(no subject)
Title: No Expectations - Chapter Eleven
Author: firiel77
Word Count: 5258
Warnings: WIP, Mpreg, surgery, babies
Rating: M
Pairings: Adam/Tommy
Summary: Tommy’s just feeling a bit off. Set about five years in the future. Adam is a Rock God. Tommy still plays guitar for him.
Beta: thrace_adams Whee, thanks so much for stepping in with the beta and the encouragement.
CreditThank you to chaosmanor for graciously agreeing to let me rework her wonderful story Thursday's Child in a different fandom; this fic is what inspired me to try mpreg which is saying something. I encourage everyone to read it. It can be found right here.
Disclaimer: This is fiction people.
Feedback: Sure. Let me know what’s working for you.
Authors Notes: I never thought I’d do it but this is a big old MPreg. Read if you dare. It’s also a WIP and I’m not sure where it will go yet although it will probably be fairly long and I’ve got quite a few chapters roughed out. I’ve just been seeing people pining for domestic fics and (gulp) babies so thought I’d give it a shot.
Thank you jashelle1 for the awesome banner and poster you did for my story. You’re the best
Previous Chapters Here
The song quoted in this chapter is "Good to You", by Marianas Trench. They're a fun Vancouver band you should give a listen to.
Adam was at Tommy’s side, one hand on his elbow for support, as they entered Rose’s office. It had been months since they’d seen the geneticist last, not since the very beginning, when Tommy had first found out. Adam and Tommy had some questions about the baby and its birth certificate and figured Rose would be the one who could answer them.
Tommy was getting more comfortable with how he looked. He’d resigned himself to being a pregnant woman for a couple more weeks now that it was unlikely anyone from his previous life could recognize him. Though he was quite sure about it, there was no fucking way he’d actually put it to the test. Darting from car to office was fine, especially since Tommy knew none of his acquaintances were likely to be up this early.
Rose smiled at them warmly as she ushered them into her office and directed them towards the couch. Tommy lowered himself carefully onto it and adjusted his shirt over the bulge so it wasn’t pulling anywhere.
“Tommy, you look great,” Rose told him with another big smile. “Dr. Frost has been filling me in on your progress, of course, but I have to say you look wonderful.”
Tommy smiled back at her and pushed his hair behind his ear. “Almost there. I’m thirty-six weeks now.”
“Well, I’m glad to see it’s going well. What can I do for you? Do you want to discuss your hormone therapy once the baby has been delivered?”
Tommy shook his head and glanced at Adam. “No, at least not yet. We were wondering what our options are with the baby’s birth certificate.”
Rose nodded. “Sure. What do you want to know?”
“I was wondering how it will work. Will both our names be on it? Even though we’re both men?”
“No. Unfortunately that’s not possible right now. There are currently legal challenges in the courts but no ruling as of yet. What I usually recommend is naming the birth parent on the birth certificate and leaving the biological mother unlisted as a surrogate. Afterwards the second father may be added as part of a same sex parent adoption.”
“So there won’t be a problem with me having carried the baby?” Tommy asked.
Shaking her head again, Rose said, “No. The legal system is very good at distinguishing the difference between a biological host parent, or surrogate, from the effective parent. That’ll work to your advantage in this case, and will offer a plausible explanation to anyone who asks.”
Tommy frowned. “I don’t like the fact that Adam’s name isn’t on the birth certificate. That doesn’t seem right,” he protested. “The baby is as much Adam’s as mine. His name should be on there too.”
Adam smiled and took his hand. “Not quite the same. It should be your name on there.”
Tommy glanced at Adam fondly but turned immediately back to Rose. “What can we do to prove parentage? I mean for Adam? Can we have DNA testing or something?” Tommy asked.
Rose nodded. “We can do that. It would certainly prove that you are both genetically related to the infant, should it ever be required.”
“When?” Tommy persisted.
Rose smiled at him again. We can do it right after the baby’s born if you like. Talk to Dr. Frost and she’ll see that the lab work is done while you’re in the hospital. But concentrate on having that baby for now. There’ll be plenty of time afterwards to take care of the paperwork.”
She leant forward, smiling at Tommy. “Now, tell me all about it. How’s it all been going?”
***************************
Dr. Frost took the blood pressure cuff off Tommy’s arm. “Your blood pressure is good,” she said. “And your urine tested well. How have you been feeling?”
Tommy rubbed his arm. “Pretty good. I’ve slept pretty well the last couple nights, for the first time in months.”
Dr. Frost smiled at him and reached for the Doppler. “Baby didn’t try to kick you to pieces?”
“It slept all night.”
“It’ll be the last time it does that for a while, I bet. Enjoy it while it lasts.” Dr. Frost pressed the Doppler against Tommy’s belly. The heartbeat was loud and steady in the room, and Adam squeezed his ankle from where he was sitting on the foot of the exam table.
Nodding, Dr. Frost took the Doppler off. “Alright, lie back if you can, let’s have a feel, see how big your baby is now.” Her hands were steady and firm on Tommy’s belly, and he lay back, until a feeling of suffocating came over him, and he struggled back upright again, panting for breath.
“Sorry,” Dr. Frost told him, helping him up by the arm. “That’s the baby pressing on one of the major vessels in your abdomen. Try and lie on your side instead. That should help. I can feel the baby from there.”
Lying back down on his side was much easier, and Dr. Frost went back to feeling the baby. “See if you can get baby to move for me,” she said, poking at the side of Tommy’s belly.
Tommy reached down and tickled the side of his bulge. “Come on you, you’ve been kicking me for months,” he coaxed.
He shook his head at Dr. Frost after a few seconds. “It’s not moving,” he said, worry in his voice, and Adam’s hand tightened around his ankle.
Dr. Frost patted his hip. “Don’t panic, the heart beat was strong on the Doppler. Listen,” she said, and pressed the Doppler back against his belly, and the thumping of the heart beat was clear again. “Let me do an ultrasound and I’ll have a look.”
Tommy pushed himself up and then slid down from the exam table and shut his eyes briefly while a wave of vertigo washed over him. Adam was there immediately and had his arm wrapped around Tommy’s waist to support him. Tommy blew out a breath.
“Wow, okay. I’m better now,” he said. “I should know better than to do anything fast.”
“Okay, let’s go,” Adam told him. They followed Dr. Frost into the other room where the ultrasound machine was. Tommy knew the drill by now; he was up on the table in no time and had his pants down and shirt up, baring his abdomen for the scan. He was getting to the point that he didn’t care if anyone saw his fucking stretch marks or not.
Dr. Frost sat on the stool and spun around to punch in the information she needed. The gel was cold and sticky as she ran the probe over his skin and she paused from her scanning, asked him to hold his breath so that she could take an image. Dr. Frost pressed some more buttons, scanned some more and then put down the transducer. She looked seriously at the screen.
“Hmmm, it looks like the baby still weighs around five pounds. That’s the same as last week,” she told them. She picked up the transducer and scanned some more before turning the monitor so that Tommy could see. “See those patches there, that’s the placenta,” she said, pointing at the screen. “The dark areas are where it’s starting to break down.”
Dr. Frost switched the machine. “Alright, this is what we have here: a baby that’s not moving as much, a lowered heart rate, though I don’t expect you to have noticed that, no change in the baby’s size, and some placental deterioration.”
She pushed the machine away and turned to Tommy and Adam. “I think this is as far as this pregnancy can go. Hope you haven’t got anything planned for this afternoon, you’re about to have a baby.”
Tommy stopped in the middle of wiping the gel off with the towel she’d handed him. “What? Today?” he said as he struggled upright and distractedly swatted his billowing shirt down to cover his belly.
Dr. Frost nodded curtly. “Yes. I don’t mean to alarm you but with the changes I’ve seen this morning I think it would be best if you have your baby as soon as possible. When was the last time you ate, Tommy?”
“Um, about seven, I guess. Breakfast,” Tommy answered and the thought of food made his stomach rumble alarmingly.
“Well, I’m going to ask you to hold off on lunch for a bit. Why don’t you get down and sit where it’s more comfortable and I’ll make some phone calls.”
Adam helped Tommy shuffle to the chairs and the two of them sat uneasily while Dr. Frost made the calls. They hadn’t expected to be doing this today. Tommy was running his hands up and down his thighs nervously and Adam caught one and gave it a reassuring squeeze.
Finally Dr. Frost put the phone down and smiled encouragingly at Tommy and Adam. “Okay, it’s all set. I’ve got an OR time of two o’clock and the anaesthesiologist I wanted. One last call,” she said to Tommy.
“I just have to line up the pediatrician as well.”
There was a pause while she dialled. “Hi, this is Brenda Frost, is Terry available?” Dr. Frost smiled at the two nervous men and hummed lightly while she waited. “Hi, Terry. I’ve got a delivery this afternoon that I’d like you on stand-by for, two o’clock… No, the patient with the abdominal pregnancy I talked to you about last week. Single infant, ‘bout five pounds, 37 weeks gestation… uh huh… Good, see you in the OR.”
She leant back in her chair, looking pleased. “Both of you, go home and shower, pack your bags, and head for the hospital. You’re already pre-admitted under the name we arranged but it will still take a while to get organized and get you prepped, so don’t dawdle.”
She checked her watch and then looked speculatively at Adam. “Still want to be there in the OR theatre? You haven’t changed your mind?”
Adam shook his head. "No. No way. There’s no way I’d miss being there," he said.
Tommy glanced at Adam and thought he looked a bit gray. He squeezed the hand that had been in his grip since they found out it was happening today and nodded. Tommy wasn’t at all sure he wanted to be present while he was getting a baby cut out of his belly; there was no way Adam was getting a pass. Tommy just hoped it wasn’t too much for him.
*************************************
The curtains were drawn around them and Adam pulled his chair close to Tommy’s stretcher. They were still in ambulatory care waiting to be taken to the OR and things were running a little behind. The anaesthesiologist had come by earlier to discuss Tommy’s medication options and the three of them had come to a decision. A nurse had started an IV in Tommy’s arm and the IV pump was now parked next to the stretcher and was chugging away.
“Not long now,” Adam whispered as he took Tommy’s hand where it was clutching the sheet. He was dressed in OR greens with his hair tucked up under a blue OR cap. He was clearly out of his element in his current costume and if he hadn’t been so nervous Tommy would have laughed.
Tommy had changed into a gown and was lying on his side on the narrow stretcher. They were both anxiously watching the screen for the fetal monitor at Tommy’s feet. It showed the baby’s heart rate remained steady but Tommy was still terrified something was wrong. The baby still hadn’t moved at all today.
Neither of them could tear their eyes away from the wavering line on the monitor in case it should suddenly stop and the continuous beep, beep, beep, reassuring as it was, was giving Tommy a headache. His mouth felt like sand and his stomach growled again, unaccustomed to being empty for so long. He shut his eyes and tried taking in some deep, slow breathes, willing himself to relax.
Dr. Frost had been encouraging when she had popped in before going to change. They both felt slightly more confident afterwards but Tommy still felt like he might climb out of his skin with anxiety. Adam adjusted the paper cap on Tommy’s head so that it wasn’t sliding down his forehead and over his eye and then kissed him softly on the lips.
“Do you want me to sing to you?” he asked quietly.
Tommy tore his eyes off the monitor, staring at Adam suddenly. “Okay,” he whispered hoarsely.
Adam nodded and then looked quickly outside their cubicle to see if there was anyone around. He cleared his throat softly and Tommy could see him trying to recall the words to the song he’d chosen to sing. He smiled distractedly and waited, wondering what Adam had come up with.
“I know what I’m going to do,” Adam smiled. “I’m just trying to remember the words. Just give me a sec,” he said, and Tommy smiled patiently.
Adam pushed himself back in his chair so that he was more upright and took a deep breath before telling Tommy, “I heard that song again the other day. The one I couldn’t stop humming.”
“Yeah?” Tommy said. “Who’s it by?”
“Marianas Trench,” Adam told him before he cleared his throat once more and hesitantly began the first verse.
“Everyone's around, no words are coming out
And I can't find my breath; can we just say the rest with no sound?
And I know this isn't enough, I still don't measure up
I'm not prepared; sorry is never there when you need it
Tommy finally pulled his attention away from the beeping monitor, caught by the words, and by the depth of feeling in Adam’s voice. He turned his body a little more so that he could watch Adam more easily while he sang. Adam truly had an amazing voice and the ballad he was doing suited it well even though he had to hesitate a couple times to get the order of the words right.
And I do want you to know
I'll hold you up above everyone
And I do want you to know
I think you'd be good to me
And I'd be so good to you
I would
Tommy couldn’t help but smile at the sentiment and again cursed the hormones that made his throat close and his eyes well up with tears so that he had to wipe them off with his sheet.
I thought I saw a sign somewhere between the lines
But maybe it's me, maybe I only see what I want
and I still have your letter, just got caught between
Someone I just invented, who I really am and who I've become
Adam leaned in closer to Tommy so that their faces were almost touching and tenderly repeated the chorus once more.
And I do want you to know
I'll hold you up above everyone
And I do want you to know
I think you'd be good to me
And I'd be so good to you
When he was done Adam picked up one of Tommy’s hands, brought his fingers to his mouth and kissed them quickly. Tommy smiled a little more convincingly than he’d managed all day and rested his head back down on the pillow, eyes on Adam’s face.
“Did you like it?” Adam asked him.
Tommy nodded, not trusting his voice yet. Finally he murmured, “I want to learn that one.”
“Yeah, maybe we can do it together sometime. Do you feel a little better? You looked scared shitless.”
“I guess,” Tommy told him, not totally believing it but wanting to reassure Adam if nothing else.
There were voices outside the curtain, staff talking and then someone coughing, and Tommy and Adam stopped talking.
The curtains opened and a nurse came in. “Don’t stop,” she said, and she squeezed around behind Adam and pulled off the strip of printout from the fetal monitor. She nodded encouragingly at Tommy. “Baby’s fine,” she said “ten more minutes. He probably has time for one more number.”
Tommy looked back at Adam and smiled. The curtains swished shut behind the nurse, and Adam chuckled and shook his head. He hadn’t realized he had an audience other than Tommy.
“Any requests?” he asked Tommy, stroking his cheek gently.
Tommy shook his head. “No, it’s okay. I’m alright now. Thanks.”
He could hear discussion from the other side of the room and recognized Dr. Frost’s voice. He realized it must be almost time and instinctively reached out for Adam. Suddenly he jolted and said, “Baby just kicked me,” relief in his voice.
“Baby must be ready to go,” Adam smiled.
“Yeah.”
The curtains opened, and Dr. Frost looked in. She was wearing scrubs, the same as Adam had on, and rubber boots. She leant forward and whispered to Tommy, “He can’t sing for shit, can he?”
Tommy shook his head. “Yeah, he sucks,” he agreed, squeezing Adam’s hand.
Dr. Frost laughed. “You better build up your points now, Adam. Tommy’s going to hate you afterwards because of the post-operative pain. You’re going to be in big trouble.”
She glanced at the fetal monitor and nodded reassuringly. “Baby is doing well, still steady. I’m about to make sure everything is ready, I’ll see you both in a few minutes in the theatre.”
Then she was gone, and Tommy said, “Sing that song again. There’s time. Please?”
Adam nodded and started right in.
And I do want you to know
I'll hold you up above everyone
And I do want you to know
I think you'd be good to me
And I'd be so good to you
Tommy’s eyes misted over once more and he watched Adam intently, considering the words to the song. It was as close to a declaration as Adam had ever given Tommy, as far as Tommy had ever let him go. Tommy, and probably Adam as well, had gradually accepted that some things would probably never be spoken out loud between them.
The nurse pushed the curtains open again. “Theatre just called, porters are on the way,” she said and then she was gone again.
Tommy tugged on Adam’s hand. “Adam,” he started.
Then the porters were drawing the curtains back, kicking the brakes off the stretcher, pushing Tommy down sterile white corridors, Adam following behind, rubber boots slapping on the tile flooring. Tommy starred up at the ceiling and noticed that one of the fluorescent bulbs in the light going by above needed to be replaced.
**************************************
The stretcher was pushed into the OR theatre and Tommy was introduced to the waiting anaesthesiologist. A nurse helped him shuffle across onto the OR table where he sat bent over with his legs over the side while the doctor started his spinal. Tommy felt cold fluid being swabbed over the skin on his back and then a burning pain as the area was infiltrated with local anaesthetic.
Adam stood by, holding his hand, and the nurse put a steadying hand on his shoulder as the needle went in. Tommy barely felt it and when he looked at Adam he saw that his eyes were averted, obviously not wanting to see what was going on. Once it was secured the nurse helped Tommy lie down on the OR table.
The room was crowded, full of masked faces in identical clothes. Tommy finally recognized Dr. Frost when she bent over him, gloved hands held in front of her.
“Are you ready to have a baby?”
Tommy nodded and looked up at Adam who was staring down at him a little wild eyed from behind his own mask. A nurse went to Adam’s side and directed him up to the head of the table next to Tommy’s face and swung a stool in close for him to sit on.
A voice beside them said, “Hi, Adam. I’m Monica. I’m the circulating nurse. It’s my job to keep you out of trouble. Just sit here and don’t touch anything.”
The nurses worked in businesslike silence, checking the IV bags and hanging an extra, draping the surgical field so Tommy and Adam, as well as the anaesthesiologist, were blocked off from what was going on below. They tried to strap Tommy’s arms at his sides but he struggled to get one free so Adam could take his hand. They left it out.
The anaesthesiologist spoke. “Alright, Tommy. I’ve administered the spinal so in a moment you won’t be able to feel anything below your chest. You may feel some tugging later on, but no pain.”
Tommy held onto Adam and realized he could no longer feel his legs. He heard Adam ask, “Is it always this full of people?”
Monica nodded her head, blue eyes twinkling at them over the edge of her mask. “Pretty much, there’s the surgical team for you as well as the pediatric team with an incubator and a crash cart for the baby. After the delivery they take the baby and Dr. Frost will complete your C section.”
Tommy looked up and saw one person in scrubs drag a step ladder to the perimeter of the crowd and then climb up the steps, digital camera in hand.
“That’s Marty, he’s the scientific photographer,” Monica explained. “This is a teaching hospital so Dr. Frost will want a record of the birth because these pregnancies are so rare. I’ve never seen one delivered before.”
Tommy cleared his throat. “Will we be able to get copies? We were in kind of a rush and forgot to bring a camera.”
“I’m sure Dr. Frost will let you have some,” Monica assured him.
Someone was writing on a whiteboard with a marker pen in scrawl that Tommy couldn’t understand and there was a clatter of metal on metal from behind the drape. He realized he could no longer feel his legs and they were right, he couldn’t feel much down below except that sometimes what they were doing translated into movements he could feel above. It felt very strange.
The room was very bright and there was an antiseptic, chemical smell than made Tommy feel slightly ill. When he looked up at Adam what he saw of his face was pale and he had a slightly panicked look about him. Tommy squeezed his hand again.
“It’s okay. Just take some deep breaths,” Tommy murmured, as if it had helped him at all.
Adam nodded curtly and took a slow breath, visibly trying to relax but not before Monica came back to check on him. “How are you doing? Do you need to get a bit of fresh air?”
Adam shook his head. “No, it’s passing. I’m just kind of nervous,” Adam told her.
“That’s understandable. OR’s can be intimidating,” she assured him.
“Is this your first baby?” the anaesthesiologist leaned down and asked.
Adam nodded quickly and Tommy told him “Yes.”
“Then congratulations. It won’t be long now.” He said before turning back to his equipment.
The big light over the table flicked on, and a gloved hand reached up and moved it, using the plastic covered handle. There was steady beep from a machine, and the room became strangely quiet, the silence punctuated only by Dr. Frost’s calm instructions.
Monica leant her head closer to Adam. “It’s not usually this quiet. They’ve turned the radio off and no one is gossiping because you’re with us and Tommy is awake.”
There was a sudden bad smell in the room that Tommy could almost taste, the acrid smell of smoke, and Monica said, “That’s the diathermy machine, Dr. Frost’s cauterizing with it.”
Time crept past. At one point, Dr. Frost said, “Someone crosscheck the blood and put it up please,” and Tommy watched as a bag of livid red blood was hung over the table and the color snaked down the tubing towards him.
There was movement and Dr. Frost called out, “Adam, want to come see your baby being born?”
Tommy reluctantly let go of Adam’s hand as Monica took his elbow and guided him away.
“Don’t touch anything in the sterile field,” she whispered. Tommy stared up at the ceiling and listened to the drama unfolding, quite thankful he couldn’t see what was happening. He hoped Adam held up alright or at least didn’t faint and topple into his incision.
“Someone call the birth, please,” Dr. Frost announced.
A voice responded, “Three, twenty one and ten seconds,” and Tommy could hear a whoosh of fluid hit the floor.
There was a lot of hushed talking and then a strange thin noise that Tommy realized was his baby crying. The sound hit him deep inside in a way he’d never felt anything before in his life.
“Is everything okay?” he asked, suddenly frustrated that he couldn’t see what was going on beyond the drapes. “Someone tell me what’s happening? Please.”
“That’s right,” Dr. Frost coaxed the baby, and it began to cry more loudly. “Well, there you go, Adam. You better give the news to Tommy. He wanted a surprise.”
Adam was at his side again immediately and took Tommy’s hand. He was crying, tears were soaking into his mask, and his breath was coming in short gasps.
“What’s wrong?” Tommy demanded, wanting more than anything to be able to see his baby.
Adam shook his head, “Nothing. It’s just...” he trailed off helplessly. “It’s perfect. He’s perfect. It’s a boy. We have a son.”
Someone called, “Thirty seconds,” and Dr. Frost called to Adam. “Want to cut the cord, Adam?”
He hesitated until Tommy smiled and told him, “Go do it. You’ll be sorry later if you don’t.”
Adam took a deep breath and walked out of Tommy’s line of sight again. Tommy waved Monica over, “Do you think the photographer could take some pictures of this part too. So that I can see later?”
The nurse nodded quickly and waved the photographer down from his ladder where he’d been waiting to do the next set of photos. Dr. Frost continued with her quiet instructions beyond Tommy’s line of sight.
“Wait until the scissors and clamps are laid down on the cloth for you before you try and touch them Adam, everything else is sterile.”
There were more quiet words and the occasional click of the camera and then a male voice said, “Let’s go, folks,” and Tommy saw something small being carried over to the corner of the room.
Monica turned to Adam and said “Come and see your son. You just need to stand back and let the team work for a couple minutes.”
She came and sat down beside Tommy and patted him on the shoulder.
“Everything’s fine,” she reassured him. “They just have some assessments they need to do and then they’ll wipe him down a bit so he doesn’t get cold and then you can see him. Marty can take pictures of the three of you then.
Tommy craned his neck so that he could watch as the pediatrician and two nurses bent over their baby and someone called, “Five seconds to Apgar 1.”
There was a pause, and Tommy could see Adam hanging back, trying to stay out of the way but torn because he wanted to be near his son. “Five,” a male voice said. Then the same voice said, “Does dad want to hold the baby?”
Monica took Adam by the hand and led him back, pushed him back down on his stool, and then one of the nurses brought a tiny bundle over to them and handed it carefully to Adam. He looked down and then sobbed softly and then lowered the baby so that Tommy could see him too.
He was tiny, and bluish, and wrinkled and covered in a waxy coating of goo that Tommy couldn’t remember the name of, but he was more beautiful than anything Tommy had ever seen. Tommy stared at him and felt overwhelmed as the baby cried, eyes shut and mouth open.
“He’s so tiny,” Tommy whispered.
The baby was taken out of Adam’s arms again and back to the incubator. Tommy could smell the diathermy machine again and the steady clink of metal on metal.
“Five seconds to Apgar 2,” was called out.
“Eight,” was the answer, and Dr. Frost called to Adam’s again. “Everything’s going well, Adam,” she assured him. “You can go to the nursery with the baby if you like; I’ll just have to close here and then Tommy will be going to recovery. I can come get you when he’s done.”
Adam nodded and turned to Tommy, “What should I do?”
“Stay with baby,” he assured Adam, although really he wanted him there with him. “I’ll be fine.”
Adam squeezed his hand and then bent down and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. “Okay, if you’re sure. I’ll see you when you come out.”
Tommy watched him walk towards the double doors the neonatal team had disappeared though with the baby. Adam paused and looked back once more when Dr. Frost called out, “Adam? Congratulations, to all of you.”
Tommy waved at Adam with his free hand and saw him nod in return before he pushed through the doors of the OR theatre. Suddenly the room seemed much larger; the other side of the room seemed to be far away and Tommy found that his vision was blurring around the edges.
“How are you doing Tommy?” he heard the anaesthesiologist ask him and he realized how cold the room had become all of a sudden. He started to shiver. The anaesthesiologist called for a warm blanket and started to open and close drawers at the head of the OR table as an alarm began to sound.
“Blood pressure is dropping,” he barked. “It’s down to 80/40; it looks like you’ve got some bleeding Dr. Frost.”
Tommy could hear urgent, hushed voices, and though they sounded far away, he struggled to understand what they were talking about. There were words he recognized from watching TV shows like ER but none of it meant anything to him. He just felt terribly tired, and if not exactly frightened, then at least concerned that something might be going horribly wrong.
“Stay with us here, Tommy,” he heard Monica tell him as she hung two more bags of blood above the table. “We’ve got to get your pressure back up.”
Tommy had spent the last hours terrified for his baby’s safety and now that he was safely delivered Tommy found what was happening to him didn’t have quite so much urgency. He wanted desperately to hold his baby again, to make sure he was alright, but what Tommy found himself thinking about now was how much he missed Adam. With still more alarms sounding around him and calls for epinephrine, bags of saline and still more blood, Tommy found himself sinking into darkness.
Chapter Twelve
Sorry for the cliffie - here's the video for the song I used above to keep you amused until the next chapter goes up. :)
Good To You - Marianas Trench
Author: firiel77
Word Count: 5258
Warnings: WIP, Mpreg, surgery, babies
Rating: M
Pairings: Adam/Tommy
Summary: Tommy’s just feeling a bit off. Set about five years in the future. Adam is a Rock God. Tommy still plays guitar for him.
Beta: thrace_adams Whee, thanks so much for stepping in with the beta and the encouragement.
CreditThank you to chaosmanor for graciously agreeing to let me rework her wonderful story Thursday's Child in a different fandom; this fic is what inspired me to try mpreg which is saying something. I encourage everyone to read it. It can be found right here.
Disclaimer: This is fiction people.
Feedback: Sure. Let me know what’s working for you.
Authors Notes: I never thought I’d do it but this is a big old MPreg. Read if you dare. It’s also a WIP and I’m not sure where it will go yet although it will probably be fairly long and I’ve got quite a few chapters roughed out. I’ve just been seeing people pining for domestic fics and (gulp) babies so thought I’d give it a shot.
Thank you jashelle1 for the awesome banner and poster you did for my story. You’re the best
Previous Chapters Here
The song quoted in this chapter is "Good to You", by Marianas Trench. They're a fun Vancouver band you should give a listen to.
Adam was at Tommy’s side, one hand on his elbow for support, as they entered Rose’s office. It had been months since they’d seen the geneticist last, not since the very beginning, when Tommy had first found out. Adam and Tommy had some questions about the baby and its birth certificate and figured Rose would be the one who could answer them.
Tommy was getting more comfortable with how he looked. He’d resigned himself to being a pregnant woman for a couple more weeks now that it was unlikely anyone from his previous life could recognize him. Though he was quite sure about it, there was no fucking way he’d actually put it to the test. Darting from car to office was fine, especially since Tommy knew none of his acquaintances were likely to be up this early.
Rose smiled at them warmly as she ushered them into her office and directed them towards the couch. Tommy lowered himself carefully onto it and adjusted his shirt over the bulge so it wasn’t pulling anywhere.
“Tommy, you look great,” Rose told him with another big smile. “Dr. Frost has been filling me in on your progress, of course, but I have to say you look wonderful.”
Tommy smiled back at her and pushed his hair behind his ear. “Almost there. I’m thirty-six weeks now.”
“Well, I’m glad to see it’s going well. What can I do for you? Do you want to discuss your hormone therapy once the baby has been delivered?”
Tommy shook his head and glanced at Adam. “No, at least not yet. We were wondering what our options are with the baby’s birth certificate.”
Rose nodded. “Sure. What do you want to know?”
“I was wondering how it will work. Will both our names be on it? Even though we’re both men?”
“No. Unfortunately that’s not possible right now. There are currently legal challenges in the courts but no ruling as of yet. What I usually recommend is naming the birth parent on the birth certificate and leaving the biological mother unlisted as a surrogate. Afterwards the second father may be added as part of a same sex parent adoption.”
“So there won’t be a problem with me having carried the baby?” Tommy asked.
Shaking her head again, Rose said, “No. The legal system is very good at distinguishing the difference between a biological host parent, or surrogate, from the effective parent. That’ll work to your advantage in this case, and will offer a plausible explanation to anyone who asks.”
Tommy frowned. “I don’t like the fact that Adam’s name isn’t on the birth certificate. That doesn’t seem right,” he protested. “The baby is as much Adam’s as mine. His name should be on there too.”
Adam smiled and took his hand. “Not quite the same. It should be your name on there.”
Tommy glanced at Adam fondly but turned immediately back to Rose. “What can we do to prove parentage? I mean for Adam? Can we have DNA testing or something?” Tommy asked.
Rose nodded. “We can do that. It would certainly prove that you are both genetically related to the infant, should it ever be required.”
“When?” Tommy persisted.
Rose smiled at him again. We can do it right after the baby’s born if you like. Talk to Dr. Frost and she’ll see that the lab work is done while you’re in the hospital. But concentrate on having that baby for now. There’ll be plenty of time afterwards to take care of the paperwork.”
She leant forward, smiling at Tommy. “Now, tell me all about it. How’s it all been going?”
***************************
Dr. Frost took the blood pressure cuff off Tommy’s arm. “Your blood pressure is good,” she said. “And your urine tested well. How have you been feeling?”
Tommy rubbed his arm. “Pretty good. I’ve slept pretty well the last couple nights, for the first time in months.”
Dr. Frost smiled at him and reached for the Doppler. “Baby didn’t try to kick you to pieces?”
“It slept all night.”
“It’ll be the last time it does that for a while, I bet. Enjoy it while it lasts.” Dr. Frost pressed the Doppler against Tommy’s belly. The heartbeat was loud and steady in the room, and Adam squeezed his ankle from where he was sitting on the foot of the exam table.
Nodding, Dr. Frost took the Doppler off. “Alright, lie back if you can, let’s have a feel, see how big your baby is now.” Her hands were steady and firm on Tommy’s belly, and he lay back, until a feeling of suffocating came over him, and he struggled back upright again, panting for breath.
“Sorry,” Dr. Frost told him, helping him up by the arm. “That’s the baby pressing on one of the major vessels in your abdomen. Try and lie on your side instead. That should help. I can feel the baby from there.”
Lying back down on his side was much easier, and Dr. Frost went back to feeling the baby. “See if you can get baby to move for me,” she said, poking at the side of Tommy’s belly.
Tommy reached down and tickled the side of his bulge. “Come on you, you’ve been kicking me for months,” he coaxed.
He shook his head at Dr. Frost after a few seconds. “It’s not moving,” he said, worry in his voice, and Adam’s hand tightened around his ankle.
Dr. Frost patted his hip. “Don’t panic, the heart beat was strong on the Doppler. Listen,” she said, and pressed the Doppler back against his belly, and the thumping of the heart beat was clear again. “Let me do an ultrasound and I’ll have a look.”
Tommy pushed himself up and then slid down from the exam table and shut his eyes briefly while a wave of vertigo washed over him. Adam was there immediately and had his arm wrapped around Tommy’s waist to support him. Tommy blew out a breath.
“Wow, okay. I’m better now,” he said. “I should know better than to do anything fast.”
“Okay, let’s go,” Adam told him. They followed Dr. Frost into the other room where the ultrasound machine was. Tommy knew the drill by now; he was up on the table in no time and had his pants down and shirt up, baring his abdomen for the scan. He was getting to the point that he didn’t care if anyone saw his fucking stretch marks or not.
Dr. Frost sat on the stool and spun around to punch in the information she needed. The gel was cold and sticky as she ran the probe over his skin and she paused from her scanning, asked him to hold his breath so that she could take an image. Dr. Frost pressed some more buttons, scanned some more and then put down the transducer. She looked seriously at the screen.
“Hmmm, it looks like the baby still weighs around five pounds. That’s the same as last week,” she told them. She picked up the transducer and scanned some more before turning the monitor so that Tommy could see. “See those patches there, that’s the placenta,” she said, pointing at the screen. “The dark areas are where it’s starting to break down.”
Dr. Frost switched the machine. “Alright, this is what we have here: a baby that’s not moving as much, a lowered heart rate, though I don’t expect you to have noticed that, no change in the baby’s size, and some placental deterioration.”
She pushed the machine away and turned to Tommy and Adam. “I think this is as far as this pregnancy can go. Hope you haven’t got anything planned for this afternoon, you’re about to have a baby.”
Tommy stopped in the middle of wiping the gel off with the towel she’d handed him. “What? Today?” he said as he struggled upright and distractedly swatted his billowing shirt down to cover his belly.
Dr. Frost nodded curtly. “Yes. I don’t mean to alarm you but with the changes I’ve seen this morning I think it would be best if you have your baby as soon as possible. When was the last time you ate, Tommy?”
“Um, about seven, I guess. Breakfast,” Tommy answered and the thought of food made his stomach rumble alarmingly.
“Well, I’m going to ask you to hold off on lunch for a bit. Why don’t you get down and sit where it’s more comfortable and I’ll make some phone calls.”
Adam helped Tommy shuffle to the chairs and the two of them sat uneasily while Dr. Frost made the calls. They hadn’t expected to be doing this today. Tommy was running his hands up and down his thighs nervously and Adam caught one and gave it a reassuring squeeze.
Finally Dr. Frost put the phone down and smiled encouragingly at Tommy and Adam. “Okay, it’s all set. I’ve got an OR time of two o’clock and the anaesthesiologist I wanted. One last call,” she said to Tommy.
“I just have to line up the pediatrician as well.”
There was a pause while she dialled. “Hi, this is Brenda Frost, is Terry available?” Dr. Frost smiled at the two nervous men and hummed lightly while she waited. “Hi, Terry. I’ve got a delivery this afternoon that I’d like you on stand-by for, two o’clock… No, the patient with the abdominal pregnancy I talked to you about last week. Single infant, ‘bout five pounds, 37 weeks gestation… uh huh… Good, see you in the OR.”
She leant back in her chair, looking pleased. “Both of you, go home and shower, pack your bags, and head for the hospital. You’re already pre-admitted under the name we arranged but it will still take a while to get organized and get you prepped, so don’t dawdle.”
She checked her watch and then looked speculatively at Adam. “Still want to be there in the OR theatre? You haven’t changed your mind?”
Adam shook his head. "No. No way. There’s no way I’d miss being there," he said.
Tommy glanced at Adam and thought he looked a bit gray. He squeezed the hand that had been in his grip since they found out it was happening today and nodded. Tommy wasn’t at all sure he wanted to be present while he was getting a baby cut out of his belly; there was no way Adam was getting a pass. Tommy just hoped it wasn’t too much for him.
*************************************
The curtains were drawn around them and Adam pulled his chair close to Tommy’s stretcher. They were still in ambulatory care waiting to be taken to the OR and things were running a little behind. The anaesthesiologist had come by earlier to discuss Tommy’s medication options and the three of them had come to a decision. A nurse had started an IV in Tommy’s arm and the IV pump was now parked next to the stretcher and was chugging away.
“Not long now,” Adam whispered as he took Tommy’s hand where it was clutching the sheet. He was dressed in OR greens with his hair tucked up under a blue OR cap. He was clearly out of his element in his current costume and if he hadn’t been so nervous Tommy would have laughed.
Tommy had changed into a gown and was lying on his side on the narrow stretcher. They were both anxiously watching the screen for the fetal monitor at Tommy’s feet. It showed the baby’s heart rate remained steady but Tommy was still terrified something was wrong. The baby still hadn’t moved at all today.
Neither of them could tear their eyes away from the wavering line on the monitor in case it should suddenly stop and the continuous beep, beep, beep, reassuring as it was, was giving Tommy a headache. His mouth felt like sand and his stomach growled again, unaccustomed to being empty for so long. He shut his eyes and tried taking in some deep, slow breathes, willing himself to relax.
Dr. Frost had been encouraging when she had popped in before going to change. They both felt slightly more confident afterwards but Tommy still felt like he might climb out of his skin with anxiety. Adam adjusted the paper cap on Tommy’s head so that it wasn’t sliding down his forehead and over his eye and then kissed him softly on the lips.
“Do you want me to sing to you?” he asked quietly.
Tommy tore his eyes off the monitor, staring at Adam suddenly. “Okay,” he whispered hoarsely.
Adam nodded and then looked quickly outside their cubicle to see if there was anyone around. He cleared his throat softly and Tommy could see him trying to recall the words to the song he’d chosen to sing. He smiled distractedly and waited, wondering what Adam had come up with.
“I know what I’m going to do,” Adam smiled. “I’m just trying to remember the words. Just give me a sec,” he said, and Tommy smiled patiently.
Adam pushed himself back in his chair so that he was more upright and took a deep breath before telling Tommy, “I heard that song again the other day. The one I couldn’t stop humming.”
“Yeah?” Tommy said. “Who’s it by?”
“Marianas Trench,” Adam told him before he cleared his throat once more and hesitantly began the first verse.
“Everyone's around, no words are coming out
And I can't find my breath; can we just say the rest with no sound?
And I know this isn't enough, I still don't measure up
I'm not prepared; sorry is never there when you need it
Tommy finally pulled his attention away from the beeping monitor, caught by the words, and by the depth of feeling in Adam’s voice. He turned his body a little more so that he could watch Adam more easily while he sang. Adam truly had an amazing voice and the ballad he was doing suited it well even though he had to hesitate a couple times to get the order of the words right.
And I do want you to know
I'll hold you up above everyone
And I do want you to know
I think you'd be good to me
And I'd be so good to you
I would
Tommy couldn’t help but smile at the sentiment and again cursed the hormones that made his throat close and his eyes well up with tears so that he had to wipe them off with his sheet.
I thought I saw a sign somewhere between the lines
But maybe it's me, maybe I only see what I want
and I still have your letter, just got caught between
Someone I just invented, who I really am and who I've become
Adam leaned in closer to Tommy so that their faces were almost touching and tenderly repeated the chorus once more.
And I do want you to know
I'll hold you up above everyone
And I do want you to know
I think you'd be good to me
And I'd be so good to you
When he was done Adam picked up one of Tommy’s hands, brought his fingers to his mouth and kissed them quickly. Tommy smiled a little more convincingly than he’d managed all day and rested his head back down on the pillow, eyes on Adam’s face.
“Did you like it?” Adam asked him.
Tommy nodded, not trusting his voice yet. Finally he murmured, “I want to learn that one.”
“Yeah, maybe we can do it together sometime. Do you feel a little better? You looked scared shitless.”
“I guess,” Tommy told him, not totally believing it but wanting to reassure Adam if nothing else.
There were voices outside the curtain, staff talking and then someone coughing, and Tommy and Adam stopped talking.
The curtains opened and a nurse came in. “Don’t stop,” she said, and she squeezed around behind Adam and pulled off the strip of printout from the fetal monitor. She nodded encouragingly at Tommy. “Baby’s fine,” she said “ten more minutes. He probably has time for one more number.”
Tommy looked back at Adam and smiled. The curtains swished shut behind the nurse, and Adam chuckled and shook his head. He hadn’t realized he had an audience other than Tommy.
“Any requests?” he asked Tommy, stroking his cheek gently.
Tommy shook his head. “No, it’s okay. I’m alright now. Thanks.”
He could hear discussion from the other side of the room and recognized Dr. Frost’s voice. He realized it must be almost time and instinctively reached out for Adam. Suddenly he jolted and said, “Baby just kicked me,” relief in his voice.
“Baby must be ready to go,” Adam smiled.
“Yeah.”
The curtains opened, and Dr. Frost looked in. She was wearing scrubs, the same as Adam had on, and rubber boots. She leant forward and whispered to Tommy, “He can’t sing for shit, can he?”
Tommy shook his head. “Yeah, he sucks,” he agreed, squeezing Adam’s hand.
Dr. Frost laughed. “You better build up your points now, Adam. Tommy’s going to hate you afterwards because of the post-operative pain. You’re going to be in big trouble.”
She glanced at the fetal monitor and nodded reassuringly. “Baby is doing well, still steady. I’m about to make sure everything is ready, I’ll see you both in a few minutes in the theatre.”
Then she was gone, and Tommy said, “Sing that song again. There’s time. Please?”
Adam nodded and started right in.
And I do want you to know
I'll hold you up above everyone
And I do want you to know
I think you'd be good to me
And I'd be so good to you
Tommy’s eyes misted over once more and he watched Adam intently, considering the words to the song. It was as close to a declaration as Adam had ever given Tommy, as far as Tommy had ever let him go. Tommy, and probably Adam as well, had gradually accepted that some things would probably never be spoken out loud between them.
The nurse pushed the curtains open again. “Theatre just called, porters are on the way,” she said and then she was gone again.
Tommy tugged on Adam’s hand. “Adam,” he started.
Then the porters were drawing the curtains back, kicking the brakes off the stretcher, pushing Tommy down sterile white corridors, Adam following behind, rubber boots slapping on the tile flooring. Tommy starred up at the ceiling and noticed that one of the fluorescent bulbs in the light going by above needed to be replaced.
**************************************
The stretcher was pushed into the OR theatre and Tommy was introduced to the waiting anaesthesiologist. A nurse helped him shuffle across onto the OR table where he sat bent over with his legs over the side while the doctor started his spinal. Tommy felt cold fluid being swabbed over the skin on his back and then a burning pain as the area was infiltrated with local anaesthetic.
Adam stood by, holding his hand, and the nurse put a steadying hand on his shoulder as the needle went in. Tommy barely felt it and when he looked at Adam he saw that his eyes were averted, obviously not wanting to see what was going on. Once it was secured the nurse helped Tommy lie down on the OR table.
The room was crowded, full of masked faces in identical clothes. Tommy finally recognized Dr. Frost when she bent over him, gloved hands held in front of her.
“Are you ready to have a baby?”
Tommy nodded and looked up at Adam who was staring down at him a little wild eyed from behind his own mask. A nurse went to Adam’s side and directed him up to the head of the table next to Tommy’s face and swung a stool in close for him to sit on.
A voice beside them said, “Hi, Adam. I’m Monica. I’m the circulating nurse. It’s my job to keep you out of trouble. Just sit here and don’t touch anything.”
The nurses worked in businesslike silence, checking the IV bags and hanging an extra, draping the surgical field so Tommy and Adam, as well as the anaesthesiologist, were blocked off from what was going on below. They tried to strap Tommy’s arms at his sides but he struggled to get one free so Adam could take his hand. They left it out.
The anaesthesiologist spoke. “Alright, Tommy. I’ve administered the spinal so in a moment you won’t be able to feel anything below your chest. You may feel some tugging later on, but no pain.”
Tommy held onto Adam and realized he could no longer feel his legs. He heard Adam ask, “Is it always this full of people?”
Monica nodded her head, blue eyes twinkling at them over the edge of her mask. “Pretty much, there’s the surgical team for you as well as the pediatric team with an incubator and a crash cart for the baby. After the delivery they take the baby and Dr. Frost will complete your C section.”
Tommy looked up and saw one person in scrubs drag a step ladder to the perimeter of the crowd and then climb up the steps, digital camera in hand.
“That’s Marty, he’s the scientific photographer,” Monica explained. “This is a teaching hospital so Dr. Frost will want a record of the birth because these pregnancies are so rare. I’ve never seen one delivered before.”
Tommy cleared his throat. “Will we be able to get copies? We were in kind of a rush and forgot to bring a camera.”
“I’m sure Dr. Frost will let you have some,” Monica assured him.
Someone was writing on a whiteboard with a marker pen in scrawl that Tommy couldn’t understand and there was a clatter of metal on metal from behind the drape. He realized he could no longer feel his legs and they were right, he couldn’t feel much down below except that sometimes what they were doing translated into movements he could feel above. It felt very strange.
The room was very bright and there was an antiseptic, chemical smell than made Tommy feel slightly ill. When he looked up at Adam what he saw of his face was pale and he had a slightly panicked look about him. Tommy squeezed his hand again.
“It’s okay. Just take some deep breaths,” Tommy murmured, as if it had helped him at all.
Adam nodded curtly and took a slow breath, visibly trying to relax but not before Monica came back to check on him. “How are you doing? Do you need to get a bit of fresh air?”
Adam shook his head. “No, it’s passing. I’m just kind of nervous,” Adam told her.
“That’s understandable. OR’s can be intimidating,” she assured him.
“Is this your first baby?” the anaesthesiologist leaned down and asked.
Adam nodded quickly and Tommy told him “Yes.”
“Then congratulations. It won’t be long now.” He said before turning back to his equipment.
The big light over the table flicked on, and a gloved hand reached up and moved it, using the plastic covered handle. There was steady beep from a machine, and the room became strangely quiet, the silence punctuated only by Dr. Frost’s calm instructions.
Monica leant her head closer to Adam. “It’s not usually this quiet. They’ve turned the radio off and no one is gossiping because you’re with us and Tommy is awake.”
There was a sudden bad smell in the room that Tommy could almost taste, the acrid smell of smoke, and Monica said, “That’s the diathermy machine, Dr. Frost’s cauterizing with it.”
Time crept past. At one point, Dr. Frost said, “Someone crosscheck the blood and put it up please,” and Tommy watched as a bag of livid red blood was hung over the table and the color snaked down the tubing towards him.
There was movement and Dr. Frost called out, “Adam, want to come see your baby being born?”
Tommy reluctantly let go of Adam’s hand as Monica took his elbow and guided him away.
“Don’t touch anything in the sterile field,” she whispered. Tommy stared up at the ceiling and listened to the drama unfolding, quite thankful he couldn’t see what was happening. He hoped Adam held up alright or at least didn’t faint and topple into his incision.
“Someone call the birth, please,” Dr. Frost announced.
A voice responded, “Three, twenty one and ten seconds,” and Tommy could hear a whoosh of fluid hit the floor.
There was a lot of hushed talking and then a strange thin noise that Tommy realized was his baby crying. The sound hit him deep inside in a way he’d never felt anything before in his life.
“Is everything okay?” he asked, suddenly frustrated that he couldn’t see what was going on beyond the drapes. “Someone tell me what’s happening? Please.”
“That’s right,” Dr. Frost coaxed the baby, and it began to cry more loudly. “Well, there you go, Adam. You better give the news to Tommy. He wanted a surprise.”
Adam was at his side again immediately and took Tommy’s hand. He was crying, tears were soaking into his mask, and his breath was coming in short gasps.
“What’s wrong?” Tommy demanded, wanting more than anything to be able to see his baby.
Adam shook his head, “Nothing. It’s just...” he trailed off helplessly. “It’s perfect. He’s perfect. It’s a boy. We have a son.”
Someone called, “Thirty seconds,” and Dr. Frost called to Adam. “Want to cut the cord, Adam?”
He hesitated until Tommy smiled and told him, “Go do it. You’ll be sorry later if you don’t.”
Adam took a deep breath and walked out of Tommy’s line of sight again. Tommy waved Monica over, “Do you think the photographer could take some pictures of this part too. So that I can see later?”
The nurse nodded quickly and waved the photographer down from his ladder where he’d been waiting to do the next set of photos. Dr. Frost continued with her quiet instructions beyond Tommy’s line of sight.
“Wait until the scissors and clamps are laid down on the cloth for you before you try and touch them Adam, everything else is sterile.”
There were more quiet words and the occasional click of the camera and then a male voice said, “Let’s go, folks,” and Tommy saw something small being carried over to the corner of the room.
Monica turned to Adam and said “Come and see your son. You just need to stand back and let the team work for a couple minutes.”
She came and sat down beside Tommy and patted him on the shoulder.
“Everything’s fine,” she reassured him. “They just have some assessments they need to do and then they’ll wipe him down a bit so he doesn’t get cold and then you can see him. Marty can take pictures of the three of you then.
Tommy craned his neck so that he could watch as the pediatrician and two nurses bent over their baby and someone called, “Five seconds to Apgar 1.”
There was a pause, and Tommy could see Adam hanging back, trying to stay out of the way but torn because he wanted to be near his son. “Five,” a male voice said. Then the same voice said, “Does dad want to hold the baby?”
Monica took Adam by the hand and led him back, pushed him back down on his stool, and then one of the nurses brought a tiny bundle over to them and handed it carefully to Adam. He looked down and then sobbed softly and then lowered the baby so that Tommy could see him too.
He was tiny, and bluish, and wrinkled and covered in a waxy coating of goo that Tommy couldn’t remember the name of, but he was more beautiful than anything Tommy had ever seen. Tommy stared at him and felt overwhelmed as the baby cried, eyes shut and mouth open.
“He’s so tiny,” Tommy whispered.
The baby was taken out of Adam’s arms again and back to the incubator. Tommy could smell the diathermy machine again and the steady clink of metal on metal.
“Five seconds to Apgar 2,” was called out.
“Eight,” was the answer, and Dr. Frost called to Adam’s again. “Everything’s going well, Adam,” she assured him. “You can go to the nursery with the baby if you like; I’ll just have to close here and then Tommy will be going to recovery. I can come get you when he’s done.”
Adam nodded and turned to Tommy, “What should I do?”
“Stay with baby,” he assured Adam, although really he wanted him there with him. “I’ll be fine.”
Adam squeezed his hand and then bent down and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. “Okay, if you’re sure. I’ll see you when you come out.”
Tommy watched him walk towards the double doors the neonatal team had disappeared though with the baby. Adam paused and looked back once more when Dr. Frost called out, “Adam? Congratulations, to all of you.”
Tommy waved at Adam with his free hand and saw him nod in return before he pushed through the doors of the OR theatre. Suddenly the room seemed much larger; the other side of the room seemed to be far away and Tommy found that his vision was blurring around the edges.
“How are you doing Tommy?” he heard the anaesthesiologist ask him and he realized how cold the room had become all of a sudden. He started to shiver. The anaesthesiologist called for a warm blanket and started to open and close drawers at the head of the OR table as an alarm began to sound.
“Blood pressure is dropping,” he barked. “It’s down to 80/40; it looks like you’ve got some bleeding Dr. Frost.”
Tommy could hear urgent, hushed voices, and though they sounded far away, he struggled to understand what they were talking about. There were words he recognized from watching TV shows like ER but none of it meant anything to him. He just felt terribly tired, and if not exactly frightened, then at least concerned that something might be going horribly wrong.
“Stay with us here, Tommy,” he heard Monica tell him as she hung two more bags of blood above the table. “We’ve got to get your pressure back up.”
Tommy had spent the last hours terrified for his baby’s safety and now that he was safely delivered Tommy found what was happening to him didn’t have quite so much urgency. He wanted desperately to hold his baby again, to make sure he was alright, but what Tommy found himself thinking about now was how much he missed Adam. With still more alarms sounding around him and calls for epinephrine, bags of saline and still more blood, Tommy found himself sinking into darkness.
Chapter Twelve
Sorry for the cliffie - here's the video for the song I used above to keep you amused until the next chapter goes up. :)
Good To You - Marianas Trench