by Fiala, PJ
Jeremiah and the boys hovered nearby. Dr. Wan smiled to see how solicitous they were with her. Her patient was going to need some TLC for a while. They all stayed close as Dr. Wan pulled her stethoscope out.
Dr. Wan looked at Joci and winked. “I won’t be able to hear the heartbeat, but I would like to do a sonogram to make sure everything is okay. We might be able to see the baby’s heartbeat on the sonogram. If you’re at least six weeks pregnant, we will be able to hear it. Do you mind if we do it right now before you leave?”
“No, I don’t mind. I want to know that she’s okay.” Joci looked at Jeremiah and he was nodding in agreement.
“She?” Dr. Wan smiled.
Gunnar spoke up. “Dad knows the baby’s a girl. I’m going to have a little sister.” His smile lit up the room.
Dr. Wan smiled and nodded. “I’ll go out and have the technicians bring the machine in, and we’ll take a look. Stay right where you are, Joci.”
She left and Joci looked at Jeremiah. He had a huge grin plastered on his face. They were going to see the baby. Well, she wouldn’t look like a baby yet. But, maybe they could hear her heartbeat. That would be amazing.
Within half an hour, the technician was in the room hooking up the sonogram machine and getting Joci ready. Everyone was excited. This was new for them. When Joci had been pregnant with Gunnar, she hadn’t done this. The technician pulled up Joci’s shirt and tucked towels around her clothing so nothing got full of gel. They dimmed the lights and were ready to go. Dr. Wan and the technician were to Joci’s right and Jeremiah and the boys to Joci’s left, watching the screen on the sonogram machine.
The tech started pushing the probe around Joci’s tummy and stopped on a little blurb. It didn’t really look like anything but a blob. The tech took a few pictures and kept moving the probe around. After a few minutes, she moved the probe around, then stopped and went back.
“Oh, well, look at that. I think I see the heartbeat. Dr. Wan, what do you think?”
Dr. Wan looked closely at the screen. The tech put a little more pressure on Joci’s tummy and there it was! You could see movement within the little blurb. It was very faint, but there was a little flutter.
“Yes, I believe that’s her heartbeat,” Dr. Wan said.
Jeremiah grabbed Joci’s hand. “Amazing,” was all he could say.
Gunnar said, “Cool.”
Ryder whispered, “I’ll be damned.”
Joci just stared at it. The baby was alive. She was going to live. Joci’s eyes sparkled with moisture. She couldn’t help it, she was so relieved. She hadn’t even realized how scared she’d been. Jeremiah leaned down and kissed her forehead.
“Don’t cry, baby. Look, she’s alive.”
Joci was trying to control herself. “I know. I’m so relieved. I can’t believe she made it through.”
Dr. Wan touched Joci’s leg and patted it. “Looks like you have a strong little girl there.”
The technician spoke up. “We can’t tell the sex yet.”
Everyone laughed, and Jeremiah informed the tech that he knew it was a little girl. He had dreamed about her. The technician just nodded her head. Who was she to argue?
A few more pictures were taken, and the technician packed up the machine and made her way out the door. Dr. Wan told Joci she would see her at her scheduled appointment in a couple of weeks and she left. The attending physician came in a while later and released Joci to go home.
It took a while to get Joci into the car and then into the house. Joci walked into the house and let out a huge sigh of relief. It was great to be home. “I need to lie down. I hope you don’t mind. Will you all be here or are you leaving?”
Jeremiah chuckled. “We’re staying here. JT and Ryder are running out to get lunch in a little while.” He kissed her lightly on the lips.
“Then do you mind if I sleep on the sofa? That way I can hear you as I fall asleep.”
JT looked at Jeremiah and shrugged. “Will you be comfortable on the sofa, Mom?”
Joci stared at JT and swallowed the knot in her throat. That was the first time he had called her “Mom.” She smiled at him. “It makes me feel better to hear people talking.” As she walked by him, she gave him a brief hug. He gently wrapped his arm around her, afraid to squeeze her.
Jeremiah patted JT on the shoulder, his eyes growing moist, then walked into the living room with Joci.
Joci sat on the sofa. Jeremiah plumped some pillows behind her back and gently pulled her feet up. Gunnar ran and got her a blanket and threw it over her. She smiled and drifted off to sleep right away.
“Ryder, you’ll have to climb out of your shell eventually,” JT laughed.
“Fuck you, JT. It might be easy for you to come on to women; it’s not for me,” Ryder muttered.
Joci opened her eyes and looked around the room. Ryder leaned forward and smiled at her.
“How are you feeling?”
Joci smiled at him, “I’m feeling pretty good. How are you doing? Are they picking on you?”
Ryder shrugged, “They’re assholes. I’m really sorry, Mom. I feel bad that you’re going through this.”
“Thank you, Ryder. I don’t want you to worry. I’m just fine, getting stronger every day.” Joci smiled at him and held his gaze.
He leaned forward and kissed her forehead. Joci eyes glistened at the sudden show of emotion. Ryder was the shy one.
When he sat back, JT piped up. “Are you hungry? We put some stuff together for a quick dinner.”
Joci nodded, noticing for the first time that she was actually feeling a bit like eating. Gunnar and Jeremiah jumped up to go and bring the food into the living room.
Joci turned herself on the sofa so her legs were on the floor. She struggled to sit up with only one hand free. With her bandages, she felt out of balance. Ryder and JT both jumped up to help her.
Joci looked at them and smiled, “If I could just hold onto one of you, I should be able to leverage myself around.”
Ryder leaned down and held his hand out for her. Joci grabbed his hand with her left one and pulled herself to the edge of the sofa. Just that little movement caused a pain to shoot up her right arm. She winced and yelped a little. Ryder leaned down closer and looked into her eyes to assess her situation.
She smiled weakly and took a deep breath. “I’m sorry. Sometimes I move wrong and it hurts. But, it hurts less today than yesterday. Tomorrow will be better still.”
Ryder nodded and took a deep breath. “I love you, Mom.”
Joci couldn’t help herself. Tears sprang to her eyes and a small sob escaped her throat. She reached her left hand up and cupped the back of Ryder’s head, pulling him down for a little hug. Shaking from the exertion and emotion, she said, “I love you, too, Ryder.”
When he sat back, Joci looked over at JT. His eyes were glistening as he watched them. “JT, I love you, too.” JT nodded and opened his mouth to say something but closed it quickly.
Just then, Jeremiah and Gunnar walked back into the room with a couple of trays. They were wary and could sense the heaviness in the room.
Jeremiah looked at Joci with his brows furrowed, “Are you okay, honey?”
Joci smiled and nodded. “I’m better than ever.”
Jeremiah looked at Ryder and JT and noticed their watery eyes. He would ask Joci about it later. He made a plate of food for Joci. It was light finger foods—veggies, fruits, a cup of soup, and some crackers. Another plate held lunch meats and breads so the men could make sandwiches.
Joci smiled as she looked at Jeremiah, who said, “I wasn’t sure how your tummy was doing. It’s getting close to evening now and I thought warm soup and crackers would be good for you. Mom left some ginger tea for you as well.”
“Thank you for remembering, Jeremiah. While I was in the hospital, they gave me some anti-nausea medicine in the evening so I wouldn’t have to go through that. But, I don’t have any now. I’ll just sip my soup and tea and nibble on my crackers until I know.�
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Jeremiah handed Joci her soup, while the boys started eating. She sipped as her men sat and talked and ate. She conserved her energy as much as she could. She wanted to enjoy this for a while.
JT was the first to bring up the wedding. “So, are you still getting married on the 28th?”
“No,” Jeremiah replied.
Joci looked at him, startled. Had he changed his mind? The boys were very, very quiet, wondering what was coming next.
Jeremiah looked at Joci, “I don’t want to wait. I want to get married tomorrow.”
Joci let out the breath she was holding and started shaking her head no. “For the rest of our lives, we’ll look at the pictures of the day we got married. I don’t want to see them with me all bandaged and bruised.”
“But, I…..”
“No, Jeremiah. Please don’t fight me on this. I’ve never been married. I will only marry once. At least give me this. Don’t let LuAnn take that away from me.”
Jeremiah closed his eyes. How could he deny her this after what she’d been through? He just wanted her to be his—legally. He was terrified that something else would happen to her.
“It’s only three and a half weeks away Jeremiah. The doctor said he could have most of the bandages off by then. I’ll find a dress to cover the rest of them up. I won’t be one-hundred percent, but the pictures won’t show that.”
He turned to look at her, searching her eyes for any sign that she was backing out after what she had just been through. He nodded very slightly, but agreed. With that, everyone in the room relaxed with exhales and turned their attention to their meal.
They finished eating and enjoyed their time together. Suddenly, Joci sat forward. She looked panicked and Jeremiah stood quickly and went to her side.
“Honey, are you going to be sick?”
Joci looked at him with tears in her eyes. Jeremiah kneeled down so he was eye level with her. He searched her eyes and saw the tears fall.
“Baby,” was all Joci could say. Her left hand wrapped around her stomach and a sob broke loose. God, she was losing the baby. It had been nine days since her accident. She had gotten comfortable with the thought that she wouldn’t lose the baby. But, right now she was experiencing severe cramps.
Jeremiah stood up, reached over, and grabbed his phone. He called Dr. Wan’s number. When she answered, Jeremiah jumped in, “Dr. Wan, this is Jeremiah Sheppard. Joci is having sharp cramps.”
“Okay, Jeremiah. Is she spotting or bleeding?”
“I don’t know. Joci, are you spotting or bleeding?”
“I don’t know.”
“Okay, Jeremiah, listen to me. Stay calm, please, for Joci’s sake. Have her go and check if she is bleeding. Call me back as soon as you know.”
Jeremiah squatted down in front of Joci. “Shhhh, baby, don’t cry. We’re all here with you.” He wrapped his big hands around her small ones and squeezed. “Can you make it to the bathroom, baby? You need to check and make sure you aren’t bleeding. Then I’ll call Dr. Wan back. Okay? Can you do that for me?”
Joci gasped at another sharp pain. She breathed through it and then nodded.
Chapter 39
Family
“Mom, can we stay here tonight?” JT asked Joci.
“You boys never have to ask to stay here. Of course you can stay.”
The men all fussed over Joci, brought chairs into the bedroom, and sat around talking. Joci nodded in and out of sleep, loving the sound of the voices of her men.
At one point, Joci woke up, and the room was dark. Jeremiah was next to her, sleeping soundly. Joci looked at the clock on the dresser—it was 2:18 a.m. Joci slept so much that she didn’t really have a schedule anymore. And, she had to pee.
It took her forever to maneuver herself around so she could get out of bed. She had started slowly walking to the bathroom when Jeremiah jumped out of bed, “What are you doing, Joci?”
“I have to pee. Go back to sleep. I’ll be fine.” Joci continued on.
When she finished, she opened the bathroom door and Jeremiah was standing there, waiting for her.
Joci chuckled. “Did you listen the whole time? There’s something wrong with that.”
“No, but I heard you washing your hands, and I got up to help you. There’s nothing wrong with me. I just wanted to make sure you were okay.” He kissed her temple and held her left hand as she hobbled to her side of the bed and wrestled herself back under the covers. Once she was situated, she lay back against the soft pillows with a big sigh.
Jeremiah walked around and slid into the bed behind her. Very gently, he pulled her to him so her back was pressed against his stomach. She sighed when she felt his arms slowly coming around her. “I missed this. I missed you holding me. I missed sleeping with you.”
Jeremiah kissed the back of her head. “I missed this, too, and you so much. I’m so sorry I let this happen.”
Joci let out a breath, “You didn’t cause it to happen, Jeremiah. You didn’t allow it to happen. LuAnn is the only one to blame there.”
“Stop it. A long time ago, you asked me to take care of the LuAnn situation, and I only went so far as talking to her. I should have fired her and removed her from our lives. That’s on me. Because I didn’t, you’re suffering.”
Joci sighed. “Well, we could beat each other and ourselves up and it won’t change anything. So, we need to move on. Okay?”
Jeremiah took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He kissed Joci’s temple and pulled her a little tighter.
“Will we have to sit through a trial, Jeremiah?” Joci’s voice was small and soft.
“I’m afraid so, honey. But, I’ll be with you every step of the way. I want her in jail. I want her away from us. I want her punished for what she’s caused you.”
Joci was quiet. She wanted LuAnn punished, too. But she was nervous about the trial and what she would have to hear throughout that process. LuAnn no doubt would make herself seem pathetic. She loved Jeremiah, and she lost her mind over him. Poor thing.
“Tonight, the boys called me ‘Mom’ and told me they loved me.” Joci smiled.
“I know. My chest has been tight all night, watching them with you. Did that make you feel good?”
“Yes. I guess I hadn’t thought about the fact that they never had anyone to call Mom before. It makes it even more special to me that they think of me that way. If anything good is coming out of all of this mess, it’s just that it brought us all closer together.”
“How typical of you to look at the silver lining. It’s one of the many things I love about you.”
Joci smiled.
“Get some sleep, baby. Tomorrow everyone is coming over to plan a wedding. You aren’t going to do anything but answer questions. You’re going to marry me in three and a half weeks. I won’t postpone it, not for anything. I don’t even want to wait that long.”
Joci drifted off to sleep, thanking God for giving her Jeremiah, the boys, and this little baby she was carrying. They had had a little scare, but it turned out to be just cramps. Dr. Wan talked them through it and said it was probably from all the trauma. Joci was to try and relax and keep tabs on herself. If the cramps started again, she was to call Dr. Wan.
Chapter 40
At Last
Joci was sitting on a chair in front of a tall mirror, watching Sandi put the finishing touches on her make-up. A few more strokes of a brush and Sandi stepped back and looked at Joci.
“You look so beautiful. You always do; but today, you look even more beautiful. Being pregnant agrees with you,” Sandi said.
Joci smirked. “Well, it does now that I’m not puking every day. Gawd, I hate that.”
Jackie chuckled from behind her. “You were a puker with Gunnar, too, do you remember? I woke up every morning to you throwing up in the bathroom. At the time, I thought I would never get pregnant if I had to throw up every day. But, less than a year later, I was puking in the bathroom, too.”
They all laughed at the me
mory. Emily and Erin walked in the room and smiled.
“Glad everyone is so cheerful,” Emily said, her cheeks pink with excitement.
“We were just reminiscing about how much we both threw up while we were pregnant. I’m glad Joci is going through it this time and not me.” Jackie winked at Joci.
Emily looked at Joci and smiled warmly. “How are you feeling, sweetheart?”
“I feel great. I haven’t thrown up in three days. It must be over, finally.”
“You look beautiful. Jeremiah won’t be able to take his eyes off you.” Erin smiled at her.
Just then, Angie and Staci walked into the room. Staci whistled. “You look beautiful, Joci. Hubba-hubba.”
Joci laughed. “Thank you. I guess it’s time to wrestle me into this dress.”
Jackie walked over to the closet where Joci’s wedding dress was hanging. She pulled the gorgeous ivory dress off its hanger and cradled it in her arms to carry it over to Joci.
Joci’s hard cast had been removed. She had to wear a soft cast for another few weeks, but today, she was not wearing it. She had had a few words with her doctor and Jeremiah about that, but Joci could be stubborn when she really wanted something. And today, she didn’t want any reminder of her accident or the person behind it.
The skin on her arm and shoulder looked nasty from being in a cast, but she had been exfoliating and moisturizing over the past two days to make it look a little better. She was going to start physical therapy in a week. Right now, she couldn’t lift her arm very high. There were scars where the doctors had inserted the screws, but she had been told that the scars would gradually fade away.
Jackie held Joci’s dress open as Sandi helped Joci out of her robe. Joci stepped into her wedding dress. Her baby bump was almost unnoticeable, but was beginning to show. She was ten weeks pregnant now.
Emily, her future mother-in-law, held out her hand to support Joci. Joci smiled and grasped the older woman’s hand, more to make Emily feel like she was helping. The main thing Joci learned over her rehabilitation was that everyone wanted to feel like he or she was helping in some way, no matter how small. Joci had to learn to let them so they would feel better. She had been so used to doing everything on her own, she didn’t realize how helpless the people who loved her felt.
