.
Glass shards shot into my arms.
I looked over to Atem, whose eyes were big as saucers as he clenched his chest where his heart was.
I screamed slightly as I dialed 911 and explained the situation.
Within minutes, an ambulance was there.
They tried to attend to me first.
"My husband just had a heart attack! Forget about me for a bit!" I screamed.
They changed their tune after that.
They moved him into the ambulance and made me come along.
I really didn't want to see him like that, though.
Once at the hospital, he was taken to the Operating Room and I was taken to an exam room to the nurse could get the shards of glass out of my arms.
While she was removing them, another nurse opened the door.
"Someone to see you, Miss Muto," she said.
"Okay, send them in," I told her.
Sabine walked in.
"Remember what I told you this morning?" she asked.
I could hear a bit of anger in her Egyptian accent.
"Yes, Sabine, and I know "I told you so" is inevitable. I just wanted to go to my fiance's heart appointment, jeez," I said, my voice raising ever so slightly.
"Don't you raise your voice at me. I am your future mother-in-law and your midwife. Maybe I just won't deliver your baby," she told me, angrily.
This made me madder than ever.
"You know what?!" I yelled, "I don't care! I'll find another midwife! I probably can't afford it, but if that's what it takes, fine! Now, get out!"
She huffed and walked out.
"She's tough," said the nurse.
"Yeah, most Egyptians are," I replied, "You know, Mr. Muto was born there. He was raised here, though, so he doesn't have an accent."
"That's really cool," she told me, "Ever think of going there?"
"Well," I said, remembering things before my sleep, "We planned it for our honeymoon, but I fell into a slight coma and we also have our baby, so I don't even know if we're still going to have a honeymoon. Heck, it'll take a lot for us to still get married if I get another midwife."
I sighed.
"I'm sure Mrs. Muto will still be your midwife. It was only empty threats."
I smiled.
A few moments later, she pulled the last shard from my arm.
"Your arms will probably be sore for a couple of days, but you should be fine other than that," she informed me.
I sighed, relieved, and then thought of my poor fiance in surgery.
Tears formed in my eyes at the thought.
"M-Miss Muto, what's the matter?" asked the nurse when the tears fell down my cheeks.
"Just- My fiance. The father of these babies. In surgery. With the possibility of never coming out alive."
I sighed.
"I never thought something like this could happen," I said.
"No one ever does, Mana," she told me.
"You know, he went to the cardiologist this morning. He said everything was fine. Do you think this had anything to do with the murmur?" I asked.
"I'm just the nurse, Mana, I wouldn't know," she informed me, "But, it could have been the fear of the crash that caused it."
My eyes widened.
"I-I suppose that makes sense," I stuttered.
More tears fell from my eyes.
"I wish I could see him," I said in a hushed voice to keep from wailing.
"I'm sure he'll be out of surgery in a few hours. Then you can visit him," she told me, "But they'll make you leave pretty soon. Heart attack patients tire very easily."
I sniffled and wiped my nose with the remaining napkins from my purse.
She escorted me back to the waiting room where Sabine and my own parents were.
"Mama, Daddy," I said, surprised, "I didn't know you guys were here."
I hugged both of them.
"Sabine called us. We couldn't ignore this," my mother said.
I pulled the two of them into another hug and started to sob into their shoulders.
"Why did this have to happen to him?" I cried.
My dad tried to comfort me by saying, "I'm sure he'll be fine. You're worrying too much."
This only made me cry harder.
My mom slapped his shoulder and patted my hair in an attempt to calm me.
"Mama, what if he doesn't come back? What about our baby?" I sniffled.
"He'll be back, Mana, I promise," she whispered in my ear.
Hours passed and the sunlight turned to moonlight.
He still wasn't out.
His heart doctor came out in his surgery attire.
I began to fear the worst.
"I-Is he okay? Tell me he's okay!" I whimpered.
"Well, for right now he is. I only just got here, so they gave him a bad surgeon. I don't know if we'll be able to save him," he answered.
My eyes widened in horror as tears slithered down my cheeks.
"B-But, you're going to try, right?" I asked.
He nodded.
"My hardest. I have to go now. Take care," he said, walking off.
I sniffled a few times before full on bursting into tears.
Everyone else had already left, leaving me completely alone.
I sat down and sobbed quietly, trying not to distract everyone around me.
A few hours later, the doctor came out again.
This time he had bits of blood on parts of his clothes.
"The surgery was a success, Miss Muto," he said.
"Oh, thank you! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" I exclaimed, "I'd hug you but, uh..."
"It's alright. You probably don't want blood on that pretty dress of yours anyway," he told me.
I sniffled and nodded with a light laugh.
"He's in the Coronary Care Unit. He's not awake yet, but I could take you to see him," he offered.
"Thank you," I said as we started walking.
When he opened the door, I saw that Atem was on oxygen.
"Why is he on oxygen?" I whispered.
"To reduce the amount his heart has to work, decreasing the odds of another heart attack," he replied, equally as quiet.
I sat down on the side of his bed and stroked his hair.
"Fluffer Nutter, don't ever do that again," I whispered, tears falling onto the bed.
His eyes fluttered open.
"C-Cupcake?"
I shushed him.
"Don't say anything, baby," I whispered, "You'll tire your heart."
"Wh-What happened?" he asked.
"I-I distracted you while you were driving a-and we crashed. It scared you so bad that it gave you a heart attack," I explained, tears forming in my eyes, "It's all my fault."
"No, it's not, baby," he said weakly, "It was just nature. I'm completely fine."
"No, you're not. You have to rest. You'll have another heart attack," I told him.
He took a deep breath and sighed.
"I-I wish I could stay with you, but they won't let me," I informed him.
He nodded.
"You should go home and get some sleep," he said in a hushed voice.
I sniffled.
"I suppose so."
I kissed his forehead and stood.
"I love you, Fluffer Nutter," I said.
"I love you more," he replied.
I blew him a kiss and he pretended to catch it.
I smiled and walked out the door.
I didn't realize how silent it really was until I was taking the bus back to Sabine's and I only heard the conversations around me.
I started sobbing quietly and didn't stop until I walked in the door.
"I'm going to bed, Sabine. Good night," I said, walking straight to mine and Atem's bedroom and locking the door behind me.
I changed, laid down, and fell asleep.
(A/N: Sorry it took so long. I also noticed in the last part that I forgot to omit something about Egypt. You see, this was originally a continuation of the story on my blog, but I decided to upload it here as it's own story instead. Please completely ignore the thing about Egypt lol. Also, the next part may take a lot longer as this was already prewritten from a few months ago so all I had to do was copy and paste, but I've reached the end of the prewritten and have to continue writing this. Another thing, I'm working hard as I can on Young Love, but I recently ran out of motivation to write it. Sorry it's taking so long.)
