April 30
--ooooooo--
Julianna sat up slowly in bed. She'd been laying there for nearly 30 minutes, feeling like she needed to puke. She'd thought the nausea had passed, but as soon as her body was upright, everything came up. She hopped off the bed and flew to the bathroom, barely able to get the toilet seat up before she puked, hard.
Back in the bedroom, George was awakened, first bumped out of his comfortable warmth by the shake of the bed as she jumped out of it, but his eyes flew open when he heard her emptying her stomach. He pushed the covers up off of him as fast as he could for just waking up and went quickly into the bathroom. He dropped to his knees beside her and pulled her hair back, holding it back and placing his other hand on her forehead as she retched. She finally slumped over the toilet, her forehead beaded with sweat.
"Stay right there." He said. Oh yeah, like she was going anywhere, Julianna thought. He got a washcloth and ran water over it. He squeezed the water from it and bent down beside her on the floor, wiping her face and forehead gently with the damp cloth. He handed it to her and she wiped the corners of her mouth as he filled her a glass of water. He squat down and gave her the cup and took the cloth. She took a rather large gulp of the water, wanting desperately to get the puke taste from her mouth.
As she lowered the cup to hand back to George, she immediately realized taking a big gulp was a mistake. She managed to give the cup back to him before she turned to the toilet and all the water came right back out.
"Uhhh.." She coughed and spit into the toilet. "I hate puking." She managed to get out. George smiled weakly.
"No more water?" He asked. She shook her head.
"Washcloth?" She asked, holding her hand out for it. He handed it to her and she wiped her mouth. George reached up and flushed the toilet.
"Better?" He asked. She nodded and handed him the washcloth as she closed her eyes.
"Gross." She murmured. He laid the cup and cloth up on the counter and bent down, surrounding her in his arms.
"C'mon, you're going back to bed." George said.
"No, George, I'm okay." She said, letting her head rest against his shoulder.
"Sure you are. You just finished barfing your guts out and you couldn't keep some water down. No matter what you say, I don't think you're okay so I'm making you go back to bed." He said.
"Okay." She agreed. He chuckled briefly as he laid her back on her side of the bed. He pulled the covers up over her. "Aren't you coming in?" She asked.
"In a minute." He said. She closed her eyes and listened as he rustled around. She opened her eyes once more when she heard him back by her side. He was lying a towel down and an old bucket out on top of the towel, on the floor beside the bed.
"What're you doin'?" She asked.
"What my Mom always use to do when I got sick. I'm putting a bucket by your bed so if you have to puke again, you can do it in there." He said. She grinned.
"Smart lady." She said. He chuckled and stood up.
"There." He said. She reached out one hand to him and he took it, squeezing it briefly before he let go. He climbed up over her and she giggled slightly. He chuckled as he slid under the covers on the other side of her. She turned on her side and cuddled up against him.
"George?" She asked.
"Hmm?" He replied, brushing her hair off of her face.
"Do you think I'm pregnant?" She asked. He shrugged.
"I don't know. Do you think so? You'd probably know better than I would." He said. She had to grin at that.
"I don't want to get my hopes up, I mean.....The first time was an accident and then last time, when I wanted to get pregnant, it took a couple of months. I was expecting at least that again. We've only been trying for two weeks this time."
"Yeah, well, you're living proof that it can happen on the first try, so we know it's very possible for it to happen this soon." George said.
"I know. I just don't want to get my hopes up. But see, now I feel fine. I don't think I'm gonna puke anymore. So it could definitely be morning sickness." She said.
"Well, at least you feel good now." He said. She grinned.
"Let's hope I am pregnant, okay?" She asked. He chuckled.
"That's inevitable." He said and pressed his lips to her forehead. She grinned and nudged herself further against his chest, letting her head rest against him.
"We could have a baby snuggled between us, right now." She said. He laughed softly.
"Yes, we could." He replied warmly. She smiled at the thought and closed her eyes, almost immediately falling asleep, as she dreamed of a child yet to come, hoping the third time could be a charm.
--ooooooo--
"Hello?" Rachel, Julianna's sister, asked into the telephone.
"Rach, it's George."
"Oh, hey George, what's up?" Rachel asked.
"Julianna's really sick, she's been puking a lot since yesterday. I have to go to work.."
"Say no more. I'll leave right now." Rachel said.
"Thanks, you're a lifesaver. It's just that I don't want her to be all alone and sick, I know how it feels." George said.
"Don't worry about it, she's my sister."
"Thanks Rach. I'll see you when you get here." George said.
"Alright. Bye." The two of them hung up.
"What did he want?" Jenny, Rachel's 14-year-old daughter asked.
"Oh, Jules is sick and he wants me to go over and stay with her."
"Jules is a big girl, I'm sure she doesn't need you to babysit her." Jenny replied. Rachel gave her daughter a look. "What?" Jenny asked, trying to act innocent.
"Jeff, I don't know when I'll be back." Rachel said, kissing her husband's cheek before walking out to the kitchen.
--ooooooo--
"Thanks for coming. She's upstairs asleep right now but she'll probably be up soon." George said.
"Alright. Bye George." Rachel said as he kissed her cheek and hurried out the door. She took a paperback book out of her purse and headed upstairs. She peeked into Julianna's room to find her sister sleeping peacefully on the bed. Rachel crept in and lowered herself onto the bed gently and opened her book.
Within minutes she felt Julianna stirring, so she put her book down on the stand and turned to watch her sister. Julianna's eyes fluttered open.
"What're you doing here?" Julianna asked, blinking rapidly.
"To quote Jenny, I'm babysitting you." Rachel said. Julianna grinned.
"Smart mouth, eh?" Julianna asked.
"You know my daughter." Rachel said.
"So, really, why are you here?"
"George sent me."
"Why?" Julianna asked.
"He said you were really sick and have been barfing since yesterday and since he had to work he didn't want to leave you all alone."
"I'm sure I would have been okay alone." Julianna said, rolling her eyes as she stretched.
"Honey, he loves you, plain and simple." Rachel said. Julianna grinned widely.
"I know, ain't it great?" She asked. She and Rachel laughed.
"Are we going to have the discussions we had as teenagers? Rating our crushes on a scale of one to ten?" Rachel asked. Julianna laughed.
"No, I never got to play that game, remember? You and Alex never let me play 'cause I was just a baby. I wasn't old enough." Julianna said, making a face at her older sister.
"So what? You're old enough now. Rate George." Rachel said, propping her head up on her hand which was propped up by her elbow. Julianna grinned.
"I don't think the scale goes high enough. He's the one for me, Rach." Julianna said. Rachel grinned.
"Yeah, I know, I can see it." She said. Julianna smiled and rolled onto her back.
"I think I'm pregnant again." She murmured. Rachel raised her eyebrows.
"Again?" She asked. Julianna smiled and nodded.
"Yes. George is just a big worry wart, I only puked yesterday morning and this morning." She cringed. "It was never that bad for my other two pregnancies." She paused. "I just have morning sickness and I am exhausted. But I just feel pregnant and my feelings were right last time."
"You would know by now." Rachel said. Julianna nodded.
"But then my feelings could just be out of hope."
"I doubt it." Rachel said. Julianna paused.
"I have a doctor's appointment this afternoon."
"At your OB?" Rachel asked.
"Uh huh. George doesn't know I made an appointment. For some reason I wanted to find out alone because I want to be able to surprise him if I am."
"When is this appointment?" Rachel asked. She understood Julianna's need to go alone.
"12:45." Julianna said.
"Want me to go with you?" Rachel asked. Julianna smiled.
"Would you? First off, I am a little bit nervous about it and secondly, it'll take a little while to get the results and it'd be nice for you to be with me to talk to and keep me occupied so I don't go insane." Julianna said. Rachel grinned.
"No problem. I'll just have to call Jeff and tell him I'll be later then I thought."
"Oh, did you have something planned?" Julianna asked.
"Not a damn thing." Rachel said and the two sisters grinned at each other.
--ooooooo--
"Oh God, I'm nervous." Julianna said.
"Why?" Rachel asked as she watched as Julianna jiggled her legs nervously.
"I don't know. I'm scared that something might be wrong with me and I won't be able to conceive. Or I won't be pregnant which I am hoping for. Or the worst possible thing is that I might be pregnant and I could be sick because I had a miscarriage again." Julianna said.
"Jules.." Rachel said.
"I know, it's highly unlikely and I need to think pleasant thoughts."
"Right." Rachel said.
"Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens.." Julianna sang under her breath.
"Smart ass." Rachel said. Julianna laughed but stopped short when she heard the nurse call out her name. "Want me to come?" Rachel asked.
"Please." Julianna said as the two women stood.
--ooooooo--
"Damn that's sore." Julianna said once the nurse left the room. She rubbed a spot on her arm where they had drawn blood.
"What's a little pain for a baby?" Rachel asked. Julianna smiled, immediately put back into her happy mood.
"Oh God, Rach, I cannot wait." Julianna said. Rachel smiled.
"You're lucky, you've got a long way to go before your baby becomes a teenager. You get to start new. I have to deal with smart mouths and sarcasm."
"You love her more than anything." Julianna reminded Rachel. Rachel nodded.
"You're right. I do." She said, smiling.
"Besides, you still have little Derrick. He's only five."
"And he tries to act just like his sister." Rachel said. Julianna laughs.
"And you love him more than anything." Julianna reminded her sister. Rachel laughed.
"Yes, I love those two more than life itself." She said. Julianna smiled.
"See."
"Okay, okay, you got me. But living with a 14-year-old can be a living hell sometimes, especially when her little brother looks up to her and does everything she does." Rachel said. Julianna giggled.
"And all I get is messy diapers, cries at 3 a.m., and I get to smell constantly like baby barf." Julianna said.
"Ah, the good ol' days." Rachel joked. They laughed. "Do you want a boy or a girl?"
"It doesn't matter." Julianna said.
"Do you know what the other two were?" Rachel asked.
"Two boys." She said.
"Really? How'd you know?"
"The first time the doctor from where I got my amnio done told me and the second time my OB told me that she was almost positive that I was having a boy, but that it was really hard to tell, but that the cells leaned more towards a boy than a girl."
"Wow. Complicated stuff." Julianna nodded.
"But see, technically, I haven't had either yet, because I didn't get to raise one or the other. It might be nice to have a boy because then I'd get to see what the other two would've been like, but then I haven't produced a girl yet, so I want one of those too." She grinned. "It doesn't matter as long as it is healthy." Julianna said. Rachel nodded her agreement. Julianna laughed slightly. "We're talking about all of this and we don't even know for sure if I am pregnant or not."
"You said yourself that you felt pregnant." Rachel said.
"Yeah...But that doesn't mean anything."
"It did the last two times."
"I know." Julianna said, nodding. "Ugh, I hate waiting. I want information now!"
--ooooooo--
Dr. Mitchell walked back into the exam room with a manila folder in her hand, presumably Julianna's chart and results.
"We got the lab results back." Dr. Mitchell said.
"And?" Julianna asked, somewhat frustrated because Dr. Mitchell wasn't telling her. Dr. Mitchell smiled.
"You're pregnant. Again."
"Yeah, baby!" Rachel said. Julianna jumped up and hugged her sister enthusiastically.
"Thank you, so much." Julianna said to Dr. Mitchell.
"None of it was my doing." Dr. Mitchell joked. Julianna grinned and squeezed her sisters arm happily.
"Ooh, I need to tell George!" She exclaimed, but sobered up as she remembered another thought. "Dr. Mitchell, I'd like to keep this as private as I can because, well, frankly, the past two pregnancies haven't turned out so great and I don't need the gossip."
"That's understandable. I'll make sure to keep it as under wraps as possible."
"Thank you."
--ooooooo--
Julianna wanted to jump and shout when George entered the house because she wanted to tell him about the baby. But she stayed calm because she wanted the way she told him to be special.
"Hey Jules, where's Rachel?" He asked.
"I sent her home." Julianna said. He grinned.
"I know, I know, you don't need your big sister to come and take care of you."
"No, I don't, but I understand your concern." Julianna grinned and wrapped her arms around his neck.
"How have you been?" He asked. She smiled, cupping her face in both of his hands.
"I've been good. I haven't puked since before you left." She said.
"Good, good." He said. She rubbed her thumbs underneath his eyes and felt his 5 o'clock shadow under her hands. She traced over his eyebrows with her thumbs and traveled down the side of his face. He was curious as to what she was doing, but he kept quiet, watching her as her eyes followed her hands. She let out a barely audible sigh before she met his gaze again.
"Did anyone ever tell you that you're a beautiful man?" Julianna asked him. He chuckled slightly.
"A few people." He murmured. "Did you know I think you're the most amazing woman I've ever met?" He asked. She smiled and pressed her lips to his gently, keeping her eyes open and focused on his the entire kiss. When she pulled away, she leaned her forehead against his and cupped his face in her hands.
"I'm pregnant." She murmured. She watched as he mouth opened slightly and his body went slack in surprise.
"For sure?" He asked. She grinned and nodded.
"Yes. I went to the doctor today and got a blood test." She said. His entire face lit up and he picked her up, hugging her against him.
"Why didn't you tell me?" He asked. She grinned.
"Because I wanted to tell you, not have the doctor do it for me." She said. He chuckled and kissed her, nearly trembling with excitement. He dropped to his knees and lifted her shirt. She laughed slightly.
"Now, baby, you better stay in there for 9 entire months. I don't want to see you for a long while." George said and planted a warm kiss on her stomach. She giggled as his stubble scratched her tummy lightly. He jumped to his feet and wrapped her up in his arms.
"And now you.." He said and kissed her neck as he pushed her towards the stairs. She giggled and ran her hands through his hair.
"George!" She squealed as he nipped gently at her neck, sending shivers through her. He chuckled as he led her up the stairs backwards.
--ooooooo--