It was Christmas Eve at the Kelly household, and Jack was attempting to hang garland on the mantel without knocking over any of the decorations that were already on the mantel, trying several different rearrangements with minimal success. Katherine was in the bedroom resting, so she claimed. Jack had already caught her once coming up with ideas for articles she could write. Apparently nothing could keep her from working, not even being nine months pregnant.
Jack had just narrowly missed dropping and breaking a porcelain reindeer when Katherine called to him, appearing in the doorway.
"Jack?"
"Yeah, Ace?" He turned to her. "I think we're gonna have to put the garland somewhere else, I'm not proving to be the best decorator."
Katherine was smiling. "Jack, it's time."
The porcelain reindeer actually did break then, and Jack stared at her. "It's...?"
"It's time. For the baby."
"The baby."
She nodded, trying not to laugh at his reaction. "We have to get to the hospital."
That seemed to snap him out of it, for whatever reason. "The hospital, yeah. I'll go pack a bag for you." Katherine held up the bag that she was holding. He nodded sheepishly. "Then let's get to the car, I'll get you there fast as I can." They'd managed to save up enough money for the new Model A Ford that had come out a few months earlier, and it had made their lives exceedingly easier on several occasions, including this one.
Jack began to rush towards the door, and Katherine stopped him, cupping his face with her hands.
"The next time we walk through this door, we'll have a baby."
He exhaled and smiled. "Best Christmas present I'll ever get."
Katherine kissed him, and they hurried out the door.
oOo
Jack ran a hand roughly through his hair. He was sitting outside of the private room at the hospital they'd taken Katherine into, listening to her shouting. He didn't understand why they didn't let him in the room with her. It was just causing the both of them to be more upset.
He winced as Katherine let out a particularly loud scream. Unable to stay still any longer, he stood up and began to pace. He could only hope that it would be done soon, and he'd be able to meet his child.
oOo
Katherine gritted her teeth, unsuccessfully trying not to scream. Everyone had warned her that labour would hurt, but she hadn't imagined it would be quite this bad. She had also been told horror stories from women who had been in labour for several days, and she prayed that wasn't the case with her.
The nurse instructed her to give one last push, so she gathered her remaining strength and complied, leaning back against the pillows as the nurse told her it was over. She spent the next few minutes catching her breath, and that was when she realized that that the baby hadn't been crying.
Another nurse, noticing her expression, came over, the apologetic look on her face making Katherine nervous. "Mrs. Kelly..."
Katherine interrupted her, wanting to know something else first. "Is it a boy or a girl?"
"She... was a girl. I'm so sorry, Mrs. Kelly, but your daughter wasn't born breathing."
"Can... can I see her?"
"Of course." The nurse brought over the baby, wrapped up in a towel, and handed her to Katherine. "I'll go get Mr. Kelly, and then we'll give you some time alone."
She let out a shaky breath as she heard her husband yelling at the nurse from outside. She would be yelling too, if she hadn't been there. If she wasn't holding her baby, who was most definitely not breathing.
Jack came in after a few minutes. "Katherine?"
She turned to look at him and let out a sob. There were already tears in his eyes. He rushed over to her and sat on the bed next to her, wrapping his arms around her and burying his face in her hair. She could tell he was crying, like she was.
"Do you want to hold her?"
He lifted his head up to look at her. "I don't know."
"Then just look at her."
So he did. And his breath hitched. "She's... God, Ace, she's beautiful."
Katherine nodded. "She is."
"They sure she ain't just asleep? Looks like she's sleeping."
Katherine just shook her head.
oOo
The two of them were silent the whole drive back the next morning, neither of them having any idea what to say. Once they made it back into their apartment, they stood in front of the door for a minute, before Jack decided to say something.
"So... what are you thinking you wanna do today?"
Instead of answering, Katherine hurried to the bedroom, leaving Jack to follow her, and when he caught up to her, he found her collecting all of the baby clothes from the drawer.
"Ace, what're you doing?"
"If we get rid of her things now, then we won't have to look at it, and then all of this will be less painful... help me, we can get it done faster..."
"Katherine." Jack took her gently by the shoulders, pulling her onto the bed next to him. "Slow down."
"Jack..." She leaned into him as she tried to control her tears. "We were supposed to have a baby the next time we came back here."
"We do have a baby, she's just... not here."
"Some Christmas this is turning out to be." Katherine muttered.
"Let's go see the boys, after they're done selling."
She shook her head. "I don't want to make them feel bad with this, it's Christmas."
"We're not. They're gonna make us feel better."
"I don't know if anyone can do that." She turned to look at him. "I wanted her so much, Jack."
"I know. Me too."
AN: Merry Christmas. Did I successfully rip your hearts out?
