The Future

Rated "M" for safety!

Emily laughed.

"Now? If you haven't noticed, sister, my shape isn't exactly dream wedding gown."

Her sister, Haley was suggesting that Emily and Ryan renew their wedding vows in a small but eloquent ceremony in front of family and friends. Haley knew that as long as Ryan was her groom no matter where and how casual it was Emily thought the day was more than perfect but she also knew that her sister had dreamed of her wedding (to Ryan) in a white dress.

Emily's reply told her sister she had a wedding gown in mind.

"Well, after the baby's born. You guys deserve it. Think about it."

Maybe she would.

After the baby was born and life had settled some. The expectant parents had decided that they would be finding out the gender of their unborn baby. Not that she wanted one over the other but Emily wondered and partly hoped that she was having a boy this time around. A girl and boy was the standard "perfect set" but the Wolfes were not sure if they were going to stop after two children or not,

They might, they might not.

Surprisingly renewing his wedding vows to Emily was something that Ryan thought about. He didn't doubt their wedding day was perfect in it's own way but he knew she had dreamed of a real wedding, or at least her parents being present.

"We definitely should look into that after we get this one," he told her, rubbing his wife's rounding belly.

"Really?" Emily asked.

She hadn't expected that answer.

"Sure."

The couple agreed that Bella probably wouldn't be involved in the ceremony, she was too young, though both their children would be present.

Ryan had rushed his wife to the E.R. after she complained of severe cramps. She wasn't experiencing any bleeding or discharge, which was a good but at fourteen weeks pregnant they were out of the window for miscarriage but knew at any point it was possible that Emily could develop complications without warning. The two just crossed their fingers that this wouldn't occur.

By seven the pains Emily experienced had stopped. An ultrasound and heartbeat check didn't find anything out of ordinary. They kept Emily in the hospital until ten in case she was to develop bleeding. When she didn't, Emily was allowed to go home. Till her next appointment, in a week, the doctor wanted her to take it very easy.

Translation: bed rest.

Something that was tricky with a toddler but that had to be done.

Both mom and dad had heaved audible sighs of relief hearing their baby's healthy heartbeat and seeing him move on the ultrasound screen. They were both certain it was a boy but they wouldn't know for sure till Emily's sixteen week ultrasound. Deep down, both were fearing the worst but didn't want to say it aloud. Whether it was he wasn't moving or fear had caused her not to feel it, Emily hadn't felt the baby inside her move while she was cramping. The movements at this point were faint and she was starting to feel them even if Ryan couldn't feel them on his palm yet.

And they were still cleared to have sex.

Ryan took the rest of the day off to look after Bella. When he went to the lab the following day and as long as his wife had these orders from the doctor, Vanessa and Harry were going to come over and care for their granddaughter. That was arranged very quick. They even took the little girl for most of the day so the couple could catch up on the sleep they had lost. Emily and Ryan deserved so much happiness, it would have been an incredible tragedy for them—and Bella, to lose the baby. whether it wasa boy or a girl.

Arriving at work the next morning—leaving a very unhappy Bella who hadn't wanted him to go, crying her eyes out in grandpa's arms—Ryan thanked Horatio for his understanding the previous day. It had been very stressful and Ryan knew his head would not have been in the job.

"No problem, Mr. Wolfe," Horatio had said. "Everything's okay?"

The older man knew that as much law enforcement officers had to sacrifice, there was times that no matter what was going on the job, it was more important for them to be there with their loved ones.

"It seems so," Ryan said. "They couldn't find anything and Emily's feeling good. She's on bed rest till she sees her regular doctor next week."

"That's good."

Though she was dozing in bed after eating breakfast—something her husband nagged her to do because of her pregnancy—Emily did hear her daughter's pleas for daddy to stay home.

Poor thing, she thought, but she knew that her parents could handle it.

When Emily got up to shower an hour later Bella was calm and happy again. She was sitting on the floor, Harry was reading to her. She didn't notice her mom and Emily was fine with that.

When things slowed down a hour before shift Ryan began to think about how it would effected them to lose their unborn baby. Even though they would have still had their precious daughter and technically they hadn't met the child yet, he was still theirs and very real. So far, they had "dodged a bullet" and were on the road to being a family of four.

Ryan again sighed audibly with relief, not caring who heard.