Ch 6

A/N: Reflect on your childhood experience with The Wizard of Oz. All may not be as it seems.

The day before the next doctor visit, Sharon felt the baby moving. Peanut was a grad total of 12 weeks old and happy as could be, safe and surrounded by love. For Sharon, it was like Emily and Ricky - little butterflies in her belly. She tried describing the feeling to Andy who kept trying to feel his "son" move. He even went so far as to place his ear to see if he could hear the little one swimming around. Sharon reassured him that he'd feel the baby moving soon enough. Nevertheless, he felt left out for the moment.

At ultrasound #2, the baby was not cooperative. He or she remained "Peanut" for the time being. However, Andy did finally get to see the baby looking like a little human moving around like mad in his or her mother's womb. Everything still looked good. Next Andy got to hear the baby's heart beating. He drew in a deep sigh as tears crept down his face and mixed with his ever-present big, goofy grin of fatherhood, genuine fatherhood for the first time.

Sharon was cognizant that this meant that she was about to be smothered by Andy's constant attention. Hearing the heart beating a million miles a minute made it real for Andy in the same way feeling the butterflies made it real for Sharon. In a few short weeks, Andy would also be able to feel their little Peanut wiggling around. The monitor read 130 beats per minute as Dr. Solomon pointed out and smiled.

At 16 weeks, Sharon and Andy got bad news with the ultrasound. As a mother over 35, this problem was more prevalent than in younger mothers. Peanut's placenta had implanted low in the womb. Placenta previa was the proper term. It all but guaranteed a C-section for delivery. It could also cause problems in the event of premature delivery. Dr. Solomon reminded them to keep an eye out for bleeding, for this was one of the most common symptoms with or without pain. Any bleeding required immediate action and ultrasound to determine exactly what was going on with Peanut.

Provenza noted silently that his best friend seemed to have misplaced his infamous hot temper in all this pregnancy stuff. He was sure that Sharon's pregnancy hormones must have moved over to Andy's side of the bed. Furthermore, Flynn was abnormally vigilant to the slightest change in mood of his wife, any signs of discomfort, any movement at all warranted his notice. Flynn was more patient and kinder than his usual self which had always been first to call a dirtbag a dirtbag when it came to their usual group of suspects. He now left the calling of the dirtbags to Julio or to Provenza. After the bad news, Sharon made it a point that there would be NO BABY SHOWER until much closer to delivery. When she put her foot down, few were interested in crossing that line which had been clearly drawn for them all.

Nonetheless, Amy and Andrea did being hatching plans for later on. All the baby things that had gone with Emily and Ricky had long been passed to others who needed them. Julio was down for the car seat. Patrice put the Provenzas down for crib while Louie grumbled a little bit about the expense. It turned out that Patrice could give an even more convincing "Darth" glare than Sharon could which put to rest any fussing coming from Louie's side of the office.

Mike wanted to get a good stroller with tons of storage space for long walks that he and his wife had enjoyed with their children. He picked out the "Land Rover" of strollers and put it on Layaway. He knew that his Commander was more health conscious than her husband, so walks would do them both good after the baby got here.

Amy was all about the "safari bag" as she called it. Since leaving the house with an infant was like going on safari she reasoned, she was going to get Peanut all set up for life in the "field" as she put it in her best Army-ese. Buzz planed a major video and photo album of Peanut from the first ultrasound photos to two years old, parties included. And maybe, just maybe - he might extend it further into Peanut's life if they were all having fun doing it.

For Rusty's part, he volunteered work, to include shopping which everyone knew he hated to do. He would do Peanut's laundry, bottles, and all the rest, so that Sharon could simply enjoy the baby. He even promised to learn how to change diapers, practicing on his new half-sister. After all, he reasoned that while it's called "labor" when you have the kid; the real labor starts after the kid gets here. He'd take that labor on for his gift.

Andrea pledged a spa weekend of choice for the "new" parents. She would care for Peanut while they were away. She also would spare no expense to throw a most lavish of baby shower minus silly baby shower games for her friends. She would corral a heavenly guest list with gifts to match.

Gavin pledged to redecorate the baby's room appropriately. He even went so far as to have a peanut-themed mobile constructed for the little one who would be calling him Uncle Gavin once he or she learned to talk.

Dr. Fernando Morales started a college fund for "his" Peanut. By 16 weeks, everyone who knew either Sharon or Andy was all over the pregnancy with salutations, prayers, and good wishes. Sharon was continually amazed at the outpouring of love she was experiencing from the very people who had hated her just as fiercely a few short years ago when she was the head of Internal Affairs and personally led the Force Investigations Division within IA. Life truly could change all in one instant in time!

The baby pool set up by Provenza and Tao was rearranged quickly. No one had money on a full term baby. Now the dates ranged from 39 weeks back to 35 weeks. Neither did anyone put money on miscarriage or really, really "premie" Peanut Flynn. Provenza had already money in a separate pool for baby's gender. He was certain that Flynn was wrong and bet $20 on Peanut being a girl. He'd always had good success with "It's a Girl" balloons in the past, so why stop now? In fact, he bought several and decorated Flynn's desk with them.

At 18 weeks, Sharon had an especially difficult case. She found herself with a small bleed. Andy immediately called Dr. Solomon who directed them to the ER at St. Catherine's where Peanut would be born one day. The ultrasound showed the placenta right where it had been two weeks prior - sitting on the cervix. Andy and Sharon relaxed as best they could. It was not the feared horrible news of a miscarriage. It was "moderate" news as Provenza would call it when he arrived during evening visiting hours.

On the good news end of the spectrum - Peanut finally cooperated! It's a girl! It's a girl! was all that Andy could utter for hours as he passed out fat cigars to his buddies both at the office and at AA. He did not want his unbridled joy to trigger any negative side effects from all the endorphins coursing their way through his brain. He held to daily meetings during the pregnancy. When things calmed down, he could go back to a more routine schedule. Being present to his wife and to his new child were all that mattered to Andy at the moment. Provenza happily collected from Buzz and Julio, sharing the winnings with Amy.

At 20 weeks, the ultrasound found a urinary tract obstruction, an abnormality requiring prenatal surgery. Still, more good news than bad: Maire's heart was developing just fine. A few days later, the surgery was performed.

"Andy?" Sharon whispered, eyes still closed.

He shifted in the chair and leaned in closer to her, "Right here, Sweetheart."

"Peanut?"

"Right where she's supposed to be," he reassured her with a smile and kiss to her forehead. "Dr. Solomon says everything went textbook perfectly for both you and Peanut."

Sharon drifted back to sleep murmuring about still calling her baby girl Peanut while Andy whispered that she would always be their little Peanut, no matter her age.

At 24 weeks, Sharon had gained the requisite 15 pounds. She was normally a slender woman, so now she looked like a slender woman who had begun to swallow a rugby ball.

At 28 weeks, the Commander and Flynn were in an interview room with a suspect. A uniformed officer stood nearby. Both detectives' hands lay on the table in front of them, ready to open file folders as the interview unfolded. Suddenly, the suspect jumped up, slammed the table in the direction of Sharon and Andy. It happened too quickly for Andy to blunt the blow to Sharon's midsection, toppling her to the floor. The suspect wrestled the uniformed officer for his weapon.

Provenza hurried into the interview room when he saw the unexpected confrontation beginning. He was also too late. Lieutenant Flynn picked up his Commander gently and helped her to her feet. As Flynn was moving Commander Raydor out of the room, Provenza and Julio entered weapons drawn. The man, in turn, became combative and lashed out at all of them. Julio was finally able to beat the gun out of the suspect's hands just as Provenza fired the fatal shot. The Medical Examiner would later determine he had ingested PCP shortly before the interview had even begun.

Sharon was admitted to St. Catherine's and placed on monitored bed rest for the duration of her pregnancy. Dr. Solomon ordered steroids for Maire to improve her chances should she come early, now much more likely. Her lungs just needed more time to develop. If time was not forthcoming, then the meds might improve the little soul's chances of survival without major problems.

At 30 weeks, Sharon had problems. Over Sharon's strenuous objections, the deep vein thrombosis that she'd developed, would necessitate an early delivery for Maire. Sharon wanted to give Peanut more time in the womb, her own DVT be damned. Pregnancy had prevented the normal treatment regime for DVT. Andy overruled and agreed with Dr. Solomon that at 32 weeks, Peanut had a better chance outside the womb than Sharon buying more time at the expense of her own life.

Peanut was coming into this world 8 weeks early. The NICU was perfectly ready for her arrival. The plan was for her to begin life in NICU for 4-6 weeks as needed. She would need to put on weight as the rest of her tiny body finished developing and adjusted to life outside the womb.

Andy stood at Sharon's head as the delivery began. He wanted to see his little Peanut born. Just as the incision was made, Sharon went into respiratory distress then into cardiac arrest. An embolism had lost its grip and was on the move. It lodged in her aorta. The rosary she had been praying for Maire fell to the floor. Andy watched his beloved wife dying before his very eyes. He fell to the floor on his knees, weeping, and rocking in agony. A pale blue Maire was brought forth.

Not a sound was heard in the room except Andy's muffled keening as twin medical staffs worked hard to save two lives. The child was passed over Sharon's body to a waiting neo-natal specialist. After long minutes, Maire finally made some soft gurgling noises. All he had left of Sharon was Maire who had been barely revived before being quickly whisked away to the NICU before he could even hold her in his arms. Sharon was not so lucky. Her respiratory problems continued to cascade downward. After over an hour of trying to revive her, it was called. Andy was led away.

A/N: Quickly, quickly now. Turn the page.