The Nanny

Chapter 19

Veronica groans as she turns from her back onto her side. She rubs her now very viable five months pregnant belly.

"What's wrong" Archie chuckles as he turns to face her. He kisses her forehead and places his hand on her stomach.

"My back hurts"

"I'm sorry honey" he smiles. "But can you be mad at a tiny baby?"

"Technically you're responsible for his" she giggles.

"Well can you be mad at me?" he asks. He batts his eyelashes and pushes his bottom lip forward.

"No" she smirks "I cannot. You're way too cute"

"Are you nervous?" he asks as he brushes a strand of her raven hair out of her face and then begins to run his fingers through it.

"Mhm" she nods "what if it's something big. What if our baby can never live a normal life? I'm scared"

"You don't need to be. I'm here. We will make it work, together. I promise you"

"Okay" she mumbles. Archie moves his hand from her hair to her stomach and then to her back so he can pull her closer. His fingers run up and down her spine. It relaxes her and eases the pain a little.

"We will find the best doctors"

"But those are expensive"

"Honey you really don't need to worry about money. I earn enough. This is my child and I will do anything to help it and if I have to spend thousands of dollars on doctor appointments then that's what I will do"

"I'm so glad I have you" she sighs.

"I will always take care of you and the kids"

•••

Like every month Veronica lies on the examination bed with Archie close to her. He holds her hand while both of them stare at the monitor. Every time they hope they get news, good news but they never get an answer to the only question on their minds. 'What's wrong with their baby'
Veronica's heart beats fast, almost as fast as her child's. The sound of its heartbeat echos through the quiet room. Archie runs his thumbs over her knuckles to make her feel better. He loves seeing his baby on the screen but it drives him crazy that there's nothing he can do to help it or Veronica.

Finally the silence is interrupted by the doctor taking a deep breath.
"So I found out what's wrong with your baby and it's nothing to worry about yet—"

"What do you mean yet?" Veronica asks.

The doctor smiles "well from what I can see, your child has something called ventricular septal defect. It basically just means that there is a hole in the wall dividing the left and right ventricles of the heart. The hole is not very big and there is a chance that it closes itself before birth or in the first few years of the child's life. Worst case, it needs surgery. Heart surgery is always risky but this kind of surgery is not really complicated and it's quick. But we don't need to think about all of that. When the child's here we will check if the hole closed and if not you will have to come twice a year so we can just make sure your child is alright. By the time it's 5 or 6 though it should be closed (a/n once again I'm not a doctor)