Chapter 3
Jo sighed, laying her head on Mac's shoulder, her arms encircling his waist as she pulled herself closer to him again. She looked pale and ill, for the fourth day in a row having just vomited the contents from her stomach before even thinking about her first meal of the day. Nevertheless, a smile was upon her lips as she inhaled the scent of her fiancé, feeling his one arm curled defensively about her, the fingertips of his other hand gently stroking along the skin of her upper arm, feather light.
"Are you all right?" he wondered.
"Mhmm," she whispered in response just like she had every morning before. After the daily bout of nausea and vomiting, Jo Danville could usually get on with her day as well as she always had without anything more. Mac had made sure that she was not scheduled for any night shifts anymore and that she was not sent on any urgent intervention if he could keep it from happening, by either going himself or making sure that it was covered by someone else.
The sound of a chuckle filled the bedroom that had been silent to this point except for their gentle breathing. The chuckle ended with a soft smile as Mac's forefinger traced the diamond imbedded in the thin silver engagement ring on her finger. He sometimes still couldn't believe it when he thought about it all. Shortly after he met Claire, he had known she was the woman he wanted to marry and the one he wanted to have children with one day. When he lost her that awful morning in 2001, he never considered moving on even. He searched for her, thought he saw her so often, only to be disappointed time and again. He carried on in this way for so long, and then Jo had entered his life. He often thought about how she had changed him, but he had never managed to put it into words, even in his mind. He thought he could best sum it up by saying that every woman he had ever met since Claire's passing had just tried to get him to open up and move forward. This to the point that he had finally let himself believe that was what he wanted and needed as well, but from the moment he met Jo Danville, he knew that it hadn't been the case. He came to realize that she more than anyone, knew what he had and still needed. She hadn't tried to tear his walls down; her laughter and joy had just made him unlock the door. She hadn't tried to push him forward; she had merely extended her hand for him to take if he wanted… and he had. And ever since, they had walked hand in hand, side by side. "I never thought I'd end up getting remarried and becoming a father at this age anymore. If you had told me that three years ago, I'd have thought you were insane."
Jo Danville's smile grew wider. She had not planned on having another child either, definitely not at her age. Truth was that deep down she had always wanted a big family, ever since she had been a little girl. However, shortly after Tyler's birth, the fights with Russ had increased, and his demands for her to stay at home instead of working had come more often based on his firm belief that it was not possible to have a family and career at the same time. A second child had never been a part of the plan anymore, for she knew Russ would only consider another child as another reason for her not to work, to become a stay-at-home mom. It wasn't that she hadn't wanted to experience being pregnant again; it was Russ pressuring her to make that choice between family and career. Then Ellie had come into her life, and it had been perfect. Sure, her love life had been a mess, to put it candidly–– no man had actually stayed. She had had her flirts since Russ, but it had been nothing but that, really. The thought of another child had been buried, and that had been fine. Until now.
Having Mac's child was something she hadn't expected or planned, and neither had Mac, but its loss had done something to her for sure. She would never have really, deliberately tried to have a child with him before that had happened, for so many reasons, even if she had always thought that Mac would make a great father. Tyler was in college and Ellie had grown up to be a beautiful young woman in her mid-teens, and she herself wasn't exactly getting younger either. She felt she had passed the age of having babies. Then she had taken that positive test, and then she had lost the child before she had even had the chance to share the news with Mac.
He had been surprised to say the least when he learned that Jo had been with child. She certainly couldn't blame him. After all, they had always been very careful except for that just one time. He had witnessed his partner's devastation when the nurse had confirmed the news only to immediately say that she was sorry to inform her the baby had not survived the attack. She had known that if ever she would have wanted to have another child of her own again, it would have been with Mac and no one else whatever happened, and he had recognized that. When her tears had stopped flowing, her crying no more than a series of hiccupping sobs, his arms holding her body, he had gently asked her what she thought she would have done. The question had been immediately clear to her, and she had had to admit that she had felt very doubtful when she learned of her pregnancy, but that, had he really wanted this baby as well, she would have kept it. A silence had followed, which had been broken many minutes later by Jo's whispered question whether he would have wanted to have the baby. His honest answer had been that he had never really considered it, but that he couldn't have lived with the thought of not nurturing the tiny life they had created between the two of them, no matter how unexpected.
From there, the promise of the child that was now growing inside Jo's belly had most likely originated. The couple had moved slowly, letting Jo slowly grow reacquainted with being touched by more than a gentle hug or innocent kiss, developing finally to tender lovemaking when she had felt she was ready. That point had been followed by a long and extensive conversation in which Jo admitted that she often wondered what might have happened if the baby had survived, what it would have looked like and which of them it would have resembled most. Mac had had to admit that he had thought about that quite often as well, and from there, they had decided to let nature take its course and see what happened. Two months after that barely voiced decision, she had found herself with child again, somewhat unexpected as well. She honestly hadn't thought that she would get pregnant again at her age and certainly not that soon, but it had indeed happened, and she had been so glad, as had Mac, and so here they were now.
With those thoughts in mind, Jo replied, "Yeah. I really hadn't expected for this to happen either, but I'm unfathomably happy about the way things are right now."
"So am I," Mac whispered, sliding his finger tips over her growing belly.
She could see and feel so much love and tenderness in his touch, and in that moment, there was nowhere else she wanted to be more. There was nothing that could possibly make the moment better for her. And it was just then that she stilled, sliding her hand from his waist to her belly, taking his hand and sliding it a little lower, before looking at him, into his gray eyes with her own intense hazel ones.
"What's the matter?"
"I believe I felt our baby move, right there," she whispered, and as she said it, her smile grew wider, because she knew it had been exactly that. Right then, in that moment, the existence of that small creation of their own suddenly became so much more real, despite the fact that she had been feeling the changes in her body all along.
Jo Danville smiled contentedly, leaning slightly further into Mac's strong embrace, both their hands resting gently over her belly, anticipating the next fluttering movement coming from the tiny being within. Their child. Jo marveled at how even when life takes a turn for the worse, when the hurdles it challenges you with may seem insurmountable at the time, with patience and perserverence and the right person at your side, you would be surprised at how strong you actually are. If not you yourself, then certainly together.