Dr. Reynolds the pediatric cancer specialist came into Trenton's room the next morning looking discouraged.
"I have some bad news." He began. I gripped Cooper's hand. "Trenton's leukemia cell count hasn't gotten any better since before the last round of chemo." He said.
"But it hasn't gotten any worse?" Cooper asked. Dr. Reynolds nodded.
"No worse. Just not better." He said. I nodded and looked at Trenton. He was fast asleep.
"So what do we do?" I asked.
"Well, we keep trying chemo." Dr. Reynolds said. I nodded.
"When will you do his next round?" I asked.
"When his body heals some. He's still pretty sick from the last round. We need to wait until he's stronger. I'd like to put in a feeding tube, it will help his body get stronger quicker." He explained. I glanced at Trenton. A feeding tube? Just the thought made me want to cry. Cooper squeezed my hand.
"Charlotte?" He asked. I looked at him. He was smiling comfortingly but I felt no comfort.
"What?" I asked.
"What do you want to do?" He asked.
"Whatever is best for him." I said. Cooper nodded.
"Do the tube." Cooper said. I gripped his hand tighter.
"I cant be here for this." I whispered. Cooper nodded.
"Okay. You take Mason home, I'll stay here." Cooper said. I nodded. I went over to Mason and gently shook him. He slowly opened his eyes.
"Charlotte?" He asked sleepily.
"Hey kiddo. Time to go home." I said. Mason sat up.
"Is Trenton coming?" He asked. I shook my head.
"No bud. He's going to be here for a while." I said. Mason sighed and got up.
"Bye dad." Mason said and followed me out to the car.
Seven weeks later
Sixteen weeks. I was Sixteen weeks now. Trenton was home again and actually doing a lot better. Mason was out of his cast and things were looking a little better. I was showing, and the morning sickness was gone. So it was like I had swapped the two extremes. Cooper kept arguing wither or not it was a girl. Which he strongly believed it was. He wanted to name it Faith if it was a girl. Which to me, I'm not going to name my child Faith because I don't really go to church a lot. You know, so why name a child Faith? So I settled the issue and told him that it could be our kid's middle name if we have a girl. He agreed. I had an appointment with Addison that morning and hopefully I was going to see what the sex was. Addison had started dating Jake after Sam had sort of left her. I entered Addison's office and found her laying on the couch with a bucket. She looked like she had been throwing up, and the room's smell was evidence of that. She had a box of crackers, a bottle of medicine and a bottle of water sitting on her coffee table. I knocked on the door frame and she looked up.
"Hey Charlotte." She said weakly. I sat down next to her feet on the edge of the couch.
"You look awful. You need to go home." I insisted. Addison shook her head.
"No. I cant, it's time for your appointment anyway." Addison said and stood up. She looked nauseas for a minute then she straightened her skirt and led me into an exam room. I laid down and pulled my shirt up over my bump. Addison squirted the gel on to my bump and moved the radar around. She smiled at me but I knew she still wasn't feeling good.
"Addison you really should go home." I said. Addison shook her head.
"I'm not sick Charlotte." She said.
"Addison you were throwing up." I said.
"I'm not sick, I'm pregnant. Apparently my dried up uterus likes Jake's sperm." Addison shrugged.
"Have you told him?" I asked. Addison shook her head.
"No." She replied.
"You should tell him." I encouraged.
"Nu-uh." She replied. Addison scrunched her eyes up and looked at the ultra sound closely.
"Something wrong?" I asked.
"Yeah. He's got amniotic bands around his right foot." Addison said.
"Well what does that mean? Wait a minute, it's a boy?" I asked.
"Yes, it's a boy. I can go in now and surgically remove it, it's risky this early in the pregnancy, but I'm afraid if we wait it will cut of the circulation and it might loose it's leg." She said. I nodded.
"So when would you do the surgery?" I asked.
"Well I can fit you in at two if you'd like. That would give you five hours to tell Cooper and the kids and do some stuff. Just no food and you'll need to be there at one." Addison said. I nodded.
"Two sounds good." I said and cleaned my stomach off. I stood up and pulled my sweater back over my bump. Cooper was waiting for me in the kitchen.
"Hey Char. What's wrong?" He asked.
"Our baby boy isn't even born yet and he already has medical problems." I said choking back tears.
"What are you talking about?" He asked.
"Our son has an amniotic band wrapped around his right leg." I said.
"What are they going to do?" Cooper asked.
"I have a surgery at two, Addison is going to go in and cut it. She said it was really risky but if we waited he'd loose his leg." I said letting the tears come. Cooper pulled me into a hug and held me. He stroked my hair.
"Everything is going to be okay Char. Everything is going to be okay." He repeated. He picked me up bridal style and carried me into his office. He laid me down on his couch and sat next to me. I leaned my head on his shoulder and let my tears come freely. Cooper continued to stroke my hair.
"It's okay Charlotte, every thing is going to be okay. I'll never let anything happen to you or our baby." He whispered in my ear and I felt my eyes close.