"It's really quiet," Kira said as she and Conner walked around downtown. She had seen it like this before, but it was a rare event nowadays. They were used to having afternoons plagued with monsters and evenings where they tended to their bruises as they ate supper at Dr. O's.
"Yeah, do you have any clue why Dr. O wasn't at school?" Conner asked as Kira just shrugged her shoulders. She had heard about as much as he had about that as he had and she was starting to worry.
"Trent said they weren't at home when he left this morning and none of the teachers seemed to know why. It could be anything Conner," Kira said as he nodded. He understood, but he really wished to know exactly what was going on.
"I just don't have a very good feeling about this," Conner said as Kira laughed. He was becoming so much less carefree as the months passed. It was different this time, they knew what they were up against and he fought them openly. Xanderien had always stayed in the shadows and had just disappeared when Kimberly and Jason came back to the good side. It seemed like he had no interest in them any longer.
"They're fine, I promise," Kira said as Conner nodded. "Now what do you want to do?"
"Let's go to Hayley's," Conner said as Kira barely nodded and they walked back down the street towards her café.
"Hey guys, have you heard the news?" Hayley asked as they walked in and both shook their heads no. "Kim's in the hospital until tomorrow. She was having premature contractions, but they've gotten it under control. She'll be back home tomorrow, but she's going to be on bed rest until she has the baby."
"How's Dr. O?" Conner asked as Hayley just shook her head.
"I haven't talked to him or Kim. Rocky called to let me know and to also get me to tell you guys what was going on," Hayley said as they nodded. "I'm sure that Tommy is taking this as well as can be expected. From what Rocky said, he's going to take the rest of the week off to try to get some things done around the house and then he'll be back to school next week."
"That's a long time for Dr. O to be out," Conner said as Hayley nodded.
"He has to make sure that they'll be okay, no matter what," Kira said as Conner nodded. He knew that about Dr. O, but he also knew that insuring that nothing would happen to Kimberly was going to be hard.
"Tommy," Kim whispered as he raised his head from her stomach and looked up at her. He was content to feel the baby kick all night long, because he knew that the baby was safe this way. "My back hurts."
"What do you want me to do?" Tommy asked as she scooted forward on the bed and he then climbed into the bed behind her and began kneading her back as she let out a moan. "Baby, you've got knots everywhere."
"I know," Kim said as he placed his head on her shoulder and she just leaned back against him. "I just want to go home."
"Well, you will tomorrow morning, it's no big deal," Tommy said as she cringed as he rubbed on a particularly tender area. "Sorry…"
"It's not your fault," Kim said as she placed her hands on her stomach and sat up straighter so that he could reach farther down her back. "Little bugger here is going to kill me if he gets his way."
"Don't talk like that," Tommy whispered as she looked back at him and saw the honest concern in his eyes. "I don't think that I could live without you, Kim. I just don't like the thought."
"I know Tommy, but he's just always kicking and he's…" Kim said as Tommy felt her sink back against him and she closed her eyes. "I love you."
"I love you too," Tommy said as he rested his head on her shoulder and moved his arms around her. "Do you think you're going to be able to sleep tonight?"
"Yeah, I'm still exhausted, although I don't doubt that this medicine had something to do with that," Kim said as Tommy chuckled. He wouldn't doubt that Rocky had slipped in some sleeping medicine as well, but they both knew that they'd never ask him about that. He had far too much on his mind without being accused of something like that. "I never thought we'd be here."
"Neither did I," Tommy said as she looked back at him. "I don't regret any of this Kim, yeah, it would have been nice to have the marriage first, but this child obviously knows that this was the only way to bring us together."
"There were other ways, I just…I never thought this would happen," Kim said as he leaned back and she turned onto her side and closed her eyes and quickly went to sleep.
"Hey, Ish," Rocky said as he walked in the front door and saw Aisha in the kitchen fixing supper. "You feeling any better?"
"Not really," Aisha said as Rocky walked over to her and placed both of his arms around her and gave her a kiss on top of her head.
"Sit down, I'll finish it all up for you," Rocky said as Aisha looked back at him and saw the concern in his eyes and then did as he asked. The last time she had felt like this, she had been pregnant, but neither of them wanted to get their hopes up again. They were afraid that if they did, that she'd lose another baby.
"I really feel like I need to go to the doctor, Rocky," Aisha said as Rocky nodded and stirred the rice in the pot before placing the lid on it and looking over at her.
"Do you want to go tomorrow?" Rocky asked as Aisha just shook her head no. "You're confusing me, Ish."
"I don't want to get our hopes up again," Aisha said as Rocky pulled a chair over in front of her and leaned down to where she had to look him in the eyes.
"I'll run up to the drug store and get you a test if it'll make you feel better, Ish," Rocky said as Aisha just shook her head. She had already bought one and had taken it, but had been afraid to look at the results without Rocky there. "Why not?"
"There's one upstairs on the counter, I couldn't bring myself to look at it after I took it," Aisha said as Rocky looked over at her and then stood up and walked up the stairs. He knew why she couldn't do it and although he was not sure he was prepared to deal with it, he would, somehow. Five minutes later, he stumbled back down the stairs baffled at what he had seen and wondering if it really was true. "We aren't, are we?"
"No, we are Ish," Rocky said as she looked back at him and saw the excitement in his eyes as tears fell from hers and he wrapped her up in a hug and picked her up off the ground. "I love you."
"I love you too," Aisha whispered as Rocky gently placed her back on the ground and then pointed to a chair and she went and sat down. She knew that if he had anything to do with it, they would not lose this baby like they had the last two. Although neither of them could be completely sure why they had lost the first two, they both knew that those were very stressful times in their lives. Hopefully nothing quite as stressful would happen to them this time around.