Here is chapter 2. Please comment and let me know what you think. Next Chapter Sam finally sees the baby and Jason and Sam tell Danni.
"Mr. Morgan," the doctor began as Jason took a deep breath, "We were not able to stop labor and so we had to deliver the baby. Your daughter is small, but she's a fighter. Some of her organs are not fully developed, so we'll be keeping her in the NICU for a few months."
"What about Sam? And where is the baby?" Jason asked.
"Your wife is doing fine. She should be waking up soon," The doctor stated. "Would you like to be with her when she wakes up? The baby is with the NICU team for testing. We want to make sure we do all we can for her."
"Yes, I'd like to see Sam," Jason said as he looked over at Alexis.
"One at a time," the doctor said.
"Jason, you go be with Sam, I'll go to the NICU," Alexis offered. It was amazing how Jason and Alexis had come to understand one another and do what was best for Sam and Alexis' grandchildren.
"Thank you," Jason said.
Jason walked down the hall to the recovery room where Sam was. He breathed a sigh of relief, he knew they weren't out of the woods yet, but was thankful for good news. Jason walked in and saw Sam lying there. The scene made Jason think of the time he had to tell her she'd lost the little girl they were going to raise. He still couldn't believe it, they had another daughter. Jason pulled up a stool and grabbed Sam's hand.
"Sam, I'm right here. We have a baby girl," Jason said. "I love you so much."
Jason waited as he pictured Sam with Danni and their baby. He always knew she'd make a wonderful mother and now they had two little girls to love. Silently, he prayed that the new baby would make it.
"Jason," Sam woke up a little groggy and disoriented.
"Where's our baby? What's wrong? Why aren't you with the baby?" Sam asked as she frantically started to try and get out of bed.
"Calm down, hun. Our daughter is in the NICU. Alexis is with her. She's small, but the doctor says she's a fighter," Jason said as he held Sam's hand tightly and ran his fingers of the other hand through her hair. Jason placed a gentle kiss on Sam's forehead. "You know, you're amazing, the way you fought to bring our baby girl into this world."
"We have another little girl?" Sam questioned as tears filled her eyes and she reached to cup Jason's face.
"Yeah, looks like there'll be a lot of hormones in our house," Jason said with a grin.
"I want to see our baby," Sam said.
"Let me get a doctor," Jason told her as he stood up and walked out of the recovery room.
Alexis scrubbed in and entered the corridor to the NICU. As she walked around the hallway that was circular, she saw tiny babies hooked up to dozens of machines and she pictured her granddaughter. She walked to the desk.
"Could you show me where the Morgan baby is?" She asked the nurse.
"I can Ma'am. Dr. Wiley said you would be down. You must be her grandmother," the nurse said politely.
"I am," Alexis answered.
"I must prepare you that your granddaughter was born before her spine was finished developing. She weighs 1 lb. 10 oz. Her lungs are almost completely developed, but not fully. She is on several machines to monitor vitals. The survival rate at this point is 50-70%," the nurse informed Alexis bluntly as they walked toward the baby's incubator.
"Oh dear God," Alexis gasped as she looked at the tiny baby in the room.
"We have a state of the art facility and an excellent staff, so we will make sure your granddaughter is in the 50-70%," the nurse said as she walked away.
In the room, there was another nurse who was assigned full time to monitoring the baby.
"Hello there, my name is Linda," she offered.
"Alexis Davis, this is my daughter's baby, my granddaughter. My daughter, Sam, is still in recovery," Alexis said as the tears streamed down her face. She couldn't believe that Sam and Jason's baby was so tiny. Danni had been small, but this baby was nearly half the size of Danni and it worried Alexis.
"Her neonatologist said that she's doing as well as can be expected. Her organs are mature for 25 weeks and it will just take time," Linda seemed very nice. Alexis wanted to be there with the baby, but it was too much.
Alexis couldn't take it anymore. She walked out into the hallway and started sobbing. In her head she wondered why. Why did it always have to be Sam? She knew her daughter liked a little adventure now and then, but never could anything be peaceful and normal. Alexis blamed herself. Maybe if Sam's childhood had been different, these situations wouldn't find her. No, Kristina and Molly seemed to find dramatic situations and they were raised by Alexis. Alexis cried softly to herself as she thought of the long road Jason, Sam and this new little life would have.
Alexis jumped and was startled by the hands that found their way to her shoulders. They were the hands of her son in law, Jason Morgan. It surprised Alexis, but Jason made Sam happy and showed nothing but love for Sam and Danni as well as Molly and Kristina. Alexis had nothing but admiration for Jason at this point.
"How's Sam?" Alexis asked.
"She woke up, but the doctor wanted to examine her," Jason told Alexis.
"How's the baby?" Jason asked.
"Jason, she's so small. It just hurts to see her hooked up to all those machines fighting to survive," Alexis stated in between sobs.
"Alexis I know you're tired and this has been draining, but do you want to go see Sam while I check on the baby? Sam wants to see her, but I want to be prepared first," he stated.
"No problem," Alexis said, "Should I have them bring Sam down?"
"Well, if she'll let you, have her wait. I'll get her and we can do it together," Jason suggested with tears in his eyes. Jason knew that in reality the chances of their baby surviving were still 50%, but he knew they couldn't lose another child.
"I want to call the girls, so I'll do that after you come for Sam," Alexis said.
"They moved her to a room Alexis, 4564- it's a private room."
"Thanks Jason," Alexis said as she offered a smile and faded into the hallway.
Jason walked into the NICU room and was greeted by Linda, the neonatal nurse.
"Hello Sir, you must be this beautiful little girl's father," she said with a smile as she removed her glove and offered Jason a handshake.
"Yes, I am," Jason said.
"Mr. Morgan, let me tell you a little bit about what all of this equipment is," Linda said as she began to explain what each and every thing that their daughter was hooked up to was for. Jason watched and listened intently hoping he could later share the information with Sam. "Your baby is going to be fine in a couple of months," she said as she ended.
"Now I'm sure you'd like to be alone with her, so I'm going to step outside, but I will be monitoring her vitals on the monitors. We have a 1:1 ratio at this critical stage of development."
The room was dark and Jason stood there looking down at his daughter. Despite all the equipment, she was beautiful. Jason couldn't see her eyes and she didn't have much hair, but he looked at her small hands and thought of Sam's hands and thought about the new life he and Sam had brought into the world. He knew this little girl would grow to have petite, but strong hands like Sam's. He knew that he wanted to do everything possible to keep her safe, happy and loved. After all, that's all Jason ever wanted for his family.
"Hey little one, I'm your Dad and I promise to do everything I can to give you a good life. Your Mommy and I love you very much," Jason said as he spoke to his tiny daughter. Jason watched as the machine assisted his daughter in breathing, noting the pure magic of the simple act of breathing. Sam had told Jason all about the machines that Danni had been on in the NICU and how the staff wanted babies to be able to suck and breathe before they were released. Jason just couldn't imagine such a tiny life, part of he and Sam, fighting to survive. He wanted to do something to make the baby instantly better, but he knew he couldn't.
"Would you like to meet your mommy?" Jason asked as he reached in and touched one of her tiny fingers. His daughter was like a fragile china doll and Jason felt helpless.
He walked out of the room. "I'm going to bring my wife down to meet her," Jason explained to Linda.
"Ok Mr. Morgan. I'll be right here monitoring this little one who has yet to be named," said Linda.
The baby had been born around 2:30 AM and by now it was close to 6:30AM, it had been a long night, but Jason knew Sam needed to see their daughter.
Alexis walked in to find a sleeping Sam, she stood beside her bed as she watched her eldest daughter sleep; something she only seemed to be able to do when Sam was in the hospital. Alexis had strong appreciation for the type of mother Sam had become. She loved Danni and this new life with all her heart. Sam was so selfless always putting the needs of her babies before her own.
Sam awoke and noticed her mother staring at her.
"Hey Mom, how is she?" she said.
Alexis didn't want to tell Sam how tiny the baby was or that she was fighting to survive, because she knew Sam already knew that, so she simply answered, "She's absolutely beautiful, just like you."
"I wanted to go see her, but I must have fallen asleep," Sam said. She was extremely exhausted and groggy. She noticed the sun peering through the windows. "What time is it?"
"It's almost 7:30," Alexis said, "Jason said he'd be back and take you to the baby. I want to call Kristina and Molly, they can let other family and friends know."
"That's fine Mom, but Jason and I will call Danni," Sam said in a protective voice. She missed her little girl dearly.
"Hey, you're wide awake," Jason said as he walked in.
"I'm going to call the girls and give you two some time," Alexis said walking out.
"Mom, I'm glad you're here. Thank you," Sam said.
"Alexis, do you think it'd be possible to keep the news from Danni. Sam and—"
"Absolutely Jason. You and Sam should tell Danni," Alexis responded and Sam smiled.
After Alexis walked out, Jason reached down, put his hands behind Sam's neck and kissed his wife passionately. As their lips met, Sam deepened the kiss before pulling away.
"What was that for?" Sam asked.
"For being an amazing mother and doing everything you can for our daughters," Jason answered.
"Daughters, I like the sound of that," Sam said. "I want to go see her."
"Let me get a wheelchair," Jason said.
"A wheelchair- Jason I'm perfectly-" Sam started to protest.
"Sam, you just had an emergency c-section after weeks on bedrest, don't even think about walking down there. I'll be right back," Jason responded as he walked out of the room.
"Yes sir," Sam answered rolling her eyes. It was killing her to wait so long to see her baby.