Through Thick And Thin

“I guess all we can do is simply wait,” Mark said exhaling loudly.

*****

Five hours later, it was almost two in the morning and Amelia’s labor had not gotten any better. She was still in immense pain and she seemed to be in hiatus. A few hours earlier, at Dr. Burke’s request, she had been given something to try and speed up her labor but it didn’t seem to be working.

The doctor said that it was failure to progress. And judging by the way everything was going, a C-section was the only way Dr. Burke would ensure a safe delivery for Amelia.

“Right now, it is all about saving the mother and the child and I know we can do both,” Dr. Burke started. “But I have to operate. It is the only way.”

Chad looked at him and then at Amanda.

“Do whatever you have to,” he said in a soft voice. “Make sure you save them both.”

“That is all I plan to do,” the doctor said before he looked at the nurse.

“OR is prepped, doctor. We are ready to go when you are,” the nurse said.

“I’m ready right now. Prep her,” the doctor said in a low voice.

Amanda walked up to Chad and took his hand.

“Don’t worry. Everything is going to be fine,” she said in a whisper.

“I know. I just wish I didn’t have to watch her in so much pain,” he said softly.

“Don’t worry. You won’t have to,” Amanda said.

“But I really want to be there,” Chad pointed out. “I promised I would.”

“Then scrub up and go be with her,” Mark said as he walked towards Chad. “I know how important this is to you and Amelia.”

“It is,” Chad acknowledged.

He looked at one of the nurses who had been listening in and raised an eyebrow at her.

“It is going to be a very routine surgery. Nothing is going to go wrong,” she said.

“But I still…” Chad started before the nurse smiled at him. “I promised her that I would be there for the birth of my child,”

“Come on,” she said. “I’ll take you down to the OR.”

*****

Amanda took a sip of her coffee and shook her head.

“This has got to be the worst cup of coffee I have ever had,” she said as she looked at Mark.

“Tell me about it,” he said as he put his own cup down on the table. She looked at him and shrugged.

“What does someone have to do to get a decent cup of caffeine around here anyway?” Amanda asked again.

“Well, I did see a coffee dispenser outside the hospital,” Mark said. “You may be able to get some good coffee out there.”

“It might be better than this damn hot colored water I am sipping on right now,” she said as she pushed the pushed the Styrofoam cup away from her. She then picked up her phone and looked at her maps before she looked up at Mark, smiling.

“What?” he asked. “You are up to something.”

“Not really, just looking at the nearest coffee house in the vicinity and guess what?” she said as she waved her phone at him. “There is a Starbucks a few blocks away.”

“What if something happens between now and…” Mark started before Amanda shook her head.

“They just went in. Nothing is going to happen in the next ten minutes,” Amanda said. “It’s just a quick dash to and fro. I promise I won’t even take the extra minute to look at the fresh cronuts on display.”

“Yeah,” Mark said standing up. “That’s because you will already have your order with your coffee.”

She looked up at him and smiled before he stretched his hand out to her.

“So we are going? We are actually getting some decent coffee?” she asked excitedly as they began walking towards the door.

The drive to the coffee house was shorter than Amanda had anticipated. When they got there, she asked for an espresso and a latte. Mark raised an eyebrow when he saw her downing the espresso like a shot of tequila.

“I thought one of those was for me,” Mark said as he looked at her.

“Sorry,” Amanda said as she put the cup down. “Long day at work. Don’t worry, I’ll get you a latte.”

“Make it a mocha. I’m feeling chocolatey,” Mark said as he walked to one of the tables and sat down.

“Mocha and throw in a couple of cronuts too. They’re warm right?” she asked and the barrister nodded. “Great.” She took a seat across from Mark.

“Didn’t you feel the heat on your tongue?” he asked as he looked at her.

“I did and it wasn’t that hot anyway,” she started as she took a sip of her latte. “I took a few minutes before I drank it.”

“It still must have stung,” Mark pointed out.

“I used to take hot stuff as a kid every single day,” she said before she took another long sip of her latte. “That was nothing.”

Mark looked up and smiled at a waitress who was bringing his coffee and the cronuts to their table.

“Thank you,” he said before she took a sip of his own coffee. “Shall we head back?”

“Could we just take a few minutes here? Maybe until we are done with the cronuts?” she asked.

Mark leaned forward and looked into her eyes.

“What is going on? Are you alright?”

“Nothing. I just needed some time alone to regroup,” she said as she pushed a strand of hair behind her ear. She took another sip and then bit into her cronut.

“I think there is something more,” he said as he reached for her hand. He began drawing small circles on her knuckles. “You can talk to me. Six years with you, Mandy, I don’t think there is anything you can tell me that could possibly surprise me.” She shrugged.

“I think it’s this whole baby thing,” she started.

“What about it?”

“I don’t know. Guess it’s just hitting me hard,” she said in a soft voice. “Harder than I thought it would.”

“Hey a baby has come into our lives,” Mark said in a soft voice. “It doesn’t matter how he or she has come to us but it’s happening. The only thing we can do right now is be there for Amelia and Chad and the new baby.” Amanda nodded and took another sip of her coffee.

“I know and I intend to be,” she said and then took another bite of her cronut. “It’s just that I always thought that as the big sister, I would be the one to have a baby first,’ she added in a soft voice.

“Yeah the universe has a funny way of granting wishes,” Mark said softly.

“And it is not like I am not happy for my sister, I am. God knows I am,” she said in a soft voice.

“And I don’t doubt that for a second,” Mark said smiling at her. “And I know what you are feeling too.”

“Do you really?” Amanda asked. She was smiling but there was a condescending tone in her voice.

“Of course I do,” Mark started in a soft voice. “I was set on becoming a father too, remember?” There was a smile on his face as he looked at her. “And learning that Chad was going to beat me to it was harder than I could ever explain. But what you have to understand is that your sister and Chad, they are like family.”

“They should be,” Amanda said. “That’s my sister and technically, brother in law.”

“And you are my girl and Amelia, technically, my sister in law.” He raised her hand to his lips and kissed her fingers. “That baby is as much ours as it is theirs.”