Glory- A Riverdale Sequel (Sweet Pea)

4. Bulls in the Bronx

A/N: I made the impulse decision to include flashbacks to give readers some insight into the past five years, and because why not? Yay, character development!!!

As always, thank you for reading, and please leave feedback!

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After breakfast the next morning, I found myself in a car with Betty, Cheryl, Toni and Veronica on our way to Riverdale General Hospital to visit Jughead. John was playing in his car seat and pointing at things out the window as we passed, and Betty would glance up from the driver's seat to smile at him when he pronounced a word right.

I smiled over at John-John and played with his feet as he pointed at his toes and startled humming "This Little Piggy" and giggling. Cheryl looked up from her seat behind me and cleared her throat, "So... just curious. The whole group is, really. When are you and Sweets expanding your brood? We all saw how he played with John-John at breakfast. He wants a boy."

Another baby had definitely been on Sweets' mind, but I don't think he would push it too hard because of the complications I faced with the end of my first pregnancy. I looked at Cheryl and frowned as I started thinking about the day Bella was born.

Sweet Pea was holding my hand and frowning at the doctor checking my chart, "What do you mean you're sending her home?! This is the fourth time in a week we've been here because her contractions are five minutes apart consistently and bad enough that she has to stop what she's doing to ride it out. You told us to come when that happens."

"I understand, sir. But she's just not quite to the point that we can start labor for her, and until her water breaks we can't interfere," The OB GYN frowned at Sweet Pea, "It's what's best for the baby. She's barely past 36 weeks, it's still too early. She just needs bed rest."

"Have you checked any of her chart from her previous doctor?! She's been measuring 2 weeks ahead consistently since 18 weeks. By that logic, my wife is 37 weeks along, yes, but she is measuring at 39 weeks. If you're really pushing Allyson to 39 gestational weeks before interfering, she'll be measuring past her due date which could cause serious damage," Sweet Pea was standing up now, and he only sat back down and grabbed my hand when a strong contraction hit, and I yelped out loud and squeezed his hand.

"Sir we understand, but it's our common practice here to not induce before 39 gestational weeks. It's too risky. Unless her water breaks or her contractions get closer together- or both, we can't go in and kick start it."

"So you're telling me that I have to watch my wife suffer because even though the baby is measuring ahead, and her previous OB noted that she would recommend a c- section because the baby is going to be too big for her to push out- and she recommended scheduling early because this is not a small child coming out of a tiny woman it puts them both at risk if you make her carry to full term, your policy stops you from doing anything about it?" Sweet Pea was beside himself, and I was in too much pain to tell him that I had been having one long, consistent contraction since my new doctor had explained hospital policy. I only squeezed his hand as hard as I could, causing him to look first at me and then at the monitor looking after Bella's heartbeat and my contractions.

I opened my mouth to say something, but no words came out, so I simply pointed at the sheets and started trying to pull them back. When Sweet Pea pulled them off for me, all I felt was freezing cold air on damp sheets.

The doctor frowned at Sweet Pea and mumbled, "That would be a rupture."

I was checked and immediately urged to push, and this doctor tried for two hours as Bella's heartrate fluctuated before he finally realized what Sweets had been telling him the whole time. It was with resignation and an air of annoyance that the doctor finally looked up and said, "The baby's too big. Her head is getting stuck in the birth canal."

He looked over at the nurse, who was keeping Sweet Pea back at this point and said, "Get a room ready. She needs an emergency c- section, now."

I bit my lip and looked up at Sweet Pea as I gently squeezed his arm. This was definitely not in my birth plan, and I was just trying to keep a brave face because I knew letting Pea know I was scared would only make him angrier.

Hours later, I woke up in a recovery room and saw Sweet Pea asleep with a wiggling bundle of blanket on his chest. I smiled and asked, "Is she ok?", causing Sweets to jump awake and smile. He held her out and gently laid Bella on my chest.

"She looks just like her mama," Sweets smiled as he played with her hair. He leaned down and kissed the top of her head and then kissed me gently, "I love you. So much, Cat."

"Ally? Hello?" Veronica smiled and waved her hand in my face, "We're here. Jughead is awake and asking for a burger. It's all good."

I nodded and followed everyone inside and to the elevator. We all held our breath as Betty led us into the room and John-John jumped up on the bed. He handed Jughead his beanie and mumbled, "Hat. Daddy, hat."

Jughead cringed but smiled at his son and pulled himself to sit up, "Hey, guys," His eyes rested on Betty lovingly, but he frowned when he saw me at the back, "Ally, why are you here? I saw Sweets when he came by earlier, but you can't be here."

"You're hurt, Jug, and Uncle FP. We had to come. You guys need our help," I sat on te side of the bed Betty wasn't sitting on, "Don't worry. Isabella is safe, and we have protocols in place. We know this may all be an elaborate scheme to get back at all of us, but we're not leaving family high and dry."

Betty squeezed his hand and whispered, "Your cousin loves you. Get over it," and smiled as she kissed his cheek sweetly, "I'm just relieved that you're awake."

As we sat and caught up, Hiram Lodge sat in his office at the former Whyte Wyrm with Penny Peabody flanking him. He frowned at Malachai and started, "You were supposed to kill Jughead Jones, not just hospitalize him. Now we're down a soldier, and there's a star witness that we can't buy or threaten."

Malachai sighed and took a long drag of a cigarette as he smirked back, "But the end game is still the same, boss. See, Sweet Pea came back to help maintain control, and he brought his sweet little Ally Cat with him. We can finally finish what we started years ago. FP is facing an unbeatable case if we fix it right, Jughead is incapacitated, Sweet Pea has to act as Serpent King, and Allyson is just a little sitting duck in all of this, whether she realizes or not. They played right into our trap. Loyalty makes them weak."

Hiram sucked on his teeth and nodded. He had to acknowledge that Malachai had a point. Allyson still knew too much for his or his brother's liking, and neither of them liked paying good money for an incomplete hit. Sure, he hadn't gotten exactly what he wanted. But he had to admit, the fallout had worked out a better deal all together- and if there's anything Hiram Lodge loved, it was a good deal.