Chapter Thirteen

As Jaime entered her 30th week, her belly bump became more of a mountain....and she was becoming increasingly cranky, in direct proportion. "I feel like an over-stuffed sausage," she griped.

Steve kissed her and smiled. "You've never looked more beautiful."

"Oh, cut the crap, Austin. I look like a beached whale!"

Steve patiently adjusted her blankets and fluffed the pillows. Rudy had warned him there might be some extreme mood swings – and he sure hadn't been kidding! "Just think of the end result," he reminded Jaime, tenderly rubbing her stomach, which sometimes helped to soothe her...but not today.

"Yeah, I know – two tiny little expressions of our love....that I have to give birth to in rapid succession!" Jaime sighed and the fight slowly ebbed out of her. "I'm sorry," she said softly. "I'm just so tired of this room...this bed...and -"

"Me?"

"Never tired of you," she told him. "But I wanna be outside, to go shopping for baby stuff, design a nursery – all of those fun things new mothers get to do...and I can't."

Steve sat down beside her on the bed, and arm partially encircling her. "I'll take pictures of everything and you can choose what we actually buy. It'll be just like you designed it yourself."

"I know.....OW!" Jaime winced and clutched her stomach.

Steve was instantly on his feet. "What is it? Contractions?"

"I don't...think so. But – OW! - I think you'd better call the doctors...."

---

"Is it labor?" Steve asked, trying hard not to let Jaime feel his anxiety. She was already frightened enough.

"No," Jeffries explained. "Jaime, we'll need to take you to the hospital and get you back on IV meds to hold off contractions for as long as possible."

Steve sat down next to Jaime and held her gently as another wave of pain wracked her entire body. "What's happening to her?" he pleaded.

Rudy did his best to explain. "When I told the two of you that Jaime's body had enough room to carry a baby to term, I was thinking in terms of one baby. At this point in the pregnancy, Honey, when you're growing so large so quickly, your muscles and nerve endings are pressing hard against your bionic connections and causing overwhelming stress to your whole system."

Jaime nodded and was about to ask a question when the pain intensified...and didn't recede. Rudy hurried to call an ambulance while Jeffries medicated Jaime for the trip. The only thing Steve could do was hold her hand...

---

Jaime was quickly settled into a hospital bed, and as much as Steve hated to leave her, she was soon sleeping peacefully...and he needed answers. While Doctor Jeffries watched the machines that monitored both Jaime and the babies' conditions, Steve met with Rudy in the little office down the hall.

"How bad is this?" he demanded anxiously.

"We were worried that this might happen," Rudy conceded. "To put it in plain English, Jaime's body and her bionics are at war. Her body is expanding at a much faster rate than if she were only carrying one baby and her bionic systems aren't getting the usual signals from her nerve endings. There's also the possibility that there simply may not be enough space. Rejection has always been a consideration, but now it's a much bigger risk – and unfortunately, so is premature labor. If she stabilizes, we'll keep her here for the rest of the pregnancy, where we can keep a very close eye on her condition."

Rudy paused, not wanting to tell Steve the rest, but knowing he needed to hear the whole truth. "If things don't improve, we may have to deliver the babies."

"It's too early..." Steve said softly.

"There may be no other choice. "Steve, I'm sorry, but it may come down to saving Jaime....or losing all three of them."

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