Mileven One-Shots

Baby

(Trigger warning: inability to conceive)

Lately, El had been pretty stuck on the idea of her and Mike having a baby. She'd been bringing it up every day, and eventually, they started trying. They'd try every night. El figured she'd have to get pregnant at some point.

She was wrong.

•••••

It had been a year since they'd started trying. They tried a little less, going every other day instead of every day. But El was concerned, to say the least.

She sat in the bathroom waiting for the results on her third pregnancy test of the week. The timer went off and she grabbed it off the counter quickly and looked at it. Another negative. She added it to the bag of all of her negative tests. At least 100 had accumulated over the last year. El sighed and ran her fingers through her hair and put the bag back in the drawer, slamming it shut.

"Hey baby, is everything okay?" Mike asked from the doorway. That was it. Him calling her baby. It set her off and she burst into tears and fell into his arms. He called her baby every day, but today wasn't a good day for it. He put his arms around her tightly and he knew what she was crying about. Why she had spent all that time sitting in the bathroom.

"Hey, why don't we go see a doctor about it," Mike said softly.

"Why?" El cried.

"Well the doctor can do some tests and see what's going on. Why you can't get pregnant. It could be you or it could be me. But we're going to figure it out. I promise," he said. El nodded against his chest and he cradled her head against him. They went to the living room and sat down on the couch and El curled up against his side as she called her OBGYN for an appointment. She sniffled as she hung up.

"We can go in tomorrow," El said. She stood up and walked away, back into the bathroom. She started the shower and climbed in and sunk down on the shower floor. She'd been doing that a lot lately. Mike felt terrible. They didn't know what was wrong, but he wanted her to have everything she wanted. She this was one thing he couldn't give her.

•••••

They went in to see the OBGYN and she did several different tests on both of them to test for sicknesses and infertility. She left them in the room for a half an hour and came back with her clipboard hugged against her and a sad, sympathetic look on her face. She sat down on the stool in front of them and choked on her words.

"Well? What's going on? Why can't we get pregnant?" El asked.

"So, neither of you are technically infertile. However...El, you...you are unable to get pregnant. You are experiencing the onset of endometriosis. Your uterine lining is growing on the outside of your uterus, instead of inside. I know this is hard to hear-"

El stopped listening to the doctor. She sounded like she was under water. She stood up and got lightheaded, grabbing onto the table.

"El?" Mike said. She choked out a cry and fell on the floor, pulling the table with her. She landed on her knees and covered her mouth with her hand.

"El!" Mike said. He got on the floor next to her and put his arms around her. He looked at the doctor who looked like she was going to cry herself.

"I'm truly sorry," the doctor said. Mike nodded at her and turned back to El and turned her around, holding her head against his chest as she broke down.

"Come on...let's go home..." he said softly. He helped her up off the floor and took her out to the car. When they got home, El locked herself in the bathroom. She sank down against the wall and sobbed. Mike sat down on the sofa with a sigh. It was dangerous to try and go in there while she was so upset. She could easily shatter the mirror and the shower door with her powers. Mike let himself cry. Of course he didn't blame El. But it was disappointing. He'd have preferred the issue have been him. He'd have preferred he have been infertile or have low motility or something. He wouldn't care if El blamed him. But it was heartbreaking to him knowing she'd sit in the bathroom sobbing and blaming herself for it all. He knew how strong she was. But he also knew how this would absolutely destroy her.

•••••

It had been a week since El found out she wouldn't be able to get pregnant. She laid in bed, staring at the ceiling. She wouldn't eat and she barely even drank water. She only slept and only moved when she went to the bathroom to pee or shower.

El was lying in the bed, the way she had been for a week. The blankets were over her, pulled up to her chest. Her arms were crossed across her abdomen. She laid still, like a dead body in a hospital waiting to go to the morgue.

She could hear Mike in the living room, shouting at someone on the phone. Then silence. Then another phone call. This seemed to continue for hours. What was he doing? Calling every doctor

"I'm uh...I'm going to go to town and pick a few things up. I'll be back, I love you," Mike said softly. But she wouldn't speak. She hadn't said a word since. He kissed her forehead softly and set a glass of water beside her, as well as a couple pieces of celery and peanut butter. He knew she loved to snack on that, and he was praying she would eat. But she'd eat when he got home. Because he was about to make her happy again.

He drove to town and to the courthouse first. He spent two hours with the case worker, doing background checks and getting approved to be fit enough mentally and physically to adopt a child.

Then he went to the hospital. He went to the maternity ward and spoke to the nurse he had been speaking with on the phone. A poor 16 year old girl had just had a baby girl and didn't want to keep her. He provided the paperwork he'd acquired at the courthouse, and they provided the adoption paperwork. He'd let El figure out what to name her when they got home. He put her in the car and strapped her in and drove to the store. He took her inside with him and purchased baby supplies. Bottles, formula, a crib, toys, clothes, all sorts of stuff. When he got home, he left the stuff in the car and just took the baby inside.

"El? Baby I'm home!" He said. He lifted the baby girl out of her seat and carried her up the stairs to the bedroom.

"Honey, I want you to meet someone," Mike said. El's eyes flicked in his direction and she saw the little baby girl in his arms. She got up off the bed with super wide eyes and walked slowly towards him. She held her arms out and he gently passed the baby to her.

"Ours?" El whispered, trying to hold back tears. Mike choked up and smiled at her.

"She's ours," Mike said back softly. El looked up at him, her eyes wide and glossy, tears falling down her face. He wasn't sure whether to be sad or happy at her facial expression. It was such a look of love, sadness, happiness, and confusion. He couldn't tell. Then, her face broke out in her first smile in days. She was smiling and sobbing at the same time, holding the baby close to her and stepping into Mike's arms. Mike felt his own tears falling down his face and he put his arm around her and kissed her forehead as she looked at the baby. She looked back at him and kissed him softly and sloppily. When she pulled away, she was still sobbing.

"Where did you...how did you...you did this for me?" El sobbed. She nuzzled her face against the baby's forehead.

"I made lots of phone calls. I spent hours calling the courthouse and all of the hospitals in the county. There was a 16 year old girl at the Presbyterian hospital downtown. She...she had just had a baby...she gave it up for adoption. So I went to the courthouse and spoke to a case worker and got approved and got the paperwork and headed to the hospital...," Mike said, wiping his eyes.

"All for me?" El cried, looking back up at him again.

"I want you to have everything in the world that you want. It was heartbreaking to see you so sad that you couldn't even move. I took a vow when I married you to do everything in my power to make you happy. El, I love you so much," he said. Her lips pouted as she tried not to cry again.

"Mike...I love you...I love you so much..." she cried. The baby made a little noise and she looked down happily at the little girl in her arms.

"Mike...thank you..." El said and kissed him.

Their little family. Mike and their adopted little baby. She'd love that baby just as much as she would if she'd had it herself.