Anything for Her - Complete

Chapter 39

Taking a moment to compose himself, Dimitri went to check on Lara. He found her curled up next to Eddie on a hospital bed, fast asleep. The rail on one side of the cot up to stop her rolling out and Eddie was curled around her protectively on the other side, stroking her hair affectionately.

"Is this ok?" Eddie asked, his voice betraying nerves. "She got upset when I tried to leave her to sit on the chair," he explained referring to the way he was holding Lara as she slept.

"It's fine," Dimitri said. "You're her Daddy. You don't have to apologize for cuddling Lara."

Over the months, Dimitri and Eddie had settled into their respective roles as Lara's two fathers. Rose's promises early on of facilitating full involvement had been honored. Sure, the day to day decisions were handled by Rose and Dimitri, but Eddie was always consulted on the big stuff, and they'd never stood in the way of him forming a bond with his daughter. So it was only natural when their girl had been frightened, and couldn't be with her parents, she'd wanted the comfort of her D.

"How's Rose?" Eddie asked.

"Not great," Dimitri admitted. "The fight seems to have brought on pre-term labor. The baby is fine, as far as we can tell, but she's not even twenty-nine weeks, so Dr. Olendzki is going to try and halt it. She's warned Rose she'll be here at least a week and we have to try and keep her immobile. I'm going to need your help with Lara."

"Whatever you need," Eddie pledged. Lara, and by extension Rose and Dimitri, were his only family. Of course, they could rely on him.

"For now, if you can stay with Lara overnight it would be a big help. Rose will freak if she's with anyone other than you, and Dr. Olendzki needs to focus on stabilizing Rose and the baby."

"Easy done," Eddie said with a smile. "You go take care of Rose. I'll look after Lara."

"Thanks. Rose will no doubt want to see her in the morning. Actually – can I take a photo now? She'll rest easier if she can see Lara asleep and being looked after."

"Sure thing," Eddie replied, posing with a smile cuddled against his sleeping daughter. "I'll bring her in after breakfast, or if you're up earlier come get her for a visit."

"Thanks," Dimitri said, not hanging around. He wanted to be back with Rose as soon as possible.

"Hey Comrade, I thought you must have gone for a walk around campus," Rose feebly joked as Dimitri stepped back into the private room Dr. Olendzki had arranged for them.

"No. I looked in on Lara. She's fast asleep," Dimitri said, showing Rose the picture of Lara and Eddie on his phone.

"Look at the way she's cuddling him! She must have been so scared. What if she wakes up and we're not there? Maybe we should bring her in here?"

"Shhh, Roza. She's fine. Eddie's going to stay with her overnight. Let him look after her. He wants to be there for her and us."

"Ok," Rose agreed, grimacing when another tightening caused her stomach to clench uncomfortably.

"Are they getting any stronger?" Dimitri asked, not really wanting to hear the answer.

"About the same," Rose replied, her eyes dipping to the bed. "They might be getting a bit further apart," she added hopefully.

"Ok, let's see what we can do about these contractions," Dr. Olendzki said, returning to their room carrying a kidney dish with several loaded syringes. Not fond of needles, Rose looked away, still listening to what the doctor had to say.

"This first shot is designed to relax your uterus and discourage the contractions. The best case scenario is it works, and labor completely ceases. Our next best option is it delays labor for days or weeks and gives your little one a chance to develop more. Worse case is it does not help, and you go into full blown labor."