Promises

Parts 15-16

By Candy

"Who was that on the phone?" Michelle asked, handing Carlos a cup of coffee.
"That was Mr. Santos," he said. "He wanted to know where you were, but we got disconnected."
"His office phone has been acting up lately," she explained. "Can I borrow your phone and I'll try to call him on his cell phone?"
He handed her his phone and Michelle dialed Danny's cell number. She let the phone ring several times with no answer so she left him a message on his voice mail. She tried him at work and at home with no luck, so she left messages for him explaining Abby was in labor. After handing Carlos' phone back to him, she leaned back against the chair, wrapping her arms around her stomach. Her thoughts drifted to hers and Danny's unborn child. It wouldn't be long before they were here waiting for their baby to be born. She couldn't wait.
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Danny sped out of his office parking lot. He looked around for his cell phone wanting to call Carlos back. He slammed his hand against the steering wheel realizing he had left the phone is his coat pocket, which was still sitting in his office. He had difficulty swallowing around the lump in his throat. Something had happened to Michelle. Was it the baby? Did someone make a move on her again? His mind raced with all kinds of scenarios of what could be wrong, cursing the traffic that happened to get in his way. He finally made it to the hospital and raced into the Emergency entrance, the same door he had taken Michelle to only a few nights before. Luckily, he saw Lillian.
"Where is she?" he asked out of breath.
"Maternity," she said confused. If he were looking for Abby, wouldn't he know to go to maternity?, she thought.
Danny's heart hit the ground. So that was it. There was something wrong with the baby.
When he reached the maternity floor he searched every hallway looking for Rick, knowing he would be with Michelle. He was about to approach a nurse when he saw Carlos sitting in a waiting room.
"Carlos!" he yelled rushing over to him. "Where is she?"
Before he could respond, Michelle stood up from beside him, smiling. "Danny, I'm glad you made it."
"Michelle," he gasped before pulling her into his arms. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," she said confused. "Except it's hard to breathe when you're holding me this tight."
He pulled away and looked her up and down to make sure she was okay. She looked in his eyes and saw fear. "Danny, what's wrong?"
"I thought it was you," he tried to explain as his voice broke off. He swallowed his cries as he pulled her to him again, only easier this time. "I couldn't get a hold of you and Carlos said he brought you to the hospital."
"Yeah, because Abby is in labor," she explained.
"What?" Danny asked.
"Didn't you get any of my messages?" she asked. "Carlos told me you called, but you were disconnected. I assumed your office phone was acting up again so I tried your cell phone, but didn't get an answer. I left you a messages at work, home and on your cell phone."
"I ran out of the office so quick I forgot my cell phone in my coat," he explained.
"I'm sorry," she hugged him. "I'm sorry you were worried."
"I'm just glad you're okay," he sighed.
"I apologize for the misunderstanding," Carlos said.
"It's okay," Danny said, leading Michelle back to a chair to sit down. "It was my fault for jumping to conclusions and hanging up on you before you could tell me the whole story."
"I'm going to walk around for a little while," Carlos explained. "Call me when you need me."
"Thank you," Danny said.
Danny let out another sigh of relief as he held Michelle close to him. "I was going crazy thinking something had happened."
"I'm sorry," she whispered, looking into his eyes. "I should have called you earlier, but I wanted to see how far along Abby was before I called. I didn't want you to come over here and then have to wait for hours. And I left the house so fast myself, I left my cell phone in the bedroom."
"It's okay," he said. "I'm just glad you at least came with Carlos."
"What choice did I have?" she groaned with a smile. "I promised my husband I would be a good girl."
"And your husband appreciates it," he smiled. "So how much longer will it be before the newest Bauer makes an appearance?"
"I'm not sure," Michelle's smile faded. "Abby was in a lot of pain and I didn't really feel like staying in there for long. Rick said he would let me know."
"What, were you scared thinking about when you have our baby?" he asked with a smile.
"Truthfully," she began. "I'm terrified. I don't even want to think about the labor part just yet. I'm having a tough enough time dealing with the morning sickness."
"Did you eat breakfast this morning?" he questioned.
"No," she murmured.
"Michelle," he groaned.
"I know, I know," she said. "But I felt really nauseous this morning and then Rick called. I haven't had time to eat."
"No time like the present," he said standing, pulling her with him.
"Where are we going?" she asked.
"To get you something to eat," he replied. "And I don't want any arguments."
"But what if Abby…" she began.
"What did I just say?" he looked her in the eyes. "No arguments. We won't be gone for long, anyway."
"Okay," she sighed, following him to the elevator.
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Many hours later, Danny and Michelle were back in the waiting room along with Meta, Phillip and Harley. Everyone was getting a little restless waiting. Danny had walked Carlos to the elevator telling him it was okay for him to go. He would be with Michelle for the rest of the night, but he wanted him to stop by the house to check things out and to call him if anything looked suspicious. After the elevator doors closed, he walked back to the waiting room finding Michelle leaning her head against the wall with her eyes closed.
"Sweetie," he whispered sitting down next to her. "You're exhausted. Why don't we go home for a little while and when the baby is born we can come back.?"
"You do look tired," Meta agreed. "You just got out of the hospital yourself. You need to take care of yourself."
She shook her head, "No. I want to be here when the baby is born. This is my first niece or nephew and I want to be here."
"You were in the hospital?" Harley overheard. "What's wrong with you?"
"I'm fine now," Michelle began nervously. "I just had a stomach flu that I couldn't shake."
Phillip looked at Michelle questionably and Danny caught his eye. Rick had confided in him about Michelle's mysterious illness and the cause, but obviously they were trying to keep a tight lid on this. He couldn't really blame them. In fact, he had offered Rick any help he needed in finding who was behind it, but Rick had reassured him the police were working on it with Danny's help, something which concerned Phillip. He knew that if he were Danny, nothing would stop him from finding who had hurt his wife. And from the short time he had known Danny Santos, he knew they were a lot alike.

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Eight hours and twenty minutes later, Jacob Edward Bauer was born. The gathering in the waiting room was still there when Rick came to announce his son's arrival. Much to Danny's relief, Michelle had fallen asleep on the couch. After much prodding, he had convinced her she needed to get some sleep and since she refused to go home, she could at least sleep on the couch in the waiting room. When Rick appeared, everyone jumped up.
"How is Abby?" Michelle asked first.
"She's doing great," Rick beamed. "She was so amazing! And the baby is beautiful!"
"I'm so happy for you," Michelle hugged him with tears in her eyes. "When can we see him?"
"They took him to the nursery to get cleaned up and then they're going to bring him back in to Abby," Rick explained.
"Well, we want to see Abby too," Harley said.
"She fell asleep," Rick laughed. "But I know she'll wake up as soon as they bring the baby back in to her."
"Well, we'll wait out here until they bring him back," Michelle said. "And let Abby get some rest too."
Danny was about to protest when Rick cut him off. He looked into his sister's tired eyes and gave her the look she had come to know during her growing up years.
"Don't start on me Rick," she began.
"Michelle," he said. "You look tired. Dr. Sedwick talked to me little bit ago and she's worried about you too. You need to go home and get some rest."
"I agree," Danny said.
"I feel fine," she protested.
"Michelle," Rick said with that look again. "Don't lie to me."
"Okay," she sighed. "Maybe I am a little tired, but I at least want to see my nephew before I go."
"I think I can arrange that," he kissed her on the forehead. "But as soon as you see him, it's straight home and to bed."
"Can I come with you?" Danny asked.
"Of course," Rick said. "He's your first nephew too."
"We're going to wait here with Meta," Phillip said.
"Okay, I'll try to get them to let me bring Jacob back with me," Rick said.
They took the quick walk to the nursery and immediately spotted the newest Bauer. The nurses were trying to get his measurements and he was screaming the entire time.
"That's definitely your son," Michelle laughed, punching Rick in the arm.
"Come on," Rick said leading them to the door of the nursery.
He went on in while Danny and Michelle waited at the door. Rick said something to the nurses and he quickly turned and motioned for one of them to come in.
"You go on in with Rick," Danny began. "I'll wait here."
Danny swallowed around the lump in his throat as he saw his wife holding her first nephew. He couldn't help but imagine what it was going to be like when they had their baby. Before he met Michelle, he never pictured himself with a family of his own. It wasn't that he didn't want one, he just didn't think it was meant for him, given the life he had been born into. But Michelle had changed all that. She was the love of his life and now she was giving him something he never thought he would have. They were going to be a family and he was going to make sure they had the normal, happy life Michelle so desperately wanted…what he so desperately wanted.
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It took some effort, but Danny finally drug Michelle away from the nursery. He knew how tired she was, but she refused to admit it. Much to her dismay, she told on herself when she fell asleep on the way home. She didn't wake up until Danny opened the passenger door and unfastened her seatbelt.
"I can't believe I fell asleep," she groaned, rubbing her eyes.
"Well," he said, picking her up in his arms. "You are going straight to bed."
"What a wonderful idea," Michelle smiled seductively, nibbling at his neck.
"No," Danny said sternly. "You are going to get some sleep."
"Oh come on," she said disappointed as he opened the front door. "You're no fun."
He was silent as he carefully punched in the numbers on the alarm panel. Then he looked at the frown on her face and couldn't help but laugh. "What am I going to do with you?"
"Well I had idea, but you were not interested," she said.
"Not interested?" he choked out. "Are you kidding? Baby, I am always interested. But you are tired and you need your rest. Dr. Sedwick did say you were supposed to stay off your feet for a few days and you haven't been doing much of that."
By this time he had made his way up the stairs to their bedroom, with Michelle still in his arms. He sat her down on the unmade bed and pulled the covers over her. "Now get some sleep."
"It's only 7:00," she protested, sitting up.
"I know, but you didn't get much sleep last night," he reminded.
"Oh yeah," she smiled. "I think you had a little something to do with that."
"That's why you're staying here and I'm going to go downstairs," he explained with a smile, sitting down next to her.
"Are you saying you can't control yourself?" she asked mischievously, placing kisses all over his face.
"I can never control myself where you are concerned," he groaned, capturing her mouth with his. She started to pull him down with her on the bed when he broke away. "Oh no you don't."
"What?" she asked innocently.
"You are going to get some rest," he demanded, getting off the bed.
"Okay," she grunted. "But I'm not staying in this bed either. You're not the only one who can't handle it. I'll go lie on the sofa in the living room.
He nodded, "Okay. And I'll fix us some dinner."
"This noble act is really sweet, but it sure isn't any fun," she walked past him and down the stairs.
"Believe me, I know," he sighed following her.
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Within the hour, Danny had whipped up a spaghetti dinner for the two of them. Michelle never failed to be amazed at the many talents of her husband. He wanted to bring her a tray in the living room so she wouldn't have to leave the couch, but she insisted on eating a normal dinner with him in the dining room. She set the table and decided they needed a candlelight dinner. It had been so long since they had shared a meal. She needed this…they needed this.
After Danny set the food on the table, he poured himself a glass of wine and Michelle a glass of milk, her choice of drink these days. He had to admit this was nice. He had missed being with her like this. Before they could finish their dinner the phone rang.
"Let the machine get it," Danny pleaded.
"It may be Rick," she got up to answer it.
"Hello," she answered
"Michelle, it's Drew."
"Hey," she responded. "What's up?"
"I just wanted to know why you were in the hospital and no one let me know?" Drew snapped.
"I'm sorry," Michelle apologized. "You know I wasn't feeling well at Rick's and the next day I started feeling worse. Rick just wanted me to stay overnight for observation."
"Bill said you were pretty sick," Drew explained.
"You talked to Bill?" Michelle panicked. She had told him about being poisoned, but he promised he wouldn't tell anyone.
"Yeah, he came into Millennium today. I asked him how you were feeling and he told me you had been in the hospital. He said you had some kind of virus," she said.
"It was," Michelle sighed. Of course, Bill hadn't broken his promise. In all the years she had known him he never had.
"So are you feeling better now?" Drew asked, breaking her from her thoughts.
"Much," Michelle answered. "My husband is taking very good care of me."
Danny looked up and motioned for her to come back and finish her dinner, but she waved him off.
"Good," Drew said. "But next time let me know what's going on with you. I mean how did Bill find out and I didn't know?"
"I don't know," Michelle said. "I just assumed Pilar told him."
"Oh yeah, I forgot about her," she said. "So what are you doing tomorrow? I'm going shopping for a wedding present for Selena and Buzz. You want to go?"
"I think I'm under house arrest," Michelle explained. "But as soon as my guard will let me out, I'll give you a call."
"Okay, just call me," Drew said.
"I will," Michelle said. "We'll talk later. Bye."
"What was that all about?" Danny asked as she sat back down.
"Drew wanting to know why I didn't tell her I was in the hospital," she said. "She had talked to Bill, but he didn't tell her anything."
"Good," Danny nodded. "I know you trust her, but I think it's best if we keep it under wraps until we find out who is responsible."
"I understand," she said. "But I wish…" she stopped as the doorbell rang.
"It's Grand Central Station around here," Danny groaned.
"I'll get it," Michelle jumped up.
Before he could even stop her she was at the door. "Michelle," he said getting up to follow her. "Wait! Don't open it until…"
He froze as he heard her let out a scream.

Parts 17-18

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