Normal

My Little Girl

Jessica began to stir; she tried to open her eyes but her eyelids seemed so heavy. She gave up and kept her eyes closed but she began to take in her surroundings.

She felt herself laying on a bed. She felt someone holding her both of her hands. She assumed there was a person on each side of her holding on. But she didn't know who the two people that were holding her hands.

Somewhere nearby she could her the wonderful sound of her baby's heartbeat. It sounded so strong but she would need her doctor to reassure her that everything was truly okay.

Jessica managed to fall back asleep for another hour. In total, she was sleep for five hours.

She managed to wake up this time around and found her mother and Ruth sitting on each side of the bed, still holding her hands. Then she saw her father sitting on the tiny sofa that was in the hospital room. Albert had his head down with his elbows on his knees and head in his hands.

"Is the baby okay?" Jessica managed to ask groggily as she looked at her mother.
"The baby is just fine baby girl." Dorothy said softly. "You're okay too. Dr. Rice said you fainted due to stress. He said you will need to take it easy for the rest of your pregnancy."
"You don't have to be on bed rest." Ruth said as she knew that was where Jessica's mind was. "He said you could still live your life normally, just to take things easy and no stress."

"That's right. No stress." Dr. Rice said as he walked into the room. "I know that's easier said than done but, try to remove as much stress as you can. Now, we already went over the risks of your pregnancy and if you do stress, your blood pressure will be high which was the case today. So, you would be at risk for preeclampsia. We definitely do not want that."
Jessica just nodded and closed her eyes. "Okay. Thank you Dr. Rice." She said softly.
"I'm going to leave you here for a few more hours as a precaution but, after that I'll release you to rest at home." Dr. Rice said.
"Sounds good." Jessica said as she opened her eyes to look at Dr. Rice. She put her hand on her small bump, careful not to disturb the fetal monitor around her belly. "Thanks again."
"Of course." Dr. Rice replied.

As soon as Dr. Rice left the room, Jessica looked towards her father who was now staring at her with tears in his eyes.

"Daddy?" Jessica said worriedly.
Dorothy looked at her daughter and husband then looked at Ruth and said. "Uh, Roy...I mean, Ruth. Why don't we leave these two to talk? We can get something from the cafeteria."

Ruth nodded then stood up and kissed Jessica before following Dorothy out of the room.

When the door closed, Albert stood up then walked over to Jessica's side. He sat down on the seat that Dorothy was sitting on and held Jessica's free hand that wasn't attached to her belly.

"Sweet pea...I'm so sorry for saying that I wasn't happy about the baby." Albert said as he looked into his daughter's eyes. "I am happy to be having a new grand baby. I'm so excited to spoil this little one. I was just...I just don't understand how Roy could do this to your family. I don't understand that after all that's happened, you still are with him." Albert sighed then continued. "But...I want to learn. It'll be hard because you know how stubborn I am and set in my ways." Albert had tears rolling down his cheeks. "I was remembering when you were little and how much you loved playing outside in the field behind our house. I remember, your sweet smile. You would say, "Come play with me daddy!" Oh Jessica, seeing you faint scared me half to death. You're my little girl, and I wouldn't have forgiven myself if something were to have happened to you or this baby. I would be lost if I lost you. I don't want to have that feeling ever again." Albert paused for a moment, then went on. "I do want to understand why Roy decided to go through this change and I want to understand your reasonings for staying. I see you and Roy and I see that you're happy. That's all I want but...I just can't wrap my mind around the fact that...that Roy is a woman now." Albert sighed. "My sweet baby girl, my Jessie...will you please forgive me for all I said and will you help me understand?"

Jessica was crying as she listened to her father speak. She saw the sincerity in her father's eyes and the love of a father for his daughter.

Jessica squeezed her father's hand and smiled through her tears. "Oh daddy, of course I forgive you, and yes, I will help you understand why I chose to stay with...with Ruth." She said.
Albert smiled and said. "Thank you. I love you sweet pea."
"I love you too daddy." Jessica said.

After their moment, Albert hugged Jessica then he placed his hand on her belly. He smiled and said. "Hi there. I'm your grandpa Al. I can't wait to meet you."

Jessica giggled at her father's excitement. Now that her father cleared the air a bit, Jessica was happy. She was able to relax. She knew that her father was stubborn and it would take a while to make him see that Ruth has always been the same person all these years. It just took so long to finally match what she was feeling inside, on the outside. But with patience, she knew her father would learn to accept Ruth for who she really is.

Sorry for this short chapter and that it wasn't too exciting. But I didn't want to leave you all hanging too long to see if Jessica was okay.

Hope you all enjoyed it.❤️