- Text Size +
Author's Chapter Notes:

 

Nick and Adie receive some devestating news

Nick tucked the last corner of sheet into the crib and then stood back surveyed the room in front of him, a large smile forming across his face. The nursery was finally finished. He picked up the small stuffed pink bear from where it had been resting on the changing table and placed it into the crib, knowing that within a matter a months, he would be placing Molly in there. It still amazed him that she was growing inside of Adie, and growing she definitely was because in the three weeks that he had been separated from Adie after she had returned from the tour, she had ballooned.

He picked up the last few tools that were scattered around the room as he thought about the remarkable change she had seemed to make overnight. It was as if something inside of her had snapped, something had made her realise that she needed to fight for what she wanted in life, that in order to be happy she had to stick out the tough times. Nick knew how badly she had wanted to run that night in the restaurant, he could see it in her eyes but he had been so proud of her when she had refused to back down and as soon as one fan had said something positive to her, she became more confident in herself. She sat out the front and watched the show with Leigh numerous times throughout the part of the tour she had been on, and she even sat in view at one of the sound checks. It was inevitable that people were still going to write or verbalise negative things about her and it wasn’t as if the comments still didn’t get to her, but she wasn’t running and that was the main thing.

He had to admit that he had been a little hesitant to let her leave after her “vacation” was up, and he had tried to convince her to stay longer on more then one occasion but she had relented. She had confronted him about his reasoning for wanting her to stay not buying that he was just going to miss her and eventually he had admitted that if she was with him at least he knew she would be there when he got back because she would be right beside him. Nick knew she had bitten her tongue to stop it blowing into a full scale row but she had asked him, after all that had happened over the previous few weeks, why he would think she would up and leave again. She promised him that she would be there on his return but he knew that there was no way he would believe her until he saw her with his own eyes. The three weeks that had crawled by slowly without her only increasing his doubt in her promise.

The first leg of the North American tour had ended three days previously and the whole flight home Nick had felt sick to his stomach. She had offered to pick him up from the airport when his ten thirty flight was due to land but he had refused, telling her that after a nightshift he didn’t want her driving all that way. He had been on tender hooks the whole drive back, his heart rate increasing when he didn’t see her car parked in the driveway of the house. He had quickly paid the cab fare and barged into the house, hoping that she would be there to greet him but he found the lounge, kitchen and dining room empty. He had raced up the stairs and checked the bedroom, hoping that she had gone to bed to take a nap after what was sure to have been a busy night, but he found all three rooms with beds in empty. He checked the nursery, the office and the bathrooms but he still could not find her and it was only when he realised he had been in the house for a full ten minutes with no sign of Layla that he knew where she was.

Three Days Previously

Nick could hear the scratching from the French doors as he made his way into the kitchen and wondered how he had missed the sound of Layla whining before. He opened the door to her excited barks and lavished her with attention before he stood again and made his way out in the warm sunshine.

He hadn’t even walked five steps when he spotted her, he smiled at the sight before him. Adie was laid in one of the sun lounges on the decking that led out to the vast greenery of the back yard, having not heard his calls of her name because she was fast asleep. She lay stretched out her sunglasses covering her closed eyes, one hand resting on her large bump whilst the other rested above her head. It had only been two weeks since Nick had seen her last but petite bump she had been carrying around seemed to have grown considerably, the waist line of the scrubs she was wearing fitting only underneath the taught skin of her stomach. He made his way over to her, kneeling down and resting his hands in the arm of the chair for balance he softly called her name. She didn’t even stir.

It took another three attempts with him having to rub her arm before she sighed and started to wake.

“Hey,” she croaked when she finally awoke.

“Hi sugar puff, what are you doing out here?” He asked.

“I was going to eat my breakfast out here and then do some laundry but I guess I fell asleep,” she said as she moved in the chair, leaning in so she could kiss him. He pulled back from the kiss a few moments later, knocking over the glass of juice that had been by his foot when he stood up.

“Shit,” he mumbled as he bent down to retrieve the cup.

“Oh I’m in for it now,” Adie said making Nick turn his head to her in confusion, a smile crossing his face when he realised what she meant. “Molly knows your home.”

He bent down again, his hands cupping her bump as he placed a soft kiss to it. “Hey baby girl. She’s growing in there huh?” He commented, a large smile crossing his face when he looked up to her.

“Yep, the rate she’s going I’m going to need a crane to help me up, and a spinal transplant after she’s born,” she grimaced as she moved to get up from the chair.

“Well I have the perfect cure for you…”

***

She walked into the warm house and felt more relaxed then she had for the past six months. The two day break that Nick had arranged at the spa had been wonderful, a treat she hadn’t been expecting, but one she had gladly and eagerly accepted. At first she thought that he would be going with her, after all it had been two weeks for which they had been apart, and quality time with just the two of them was quickly coming to an end. She knew that in just over eight weeks time they would both be having to content with mid night wake up calls, dirty diapers, and pacifying a newborn, that was why she had been so surprised when he had told her that he was not going to be joining her, instead she would be going with her Mother and her Sister.

The two day break had been a nice opportunity to catch up with her Mom and Rachel, the three of them had spent most of the time giggling, reminiscing and preparing Adie for the apparent “horrors” that child birth had to offer. Adie had expressed that she was hoping for a quick labour like Rachel had been lucky enough to have with Max, but her Mom had soon reminded her that she herself had taken almost twenty six hours to make her entrance into the world. That thought had been looming with her ever since.

Up until that point she hadn’t really been thinking about the birth, her head had been mainly focused on how she and Nick could make their relationship better, and about how she had to ignore the negative comments that were still being posted about her. Was it naive to think that the birth would go off without a hitch? How would she cope if something was wrong with Molly after she was born? After all she herself had worked in paediatric intensive care, she had seen the many problems children could have that weren’t diagnosed pre birth. Then again so far all of her scans had been normal, Molly was growing at the correct rate she should be, she was moving around, there was no reason to believe that she wouldn’t be a normal healthy baby. She was only panicking because she was getting closer and closer to her due date, it was perfectly natural to have thoughts like that but she knew it was something she needed to share with Nick, if she could find him anyway.

He obviously hadn’t heard the door close, and when she investigated further she found that he wasn’t on the ground floor of the house. Adie made her way over to the stairs and listened for any movement and sure enough the soft strains of a radio could be heard.

“Babes? I’m home” she shouted as she leant against the banister of the stairs.

 “Up here,” came the reply, a hint that he wanted her to meet him.

“I swear your Daddy forgets that I have to lug you around with me,” She grumbled as, she climbed the stairs to where Nick was. She saw him waiting for her at the other end of the hallway.

“You have fun?” He asked, leaning down to place a small peck to her lips.

“Yeah, it was great, my back is actually not hurting for once,” she laughed.

“Good, I have another surprise for you,” he grinned.

“Oh really?” She asked raising her eyebrow to him.

“Yep but first you have to close your eyes,” He told her.

“Really?” She asked, scrunching her nose up slightly.

“Yes,” he insisted, holding out his hand to her and reluctantly she took hold of it as she closed her eyes.

“Are they closed?” he asked.

“Yep,” She replied.

“You sure?”

“Yes I’m sure but hurry because your daughter seems to think my bladder is a squeeze toy.”

“Oh so when she’s being bad she’s my daughter?” He asked as he led her further down the hallway.

“Yep when she wakes at three am for a feed she will definitely just be your daughter,” she told him, “Can I open them yet?”

“Just a second,” he told her as they came to a stop and she heard the creak of a door being opened, “Okay, now,” he told her.

She opened her eyes and took in the first glimpse of Molly’s completed nursery. When she had left it had just been a bare room with lilac walls, but now it was complete, the only thing lacking being Molly herself. She looked around the room, the white cot softened by a bumper covered in pink and purple flowers and butterflies, those characters mimicked across spaces on the wall, hand painted by whom she could only assume as Nick. The theme continued throughout the room, down the curtains the framed the window, even the butterfly rug that lay on the floor, a small play gym ready for her amusement when she would be old enough resting on top of it. Adie moved her head slowly around the room, a huge smile spreading across her face when the rocking chair to the side of the window came into her eye line, the pink and lilac theme dressing the soft cushions of that too. She had visions of sitting in it rocking slowly back and forth trying to get her daughter off to sleep as she watched the sun set, of watching Nick rock her back to sleep whilst softly singing to her in the early hours of the morning. It was perfect, completely perfect, he hadn’t missed anything, the sweet dreams plaque above the crib and her name on the door finishing off the room beautifully.

She stood beside him when he entered the room behind her and she wrapped her arm around his waist as she fought back the tears welling in her eyes. He looked down and obviously noticed the emotion flooding through her body as he too wrapped his own arm around her shoulders giving her a slight squeeze.

“Why are you crying?” He chuckled.

“Because I love it, it’s perfect, I really love it,” she laughed as she wiped her eyes.

 “You do?” He asked.

“Yeah,” she nodded. “How did you have time to do all this? I mean I thought the furniture wasn’t coming until today?”

“You have your Dad to thank for that, the furniture actually turned up about three hours ago. The delivery guys were probably going crazy with the amount of phone calls they were getting from me today,” he chuckled. “So I had to call in back up and get him over here to help me when it finally did turn up.”

“You have one great Daddy Molly,” she said as she rubbed her bump. “He’s a bit sly, but he’s great.”

“Sly?” He asked.

“Getting me out of the house under false pretences, telling me that I needed to relax, when it was all some ploy to not have me around so you could finish, that’s quite sly,” she smiled as she turned so she was stood in front of him, her other arm wrapping around his middle.

“It worked didn’t it?” He asked with a devilish smile, pulling her in closer.

“You do realise by squeezing me you have just pushed Molly further into my bladder and now I really have to go pee.”

“Go,” he said letting his arms drop from her shoulders as he rolled his eyes.

***

Nick walked into the main entrance of the ER and cringed out how busy it was for a week day, he could spot about two seats spare in the over crowded warm waiting room. That only meant one thing, Adie was going to be cranky as hell. She hadn’t slept well the night before, getting up at least three times to pee and once to take some gaviscon for heart burn, so when the alarm clock had gone off at six am she had been ready to explode. She had made so much noise that morning, slamming doors, traipsing loudly around the room, muttering loudly to herself, that he had almost reminded her that he actually didn’t have to be up that early. He had thought better of it eventually, knowing that she would only yell at him and then would probably ring him every thirty minutes once she got to work just to prove a point.

He shook his head at himself remembering a time when she had actually done that before. She had been on a week of nights and he had made the colossal mistake of going into her at two pm as she slept, he had woken her asking if she wanted a coffee, she had politely told him to fuck off and not to bother her again until it was at least five thirty. Again he had made the mistake of waking her at five pm instead of waiting the further half an hour, after all what was thirty minutes? Turned out that thirty minutes made all the difference in how she could function on a night shift, thirty minutes was the difference between nice Adie and cranky Adie with only one thing on her mind, revenge! She had telephoned him at two am, the only words muttered were “payback is a bitch!” She had then made sure the phone rang as near to every hour before dawn as she could. Needless to say it was the last time Nick had ever woken her again.

He smiled at Chelle as she buzzed him through the security doors but as he looked around the triage and curtain area of the ER he could not spot Adie.

“She’s just finishing up with a patient, you can wait here if you want,” Chelle offered pointing to the seat next to her.

“Thanks, how are you? I’ve not seen you in a while,” Nick asked as he sat in the computer chair.

“Good thanks, and you?” She asked as she carried on filling out some paperwork.

 “Yeah good,” He smiled when he spotted Adie walking towards him.

“Hey my bestest buddy,” Adie smiled as she reached the pair, her hands lightly squeezing Chelle’s shoulder.

“What do you want?” Chelle asked with a roll of her eyes.

“Can you keep an eye on my patients while I go upstairs?” She asked.

“How long are you going to be?” Chelle asked.

“Thirty minutes tops, it’s just a check up.”

“Tell me about them then.”

“Jordan Hayes twelve year old, complaining of abdo pain, tender in mid right quadrant, possible appendicitis waiting on surgical review. Has pain meds on board, slight fever, his mom is with him. Isabelle Barton three year old with lac to left cheek from falling against the side of a coffee table, do not let anyone from max fax near her until I get back,” She said.

“Why?” Chelle asked.

“Completely traumatised a kid last week by trying to numb the area without explaining. Long story just don’t let them near her till I get back. Then there is Lucy Franks she’s seven with possible UTI we’re just waiting on the labs. And obviously any other peads case that comes in is yours,” She smiled.

“Even though I’m not paeds trained?” Chelle smiled back.

“Hey I’m not adult trained and yet I still have to wipe their asses when you guys are short. Come one baby, get out me out of this hell hole for half an hour,” she said as she grabbed Nick’s hand.

He smiled at Chelle as he waved goodbye and followed her to the bank of elevators towards the left of the ER, letting her take the small file that contained all of the information about her pregnancy from his hands.

“Busy day?” he asked as they stepped on to the elevator when it arrived.

“Yep, it’s summer time which means kids are breaking limbs left right and centre by falling from trees and bikes and FYI we are never getting her a trampoline,” she told him as he pressed the button for the fifth floor.

“Why?” he laughed.

“Seven cases of broken bones in twenty minutes is why. I swear to god I have never seen that many broken bones in such a small amount of time from doing one thing. You know what she’s never going to be allowed to go outside period.”

 “That’s a bit mean don’t you think?” Nick chuckled.

“No. You know what if she’s as quiet as she’s been today she can just stay in there forever, at least then I don’t have to worry about broken limbs,” she smiled, placing her hand on top of his when she felt it press into her abdomen.

“Well lets just see if we can wake her up and remind you how much fun it is to have her resting under your ribs, or practising her kick boxing on you bladder,” he said as he pressed his hand in a bit further. He waited for the strong kick that usually followed a small frown crossing his face when he felt nothing. “Do you think she’s okay?” He asked his brow furrowing in concern.

“She’s just sleeping, you feel less movement towards the end of the pregnancy because there is less room for her to move around,” Adie told him taking his hand of her belly and interlacing their fingers as they walked off the elevator towards the OBGYN’s office.

She signed in at the reception desk and was told to go straight on in as Doctor McManus was waiting for them. They quickly made themselves comfortable in the large airy office, offering their hello’s to the middle aged doctor who smiled warmly at the couple.

“So Adie, how’ve you been feeling?” She asked as she placed the blood pressure cuff around Adie’s arm and let it automatically inflate.

“Tired,” she laughed, “And hot.”

“Well that’s to be expected,” she smiled back. “But you’ve been resting? Keeping your feet up as much as possible?” She asked.

“Yeah,” she nodded.

“Blood pressure looks good, your pulse rate is fine,” The doctor informed when the machine beeped with the readings.

“Any concerns?”

“No,” Adie replied as Nick also said something.

“She’s not been moving as much,” he said.

Adie rolled her eyes before saying, “I just told you. It’s because she’s getting bigger and there is not enough room. It happens at this stage of the pregnancy right?” She asked Dr McManus.

“It can start to yes. When was the last time you felt any movement from her?” She asked.

“Erm,” Adie thought back, “It was erm…when I got into work this morning, she turned, made me feel sick to my stomach.”

“What time do you start work?” Dr McManus asked.

“Seven thirty.”

“Five hours ago?” The Dr asked, not hiding the concern etched in her voice.

“I guess so,” Adie answered unsurely, “You know what it’s been so busy down stairs I haven’t to think let alone remember if she’s moved, I’m sure she has,” She said.

“Well why don’t we do a sonogram?”

“Really?” Adie asked, “I need to get back to work,” she said looking at the clock.

 “They can live without you for another ten minutes Adie,” Nick told her sternly.

“I’d just like to check everything is okay, put Nick’s mind at ease,” Dr McManus offered as she stood up and with a sigh Adie followed suit and headed over towards the table set up on the opposite side of the office.

Nick followed after her and sat down in the chair situated at the side of the bed, slipping his hands into hers after she had made herself comfortable. He laughed when flinched from the cold gel being squirted on her bare abdomen, but it was a smile that soon faded when the room remained eerily quiet. He had expected the strong whooshing of Molly’s tiny heart beating to greet his ears like it had almost immediately after the Dr placed the doppler to Adie’s stomach every other time. He watched as Dr Mcmanus frowned as she continued to move it around on Adie’s stomach.

“Sometimes they don’t pick up straight away, if you haven’t put enough jelly on it can sound really faint,” Adie told Nick as her grip on his hand tightened and it was then he knew that she wasn’t saying it to reassure only him, she was also saying to to try and reassure herself that everything was okay.

His heartbeat increased and he wasn’t sure whether it was his hands that were getting clammy or Adie’s but when he looked at the sad eyes of the doctor he knew. He knew even before she pulled the doppler away from Adie’s stomach, he knew before she even gripped Adie’s spare hand in her own, he knew before she even begun to utter any words and even though he knew what was coming, the words still cut threw him like a knife.

“Adie, Nick I’m so sorry but I can’t detect any evidence of a heart beat.”

Chapter End Notes:
I am ready for the hate mail! Bring it on! LOL!