Day 12 - Dehydration
A/N: As it turns out, pregnancy isn't as smooth as Marty or Jennifer expected. Set 10-15 years after Part III.

It's not supposed to be this rough, is it?

Marty found himself physically cringing. It was the fourth time within ten minutes that he had heard Jennifer retching in the bathroom, and the grotesque sound was finally enough for him to start feeling nauseous. He turned back to the mirror as he finished with his tie. Geez, is this ever gonna stop? Surely her stomach's got nothing left in it now.

Even though it'd only been two weeks since Jennifer had shown him the positive test result, he still couldn't wrap his head around the idea of becoming a dad. Yes, he had seen physical proof of his descendants when they visited 2015, but he was very aware that they were now living out an alternate timeline; one where they might not become parents after all.

Given the way things were currently going, Marty wasn't sure Jennifer was going to be able to put up with being pregnant long enough to have the baby. Especially if it meant this vomiting didn't stop. From the limited knowledge he'd gained from high school sex ed, he knew that the first few weeks involved a little bit of morning sickness, but he was pretty sure Jennifer wasn't supposed to be married to the bathroom instead of him.

Only thirty-two weeks to go…

A loud crash from the bathroom startled him. Without bothering to knock, Marty burst into their ensuite, his face falling as he saw Jennifer trembling on her knees, sobbing hysterically over the toilet bowl. "Jen?"

Jennifer opened her mouth to answer, only to become caught between a retch and a sob. She slammed the toilet seat in anger, gasping into the bowl as her diaphragm spasmed. "…Can't…take…this…!"

"I know, honey, I know," Marty dropped to the floor beside his wife, pulling her tangled hair away from the toilet and stroking her cheek. They'd performed this routine so many times over the last six weeks, at all hours of the day, and it was becoming clear that Jennifer wasn't coping.

Or rather, her body wasn't coping with the hormone influx.

Part of him had thought about calling his mom and asking her advice, but given that they were still yet to announce anything, he decided it would stay their secret for now.

Given Jennifer's deteriorating condition, he realised that may not be an option for much longer.

Marty lifted Jennifer's chin gently as he took a moment to properly examine her in the glaring bathroom light. Her normally-glowing face was dull and slightly sunken, her rosy skin having faded to ashen white. While she had lost a little bit of weight before becoming pregnant, the process had been rapidly accelerated and was now undeniably obvious, especially in her cheeks.

What bothered him the most was how the sparkle behind her eyes had been fading, weakening as the days went by. Instead of an excited young mom-to-be who'd already started buying baby clothes, all he could see now was a sick and fatigued woman that could barely stand on her own.

He reached up to the sink above them, half-filling a glass before passing it to Jennifer. "Honey, I think we should get you to a hospital."

Jennifer shook her head as she took a reluctant sip, her hand shaking as she gripped the glass tightly. "…I'm…fine…"

"Jenny, the toilet has become your second husband since you found out!" Marty said exasperatedly. "Y-You can't keep anything down, for God's sake! I can't…" He took a few moments to calm himself - there was no point in both of them crying over the toilet - before giving Jennifer a warm kiss on the forehead. "I can't bear seeing you like this, honey."

Jennifer's red-rimmed eyes rapidly blinked away a fresh onslaught of tears. She took a second sip to swirl around her mouth before spitting into the toilet. "…This sucks."

Marty couldn't help but snicker at how she delivered her thoughts. He'd already decided the recording session would have to wait; his work today was entirely devoted to Jennifer. "Makes me wonder why my mom had three of us. But something is definitely up, 'cause you shouldn't be spewing this much."

Jennifer nodded, releasing her ironclad grip on the porcelain as she weakly shifted into his waiting arms. Arms enveloping his love, Marty gingerly lifted Jennifer from the floor in a bridal style, careful not to jostle her as he lay her on top of the bedsheets. "I'm gonna go call the midwife and get her two cents before I pack the car-"

"Marty-"

"Let me do this, Jen, please," Marty's voice shook as he knelt at the bedside, grasping Jennifer's clammy hand tightly. "Please, let me take care of you, so you can take care of our baby."

His free hand settled over Jennifer's slightly-bloated stomach, massaging the skin lovingly before giving it a kiss. "You're only eight weeks old, kid, and you're already a pain in the ass."

He grinned as Jennifer giggled quietly, kissing her tummy again. It'll all be worth it, honey. I promise.