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CHAPTER 18
It was Wednesday afternoon, and once again, I was sitting behind my desk, reading my baby magazine. I'd finished my searches about an hour ago and was just killing time before I had to go to the gun range with Hector. Turning the page, I saw an article on baby hearing. I started reading, thinking if I had some facts the guys would stop teasing me about talking to the baby all the time. It seems, around the 23rd or 24th week the baby begins to be able to hear.
"Hah," I said out loud, before having a thought.
I'm 24 weeks pregnant, so the baby can actually hear me and some outside sounds. That would mean it can hear the guns in the gun range. The repeated firing down there is so loud, you have to wear ear protection, and I really didn't want to continue exposing the baby to that. I didn't want it to be frightened by the noise, if it could feel fear already (I was going with yes, just to be on the safe side), and I didn't want it coming out of the womb finding the sound of gunfire soothing.
Standing, I gave myself a minute to get my balance, before taking off for Ranger's office. I'd promised him before he left on his last top-secret mission I'd keep working with my gun, and I had, but I didn't think I could do it any more.
"Hey, Babe, come on in," he said, when I knocked on his office door and opened it, sticking my head in. "What's up?"
"You know how I promised to keep going to the gun range?"
"Yeah."
"Well, I can't go any more."
"And why would that be?" he asked, doing the eyebrow lifting thing.
"I was reading about babies and how they develop their hearing," I said, settling myself on the corner of his desk. "The baby should have started being able to hear within the last week or so, I don't want it hearing the noise in the gun range."
"Hector says you've been doing very well lately, so it's your call to make. If you don't want to keep going to the range you don't have to. It's still Rangeman policy that you carry your gun though, so that doesn't stop."
"I doubted that it would," I said, sighing.
"Come here, Babe," he said, holding out his arms to me.
I was just snuggling into his lap and leaning up to give him a kiss, when Tank walked through the still open office door.
"That is inappropriate office behavior if I ever saw it," he teased.
"Don't care, man," Ranger said, holding me still on his lap. "What do you need?"
"Nothing, I was just walking by and saw Bomber climbing on your lap and couldn't pass up the opportunity."
Not giving him a response, Ranger pulled me to himself and started what Tank thought he was interrupting. I just gave Tank a finger wave over my shoulder, before wrapping my arms around Ranger's neck. Once we heard him leave, we pulled apart resting our foreheads together as we tried to catch our breath and laugh at the same time. Not a good combination.
"I have to get back to my desk," I finally said. "Hector should be around soon and I want to tell him about our lessons."
"Okay, Babe," Ranger, told me, pulling me in for another kiss. "I'm going out in the field this afternoon, so I'll see you at home tonight."
"Mkay," I said, sliding off his lap. I thought about leaning over to give him a last kiss before leaving, but I was having way too much trouble with my center of gravity. Sensing my conundrum, Ranger stood so I could reach him.
"Better, Babe?"
"Yeah," I answered, meeting his lips. "Don't get shot."
"Don't get too crazy," he told me, as I finally left his office.
Back at my cubicle, I found Hector sitting in my chair, spinning slowly in circles.
"Hola, Chica," he said, stopping when he saw me.
"Hola, Hector," I answered, not wanting to tell him about our range time.
"Why so sad?" he asked, reading my face.
Pointing to my magazine, which was still lying open on my desk, I showed him what I had been reading. I could tell it wasn't clicking, so I explained.
"From what this says, my baby can hear now. I don't want it listening to guns."
"Okay, Chica," he said, simply, standing and folding me in his arms. "You know enough now to protect Little One."
"Thank you for understanding," I said, suddenly relieved as I returned his hug.
"No problema," he said, giving me another little squeeze and an 'adios' before leaving.
Sighing, I sat down and started in on a search that had been left. I was going to miss my time with Hector. He was so scary at first, but he'd always been so gentle and we'd had fun together…
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Close to five, I was sitting in the control room with Junior. I'd stopped in to say hi to the guys on my way up to the apartment, when Ram asked me to cover for him while he grabbed a snack. Staring at the monitors and GPS thingies, I had no idea how these guys could do this for hours on end.
"Thanks, Bomber, you're a life saver," said Ram, sneaking up behind me and making me jump. Damn Rangemen, they never make any noise.
"You're very welcome, I fully understand the importance of a snack," I said standing. I was holding onto Ram's shoulder, waiting to get my balance, when I felt my abdomen clench up. I scrunched Ram's shirt in my hand until the pain passed, then dropped back down into his chair.
"Bombshell? Bombshell, look at me. What's wrong?" asked Ram, looking almost as panicked as I felt.
"I don't know," I answered once I could talk. "It hurt." Then I doubled over in the chair as the pain came back.
"Shit, shit, shit, shit…" I heard Junior muttering. "What do we do?"
"Call Bobby," said Ram, suddenly. I nodded my agreement.
The pain was unbelievable, like menstrual cramps on steroids. I felt a small whimper escape me as a fresh bolt of pain shot across my belly.
"Shhh, Sweetheart. Bobby's on his way," said Junior trying to soothe me.
"Guys what's wrong? You just said get here as quick as possible," I heard Bobby saying.
"Bombshell," said Junior indicating me.
"Damn," Bobby swore. "I can sew a man back together in the field, but I don't know shit about this stuff. Is Ella back from getting groceries yet?"
"No, GPS still has her at the store," answered Junior.
"Bobby, it hurts," I moaned.
"I know, Sweetheart, I know," he said, rubbing my back. "We're gonna get you help."
"Ram, I want you to call the hospital and let them know we're coming. If possible, have Steph's doctor there waiting. Then call Ranger, update him, and let him know our location. Junior, I want you to help me lift her, without disturbing her. We need to get Steph downstairs and in a car."
With Rangeman efficiency, I was loaded into a Bronco and we were on our way in minutes. I was still more terrified than I think I have ever been in my life, but at least the pain had receded a bit. That's a good thing right? I just hoped with the way Junior was driving, we didn't get pulled over before we got to the hospital. With my luck, Picky would be out with his ticket book today…
We made it to the hospital without incident, and walking into the ER, I saw Dr. Cooper waiting with a wheel chair. The guys settled me into it and Bobby wheeled me to the elevator and to Dr. Cooper's examining room so quickly she was jogging to keep up.
Just as he was lifting me onto the examining table, another wave of pain grabbed me and I willed myself not to cry out. It wasn't quite as sharp as the last few, but my muscles were sore and I was scared, so I clung to Bobby's arm before he could let me go.
"Hey, Steph," Dr. Cooper said, prying me off of Bobby. "Let's get you checked out, okay? Can you describe what you're feeling?"
I did, and she just started doing that nodding thing that doctors do. Not yet satisfied, but not looking too worried, she waited for the wave of pain to pass, before throwing Bobby and Junior out and giving me a gown to change into so she could examine me. For once, I didn't complain as I took it and changed. She was just about to get started when the door to her examining room burst open.
Ranger walked in, followed by Dr. Cooper's receptionist, saying "Sir! Sir, you can't be back here! Dr. Cooper, I'm very sorry, he wouldn't wait."
"Ranger!" I gasped. Logically, I knew there was nothing he could do to help, but that didn't stop the wave of relief that washed through me at the sight of him.
"It's alright, Liz, he's with Ms. Plum," she said, before getting back to the business of examining me.
She poked, prodded and listened, while I clutched Ranger's hand for dear life. I was so terrified of loosing the baby, I felt silent tears streaming down my face. Ranger noticed, and was carefully wiping them off, when Dr. Cooper looked up from my belly.
"Well, everything looks fine," she announced, before noticing the tears on my face. "Is the pain back?" she asked, concerned again.
"No," I said, shaking my head. "Is the baby okay?"
"As far as I can tell, you were just having false labor and everything is fine. I'm going to run an ultrasound just to be on the safe side, okay?"
I just nodded, unable to do anything else at this point and she left to get what she would need for the ultrasound. While we waited, Ranger cradled me against his side and smoothed my hair.
"You had me worried, Babe," he said softly.
"I had me worried, too," I agreed.
Just then, Dr. Copper returned and before I knew it, the cold gel was all over my belly again. She did her thing with the wand and just like that, the baby was up on the screen. I almost forgot why I was here when I noticed how much it had grown since my last ultrasound three weeks ago.
"Everything looks fine on the inside too, Steph," Dr. Cooper said, looking at the screen and still moving the wand on my belly. "The baby is completely healthy; unfortunately, it still doesn't want us to know if it's a boy or girl."
"That's alright," I replied, still on a high at finding out the baby was fine.
"But what was wrong?" asked Ranger. Trust him not to get distracted.
"Nothing is 'wrong,' so there is nothing to worry about," she soothed Ranger. "Steph you had what's known as false labor or Braxton-Hicks Contractions. They start sometime around the 6th week and are the uterus' way of getting in shape for labor. Some women never feel them. They can become more pronounced with dehydration, and that's what I believe happened with you. I want you to go home, get some fluids in yourself, and make sure you stay hydrated."
"Is there anything else?" I asked.
"Not really. You may feel them again, even if you get plenty of fluids, but they should be milder. I want you to call me if you feel any as strong as this set was. Other than that, there's not much you can do for it."
"Thank you for getting this all straightened out," I said, relieved, but not looking forward to this false labor thing.
"Oh, it's no problem at all, although if you're really feeling grateful you could introduce me to the guy that wheeled you in," she said, blushing a bit.
"Bobby?" I asked.
"I'll go get him while you get dressed, Babe," said Ranger, causing me to nearly crick my neck as I jerked my head to look at him. He is not the match-making, Cupid type.
"He's our medic, Babe. I wanted him to talk to Dr. Cooper anyway, so he'd know what to do in case something else was to happen."
"Oh," I said. That made sense, I though, as I grabbed my clothes and headed off to get changed.
Once changed, I made my way back to the examining room and found Ranger and Junior standing by as Bobby and Dr. Cooper talked medical stuff… and they were making goo-goo eyes at each other. Walking over to join Ranger and Junior, I glanced up at Ranger and wondered if that was how we looked at each other.
"Even worse," Junior said, doing the ESP thing and teasing me.
Deciding not to reply, I whacked him in the abs, but I'm not sure if he felt it. Turning back to the medical babble, I noticed Bobby's ears were a faint pink. He probably wasn't appreciating the audience, I decided.
"Dr. Cooper?" I interrupted. "Should I reschedule the appointment I had for later this week?"
"Yes, that would be a good idea," she replied. "Why don't you make another in two or three weeks."
"Alright," I said, taking Ranger's hand and grabbing Junior by the back of the shirt.
"Why'd I have to leave? It was just getting good," laughed Junior, earning himself another whack to the abs.
"Go. Sit," said Ranger, pointing to the waiting room chairs.
"Fine," Junior grumbled. "I never get to have any fun."
Shaking my head, I took Ranger's hand and we made our way over to the receptionist's window. I needed to make my new appointment and Ranger wanted to apologize for storming the examining room.
By the time we were done, Bobby had joined Junior and was being teased mercilessly.
"So?" Ranger and I asked at the same time, but I don't think we were worried about the same thing.
"I'm prepared for a multitude of situations, Boss," Bobby reported as we made our way to the elevator. "It seems most problems should be addressed by a trip to the hospital, but at all costs Steph should be kept calm." Ranger just nodded.
"Hey," I protested. "You're going to address Ranger's 'So?,' but not mine?"
"Dr. Cooper and I are getting together this weekend so she can give me a refresher on delivering a baby, just in case we wouldn't be able to get you to a hospital."
I really didn't like the sound of that no hospital thing. That was where Adalia said you get all the nice drugs so it doesn't hurt as much. False labor hurt, so real labor probably hurt even more…
"No, no, no," Junior's protests interrupted me. "You are going to ask the nice doctor out on a date. You will date, like a normal couple. There will be no evasive shit. Those two," pointing at Ranger and me, "were bad enough."
"Were we really that bad?" I asked.
"Yes!" Bobby and Junior chorused.
"Huh," was the only response I had. And I thought it only irritated me.
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"How's your belly feel, Babe?" Ranger asked later that night as we lay in bed.
"No contractions," I assured him. "But the muscles are a bit tight."
Without a word, Ranger sat up and started massaging all around my baby bump. It was a strange sensation, having him carefully rubbing the muscles and feeling the baby kicking in response. He worked his way from my belly to massage up and down the sides of my abdomen where the muscles were also sore. "Roll on your side, Babe," he finally said as he started rubbing my back.
"Thank you," I said when he was done as I snuggled myself back into his arms.
"Babe," was all he said, placing a kiss in my hair.
We sat like that silently, for awhile, just enjoying the feeling of one another. I smiled, taking pleasure in the sensation of the baby flipping all over the place. I'd been so terrified it would go away forever this afternoon.
"Hey, Babe," Ranger said, pulling me from my musing.
"Hmmm?"
"Can I to talk to you about something."
"Sure. Is everything alright?" I asked, slightly worried.
"Yeah, Babe, everything's fine. I got a call this afternoon from Eva."
"What'd she want?" I asked scowling. I really didn't like his ex, just from the things I'd heard about her.
"She informed me she's leaving on her annual cruise in a few weeks. Usually she just left Isa with her nanny, rather than let me have the time with her, but last fall, Eva decided nine was too old for a nanny..."
"Ranger," I interrupted. "Are you trying to ask if your daughter can come visit?"
"Yeah, Babe," he said, sounding relieved.
"Ranger, that's not something you need to ask! She's your daughter and you hardly ever get to see her!"
"Babe, this is something that will affect you as well," he protested. "We'd have to move to the Batcave full time and she'll be with us for a month."
"I would love to have Isa with us," I said, turning my head and placing a kiss on his chest.
"Really, Babe?" he asked smiling a 2000 Watt smile.
"Really," I assured him. Then I had a thought.
"Ranger, what about school?"
"School?"
"It's the middle of the school year."
"Oh, yeah. Eva had Isa enrolled in a private school that has three, three month terms and three one month breaks. The cruise is during spring break."
"You mean she leaves every year for one of Isa's breaks?" I asked incredulous.
"Yeah, she would usually let me have Isa for a week during that time. That's when most of the vacation pictures you saw were from."
"Eva sucks," I decided.
Ranger just chuckled and tucked me more firmly into his side.
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A/N: Please Review!! I love hearing what you have to say and getting feedback! Thank you so much for reading :)