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Part 18 - Teneramente
Margaret opened the door to allow Jarod, Sydney and Angelo into the house. Her son glanced at her but before he could speak, she nodded towards the closed door of Ethan's room.
"She's in there, Jarod. We'll be serving dinner in half an hour. Don't be late, either of you."
Jarod exchanged amused glances with Sydney. "We won't, Mom. I promise."
He tapped gently on the door and opened it to find his wife lying on their brother's bed. Softly he walked over the carpet and stood looking down at her. Hesitantly he stretched out one hand and placed in on hers. After a moment, she raised her eyes and looked at him.
"Hi."
He sat on the bed next to her and she sat up, allowing herself to be pulled into his arms. He rocked her gently for several moments, comforting himself as much as her. Although he had been denying it to himself, he had worried about her all afternoon.
"Are you okay?"
She nodded slowly. "It's so...powerful."
"And it's tiring, too, I think."
"How did you know?" Her eyes were wide. He laughed softly and brushed the skin under her eyes with a gentle finger.
"Wild guess." He smiled. "Or maybe I have my own inner sense." He lowered his lips to her ear. "Just about you." He softly kissed her cheek and then placed one hand on hers. "Are you going to get up or do you want to stay here?"
"As long as I don't have to provide scintillating after-dinner conversation..."
He helped her stand. "I'll see what I can do to compensate for your deficiencies."
"And what will the treatment achieve?"
Margaret looked across at her son from her seat in the living room. As he stirred his coffee, Jarod shot a glance over to where Angelo was sitting with baby Lucas in his lap.
"I'm not sure. I don't want to guarantee anything, in case it doesn't work."
"Do you have any reason for thinking that it won't?"
"Just one." Jarod turned to his father. "We made an attempt at treatment a few years ago but it was never finished and the damage that it caused could now block our current therapy."
"But, if it does work..."
"...Angelo will at least regain the ability to be more independent. He may also be able to better communicate. That was certainly what happened last time."
"And when are you going to do it?"
"I want to start preparing it tomorrow morning. I have one test to run in the morning," he shot a meaningful glace at Sydney, "but then I'll start."
"What was that for?" the psychiatrist asked, puzzled, and Jarod laughed.
"It occurred to me that I haven't checked your shoulder since we got access to all of the wonderful equipment that the Centre has provided us with. I want to make sure that everything's okay with that arm."
"Jarod, I..."
"Sydney, you admitted yourself that I'm more stubborn and, in this circumstance, I have every intention of being so, I can assure you." He grinned. "I'll see you in the infirmary at eight."
The psychiatrist sighed and threw up his hands in a gesture of defeat. "Where on earth did I go wrong?" He caught Jarod's father’s eye and grinned. "All right, fine. I'll be there at eight."
Jarod nudged his wife under cover of an argument that was occurring between Steven and his father about school.
"Are you ready to go home?" The eyes she turned on him were dreamy and only half-open, and he grinned. "I'll take that as a yes."
He took advantage of a pause in the dispute to stand up. "I think it's high time we were off. School or no school, going to bed late isn't good for a growing boy." He fended off the mock-punch that Steven threw in his direction with ease and turned to his parents.
"Thanks for a very lovely evening. We should do this more often."
"The meal, you mean?" Major Charles grinned at his son. "Or the argument?"
"Oh, my mistake," Jarod laughed, steering his wife towards the door. "I hadn't realized they could be mutually exclusive!"
He glanced down at her as they approached the house. "Are you awake?"
"What are you going to do if I say no?"
"Then I suppose I'll have to carry you into the house."
A small smile appeared on his wife's face. "No."
She turned slightly and relaxed into the seat with a sigh, her eyes closed. He grinned as he pulled the car into the driveway and turned off the engine. She still hadn't moved by the time he got out of the car and he came around to her door. Gently he slid one hand under her legs and the other around behind her neck. She slowly lifted her arms and linked them behind his head, a sigh the only other sign that she knew what he had done. With a push from his foot, the car door shut and he remotely locked the vehicle before entering the house.
In the bedroom, he gently put her down on the mattress and slipped the shoes off her feet, undoing the buttons of her shirt and gently easing her arms out of it. It was the work of only a few moments for her to be clothed in the silk nightgown that had been underneath her pillow. After loosening her hair, Jarod pulled up the blanket so that it covered her warmly and then stood and watched her sleep.
Suddenly, with no prior warning, the image of her as she had been when he had seen her in the Californian house, sitting on the floor opposite him, came into his mind and he tried to compare that woman with the one who lay in front of him. He shook his head at the changes that had occurred in the space of only a little more than two months. Gingerly he reached out and, with the tip of one finger, he touched her as gently as he had when, wet and cold, she had pulled away from him. Now she was warm and her skin, beginning to respond to the increase of hormones caused by her pregnancy, glowed pink and smooth. A smile curled his lips as he bent down and brushed her cheek with his lips before turning and leaving the room.
"Did you sleep at all last night?"
Jarod looked up from the computer on which he was working and placed one hand on his chin, eyeing the ceiling thoughtfully. "Sleep… Remind me what that is again."
She came over and stood behind him, her chin resting on his head and her arms hanging down around his neck. "How on earth you'll get anything done today..."
"Well," he glanced at his watch. "It is only five thirty. I could come back to bed now and…" He grinned. "But I probably wouldn't get the chance to sleep much."
"Hmm," it was now her turn to look thoughtful. "I suppose that could be possible."
Loosening her arms from his neck, he spun his chair around so that he was facing her. "How did you sleep?"
"Jarod, I'm fine."
He looked up at her, noting that the discoloration under her eyes had faded and that there was a light in her eyes that he only saw when she was at her fittest.
"I'm glad to hear it." He caught the hand with which she was about to turn off his computer and held it tightly. "And what was that for?"
"I want you," she smiled, "all to myself, with no distractions."
"Well, according to my calculations, there's still two hours before I have to leave for work, so I suppose you can have me."
"Good."
"But not all to yourself."
She raised an eyebrow at him as he wrapped his arms around her, holding her close. "I have to share? With whom?"
Jarod placed a loving hand on her stomach and smiled up at his wife. "Her."
She rolled over cautiously and looked up into his sleeping face. After an hour, he had finally dropped off and, being aware that he retained his old habit of only sleeping lightly, she had been trying to be quiet and still so that he could get the rest he needed. The last few nights, particularly, had been trying for them both but she knew that, while she had manage to get a few hours of sleep every night, he had been lying awake and worrying about her. She ran one hand over her stomach and tried to find a comfortable position to lie. A muscle in her back cramped as she lay on her side and, with a soft gasp, she moved to ease it. The sound, however, had been enough and his eyes flew open.
"Where does it hurt?"
She groaned. "My back." He put out one hand and put sufficient pressure on the spot that the pain dissolved almost immediately. "I'm sorry."
"Why, Maleah?" A look of concern crossed his face. "What are you sorry for?"
"I didn't want to wake you." Tears, easy when she was so tired and sore, came into her eyes.
"Sweetheart, I don't mind. I can sleep some other time." He gently wrapped an arm around her and let her lie against his shoulder, the position where she was most comfortable. She gasped as another wave of pain came over her and he sat up immediately. "That wasn't a cramp, was it?"
With difficulty, she shook her head. "They started a while ago."
He placed one hand gently on her forehead and bent down to kiss her. "I'm going to run you a warm bath. That will help until it's time to go."
She nodded and he left the room at once.
He checked through the last few things in the suitcase and clicked the locks shut, placing it at the head of the stairs. It was with a warm smile that he glanced into the bathroom. The water had eased some of the pain and, with a better idea than she had of what she was going to have to go through, he was pleased to see that she could relax a little. To nobody's surprise, she had refused to go to pre-natal classes, insisting that what she didn't know for herself, Jarod could tell her. The last scans had shown that the baby was in the breach position and so badly placed that every breath her mother took caused the small head to rub against her ribs. In trying to avoid that, the muscles in her back would often cramp up. It had been going on for several weeks now and they had both been waiting for the due date with some impatience.
"How is it?"
"Better - " she broke off with a groan as a new contraction began and he came over and supported her until it was over.
"Better, huh?" The dimples in his cheeks showed faintly and she would have glared at him, had she not seen the look of concern in his eyes.
"How long?"
He brushed the wet hair away from her face. "There's still a while to go. This baby is stubborn, just like her mother. She'll come when she's ready."
"Are you going… to call Dad?"
"Only when we get to the hospital. There's no point just yet. This could go on for hours."
"No it couldn't." She gasped. "I'll be dead by then."
"Mom told me that your mother was in labor for eleven hours with you. And that's short for a first pregnancy."
His wife rolled her eyes and gritted her teeth as the next wave came.
"No, Maleah." He picked up a clean washcloth, wet it and slipped it in between her lips. "If you do that, you might damage your mouth."
It was almost two a.m. when he finally drove her up to the doorway of the Centre and to the waiting trolley.
"Infirmary."
As they hurried down the dark and empty hallways, the nurse glanced at him. "Mr Ballinger, are you...?"
"No." Jarod spoke firmly. "I'm the husband, not the doctor this time." He allowed his wife to tighten her grasp on two of his fingers as they entered the elevator and, as the doors opened several moments later, he looked up into the face of the man he had called in as his wife's doctor.
"Well, this is a fine time to be calling a poor, innocent person out of bed."
"Very funny." Mrs Ballinger glared at him and muttered the words between her teeth as her trolley was rolled into the delivery room.
"Sweetheart, I'm going to go and call your father." He released his hand from her grasp and kissed her gently. "I'll be back before Louise gets here, I promise."
She nodded and then allowed one of the nurses to slip the heartbeat monitor around her stomach as he stepped back and left the room.
"Mph?"
"Sydney? Are you awake?"
"Jarod? Jarod, it's two a.m. What on earth are you calling me now for?"
"It's not my fault. Blame your granddaughter."
There was a moment's silence on the other end of the line and Jarod had a hard time not laughing.
"You mean...?"
"She's not here yet, but she's on the way. If you want, I can send Sam over to drive you here."
Jarod exchanged an amused look with the man who stood in the corner of the room. The sweeper returned the expression with a warm smile of his own.
"No, no. It's fine. I'll be there soon." Jarod heard the dial tone in his ear and shared a moment of quiet amusement with the sweeper before activating the phone again and calling his parents.
The nurse came over and tied the mask around the mouth and nose of the tall man who stood in the corner.
"How's she doing?"
"We're nearly ready, Mr Ballinger. You can go in and we'll be there in a few moments to deliver this baby."
Jarod nodded and followed the nurse in through the door. At the first sight of him, his wife giggled.
"You look funny."
"And you're as high as a kite." He grinned behind the mask as he sat down on the stool beside her. "I thought this was going to be a natural birth."
"The doctor felt that Mrs Ballinger was having excessive pain," the nurse told him quietly, "and thought that that would be the best way of relieving it."
Jarod nodded his thanks and, a look of concern on his face, turned back to his wife. Despite the drug, he could still see that the effect that the pain was having on her. He reached down and brushed the beads of sweat away from her forehead. "Soon," he promised softly. "Very soon. It'll all be over very soon."
She grabbed his hand as the next contractions began and, as she did so, the doors opened and the doctor entered the room.
Jarod looked down at the small infant he held in his arms, unable to truly believe that it was his own. With the tip of one finger, he touched the round, pink cheek and the soft hair. The eyes, large and blue like her mothers, now lay closed in infant slumber and a tuft of hair, dark like his, stuck out from under the blanket in which she was wrapped.
"Hello, Louise." His voice was soft and tender and his eyes glistened with happy tears. "I'm your Daddy."
"Mr Ballinger?"
Jarod looked up to see the doctor standing next to him and he held out the arm that wasn't holding his daughter. "Thank you very much, Dr Donaldson."
"My pleasure." The doctor looked down into the sleeping face of the baby. "You have a beautiful and healthy baby girl. I wish all of the babies I delivered were that healthy."
"I'm delighted to hear it."
The doctor looked around. "We'll have your wife settled into her room in about twenty minutes. If you would like to go and show off your daughter, I can send a nurse to get you when she's ready."
The proud father smiled and left the room, the baby held carefully in his arms.
Having left her daughter in the safety of her grandparents' care and being allowed to see his wife, Jarod let himself quietly into her room and turned to see her watching him.
"How is she?"
He came over and sat beside her on the bed. "She's perfect, just like you."
Her giggle told him that the drug she had been given for the pain had not had a chance to completely wear off but he could see in her eyes that its secondary effect of sedation, combined with the exhaustion caused by the labor, was beginning to take effect. He leaned forward and brushed her forehead with his lips and she slipped her hand into his.
"Stay with me."
Nodding, he slipped off the bed and sat on the chair beside it, his fingers still entwined with hers. Picking up her bag with his free hand, he extracted a book out of it and began softly to read it aloud. Within a few short moments, however, he saw that her eyes were closed and, closing the book and replacing it in the bag, he placed his head down on the bed beside her hand and rapidly followed his wife into dreamland.
Jarod opened the door of the room that he, Broots and Steven had spent the last three days busily decorating as the nursery and allowed his wife in to see it.
"It…" She turned with a smile and faced the three people who had done the work. "It's absolutely beautiful."
"Just like you." Jarod came over and put his arms around her. "And our baby."
He heard the gagging noises that his clone was making and, with a deep growl, laughingly chased the boy out of the room.
Mrs Ballinger walked over and took the baby from the man who still stood in the doorway. "Thank you, Broots."
"My pleasure." He grinned. "Our pleasure. We had a lot of fun."
"I bet." She smiled. "I don't know how the three of you got any work done."
"Well, it wasn't easy, but we managed."
Maleah Ballinger walked over and placed the sleeping baby into the cot that was waiting for her, turning back to find only her husband standing in the doorway. He walked over and slipped his arms around her waist, holding her closely as they looked down at their child. She turned her face up to his and he kissed it gently.
"Timmy asked me yesterday if I was happy."
"And what did you tell him?"
"I didn't have to tell him anything." Jarod smiled. "Even without being able to empath my feelings, he only had to look at the expression on my face."
"Ben Miller came to visit me yesterday. He said that, once he read about the birth in the paper, he had to come."
"Did he tell you anything?"
Jarod's wife shook her head. "He gave me something instead."
"Letters from your mother."
She twisted in his arms and stared up at him in amazement. "How did you know?"
"Either," he responded, laughing, "I saw them in your room, or that was my inner sense working again."
