Chapter 7 – Changes, Changes, Changes

After they prayed, Nathan paced for a bit and then tried to focus on his paperwork, but couldn't. He ended up pulling out his journal and was able to write. It felt like forever, but it had only been a couple of hours when the door opened and Carson walked in. Nathan was immediately on his feet and headed to his friend. After a quick greeting, he pulled Carson into a brotherly hug before taking a seat.

"I just wanted to give you an update." Carson said.

"Thank you." Nathan said. "I didn't know that you were back?"

"You must not have gotten my letter yet." Carson said. "I have only been here a couple of weeks. I sent you a letter before I left Baltimore."

"No, no letter since the one right after I told you I got married." Nathan said.

"So my initial exam showed nothing of concern." Carson said. "Carol was able to talk to me. She said she has had headaches for years, but she also admitted this was different then in the past. She told me about her mother and even though it might be that, I highly doubt it. She would be showing other symptoms. I have given her something to rest and got permission to have a colleague do a more thorough physical exam while she is resting. She said she was fine with me doing it, but I would feel better if I had a colleague do it."

"Why?" Nathan asked.

"Because." Carson said. "Some women are not comfortable having a man do an intimate exam, especially once she has been given painkillers and is in and out of consciousness. There are two women physicians here as well as a midwife, so I asked one of them to do it."

"Oh." Nathan said. "We have been trying for a baby. She had been upset that it hadn't happened yet."

"I understand." Carson said.

Before Carson could say anything else, another doctor walked into the room and handed a clipboard to Carson. He looked it over and then looked at his colleague.

"Are you sure?" Carson asked.

"Yes." The doctor said. "I have left orders to change the medications, if you need anything else, please let me know."

With that she walked out, not saying another word to anyone.

"What is going on?" Nathan asked, the fear written on his face.

Carson took a deep breath.

"Congratulations, Dad." Carson said, a smile finally breaking his face.

"What?" Nathan asked, dumbfounded. "She was sure she wasn't pregnant."

"Well." Carson said. "According to my colleague, she is."

Nathan leaned back and closed his eyes. He couldn't believe it. He was going to have a child of his own. Suddenly Nathan sat up and looked at Carson.

"How far along is she?" Nathan said. "I know that she just had her monthly a few weeks ago."

"My colleague figures she is just about twenty weeks." Carson said. "The heartbeats are strong and explain the headaches and all the other symptoms. The fatigue, lack of appetite and not feeling good in the mornings. I would have thought that at first, if Faith hadn't told me that she knew that Carol had been struggling with painful monthlies for the last couple of months. I had my colleague check just to be sure. We have learned that we all miss something and have to rule out the obvious before we look for the obscure."

Nathan sat there staring at Carson and finally the words he had said registered with Nathan.

"Wait." Nathan said, putting his hand up. "You said heartbeats."

"Yes." Carson said. "My colleague had been able to determine there were at least two and possible three. It also explains why Carol has been struggling the last couple of months. I have seen it before where a woman doesn't realize she is pregnant until much later because she continues to get her monthly. It is rare, but it happens. We can't explain why."

"Twins?" Nathan said.

"Yes." Carson said. "For sure twins and a possibility of triplets. Once Carol is feeling better, we are giving her some fluids, we can send you home. However, things are going to change. She is going to need to take it easy, be off her feet more. No more riding or heavy lifting. Limit her walking to short trips, once a day. You are still in the row house, right?"

"Yes." Nathan said. "She has been working with Rosemary at the paper."

"She can either walk into town or home from town no more than once a day." Carson said. "That will change again, soon. I believe that Carol is due about the middle of March, but with multiple babies, she will come early. I am going to have to put her on strict bed rest probably starting in January. I would also suggest that you come to Union City and have her stay at the hospital at the beginning of February. I have never seen triplets, but they are usually small and they don't always survive. I want you to be prepared. I am not saying that we won't do everything we can to help you and your family, but I don't want you to have unrealistic expectations. I know you and I know that you like facts."

"Wow." Nathan said. "So much to take in."

"I will be here for you however I can." Carson said. "I will officially hand the case off to one of the new obstetricians on staff. They have special training in dealing with mothers and babies. But I will be there for you every step of the way."

"Can I see Carol?" Nathan asked.

"Let me see if they got her moved to a regular room." Carson said. "She will be sleepy, but you can sit with her. If you don't mind, I think given the situation, we might keep her overnight to make sure we got the headache under control and she fully hydrated. I think because she hasn't been eating and drinking enough is why she has been getting headaches. The best is going to be eating small amounts every couple hours. I will have one of the obstetricians talk to you both as well when Carol is more alert."

"Thank you, Carson." Nathan said. "Thank you for everything."

"Wait here and I will have one of the nurses come get you and take you to Carol." Carson said. "Let me know if you need anything."

"I will." Nathan said.

Nathan sat back and thought about everything that Carson had said. The priest came back over and sat next to Nathan. He had been close enough to hear.

"I will pray for you all." The priest said. "You have been blessed and I feel it in my heart you will be a father."

"Thank you." Nathan said. "I already am a father. I adopted my fourteen year old niece a few years ago. She had been with me since her mother, my sister died ten years ago."

"Very noble of you." The priest said. "I will wait and if the nurse allows it, I will go back with you and say a quick prayer for your new family. I won't be long, but know that if you need anything, I will be here for you."

"Thank you." Nathan said.

Nathan looked at his two fellow Mounties and a smile broke out on his face. They came over and sat closer. They had moved across the room to give Nathan time with the priest and the doctor.

"Good news?" Parker asked.

"I am going to be a father again." Nathan said, with a huge smile lighting his face.

"Congratulations." Parker said.

"Congratulations." Anthony said. "But I take it there are some words of caution."

"Yes." Nathan said. "This isn't going to be easy and there is a chance I could lose all of them."

"Twins?" Anthony asked.

"Twins, maybe triplets." Nathan said.

"I am a twin." Anthony said. "My mom gave birth to three sets of twins. We all survived."

"Good to know." Nathan said. "I have seen a set of twins, but never thought I would be a father to twins or more."

"Congratulations, again, Sir." Anthony said. "Do you want us to stay or what is the plan?"

"As soon as the nurse comes." Nathan said. "I am going to go sit with my wife. You can head back to headquarters. Please let Superintendent O'Reilly know what is going on and tell him I will speak to him later. There are things that I will have to work out."

"We will pass on that your wife is expecting and that you will be in touch with him." Anthony said. "If you need anything else, please call and let me know. Even if it is a ride back to the train."

"Thank you, I will." Nathan said.

The two Mounties saluted Nathan and he returned it. They then left and Nathan sat there thinking how his life was going to change. He also realized that it was going to be cramped in the row house for a bit. But he also knew with Carol on bedrest, he wasn't going to get much more done on the house. He would worry about that later, right now he had other worries.

It wasn't five minutes after the two other Mounties left that the nurse came in and she led both Nathan and the priest back to Carol's room. She told Nathan that he could stay as long as he wanted. She looked at the priest and nodded. He knew to keep it short. Carol was barely awake, but she greeted the priest. He said a few prayers for the couple and new parents, he then gave Carol the anointing of the sick. He let her know that he would keep them in his prayers and to let him know if there was anything else they needed. He then took his leave. Nathan sat there until Carol fell asleep. He then slipped out and called Bill. He let him know that he would be home tomorrow and he would explain everything then. When he knew which train he would be on, he would call. He then called Joseph and gave him a similar message, but also asking him for lots of continued prayer and he would explain everything when he could sit down.

Nathan waited a few minutes while he thought about things and then he called the dealership that the car was coming from. He explained the situation, that his wife had taken ill and was there anyway to get the car sooner. The dealer explained that he had two similar cars sitting on his lot, the only difference was the colors. Nathan asked if it would be possible to get one of those. The dealer let him know that it wouldn't be a problem and would even refund him the difference of the custom paint color. Nathan had really loved the thought of the metallic blue, but he would settle for what was there at the moment. A little more back and forth and the dealer let Nathan know that he would be able to have the car sent back to Hope Valley when he went tomorrow.

Finally Nathan asked what color the car was so he could tell his daughter. He was informed it was a dark green. Nathan was fine with it, it was more important to have the car so Carol would be able to get around easier. After hanging up the dealer, Nathan called and spoke to Superintendent O'Reilly for a few moments. The man said he would come up to the hospital so they could sit and have a conversation. He even offered to bring Nathan some lunch since it was past that time. Nathan was grateful for his commanding officer.

A half an hour after speaking with Nathan, Superintendent O'Reilly arrived at the hospital with sandwiches and some brownies for Nathan. They sat in the same private waiting room that Nathan had been in earlier. Over their lunch, Nathan explained everything that was going on.

"We will do what we can to help you." O'Reilly said. "If you have to be attached to headquarters here for a few months, so be it. We will figure it out. I don't want you to worry about it. You also keep me updated on what is going on."

"I will, Sir." Nathan said. "It is just so overwhelming. Carol had been worried she wouldn't be able to give me children and here we are having two or three."

"How is the house coming?" O'Reilly asked.

"I got the first floor up and framed out." Nathan said. "I have most of the second floor laid, but it still needs to be framed out and then most of the structure needs to be enclosed. I just don't think it is going to happen until spring. I am going to have to step up and help Carol more. She is going to be on bedrest pretty much until the babies arrive. She will be able to go into town, but she wouldn't be able to walk both ways. She will also need to be off her feet a lot. So I am going to have to go back to doing the cooking and washing with Allie's help."

"I understand." O'Reilly said. "Sarah was on bed rest with our youngest. I think it was about nine weeks. It was hard and I had a housekeeper by then."

"Carol is just over twenty weeks." Nathan said. "So about half way. We have until February because Carson said the babies will come early."

"We will deal with it." O'Reilly said. "I am sure that Sarah will do what she can to help as well, especially with our girls mostly grown and at boarding school."

"Thank you." Nathan said. "There is just so much to think about. I want to be excited, but I saw the look on Carson's face and heard the caution in his voice when he was telling me what to expect. He was honest and said I could lose all of them or they could all be fine. They just have no way of knowing until they arrive."

"We will pray that God will provide." O'Reilly said. "I will let you get back to your wife. Please let me know when you are released. I will have Anthony drive you to the train again."

"Nice young man." Nathan said. "I think he would do well in a place like Hope Valley."

"So noted." O'Reilly said. "Keep in touch."

With that O'Reilly left and Nathan went back to his wife. Carson came in and sat with Nathan at one point. Nathan asked a lot of questions and Carson answered as honestly as he could. He knew that Nathan knew enough and wanted the facts. So Carson laid it all out and the dangers that were known. Since triplets were so rare, there wasn't a lot to go on, but Carson told him what he could. Nathan appreciated his friend's honesty. While they were talking and Carol was resting, they also played a game of chess. Nathan had missed that when Carson had left. There weren't many people in Hope Valley that could challenge Nathan when it came to chess. Carson had always kept him on his toes.

They talked about everything that had happened in their lives. Carson could tell that married life agreed with Nathan and was happy for him. He had been surprised when he learned that Jack had come back and Nathan had found someone else. He was happy for his friends that there were happy endings for them all. Carson had been there in the immediate aftermath of Elizabeth hearing about Jack's passing and he wondered if she would ever recover and then she learned that she was expecting and things got better, but the light in her eyes had never come back until Nathan came to town.

Nathan admitted to Carson he was scared, but Carson did his best to reassure his friend.

"You can call and talk anytime." Carson said. "I know that a lot of information has been thrown at you today, but it is okay. We will all get you through this. Your biggest job is going to be loving and taking care of your wife."

Nathan nodded.

As the evening approached, Carson had a cot brought into Carol's room for Nathan. Carol had woken up and was feeling better. The two had met with the obstetrician and while feeling overwhelmed, they were also overjoyed. They wanted to get home and share their news with Allie.

By morning Carol was feeling much better and even was hungry when the nurse brought in breakfast for both Carol and Nathan. After breakfast, Nathan again called headquarters and let them know that Carol was getting discharged, but he didn't have a specific time other than that morning. Nathan was anxious and just wanted to get home to Hope Valley.

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