Trial for Love—Chapter 4: Happiness
I waited for Aaron to come home for an hour and a half. I had Holly with me the entire time, hugging her lethargic body close to mine while I read a book in the den. I think at one point she fell asleep, her small form settled into the curve of my neck. I didn't want to leave her alone, especially if my suspicions were correct: something was very wrong with her. When Aaron finally joined us, I had immediately had him take a look at her, too.
"Look," I said to him as soon as he had walked in the door. "See how her ribs are sticking out? They weren't doing that before. She's lost weight."
Aaron shrugged out of his winter parka and dumped his keys on the hall table before taking Holly into his arms. His practiced fingers skimmed lightly over her flesh, his trained eye examining her closely. "I think you're right, Lexie," he said at last. "She has gotten skinnier. Get the scale and we'll weigh her."
Of course. How silly of me not to think of it. Holly had been weighed when Aaron took her to the doctor a week earlier. She had been a mere four pounds and two ounces when she still had a cushy layer of fat beneath her skin… would it still be the same? After everything I had observed, I really doubted that it.
I ran to the bathroom and scooped up the scale from the floor. Bringing it back to the den, I set it on the table and reset it so the display read "0.0." I wanted to get an exact measurement of Holly's weight. Aaron carefully removed her fleece sleepsuit and diaper. "This is how she was weighed at the doctor's office," he explained. He set her onto the surface of the scale as she wriggled and whined with discomfort at the cold, hard surface.
"Shhhhh," I soothed, almost unconsciously. "It's okay…" My voice trailed off as I focused on the blinking red digits on the scale.
"Three point one pounds," Aaron breathed. "I can't believe it. How could she have lost so much weight? As if she wasn't small enough to begin with!"
I felt tears sting at my eyes as I redressed Holly. Poor baby must be miserable. I couldn't bear it any longer. "I'm going to feed her," I said resolutely. "She's starving! Literally!"
"Alexa!" Aaron nearly shouted as he grabbed my shoulder. "You can't do that."
"Why not?" I demanded. "Aaron, she's lost too much weight! She needs food!"
He sighed. "I know," He said wearily. "But we've been feeding her every two hours like the doctor told us to. Something is wrong here, Lexie! We need to take her back to the clinic before we go off and try something on our own! We could end up hurting her." I closed the couple of inches between us and laid my head on his chest, fighting tears. Why did things have to be like this?
"Feeding her is going to hurt her?" I asked desperately, but I was fighting a losing battle. I knew he was right, yet I couldn't stand knowing that Holly was underfed while under my care. I felt a single teardrop streak its way down my cheek before it soaked into Aaron's sweater. He unwrapped his arms from around my body and lifted my face up.
"We'll figure this out; I promise you."
x.x.x
The next day, Aaron took Holly to the hospital with him. He returned that evening, a sad smile on his face. "Well, we can feed her more," he said as soon as he saw my hopeful face.
I smiled then, too; a huge grin as I sprinted down the front hall to him. I could only smile up at him, bouncing on the balls of my feet. Aaron laughed at my antics; he had always thought I was a little weird, I think. Handing me the bundle that was my – our – baby, his smile got a little bigger.
Without a word, I turned on my heel and raced off to the kitchen, where I immediately prepared a bottle for Holly. In the distance, I heard Aaron taking off his coat and boots before coming into the kitchen to join me.
"How's the snow?" I asked.
"Hasn't let up yet… I hope my flight isn't canceled," he responded as he searched through a cabinet. I started; what flight was he talking about? I guess Aaron saw my bewilderment for he reminded me, "You do remember that I'm flying out to Massachusetts tomorrow, don't you?"
"Oh yeah… yes, I remember!" Now I recalled how Aaron had planned this trip out to Newburyport; where he would look into finding a job for this summer. I had gotten my residency application results back and it turned out that I was accepted into the Anna-Jacques hospital, located in the young town of Newburyport, Massachusetts. "What time is it, again?"
"I think it leaves at 9:41, so I'll have to leave home at about 7:30ish," Aaron replied as he poured water into our tea kettle. "Maybe even earlier if it keeps snowing like this. I'd hate to get stuck in traffic and miss the plane."
I pulled out a chair at the kitchen table as I fed Holly her bottle. She gulped at it; just as she had always done. She, of course, didn't know that her food wasn't to be limited from now on and sucked down the bottle as fast as she could. I felt happy as I watched her guzzle the milk. Only a day ago it made me want to cry every time she was fed. Now, I could rest easier knowing that she wouldn't be denied the food she loved so dearly.
"Are you making tea?" I asked Aaron as he began heating water on the stove. In the four years that I had known him, Aaron had never drunk anything related to tea at all. We only had the tea kettle because I had spotted it once on the clearance rack and thought the patterned porcelain perfectly matched our blue and white kitchen.
"Nope. Hot chocolate! Want some?" I laughed then; I didn't think I had ever had hot chocolate in my entire life. Growing up on the beach of California, we never got very cold, and I guess the thought just never occurred to me out here in Minnesota. By the time I'd moved out here I had become a coffee drinker through and through.
"Sure, I'd love some," I replied.
"So tell me what happened at the doctor's office," I said as Aaron sat down in the chair next to me with two steaming mugs of hot chocolate and a fresh bottle for Holly.
He took a long drink from his mug. "Well," he said, wiping his mouth. "They weighed her again, and the doctor was shocked that she had lost that much weight. He started to give me this lecture about how important it is to feed her on schedule." He pitched his voice lower in an imitation of the doctor. "Young man, babies need food every two hours. You obviously haven't been very responsible…" I laughed as I pictured Aaron being scolded. "Anyway," he continued, "I told him that we'd been feeding her exactly as he told us to, and that we brought her in because we were worried about her weight loss."
"What did the doctor say about it?" I asked, sipping my hot chocolate. I decided that I liked it. It was a little sweet after drinking coffee every day, but how could I not love a drink made from chocolate?
"He was as clueless as we are," Aaron said. "He still doesn't know why Holly is so small in the first place and said that if she gets any more underweight, she could die. He wants to run some tests on her just to figure out what's going on. Until then, we can feed her until she's satisfied."
"They want to do more tests? What kind of tests?" I bombarded him with questions. "When?"
"As soon as possible," Aaron replied. "I made an appointment for her at ten o'clock tomorrow morning. You're going to have to bring her in."
"Okay," I said. "No problem… all I have to do tomorrow is go grocery shopping. Did he say what kind of tests he wants to run?"
"No, he didn't say. I was wondering the same thing," Aaron replied.
Aaron and I drank the rest of our hot chocolate in a comfortable silence. Holly finished off several more bottles and cuddled her head into my ribs. It was such a treat to see her satisfied and happy for once. She hadn't been this quiet and content since we cut back on her feeding. I remembered that Aaron's sister, Jess, had told me that Holly was a sweet and adorable baby – never crying. I hadn't believed her words until now.
"Look at her," I said to Aaron, feeling a sort of maternal pride. "Isn't she adorable?" He reached over me and gently caressed one of Holly's pointed ears. His tanned hand looked enormous next to her tiny head. He lifted her out of my arms, and settled back into his chair, cooing at Holly. I loved the way he always held her; his two palms were large enough to support her entire body. He kissed her on the top of her downy head and then leaned over to kiss me.
"Let's put her to bed." He whispered. "I have a feeling that she's gong to be sleeping much better than she has been tonight."
x.x.x
Much later that night, I turned over and over in my bed, not able to find a comfortable position. Finally, I gave up and stared at the ceiling. I sighed, my head racing with thoughts of Holly.
"Lexie?" Aaron mumbled. Oops. I had woken him up.
"Yeah?" I whispered back.
"I can't sleep." So I hadn't woken him up. I turned once more, this time towards the center of the bed so I could talk to him more easily.
"Neither can I," I responded. "How about we talk instead?" I could almost hear Aaron smile at that comment; he knew how I loved talking to people.
"Actually, there was something I wanted to talk to you about…" he trailed off. I waited silently. "Lexie… I know we haven't talked about it at all, but what do you think of marriage?
"What do you mean?" I asked, though I had a pretty good idea of what he meant.
"You and me," he said. "We've been together for four years. Why aren't we married yet?"
I froze. I was so surprised that I couldn't speak. Aaron and I had never brought up the subject of marriage. We both just assumed that it would happen someday. I guess that 'someday' had turned into 'now.'
"Lexie? Did you fall asleep?" Aaron asked when I didn't answer.
"No… I'm just thinking is all," I whispered. "I guess… we've never really had money for a wedding… and I've been in school… it just wouldn't be practical…"
"Of course it would be practical, Lexie! We've lived together for over two years. We act like we're married, don't we? We're even managing to take care of a child together! We both love Holly - she's our baby, even if she isn't biologically ours." That was the first time Aaron verbally acknowledged that Holly was like a daughter to him. My breath caught in my throat and I was at a loss for words.
"Tell me one thing… do you love me?"
"Yes, of course, with all my heart!" I answered immediately. I didn't have to think of the answer at all.
"Then… well, let me start over." Aaron sat up and took my hand. I sat up, too, looking at him through the darkness with questioning eyes. He reached under his pillow and pulled out a small, velvet-covered, black box. My heart thudded loudly. Was he going to… yes, he was. "Alexa Rachel Turner, would you do me the honor of becoming my wife?" Aaron opened up the box and held it out to me.
I was truly speechless. The only thing I could think of to do at that moment was to throw my arms around him, which I did. After a few minutes, I found my voice again. "Yes!" I screamed. "YES!"
Aaron laughed but then put a finger to his lips. "Shh… you'll wake the baby!"
"I don't care! I'm so excited right now I don't care at all!" I was literally bouncing up and down now, Aaron's hands clasped in my own. "Don't you even want to see your ring?" he asked, laughing at me.
"Marry me?" he asked rhetorically as he presented the box to me. Inside, nestled on a luxurious little cushion, I could see the gleam of the metal band. My eyes still glued to the box, I blindly reached behind me to the bedside table and switched on the lamp. Instantly, the room was flooded with a soft light, but all I could see was the beautiful ring that Aaron was holding. In awe, I gingerly plucked the ring from its container and held it up. It was beautiful, to say in the least. The band was a slim circlet of silver metal, and the deep red stone was flanked by two smaller white ones.
"That's a garnet," Aaron whispered as I fingered the glowing gem. "The other two are diamonds. The band is platinum." I drew in my breath; how did he know exactly what I would love? I had loved garnets ever since I was a little girl. Garnet, after all, was my birthstone.
"It's beautiful," I choked, sliding it onto my finger. I felt tears streak down my cheeks as I flung my arms around him again. "I love you," I said tearfully. "I love you so much!"
"I love you, too," he murmured into my hair. I turned my face upward and kissed him as hard as I could. Holly was happy, Aaron had proposed to me… yes, my life was perfect.
x.x.x
Well, the story's detracted a bit from Holly's main plotline, but we hope that you guys don't mind this new addition! As always, please review and tell us what you think.
Also, if anyone is interested in Aaron and Lexie's past, we have started writing a prequel of how they met and fell in love. The story is called "Starless Night," and since it doesn't have anything to do with Lord of the Rings or any other fandom, it's posted on Frodo's girl's fictionpress account. A link can be found on her profile! Please read it! Thank you.