Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Chapter 23

"Do you think this is has been our last stay at the hospital for at least a year?" Richie asked, then quickly added, "no wait. June, July, August, September, October, November, December, January, February. Do you think this is our last stay at the hospital til February?" He corrected himself.
Sarah chuckled. "Why February?"
"That's nine months from now, I'm planning to get you pregnant again and baby by March or so."
"I didn't know you had a schedule."
"It's not a schedule per se, it's more of a goal." Richie corrected. "A few weeks later would be fine too."
Sarah smiled. "Good to know."

Richie parked at the drugstore a few minutes later and Sarah got out of the car. She'd pick up everything they needed by herself as Richie stayed with Daniel.

He looked back at his son who was staring out of the window, it was hard to read his expression but Daniel seemed alright. Once again he seemed to be getting better and they all hoped it would stay like that this time.

"Daniel?" He asked but had to ask a few more times before he could get Daniel's attention away from the window. "What's so interesting out there?" He asked, not seeing what Daniel was seeing.

Daniel looked away after a minute and Richie focused on the store's door again, waiting for Sarah to come out.

When the door opened the next time and Sarah walked through it, Richie ignited the car engine again and waited for Sarah to get in.

"Got everything?" He asked as his wife sat down in her seat.
"Yeah. Let's go home so Daniel can rest."

Carefully Richie backed out of the parking space and drove home.



At home, Richie got the bag from Sarah so she could take Daniel inside.

Once they were in the kitchen, he looked through what Sarah had gotten. Most of it were meds for Daniel but he didn't quite understand why Sarah had bought half a dozen pregnancy tests.

"What are these for?" He asked, pulling one out of the bag to show Sarah what he was asking about.
"They're to test if I'm pregnant or not."
Richie gave her a look to say he was asking a serious question.
Sarah shrugged. "Lots of women have some bleeding during their pregnancy, I thought if I take a test, we're sure."
He frowned at her explanation. "You can have your period while being pregnant?"
"No, it wouldn't be a period really, but some blood loss is possible and maybe it's just that."
His face cleared up right away. "So you could be pregnant anyway?"
She shrugged again, "That's what I'd like to test."
"Wanna test that now?" Richie asked, he needed to know about this pregnancy as soon as possible.

Was he going to be a father again or did they have to try again? He needed to know. Having found out that it was still possible for Sarah to be pregnant had given him new hope for this pregnancy and he couldn't wait to find out.

"Sure." Sarah picked up a box and passed Daniel over.
Richie took his son and cuddled him close then looked up at Sarah. "Whatever the result is, it's fine. If it's negative we keep trying and if it's positive that's even better."
"So we want it to be positive." Sarah clarified what her husband had said as he contradicted himself.
"Don't we?"
"Of course we do." Sarah agreed with him.
"And if it's negative, we just have to have more sex." Richie suggested a solution.
"You'd love that." Sarah said as she walked out of the room to go to the bathroom. "No pressure." She told herself but feeling the complete opposite.

She wanted it to be positive too, that little bit of doubt had made her get the tests so she could be sure of it instead of wondering. Richie was right, if it was negative, they'd try again but she knew how much they both wanted another child. Rather now than in a few years, age wasn't on their side.

Richie sat with Daniel as he waited. He couldn't help himself but let his mind wander off to the future. Would Daniel have a little sister or a little brother? As a boy he would probably prefer a brother but Sarah wanted her own daughter. Another boy and then a girl? Or a girl and then another boy? Both seemed fine to him.

Caleb was leaving the house soon and in two years both Ava and Noah would follow, leaving them alone with just Daniel and future baby. Their house would be too quiet, it needed more life and joy, more children to keep it a happy place.

He was drawn away from his fantasy as Sarah walked back into the room.

"And?" He asked hopeful as Sarah sat down on the couch next to him.

She shook her head in the same motion as she leaned over to lean on his shoulder.

Carefully he wrapped his arm around Sarah, pulling her closer. "It's okay." He said, trying to believe his own words.

Sarah merely shook her head again as the tears started falling. The last few days she had held on to the hopes of getting a positive result anyway, against all odds.

"It's okay." Richie repeated, stroking Sarah's back, trying to comfort her through the pain.

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