Month 7
Ava hadn't been feeling well before dinner, so she had retired to her room early. This had left Sonny, Ellie, and Claudia to eat dinner around the table together. Claudia had wanted to beg her to stay and to not make her eat dinner with only Ellie as a barrier, but she had refrained. Ever since the incidence by the pond two weeks ago, she had been keeping her distance from him, afraid that any contact, no matter how brief, would result in them falling, more like crashing, back together. The dinner table was nothing but silence and Ellie slurping her spaghetti. There was sauce all over her white shirt, but Claudia shrugged it away when Sonny made eye contact with her about it. The kid was going to manage to make a mess no matter what and Claudia didn't see the need to make a big deal out of it.
"So, Thanksgiving is coming up soon."
Sonny breaks the silence, because he can't stand it. He watches as Ellie's eyes grow wide and she looks over to her mother. Claudia shoots him a glare and shakes her head at him as if he's supposed to know that he can't bring up which holiday is coming up next.
"Mama, that's Uncle Rudy's favorite holiday."
Sonny now understands now why Claudia is unhappy about him saying something.
"It is, baby."
"We have to go back home!"
Neither of them are expecting that and Sonny flinches when he realizes that his young daughter does not consider his home her home. She was just like Claudia. When they had first gotten married, it had taken him months for her to accept that this was her house too.
"Ellie, this is your home, too."
Sonny says softly, hoping that she agrees with him.
"Well, yeah, I guess, but Uncle Rudy is all by himself and it's his favorite day. He shouldn't be alone on his favorite day and you have Auntie Ava and Mikey and Morgan, but Uncle Rudy only has mommy and me. Mama, can we go back home, please? I miss Italy."
Claudia's eyes shift from Ellie to Sonny. She sees the hurt on her ex-lover's face and she can understand why he feels the way he does. She wishes he would understand that Italy was all Ellie knew and she adored her Uncle Rudy more than most people. Claudia was planning on staying if Ava lived, but she knew that the transition, even though they had been here for three months, would be hard for her young daughter.
"Daddy and mommy will have to talk about it, baby. You remember how long the flight to Italy is and I don't know if it's a good time to make the trip. I think Auntie Ava might miss us too."
Ellie sits for a second and thinks of her aunt that is resting upstairs. She doesn't want to leave her Auntie Ava or her daddy, but she misses her Uncle Rudy so much. They had never been away from each for any extended period of time until now. An idea pops in her head.
"We can take Auntie Ava with us!"
"Sweetie, Auntie Ava can't fly, because of the baby. Daddy and I will talk about it, okay? The holiday isn't until the end of the month so there's time to decide, right Sonny?"
This is the first time she actually addresses him and all he can do it nod at first.
"Right, right. Mom and I will talk about it and we'll tell you about it when we make a decision. Now, are you done with your dinner, because I do believe we had a daddy/daughter date with Frozen tonight."
Ellie lets out a small squeal of delight. Josslyn had introduced her to the movie on one of their many play dates and since then she had been addicted to the movie. Tonight, it was Sonny's turn to watch it with her, every other night they have taken turns even Ava had pitched in. Ellie is practically jumping out of her seat with excitement.
"Hold up, let's get you into a different shirt before you go get spaghetti sauce all over the couches in daddy's theatre."
Claudia gently picks up her daughter, holding her dirty shirt away from her body, and walks into the laundry room that is attached to the kitchen. She listens as Sonny clears the table and puts all the dishes in the dishwasher. She's thankful for this small act, because she did not feel like doing dishes tonight. She sits Ellie on the dryer and smiles at her.
"Alright, arms up, baby."
She takes off the sauce stained t-shirt and replaces it. Then she gets out the Tide and practically drenches the shirt in it. Finally she throws it in the washer, along with the load she was going to do later that night, and starts the washing machine. She tickles Ellie's stomach and grins as she hears the child's laughter fill the room. She picks her daughter up and takes her into the kitchen, handing her to Sonny. Their hands graze momentarily and the spark is there but they ignore it.
"Enjoy the movie, baby girl."
She watches as they go and then turns to the refrigerator where the left over pasta is stored. She grabs the container and scoops a small amount onto a plate. She puts the pasta in the microwave and nukes it for thirty seconds. She's hoping that Ava has drunk all the water in the bottle she gave her and is ready to at try to eat something. She had barely eaten all day and Claudia was on the verge of asking Britt to come over here, but she knew that they were probably eating dinner or at this point putting Ben to bed. If something major were happening, she'd call Britt.
The noise of the microwave hitting zero brings her back to Earth. She pulls the pasta out and sprinkles some Parmesan cheese on it. The walk to Ava's room is full of prayers that she's feeling better, because something isn't sitting right with Claudia, but she can't put her finger on it. She knocks on the door once before speaking.
"Ava, it's me."
"You can come in."
Her voice is soft and when Claudia opens the door she doesn't have a better feeling. Ava is laying on her side with a pillow underneath her stomach for support and she looks like she doesn't feel good. Claudia rushes to her, putting the plate of food next to the bottle of water that is barely missing a sip in it. The back of her hand comes in contact with Ava's forehead, checking to see if she has a temperature, but her temperature doesn't feel high, but her skin is clammy. She gently pushes back some hair that had fallen in Ava's face, just like she does with Ellie when she's sick.
"What's up? Feeling really bad?"
She watches as Ava pushes back the plate of food that Claudia brought her. Claudia smiles and then puts the food outside of Ava's door. She sits back down on the side of the bed.
"I mean you've been pregnant before, with Kiki. Did you ever have this kind of thing with her? Did you ever feel sick like this when you were pregnant with Kiki?"
"No, never really got sick with Kiki, pretty much ever. Just not feeling good, probably from lack of sleep or something."
"You're probably dehydrated too, Ava, you really need to drink more water."
The older woman's eyes are drooping and that's when Claudia gets how tired she truly is.
"Yeah, water, I'll do that."
Her tone is sarcastic and Claudia rolls her eyes.
"No seriously, Ava, you need to drink more water. At your next appointment, I am making sure Britt checks your amniotic fluid level, because I feel like you haven't gained any weight in the last few weeks."
"Good Lord, Claudia, you make that sound like it's a bad thing."
"When you're housing another human being, it kind of is."
"Fine, I'll start tomorrow with the healthy diet and drinking more water. You might as well throw away my ice cream, because I'm not going to eat it anymore."
"Maybe you do have a fever after all. Only sick Ava would ask me to throw away her sacred cookie dough ice cream, I mean it's practically been as good as having sex for you the past seven months."
Ava grins at her, but her eyes are still closed and Claudia is still worried. At only twenty-eight weeks or seven months pregnant, Ava was still at risk for a lot of complications and with a baby born this early there was no way to tell if she would survive or not.
"One of us has to be getting some."
Claudia lets out a laugh at that comment. She thinks that if Ava is making her snide, sarcastic comments all will be well. She grabs her hand anyways and gives it a reassuring squeeze just in case Ava is worried and not letting on. Moments of silence pass, but it's not uncomfortable- it's just silence.
"I'm gonna call Britt, okay? I'll see if she can squeeze you in tomorrow just to check and make sure everything's okay."
She goes to get up, but Ava grabs her wrist.
"Baby's more active with you in the room. Can you just make the call here, please?"
Ava relaxes her grip on Claudia's wrist as she feels her best friend's weight slightly shift the bed. Her eyes close again as her hand gently rubs her stomach, probing for each movement of her little girl. Claudia watches her for a second before grabbing her phone from her pocket and calling Britt. The phone rings once before the doctor answers, her voice calming to the two women on the other side of the phone.
"Hey Claudia! What's up, it's getting kind of late."
Claudia shifts her eyes to the clock, where it shows her that it almost nine o'clock. She smiles to herself, it is late, but it's really not. Moms have different ideas of what is late compared to women who are childless. Gone are the days of clubbing and going to the bar at nine, here are the days of hoping your child goes to sleep at or around nine so that maybe the house will be peaceful.
"Yeah, I'm sorry, it's just that I'm here with Ava and she hasn't felt well for a few hours, really the entire day. I was wondering if you could squeeze an appointment in for her tomorrow. Just to check and make sure everything is okay. I mean she's not cramping or anything- Right, Ava, you aren't cramping?"
Ava shakes her head in a definitive no.
"She isn't cramping."
Claudia hears Britt take in an uneven breath.
"Is the baby moving like she normally does?"
"Ava is the baby moving around like she normally does?"
Claudia looks over at her friend as Ava pauses to think, she runs her hands over her stomach one more time before answering.
"Not like normal, but I figured it was because I wasn't feeling well."
"Britt, did you hear her?"
"Yeah, I did. I don't have any appointments first thing in the morning so bring her in then. It doesn't sound like anything too major, but I'd rather not take any risks for her or the baby especially with her age. Just make sure she drinks plenty of fluids, even if she doesn't feel thirsty, she doesn't really need to eat, it would be good if she did, but if she feels sick don't force her to."
"Got it, sorry for calling so late, I just didn't know what to do. We'll see you tomorrow."
"You were totally right to call, tell Ava I hope she feels better. See you tomorrow."
Claudia shoves her phone back in her pocket and grabs the water bottle off of Ava's bedside table. She pulls the straw out of the bottle slightly and puts it up to Ava's mouth. Her friend only moans as a response for her frustration.
"Britt said you needed to drink, so please just drink a little and then I'll go to bed and be out of your hair. I just want you to be able to sleep some, okay? I'm worried over here so just humor me, because worry is not often a feeling I admit to having."
Ava takes a few sips of water and then leans back into the pillow cocoon she has created for herself. Claudia examines her closely, waiting for some sign that possible the water made her feel better. She hasn't fully formed a plan of saving Ava and she needs more time. There is no way Ava can be going into labor this early.
"Are you hungry? I'll get you anything you want."
"No, I really just wanna sleep. But when the kid kicks me in the bladder in the middle of the night, I'm calling you."
She opens her eyes briefly to see the worried look stretched across Claudia's face. She smiles at her and grabs her hand to put on her stomach right as the baby kicks. Sometimes she really does feel like the mother figure in their friendship, but she's okay with it. Claudia was insecure, but not in an upfront way, it was deep down inside of her and Ava also could see the scared little girl in there too.
"We're okay, go kiss my girl goodnight for me. If I need you, I'll call you, but I won't need you. We're good."
Claudia squeezes her hand reassuringly.
"I'll see you in the morning, Britt said we could come in when her office hours begin."
"Mmhm."
Ava mumbles her answer and Claudia smiles. She makes sure that the water is within Ava's reach and covers her sufficiently with the comforter before leaving. Sonny is walking out of Ellie's room just as she closes Ava's door. She grabs the plate of pasta off the floor and he stands there, watching her.
"She asleep?"
Claudia's voice is a whisper and she notices how surprised he looks that she's actually talking to him.
"Yeah, went down without a problem. Is Ava feeling any better?"
Claudia rolls her eyes, sidestepping him to be closer to the steps.
"Careful, Sonny, I might think that you care about what happens to Ava."
She hears him scoff as she walks down a few of the stairs, making sure no pasta spills off the plate.
"She has a doctor's appointment tomorrow morning, you don't need to come with us."
Her tone is cold and then just like that she's gone, down the stairs to throw away Ava's uneaten dinner. He wants to roll his eyes and get pissed at her and yell at her like he would've done when they were married, but he doesn't have the heart to do that anymore. But he also doesn't want to care anymore.
Claudia has been restless all night, the time has seemed to pass slowly. Every time she turns to her clock on her bedside table and sees that only five minutes has passed- 2:45 AM. She groans into her pillow. Sleep hasn't come easily to her in the last three months, but especially tonight. All she wants to do is walk across the hall and talk to Sonny. They barely talked when they were married, but when they did things changed. She wants to talk to him about being alone and pregnant and getting the court room logs every night of his trial and feeling so guilty when Michael was sent to prison for "killing" her. But she can't open up to him like that and it's so late and she needs to sleep, so she turns onto her stomach and closes her eyes. Just as she feels like she may fall asleep, her phone rings.
Her body jumps as she grabs the phone from her bedside table. It takes a second for her eyes to adjust to the light, but when they do the screen reads Ava. She grabs her sweatpants off of the floor and steps into them while slipping on her flip-flops and grabbing her wallet. She runs to Ava's room and opens the door, not taking the time to knock to see if it's okay to come in.
"Claudia."
The name exits her lips as a moan of pain. Claudia is struck by terror but not frozen. Ava has an arm resting on each side of the doorframe that leads to her bathroom. Ava's cell phone is lying on the floor, abandoned in a moment of pain. Claudia runs to her friend, shoving her body under Ava's arm to help support her. Ava is even clammier from the pain than she was earlier in the night.
"There was blood and I'm cramping. I think I'm losing this baby."
Claudia is taken back to her fall down the stairs where she had said those exact words to Ric, the only man, at the time that cared about her baby boy. But she shakes the memory off, she didn't lose him then and Ava isn't going to lose this baby now.
"We're going to get you to the hospital, okay? Can you lean on me and walk?"
They start walking to the door, slower than Claudia had expected, but they'll be at the car soon enough. Claudia doesn't even allow her the time to put on her shoes before they are walking down the stairs.
"Need…to get…Sonny?"
"No, babe, we don't need to get, Sonny, we need to go. Sonny's a deep sleeper, he'll be useless for too long."
They get to the door, but Max stands as a brick wall separating them from Claudia's car. He looks conflicted, because he's not sure if this is just a ploy to get Ava out of here. But Claudia's face looks so serious and he doesn't think this is a trick.
"Come on, Max, something is wrong, let us go!"
Claudia's voice echoes through the house and at the moment she doesn't care is she woke up Ellie or Sonny. Ava may be losing the baby and she isn't going to let that happen. She had experienced that pain and wasn't going to let her best friend go through it. Even though she wasn't sure Ava would live long enough to grieve.
"I can't, the boss said-"
"Max, I'm taking her to the hospital. Do you want to be the one to tell Morgan that his daughter died because you were being a stubborn ass?"
Ava flinches as Claudia mentions her daughter's possible death, but Claudia knows she has to say something that will make Max be more helpful. Max moves to Ava's other side and helps Claudia get her to the car. Claudia nods at him to express her gratitude before running to the driver's side of the car.
"Wake Sonny and tell him what's going on. Make sure you stay with Ellie."
She's stressing more. It'll take at most ten minutes to get to the hospital and she's not sure Ava has that kind of time. She pulls her phone out and calls Britt, who does not sound happy when she answers. Claudia should've warned her that she was a difficult friend to have.
"Claudia, seriously?"
"I'm on the way to the hospital with Ava. She's cramping and bleeding and really clammy. Can you get there quickly?"
"Yes, I'll be there as soon as possible. Tell her to try and stay calm, keep her muscles loose."
The phone is hung up and Claudia knows it'll take at least five more minutes to get to the hospital, she's stressing. She reaches a hand over and grabs Ava's shaking hand. She squeezes it and tries to be as reassuring as possible. When it was her who rolled her car, her who needed to be pulled out of a car that was going to explode and her who needed brain surgery it was different. It is different before you have experienced a miscarriage, because before you have experienced it there is hope. But after, any pain immediately amounts to a miscarriage; at least that's how it was with Ellie.
"You just relax, okay? We're almost at the hospital and Britt is going to meet us, just stay calm for your baby girl."
"Claudia, if she dies…"
"She's not going to die, Ava."
They pull into the hospital and Claudia gets some nurses to help her get Ava onto the gurney. They pull Ava into the hospital and take her up to the maternity ward, then they hook her up to a bunch of things that Claudia is unsure of. She watches as they attach the fetal monitor, the baby's heartbeat is going strong, or at least she thinks- she was never good knowing if a baby's heartbeat was what it was supposed to be. She's knocked out of her thoughts as Britt breezes by her. She's never been so thankful to see her friend. She's standing at the doors as Britt starts barking orders for the nurses to start preforming tests and to get a ultrasound machine in the room as quickly as possible.
"What's going on?"
Just like that his breath is hot against her neck, but she's not distracted by him, but instead by her own thoughts. She can hear his and Carly's voices. "She rolled the car?" "She rolled the car and it's bad, Sonny, really bad." She can hear her own voice too. "Please tell me my baby's going to be okay." Ava's voice matches her voice of the past.
"Please tell me my baby's going to be okay."
"We're doing everything we can, Ava."
Claudia sucks back her tears, because this is not her, this is not five years ago. Ava will not lose this baby- she cannot lose this baby. She turns her head slightly so that she can see the father of her children he actually looks slightly concerned.
"Just go call Morgan and stay outta here, she doesn't need your presence causing unneeded stress."
She feels his body heat get further away until it disappears altogether. This is not the time for her to be concerned about him. Ava and the baby are what's important right now. She has to focus on them. She walks over and sits by her friend's bedside, grabbing her hand. She doesn't know what else to do.
"It's going to be okay. You just stay calm it's what's best for the baby. She's going to be okay."
"You gotta stay calm, you heard what she said." She tries to shake off the memories and shoots a comforting smile to her friend. Ava looks at her like she might believe her and Claudia believes that maybe if Ava has a positive attitude things will be okay. They watch as a nurse comes in and hands Britt the test results. Claudia is amazed at how much this hospital has improved when it comes to turning test results.
"Britt, what's going on? Is the baby okay?"
"Well-"
She can barely start her sentence when Morgan comes barreling into the room, eyes wide and full of terror. Claudia quickly moves and positions herself at Ava's feet. Morgan shoots her a grateful glance as he kisses Ava's forehead and then sits in the chair Claudia had previously inhabited. Claudia takes note at how their fingers intertwine and Ava slightly calms. Britt looks over at Claudia, as if she needs a go-ahead to continue, so Claudia nods her head.
"Well Ava you are most definitely in early labor, but we're giving you some medicine for that and that really should stop it. When Claudia called, she said you were experiencing cramping and I'm thinking that's because you're seriously dehydrated. You have to start drinking more water, okay? We're hydrating you with some IV fluids. Your amniotic fluid was borderline normal, but now it is low. Did you feel any leaking possibly, like when you would stand up?"
Ava nods, mainly focusing on the fetal heart monitor to her right.
"Okay, we'll fix that tomorrow, hopefully. For tonight, I just want you to sleep. We'll be monitoring your contractions carefully and if anything seems to be getting worse, we'll up the dosage. Claudia, why don't you walk out with me?"
Claudia nods, grabbing Ava's foot and squeezing it slightly. Ava smiles at her.
"No more scaring me like that, mom."
Ava feels well enough to roll her eyes at Claudia, which makes the younger woman feel better.
"Thanks for being there for me, you saved her."
She nods and smiles slightly, before walking out of the room with Britt. Morgan grabs Ava's hand tightly, afraid to let go and possibly lose her and his daughter. When his dad had called him, he was so scared.
"Morgan…?"
"Yeah, I'm right here."
"I'm really glad you're here."
He leans over and kisses her lips gently, their lips are barely touching. He brushes her hair out of her face and smiles at her.
"Claudia told dad to call me, that friend of yours sure thinks on her feet. I'm just so thankful that our baby is okay. I mean Alice's heart situation was so scary and we didn't think she was going to get one, but having dad call me and tell me you were admitted was ten times scarier. I can't lose you again and I can't lose our daughter."
"She's gonna be okay, she's tough like her daddy."
"And her mom."
"Morgan, I'm…tired."
"Go to sleep, I'm not going anywhere, I'll be right here when you wake up."
"Claudia, thank God you got her here when you did."
Claudia looks at her slightly taller friend and makes a concerned face. She checks the area around them and notices that Sonny is nowhere to be found. She hopes that he went home to Ellie, because honestly she would be no use to her daughter right now, even though she doubts her little girl is even awake.
"Is it really that bad, Britt?"
They go and sit at a couch that is several feet from Ava's room and from the ears of others. Britt runs her hand through her hair, she regrets putting off showering until the morning, because she'll be at the hospital until her shift starts now.
"Yeah it really could have been. Her water partially broke, she was in labor and she was having other cramps that weren't part of the labor. Had either of you waited until when my shift started, I think Ava probably would have been delivering a stillborn. Now that we are giving her fluids though and she's resting she should be fine, but it was very touch and go. We'll do an ultrasound when I do my rounds. I'm gonna crash in my office, I have a spare couch if you want a place to sleep?"
Claudia shakes her head gently, she has other things she needs to do.
"Thanks, but I'm gonna stay close just in case either of them need me. I'm sorry for calling so early, I'm sure another doctor was on call, but in our line of work we only depend and trust so many."
Britt nods.
"It's fine, I'd rather treat my patients even when I'm not on call. Besides, you're my friend Claudia, our kids play together, I wouldn't let you or Ava down."
Claudia smiles as Britt leans to hit their shoulders together. Since the beginning of their friendship that was how they would say hello or goodbye, it just worked for them. Claudia watches as Britt turns the corner and then disappears out of sight. She's left alone with her thoughts.
The ER was entirely too quiet when Claudia stepped out of the elevator. One nurse stood at the nurses' station and he didn't even look up from his paperwork when she walked by. She flashes back and sees herself being pulled into the room on a gurney, purple sheet covering her body. She walks into the room, cubicle one, where she was before the surgery and sits on the bed; it's just as uncomfortable as it was five years ago. The room looks the same.
"How's my baby? Did you find a heart beat?"
She looks around the room, it's so different without the doctors running around, trying to get IVs and heart monitors attached. She told herself she was over the death of her son, but nights like tonight made her think of him more than anything else. Ava could have lost the baby and then it would have all been over.
"The tests indicate there's a high risk of life-threatening head trauma."
"What are you saying? You're saying that Claudia and the baby could die?"
She pushes her body up and off the bed. She's trying to shake off these feelings, but she knows she needs to go to the room next, the room where her son died, the last place she was pregnant with him. In the back of her mind she wondered where Sonny was, but as she opened the door to that empty room, the world melted away around her. All she can see is herself laying in the bed and Johnny sitting next to her, holding her hand and assuring her all was well.
"Check out that monitor. My nephew's strong as ever."
"My baby's fine. Heart beats. Going strong."
"The baby's heartbeat has been at a steady decline since the accident. The most likely cause is detachment or tearing of the placenta."
"What are you saying to me, Kelly? John…what are you saying?"
"I'm sorry."
"You're sorry, huh? That's what you got for me, you're sorry?"
"Claudia, what are you-"
"Shh."
She knows he's there, like he wasn't that night, but she wants to relive it, because it's not hurting and just once she wants to have this memory and not let it hurt her. So she puts her hand out to stop him from getting any closer. He just watches as the memories flood her face and soon she pulls him in too.
"Our little boy is dying."
"You shouldn't even watch this."
"I... didn't think that I could ever love anything as much as I love the idea of raising this little boy. I wish that there were more memories so I'd have something else-you know, something more, to hold onto."
"You're a good mother. You know, no matter what, even the short time this baby had, you already proved it."
When he looks at her she's not crying, she's not doing anything. Her hands are down at her side and she's just standing there, but he knows she doesn't want him close. Ava and the baby are okay, but at what cost? He's afraid that Ellie is about to lose her mother to a psychotic break, because they never really dealt with this. They, actually he, pushed it under the rug and wanted to pretend like it didn't even happen, but it did and it was his fault.
"Come closer. I'm screaming on the inside."
"We watched his heart stop. And then I let some doctor come in here and scrape out what was left of him. No one can hurt me now. Nothing can be worse than that."
He watches her and time stops. Before he can realize what he's doing he grabs her arm, trying to break her from her trance. She looks at him like he's betraying her in some way, but that was her all those years ago by not telling him she was the one responsible for his son's shooting. But that's over and Michael is happy and one of his other children killed their son. A life for a life. They're both silent, but his heart is racing. He pulls her close to him and kisses her.
This is not the same kiss that occurred at the pond. That one was born out of confusion and self-hatred and of fear. This kiss is born out of grief and sorrow. It's because both of them were there the moment their baby boy's heart stopped and he is so sorry that he caused her that kind of pain, even though she meant to get pregnant as insurance. He knew that she fell in love with their child and she was a good mother to him even though he barely had a chance to live. They barely want to break apart for air, but when they do Claudia does not push him away like she did last time.
"Sonny."
He recognizes the tone as the one she spoke when they were unsure whether or not her and their son would make it. She's pulling him closer and closer and he's responding- his need for her is primal. Their faces are close together, then he feels her tears on his cheek.
"I'm so sorry about everything."
"Make it up to me."
He knows what she means and then the atmosphere changes. He's kissing her neck and she's running her hands through his hair. He pushes her up against the door and pushes a small button that he believes to be a lock. It doesn't take long before Claudia has unbuttoned all of the buttons on Sonny's dress shirt and he has pulled her tank top off over her head. She pushes him over to the bed and they fall onto it together. They crawl under the stiffness of the hospital sheets before his fingers hook under the waistband of her sweatpants and they slip off.
They're crashing back together and Claudia can feel the tidal waves drowning them both.
He doesn't leave like he used to do after they had sex. He stays and wraps his arm around her and pulls her as close as possible. She barely breathes, hoping that he'll fall asleep and she can sneak off, but that doesn't seem to be the case because she feels him take a deep intake of breath and then start to speak.
"What was that earlier?"
"Well Sonny, I do believe they call that foreplay, which by the way you have definitely improved in."
He lets out an almost frustrated breath but a laugh follows and she knows she hasn't made him mad, not that she really cared. Their marriage had been about her walking on eggshells and she wasn't about to revert back to that.
"Before that, Claudia."
"I was reliving it, with Ava and the cramping, I couldn't help it. I want down to the ER and saw myself being pulled in on that gurney. I saw myself trying to sit up when the first test results came in and saw you put your hand on my stomach when it felt like someone was ripping my brain apart. Then when I came here, I heard Kelly telling me that the baby was dying and that even an emergency C-section wouldn't help, because he was too tiny. But it didn't hurt this time, because I have Ellie and Ava's baby is okay. It doesn't hurt anymore, but sometimes remembering what you said to me at my birthday party does. We were doing so good."
"You know that secret couldn't stay hidden forever."
She sits up, pulling the sheet around her bare body, and faces him while sitting cross legged.
"I know, I just figured I could get you to fall in love with me before finding out."
She grins at him and he returns it, but he knows for the most part that she's joking, but he decides to play along.
"Oh that was the plan, eh? It was a valiant effort then. Jason just had to ruin it. By the way, I take that stuff back. Maybe I was falling in love with you, which made it so much harder when Jason came to me with the proof. I was hurting, but I was also wrong to say it."
"It's fine, Sonny. I… I should've left town after the miscarriage, we both would've been better off."
He sits up and reaches to put his thumb under her chin in order to lift her head and her eyes.
"None of us would be, certainly not Ava. You've been really good to her."
Claudia's eyes go wide as she reaches down to grab her discarded sweatpants. Inside one of the pockets is her phone and she notices that it's almost time for Ava to have the ultrasound. She gets dressed at a lightening speed and her hand is on the handle when Sonny speaks up again.
"So you're going to be the one that leaves this time?"
She turns around and smiles at him before walking to him and kissing him softly. The kiss still manages to make his heart race, but then she pulls away and walks back to the door, opening it.
"Ava has an ultrasound, I'm a good friend, remember?"
He laughs slightly as she leaves and the door closes behind her. The silence is welcome, but he knows that he needs to get dressed and get home to Ellie, to explain why no one else is home. He didn't want her to be afraid because her mom wasn't there. As he buttons the last button on his shirt he thinks of what just occurred in this very room.
What had he gotten himself into?
She knocks on the door twice before opening it. Morgan is nowhere in sight but Ava is wide awake flipping through the channels. The older woman doesn't even look up to see who is at the door, mainly because she had already figured it was Claudia.
"You're all buddy buddy with Britt now and her mom is chief of staff, see if she can get some better channels in this place."
"Where's Morgan?"
"Coffee? Breakfast? Change of clothes? I was too busy complaining about the channels, so he knew I was feeling better and decided that I was capable of sitting on the bed without supervision."
Claudia grins at her and walks by her bed. She looked so much better than she did last night and early this morning. Sleep and water was obviously exactly what she needed. When Ava finally does look at her, she grins ear to ear and Claudia is almost instantly confused.
"What?!"
"You got laid."
She says it in a sing songy voice and Claudia covers her eyes with her hand. Thankfully Britt walks in, ultrasound machine in tow. She grabs the paper from the fetal monitor and both women watch as a smile spreads on her face.
"Everything looks great, but I'm gonna keep you here at least until tomorrow for observation."
Ava rolls her eyes.
"You are so lucky we're friends."
Britt laughs, looking to Claudia to make sure it was actually okay to keep her here another night. Claudia just smiles and nods to make Britt feel better.
"Ready to take a look at this baby?"
Ava nods her head as her child's profile appears on the screen. Britt takes measurements upon measurements just to make sure everything is looking okay and there is nothing to worry about.
"Does she check out okay, Britt?"
"Everything looks good, except for your amniotic fluid level. So honestly you do need to stay tonight so we can try and fix that. But otherwise everything is looking much better. Just take an easy today, all right? No getting out of the bed unless you need to use the restroom. Sleep, a lot, please and eat. Have Claudia bring you a cake for all I care as long as calories are going into your body, go it?"
"Loud and clear, boss!"
Ava mock salutes her and all the women laugh. Britt says her goodbyes and then leaves to get back to work, which means Claudia and Ava are left.
"So, as I was saying before the good doctor decided to interrupt, you had sex! I'm assuming with Sonny, considering I know you didn't leave this hospital and Morgan did not leave my side last night. Tell me, tell me!"
"Well there was a lot of kissing and foreplay, which let me tell was not the case when we were married, so I should probably thank Connie or Olivia for that. But anyways and then we had sex. You've had sex with the man, you know what it's like."
"Ugh, don't remind me I did the deed with my daughter's grandfather, just ew. But not ew for you."
Claudia laughs.
"I'm so glad you approve mom."
"So is this going to be a reoccurring thing or was this just a one night stand? Can one have a one night stand with one's baby daddy."
Claudia covers her eyes in embarrassment once again, but no one opens the door to rescue her from the conversation.
"I have no idea. Either you'll be stuck in a house with Ellie's two awkward parents or Ellie's parents who are happily sleeping with each other again."
It's Ava's turn to cover her face.
"I hope it's the latter."