So if you're mad, get mad
Don't hold it all inside
Come on and talk to me now

"I'll Stand By You" Sung by Pretenders, written by Chrissie Hynde, Tom Kelly, and William Steinberg

Chapter Five

"Close the door," Doc told him.

He closed it, saying, "I don't know if that will help, I could hear you both halfway down the stairs." He walked over to where Kitty was sitting, putting his hand on her shoulder. "Something wrong?"

"Doc says I'm old." She sounded hurt, and Matt couldn't help noticing that she wouldn't look at either one of them.

"Now where in thunder did you-" Doc sputtered. "Kitty, I never said- I just said at your age, with your medical history, there's a larger chance of complications than for the average-"

"Sounds like 'old' to me, Doc," she sighed.

"Matt, I'm glad you're here. Maybe you can help me talk some sense into this stubborn little girl of yours."

"Don't you mean 'old woman'?" Still not looking at either of them.

"Does someone want to tell me what's going on here?" Matt leaned against the examination table and looked first at Doc and then at Kitty like they were a couple of gunfighters he was trying to talk down.

"Doc's trying to turn me into an invalid!" Kitty exclaimed, some of her usual feistiness coming back.

"What?"

"Now, you see, you just keep turning my words around, it's like you aren't listening to me at all. When did I say you were going to be an invalid?"

"Kitty, what did Doc say?"

"He wants me to quit working. He forgot I have a business to run."

"It's true, Matt. I want her to take it easy, stay off her feet as much as she can, and we both know she isn't going to do that over in that saloon every night."

"Now, hold on. Kitty, you said Doc thought the baby would be all right."

"Oh, is that what she told you?" Doc took off his glasses and rubbed his moustache with one hand. " I said if she got plenty of rest, didn't wear herself out, if she did everything I told her to do, that she might be able to carry the baby to full term.."

That sounded much less optimistic than Kitty had been the night before, but he sensed he wasn't going to be able to make peace with them both in the same room. "Does this need to be decided tonight, Doc? Maybe we can all talk about it tomorrow when everyone has calmed down."

"Well, I guess one more day won't hurt. As long as you stay off your feet tonight."

"That all right with you, Kitty?"

"Fine. I guess I'll go over and get ready for supper." Matt walked her to the door and opened it for her.

"Kitty, for a minute there I thought you were going to get after me!" He realized immediately that he'd probably said exactly the wrong thing. It can still happen, Cowboy, her look said. After giving Doc a look Matt wasn't even going to try to translate, she pulled the door closed behind her, hard, on her way out.

Matt walked back over to Doc and sat down in the chair Kitty had just vacated. "Doc, what was all that about?"

"Well, now that we're alone, Matt, I might as well tell you, I don't think she's really that mad about my not wanting her to work or thinking I called her old. I've been telling her that for the last four days and it hasn't sunk in at all. No, something else set her off tonight. I hurt her, even though I didn't mean to. I just don't want her to take any chances with that baby. "

"Are you going to explain this to me, Doc, or not?" He was beginning to lose his patience with Doc himself.

"No, I don't think I'd better. This is something that's between a man and a woman, and I think it might be better if we give her a chance to tell you first, rather than hearing it from me."

"I'll go talk to her, but you aren't making a whole lot of sense right now. It sounds like you think I'm going to call you out for insulting her or something."

"It does, doesn't it?" Doc sighed, shaking his head as Matt left.

Kitty wasn't getting ready for supper. She had been sitting in one of her arm chairs, lost in thought, since she got to her room. She was already regretting her hasty words to Doc in his office, and even more so the anger behind them. They'd gotten into some heated discussions in the past, but she didn't think she'd ever hollered at him before. He had just given her the latest in a growing list of restrictions on her activities and she'd responded with "Have you lost your mind, Doc?" and the discussion went downhill from there, although she couldn't quite remember anything else she'd said before Matt interrupted them. She still couldn't quite believe what he wanted her to do, or, to be more accurate, what he wanted her and Matt not to do. She heard Matt on the back stairs and dreaded the conversation they were about to have.

"Are we still going out to supper?" he asked as he walked through the door.

"No, if you don't mind. I don't feel like it."

"Are you sick?" he asked, crouching down next to her chair.

"No, I'm just not in the mood to go out now."

"I can go bring something back."

"All right."

"Want to talk about it now?" Matt got up and pulled the other armchair next to hers.

"Did Doc tell you the rest of it?"

"He said he thought he hurt your feelings, and that we have something to talk about."

"Well, I'm sure I hurt his feelings, too. I said some things without thinking first."

"Ah, Doc's tough, he can take it."

"Yeah." Matt reached out, taking her hand and waiting for her to continue.

"Matt, what got me so upset at Doc-well, because of the baby, he doesn't think it's safe to...he says we shouldn't...make love. I got up this morning thinking I was going to have everything I ever wanted, and then he goes and tells me I'm not going to be able to be a wife to you." With that, she started to become tearful and pulled her handkerchief out of her skirt pocket. "Of course he didn't know that's what he was saying, because he doesn't know yet."

"Of course, you'll still be my wife, honey. That isn't going to change. You didn't tell him?"

"I thought maybe we could tell them all together-Doc, Festus, Sam...why don't we have them come over after we close tonight and tell them then?"

"Sure. Let's do that. And don't worry. There are other ways to make love. And besides, I'd be happy just holding you every night." She raised her eyebrows. "I would. And so would you. For the baby."

"For the baby." She smiled, but the look in her eyes said the matter was far from settled as far as she was concerned.

He stood up. "I'll go get our supper and we can talk some more." Kitty stood to walk to the door with him and felt her head begin to swirl. The room started to go dark around her and she swayed against Matt. "Ohhh…" She felt him catch her in his arms as her legs buckled under her. "Kitty? Kitty!" she heard before the blackness overtook her completely.

She came to on her bed, Matt sitting on the edge of the mattress with a worried expression on his face. "What happened?"

"You fainted."

"I don't faint," she said, trying to sit up. This brought on another wave of dizziness, and Matt gently pushed her back against the pillow.

"Well, you did just now. Lie still," he said, brushing her hair back from her face. "Here, drink this." He held a glass of water to her lips and she drank a few sips. "I'm going to go get Doc."

"I don't need Doc. Don't make a fuss, Matt, I just got dizzy. That's normal."

"I'm getting Doc," he repeated.

"All right. Get Doc. I need to apologize to him anyway." Matt smiled and brushed his fingers against her cheek. "Oh, and on your way out, could you stop and tell Sam to put a bottle of champagne on ice?" He looked at her in confusion. You just fainted and now you want champagne? "For after closing? When we tell our friends?"

A/N Revised Nov 2014 to include song lyrics. I wanted to use this song several times while writing later chapters of the story, but it never seemed to fit, even though I think it's a wonderful M/K song (especially if you watch the video). When I came back to add lyrics to this chapter (ironically, I couldn't find any lyrics that seemed appropriate at the time) I realized I could use the song after all.