"If you have a one-half cup of flour in the bowl and you add another half a cup to the bowl, what do you have?" Rebecca questioned as she looked over at her son, who was standing on the chair next to her holding the whisk in his little hand "One half plus one half is how many cups?"
"One?" The little boy said in an unsure tone as he looked up at her
"Exactly!" Rebecca nodded. "Look at you. you turn four years old, and you know everything all the sudden"
"Mommy knows everything. CJ knows some things," he said with a bit of a shrug of his shoulders
"Ya wanna know a secret?" Rebecca questioned, and the little boy looked up at her with a slight nod. "Mommy doesn't know everything" she shook her head. "Mommy's just as confused in this situation as you are."
"When's daddy coming here?" He asked
"I don't know, babe," Rebecca said as she reached for the sugar. "I wish I could tell you."
"Before Scout comes?" He asked, and Rebecca flashed him a small smile
"I would hope so" she nodded
"How much longer until Scout is here?"
"Well.. every baby is different; you were born six weeks before you were supposed to be," she said, and the little boy's eyes widened.
"Why did you let me out?" He asked, "If I wasn't supposed to do it, Why did you let me?"
"I didn't have a choice in the matter, love" she shook her head. "You were ready to come out, and I couldn't stop you."
"Why not?" He asked, "You always stop me from doing things."
"When babies are born, Mommy's don't have a choice usually.. whenever babies are ready, all we can do is go with it."
"Daddy said it hurt you a lot."
"It did," she nodded "there's a medicine that they can give you to make it not hurt as bad, but Mommy is allergic to the medicine they use," she explained. "So I can't have it."
"Even when Scout is born?" His little eyes widened
This kid and this name.. he was never going to give up on it
"Even when Scout is born," Rebecca nodded as she moved to put the cupcakes in the oven. "You're just gonna call her Scout forever, huh?" She asked, and her son nodded
Rebecca heard her phone ringing from where it sat on the coffee table. She quickly set the timer for the cupcakes and grabbed it. She saw it was her husband and looked over at her son, who jumped down from the counter.
"Go play for a bit, yeah?" She said to him, and he nodded before running out of the room towards his own
Once CJ was out of earshot, she answered the phone.
"Hello?" She answered
"How's the birthday boy?" She heard him ask, and she could tell by his voice he was angry, upset, and downright crushed that he wasn't with them
"Missing his dad," she said, "a lot like his mom" she sat on the couch
"I know, baby. I miss you too."
"When are you coming over here? It's beginning to feel a lot like I'm going to be a single mother to two kids."
"It might take a little longer than we expected"
"What do you mean a little longer? It's been three weeks already," she stated
"I know, but the police still haven't caught Brandon, and he still full-heartedly believes we are divorced. I can't just up and leave the house to go to a different country. He'll figure it out."
"Colby. I'm about to have our second child soon."
"I know that. I'm trying to get to you. I am. You gotta be patient with me."
"I can be patient. Your kids, on the other hand, don't follow timelines very well."
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"Nothing," she stated, mentally kicking herself for even saying anything
"Rebecca, I know you like I know the back of my hand. I can tell in your voice that you're worried.. what is going on?"
"Do you remember how I went to the doctor here Monday?" She asked
"Yeah, because you wanted to make sure everything was fine since you'd been having pain," he remembered
"They checked everything. They said that she was healthy. She's right where she should be for 25 weeks."
"But," he stated, "What's the catch?" He questioned
"Everything is fine with her, but when they checked me, I'm already at 2 centimeters dilated. I shouldn't even be a one at 25 weeks pregnant."
"What does that mean?" He asked, and she could hear the panic laced in his voice
"They said that normally they would put me on some medication to stop it, but because I'm allergic to almost anything they can give me, there's nothing they can give me."
"Rebecca, tell me what I need to do here.. do I just need to say fuck it and get over there?"
"They said they would feel much safer if they were in control of the situation, and it didn't just happen randomly.. I've already called my Mum and told her, and she's agreed to come to watch CJ."
"Why didn't you tell me any of this four days ago?!" He yelled, and she could hear him moving around quickly
"Because I didn't want you to worry, I didn't want to stress you out."
"You didn't want me to stress out? Are you kidding me? I'm beyond stressed because I'm away from my wife and kids. I'm your husband. You come to me with these problems; you talk to me before you make any decisions.. we make decisions as the unit that we are"
"I know," she nodded. "Problem is I wasn't the one to make the call. The doctors discussed and made the decision themselves."
"So, what? Your mom's watching CJ so that the doctors can monitor you in the hospital? So they can put you on bed rest," he said
"No," she stated, "My mum is watching CJ, so I can go have this baby."
"The fuck you are," he said. "They can't induce you right now. You're 25 weeks... she won't make it."
"They have a good NICU there, and they have the best doctors. She will be given the best chance at survival she can get"
"I don't want her just to have a chance at surviving" she heard his voice break, and it caused her to break as well. "I want her to stay in, and be healthy, and strong and able to come out when she's supposed to. I want her to be able to come home and live a normal life with us."
"Colby," she ran her hand over her face, "They said either they deliver her on Monday and she gets the best chance at life she can have, or you prepare to bury us both. Which choice would you like to make?"
