The Harts had just finished their breakfast when the telephone rang. It was Dr. Stewart. He had received the results from Maureen Collins and was trying to arrange an appointment with an Obstetrician so that Jennifer’s Antenatal care could begin straight away. He could do her basic care but he knew that they would want to see a specialist too. He told Jennifer that he would let them know when he had set up an appointment with the consultant who was highly recommended to him. Meanwhile Jennifer should come in to see him on Monday morning – three days away.
Knowing they couldn’t do any more, medically, for the next few days Jonathan decided to call Andy Gardener and arrange a meeting with him. When he explained what they were interested in doing Andy agreed to come over later that day and talk to them about the plans. Jonathan was quite happy with his suggested time of 2:30. That gave he and Jennifer a few hours to themselves to think about what they wanted and needed to include in the re-building of Willowpond. Jonathan asked Jennifer if she would like to go for a walk on the beach and she thought that was a great idea. They’d had some of their best conversations and discussions over the last few years on that beach.
The first few minutes that they were out, the Harts walked hand-in-hand in silence. The stretch of beach by their home was for the exclusive use of those living in the ten houses that made up the private estate. They didn’t really know any of their neighbours other than just to say hello to. Jonathan was first to break the silence.
"You know that if you want to stay close to the beach we don’t need to move back to Bel Air. We could buy somewhere around here, or anywhere along the coast." He knew that Jennifer had enjoyed living near the ocean.
"Thank you darling." Jennifer had thought about them buying property along the coast. "But if everything works out…." She paused a moment and looked at him. They stopped walking. "Willowpond is a great place for a child to grow up."
Jonathan nodded. He was trying to find some words of reassurance for his wife but the truth was, until they’d seen the Obstetrician, neither of them really knew what they were going to face over the next few months. The subject of Pregnancy was one they knew very little about. "We had a lot of happy times there, it has good memories….we probably should have done this sooner." He was reflective.
"We were too busy working and travelling." Jennifer said.
"Sometimes I wish that we had moved back while Max was still alive." Jonathan told her.
"Darling I know how sad Max was after the fire but I think that he was happy here at the beach too."
"We were all happy because we were together, a family…" Jennifer knew how much her husband missed Max. She did too.
"What do you think he would make of all of this?" She asked her husband.
"I think that he would be delighted at the idea of us with a child of our own." Jonathan let go of Jennifer’s hand and wrapped his arms around her. "Almost as delighted as I am." He added softly as he held her against him and kissed her forehead. Jennifer put her arms around his waist and leaned against him.
Andy arrived on time for their meeting and they sat out on the patio to discuss their ideas. Jonathan and Jennifer had already decided that at the moment they didn’t need to tell anybody about the pregnancy. When they came to talking about how many bedrooms they wanted and with what facilities, they simply told him that they wanted the bedroom next to theirs to be just as large and with an en-suite bathroom. After they talked about how close to the original plans they wanted the house to be and discussed the initial plans for the layout Andy suggested that they take a drive out to look at the grounds. It was a while since Jennifer had been there and she felt quite emotional about the idea of seeing it again, especially as the grounds had been totally cleared and prepared for re-building.
Seeing Willowpond again hadn’t been as bad as Jennifer had thought. The fire had done a lot of damage and the house had been demolished so that area had been completely cleared. The gardens were untouched and during the time that they had been away from there Jonathan had still employed the landscape gardeners to maintain the grounds so they weren’t overgrown. The house, when it was re-built would be different, but the grounds would be exactly as they had always been. It was going to be a strange feeling living back there again, but then there were going to be even bigger changes in their lives happening at the same time. They would have a lot of adjustments to make. Jonathan and Andy walked around and Andy made some measurements and sketches. Jennifer left them and went to sit on the wooden bench seat that was in Max’ Rose Garden
When Andy left, Jonathan joined Jennifer.
"Andy will come by with his team on Monday and do the proper measurements, then they will draw up the plans and we can do whatever amendments we want to." He sat beside her and turned to face her.
She nodded. "That sounds fine."
Jonathan moved closer and put his arm around her shoulder and she leaned back against it. They sat together and looked out over the garden. After a few moments Jonathan smiled and Jennifer looked at him questioningly.
"Good memories?" She asked, but he shook his head.
"I wasn’t thinking back, I was thinking ahead." He paused a moment. "I know I shouldn’t until we know for sure what’s happening with the baby…but I was just thinking what a great spot that would be for a swing set." He pointed to the area that would be part of the back lawn. Jennifer smiled at him, she understood how he felt. It was hard not to think about these things even although they had a long way to go.
On Monday morning Jennifer was up early and she had already showered and dressed when Jonathan got up. He joined her a little later and they had a leisurely breakfast out on the patio. Their appointment with Dr Stewart was at 10:30 and they were organised in plenty of time.
Neither of them spoke much on the journey in, they were each lost in their own thoughts and the traffic was quite heavy so Jonathan had that to keep his mind occupied. Jennifer was nervous about the appointment, which surprised her, as she had known her doctor for a long time.
They arrived early and went through to the waiting room. There was only one other person in there, a woman in her 30’s who appeared to be in the later stages of pregnancy. She was sitting reading a magazine but she made eye contact with Jennifer and smiled at her. Jennifer returned her smile and they sat down opposite her. Instinctively Jonathan reached for his wife’s hand and he linked fingers with her.
Dr Stewart called The Harts through after just a few minutes. He smiled as they came into his Examination Room and he motioned to them to sit down which they did. He moved around the desk and sat opposite them, he opened the file on his desk and looked at it briefly before looking back at the Harts.
"Jennifer how have you been feeling?"
"Nervous … scared." She looked at him and he was sympathetic.
"I can understand that, it will take a while to get used to the idea. One thing in your favour so far is that you have reached the end of the first trimester, and the Ultrasound looks normal. There are other tests which are available a little later for us to try and detect any abnormalities, but really, for the time being, we have to assume that we are dealing with a pregnancy that’s progressing as it should be." The doctor looked at them both and then asked a question that neither of them had really expected. "Do you want to continue with the pregnancy?" He didn’t ask it in a cold way but it still came as a shock to them. Jonathan looked at Jennifer. and she met his gaze. He knew from her eyes what her answer was and he spoke for them both when he told the doctor.
"Yes we do."
"Good, in that case we can start your basic Antenatal care now and then refer you to Lynne Daniels. She is an Obstetrics Specialist she is excellent and she is quite happy to see you. I have her number, you can call for an appointment anytime, I’ve passed on copies of your notes to her already."
"Thanks Jack." Jonathan said.
Over the next hour they discussed the basic care and tests that Jack would do and he gave them a brief outline of the other tests that would be available to them and at what stage they could be carried out. He explained what each of the tests was and why it was offered. Jonathan and Jennifer left the Doctors office with a handful of leaflets and a card to call Lynne Daniels.
Jonathan suggested that they go out for lunch to one of their favourite restaurants and if Jennifer wanted to they could have a look around and get some ideas for decorating and furnishing the house when it was completed. She thought that was a good idea. They hadn’t been able to salvage much after the fire and although they did bring in some of their own things when they moved to Malibu they would probably start afresh again. It would be fun. Now that they had decided to do it she wished that they had done it sooner. There was a lot to do but she loved the idea of the challenge.
The past few days had been full of different emotions and Jennifer felt like she had been on a rollercoaster, it was all still a bit unreal. They had a wonderful life together and they’d had a lot of adventures over the years. The next few weeks until they could have the complete lot of recommended tests would be an emotional time but if everything was all right with their baby Jennifer knew in her heart this would be the "icing on the cake" of their lives. She couldn’t deny that she was concerned about there being complications but she was trying to be positive, she now believed that as this child had been conceived against all odds, he or she was meant to be. Perhaps the same hand of fate that had brought she and Jonathan together was giving them another gift, the family of their own that they had always wanted, but accepted they’d never have.
The next few weeks flew past. The Harts had their appointment with Lynne Daniels and she assured them that she would only do the tests that she felt necessary and although she would be as thorough as possible she would keep the invasive tests to a minimum. They had both liked her and trusted her. So far everything had been normal, the last remaining test was the Amniocentesis. The risk involved with that one had made it more difficult, but in the end they decided, with Lynne’s advice, that they should go ahead with it. The procedure itself had gone well and they were just waiting for the results now.
The building work was underway at Willow Pond and Andy had a good team on board, he was sure they would complete ahead of schedule. Jonathan and Jennifer had reviewed all the plans and had only made slight amendments, they were happy with the way things looked.
Jennifer had cut down on her work assignments and Jonathan was working on rearranging things at Hart Industries so that he could play a smaller role in the day to day running of the company. He was having contracts drawn up and staff re-trained so that he would be able to delegate more of the decision making to the Board members. He would of course still be CEO and have ultimate control but he didn’t want to spend as much time at the office as he had done in the past. Jennifer had always been the most important thing in his life but she’d had her career too so that had meant he’d continued playing a larger role than was really necessary at the company. Now that was all going to change.
Jennifer had been meeting her literary agent to discuss the one main project that she was working on, a series of articles on American Ambassadors around the world. She had done some research while they were in Europe and she was close to completing the series. She had told her agent that she was intending to put her career on hold for a time and that while she would fulfil her obligations to them she wouldn’t accept any new assignments. She didn’t tell them why.
It was late afternoon when she arrived home and as it was quite a warm day she decided to have a shower and freshen up before Jonathan got back from the office.
She had just finished drying her hair when the telephone rang. She went through to the bedroom and answered it.
"Hello, Jennifer Hart."
"Jennifer, its Lynne Daniels." Jennifer could feel her heart pounding. She sat down on the edge of the bed and took a deep breath. This was the call they had been waiting for and she wished that Jonathan was there.
"Hello Lynne." She tried to sound calm.
"I just wanted to let you know that the last lot of test results are through."
"We didn’t expect them until tomorrow." Jennifer said softly.
"The lab called me a few minutes ago and I know how important news like this is." There was a short pause and Jennifer closed her eyes. As though Lynne could see her reaction she continued. " Its good news Jennifer, no abnormalities were detected, you are carrying a healthy baby." The sense of relief that Jennifer felt was amazing; it was as though a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. She had always thought that she was being positive about things but she hadn’t realised how much she needed to know the results until Lynne told her.
Jennifer thanked Lynne for calling and they disconnected. She got up from the bed and went to look for an outfit to change into.
Jonathan parked his car in the driveway and lifted his briefcase from the passenger seat. Inside the house he paused to listen for his wife moving about, he quickly realised that she was upstairs so he put his jacket and briefcase down inside the door and headed up.
Jennifer had found a pair of sweatpants and a top to wear, it wasn’t her usual attire but it accommodated her expanding waistline comfortably. She smiled to herself as she realised that she would need to go shopping for some new clothes now that she had a definite maternal bump, she had been putting it off – not wanting to tempt fate. She put the outfit on and tied her hair up. She was on her way back through to the bedroom when she heard Jonathan coming upstairs, they met in the doorway and he smiled at her.
"Hi, how was your day?" Leaning towards her he kissed her cheek and stepped back to let her come into the room. She returned his smile and stopped to look at him.
"I’ve had a good day. My meeting went well and I explained that I wouldn’t be taking on any more assignments in the near future."
"Did they want to know why?"
"Nobody came right out and asked." Jennifer smiled before she put her hand on her abdomen. "I’m surprised that nobody guessed though, I’m getting fat!" She grinned.
Jonathan reached out and pulled her gently into his embrace he hugged her and smiled. "I think you look wonderful." Jennifer was silent a moment and Jonathan pulled back slightly to look at her. He was immediately concerned when he saw her eyes fill with tears. He looked worried but Jennifer smiled at him.
"Lynne Daniels just called darling, the results of the Amniocentesis are back and they are normal, she said it’s a healthy baby." Jonathan smiled at her; he leant forward and kissed her softly on the lips.
There was a short silence before he asked. "Would you like to go shopping to celebrate?" He grinned at her and Jennifer grinned back.
"I’d love to!"
"Great, give me ten minutes to change."
"I’d better get changed again too…although I’m not sure what I’ll change into as nothing much fits me any longer." She was smiling and Jonathan reached out and placed his hand on her abdomen.
"First stop Maternity wear then!"
"Just don’t expect me to wear anything floral, or anything with bows on it!"
"Okay." Jonathan smiled again. It wouldn’t matter to him what she wore, as she had always been the most beautiful woman in the world to him. Now, half way through her pregnancy, she looked even better. Jennifer made a move to turn and go to change but Jonathan put his arms out and caught her. She turned back and their eyes met.
"It feels good to know for sure, even though we were thinking positive."
"Yes it does I didn’t realise just how much I needed to hear those results Jonathan."
"Everything is going to be fine sweetheart." He paused a moment "I love you Jen." He so rarely called her Jen but she liked it when he did. Jennifer smiled at him.
"I love you too."
Jonathan leaned forward and they kissed.
Over the next few months things progressed well, Jennifer felt great and everything was normal with the pregnancy. The work up at Willowpond was underway and they were happy with the way it was shaping up. They were aiming to have it all completed and ready to move in to a few weeks before the baby was due. Jennifer had chosen all the Nursery furniture, wallcoverings and drapes and the builders now knew that the second upstairs bedroom was a Nursery.
The Board had approved Jonathan’s proposals for the future running of Hart Industries. Jennifer completed all her remaining assignments and now spent her days reading, relaxing, meeting with friends and overseeing the interior design plans for the house. The place at Malibu wouldn’t take long to pack up as most of the furnishings were staying, and a lot of their own things had remained in storage during the time they’d been there. This was a nice time for them, they had always led such busy working and social lives, always out and about. Now they were both content to be at home in the evenings spending time just the two of them. They talked a lot about their past lives and their hopes for the future, they were both looking forward to the new challenges that parenthood would bring. This was the last few weeks of their old lives. Soon things would change forever. For the better.
As they had predicted it would be, the house at Willowpond was finished a bit ahead of schedule so the interior work was completed early too.
The day that everything was ready and they moved in Jennifer was 35 weeks pregnant and feeling great. They had a busy day and it was quite late when everyone left and they finally had the place to themselves. It had been easier than they’d thought moving from the house in Malibu as it had never really been "their home" just the house that they lived in. Jennifer sank down on to one of the new sofas and Jonathan brought them cold drinks from the already stocked fridge. They sat together for a while and finished their drinks before going for a wander round the house checking everything out. After inspecting all of the ground floor they headed upstairs hand in hand. Their bedroom was beautiful; it wasn’t as elaborately decorated as it had been in the past, it was much subtler now. They checked out the dressing rooms and en-suite bathroom, everything was looking just as they had hoped.
Next stop was the Nursery. Jonathan opened the double doors and they went in. The carpet in there was thicker than in the rest of the house and it was a creamy white colour. It was only after they had ordered it that Jennifer was amused to realise that in a couple of years it would probably be a really inappropriate colour for the bedroom of a toddler. Still, for now it was perfect with the rest of the décor. The walls were also a warm creamy colour and the border was an animal print one, the drapes matched it, as did all the Nursery accessories. The furniture was Beech wood. They had a larger crib and a matching cradle. The crib bedding was co–ordinated with the rest of the room but the cradle had very delicate Broderie Anglaise bedding. Jennifer was so happy with the way it looked and she turned to Jonathan to tell him so. He was looking quite wistful and she reached for his hand.
"Are you okay?" she asked him softly.
He smiled at her. "Yes I’m fine… Sometimes I still can’t believe that this is all real."
Jennifer took his hand and placed it on her abdomen, the baby was moving. "See, perfectly real!" She told him. Jonathan was constantly amazed at being able to feel their child moving and growing inside of Jennifer and he smiled at her.
"She’s very active this evening!"
"She has been all day, I thought she’d be tired out by now! I know that I am."
"How would you like me to run you a bath?"
"Sounds wonderful!"
"Good, give me five minutes." Jonathan left to go and run Jennifer’s bath, leaving her in the Nursery. She looked around the room; she really was delighted with the way it looked. Walking across to the large chest of drawers she opened the drawers one by one and looked at the tiny clothes inside. Everything was ready now, all they needed was their little one to arrive safely and everything would be perfect. Just for a moment Jennifer was struck by a recurring doubt. The old saying that "nobody has everything" came to mind again as it had done a few times during her pregnancy. Her life with Jonathan had always been wonderful and whenever she had heard that saying in the past, Jennifer had thought that their inability to have the family they wanted was how that applied to them. Now that was about to change and as much as she hated to give in to those feelings of doubt they did affect her sometimes. She paused a moment in thought but was soon interrupted by Jonathan coming back to let her know her bath was ready.
Jennifer had been in the tub for just over five minutes, she was feeling quite relaxed although as she’d said to Jonathan the baby had been active all day so she had a bit of backache. Jonathan had gone to bring her a new towel and when he returned with it he laid it on the floor before sitting on the edge of the bath facing her. She smiled at him and he returned it.
"It feels good to be home again." He said to her and she nodded. Lying back in the tub she was enjoying the feel of the warm water when suddenly she felt a sharp pain low in her abdomen, it was hard enough that it took her breath away. Jonathan stared at her as she sat up.
"What happened?"
"I don’t know… a pain"
"Have you had anything like it before?" He began to worry about her.
"No."
"You’ve had a busy day honey." Jonathan was trying to convince himself as much as Jennifer that there was a simple explanation for it. They looked at each other a moment but before either of them could speak it happened again, this time Jennifer cried out it was so painful. Jonathan put his hand out to her.
"I think you should come out of the bath darling."
Jennifer was frightened now, she had never felt pain like it. Jonathan helped her to stand up and he turned to pick up her towel. Jennifer looked at him and as he turned back towards her she saw the look of horror on his face, following his gaze she looked down and saw the blood running down the inside of her legs and in to the water. She thought she was going to pass out. Jonathan reacted immediately; he lifted her out of the water and carried her through to the bedroom. He lay her on the bed and lifted the phone to call 911. For a crazy moment Jennifer thought about her new comforter getting covered in blood as Jonathan wrapped it around her. That thought disappeared as she heard him speak to the Emergency services and realised that he was just as scared at what was happening. That made her all the more frightened and as he hung up the phone and knelt beside her she was sick all over the floor.
Jonathan panicked, he hated being out of control, he had no idea what was happening but he knew if she was losing blood like that then it was serious. He tried to think of what he should do first but he couldn’t think straight. From somewhere in the back of his mind came the thought that he should elevate her legs, then he thought he should try and put some clothing on her. Quickly he looked around and saw her night-shirt folded at the bottom of the bed so he helped her put it on then he took the pillows from his side of the bed and placed them under her legs.
"Jonathan, what’s happening to me." Jennifer’s voice was just a whisper and when he looked at her, her cheeks were wet with tears. She was in constant pain now and she knew she was still bleeding, she could feel it. She had never been more frightened in her life.
"I don’t know darling…The paramedics will be here soon."
It was only minutes, although it seemed like an eternity, before they heard the sirens and Jonathan buzzed the gates open for them. He rushed down the stairs and pulled the door open before running up again. Then it seemed like the room was filled with people and Jonathan found himself separated from Jennifer. Somebody shouted to him to ask how many weeks pregnant she was and he couldn’t think straight, he paused a moment then he heard Jennifer say 35, her voice sounded weak and he moved round to see what was happening. One of the paramedics was examining her and there was a lot of blood. A second man was on the phone and he heard him say "Looks like ante-partum haemorrhage."
There was a third person, a woman, and she spoke to Jonathan.
"It looks as though the placenta has become detached from the wall of the uterus so we’ll be taking her in to Cedars Sinai. I expect they‘ll do an immediate caesarean." By the time Jonathan was able to make eye contact with Jennifer his tears mirrored hers.
"Have you got the fluids going in?" The man with the phone asked.
"Yes!"
"Okay, lets get going then."
