Dawn and AJ just looked at the doctor in shock. Neither one of them could form any kind of sentence. Finally Dawn attempted to speak.
"But…….how can that be? I can’t have anymore babies…" her voice cracked.
She thought she was going to cry. This was cruel, whoever messed up her chart was going to pay.
"Miss Simon, there are things in life, especially in the medical field that are unexplainable. This is definitely one of them. After the surgery, I had your records sent over from your doctor. In looking over the injuries that you sustained a couple years ago, the chance of you ever getting pregnant again were pretty close to zero. This is just one of life’s miracles, we can’t explain it. For one reason or another, you are meant to have another baby. That’s quite obvious when added to the fact that you were just in a very serious accident."
"Are you sure about this??" Dawn asked. "I mean, absolutely positive??"
"Yes, I am. I operated on you, I saw it with my own eyes."
"You saw our baby??!" AJ asked in disbelief.
"Well, I didn’t see the actual
baby, no. It’s tucked safely away in there." He chuckled.
"And it’s very tiny at this stage."
Dawn looked over at AJ who was still staring at the doctor in disbelief. He could barely breathe, let alone speak.
"We’re gonna have a baby," she whispered, tears started falling down her face.
He gently caressed her cheek and brought his face to hers. He couldn’t hold back the tears as he tenderly kissed her.
"We’re gonna have a baby," he repeated as he smiled at her with tears streaming down his face. "I love you so much."
Both doctors took that as their cue to leave.
"Congratulations," they both smiled as they headed for the door.
"I’ll be back later to go over some things with you," Dr. McMahon said right before the door closed behind him.
Dawn and AJ turned to looked at each other, neither of them saying anything. AJ pulled her into his arms and they both cried tears of joy.
"I can’t believe it," Dawn said, shaking.
"I can’t either. I knew we would have another baby someday. I just……wow, this is so unexpected."
"Are you happy?" She asked, wiping her face and looking up at him.
"Angel, of course I’m happy! I want to run down the hall and scream at the top of my lungs! I’m afraid I may be put in a straightjacket if I did that, though…"
Dawn chuckled as tears streamed down her face. AJ sat next to her on the bed and placed his hand gently on her stomach.
"Our baby’s in there," he smiled.
Dawn laughed as she tried to stop crying.
"It sure is," she smiled at him and placed her hand on his.
They sat in silence for a minute, trying to get over the shock.
"My mother is going to be ecstatic," AJ finally choked out.
"Oh geez, I know."
"Um, I know this has been a pretty touchy subject in the past, but maybe we should discuss when we’re gonna get married?"
Dawn sighed. She wanted to marry him more than anything in the world, but there was a nagging feeling that she just couldn’t shake. She couldn’t explain it.
"Baby, I want to marry you, but I don’t want to do it because I’m pregnant. On top of everything else, that would look bad."
"Angel, I don’t care how it looks, the only thing I care about is you and our family. I want to marry you more than anything."
She looked up at him and saw the honest pleading in his eyes.
"But, you’re touring soon, when would we have time?"
"It wouldn’t take long to plan something small. We could start now, especially since you’ll be coming home…."
She looked at him sadly.
"Oh yeah….."
"Baby, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean it like I was happy that this happened or anything. I was terrified when Noah called me, but I will be happy that you’ll be home."
She thought for a minute.
"Yeah, me too."
She gave him a small smile and he caressed her cheek.
"I missed you."
AJ sighed in relief. He was so happy to hear her say that.
"Um, can we talk about this later? There’s just so much jumbled in my head right now, I can barely think straight."
He smiled sadly at her. He thought he was making progress with the conversation. It had gotten further than he ever had before, though. He wanted to marry her and he wanted to marry her now. Actually, he wanted to marry her the moment he proposed to her two years ago, why couldn’t she understand that??
"Sure baby. Anything you want. Just let me know when you’re ready, okay?"
Something in Dawn tugged at her conscious. She wasn’t sure what it was, she just knew it was something..
"I’m gonna go run and tell Nick the good news. I’ll be right back, okay?"
"Yeah," she smiled at him. "Hurry back, though."
He gave her a tender kiss on the lips, then bent down and gently kissed her stomach. Dawn giggled at him.
"You’re so goofy."
He gave her another kiss on the lips.
"I know, just wait!" He winked at her, then walked out the door.
She sat on the bed, still trying to let everything sink in. She couldn’t believe she was pregnant. She sat and gazed out the window, then there was a light knock at the door. Noah appeared at the door holding a dozen roses.
"Hey there. How are you feeling?" He asked, walking over to her.
"Oh wow! Those are beautiful!"
"Not half as beautiful as you," he said, kissing her on the cheek and putting the roses on the table in front of her.
"I sure don’t feel beautiful. I feel like shit, I look like it, too."
"Shush. I don’t want to hear you talking like that. How do you feel? I mean, are you in any pain?"
"Only when I move," she chuckled.
"Yeah, I talked to your doctor. He told me about your injuries."
Dawn looked at him, surprised. She hoped he didn’t know that she was pregnant, she wanted to wait to tell everyone until a little more time had passed. She didn’t even know how far along she was.
"Yeah, no more tour," she said sadly.
"I know, but I’m happy that you’re okay. I was scared."
She smiled at him and placed her hand on his.
"I’m okay. Oh, and thank you for calling Alex. I know that had to be hard, especially given the way you two feel about each other".
"Yeah, but I knew what he was going through…." His voice trailed off. "Man, first the letter, now this…."
"Letter? What Let….." then is all came rushing back to her. "Oh my god, the letter! I had completely forgotten about it".
She covered her mouth with her hand and felt tears start to well up in her eyes.
"I’m sorry, I didn’t realize
that you didn’t remember. Damn, open mouth, insert foot."
He ran his fingers through his hair.
"No, it’s okay. I knew there was something wrong, I just couldn’t put my finger on it. God, what am I gonna do now?"
She lay her head back on the pillow and sighed
"Confront him about it. If he did cheat on you, then dump his sorry ass."
She gently rubbed her stomach as she fought back tears. She glanced down at her engagement ring and couldn’t hold back the tears any longer.
"It’s not that easy, Noah………It’s not that easy."
D woke up and looked groggily around the room. She saw Nick curled up asleep in a chair next to her bed. He looked so uncomfortable. She had to smile at the sight of him. The chair was way too small for the size of him.
She watched him sleep. She was so glad he was there. She didn’t remember the accident. She wondered if she ever would. And if she did, how hard would it be? She couldn’t even remember what happened the day of the accident. She couldn't shake the feeling that something happened that day, she just couldn't put her finger on it. Hopefully it all would come back to her.
The sound of Nick stirring broke her out of her thoughts. She smiled at him when her eyes connected with his blue ones.
"Hey sleepyhead," she whispered.
"Hey baby. How are you feeling?" He asked as he pulled the chair up to the bed.
"I feel okay. These drugs are good."
"I’ll bet they are."
"I’m glad you’re here," she told him softly, tears coming to her eyes.
Nick took her hand and kissed it.
"I wouldn’t be anywhere else. When AJ told me about the accident I…I was so scared. I thought I had lost you," he said, his voice cracking.
He let a tear fall down his cheek.
"It’s okay," she whispered, pulling his hand to her mouth and kissing it.
Nick watched her, totally overcome with emotion. He didn’t know how to tell her exactly what he was feeling.
"I…" he started to say but couldn’t get the words out.
"What is it baby?"
She knew he was trying to tell her something and she wanted to know what it was. She needed to hear it. Nick took a deep breath and looked into her eyes.
"I have never felt like this about anyone in my life. I’ve had girlfriends but none of them have meant what you mean to me. Sometimes it scares me how much I love you. The trip here was hell, baby. We weren’t sure what we would find when we got here. AJ and I were going crazy thinking about what would happen if…"
He swallowed hard, not wanting to even say it out loud.
"We didn’t even know what condition you were in. Thank God that when we got here you were okay. Honestly I don’t know what I would have done or would do if something happened to you."
D looked at him in shock. She couldn't believe what she was hearing.
"Wow, Nicky. I had no idea. I mean, I knew that you loved me but I had no idea that it was as much as I loved you."
He leaned forward and gave her a soft kiss.
"I loved you from that second I saw you in AJ’s living room," he confessed.
"Really? I loved you the first time you kissed me. The first time I saw you I just lusted you."
They both laughed as AJ burst through the
door huffing and puffing. He leaned on D’s bed trying to catch his breath. Nick and D
looked at him strangely.
"Dawn…baby…having…we’re…she’s…baby…omigod…" AJ managed to get out.
Nick looked at D wide-eyed. She smiled and looked at AJ.
"Dawn’s pregnant??" She asked excitedly.
AJ nodded his head vigorously.
"We couldn’t believe it when the doctor told us!!"
"That’s great man! Congratulations!!!" Nick said, hugging his friend.
D looked at AJ confused.
"Wait a minute. Didn’t Dawn say that she couldn’t have any more children?"
"That’s what we thought but she is!! She’s pregnant!! We’re gonna have another baby!!" He yelled happily, dancing around the room.
D started laughing at him but yelped in pain.
"Oooooww!! J stop dancing! You’re making me laugh."
AJ stopped immediately and went over to her with a concerned look.
"I’m sorry, honey. I didn’t think to ask how you were doing."
She smiled up at him.
"It’s okay. You’re excited and I’m excited for you. Tell her that I said congratulations and I can’t wait to see her."
"I will definitely do that. So, are you okay?"
"I think so. I don’t really feel much. These drugs they gave me work wonders. I don’t really remember anything about the accident or that whole day for that matter. It’s all so foggy."
"I’m glad you’re okay," he told her, kissing her forehead.
"Thanks, J."
"Alright. I’m gonna go and let you get some rest. I think I’ll head to the gift shop. I want to get something for Dawn and our little one. I just wanted to stop in and tell you guys the great news!"
"I think I’ll go with you if you don’t mind," Nick said.
AJ shrugged and headed for the door.
"I’ll be back soon baby. Try to get some sleep."
"Okay…I’ll see you later."
He gave her a kiss and left with AJ.