Fic: BigBang 2011 - The Works Of His Hands Are Faithful And Just (5/7+Epilogue)
_22th April_ (40 weeks)
“Wow, Jen. You really can’t get enough of this place, can you?” Chris chuckled as he strolled towards the front desk of the clinic to greet his friends. It was a quiet Wednesday afternoon and only a few old ladies, who came in almost every day to have their blood pressure checked and have someone to talk to for a while, were sitting in the uncomfortable orange plastic chairs waiting for the doctor on call to see them.
Jensen rolled his eyes but didn’t have the time to get any word in before Jared pointed a finger right at him with an ‘I told you so’ look on his handsome young face.
“See, I’m not the only one who thinks it would be better if you stayed at home for the last few days.”
Again Jensen opened his mouth to say something but this time Chris beat him to it.
“I didn’t say that he should stay at home. Jenny has always been a workaholic and feels best when he’s doing something useful. Steve and I actually had a bet going and…”
“What?” Jared didn’t look too happy. “What the hell were you betting on?”
The paramedic immediately noticed his mistake and tried to find a way to pacify Jared. “Nothing, just… Well… I was just joking that Jensen would probably have the baby in his lunch break so he wouldn’t miss work and Steve said that that wouldn’t happen because you would tie him to the bed to make him stay at home and take it easy.”
Jared’s eyes had narrowed to thin slits by the time Chris had stopped talking and he sounded clearly affronted. “Nice to know that I’m apparently the only one who cares about Jensen’s health and that you and Steve make fun of me for doing so. I just want to make sure Jensen doesn’t overdo it and that everything goes smoothly once it’s time for our baby to be born, which, if anyone still remembers, might be any day now since Jensen’s due date is tomorrow!”
“Enough!” Jensen finally interrupted. “In case you two haven’t noticed I’m right here and I can hear you. Yes, tomorrow’s supposed to be the big day but I’m feeling perfectly fine and I really don’t see why I should stay at home and be bored out of my head if I can do something useful with my time. I know you’re worried, Jay, but don’t you think that I’m actually in good hands here in case I go into labor?” He saw the embarrassed frown on Jared’s face and decided to let it go and give Chris a piece of his mind instead. “And you… You’re like a brother to me and I know you can be frustratingly annoying, Chris, but I really had hoped that you would at some point have noticed how much Jared worries and try to turn on your brain before you start talking.”
“Tell them what’s what! It’s your body and you know what’s best for you, honey,” one of the old ladies across the room said and winked at Jensen.
Jensen’s hand went instinctively to his bulged out belly and he blushed slightly, flashing her a timid smile. “Thank you, Mrs. Mendez.”
“You’re welcome, honey,” she replied and picked up her magazine again, pretending she wasn’t eavesdropping on their conversation any longer.
“Listen, Jay, if it really bothers you that much, I’ll ask Carl if he can cover our shifts for the next couple of days. I can call when we get home tonight,” Jensen offered after a few beats, trying to meet Jared halfway.
Jared simply nodded his agreement and placed his hand on top of Jensen’s hand that was resting on his swollen belly.
“Okay, you two lovebirds, I’ve got to go and pick up Steve for his shift. See you later.” Chris winked at them and then unexpectedly leaned down to gently pat Jensen’s belly before turning on his heels and running towards the double doors.
“See? He acts like a jerk most of the time but deep down he cares a lot more than you would think,” Jensen commented with a soft smile, leaning into Jared’s touch.
Taking a quick look to check if the old biddies were still staring at them, Jared nuzzled Jensen’s neck and pressed a quick peck to the cleanly shaven skin there. “Let’s just finish this shift and get home. I can’t wait to get out of here and have a nice warm bubble bath with you to relax.”
In any other situation Jensen would have argued that he didn’t need to be pampered but the promise of a nice hot bath with Jared sounded too tempting to pass up on.
“Finally!” Jared let out a deep breath as he closed their apartment door behind his back. “I’ll run you a bath and then I’ll start making dinner.”
Jensen’s stomach was already grumbling but he grabbed Jared’s hand and pulled him back. “Come with me, Jay. Once he’s here we won’t have that much time for a romantic bubble bath.”
“Babe, you know…” Jared started saying, most certainly about to point out that Jensen’s hadn’t had dinner yet and needed to keep up his strength or something similar.
“Don’t even try to start a discussion because you know that I have the better arguments… and I promise this isn’t about sex,” Jensen added as he remembered the discussion they had had on his birthday, seven and a half weeks ago. Jensen had made love to Jared which had been an incredible experience not only physically but even more on an emotional level. It had proven that Jared indeed was overcoming his past. “I just want to relax and enjoy the evening with you.”
Thankfully, it didn’t take long for Jared to cave once he saw the longing in Jensen’s eyes. “I guess it won’t hurt to take a good long soak with you. Maybe I can dig out a couple of scented candles if you want it to be romantic.”
Jensen would’ve laughed at the last part of Jared’s statement if it hadn’t sounded so genuinely sincere.
“You don’t need to woo me, Jay. In case you haven’t noticed I’m having your baby and I’m all yours,” he whispered softly as he pulled Jared in the direction of their bathroom.
The bathroom was rather small but contained a tub surprisingly big enough to fit two grown men if they didn’t mind a bit of snuggling. With Jensen’s huge, full-term belly it would be a pretty tight fit but ‘where there’s a will, there’s also a way’ as the old saying went.
“Help me get out of these stuffy clothes,” Jensen asked his lover after he had adjusted the water temperature and turned on the water flow full force to fill the tub.
Jared readily complied, quickly unbuttoning the short sleeved shirt Jensen was wearing and slipping it off his shoulders. He took a moment to contemplate Jensen as he stood there half naked with his sensually rounded belly on display. He looked gorgeous and Jared, even though still nervous about the impending birth, felt proud for being his lover.
“I love you so much,” he whispered in a hoarse voice, letting his eyes roam over the other man’s body before locking his gaze with intense green orbs.
“I know and I love you, too,” Jensen replied tenderly and took Jared’s face between his hands to pull him in for a kiss. “Please, try to relax, Jay. Our baby boy is fine, I’m fine, and I’m sure that the birth will go down smoothly. We’ve watched all the Lamaze videos and read the books… and Steve and Chris are on call 24/7. Everything is being taken care of, Love.”
“I just want to hold the two of you in my arms, Jensen,” Jared admitted with a longing expression.
Jensen smiled softly and tugged at Jared’s t-shirt to give him a hint. “You can hold us all you want if you finally get into that tub with me.”
The younger man lightened up at last and stripped out of his clothes. Then he helped Jensen to disentangle himself from his jeans and boxer shorts and helped him step into the bathtub. He eagerly followed him and slipped into the hot water right behind Jensen’s back, pulling him into a loose embrace and resting his chin on his left shoulder. He slid his palms over the smooth tight stretched skin of Jensen’s swollen belly.
“Is he sleeping?”
“Yeah, he rolled himself into a position that’s probably really comfy for him but not all that comfortable for me and I think he just fell asleep on the ride home.” Jensen guided Jared’s right hand to the side of his belly where he could feel their baby boy pushing against his skin.
“This is amazing,” Jared breathed close to Jensen’s ear and quickly corrected himself. “You are amazing. You’re so calm and you’ve never complained about anything even though these last few weeks have been exhausting for you.”
“My back’s almost constantly aching and I haven’t been able to see my feet for a while now, but I know that it’ll be more than worth it when we finally meet our baby boy. I’m sure we won’t have to wait that much longer either.”
Jared contemplated the words and after a few beats finally got up the nerve to ask Jensen a question that had been on his mind for a while already. “How do you want to do it?”
“What? Give birth?” Jensen inquired, craning his neck in a weird angle to try and get a look at Jared’s face. All the worry and anxiety he saw there made his chest constrict with sympathy.
The younger man nodded against his lover’s shoulder.
“Well, after reading the books I’m pretty sure that I want to try to go for a natural birth. I wanted to talk to Steve about that tomorrow. Since our baby was already in the right position when he checked the other day and my pelvis apparently is wide enough I should be able to give birth naturally.”
“Okay.”
The short answer made Jensen suspicious. So far Jared had always tried to discuss matters properly before making any import decision whether it was about Jensen’s diet plan or his exercise regimen or whatever else that came to his mind and now he just said ‘yes’. It was obvious that there was something going on. “Tell me what you’re thinking, Jay.”
When there was still no answer after a minute or two Jensen tried a different approach to get him to talk. “We’ve read the books together so what do you think? There are pros and cons for a natural birth and for getting an epidural…”
“I’m just worried that it might be too demanding if you…” he broke off and that set off all alarms in Jensen.
Determinedly grabbing for the rim of the tub he awkwardly turned onto his side to face Jared and was met with a sad faraway gaze.
“Jay? What’s wrong, Love?” Jared didn’t react to the question and Jensen got seriously worried, grabbing for his shoulder and squeezing it to bring him back into the here and now. “You’re scaring me, Jay. Come one say something,” he urged, flinching at he felt a sharp pain shooting through his back. As it seemed it wasn’t the greatest idea to twist his body around and rest all his weight on his hip.
“I… I’ve never talked about this with anyone… Well, I might have mentioned it but I never really talked about it…” Jared stuttered nervously.
“You know that you can tell me everything, Love. I always said that I wouldn’t judge you no matter what you’d have to say,” Jensen urged, still holding onto Jared’s shoulder and ignoring the pain in his back.
Jared took a deep breath and it was clear how hard it was for him to talk about whatever was bothering him at that moment.
“It’s my mom… She… she died when I was born. My grandma said that she was sick and had not told anyone. She didn’t want to lose me… and… and so she died giving birth to me. Gran said that something happened in her head and then she just stopped breathing.”
“Oh, Jared!” Jensen cried out not able to hold back the anguish he was feeling on his lover’s behalf any longer.
“I can’t lose you! Not after everything that’s happened… not now that I…” Jared started stammering, getting more and more worked up.
Jensen knew what Jared was trying to say. It had been the anniversary of David’s death only a few days ago and they had both gone to the afternoon mass to say their prayers for the little boy. Trying to shake the memory of Jared almost breaking down as they had sat in the back pew, Jensen made an effort to sound as convincing as he could.
“You won’t, Love. Steve ran every test he could think of in the past couple of months and he says that the pregnancy is progressing just fine and I’m as healthy as I’ve ever been. I can understand that you are nervous, Jay. I’m a little nervous, too, but I’m focusing on the positive things.” He tried to pull himself up, bracing one hand against the wall and Jared’s arm instinctively shot out to support him.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m trying to get out of the tub. Let’s towel off and take a small nap on our bed, instead of this. I think we can both use it, Jay.”
“But you haven’t had dinner, yet.” The younger man, as usual, worried.
Realizing that he really wasn’t feeling hungry anymore, Jensen insisted. “Dinner can wait another couple of hours. It’s been a long week and you wanted me to take it easy, so that’s what I’ll do,” he explained gently. “And you know that I sleep better when you are with me. Besides that, you need a break, too.”
“Alright…” Jared consented. “Let me get out first and then I’ll help you, Babe.”
His back was still killing him but Jensen smiled up at Jared and let himself be carefully manhandled. Hopefully, a couple of hours of sleep would help them unwind.
A few hours later, Jensen woke up feeling terribly sore and stiff. He rolled into a sitting position with considerable effort and needed two attempts to haul his heavy body onto his feet. Throwing a glance over his shoulder and seeing Jared still peacefully asleep, he smiled fondly, but the moment was short-lived as he felt red hot pain jolting through his lower belly and realized that it was a contraction.
For a couple of minutes, he tried to decide what to do next, but then Jared started rousing, reaching out his arm in search of Jensen.
When the younger man realized that the other side of the bed was empty, his eyes shot open and he clearly relaxed again when he saw Jensen standing right next to the bed.
“Why’re you up, Babe?” he mumbled sleepily. He had obviously been more tired than he had thought when they had laid down.
“I just need to go to the bathroom,” Jensen quickly deflected. He hated himself for lying to Jared but right now he needed an excused to leave the room and make a phone call without alarming him. “I’ll be right back with you.”
He forced himself to stay calm and wait for Jared to nod and close his eyes again before waddling down the short hall to get his cell phone that lay on the coffee table. Punching in the number, which he had memorized a long time ago, he waited for two rings before Jeff picked up.
“It’s time,” Jensen said urgently as soon as Jeff had picked up. “Can you please drive over and pick us up? Jared’s still in bed and doesn’t know anything, yet… Yeah, I know but he’ll only worry himself sick until you arrive… I don’t know how far apart…” He felt another pain getting hold of his body and forced himself to breathe through it like he had trained with Jared for the past couple of months. “Five minutes I think, so get here fast,” he finally added slightly breathless as he rubbed the lower curve of his swollen belly.
Chapter 6