We pulled into Lesli's driveway and I jumped out immediately. I went around the car and got Ellie out of her car seat.
"Let me help you," Morgan said.
"I've been doing it by myself for three years, I don't need your help," I snapped. I grabbed Ellie and started carrying her towards the house with Morgan following me.
"I know you can do it by yourself, but you shouldn't be doing heavy lifting. Jared said-"
"Morgan, I need you to get the fuck off my case right now," I snarled. He sighed. I tried to go up the front porch but missed the first step and fell on my side. Ellie woke up and started crying instantly.
"Fuck," I whispered, feeling a sharp pain in my lower abdomen.
"Baby, are you okay?" Morgan asked, genuinely concerned.
"I'm alright. Can you take Ellie to bed?"
"I'll take her," Leslie said, picking her up softly and carrying her in. I felt tears well up in my eyes and Morgan noticed right away.
"Are you hurt, Aubrey? Don't act tough, tell me if you are it's import-"
"I think my water broke," I breathed, pointing at the wet spot in my jeans.
"Shit," Morgan said. "Can you walk?" He asked, getting me up off the ground. I nodded. "Alright, I'm taking you to the hospital."
He held my thigh throughout the drive while I tried to hide the tears that were running down my face. I was 20 weeks pregnant. Halfway through a full term pregnancy. I knew full well that if I gave birth right now, the chances of my baby surviving would be slim to none.
"I should have let you help me," I cried.
"You never listen to me," Morgan said dryly. "Every time I try to help it fucking backfires. It's like you don't even know me well enough to understand that I always have good intentions when it comes to you."
He was right. I was guarded, and I'd always been guarded by fear of getting hurt, or betrayed. And now, I had put our baby in jeopardy because I was too hard headed to admit I needed help. I wanted to avoid showing weakness so bad that I had gotten my priorities all wrong.
"I'm sorry," I whispered, my voice breaking.
"It was reckless," he stated dryly.
"Morgan, I said I was sorry. I can't go back in time. What do you want me to do?" I cried softly. He didn't answer.
He pulled into the ER's parking lot and came to open the door for me and helped me climb out of his truck. I wiped my tears quickly and he helped me walk to the triage desk. The nurse gave us forms to fill out and said that a doctor would be calling us shortly and that I should let my practitioner know that I'd be getting admitted, so Morgan took it upon himself to call Jared.
"Hey man, sorry, I know it's late, but we're in the hospital," Morgan told Jared. I couldn't hear what he was saying. "Yeah, she fell in the stairs with Ellie in her arms, she says she thinks her water broke," he stated. His face changed all of a sudden. "I know that, Jared. She insisted, wouldn't let me take her-" "No," he continued. "You know how she gets when things don't go her way!" He defended himself. I started at him.
"I'm right here," I said.
"Ms. Aubrey Farrell, room 5," someone called over the intercom.
"We gotta go Jared, they're calling us," he said before hanging up. He helped me up and we walked into the room where the doctor was already waiting for us.
"Hi, Ms. Farrell. I am Dr. Chris Engler. I read on your chart that you have lost some amniotic fluid, would you mind telling me what happened?"
"She fell down the stairs with a three year old in her arms, that I should've been carrying but-"
"I fell," I mumbled, cutting him off.
"Okay, I see you haven't had the anatomy scan, you were scheduled to have it tomorrow, so we will do a quick ultrasound and we'll do that as well while we're here," he smiled.
"Okay," I mumbled nervously. Dr. Engler gave me a little nod and walked out the room to go get the ultrasound machine.
"I'm nervous," I confessed, laying down on the bed. Morgan took my hand and kissed it gently.
"I'm nervous too. I'm sorry for snapping at you earlier, I know you didn't do it on purpose. I just feel like you don't really want me around sometimes," he admitted.
"Morgan, what?" I asked, shocked by his comment. I looked into his eyes. "You're the only person I've ever wanted around Ellie-"
"Yeah, I know you want me around Ellie, but sometimes I feel like you don't want me around you. Like, you keep me around just 'cause I'm good for Ellie and the baby."
"Do you really feel that way?" I asked, feeling deeply saddened by what he had just shared with me.
"Listen, I know we haven't had the most conventional beginning, and I know I've hurt you, along with a lot of people in your life, and that you have a hard time letting go of things sometimes. But, you don't ever hold my hand, or kiss me, or show in any damn way that you even like me. I do those things because I'm ridiculously in love with you but I often find myself thinking that this might be a one way street. I think you like the way I treat you and Ellie. I think you like my family and you feel kinda safe around me, but do you even love me, Aubrey?"
Dr. Engler walked back in, rolling in the ultrasound machine and putting an end to our conversation at the worst possible time. Part of me was happy to see him walk back in because I was genuinely terrified that something might have happened to my baby, but the other part needed to let Morgan know how much I loved him and how much he meant to me. Right now. I can't believe he feels that way. I'm no better to him than Josh was to me.
"Alright, Ms. Farrell. I'm gonna need you to lift up your shirt," he said calmly, getting the equipment set up. I did as told quietly, trying to avoid Morgan's eyes. "Great, this might feel a little cold," he said, squirting the blue gel onto my stomach and sliding the probe on it. The sound of the baby's heartbeat filled the room almost instantly. I sighed in relief and Morgan grabbed my hand.
"That's your baby's heartbeat. Nice and strong," Dr. Engler said. Morgan looked at me and I could see the tears of joy shining in his gorgeous blue eyes. He kissed my hand softly.
"Our baby's heartbeat," he whispered, not taking his eyes off me. I smiled at him.
"I love you," I mouthed quietly. He smiled and wiped his tears off quickly.
"There's the head," Dr. Engler said, pointing towards the screen. I smiled. God is great.
"Everything seems to be fine, Ms. Farrell. Your baby is healthy and growing. Losing a little amniotic fluid can happen, and while not alarming, it does mean that you're going to have to be extra careful. No heavy lifting, as little stress as possible and lots and lots of resting. Your partner seems to be willing and involved; let him help. You might not want to admit it, but you need the help. Okay?" He asked, looking at me. I nodded.
"I like him," Morgan said, pointing to Dr. Engler. "Listen to him, let me help. Please," he said softly. Dr. Engler chuckled.
"Okay," I nodded, smiling faintly.
"Do you want to know the sex of the baby?" Dr. Engler asked. Morgan and I exchanged a look and both nodded.
"Yes," I confirmed.
"Congratulations, you're having a little girl."
--------------------------------------
Hemingway said "write drunk, edit sober" and while I love the write drunk part, the sober editing gets kind of boring at times lmao
I usually just quickly proof read the chapters right before I post them. Now, I think I might turn this into a series (2 or 3 books) and take a week or two between each books to just go back and edit stuff. All this to say, I'm sorry about the terrible grammar and syntax! I promise I will fix it all in a couple weeks!
I hope y'all like this! While the last few chapters have been getting more views, they've also been getting less votes and comments so, fingers crossed that the readers that have been here since the beginning still like the story now!
XO LadyBug