Okay so this chapter took FOREVER to write and it's still not exactly how I wanted. I reworked it a few times and still couldn't get it just right. But oh well, it's pretty close to what I wanted. Just a heads up this chapter jumps ahead 2 months because there was nothing really happening and I was beginning to feel it dragging a bit. So hopefully this spices things up a bit.
Anyways, thank you to IvoryKey, Ciza, and greenplaid88 for reviewing :)
Disclaimer: Sadly, I cannot call Bones mine, but any characters I create and the plot lines are. Yay!
Angela gripped Jack's hand so hard he was sure it would just fall off. They were sitting in the waiting room at the doctor's office waiting for the doctor to call them in. Angela was now five months pregnant and the rounded stomach was evident under her tight top. Her knee was bouncing up and down, but it was hard to tell if she was excited or nervous.
"Oh my god, why is this taking so long?" she asked, sighing when she saw the now all too familiar look on her husband's face. He wasn't even listening to her. Ever since the copycat Gravedigger had showed up, he had been distant as if he had something on his mind. But no matter what she said, he refused to talk about it, instead denying that anything was bothering him. "Honey? Did you even hear me?"
He jumped at the touch of the cool hand on his cheek. "Oh what? Sorry Angie I guess I was daydreaming."
She sighed again, not even attempting to bring it up. "So do you wanna know the sex?"
"I kind of do, but I know we talked about being surprised again. Why? Do you wanna know the sex?"
"Maybe…" she teased, "But we can be strong and hold out."
He chuckled, "I don't know babe. It was pretty damn hard last time. Every time we came for an appointment I had to stop myself from asking."
"Well we can't anyways. Michael knows we didn't find out about him until he was born. If we find out this baby's gender, he's going to think we don't love him as much."
"You make a very good point Angie." He sighed, "I guess I'll just have to survive. Is your mother's intuition telling you anything?"
She shook her head, "Nuh uh Jack that's still cheating."
"Why? You told me last time," he protested.
"Yeah but we didn't have another child to worry about back then."
He opened his mouth to further argue his point but lucky for Angela the nurse appeared at the door, calling her name.
"Angela Montenegro-Hodgins?"
"Right here!" Hodgins called out, helping his wife out of the chair as she rolled her eyes at him.
Soon, Angela was situated on the examination table, her stomach seeming much bigger now that she was flat on her back.
"Wow babe you look bigger!" Hodgins exclaimed before realizing he had said it out loud. Angela glared at him, her eyes piercing like knives. "Uh uh I meant you look hot babe," he stuttered, trying to correct his mistake.
The nurse laughed to herself. It wasn't the first time a husband had said the wrong thing to his pregnant wife in that room. "Okay, sir if you could just fill these out for me. Dr. Banno will be in shortly." She handed Hodgins a clipboard with paperwork.
"Great," Hodgins mumbled, picking up the pen and beginning to write. He looked up momentarily to see Angela staring him down, an extremely pissed look on her face. He got up, coming over to where she lay. "I'm sorry Angie, I wasn't thinking." He attempted to hold her hand, backing off when she crossed her arms across her chest. "Come on babe. You know I love how you look when you're pregnant." He leaned down to kiss her which she surprisingly accepted, sighing into his mouth.
"You know I get insecure honey."
He smiled, "You have no reason to be Ange. You are the most gorgeous woman on the entire planet, especially when you are carrying my child."
"Jack…" she whispered his name, reaching up to caress his cheek.
The turning of the door knob broke them out of their moment and in strolled Dr. Banno, her eyes down, concentrating on the file she held in her hands. "Good afternoon! Angela, Jack, it's nice to see you again. I feel like I just saw you guys yesterday."
Angela laughed, "Believe it or not the last time we saw each other I was definitely not this big." She gestured to her stomach, which was definitely not big at all, small actually for how far along she was.
Dr. Banno laughed, "Yes that's true. So I see you got your cast removed?"
"Mhmm. A couple of days ago actually. It healed up so fast they let me get it off a week early."
"Yeah only because you complained about it cutting off the circulation in your arm babe," Hodgins teased, causing her to lightly hit him.
"Not my fault my arms decided to swell a bit along with my feet this time."
"Pregnancy does cause swelling of the arms sometimes," Dr. Banno said, supporting Angela's case, "Anyways; the nurse has your weight listed as 125 so you've gained what, 5 pounds throughout the pregnancy?"
"Yeah that seems about right."
Dr. Banno scrunched her eyes together, pursing her lips. "Well I'm not happy with your weight. Ideally you should probably be closer to 135 right now. The next time I see you I expect weight gain or else I'm going to have to stop you from working. A stressful job is not helpful when you are trying to gain weight."
Hodgins jumped up from his seat, "Wait, so if she doesn't gain enough weight, could it affect the baby?"
The doctor shrugged, "It could, which is why we don't want to take any chances right Angela?"
"Of course Dr. Banno."
The older woman smiled, knowing that this couple had been through a lot with their last pregnancy and that this pregnancy would probably be even harder and more stressful on them. The father already looked scared out of his mind and Angela, well it was already taking a toll on her body. "Alright, Angela if you'll pull up your shirt we can take a look at your baby. Did you want to find out the sex today?"
Hodgins sighed forcefully after Angela gave him a look, "No, we want to be surprised again."
"Okay." She moved the transducer over Angela's stomach until the faint image of a human baby appeared on the screen. Hodgins grabbed Angela's hand and they stared at their baby, once again amazed by the beauty of it all.
"Everything looks great!" Dr. Banno told the couple who really didn't acknowledge her words, continuing to stare at their unborn child. She frowned slightly, wishing that these lovely people didn't have to go through the process of waiting to see if their baby would be born blind again.
Hodgins smiled, his eyes meeting his wife's in a moment of true happiness.
"Pictures will be up at the front desk for you and you can also make an appointment with the receptionist while you're up there as well. Remember Angela, weight gain is good during pregnancy."
"Thank you Dr. Banno," Hodgins said, grabbing Angela's purse and handing it to her.
Later back at the lab
"Thanks for giving us a longer lunch today Cam," Hodgins told his boss as he and Angela put their lab coats back on, ready to get back to solving the murder.
"Oh sure no problem Dr. Hodgins." Cam waved him off, "My boyfriend's a doctor; I know how hard it is to get an appointment at a reasonable time, especially with an OB/GYN."
"How is Paul anyways? Do we have another marriage coming up?" Angela asked, smirking as she nudged a now blushing Cam.
"Uh let's get back to the case shall we Angela?" Cam attempted to try to change the subject, noticing Hodgins shaking his head at his wife's curiosity.
Angela smiled, "Sure Cam."
"So how did the doctor's appointment go?" Cam asked as she examined the remains.
"Whoa whoa! What happened to getting back to the case?" Angela raised her eyebrows.
Cam shrugged, "Well that only applied when you were asking about me and Paul. Doesn't apply in regards to your family, including the little one that has yet to arrive."
Hodgins took the opportunity to jump in. He loved talking about Angela and their children, always bragging about them. Clearly, he was a devoted husband and father. "Everything's right on track so far. Angela just needs to gain some weight." He smiled over at Angela whose face immediately turned to embarrassment.
"Hodgins!"
"What? It's true. You really do need to gain weight. You don't want to end up harming the baby."
She slammed the file she had been holding onto the table, storming over to where he stood, "Seriously! I am so tired of you telling me what to do! I know that I'm pregnant! And it's certainly not my first time being pregnant, so don't try to act like I'm intentionally trying to hurt the baby! You have no idea how much stress I am under and it doesn't help when you aren't being completely honest with me! I'm sick of waking up in an empty bed, finding you staring out the window refusing to admit that something's wrong!"
Cam's eyes went wide and she quietly excused herself, making a beeline for her office. Angela and Hodgins rarely fought, but when they did it was not a very pretty sight to see.
"I'm not accusing you of anything! I'm just joking around! Sorry if you thought I was actually being serious!"
Angela was breathing hard now, her face red from the anger, "Can we not do this right here in front of everyone please? My office now." She stormed past him, giving him a death glare as she walked by.
Hodgins groaned, looking around at all the scientists standing around just staring. "What the hell are you all looking at? Get back to work!"
He took a deep breath before walking into Angela's office, seeing her pacing through the glass door. She didn't even look up when he came in, taking deep breaths and trying not to let her pregnancy hormones get the best of her.
"Angela," he murmured, trying to come up and give her a hug, but she stopped him, putting her hands out.
"No. Sit down and listen."
"This isn't about the gaining weight thing is it?" He stated the question rather than asking it.
"No Jack it's not. Look this pregnancy is hard enough for us to deal with together, but lately I've been feeling like you're not totally with me. Ever since the copycat Gravedigger incident you've been distant. You obviously are having trouble dealing with it and that's okay, but you need to talk to me about it. Holding it in is just doing more damage. I need my husband right now Jack. Did you know I woke up in the middle of the night last night having a panic attack about the baby? But once again you weren't there. I just feel like this secret that you're holding back is coming in between us."
"Angie…" he whispered, pulling her down on the couch beside him, "I'm so sorry Angela. I didn't realize how much this was affecting you." He paused to think, "I'm the reason you're so stressed and aren't gaining weight aren't I?"
She nodded silently, the tears pouring out of her eyes.
"Angie I'm sorry. Baby I'm so sorry," he apologized over and over, rocking her back and forth in his arms like a child. "Do you want to talk about your panic attack?"
"Oh Jack it was so scary. The baby was blind and I couldn't do anything right!" she sobbed into his chest, "I just keep thinking that if the baby is blind, I won't be able to be the mother that he or she needs, like I am for Michael."
His face fell, "Angela, it doesn't matter if the baby is blind or not. I know that you'll be a wonderful mother to our son or daughter. Isn't Michael evidence of that? We had no idea what we were doing when we first had him, but look at us now? It may take some getting used to, but if the baby is blind, me and you together can handle it." He stroked her hair, kissing the top of her head. "I promise, from now on we're going to be a team again, Angela and Jack, mommy and daddy, husband and wife."
She looked up at him, smiling slightly, "Thank you Jack. I'm sorry I went off on you back there. I just really miss you…"
"I know I know babe." He took a deep breath, "Angela, I'm going to share with you why I tend to keep everything inside. I've never told anyone else this in my life, not even Zack. It has to do with my family, most notably my older sister."
Angela gazed up at him. He had never once spoken about his family before, only saying that they were all dead and were better off so. She had never pushed him, figuring it wasn't that important, but now as she sat there watching the tears form in his eyes, she realized that whatever had happened with his family, had defined who he had become, for better or for worse. "Honey, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to. Obviously it causes you pain and I don't want to see you in pain."
"No, you're my wife Angela. We have a son together and another baby on the way. We've been married for five years. I really should have told you this a long time ago and for that I am sorry." He grabbed her hand, squeezing it as if to draw strength from her.
Flashback
Ten-year old Jack Hodgins stood in the doorway of his older sister's room, a pathetic look on his face.
"Please Lauren! Can you please take me to get the new video game! I'll love you forever!" he whined.
The girl turned around in her desk chair, her long blonde hair swooping around her face. "Jack, I'm doing homework right now. Can't you wait until mom and dad get home?"
He pouted, "I've wanted this game for ever and it's finally out! Please!"
She rolled her eyes, "God why do you have to be so freaking cute?" she asked, ruffling his hair as she walked out of the room.
"Is that a yes?"
"Yeah, but you totally owe me."
Jack fist-pumped the air, running out to the garage where Lauren's sporty red convertible was parked. They began the drive to the video game store, Jack being forced to listen to Lauren's pop music along the way.
"Oh my god!" he shouted excitedly pointing to the billboard that featured the game he wanted.
Lauren turned to look, distracted momentarily and that's when everything went to hell. A drunk driver soared through the intersection just as Lauren's car was crossing, hitting the driver's side head on. Later on they said that she had died on impact, but little Jack knew that this wasn't true. Right as the truck collided with them, she had turned to look at him, her face filled with fear and sadness. There had been nothing he could have done to save her, but that didn't make it any harder for him. He held himself responsible for her death. It had been his fault that she hadn't been paying complete attention to the road, his fault that she hadn't been able to react quick enough to avoid the drunk driver. It was something that would haunt him for the rest of his life.
Angela listened quietly as he told his story, weeping along with him and trying to comfort him. "I'm so sorry Jack, I had no idea."
He turned to look at her, his lips quivering, "You didn't know Angela. To this day I still feel responsible for her death. My parents blamed me for it too; they just never said it out loud. After the accident I shut myself to the rest of the world. I felt like I didn't deserve to keep living when it was my fault she was gone. I still feel that way sometimes," he admitted.
"Jack," she whispered his name, "Look at me. It wasn't your fault, it was a tragic accident. You can't keep holding yourself responsible."
"You don't understand Angie. My parents literally hated me. I became the rebel and conspiracy theorist I am today after that day. Anything I ever believed in went to hell. And what did they do? Instead of trying to help me through it, they showered me with presents of their wealth, as if that could make everything better or change anything. That's why I hate being the sole heir. That company represents everything that I hate about my family and now I can never escape from it."
"But you're nothing like your parents Jack. You're a wonderful father and husband; you aren't one of those rich snobby bastards who think they're better than everyone else. You are the most humble man I have ever met, too humble for your own good really." She wiped the tears off his cheek with her thumb, kissing him softly on the lips.
"I know," he smiled up at her, his eyes grateful, "It just gets hard for me to deal with sometimes and I still can't open up all the way. But, I will try Angela, for you."
"So what has been on your mind then?" she asked, deciding to push a little further.
He sighed, taking her hand, "Do you remember that dream I was having when you were pregnant with Michael?"
She nodded, having an idea where this was going, "You used to scare the hell out of me with your screams."
"I'm sorry about that babe. But, yeah it's back, only this time it's me, Michael, and the new baby trapped in the car. No matter what I do I can't get them out. Michael is scared to death, but I can't get through to him to reassure him and the baby is crying up a storm. When it ends, somehow I'm on the outside looking in at them, watching them slowly suffocate. The pain is absolutely unbearable and my hearts break at the look on their faces, wondering where their daddy is." He is sobbing uncontrollably now, finally breaking down after holding it in all this time.
"Shhh shhh it's okay," she whispered, cradling his head as he sobbed into her lap. She had had no idea how much this reoccurring nightmare affected him until today. The man who had been so strong for so long was gone in this moment, replaced instead by an obviously broken man, just struggling to hold himself together. Jack had pretty much lost anyone and everyone he cared about throughout his life. His sister, his parents, Zack, even his ex-fiancé. But, to lose a child would be so much worse, especially knowing that there was absolutely nothing you could do about it.
He sat up now, forcing himself to calm down. "You and Michael are my world Angela. If I lost either of you I don't know what I would do."
"I know I know. But, honey, we're not going anywhere. Nothing could ever pull me or Michael away from you."
He sighed, "This is never completely going to go away Ange. It's just something I'm going to deal with for the rest of my life all because of some stupid bitch who isn't even alive now." He was angry now, upset with the Gravedigger for kidnapping and burying him alive in the first place.
"But that doesn't mean you have to face it alone. That's what I'm here for Jack. We're a team; we lean on each other."
"I love you Angela. I never thought it would be possible for me to really love someone after Lauren died, but you, from the day I met you, I knew it would be you who would change that."
She leaned into him, pushing him back on the couch as she kissed him sweetly. "I love you too Jack." She laughed, pulling back, her hand on her stomach. "I think someone's trying to tell me it's lunchtime."
He smiled at her, loving the way the light hit her face, making her look like an angel from heaven. She was grinning a brilliant smile, her adorable dimples appearing. For once in his life, Jack felt at peace. There were no more secrets between them; he had finally been able to open up completely with someone. "Come on. Let's go grab some takeout really quick. We wouldn't want that little guy to get restless and bother his mommy now would we?" Although it seemed like he was speaking to Angela, he looked at her baby bump the entire time, gently patting it.
Angela laughed, "It could be a girl honey," she reminded him.
"Your mommy keeps saying you could be a girl, but you're not are you my baby boy," he cooed to Angela's stomach, well aware that she could hear everything he was saying.
"Come on Jack. I'm hungry." She pulled him towards the office door.
"Right. Good time to start with the weight gain program," he teased, a twinkle in his blue eyes.
"Haha I got it babe. Don't you worry I'm going to be having two burgers. Who knows? Maybe I'll like getting to eat whatever I want whenever I want so much that I'll just decide to become fat for life," she teased. "Right back at you honey." She winked, seeing the nervous and uncomfortable look on his face.
Ahhh a fight! Lol but they work through it. Not the end of the drama though I promise. Ok so my challenge to you guys is to get to 30 reviews before I post the next chapter, which I can't specify a date at the moment because this week has been crazy. But, if you guys could make that happen I would be every so happy :) So please review!
Also, no idea if my medical information really is on target. I mean I did a little research but not any in depth stuff. I apologize if anything is not accurate.
Thank you all for your support. I never thought I'd get to 8 chapters in the same story and it's because of you guys.
-Willie
P.S. Review! ;P