Whether you have someone you can call a mother or are a mother yourself, Happy Mother's Day to all. Even fur mommies.
Guest: I did use to read Goosebumps stories religiously. Subconscious influence, I guess...still, I like taking elements from the show and twisting them into my own narrative, so this is not going to feel all sunshine and rainbows like FOP.
Timmy drifted toward the cloud's edge, no apprehension in his sullen steps. Finally forfeiting to the long, prolonged battle with thoughts darker than black swallowing the will to keep going. Sick of the pain, sick of it all…
"Where do you think you are going?!" Birchwind called gruffly to him, asking what he already knew the answer to.
With his bodyweight still anchoring Gary down from his flashback, Birchie whirled his furry head towards the boy who simply scooted his toes just over the edge. He stared at the blue void that darkened into navy the further he looked down. There appeared to be no solid bottom, no ground to splatter upon impact. He'd likely keep falling for however long eternity is. Maybe his little heart would just give out before then.
"Timmy Turner! You stop this instant!"
Paying no heed to the Councilman's order, he emptied his mind, emptied his heart. Gave mental goodbyes to this cruel world before his feet stepped over with a spiritless leap…
The fairy godmother awoke, jolted by sharp pains in her stomach sparking like cut wire shorting out. Her hand clutched her midsection, squirming on her side of the mattress for a comfortable position amid unremitting discomfort. Disturbing her husband's sound sleep as green eyes parted, instantly more awake upon hearing his wife wince in pain.
"…Wanda? What's wrong?" Cosmo sat upright to scoot closer towards her, supporting the burn in her lower back with his palm.
Hearing pained grunts from the bed beneath the bunk above her, Rose sat herself up, rubbing tired eyes. "Wanda…are you alright?"
"…do I look alright?" Wanda clenched, bending her knees as she managed to speak through gritted teeth. It felt as if claws tore at her insides, ripping their way out. Far worse than a typical uterine growing pain.
Across the way in their own queen bed, Swizzle dragged grumpy palms down her face as Nyekundu saw the slide of the glass door to two other godparents entering from outside on the terrace. Noting redness of tear shed in Susie's eyes and bags of depravation under Alondro's, the bigger question she had was how and why they'd been outside at the same time. A question for another day as Susie immediately rushed to her best friend's side, cupping Wanda's shoulder as another electric wave of fiery stabs bent her over.
"What's going on?"
"It's her stomach again…" Cosmo spoke for his wife, disturbed by her visible agony. Her tolerance was high, but not this high…
"On a scale of one to ten, what's your pain level?" Susie queried.
Finding difficulty just taking a breath through pain crushing her ribs, Wanda unclasped her eyes in watering slits, barely able to choke out "…nine…"
"…is that normal?" Swizzle wondered out loud, thinking the situation was more dire than they currently realized.
Susie creased a troubled brow, reminded of her own experience similar to what Wanda, unfortunately, might be going through. "Doubt it if Wanda's in this much pain…"
Wanda gagged in threatening upheave, feeling sicker than a peppermint could ever cure. Unable to stop the rushing barge of projecting bile. Her husband and best friend leaned back out the way of the purplish-green splattering onto white sheets, staining her yellow shirt…
Streaked in a perturbing crimson.
Irving grimaced at the sight, floating down from his top bunk. "That's definitely not normal…"
Now with the situation officially urgent, Juandissimo sprung from his top bunk. "Is there a way to get a hold of Jorgen?"
"I can help you..." Nyekundu offered, floating from the space beside her girlfriend.
Rose watched Juandissimo follow behind Nyekundu out of the bedroom, thinking she should make herself useful somehow. "Um…me, too!"
Leaping from her covers, Rose traveled through the stone arch past the kitchenette on her right and the modular couch and granite coffee table on her left as Nyekundu tugged hard on the loose handle to the cave's door. Despite the door itself being unlocked, her great efforts seemingly made no progress.
Thinking the door carved entirely out of rock could just be really heavy for her, Juandissimo volunteered to give the handle a try. Allowing him to do so, Nyekundu hovered back towards Rose as Juandissimo's biceps bulged with each tug that did absolutely nothing.
Even when he pressed his foot to the wall for a better pull, the damn door wouldn't budge. "…carajo…"
"Out of curiosity…" Rose looked to Nyekundu "…have you guys ever tried to get out before?"
"…actually, no." Nyekundu came to realize, seeing Juandissimo snarl his teeth in his struggle. "Now I see why..."
The exigency of the matter shot from bad to worse when the fairies saw a vacant look glass over Wanda's eyes, and Cosmo's distress gaped in horror in a caught breath "…Wanda?"
Carrying his wand-like staff as he traveled down the candle-lit stone path of the murky cave, the fairy commander was on his way to check on the fairies. He figured he'd do so before the start of his true workday keeping tabs on the other active godparents on his ever-growing roster. The Fairy Council had not instructed him to do so, acting on his own volition. Having always been in constant communication with them and vice versa, he had not heard from the Council since before they'd enacted their vicious escapade on Earth. Something that, admittedly, worried him.
He would soon have bigger things to worry about…
Reaching the cave door, his natural strength swung it open with ease. Not realizing he might have knocked someone over until he paused at the Hispanic fairy groaning on the ground.
Jorgen cocked a puzzled brow as Rose assisted Juandissimo off the floor. "What were you doing, puny fairy?"
"Bwana Jorgen, we were trying to find you!" Nyekundu quickly explained, finding the timing graciously convenient. "Something is seriously wrong with-"
"WANDA!"
The three godparents gawked in the direction of Cosmo's frantic cry for his wife as her body fell back, beginning to convulse. Jorgen sprang into action, dashing past the fairies towards the dire scene.
"Quick; get her on her side!" Irving yelled out. Swizzle didn't hesitate and flew to assist Irving, yet Cosmo's frantic dismay continued to cry for Wanda, begging her to tell him what's wrong as she coughed on her own vomit.
"Keep her husband away from her!" Jorgen bellowed to Swizzle and Irving, charging into the room. Cosmo's panicking was unhelpful, and right now, he was of better use out of the way.
Cosmo thrashed the arms that Swizzle and Irving grabbed on to, kicking his legs as they dragged him away from his wife's convulsions. Kneeling to Wanda's bedside, Jorgen positioned the pregnant fairy on her side, careful not to fully restrain her jerking limbs.
The purplish-green vomit caught his attention, aghast at the mixture of blood within it. "How did this happen!?"
"She was complaining of pains before she vomited, and now this!" Alondro summarized, closest to Jorgen in proximity. "It all just happened so fast…"
Hovering closest to the glass door, both of Susie's palms covered her strained gasps for breaths. Not only concerned for her best friend, but plagued with flashes of when she'd been further along than Wanda. The sour taste of bile choked in her throat, shivers of waning control rocking her shoulders. Feelings of faint haunting her once again…
Alondro turned when he heard her rapid pants over his own pounding heart, her large eyes glossing with terror. Without a second thought, he flew to her. Palming her by the shoulders in what looked to him like a panic attack.
"Just try to breathe, Susie…" he muffled the urgency in his tone with what little calm he could muster, for Susie's sake. He knew nothing of her past struggles, and right now, he didn't need to. All he cared about was consoling her.
"WANDAAAAA!" Cosmo blubbered against Swizzle and Irving's restraints. "WANDA, NOOO!"
"Can you cut it out?!" Swizzle was quickly losing her patience. "You're not making things any better!"
When Wanda's spasms finally started to ebb, Jorgen's eyes lasered on the muted flicker of lilac beneath her shirt, around her pregnancy bump. He hesitated, but he swallowed it back. Deciding just to figure out what the hell is going on and worry about intrusiveness later. He reached to lift her shirt up below her chest, and his eyes bulged.
Veins crawled in red grips of fingers around her swollen belly, contracting with lilac pulses to the a-fib of a developing heart. They scratched like nails with each pulse, unlike anything Jorgen had ever seen in his long life.
Sharp fangs latched on the back collar of Timmy's pink shirt, catching him mid jump. Growling as the support of his back legs and front paws dragged the boy's bodyweight further onto the cloud, back towards safety.
"Lemme go ya dumb dog!" Timmy shouted, kicking and flailing about in protest to Birchie's iron-jaw grip. "Let GO!"
"Settle down, Timmy Turner!" the Councilman stood in his command.
"Tell your mut to stop!" Timmy stubbornly barked, resisting against Birchie's pull.
Gary was frozen on the ground, shuddering in stiff breaths. His cousin tried to off himself and all he could do was watch. That was almost another death over his head…
With a small whistle from Birchwind, Birchie obeyed and released Timmy's collar. Seizing his chance, Timmy attempted to scramble to his feet, only to trip face first into the cloud. Groaning as he pushed himself up on his knees, his legs felt the sensation of being bound by a tight leash. He glanced past his shoulder down at the string of periwinkle magic laced around his ankles, halting him in place.
Birchie barked, seated on his hind legs with a wagging tail as Birchwind approached the stubborn brunette in casual yet stern strides. "Did you honestly believe you could pull that off in front of me?"
That trammeling feeling of being shackled growled in Timmy's throat. "Give me one good reason not to do it again…"
[My lord, we have a problem!]
Birchwind paused mid breath when he recognized the voice that had invaded his head. As a direct descendant of his, Birchwind knew Jorgen Von Strangle did not possess this capability with the other Councilmembers. Thus, it was only to be used in cases that Jorgen did not think he could handle himself.
[What is it, Jorgen?]
[It's Turner's godmother…she needs medical attention.]
[Then what do you need me for? Get her to Fairy World!]
[What about the others?]
[Her husband is the only exception; the others must stay there.]
He could hear Jorgen's apprehension at this direction. [But my lord-]
[This does not alter the operation!] the fae elder stressed. [Disregard any pushback; the other Councilmembers and I will address it later. Is that clear?]
[…understood.]
"I'm waiting!"
Hearing the peevish gruff, Birchwind lowered an arched brow to Timmy's pointed glare. Despite this juvenile attempt to assert dominance, the Fairy Councilman could not be less intimidated.
"…how about I just show you?"
Birchwind whistled again, and this time, Timmy yelped from the hard push of paws pinning him backwards to the cloud by his biceps. Birchie planted his back feet on Timmy's legs determined to squirm free, thrashing with ankles still bounded by magical rope.
"Get off me!" Timmy screamed, arm stinging from the pinch of claws digging into his skin. Birchie let out a defiant bark, steadfast in his grasp.
With Timmy unable to escape, Birchwind then glanced towards his right at the shell shock still wide in Gary's eyes. The Council were well aware of Timmy Turner's godmother and her condition. They thought they were prepared, but apparently, they weren't as prepared as they could've been.
Judging by Timmy's declining will to live and Gary's thread clinging to reality, he doubted that the other godchildren were anywhere close to ready. However, this newfound setback left no choice but to move on to the next phase.
Birchwind levitated towards the preteen, careful not to approach too suddenly. Ginger in his kneel to the rapid blinks that acknowledged him.
"…I-I'm sorry…" Gary whispered, visibly shaking "…p-please don't punish me…"
"Oh, Gary…" Birchwind raised a sparkling hand to Gary's cheek that felt cold against his periwinkle palm. "If you remember nothing else, remember this." He fixed his gaze, his palm glowing brighter. "You are…and always will be…a good boy."
He spoke those sanative words for the troubled ears of a conflicted spirit. Ensuring that was the message that Gary heard last as his eyes grew heavy.
"LET ME GO!" Timmy shrieked between clenched teeth, writhing with all his might. His arms could barely wiggle beneath the strong grip pinning him down, his legs nailed to the puff of cloud. Screams of frustration cracked the back of his throat. Why must they get in his way?! Why can't he just be free…
His screams devolved into guttural sob, ceasing his fight. Even the most stubborn of mules realize when persistence was futile.
"…please…j-just…" he hiccupped through the sobs quivering his lips. "…jus lemme go…"
Birchwind supported Gary's head limp against his shoulder. Carrying Gary with one arm, he rose from the ground to. Observing the large droplets that slipped down Timmy's cheeks.
"…I-I don't…" Tears clouded crestfallen eyes, snivels aching his chest. "I jus…I-I can't…take it anymore…"
Empathy whined in high-pitched squeals as Birchie's own pink and green eyes swelled with moisture. Saddened by the tears pouring down the puddles of blue beset with years of pain. He didn't have much time to dwell when his pink ear perked to his masker's snapping finger, signaling him to finish what he'd been trained to do.
Pink and Green radiated with periwinkle, luring withering tears from tearing themselves away. His sobs weakened to whimpers, muscles laxing to the trance of glowing eyes. White blurred across his vision, fading his thoughts into nothingness…
When blue eyes blinked next, he realized the return of his autonomy, moving his arms and legs at free will. Finding himself in a blank space of white glittering with rainbow crystals of ethereal light. Those same crystals glittered in the pink cotton of his shirt and the denim of his jeans, glistening in his fingertips as he looked down to his hands.
No way…his curious gaze then searched the void, no longer able to see his cousin or the Fairy Councilmen. Nor could he see the yellow retriever who'd once pinned him down. Am I…?
His eyes widened when the back of a high pigtail caught his attention. Far enough for the head of brunette to be a single brown dot in a sea of white, close enough to note the pink ribbon he only knew of one person to wear.
"Sophia?!"
Her back faced him, giving no immediate response. Until the glance of baby-blue eyes over the puff-sleeve shoulder of her light-pink blouse slowly curled his lips with the first smile in the longest time.
"SOPHIA!"
A rejuvenating rush sprinted him across the void, fueled as if given a restart. She seemed oddly stoic from the impact of latching his arms around her waist from behind, giving no smile to the nestling of his cheek into her sleeve. Bliss closed the eyes that rimmed with tears, squeezing her close to him. "I thought I'd never get to see or talk to you again…"
When he noticed her lack of response, he lifted his chin from her shoulder. Noting the vexed crease in her brow and the wrinkle in her chin, wilting his smile at the once bubbly eyes grim in their stare straight ahead "…what's wrong, Sophie?"
Her overbite chewed on her thin lip. Almost inaudible when she uttered "…I saw Mom and Dad."
He loosened his grip around her, further confirmed of what he already knew.
"…they found me…" her grimace deepened "…they hugged me…and then they just kept crying…"
Timmy backed to then step in front of her. Though he could see his answer in glossy eyes, he felt the need to ask "…are you okay?"
Sophia lowered her chin, knitting her brow "…they weren't supposed to be with me yet…"
His gaze studied her frown. Unsure of what to say, he chose to say nothing.
"Their hair was supposed to look like grandma and grandpa's first…" her voice was soft, mousy even, yet mixed with emotions bubbling in her core "…how could this happen…"
Watching her arm swipe away the threat of tears, he wished he could empathize with her. She was clearly grieving, and as terrible as he felt about it, his true feelings couldn't align with hers. Then again, there was nothing to align; her bond with their parents was never strained liked his.
Though he wasn't sure if it'd do any good, he felt the need to sigh "…I'm sorry."
She met his glum gaze with her own "…for what?"
"That you're upset." his fingers fiddled. "I remember how much they meant to you…"
Based on his level composure, Sophia could assume that their parents' demise was not news to him. Then again, she knew his sour opinions about them well enough that the lines could very well blur between him knowing and him being unaware. "It's okay…I don't expect you to feel the same…"
He nodded in understanding, eyes downcast. Somehow, her discernment made him feel worse about his feelings, or lack thereof. Did his detachment from their parents' deaths make him a bad person?
Taking a deep breath, Sophia rubbed at her arm "…they wanted me to go with them."
He looked up, puzzled "…what do you mean?"
Her lips folded, hesitant. "They wanted us to be together again…finally be the happy family they always wanted."
Wow, he was still disregarded. Even in their death "…so they're not…wherever this is?"
"No…" Sophia averted her eyes "…I told them to move on without me…"
Timmy blinked quizzically. "What? Why?"
Sophia mustered the courage to meet his gaze again "…I love Mom and Dad. I always will…" she inched herself closer to her beloved brother "…but I always loved you more."
The hollowness that once sunk his heart lifted at the heartfelt in her sentiment. He never knew their parents' love, but he always knew hers. To hear it reaffirmed in this way, that she would rather be with the boy that stole space in her womb than the people who created her existence…it warmed the ice in his soul.
The only thing he could think to thank her was to embrace her in the biggest hug he could muster.
"I love you, too…" his low voice spoke, squeezing her. "I don't wanna live if we can't be together…"
The outpour of his deepest thoughts didn't notice the brimming tears in her frown, clenching her fists against him.
"I can't live without you, Sophie…I never wanna be apart ever agai-"
He gasped when her palms shoved him away, gaping at the glisten in her glare.
"You're not supposed to be with me yet, either!"
His twintuition wasn't expecting this outraged of a reaction "…Sophie-"
"I left you in body, but I never left in spirit!" she cried, her cheeks flamed red. "I was with you even before Cosmo and Wanda!"
His stare froze, then his nose crinkled.
"I couldn't move on, because I wanted to watch Cosmo and Wanda give the love you always deserved! I wanted to watch you laugh again with old friends and make new ones! Watch you become a grownup and fall in love, have a family of your own! Watch you live a full and happy life!"
"But Cosmo and Wanda's love won't even matter, cuz when I'm a grownup, it'll all be erased!" he argued, scowling. "How can I ever have a happy life when it'll always feel like a piece of me is missing and I won't even know what I lost!?"
Sophia found herself faltering, her voice as weak as she started to feel "…who told you that?"
"Your cousin!" Timmy spat. "He told me all about how we're gonna lose our fairies no matter how long we keep them a secret and no matter how many rules we follow!"
"But…" she pressed clasped hands to her chest "…you weren't supposed to know about that yet…"
He willed himself to hold back flustered screams "…you mean you knew?! And you didn't tell me?!"
"It wasn't for me to tell!"
Timmy began to pace, frustrated all over again.
"Cosmo and Wanda weren't meant to be around forever…and that sucks!" Sophia tried to reason with him. "But they're meant to give you a better chance at life!"
"I don't want a better chance at life!" Timmy countered. "There's no point!"
"What do you mean there's no point?! You didn't fall down the stairs for a reason!"
"According to Mom and Dad, I should have!"
The air around them tensed, Sophia's arms falling at her sides "…they're wrong, y'know."
Irritation crossed in his arms. "Yeah, right…"
Anguish creased in her grimace "…you wanna to know what Mom told me before they moved on?"
"That I killed them?" Timmy sneered. Obviously wasn't true, but it certainly sounded like something their mother would say out of spite.
"No…" Sophia exhaled, blinking back her tears "…to tell you she's sorry."
His jaw tensed, lips parted in silent shock. Their parents never wanted a son, that was always as clear as day! He was just an extra mouth to them! He was a burden to them! They chided him, resented him for years after Sophia's death! Stuck him with a babysitter that if she'd choked the life out of him, she'd be doing them a favor!
The rise in his brow flattened to a cold glare. Mom and Dad were never sorry for literally anything. Why would they apologize now!? When it didn't even matter cuz they're freakin' dead!? Better yet, why was it just Mom who apologized!? Was Dad not sorry? Of course, not! Because why would they admit fault to anything that had to do with their biggest mistake!?
"…I don't believe you."
Sophia couldn't believe how cold his voice felt, raising bumps in her skin.
"Instead of getting rid of the kid they never wanted, they knew they could get away from me in death."
"…you think they died on purpose?" she accused, and his scowl deepened.
"I think they knew it'd make them look less like shit parents."
Her eyes flashed, breath caught in her chest. Since when did her sweet brother use those words at her? "…that's the meanest thing I ever heard you say."
"Tell me I'm wrong." he his tone was deceptively calm, and she could do little to stop the brim of flustered tears drenched with sadness. "Tell me Mom and Dad loved me."
Thinking too deeply about what she couldn't deny would just make her lip jut further "…Bubba-"
"You can't!" he shrieked at her. "They never loved me, so why would they be sorry!?"
Her blue eyes shimmered in a pained gloss.
"On top of all that, I'm a black sheep in my own family, my fairies are gonna leave, my friends are better off without me, and don't say anything about other godkids because the only reason we associate is cuz of our godparents! And those godparents'll just end up leaving, too, and we'll all just forget about each other!"
Heartache traced damp trails down her cheek.
"There's nothing for me to live for, don't you get that?!" his shout cracked, breaking from the life-long stakes splintered in his heart. "I'm fighting a losing battle and I just can't anymore…"
Her chest ached, burning with the misery breaking the dam in his glare. Hot tears trickled in the heavy exhale that carried the weight of his strife.
"…I can't do it anymore Sophia…I can't…" he could barely speak, words whispered in despair between short sobs "…it's easier to just give up before it gets worse…"
Her heart ached for his tears, but as her own sadness shed from her eyes, her brow knitted in a downward slant. While she could recognize his mindset, there was just one thing she needed him to understand. One thing that would sever their ties for the rest of forever.
"…if you ever take your own life…I will never forgive you."
The twinge in his chest cracked as if his heart physically snapped in half.
Fluorescent lights mounted in panes of fiberglass along the ceiling, reflecting off the sheen of white tile floors. Purified air circulating within the blue-coated walls surrounding the singular bed that blanketed blue-cotton just above the patient's pregnancy bump.
His tender fingers combed her rosette curls, her head tilted ever so slightly towards the window across the room from the entrance. A subtle rise and fall of her chest where faint breaths blew through weakly parted lips, prodded with wires sticking out from her hospital gown. Multiple IVs were attached through the veins in her arms, monitors tracking the pulse that was far more stable than earlier that morning. The subtle tint of rose in her skin had blanched. She looked so weak, he felt so weak…
Cosmo could admit when he was useless, and that he was in her dire time of need. How pathetic was he, blubbering like that when he should have been trying to help. Now he understood Irving's terror after witnessing a seizure first hand…
He could still see the dim pulses of lilac visible even beneath the thick cotton tucked around Wanda's stomach, connected to the EFM monitor tracking the baby's vitals. He watched the rapid peaks and valleys of his child's heartbeat, and he furrowed his brow. A real man doesn't panic like a coward in the face of adversity…how can he ever call himself a father?
The door to Wanda's hospital room stirred him, seeing his boss follow the dramatic swoop of jet-black hair slicked back. Bushy brows rested over blue eyes, his chiseled jaw cleanshaven. A stethoscope draped over the white lab coat buttoned over a lavender collared shirt, fastened with the black tie that matched his slacks and darbies.
Once inside, Jorgen carefully shut the door as Dr. Rip Studwell cleared his throat, addressing the husband of his patient with a grave gaze.
"I'd ask if you want the good or bad news first, but I think this situation would fair you more to hear the good news first."
"…o-okay." Cosmo swallowed a lump, hovering beside his wife's bed. "What's the good news?"
Dr. Studwell glanced down at the clipboard in his hand, skimming Wanda's chart. "The baby has slightly elevated vitals but is relatively stable."
His relief exhaled; the baby's okay, that's good. But then his chest tightened, noting how that good news didn't seem to mention Wanda at all. A chill shot further up his spine when he happened to glance at Jorgen's grimace as he stood with hands on his hips "…a-and the bad news?"
With a deep sigh, Dr. Studwell looked up from the chart. "Wanda's blood pressure is spiking and her vital organs are on the brink of absolute failure."
Cosmo coughed when he felt his throat tighten. Bad news? More like 'let me punch you square in the ribs…with a big ole rock. After I rip out your heart and squash it, first.'
"According to both her and the baby's results, the baby is becoming a parasite in his own mother's body."
"…are you serious?!" Cosmo tugged at his hair. Wanda wouldn't want him to get frustrated like this, but he couldn't help it. "How was this not an issue at our appointment?"
"Those magic labs and blood tests didn't reveal anything of much significance other than chopping her symptoms up to be exaggerated growing pains." Dr. Studwell tried to defend his oversight. "This is the first baby conceived from a wish; I couldn't have predicted things to take this drastic of a turn."
Too agitated for excuses, Cosmo glared with a low grunt "…and you call yourself a doctor?"
"I would watch what you say next if I were you." Jorgen warned. He could empathize, but he will not tolerate disrespect of any kind.
"I almost lost my wife and my child!" Cosmo griped, Wanda's slumber luckily undisturbed. "Do you get that?!"
"I understand the frustration…" Dr. Studwell groaned, tucking his chart under his arm "…but at this rate, there's only one way to ensure we save both."
"Oh yeah, 'Doc'?" Cosmo challenged, meeting the doctor's grim stare. "And what's that?"
"…the baby will have to come out."
Cosmo's breath hitched, blinking rapidly as if shock had momentarily stolen the very sound of his voice.
Also baffled by this revelation, Jorgen addressed the doctor to ask what Cosmo could (or possibly could not) be unraveling in his mind "…you are certain about this?"
"Yes." Dr. Studwell stated. "The baby has to come out if Wanda will have any chance of survival."
"But…" Cosmo breathed when he found his voice again "…but it's way too soon!"
"For a normal pregnancy, I'd agree." Dr. Studwell pointed out. "However, because the magic of your godchild's wish aided in accelerating the baby's development, the gestational age is technically on the cusp of a third trimester despite only just entering the second."
Cosmo hovered back without any forethought, trying to clear the fog of disbelief as his jumbled mind struggled to process. They were about to bring a baby into the world far less than unprepared. He was stressed enough for the both of them…he can only imagine what his 'be ready for anything' wife would think…
"Is it not still dangerous for the baby to be born this early?" Jorgen quizzed.
"There are still risks, yes." Dr. Studwell admitted. "But I'm positive that the baby will have a chance if immediately transferred to the NICU."
Green orbs drifted to the eyes sunken in her pale skin, his nerves surging. For the longest time, they believed it impossible to have children of their own. They'd almost completely given up, until one godchild had given them a miracle…a miracle with the misfortune of being not just a threat to his wife's life, but to the life of their first child.
The heat in his clammy palm brushed the chill in her fingers, his despair seeking her comfort in however he could. Though Timmy's wish had brought them hope, this was not the birth they ever would have imagined.