Goes with Christmas in Cincinnati
Zoe smiled as Mallory sprinted through the grass, with Lily on her tail. Lily was dressed in blue and Mallory in pink. The sun was shining and the pink dress she was wearing blew gently in the breeze. Evan walked up to her and kissed her on the cheek.
"Are you ready?" He asked. Zoe nodded and fixed the collar on Evan's blue shirt. Evan smiled and whistled loudly. Everyone fell silent and Zoe smiled.
"Alright! We're about to find out who's going to win. Team Boy or Team Girl!" Evan yelled. There were several cheers and Zoe smiled as Evan handed her a confetti cannon.
"Okay here we go! Three, two one!" Evan shouted.
Both Zoe and Evan fired their cannons and pink sparkly confetti exploded out. Zoe turned to Evan who smiled and hugged her tightly. He gently lifted and spun her around. Mallory ran towards her mother and father and Evan scooped her up.
"Mallory do you know what the pink means?" Zoe asked. Mallory nodded.
"What does it mean Princess?" Evan asked. Mallory laughed.
"I'm gonna have a baby sister!" Mallory cheered. Zoe nodded and her parents and Heidi walked towards her, followed by Connor and Meredith.
"When are you two going to have a son?" Larry asked. Zoe laughed and Evan wrapped an arm around her waist.
"Believe me, I've been wondering the same thing." Evan joked. Zoe laughed and gently hit his chest.
"Congratulations you two! Another baby girl!" Cynthia said happily. Heidi gently took Mallory from Evan and Mallory smiled.
"Grandma! Mommy's having a baby girl!" Mallory said excitedly.
"I know! It's very exciting!" Heidi said. Mallory smiled and Zoe kissed Mallory's forehead.
"Now you two can start decorating the nursery!" Cynthia said excitedly. Zoe nodded.
"Now have you decided on the colours?" Heidi asked.
"We were thinking doing lavender and white. Because Mal's room is pink and we think lavender would be nice." Zoe explained. Cynthia smiled and Heidi set Mallory down.
"Well congratulations on your little girl!" Cynthia said, hugging Zoe tightly. She smiled and Evan kissed Zoe's temple.
"Thanks Mom."
+++
Zoe sighed, as she watched Mallory run around the living room. She was five months pregnant and she was ready to be not pregnant anymore.
"Baby, settle down." Zoe said. Mallory looked at her mother and smiled.
"Mommy! When does the baby come?" Mallory asked, putting her hands on Zoe's stomach.
"In about four months. Then you get to meet the baby." Zoe said.
"But I wanna meet her now!" Mallory whined.
"I know, but we don't want her coming out yet. The baby needs to stay in my tummy for a bit." Zoe said.
"Fiiiiiine." Mallory whined.
"Hey, maybe when Daddy gets home, we can talk about names for her!" Zoe said. Mallory gasped and nodded.
"Yay! Baby names!" Mallory cheered. Evan walked in and Zoe smiled.
"Daddy! We can pick out baby names now!" Mallory cheered.
"Wait, I thought we settled on Halyn?" Evan asked.
"Well we did. But then I talked with one of the moms from my Lamaze class and she's naming her baby Halyn so I looked online and apparently it's this super popular name and I don't want her to be Halyn H at school!" Zoe said. Evan laughed.
"Okay! Then we're back to square one."
"I still love Tia and Posie." Zoe said.
"I do too. Which one?" Evan asked.
"I like Rainbow Marie!" Mallory said. Zoe laughed and kissed her daughter.
"What do you think baby, Tia or Posie?" Zoe asked.
"Both." Mallory said.
"No honey, we can only pick one. Tia or Posie." Zoe said.
"Mallory and Tia or Mallory and Posie?" Evan asked. Mallory sat for a second.
"I like Tia." Mallory said.
"So Tia Rose Hansen?" Evan asked.
"Oh! Tia Rose! I love that!" Zoe said, as her eyes filled with tears.
"Perfect! It's decided! Tia Rose Hansen. You stay here babe, I'll go start dinner." Evan said, kissing Zoe's head.
"Baby T, we can't wait for you!" Zoe whispered.
+++
June, and the first half of July had flown by and Zoe was getting irritated.
"Mommy, when does the baby come?" Mallory asked, twirling around the kitchen.
"Six weeks." Zoe said. Mallory nodded and kept spinning when Zoe gasped in pain.
"Mommy. What's wrong?" Mallory asked. Zoe's eyes were closed tightly and she was taking deep breaths.
"Mal, go to my purse and grab my phone. Right now baby, go." Zoe said, lowering herself to the floor. Mallory ran back into the kitchen and Zoe dialled Evan's number.
"Hello?" He asked.
"Evan what are you doing right now?" Zoe asked.
"I just finished an appointment. What's the matter?" Evan asked.
"Somethings wrong. It feels like real contractions but it's too early!" Zoe said, she was starting to panic.
"Okay. Take a deep breath." Evan said.
"I'm calling 911." Zoe said.
"Okay. Call 911 and I'll meet you there. Don't worry. Everything is going to be okay. Do you want me to stay on the phone?" Evan said.
"No, it's okay. I'm calling 911." Zoe said.
"Okay. I'll meet you at the hospital. I love you."
"Love you too."
Zoe hung up. She dialled 911 and Mallory sat quietly beside her.
"Hi, I'm home alone with my 5 year old and I'm 7 and a half months pregnant and I'm pretty sure there's something wrong-" Zoe groaned. "Could you send an ambulance?"
Mallory sat beside her mother, with a look of terror on her face.
"Mommy, what's going on?" She asked when Zoe was off the phone.
"I think there's something wrong with the baby. So we're going to go to the hospital and Daddy will meet us there." Zoe said. She groaned in pain and Mallory curled into Zoe's side.
"Is the baby going to die?" Mallory asked. Zoe looked at her daughter and shook her head.
"No. The baby is going to be okay." She said.
"Are you going to die?" Mallory asked. Zoe felt tears roll down her cheeks.
"No baby. I'm not going anywhere." Zoe said. The door opened and two paramedics walked in.
"How are you feeling?" One asked.
"There's something wrong with my mommy!" Mallory said, jumping up.
"We know, so we're all going to go to the hospital so your mom can get checked by a doctor." The paramedic said. They helped Zoe onto the gurney and a paramedic picked up Mallory.
"Let's go." One said.
"My name's Mallory." Mallory said. The paramedic smiled.
"It's nice to meet you Mallory. I'm Amelia." Mallory smiled and Amelia sat in the back with her.
+++
"Hi, I'm looking for Zoe-"
"Daddy!" Mallory yelled. Evan looked down the hall and saw Mallory sitting there.
"There you are! Oh my goodness I've been so worried. Where's Mommy?" Evan asked, crouching down and hugging Mallory. Mallory let go and led Evan to Zoe's room.
"Evan!" Zoe breathed. Evan walked towards her and kissed her.
"What's going on?" He asked. The doctor walked in and smiled at Evan.
"You must be Mr Hansen! I'm Doctor Turner. It appears that your wife is having Braxton Hicks contractions, which can be linked to early labour. Hers seem to be very severe. What were you doing when the pain started Mrs Hansen?" Turner asked.
"I was making lunch for Mallory." Zoe said.
"So you were standing?" Turner asked. Zoe nodded.
"And have you been standing a lot recently?" Turner asked.
"I mean, I have a five year old and it's the end of July. I've been up and down a bunch lately." Zoe said.
"It seems as though your movement has caused the Braxton Hicks. Now, we're putting you on bedrest until your baby comes Mrs Hansen." Turner said.
"Bedrest?" Evan asked.
"Basically your wife needs to be in bed as much as possible. Unnecessary movement could cause her to go into labour." Turner said.
"That really isn't possible. I have a five year old. It's the middle of July. And Evan works during the day." Zoe explained.
"I can talk to my boss and see if there's something that can be done." Evan said.
"There has to be some kind of medication." Zoe said.
"This is the only way. Unless you would rather we induce your labour now and you can have your baby six weeks early." Turner said. Zoe shook her head.
"No. She's not ready yet." Zoe said.
"Then bedrest is our only option. Do you have a relative who could come and help take care of Mallory?" Turner asked.
"Our families both live out of town and all our friends work." Evan said.
"Well you're going to have to find someone to look after her. Zoe needs to be on bedrest unless you want this baby today." Turner said. Zoe sighed and grabbed her phone.
"I'll text Alana."
+++
"Okay, easy, easy. Okay. Do you need anything?" Alana asked, straightening up.
"I'm okay. Thank you for doing this, Evan was able to take the last few days off but he needs to go back to work and my mom said her flight landed at 3. Evan's picking her up right now." Zoe said. Alana smiled.
"Don't worry Zo, its not a big deal." Alana said.
"Mommy, I- Auntie Lana!" Mallory yelled, running down the steps. Alana smiled and scooped Mallory up.
"There she is!" Alana asked. Mallory laughed and looked at Zoe.
"Is Mommy going to be okay?" Mallory asked, reaching for her mother. Alana settled Mallory in Zoe's lap and smiled.
"Yup. Mommy and the baby will both be okay." Alana said.
"Mommy's not going anywhere. I'm right here." Zoe assured her. Mallory nodded and rested her head on Zoe's shoulder.
The door opened and Mallory's head shot up.
"DADDY! NANA!" She yelled. She ran towards the door and hugged Evan tightly. Cynthia hugged Mallory tightly and smiled.
"Look at you Princess! Look how big you've gotten!" Cynthia gushed. Mallory laughed and Cynthia looked at Zoe.
"And look how big you've gotten!" Cynthia said, walking over to Zoe. Zoe smiled and Cynthia bent to hug her.
"Almost there, huh?" Cynthia asked.
"Six weeks left." Zoe said. Cynthia smiled and turned to Evan.
"So Evan, your mother and Larry and I had a conversation. We decided that we're going to take the next 6 weeks of Zoe's pregnancy in shifts. I'll be here for three weeks and then your mother will come for the last three and Larry and I will fly down for the last week to prepare for your little one!" Cynthia explained. Evan smiled.
"That's perfect. Thank you!" He said.
"I can take care of myself." Zoe grumbled.
"Sweetheart, you're on bed rest. You need people to help you and help Mal. And that's why I'm here! Anything you need, I'm here!" Cynthia said. Zoe frowned and Evan bent to kiss her head.
"I know you'd rather be independent baby, but you just can't now. You need people to help you out." Evan said. Zoe pouted and Evan chuckled and kissed her.
"What would you like for dinner my love?" Even asked. Zoe sighed.
"Chicken nuggets please." Zoe said. Evan nodded.
"Perfect! I'll go get them started!" He said smiling. Zoe smiled and Mallory curled up in her lap. Her small hands rested on Zoe's stomach and Zoe smiled.
"What are you doing Mal?" Zoe asked.
"Listening to Tia." Mallory said simply. Zoe smiled and twirled one of Mallory's pigtails around her finger.
"What's Tia saying?" Zoe asked. Mallory shrugged.
"That she wants to come out soon." Mallory said. Zoe chuckled.
"Well lets keep Tia in my tummy for as long as possible." Zoe said. Mallory nodded and traced circles on Zoe's stomach.
+++
"Okay! The last one is from all your friends at work!" Alana said. Zoe opened it and smiled.
"Oh that looks amazing!" She gushed. A baby lounger was pulled out of the bag and Zoe smiled.
"Thank you!" Zoe said happily.
"Alright so we've got a new and improved diaper bag, a new breast pump, a new lounger, a two way baby monitor and more clothes for your little one than you'll know what to do with!" Alana said happily. Zoe smiled and took a sip from her water.
"Thank you all so much for your amazing gifts! I wish I could've participated more, but bedrest." Zoe said.
"So how are you feeling?" Zoe's friend Emma asked.
"God I am so ready to not be pregnant." Zoe groaned. The women laughed and Zoe frowned.
"No seriously. This baby, as much as I love her, this pregnancy is much worse than when I was pregnant with Mallory." Zoe said.
"What have you decided to name your little one!" Zoe's friend Kiara asked.
"Evan and I have decided to keep the name a secret until she's born. But we can tell you the first letter." Zoe said. The women around her nodded.
"The first letter of our baby's name is T." Zoe said. The room was filled with chatter and Emma turned to Zoe.
"If we guess it, will you tell us?" Emma asked. Zoe nodded.
"Yeah probably." She said. Zoe sat on the couch as the room filled with shouts of baby names that started with T.
After a few minutes Zoe stopped.
"We're going to close the guesses for now but it's none of the names that were screamed at me." Zoe said definitely. Alana smiled and sat beside Zoe.
"Okay, I think it's just about time to start wrapping this up! Thank you all for coming!" Alana said. Zoe nodded and smiled as all the women in her house started to gather their things and leave.
+++
"Evan!" Zoe hissed. Evan rolled over and draped an arm over Zoe's waist. She pushed it off and gasped. He opened one eye.
"What's the matter baby?" He groaned.
"Baby. She's coming." Zoe muttered through clenched teeth.
"What?" Evan asked, suddenly alert.
"Tia has decided that she wants to come at," Zoe looked at the clock. "3 am." Zoe groaned.
"Okay, did your water break?" Evan asked. Zoe nodded and Evan got out of bed, helping Zoe sit up.
"I need to curl my hair." Zoe decided, standing up.
"What? Baby, we need to go to the hospital!" Evan said.
"We've got time. I just need to curl my hair quickly." Zoe said.
"Zoe Hansen, we are going to the hospital and we're going now. I'm going to get your bag and tell our parents. You are going to get your ass down to the car and call the hospital." Evan said. Zoe looked at him.
"I'm curling my hair." Zoe decided, slowly pulling herself up.
"Zoe! Your water broke! Tia is on her way. Wouldn't you much rather have her at the hospital, instead of our bathroom? Why do you need to curl your hair, you're having a baby!" Evan asked.
"Because. You're going to take pictures and our moms are going to take pictures so I need to look nice!" Zoe explained.
"Okay, Zo, I love you, but you're not doing that. You're going to the hospital. Now." Evan said.
He walked to Mallory's room and gently put a hand on her shoulder. Mallory stirred and opened her eyes.
"Daddy, it's still dark." She whined.
"I know. But Mommy's having the baby so we need to go to the hospital. Mommy and Daddy are going to the hospital, but Grandma's here, okay?" Evan explained.
"Can I see the baby?" Mallory asked, sitting up. Evan gently lowered her down.
"The baby isn't here yet. She's on her way. We have to go get her from the hospital. So Mommy and Daddy are going to go and then you're gonna come visit when she's here, okay?" Evan explained. Mallory nodded and Evan kissed her forehead.
"I love you Princess." He whispered.
"I love you Daddy."
+++
"How long has it been?" Zoe whined.
"Six hours." Evan said. It was around 9 am the next morning. Zoe groaned and her OB-GYN walked in smiling.
"Hour six. You're doing great. Let's take a look." She said.
"Doctor Hunter, you have to give me drugs or something. We gotta get this going faster." Zoe whined.
"Well you're at 5 centimetres so you're halfway." The doctor said.
"Shouldn't this be going a little bit faster? I mean this is our second baby." Evan asked.
"Well it normally depends on the mother. How long were you in labour with Mallory?" Doctor Hunter asked.
"18 hours." Zoe groaned at the idea of going through another 18 hour labour.
"Well you're 5 centimetres dilated, so it shouldn't be much longer." Doctor Hunter said. Zoe groaned again as the doctor left.
"I can push now. Who needs the doctor? 5 centimetres is like this big." Zoe said, holding her hands relatively far apart. Evan moved her hands closer together and chuckled.
"Try that instead." He said. Zoe groaned and laid back.
"I want her out!" Zoe yelled.
"I know baby, I know you do. Just a bit longer." Evan soothed. Zoe gripped Evan's hand tightly, hoping for her labour to end soon.
+++
"Go get Mal!" Zoe whispered. Evan nodded and Zoe smiled.
After 10 hours in labour, Zoe had her baby girl. The door opened again and Mallory gasped.
"Mommy had her baby!" She said excitedly. Zoe nodded and Mallory ran over.
"Can I hold her Mommy?" Mallory asked. Zoe nodded.
"Come up with Mommy and I'll show you how to hold her." Zoe said. Mallory climbed up beside Zoe and Zoe gently settled the baby into Mallory's arms.
"Now remember you have to stay pretty still and you need to make sure you're supporting her head." Zoe instructed. Mallory did as her mother said and Zoe and Evan smiled.
"You're doing great Princess." Evan encouraged. The baby started to cry and Mallory gasped.
"Did I hurt her?" Mallory asked frantically.
"No. You didn't hurt her Princess. She can't talk so she cries when she needs something." Zoe explained.
"What's her name?" Mallory asked.
"Can you guess?" Evan asked, sitting on the end of the bed.
"Tia!" Mallory said loudly.
"Oh Mallory, inside voices!" Evan said.
"Is it Tia?" Mallory whispered. Zoe nodded and Mallory laughed.
"I guessed it!" She said happily. Zoe nodded and Tia stopped crying. Mallory smiled and gently touched Tia's foot.
"She's so tiny!" Mallory whispered. Zoe nodded and Mallory kissed her mother.
"Good job Mommy. You made a good baby."
Zoe laughed and kissed Mallory's forehead.
"Thank you Princess."