A/N: Wanted to wait a little while to post this, but this chapter really wanted to come out so it wrote itself in practically one sitting :)

Keep in mind that although I did some research for this chapter, I'm by no means a medical expert :D

Chapter 27

Clad in an impersonal hospital gown, Olivia lay still on the raised bed, wringing her hands nervously. A nurse reached for her wrist and hooked up her IV yet she barely noticed.

Maybe it had been the lack of prenatal vitamins. She'd read somewhere that Folic Acid was crucial in the early weeks of fetal development.

Somehow, whatever it was... it was all her fault.

Heck, if she wanted to, she could trace her guilt back to her naive, incredibly clueless 15 year old self.

Never mind that she was now an adult and that Lo and behold, the ghosts from the past had nothing to do with the present. Never mind that this time around, she was indeed in a mature, loving relationship. Lastly, never mind that in the last few weeks she'd had no access to said prenatal vitamins.

"Any strenuous activity in the last 24 hours, Miss Pope?" the nurse inquired, clipboard in hand.

Olivia blinked, not quite understanding.

"Mountain climbing, skydiving, bungee jumping?" the nurse continued in a professional tone, not particularly seeking to be humorous. "We've heard it all...once we had a patient who thought it would be fun to try bungee jumping in her first trimester. Needless to say, she ended up having a miscarriage," the woman concluded with a self-righteous sneer as if to say, can't believe some people...

Olivia cringed at the word 'miscarriage'. It sounded like a dirty word. "No, I don't think I did anything..." she took a deep breath. "I just...I just went to the grocery store and... that's it," she shook her head still in disbelief. In the last few weeks, back on the island, she had indeed engaged in a good number of physical activities including mountain climbing.

It seemed like an ironic twist of fate that now that she had returned to civilization this would happen.

The nurse glanced at her watch rather impatiently as though she had a better place to be. "Anyone you want us to call ?"

"My boyfriend...ah...but he should be here any minute," Olivia replied. Luckily, Gina had been able to get hold of Fitz at home right away thanks to Google (she'd gotten his office number with just the name of his law firm). A second later, she thought of her dad who was scheduled to visit them tomorrow.

As if on cue, Fitz arrived right at that exact moment, looking as though he'd just climbed twenty flights of stairs.

At once, he was by Olivia's side. "Are you okay?" then he turned to the nurse, "is she okay?" barely able to catch his breath.

"The doctor should be in any minute," the nurse replied in a flat tone. "The good news is that the bleeding has stopped," she added in a tone devoid of any human warmth.

Fitz reached over to cover Olivia's vulnerable hand with his own.

She forced a smile. "I'm so glad you're here." Even though she was happy to see him, something told her she was not completely out of the woods.

"Aaron is at home with Maria. She'll give him a bottle," he said not wanting her to worry, taking a seat beside her in a short metal stool with wheels.

The ER physician came into the room a few minutes later. Almost immediately, Olivia was relieved to see that the lady doctor was of kinder disposition than the nurse she'd been assigned. Still, she couldn't relax. She let go of Fitz hand, her fist small and tense clutched the polyester blanket that draped across her legs.

"I'm Doctor Johnson, " she introduced herself with a small smile. "Now that the bleeding stopped, we're gonna take another look and see how your baby is doing," she waited for them to nod in understanding.

The nurse proceeded to get the ultrasound equipment ready.

While they waited, Fitz brought her fist to his jaw and kissed it.

Her eyes shinning, she opened her mouth to speak, yet words refused to escape her lips. All he heard was a sharp intake of air which conveyed more than a thousand words. He understood at once that the mere thought of losing this baby, their baby would be utterly devastating.

It's gonna be okay, his eyes tried to reassure her.

"This will be a little cold," The doctor said with a practiced smile while getting ready to rub in the ultrasound gel across Olivia's lower abdomen.

Olivia closed her eyes for a moment and the world swayed a little.

"In a minute we'll take a peek...if we can't get a good picture given that we think you're only at 8 weeks gestation, we'll have to do a trans-vaginal ultrasound..."

"Okay," Olivia and Fitz said in unison.

"There..." the doctor typed "yolk sac" on the screen.

Olivia and Fitz held hands, their faces filled with trepidation.

"It looks good...oh, here...see the heart beat?"

Olivia and Fitz squinted their eyes struggling to see the blurry image on the monitor. Yes! There it was...it was pounding rapidly.

A second later, they heard the fast thumping of the fetal heart as the nurse placed a fetal doppler around Olivia's lower abdomen.

"Is he, is he gonna be okay?" Olivia asked needing a confirmation, her own heart racing.

"Heartbeat's nice and strong..." she nodded satisfied. Then, she typed on the top of the screen: Baby Pope. "Everything points to a healthy baby."

"OH!" Olivia sighed at a loss of words, covering her mouth with her hand. Her sense of joy and relief clearly palpable.

Thank God! Fitz exclaimed in his head, suddenly becoming aware that he'd been holding his breath. His eyes filled with unshed tears. Prior to this moment, he'd thought of Olivia's pregnancy in more abstract terms. But now after watching the sketchy images on the ultrasound machine and listening to the baby's heartbeat he was overcome with emotion. There was a real human being growing inside Olivia. His child...their child.

It had taken him a few days to wrap his mind around the idea of becoming a father once again, especially given that at the time he'd learned of the pregnancy, his thoughts had been geared in survival mode as they were preparing to flee the island. But now as he stood beside Olivia fearing the worst, he made a silent pact with God that this time it would be different, if only he'd be granted another chance. This time, he would be the best father he could be.

He shook his head, recalling that when Mellie had been carrying Karen, he had not been present at any of the prenatal visits. He'd been busy with work, plus he had been emotionally distant from his ex. But this time everything was going to be different.

This child, his child with Olivia would be make his entrance into the world surrounded by love.

"It's Grant," Fitz spoke clearing his throat. "The last name, that is."

The doctor gave him a confused look.

"We're not married...yet, " he clarified.

Olivia bit her lower lip and turned to Fitz. That little word 'yet' took on a whole deeper meaning. They shared a moment in which time stood still... nothing else mattered but their powerful connection. Olivia's lips then curved into a small smile which he promptly reciprocated.

The doctor handed Olivia a black and white print out of their baby that clearly showed the side profile of his face.

Olivia turned to Fitz with a quiet smirk, "He's clearly got your nose." A moment later she addressed the doctor, "So I can go home now?"

"Well, not quite yet. I'd like to keep you here for at least 24 hours for observation."

"The bleeding...it can happen again?" Fitz asked.

"It's just a precaution. This much bleeding is not completely uncommon in the first trimester. However, in my experience these next few hours are crucial. And if it happens again, I would prefer for Olivia to be here in order for us to monitor it..."

Olivia braced herself, she needed a more definite answer. "I... I can still lose my baby ?" her voice small, very much aware of a large lump beginning to form in the back of her throat.

"I'm afraid so, it's still possible. We just don't know. " the doctor replied. Then, she asked them if they had any questions before exiting the room. "Even with the monitoring, sometimes there is nothing we can do."

An hour or so after that, Olivia was transferred out of the ER into to a hospital room.

Once there, Fitz eased himself into the easy chair with padded armrests beside Olivia's bed, glad that this time he got a chance to lean back and recline. It wasn't ultra-comfortable, but good enough to spend the night in, he decided.

Olivia thought Fitz should go home and rest.

"What about Aaron ?" she insisted.

"He'll be okay. " He took his cell phone out of his pocket and dialed his house number. The conversation was short. "Yes. I'll be home in the morning. " He hang up and turned to Olivia. "Maria says he's fine. He just had a bottle and went to sleep."

Olivia relaxed some, although she missed Aaron' s warm little body against hers. It seemed like ages since she's last held him and nursed him to sleep. The bond that had developed between them was far greater than she'd ever deemed possible.

"In the morning, I'll go home and shower...I'll bring Aaron, he said after a while wanting to lift her spirits. He didn't want to leave her side though. There was nothing worse than being hospitalized and alone except for the nurses coming to wake you and take your vitals like clockwork every couple of hours. He couldn't think of anything more stressful.

A couple of hours later, Olivia couldn't resist sleep any longer.

He watched her drift off to sleep, caressing her forehead, all the traces of anxiety melting away from her beautiful face. "I love you," he whispered as he listened to her rhythmic breathing, running the back of his hand gently across her cheeks.

In her sleep, Olivia let out a contented sigh in response.

xxx

The next morning, Fitz left the hospital confident that Olivia was doing better. His plan was to take a shower and bring Aaron to the hospital to visit Olivia.

However, he collapsed on his bed as soon as he got home, completely exhausted.

He woke up two hours later, disoriented.

Dammit! he had not planned on resting this long.

Half an hour later, he came downstairs clad in casual attire, his hair still damp.

Maria had the table set with a gourmet breakfast.

"Sorry, gotta go," Fitz stated, taking two bites of his scrambled eggs. He looked around him. "Where's Aaron?" Darn! he'd forgotten he still had to instal the base of the car seat to the back of his black BMW. He needed to get back to the hospital as soon as possible.

Maria disappeared into one of the downstairs bedrooms and came back a minute later, cradling the baby in her arms.

In the meantime, Fitz had fetched the infant car seat and set it on top of the nearest coffee table.

Aaron's eyes widened when he was transferred from Maria's arms to Fitz's. It was one of those rare moments when he was quiet, awake, just observing.

"Hey, little guy, we're going for a ride," Fitz tried to sound animated as he attempted to strap Aaron to his car seat. Things had changed a lot since Karen was a baby. For one, car seats did not seem to be so complicated with various buckles and straps. Not to mention that Aaron seemed so small and fragile AND it seemed impossible to keep his head in an optimum upright position. Not for the first time, Fitz had the distinct impression that this child must have been born premature. But then again, maybe it wasn't that...maybe his size had more to do with the fact that his birth mother had been a petite woman...perhaps just over 5 feet tall?

At last, he got the child properly buckled which seemed nothing short of a miracle. As a bonus, he also managed to keep his head propped up by rolling two small receiving blankets and wedging them between the underside of his jaw where his neck and shoulder met.

Fitz smiled triumphantly and much to his surprise, Aaron smiled back.

At once, Fitz snapped a picture with his Blackberry. "Hey..." He turned back to where Maria was standing watching them. "Did you ever see him smile like that?"

"No, Sir, this is the first time I see him smile."

Fitz rubbed his chin. He could hardly wait to tell Olivia. He could already picture her radiant smile. Not to mention that he'd found Aaron's smile quite endearing. Right then he couldn't help but hope that they could get to keep him.

And just for a moment, he caught a glimpse of the future, a future where he would be rewarded with his unborn child's first smile. He'd nearly forgotten what it was like, the incredible sense of wonder and discovery as you watch your child reach those early milestones. It was an experience like no other.

And then, the doorbell rang, rudely reminding him of the here and now.

Maria hurried to answer the door.

Fitz furrowed his brow. There was only one other person that had a key to the front gate of his property. Still, it couldn't be. His father was not due to visit them until later in the afternoon.

"It's Mr. Grant senior," Maria announced two seconds before opening the door wide open.

Fitz stood up straight, ready to greet his father.

Except that much to his surprise, his father was accompanied by Mellie and Karen.

"Daddy, daddy!" Karen chirped diving into Fitz's arms.

A/N:

About next chapter: Story description says that there is no Mellie in this story. What I meant by that is that her role non-essential (although there is absolutely no Jake, I swear!) . In fact, she's here for entertainment purposes only and thus I can write her anyway you want. Please vote for one(1) of the following.

1) Mellie has a severe speech impediment which prevents her from participating in the dialogue in any meaningful way.

2) Mellie's role here should be meaningless, maybe a line or two at the most.

3) I would like to have Mellie act like her regular self.

4) Please take Mellie off this story ASAP!

I will go with the majority here. If there is a tie, I will do my best to find a middle ground, still go ahead and vote. Who knows? perhaps, your vote may be the tie breaker. In any event, Mellie's appearance would most likely be limited to one chapter.

I'll be on the lookout for your votes as I won't be able to start writing the next chapter until I hear from all of you!