Saving Her

Chapter 38. He's Back

Even later that evening, Charles had left his parents since he got a call down at his work station.

"FP?" Alice pulled him to sit down with her on the couch.

"What?" he wondered.

"Are you okay?" she wondered.

"Why wouldn't I be?" he took a seat and kissed her hand.

"Well, it's just that when we were talking about the baby and the due dates and all that... You got upset at the mention of some things."

He kind of sighed, never foreshadowing that his actions would come around and hit him.

"You've been so calm and my rock while all of this. You've been so assuring of things to me. Is there anything you want to vent to me? I'd love to hear and make you feel better. It would honestly make me feel better to know."

"The truth is, I'm fine," he placed his hand on her knee and he rubbed it gently, never really making eye contact. "I just didn't want to talk about it..."

"We haven't talked about it... We talked about things briefly, but we've not talked about anything since the hospital. Are you nervous?"

"Yes and no."

"About what? You can't tell me you're nervous to be a father," she smirked and ran her fingers through his hair subtly.

"No," he shook his head. "I mean, I am. I want to be a good father to our baby... I don't want to make any mistakes this time around, but I know I won't because you keep me pretty grounded."

"That's good to know," she grinned. "But what else is bothering you? You can tell me."

"I know..." he nodded. "I just have this innate desire to protect the both of you at all times. I feel really useless right now because I can't do anything about what's going on. You're always in some sort of distress, whether it is emotional, physical or mental as of now."

"Oh, believe me, I know," she chuckled, trying to lighten up the mood. "It makes me feel so much better to have you around though."

"Anyway, just the... thought of the baby coming early scared me in a weird way. It's obviously not going to be a natural birth and I'm worried about you."

"Well, don't. I actually feel better about having a C-section rather than natural. It'll be less painful," she added. "It feels more organized too."

"It does. But I'm just thinking about the abruption, the doctor said it could get worse with time and although bleeding is normal, it still kind of scares me... because I think it's something more."

"I haven't really bled, just spotting but that's okay. Honestly, I've never had the issue either so it freaks me out too. Besides that, I know I'm in good hands. With you coveting me, Charles doing the same when you're not here... I'm always protected. Whether we have this baby on time or in an emergency, I know I'm getting to the hospital one way or another. Hell, we have Fred next door too. He pops in from time to time and I'm pretty sure he would know what to do."

"True," he nodded. "It does make me feel better. I was just also thinking about premature babies."

"I'm actually not too worried about that because Polly was a preemie."

"Was she?"

"Yeah. So, with Charles, they had to induce labor because he did not want to come out at all," she said slightly dramatic only because it was terrible pain on her young body. "Then Polly came a month early and I had Braxton Hicks with her and it was awful because I thought I was going to die for the week I was in labor. Betty was the only baby who came when she was supposed to which I have always appreciated," she chuckled. "She's a very organized girl even now."