Chapter 26

Disclaimer: I make no money out of this story or the Millennium Trilogy.

Today you get two chapters; I expect a lot of reviews lol. As always please read and review let me know where you see this going .

It was early in the morning and Lisbeth woke up to Mikael unsuccessfully trying to be quiet. Usually he wouldn't have been but Lisbeth was under the weather. She was feeling horrible and Mikael did not want to wake her up. "I can still hear you Kalle. You are not very good at being silent." She said from under the covers. Lisbeth felt the bed move and felt him kissing her cheek. "Sorry love, I have to go. I am taking Aaron with me so you can rest.

Aaron was three years old already; he would start kindergarten next fall. Sometimes Lisbeth marveled at how much time had passed since she met Mikael. Their son was growing up so fast; he was very independent and loved to run around. Of course Lisbeth was happy that Aaron was well adjusted but sometimes it saddened her that one day her baby would not need her anymore. Aaron liked to be by himself and was easily distracted by objects. He would observe and play with things on his own. When he needed someone else he would call on mommy or daddy.

Lisbeth fell asleep again while Mikael was readying their son. "Why am I going with you?" Aaron was stretching his arms so that daddy could put on his blue sweater on him.

"Mommy doesn't feel well and cannot be with you today. That is why we are going to Millennium." Mikael answered, his son visiting the magazine was becoming a rare event. As Aaron grew he became more difficult to watch; because of this Mikael seldom took him to his work.

"Will I see Erika?" Aaron liked Erika; she usually gave him presents and candy.

"No, I told you she went away with her husband for Christmas." Mikael patiently said. He was preparing himself for a long morning plagued with questions coming from Aaron.

Thankfully Malin was able to finish her work early and she took over Aaron who was showing her how to draw a ladybug he saw from a book Lisbeth bought him last week.

Mikael dedicated himself to finish the editing for an article on European armed guerrillas. Once he was done he called Lisbeth to check up on her. She still felt like shit, her own words. Mikael picked Aaron from Malin's office; his son was playing on the rug while Malin made some calls for the magazine.

"Let's go Aaron we are going to see mommy now." Aaron looked up and ran to his father. He yelled goodbye to Malin and left in the arms of Mikael.

"Daddy, is mommy going to die like Agatha?" Mikael was not expecting this question. He did not even think Aaron remembered Agatha. The woman died almost a year ago; it had been a hard blow for Lisbeth. His Sally closed off for a time, Mikael expected the worse outcomes but one day Lisbeth just said, "Agatha wanted me to be happy. I will be, I owe it to her. She helped me a lot and she would have hated it if I ruined everything now."

Mikael smiled remembering how Lisbeth picked herself up that day and resumed her neglected research work.

"Answer me daddy. Is mommy going to die?" Aaron looked at him, Lisbeth was right this child was an exact replica of him.

"No, mommy is fine she is just under the weather buddy." Mikael replied and he saw Aaron give him a Salander appraising look and then he placed his head back on his shoulder.

"Why don't we buy some hot chocolate for us and we buy some pastries for mommy. I bet she will love those chocolate ones that we got her last week." Aaron nodded, he knew his mommy loved those and would be happy. Daddy always knew how to make mommy feel better.

When they got home Lisbeth was nowhere is sight, Aaron was asleep on his shoulder. He placed Aaron on his bed and looked for Lisbeth. He found her in the bathroom passed out.

He crouched to her and tried to wake her, "Lisbeth, love. Wake up", he slapped her face and tried to pour water on her face. It was then when he noticed that she was bleeding. Her underwear was soaked. Mikael got up and called an ambulance, he also called Annika. Fortunately his sister was near by; she was able to take Aaron and was with Mikael until the ambulance arrived.

"I'll call you when she wakes up." He was sure his Sally was going to wake up soon. He climbed into the ambulance and took her hand into his. She was still unconscious.

The paramedics rolled her through the emergency room while they left Mikael in the waiting room. Annika called him; she was desperate for news, she also told him that Aaron was crying and that he wanted to see Lisbeth. His son was throwing the temper tantrum of his life.

"Bring him, come here I need you both here." Mikael was scared now; the last time he was in a hospital with Sally doctors came every hour to update him. Now however, there was nothing. Three hours and nothing, nobody had approached him to tell him anything.

Annika and Enrico arrived with a red faced Aaron. The toddler threw himself at Mikael who hugged him hard. "Mommy is dying. You said she wasn't daddy. People die at hospitals." Now he blamed Lisbeth for Aaron's conclusions. She watched all of these documentaries and she usually let Aaron watch with her.

"Mommy is not dying, she is sick but soon someone will come to us and tell us how mommy is doing." Aaron nodded and felt reassured; daddy never lied.

Aaron snuggled to Mikael and slept. Annika brought him coffee; she stayed with him while Enrico went home to check up on the kids. Mikael accepted the plastic cup of coffee and gulped it down. He saw a doctor approach him.

"Lisbeth Salander?" she asked, he did not say anything, his heart was on his throat.

Annika answered for him, "We are her family. How is she doing?"

"The surgery went well," the doctor said.

Mikael interrupted her immediately, "what do you mean surgery. What the hell did you do to her? He was standing up with Aaron around his neck. The toddler was still peacefully sleeping, this seemed to calm Mikael and he lowered his voice. Mikael put Aaron back in the hospital chairs while he addressed the doctor.

"Now you tell me what is going on. I been sitting here for four hours and no one has seen me."

"Sir, we would have come earlier but we were not sure who was her emergency contact. She woke up and asked for you. I just came from the reception desk where they told me where I could find you."

"I came with her in the ambulance, isn't it obvious that I'm with her. Now tell me what's wrong with my wife." Mikael was on the verge of yelling. He slipped the word wife, just in case the doctor refused to give him information

"Sir, I understand your frustration. I apologize; your wife suffered a miscarriage. She hemorrhaged and this caused loss of consciousness.

Mikael looked at her, he suspected as much when he saw his Sally bleeding. "I, we didn't know."

"Your wife suffered an ectopic pregnancy, we were able to get the embryo from her left fallopian tube and repaired the damage. Your wife is expected to make a full recovery. I am sorry for your loss." Mikael numbly nodded, in his haste to know about Lisbeth's health he forgot the fact that they lost a baby. He felt Annika hugging him and whispering to him.

The doctor was about to go when he asked, "take me to her. I want to see her, now." His tone was firm he wouldn't take no for an answer. The doctor nodded and led him to Sally's room. Annika and Aaron stayed in the waiting room.

He saw her; she was so pale and looked so young in that bed. She opened her eyes and gave him a watery smile "I still feel like shit." She said.

Mikael returned the smile and came closer to her and was about to speak but Lisbeth beat him to it. "I'm sorry, I should have known. What type of woman doesn't know she is pregnant? I mean the signs were there, I am so sorry." She looked so small and so young, Mikael climbed beside her and shushed her. "It wasn't your fault, the baby wasn't in your uterus. There was nothing we could do."

Lisbeth nodded and just said, "Hold me." It was very sad for Mikael too, but he was glad the woman he loved was fine. It was a negative experience but Mikael was comforted by the fact that his Sally sought him and opened up to him. She was the one who spoke and was strong enough to recognize her vulnerability and ask for his support.

He watched her sleep and eventually a nurse asked him to leave and come back tomorrow. He found Annika and Aaron, he picked up Aaron and they went home.

The next morning, Aaron woke up and the first thing he did was ask for Lisbeth. "I need to see mommy. Daddy, take me where mommy is." Aaron demanded. Mikael smiled and agreed. He called Millennium and spoke to Christer who was replacing Erika during the holidays. He was very sympathetic and offered to take over his work. Mikael also called Palmgren who was very concerned. Mikael explained everything and Palmgren said he was going to the hospital immediately.

Aaron and him went to Sally's room, Aaron squirmed to get down, "mommy, mommy. Are you ok? Are you coming back to us? Are you going to stay here forever?" All of this was said in such a rush that Lisbeth had to smile at her son's inquisitive nature.

The toddler was about to climb to his mommy's lap but Mikael stopped him. "You can't Aaron, you'll hurt mommy. Right now she can't lift you or play with you ok. We have to be very careful around her."

Aaron nodded and Mikael placed him next to Sally. The boy hugged her and gave her a sloppy kiss. "I will draw you something mommy. You will get better after seeing my picture." Aaron opened his backpack and his color pencils and started his masterpiece.

Mikael kissed her properly and tucked a strand of her hair. "I am going to talk to your doctor about your discharge."

When he was leaving he saw Palmgren coming his direction. "How is she? Blomkvist don't lie to me."

Even though they knew each other and were friendly to each other they still addressed each other with their surnames. "Palmgren, I told you she is fine. We lost the baby but Lisbeth is taking it better than expected."

Palmgren entered the hospital room; he greeted Lisbeth and made small talk.

"Hello Lisbeth," Palmgren sat next to her and patted her hand.

"Holger, I am fine." Lisbeth said, she was happy to see him, she remembered what Agatha always said, "Lisbeth, you have family that cares about you. Your ex-guardian, Annika, your boss and most of all your son and Mikael."

She acknowledged this fact today. Annika was scheduled to come later, she was sure Mikael would eventually call Armansky and he would come to the hospital and see her. Lisbeth felt like shit but she had people that cared about her.

"Lisbeth you can't expect me not to worry. I have cared about you since you were a teenager. To me it doesn't matter if you are sixteen or thirty three, now just please tell me how you feel."

Lisbeth took a deep breath, "everything hurts, and I want to go home. Holger please let it go."

Her ex-guardian nodded; at least now he knew that Mikael would be there for her. Palmgren played with Aaron instead.

"What are you doing there Aaron?" Palmgren asked the child.

"I am drawing a cat so that mommy gets better." Aaron smiled at Palmgren. Lisbeth tried to hide her own smile.

"After I draw it mommy will be so happy and we will go back home and she will never come back here because daddy and me will protect her."

The child looked at Palmgren directly as he said this, his eyes were determined. Palmgren chuckled, "there is no doubt that this child is yours."

Aaron shrugged and continued coloring while Lisbeth smirked. After thirty minutes of talking and watching Aaron draw more pictures Mikael stepped in the room.

"Love, you are staying for another three days and then we are going home." He tried to sound cheerful because he knew Lisbeth would be extremely annoyed at the news.

"Mikael I want to go now, I don't need to be here to recover." She pouted and sulked the rest of the afternoon. As it turned out Armansky visited during the afternoon, he brought her flowers and chatted with her for a while. He even took Aaron out for a walk when the doctor came to check up on her.

The doctor explained the surgery to Lisbeth; the doctor also assured her that if she wanted to she could definitely have more children. Mikael and Lisbeth looked at each other, and nodded.

The next three days were hard for Lisbeth, she was bored and wanted to go home. She hated hospitals, the smell, and the coldness. Lisbeth wanted to be away from this place. She was cleared to go home a week before Christmas. She was given a diet and a recovery plan. Mikael left her home and went to the pharmacy for her medicine, after that he picked Aaron from Annika's.

Annika Giannini was worried about her brother's family and offered to take Aaron during Lisbeth's recovery period. Lisbeth refused and Mikael agreed with his Sally. He was taking his holiday vacation in order to take care of both Lisbeth and their son. They had planned to go to Gibraltar but with recent events those plans had to be postponed.

"Mikael are you sure? Enrico and I could take Aaron for these two weeks. We have no problem." Annika wanted Lisbeth to be ok; she knew that having a kid around was hard enough. Imagine recovering from surgery and also minding Aaron.

"Annika, don't worry. I am on vacation, and I am sure Aaron would make your life hell. He never leaves Sally's side or my side for more than five hours."

"I just don't want Lisbeth to be overwhelmed. It is very hard to recover from a miscarriage. I am not just talking about physical recovery but also emotional healing." Annika softly said to Mikael.

Mikael pondered on her words. Lisbeth broke down yesterday; they were alone in the hospital room when the doctor discharged her.

The doctor meant well said, "Lisbeth, you'll recover in no time. I will probably see you later on with a huge belly."

Lisbeth glared and her and the doctor quietly left. It was then when Lisbeth looked at Mikael and cried. Mikael went to her side and held her.

After sobbing for about ten minutes Lisbeth said, "I thought I didn't want more children. Mikael I would have loved the baby, but it is not here. I didn't even know it was with me. I didn't protect it."

Mikael shushed her and kissed her forehead until she calmed down. Mikael hoped Lisbeth could deal with the miscarriage; he was confused, he didn't know how to feel about the baby. He was glad that Lisbeth was ok; he was just so very relieved that nothing happened to her. The doctor told him that he had gotten her just in time for the surgery. Lisbeth was very fortunate to have made it in time, otherwise her fallopian tube or her life would have been in danger.

He carried Aaron until they got to the apartment. He opened the door and saw Lisbeth sitting on the couch and reading a book. She saw them and smiled, Aaron ran to her side and climbed next to her. He proceeded to tell her about his day. Mikael made dinner and bathed Aaron while Lisbeth settled herself in the bedroom.

Aaron wanted to sleep with them but Mikael made it clear that Lisbeth needed her rest. Aaron pouted but eventually went to his room, Mikael tucked him in again and bid him goodnight.

The first few days were the hardest. Lisbeth was never one to complain but Mikael could see that the abdominal and lower back pain was killing her. She was either moody or sad. The only one to lift her from her brooding was Aaron; their son had the ability to make her feel better. He would sing and play with her; he drew her things and gave her a lot of kisses. Lisbeth asked him why did he always kiss her and he simply said, "when I don't feel well you always give me lots of kissed and that makes me feel lots better." Aaron hugged her and ran his chubby fingers through her hair.

Lisbeth wanted to cry but not from sadness. She felt so connected to Aaron, her son was exceptional and surprisingly she was doing a good job at raising him. How could this little person make her feel so proud and fulfill her? She gave him a sloppy kiss on the cheek and played with him until Mikael came back.

Mikael was also very good at comforting her; he caressed her and made her feel so safe. He spooned her and gave her massages; he tended to all of her needs and was so patient. He never once complained when she was rude or childish, Mikael showed her how much he loved her by being there and waiting for her to come to terms with the miscarriage.

It was Christmas Eve and Lisbeth was up and walking, she made up her mind and tried to cook something. That night the small family had pasta; Aaron made a mess of himself. He ended up using his fingers and stuffing his face with meatball sauce. Lisbeth laughed at him and Aaron cutely smiled back. Mikael tried to wipe his face afterwards but it was almost impossible to wipe off the meatball sauce from the boy's hair. The parents bathed Aaron; he still loved the water and was learning to swim. He dove and splashed around the tub, "Aaron, time's up come here. I need to shampoo your hair and then rinse it." Mikael said, Aaron continued splashing around.

"Ari come to mommy." Aaron looked up from his toys and opened his arms to Lisbeth. She shampooed his hair and then rinsed it, he closed his eyes and let his mommy do all the work until she pulled him up and toweled him dry.

Aaron missed his mommy and how she took care of him. Daddy was all right but he wanted to do things quick, mommy played with him and gave him lots of kisses. She was tickling him and blowing raspberries on his belly. She tucked him in and gave him a kiss goodnight.

Lisbeth saw Mikael leaning over the door threshold; he was smiling and giving her one of his looks. This one was filled with love and adoration; she smiled back at him and crossed over the door. She kissed him and took his hand; she led him to their bed and hugged him. They hugged each other and fell asleep.

Lisbeth woke up to Mikael softly kissing her brow. "Merry Christmas Sally love" Mikael said, she kissed him and cuddled him until Aaron came into the room and climbed next to Lisbeth.

"Mommy is Christmas, where are my presents?" Aaron was looking through the pillows and the floor. This year there was no Christmas tree but Mikael promised his son that he would have presents even if the Christmas tree were absent.

"Aaron you have to wait until after breakfast. And remember we don't throw ourselves at mommy just yet. She is still recovering and we don't want her to go back to the hospital." Mikael said while trying to keep Aaron from running around and finding his presents.

"Daddy, I can't wait. You said this year I would have my presents before breakfast." The boy pouted and took a hold of his father hand and unsuccessfully tried to pull him up. Lisbeth smirked and nodded; Mikael understood this to be a sign that he should give their son his presents.

This year Aaron got a toy truck from the Giannini's, a bunch of coloring books from Palmgren. He also got nice clothes from Armansky, a leather jacket from Mimi and action figures from Erika. Every year Henrik, who seemed to be immortal sent him a check and a book to little Aaron. The old guy contacted Lisbeth and tried to apologize to her again, they wrote to each other every now and then. Henrik was not a person to use technology for communication. He called, but using Internet was not something he was interested in.

Aaron was happily playing with his truck. He was more independent now and liked to play alone; he still loved to be the center of attention. Mikael was glad his son was behaving; Lisbeth still had some recovery to do. The family was only expecting Nilla to come home; she was aware of Lisbeth's miscarriage and wanted to see her.

Mikael ordered food; they had Chinese, not very typical for Christmas but whatever. Nilla arrived late in the afternoon; she talked to Lisbeth and apologized for not coming sooner. Lisbeth shrugged her arms.

"Nilla, Nilla, come I want to play with you. You are coloring this part and I will color this page." Aaron said while dragging his older sister to the living room. The toddler sat down and explained to Nilla the fine art of coloring Transformers and Superman.

Nilla engaged her little brother and gave him a sweet smile. She loved this baby, she didn't get to see him much but when she did Aaron made sure Nilla Blomkvist was still under his charm.

Lisbeth was still very tired and even though she was moving around her abdomen and lower back hurt. She decided to take a nap. She woke up at 7:00 PM; Lisbeth rubbed her eyes and yawned. She saw Mikael standing close to the door. "Mikael, aren't we going to have dinner?"

"We are, but just the two of us. Nilla took Aaron to Annika's; they will celebrate Christmas there. As for us we're staying in bed, unless you are hungry and want me to heat the Chinese leftovers." Mikael said before joining her in bed.

They stayed quiet for a while until Lisbeth broke the silence, "I want us to have another one."

Mikael hugged her and replied, "Are you sure? I don't want you to do this because we just lost one and you want to make it up. Sally I don't want you to do this out of some misconceived guilt that you feel."

Lisbeth's eyes turned sad but she was firm in her decision, "when I had the miscarriage I realized that I wanted the baby. I didn't know I was going to have one and that threw me out of my loop, but it made me think and come to the conclusion that we are ready. We could have more children, I want another baby."

Mikael was not entirely convinced and told her, "We'll try when you get better. But Lisbeth if you change your mind at some point you have to tell me. I am happy with just Aaron and you I don't need more." To others it might have sound like he was against having more children but Lisbeth understood, Mikael wanted her to be sure. He was giving her time to analyze the situation and change her mind if she desired.