When Steve came to, he looked up to see a different ceiling. He sat up slowly and looked around. He was in a different room.
"Gaaaaaaahhhhh!" Laura roared beside him.
He hopped quickly off of the gurney and ran to her bedside. He grabbed her free hand, and she squeezed back forcefully.
Harriette ripped her hand away on the other side. "Oh, thank God you're awake!" she said to Steve. "I thought she was gonna break my fingers."
Steve looked at Laura as her contraction ended. She was panting heavily, and her face remained contorted from the pain. "Are you ok, Sweetums?"
She glared up at him. "Oh, I'm fine, Sleeping Beauty."
Steve sat at the edge of her bed. "I'm so sorry about that, my love," he whispered, placing a hand on her stomach.
"I'm gonna go tell everyone that Steve's awake," Harriette announced, wanting to give them some privacy to continue this intimate journey. "Is that all right, Laura?"
Laura nodded and smiled softly at her. "Yeah, Mom. Thanks," she replied, looking up at her heroic mother gratefully.
Harriette kissed her head and ducked out.
Steve hadn't taken his worried eyes off of her.
"Are you gonna stare at me like that the whole time?" she snapped, turning back to him.
Steve raised his eyebrows, but he knew better than to complain. She had every right to be cranky.
She took a deep breath and frowned at him. "I'm sorry," she said, looking down at her protruding belly.
"Don't be," he insisted, wrapping an arm around her and kissing her forehead. "Don't ever be sorry about something you do today, sweetheart." He held her close for a minute in silence. "Well, how long was I out? What did I miss?"
"You were only out for twenty minutes or so, but you kinda missed a lot. I'm only two centimeters dilated. This is still Early Labor, but my water broke early, so they're watching me closely and will push it along if they have to."
"Were you not having contractions?"
"I was, I think, but I just thought it was Braxton Hicks again."
"You should have said something."
"They were so mild. They could've been gas."
"But, Laura, I would've liked to know."
"You would've freaked. We didn't need to check me in until I was further along, and we were on our way here anyway. If my water hadn't broken, they wouldn't have admitted me this early."
"Ok, well, we're here now. That's all that matters. What can I do for you? What do you need?"
"Nothing," she said. "I just need this baby to get out of me!"
He paused for a moment. "I love you," he said abruptly.
Laura laughed at him, and squeezed his hand. "I love you, too," she smiled, sincerely excited now that they were almost done with all of this. "Just stay conscious, Steve. I'm gonna need you."
He chuckled and kissed her again. "I will. I promise."
———————————————————————
Fletcher was holding Estelle's hand as Harriette made it back to the room.
Carl stood as she entered. "How is she?"
"She's fine," Harriette announced. "She made it through the first twenty minutes. She's two centimeters dilated. Her contractions are getting worse and closer together, but Steve's awake again, so I left them alone to bond a bit."
"Is Steve gonna be ok during all that?" Fletcher chuckled.
"Oh, he'll be fine!" Estelle assured them. "Steve is stronger than you all think. He wants this more than anything in the world. He's gonna be a great dad."
"Estelle?" the doctor asked, peeking her head in the door.
"Candy," Estelle smiled, reaching out for her hand. "How are you, and how's your grandma, sugar? She and I need a rematch on the tennis court."
"I'm afraid I have some bad news, Estelle," the doctor said gently, ignoring Estelle's small talk.
Estelle took a deep breath. "All right, Doc. Hit me with it."
"You have a fairly large brain tumor."
"Oh, God," Carl said under his breath as Harriette reached out to comfort him.
"We'll have to do a biopsy to be sure, but it looks like when they did your single mastectomy, the scans or your doctor missed the cancerous cells in your right breast."
"What?" Carl barked. "My mother never had a mastectomy!"
"Yes, I did, Carl. Now, hush."
"What? When, Mama?" he demanded.
"Four years ago." She turned to Candace and smiled. "Go ahead, sugar."
"Mama, why didn't you tell me?" he demanded.
"It was no big deal, Carl! Now, Candy, when can you schedule surgery to remove this darn thing? My first great-grandchild is being born right now, and I'd like to be there to see it."
"We can get you in today, Estelle. I have an opening, but I wouldn't recommend surgery at this point. We should start with radiation treatments to see if that–"
"Oh, Sugar, now you and I both know that surgery is the most effective way to treat cancer. You gotta cut it out."
"Estelle, radiation treatments have come a long way, and–"
"Cut it out, Candace, or I'll find someone else who will!" Estelle ordered sharply.
Candace took a deep breath and tried again. "Estelle, at your age–"
"My first great-granddaughter is being born right now. I intend to be around for my first great-grandson as well. Now, do the surgery, or I'm signing myself out AMA."
Candy thought for a moment. "All right, Estelle. If you insist."
"What? Don't listen to her! You're the doctor!" Carl exclaimed.
"Yes, Mr. Winslow, but she's right. If she survives the surgery, she'll have a much better chance at beating the cancer."
"And if she doesn't?" Carl complained.
"Carl!" Estelle scolded.
"Her tumor is extremely operable. If she were younger, I wouldn't even hesitate. Mr. Winslow, for her age, your mother is very healthy. If she wants to do this, I'm willing to spend the next several hours of my life doing it for her. Estelle, they'll come down to prep you in a little while."
"Thank you, sugar."
As the doctor stepped out, Estelle turned to Carl. "Do you have something to say to me?"
He glared at her and took a deep breath. "I'm gonna go check on Laura," he announced before storming out of the room.
———————————————————————
When he made it to the room, Steve was holding her hand as he helped her pace around the room. "Hi, sweetheart," Carl said gently as he entered. "How ya feelin'?"
"Hi, Daddy," Laura said quickly. "I'm three centimeters dilated now. Contractions are four minutes apart. I'm ok… or I will be for the next…"
"One minute and twelve seconds," Steve answered, glancing down at the stopwatch in his hand.
"Good," Carl said absentmindedly. "You look great."
Laura and Steve glanced at each other. No, she didn't. Even Steve knew she looked like a mess. "Are you ok, Daddy? How's Grandma?"
"Oh, you don't need to worry about that. You're a little busy."
Laura and Steve glanced at each other again, and then Laura motioned toward the bed with her head so that Steve would guide her back to it. She climbed back in and pulled the blanket over her bottom half. She placed a hand on her stomach and rubbed it gently, silently begging the baby to go easy on her. "What's goin' on, Daddy? What did the doctors say?"
He pursed his lips and took a seat in the chair by her bed. "She has breast cancer, honey."
"What?" Laura gasped.
Steve felt his knees buckle, and he collapsed to the edge of Laura's bed.
"And she had a mastectomy to remove it," Carl continued.
"When? Just now?" Laura demanded.
"No, four years ago."
"What? Oh!" Laura screamed. "Oh, damn it! Steve!" She reached out for his hand, squeezing it firmly as another contraction began.
Carl looked away as Laura screamed and cried. Steve tried admirably to comfort her, and Carl was impressed that he didn't pass out from the pain she was clearly inflicting on his hand, but ultimately, it didn't seem that important if Steve were there or not. She was in pain, and he couldn't do a thing about it.
When it finally passed, Laura panted heavily. Steve kissed her sweaty forehead. "You're doing great, my love," he whispered.
"Shut up, Steve," she frowned. "Daddy, you have four minutes. Back to Grandma."
Carl nodded. "She had a mastectomy and reconstructive surgery, apparently, and didn't tell anyone."
"Not even Fletcher?" Steve asked, knowing he would be heartbroken if Laura tried to keep something like that from him.
"I don't know. Maybe. I left before I found out."
"But what does any of that have to do with her blacking out in the shower?" Laura demanded.
"She blacked out?" Carl barked.
Laura closed her eyes in frustration. This baby had stolen her youth, her comfort, her time, and apparently, her brain. "Yeah, I wasn't supposed to say anything."
Carl fumed silently. "They only did a single mastectomy, without consulting her family, and the cancer spread to her brain from her other breast. She has a brain tumor. That's why she blacked out and fell."
"Well, is it operable?" Steve asked.
"Yes," Carl said, "but she's old, and even the doctor is uncomfortable with the surgery."
"But she's insisting on it," Laura finished for him. She took a deep breath and explained, "She doesn't want to fight this for a few months and lose. She wants to risk everything so she can be around to meet all of our kids."
"But at the rate she's going," Carl spat, "she won't even meet this one."
"When are they operating?" Laura asked.
"As soon as possible. In a few hours," Carl explained.
"You should get back to her," Laura suggested. "Wish her luck from us. Spend the next couple hours with her. Just in case."
"I can't even look at that woman right now, Laura," he grumbled.
"Daddy," she scolded. "Ohhhh!" she exclaimed as the next contraction started.
"Another one?" Steve asked in surprise, glancing down at his stopwatch. "No, it's too soon!"
"Ohhh! Oh! I'm sorry I'm not sticking to your schedule, genius," she snapped, squeezing his hand with all her might. "Daddy, go back to Grandma!" she ordered.
"Laura, I–"
"Get the Hell outta here and go see your mother before she croaks and you regret this for the rest of your life!" she screamed. "Ahhhhhh!"
As she yelled out in pain, Carl leapt from his chair and rushed for the door. "Good luck, sweetheart," he called before shutting it.
Laura noticed Steve staring at her, completely dumbfounded by the way she had just spoken to her father. "WHAT?" she snapped.
"Nothing," Steve said quickly. "Nothing. Just breathe, baby. You've got this."
"Oh, shut up, turbonerd!" she yelled. She began to cry as all of her muscles continued to attempt to escape her body. "Oh, Gooooooooood!"
———————————————————————
When Carl made it back to Estelle's room, he hesitated in front of the door, but eventually, he took the plunge. He walked in to find Estelle, Harriette, and Fletcher laughing.
Estelle looked up at Carl seriously as she noticed him. "Could I have a minute alone with my son?"
Fletcher and Harriette nodded, quickly dismissing themselves. Harriette kissed Carl's cheek before slipping out the door.
"Sit down, Carl," Estelle said firmly.
He sat but said nothing.
Estelle looked at him for a long moment, waiting for him to speak, but she eventually gave in. "Carl, whatever's bothering you, you need to get it off your chest now. Just in case."
He glared up at her. "Just in case?" he spat. "In case you die?"
"Yes," Estelle confirmed casually.
"Mama!" he scolded. "How can you talk like that?"
"I'm old, Carl. Old people talk about death," she shrugged.
"Mama, how could you not tell me you had surgery? That you had cancer?" he demanded.
"I didn't want you to worry," she said gently.
"You're my mother! I had a right to worry! I had a right to be there with you!"
Estelle grabbed his hand and squeezed. "I would've told you before it got bad," she assured him. "That's why I had Fletcher call you when I fell. I knew it was something serious. I wanted you here with me."
Carl reached up and wiped his tears. "I could've prepared myself for this if I knew what you were fighting. I'm not prepared to… lose you, Mama."
"And I'm not prepared to go. That's why I'm fighting so hard, Carl. I know surgery's dangerous, but I'd rather go doing everything I could to save my life than sit around and wait."
"I love you, Mama," he said softly, finally giving in.
"I love you, too. Now give your Mama some sugar before I kick the bucket," she joked, opening her arms for him.
"Mama!" he scolded, leaning happily into her arms.