Chapter 9

The Woes of Pregnancy

Amelia's P.O.V.

About three days after the ceremony, Stone and I headed to the OBG/YN office to see if I was indeed pregnant. We sat in the waiting room patiently until the doctor called us in. I laid down on the bed as the doctor put the jelly on my belly. The doctor then placed a stick on my belly and moved it around for a few minutes.

"Mr. and Mrs. Hopper, it seems like you'll be parents in eight months. There's your baby right now," he said, pointing at the small circle at the center of the screen. He printed off three copies of the ultra sound. "Now, Mrs. Hopper, you'll have to come back in two months, okay?"

I nodded and we left after making another appointment. Stone kissed the top of my head as we climbed into the car. The next two months consisted of me mostly barfing into a toilet. It was the morning of my next appointment. I got up and quickly headed to the toilet. I heard Stone come in after me and hold my hair back. "It's okay Amy, I'm sure the doctor will know what's going on," he soothed.

I got up, brushed my teeth, and got ready for my appointment. I was shaking in the car, the last three month appointment I had had, I found out I was not going to be a mother. Stone seemed not notice because he was rubbing the back of my hand with his thumb. "It'll be okay, sweetheart," he soothed. I kissed his cheek as we entered the doctor's office.

I found myself lying on the bed with jelly on my belly. The doctor looked around with the stick again. "Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Hopper, you have a healthy little baby, do you want the gender?" he asked.

Stone looked at me. "I'll think we'll wait," I answered. The doctor nodded and printed off copies of the ultrasound. When we got back, we decided that we would invite everyone over for dinner tomorrow to tell them the news. Sam and Hopper came, since my dad had some admiral business to attend to.

"So, what did you have to tell us?" Sam asked, eating her pasta. I took and sip of water and shared a look with Stone.

"Well, I'm pregnant!" I laughed. Sam smiled and jumped up and gave me a hug.

"That's wonderful!" Sam squealed. We had told my dad when he came over for dinner and he was also ecstatic. Stone had to go back to work so I would be alone in the house until he came back every night. Stone had signed up to take on the new recruits so that there was little chance that he would be away when the baby was born.

At the four month mark, Sam and I had the task of choosing which color to paint the baby's room. We didn't want to get any furniture because we had yet to have a baby shower. We picked out a light green and painted the room.

Sam did all the work on the ladder. I simply handed her more paint when she ran out. I had to step up one step to hand her the paint and Stone had chosen that moment to walk in. He looked like he was about to have a heart attack when he saw me, one step up on a ladder.

"What are you doing on a ladder? You could hurt yourself or the baby . . ." Stone rambled on.

"Stone, I'm fine, I just stepped on that one step, it won't happen again," I soothed. He sighed and nodded. Sam and I had finished the first coat and Stone was going to do the second one tomorrow. After that incident, Stone had this 'protective mode' where he would go on rants about being safe.

As the fifth month mark rolled around everyone could easily tell I was pregnant. Since none of my shirts no longer fit, I had been wearing Stone's for the past week. So, Sam decided to take me out shopping for maternity clothing.

"What about this one?" Sam asked, holding up a pink frilly top. I wrinkled my nose. "Fine, let's just get you some shorts and t-shirts."

I paid for the clothes and we decided to stop for coffee. Well, Sam had coffee, I just had water. "So have you thought about a baby shower any time soon?" Sam asked.

"Probably in a month or two, I don't really want a big party," I shrugged. Sam took a sip of her coffee.

"You know I could come over on weekends and we could put something together," Sam smiled. She was always the more outgoing of the two of us. I sighed but said okay. Sam drove me back home. I thanked her and put away my clothes before I started to make dinner.

I dropped the measuring cup on the floor. I reached down to grab it, but my belly got in the way. I moved my feet further apart and tried to reach it again, closing my eyes in concentration. I heard the door open and Stone's footsteps heading towards the kitchen. "What are you doing?" he asked.

I got up and sighed. "I dropped the measuring cup when I was making dinner."

"You know I'm sure we can ask someone to stay here with you during the day to help you," Stone replied reaching behind me to try to steal a piece of chicken. I smacked his hand with a nearby spatula.

"Don't touch that! And I don't need any help and I can prove it," I crossed my arms over my chest.

"Really? Then pick up the cup," he said, motioning towards the measuring cup still on the ground. I leaned down again. I couldn't reach it so I squatted farther. I could hear Stone moving behind me and I finally reached the cup. I straightened up, smirking until I realized the smirk on my husband's face.

"You pushed the cup, didn't you?" I accused. Stone smirked, heading upstairs to change. I growled and went back to cooking dinner. The sixth month came around and I headed into my checkup. Sam was taking me because Stone had a meeting all day long.

The checkup went fine, the baby was developing normally and on schedule. Sam, instead of dropping me off at my house, drove to her house. "Why are we stopping here?" I asked.

"You'll see," she replied. I followed her inside and when she turned the light on, people jumped out and screamed surprise. I laughed and hugged everyone who had shown up: Iris, Riley, Haley, and a few family members that had been at my wedding.

The shower went great and I got some great gifts including a crib, bassinet, stroller, car seat, changing table, and some bottles and clothes. All unisex of course. Sam loaded everything into her car and left them in the living room. She had offered to help set everything up but I knew Stone would want to put them together himself.

That night, after we ate dinner, Stone started to put the crib together. "Stone, that doesn't look right," I commented looking at the picture on the box. Stone was muttering to himself about following instructions. We did get the crib together, on the third try.

The seventh month came by and I was bigger than ever and Stone was more worried than before. I had agreed to have Haylee stay with me during the day. She had a one year old girl and it gave me a chance to practice being a mother. "So how's the cravings been?" Haylee asked, holding her daughter, Abby.

"Well, they've been okay. I would have eaten a whole tub of rocky road ice cream if Stone hadn't been there next to me," I shrugged.

"So have you thought of any baby names?" Haylee asked, handing me Abby.

"Terrence Stone Hopper if the baby's a boy and Ellen Astrid Hopper if the baby's a girl," I stated. When Stone came home Haylee and Abby left.

At the eighth month mark, I found myself at a surprise party for Sam. Hopper was going to propose after finally getting my dad's approval. I was showing an awful lot and my feet were swollen severely. When Sam walked inside after work, Hopper got down on one knee. She said yes.

Everyone cheered as they kissed. Sam came over to hug me when I felt a sharp pain in my abdomen. I gasped as liquid rolled down my legs. "What's wrong?" Stone immediately joined my side.

"The baby's coming!" I cried. Stone picked me up, bridal style. Sam, Hopper, and my dad came rushing over as I felt more pain. Stone placed me in the back seat, Sam and my dad on both of my sides, and drove off with Hopper muttering directions to the nearest hospital.

I held onto my dad and Sam's as another contraction came around. Hopper was talking on the phone, telling the hospital to have a room ready for me. We pulled up to the hospital and Stone carried me inside until I was placed into a wheel chair and pushed to the maternity ward.