TITLE: Picking Up The Pieces-Chapter
Thirteen
AUTHOR:
Cindy (RkieFan1960@AOL.com)
SETTING: Jun. - Sept. 2002
SUMMARY: In this chapter, we
have weddings, adoption and a birth. Need I say more?
JUNE
After hearing Shelby's revelation,
Mary Kathryn ordered her to stay with Eddie. She ran down the flagstone
path to the main house and burst into the kitchen, causing both of her
parents to look at her in shock. "Mary Kathryn, what's wrong?" Mike asked.
"The Gallagher's took Shelby
to the convalescent home to see Troy," Mary Kathryn informed her parents
as Jill's face went white.
"They did what?" Jill shouted
in disbelief.
"Shelby made a comment about
how he doesn't do anything but lie in bed. She then told us that it was
supposed to be a secret and she wasn't supposed to tell anybody," Mary
Kathryn told her parents as Jill walked over to the phone and called Mr.
Maxwell.
"Mr. Maxwell, this is Jill Danko.
I'm sorry to call you at home on a Sunday, but I just learned that the
Gallagher's took Shelby to see her father. Yeah, I'm sure. Yeah, you do
that and call me back," she said in a sarcastic tone as she slammed the
phone down. "He's going to call the judge and then he'll call me back."
She stood in silent fury for a minute before picking up the phone and dialing
again.
"Who are you calling now?" Mike
asked her as she waved him silent.
The phone was answered on the
second ring by Mrs. Gallagher. "Mrs. Gallagher, this is Jill Danko. I would
like to know just what the hell you were thinking when you defied the judge's
order and took Shelby to see her father? "
"Oh, boy," Mike sighed as him
and Mary Kathryn stared at Jill.
"We didn't take Shelby to see
her father. We did show her videos of her father. She's a delightful child.
You've done a wonderful job of raising her," Mrs. Gallagher gushed while
Jill felt like throwing up.
"Yeah, well, it should've been
her mother who's done a wonderful job of raising her. Shelby told her aunt
that she went to see her father. She said it was supposed to be a secret,"
Jill continued as Ryker and Shelby came into the house. "Mary Kathryn,
take her to her room and empty her overnight bag."
"Come on, Shelby. We'll play
with the 'Leapfrog.' You can show me all the words you know," Mary Kathryn
held her hand out and led Shelby from the room.
"What's going on?" Ryker asked
as he looked at Mike.
"My ex-wife is talking to Troy's
mother, wanting to know why they took Shelby to see Troy. This is getting
very ugly," Mike complained as he got up and walked out of the house.
After talking to Mrs. Gallagher
for several minutes, Jill hung up and went to Shelby's room where Shelby
was showing Mary Kathryn the things the Gallagher's had bought her. Jill
sat down on the bed and pulled Shelby down beside her. "I want to know
something. Did you watch videos of your daddy this weekend?"
"Friday night, after we went
to dinner. I told them I'm allergic to shrimp, so I had chicken. That's
okay, right?" Shelby asked as Jill nodded.
"That's fine. What did you do
yesterday?" Jill asked as Shelby looked at Mary Kathryn.
"We had pancakes for breakfast,"
Shelby hedged as Jill looked at her. "Then we went shopping. Grandma wanted
me to have a nice dress when we met my Aunt Sara. I played with my cousin
Samantha. She's seven," Shelby continued dodging the subject as only a
child can do.
"Where did you meet your Aunt
Sara and cousin Samantha?" Jill asked, knowing full well what Shelby was
doing. "Shelby, I'm not angry at you. I just want you to tell me the truth."
"I heard them talking in the
car when we were going back to their house. They said you and Papa would
be angry if they found out I saw him. I don't want them to get in trouble,"
Shelby said in a shaky voice.
"Shelby, the reason we didn't
want you seeing your daddy is he's not going to get any better and we didn't
want you to get upset. But, when we went to court, the judge was very definite
when he told them he didn't want them to take you to see him. They're not
in as much trouble with us as they're going to be with the judge," Jill
tried to explain as Shelby looked at her sadly.
"Will he put them in jail?"
She asked.
"No, I don't think he'll do
that, but he's not going to be very happy," Jill said.
"Can I go outside to play now?"
She asked as Jill nodded.
Mike was sitting in a lounge
chair on the dock when Shelby came skipping up, stopping beside his chair.
After staring at each other for several seconds, she climbed into the chair
with him. "What are you doing out here? It's going to be dark in a little
while," he told her as she sat staring at him.
"Nana told me I could come out
to play," she answered as she continued looking at him.
"In your good dress?" He asked
as he noted her dress.
"I don't think she cares. I
think she's mad at the other grandparents," she decided as Mike fought
back a smile.
"I think you're probably right,"
he agreed.
"How come she doesn't like them?
They were very nice to me," Shelby wanted to know as she smoothed the ruffled
front of her new dress.
"It's a long story. I'll tell
you all about it when you get married," he declared as she gave him a funny
look.
"Shelby, Nana wants you to come
in the house and eat dinner," Mary Kathryn shouted as she came out to the
dock.
Later that night, Mike turned
to Jill as they lay in bed. "I was thinking this afternoon," he began as
she looked at him.
"Was it painful?" She teased
as he slapped at her.
"Would you please let me finish?
I want to adopt Shelby," he stated as Jill sat up and smiled.
"You want to adopt her? Oh,
Mike, that's wonderful!" She smiled as she leaned over to kiss him.
"There's more. Marry me again.
I want us to be a family again," he pleaded as she pulled away to look
at him.
"Mike, there's still so much
that's gone unsaid between us," she began as he stopped her.
"I know and it's probably never
going to be said. I saw your face when I was being questioned during the
hearing. Jill, if I could turn the clock back, I would've driven him home
myself. But, as Lt. Ryker once told me a long time ago, if hindsight were
twenty/twenty, we'd all be wiser men. When Savannah made the decision to
drive him home that night and I agreed, I didn't see a 16-year-old girl.
I saw a young woman that had always been wise beyond her years. That's
something that I have to live with for the rest of my life. And, not telling
you that she was seeing him is also something that I'm always going to
have to live with. But, I can't change what happened that night. All that
I can do is try to move forward and the only way that I feel I can do that
is by having you and the kids with me once again. I love you, Jill," he
finished as he looked at her.
"I love you, too," she breathed
as he pulled her close to him.
"So, is that a 'yes'?" He asked
as she smiled and slowly nodded.
"Yeah, that's definitely a 'yes',"
she grinned as he kissed her.
The next morning, Jill was cooking
breakfast for Mike and the kids when Michelle came waddling in. "Okay,
I've made a decision that I can't possibly get any larger," she announced
as she collapsed on the couch.
"Oh, believe me, you can and
you will," Jill told her as Michelle glared at her. They both then stared
at Shelby, who was trying to peer under Michelle's maternity smock. "Shelby,
what in the world are you doing?"
"I was just wondering how the
baby's going to get out," she wondered out loud as Jill tried to keep from
laughing.
"It's going to get out the same
way that it got in," Michelle groaned.
"Michelle, for Pete's sake,
she's five years old! I haven't had the whole talk with her, yet," Jill
warned Michelle as Shelby stared at her.
"Well, you'd better, before
one of her friends at school tells her more than you ever wanted her to
know. Then, she'll start asking questions such as why do you and daddy
take a bath together?" Michelle grinned.
"Why do you and Papa . . . .
" Shelby started to ask as Jill cut her off and pointed her toward the
breakfast table.
"Remember when Savannah asked
you that?" Michelle remembered as she started laughing.
"Yeah. I think your father said
it had something to do with water conservation," Jill also remembered as
she poured Shelby a glass of juice.
"What had to do with water conservation?"
Mike asked as he walked into the house.
"Why you and Nana take a bath
together," Shelby answered with a mouth full of cereal.
"Hey babe, I was thinking that
maybe we could go downtown to the courthouse," Mike stated as Michelle
looked at her parents.
"Are you guys going to get a
marriage license or something?" Michelle asked as Jill flushed deep red.
"Oh my God! This is great! When are you going to do it?"
"We don't know, yet," Jill remarked
as the phone rang. "Hello?"
"Mrs. Danko, this is Joe Maxwell.
I talked to Judge Miller this morning and he wants to meet with you and
the Gallagher's Friday morning to discuss the events of this past weekend.
He wants everybody in his courtroom at 9 a.m.," he concluded as Jill hung
up the phone.
"We go back to court Friday
morning. I'm hoping the judge is going to hand the Gallagher's their heads
on a platter," Jill concluded as Mike smiled.
"I'll be back later," he exclaimed
as he charged out of the door.
"Mom, have I ever told you how
strange that man is," Mary Kathryn commented as she walked in the back
door.
"So I've noticed," Jill agreed
as she sat down with the kids.
When Mike arrived back home
later that afternoon, Mary Kathryn was sitting by the pool with the kids
while Willie sat nearby typing furiously on his laptop. "Where have you
been all day?" He asked as Mike came whistling up the walk.
"Well, William, I could tell
you, but then I'd have to kill you. I can say this though. Keep Friday
morning open. I need you guys to come to court with us," Mike informed
him as he frowned.
"Why would I want to do that?"
Willie asked as he looked at Mary Kathryn, who just shrugged.
"Because I asked you to," Mike
grinned.
"Does this involve you buying
lunch?" Willie asked.
"There might be food involved,"
Mike agreed mysteriously. "Mary Kathryn, can you keep an eye on the kids
for a couple of hours? I need to go somewhere with your mother."
"Yeah, I can watch them. Where
are you going?" She asked as he prepared to rush back out the door.
"Out!" He shouted mysteriously
as Willie and Mary Kathryn looked at each other. He ran back into the main
house where Jill was washing up the breakfast dishes. "Jill, Mary Kathryn's
agreed to watch the kids for a couple of hours. Let's go into town."
"Mike, I have so much to do,"
she complained. "I have laundry scattered everywhere and . . . "
"Please? I promise that it won't
take very long," he pleaded as she sighed.
"I need to change clothes,"
she complained as she looked down at her clothes.
"You look fine," he assured
her as he took her hand and practically dragged her to the front door.
"Michelle, Mary Kathryn's going to be here in a few minutes."
"Where are we going?" She asked
him when they got to his car.
"I thought maybe we could go
and get a marriage license," he told her innocently as she smiled. "If
we get it today, we still have 90 days to use it."
"Why do I get the feeling that
you don't want to wait 90 days?" She grinned as he opened the car door
for her.
"Oh, you might be right," he
agreed mysteriously as he got behind the wheel and started the car.
Friday morning, Judge Howard
Marshall was in his chambers when he heard somebody knock on his door.
"Come in," he called.
"Judge Marshall? I'm Michael
Danko. You're hearing a case involving my granddaughter this morning,"
Mike explained as the judge looked disinterested.
"Mr. Danko, it's probably not
a good idea for us to be talking," the judge reminded him.
"Oh, I don't want to talk to
you about the hearing. I was wondering if you could perform a wedding ceremony
after the hearing has concluded," Mike stammered as the judge put his pen
down.
"Who's getting married?" The
judge asked.
"My ex-wife and I are getting
remarried. Can you perform the ceremony?" Mike asked once again as the
judge smiled.
"I think I can spare a few minutes
in between court cases," he smiled as Mike breathed a huge sigh of relief.
"Thank you, your honor," Mike
thanked the judge as he left the room and closed the door behind him. He
ran down the corridor where everybody else was waiting outside of the courtroom.
"Everything's all set," he grinned, as they all stared at him.
"What're you talking about?"
Jill asked as the court clerk stepped outside and summoned them into the
room.
"You'll see," he told her as
he picked up Shelby and followed her into the courtroom.
When the judge entered the room
a few minutes later, he looked out to where all of Mike and Jill's extended
family and friends were sitting in the gallery. "Mrs. Danko, who are all
of these people?" He asked in irritation.
"Family, your honor," Jill stammered.
"This is family court, Mrs.
Danko, not criminal court. Unless they have business with this hearing,
they'll have to wait outside. They can come back after I've made my ruling,"
he added mysteriously as Willie, Terry and everybody stood up and exited
the courtroom. "Mr. Williams, I understand that your clients disobeyed
my ruling and took the minor to see her father. Is this correct?"
"Yes, your honor," he barely
whispered as the judge glared at him.
"Are they obtuse or just very
stupid? Or, did they think the child wouldn't say anything? When I make
a ruling, Mr. Williams, I expect it to be followed. Since your clients
have obvious problems doing this, I'll revise my ruling. Mr. And Mrs. Gallagher,
you'll be allowed to see your granddaughter every Friday afternoon from
4 o'clock until 6 o'clock at the offices of Child Welfare Services. And,
one more thing. These will be supervised
visits. You're both very
lucky that I'm not holding you in contempt of court. Court is adjourned!"
The judge banged his gavel in finality as Mr. Williams left the room with
his clients. "Mr. Danko, you can bring your family back in."
"Mike, what's going on?" Jill
asked as Mike walked to the courtroom doors and ushered everybody back
in.
"Oh, I just thought it might
be a good day to get married," he grinned. "Judge Marshall has agreed to
perform the ceremony."
"Do you have everything in order,
Mr. Danko?" The judge asked as Mike nodded and handed him the marriage
license. "Do you have rings?"
"Yes, sir," Terry chimed in
as Jill looked first at him, then at Mike.
"Fine, let's get started. We
are gathered here to join this man and this woman in holy matrimony. Michael,
do you take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to
hold, in sickness and in health as long as you both shall live?" The judge
asked as Mike smiled.
"I do," Mike murmured.
"Jill, do you take this man
to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, in sickness and
in health as long as you both shall live?" He asked Jill.
"I do," Jill said as she fought
back tears.
After exchanging rings, the
judge began to speak once again. "By the power vested in me by the state
of California, I pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss your bride,"
Judge Marshall told Mike as Mike pulled Jill close and kissed her. "Congratulations."
"Thank you," Mike smiled as
he wiped tears from Jill's face.
JULY
After marrying Jill the previous
month, Mike hired a lawyer to start the adoption process for Shelby. "I
don't understand why you want a paper stating that you're her guardian.
Re-marrying your ex-wife should be more than enough," his lawyer assured
him.
"I made a lot of mistakes after
Shelby's birth. Adopting her would be the first process in making some
of those things right again," Mike told his attorney.
"You do know of course that
social services will have to conduct a home study," the lawyer warned him.
"I know that. I've been through
the adoption mill before," Mike reminded the lawyer.
"I'll get the paperwork started,"
the lawyer sighed as he took the papers from Mike.
The social worker assigned by
Child Welfare Services was a young woman by the name of Charlene Gray.
She'd only been with CWS for a few months. Her first stop was to visit
Jill. Due to conflicting schedules, she had to arrange to meet with Jill
at the hospital during Jill's lunch break. After offering the young woman
coffee, Jill sat at the table across from her.
"I'm sorry if I'm a little nervous.
I've only done one home study before this one," Ms. Gray apologized as
she opened her briefcase. "I see here that you have two grown daughters."
"Michelle and Mary Kathryn,"
Jill answered.
"How do they feel about their
father adopting Shelby?" Ms. Gray asked.
"I'm not sure. It's not really
anything we've discussed one way or the other," Jill said.
"Why didn't your husband adopt
Shelby when you did in 1998?" Ms. Gray asked.
"My husband and I were having
marital problems. He didn't agree with me adopting her. That was one of
the factors that led to us divorcing a year later," Jill said in a tight
voice.
"What has changed his mind?"
Ms. Gray wanted to know.
"He's had opportunity to spend
time with her and he loves her as much as I do. This is something he's
been talking about for several months," Jill assured the young woman.
"When would it be possible for
me to talk to Shelby?" The social worker asked.
"Any time in the afternoon,"
Jill told her.
<><><><><>
Mike and Ryker were working on case files when the doorbell rang. Mike answered the door to find Ms. Gray standing there. "Mr. Danko?" She asked as Mike nodded. "I'm Ms. Gray from CWS. Your wife told me that I could come out here and talk with Shelby."
"Please, come in. I'll go outside
and get her," Mike offered as Ms. Gray stopped him.
"That's okay. I'd rather go
to wherever she is," Ms. Gray explained.
"She's out back playing in her
playhouse," Mike said as he led her to the back door and pointed to a small
wooden house in the backyard.
Shelby was busily having a tea
party with her dolls when Ms. Gray approached the small house that someone
had obviously taken a great deal of care to build for the little girl.
"Excuse me, are you Shelby?" She asked as she peeked in through the window.
"Yes. Would you like to come
to my party?" Shelby asked as she opened the door and Ms. Gray stepped
in, having to hunch over as Shelby set another place setting of doll china.
"Please sit down," Shelby pointed to a small plastic chair.
"Will this chair hold me?" Ms.
Gray asked skeptically as Shelby nodded.
"My Papa sits on it and it doesn't
break," Shelby assured her as Ms. Gray gingerly sat down.
"Cream and sugar?" Shelby asked
as she held out an imaginary sugar bowl and cream pitcher.
"Sugar, please," Ms. Gray played
along as Shelby pretended to put sugar in her cup. "How do you feel about
your grandfather adopting you?"
"He brings me good presents
when he goes on trips. He reads to me before I go to sleep," she told the
social worker.
"What does he read to you?"
Ms. Gray asked as she took notes.
"Right now, he's reading 'Stuart
Little.' He reads it better than the movie. He's read me about a hundred
books, I guess," she said as she nodded her head. "He's a good book reader."
"What else does he do?" Ms.
Gray asked.
"He taught me to swim and tie
my shoes and play poker," she listed as Ms. Gray's eyes widened.
"He lets you play poker?" Ms.
Gray asked in shock.
"Not for real money. We play
for match sticks or pretzels. He said it'll make me better in math," she
added as Ms. Gray shook her head.
"Well, thank you very much for
the tea, Shelby. I'm going to go talk to your grandfather now," Ms. Gray
stated as she stood up and smoothed her clothes before exiting the play
house. Mike and Lt. Ryker were still working when Ms. Gray walked back
into the house. "May I ask why you've taught your granddaughter to play
poker?"
"It improves her math skills,"
Mike answered as he looked at the woman.
"I see. Does she also shoot
craps?" Ms. Gray asked sarcastically as Mike looked at Lt. Ryker in amusement.
"No, but only because I won't
let her play with dice," Mike answered back.
"Mr. Danko, you might find this
very amusing, but incidents like this can stop the adoption," Ms. Gray
threatened as Eddie stood up.
"Ms. Gray, can I walk you to
your car?" Eddie suggested as he led the lady through the house and out
to her car. "Ms. Gray, I have known Mr. Danko for thirty years. He's a
wonderful father. He might be a little unconventional in some of his teachings,
but he doesn't do anything maliciously. He loves that little girl very
much."
"I'm sure he does, Mr. . . "
she paused.
"Ryker," Eddie filled in for
her.
"I'm sure he does love her,
Mr. Ryker, but don't you see anything just a little bit wrong with teaching
a five-year-old poker?" She beseeched as Eddie shook his head.
"Ms. Gray, I'm sure you've seen
parents in your work who've taught their children far worse," he told her.
"Yes, I have," she acquiesced
as she opened her car door and got inside. "The judge will call when I've
filed my report."
AUGUST
It was the 20th of
August. Jill was planning a birthday party for Mike. She was decorating
the living room when Michelle waddled in. Four days overdue, she was miserable.
Thomas had arrived from Camp Pendleton the night before and was staying
with her at Eddie's house. Michelle was hoping she'd have the baby that
weekend while Thomas was there. "Hey, sweetie," Jill greeted her as she
awkwardly sat down on the sofa.
"I think I'm going to go on
a five-mile run to see if I can get this baby to come out," Michelle complained
as Jill smiled.
"You don't want to do that in
this heat. What did your doctor say?" Jill asked as she hung streamers
from the doorway.
"She said if nothing happens
by Monday, she'll induce. Were you late with Mary Kathryn?" Michelle asked.
"Yeah. Most first babies are
late. I wouldn't worry," Jill soothed her.
"I don't worry about that. I
worry about everybody being in the room and seeing everything,"
Michelle shuddered at the thought.
"Believe me, once you start
pushing that baby out, it isn't going to matter to you who's in the room.
You're not going to be able to focus on anything but delivering that baby,"
Jill assured her as she continued hanging decorations.
"Have you heard anything from
the lawyer regarding Shelby's adoption?" Michelle asked as she changed
the subject.
"No, but Eddie said the case
worker didn't like Mike much. He said he hopefully got her to change her
opinion of him," Jill said.
"Let me guess. She didn't like
the poker thing," Michelle guessed as Jill nodded. "I remember one of my
teachers in middle school having that reaction, too. I'm going to go back
to Eddie's and rest for a while. This heat makes me so tired."
Later that afternoon, the guys
were out in the backyard where Terry was grilling steaks. Michelle was
sitting on one of the patio chairs talking to Jen and watching Thomas laughing
and drinking beer with his father and the other guys. Her back had been
aching all afternoon and there was no way to get comfortable in the heat.
She decided to go into the house, where it was at least air-conditioned.
She had just struggled to hear feet when she felt a 'pop' and warm water
began coursing down her legs. "Oh my God!" She cried out.
"Michelle, it's okay! Your mother
and I have both been there," Jennifer assured her as she jumped out of
her chair and rushed to her side.
"What's going on?" Thomas asked,
rushing over.
"My water just broke," Michelle
muttered as a violent contraction took her breath away.
"What water?" Shelby asked as
she ran over to see what all the excitement was about. "Yuck! It's wet
over here!"
"Shelby, go get your grandmother.
We need to get to the hospital, now!" Jen told the assembled multitude
in a frantic tone as her and Thomas helped Michelle into the house.
It took three cars to get everybody
to the hospital, since nobody wanted to stay home. Michelle's contractions
were coming fast and furiously and she kept wanting her father to stop
the car every time she had one. "Michelle, I can't stop the car in the
middle of the 405! I'll get a ticket!" Mike told her as Thomas timed her
contractions.
"Mike, you'd better break some
speed limits. I have a feeling this baby's going to get here quick!" Jill
ordered him as Thomas showed her the stop watch. "Michelle, were you having
pains before this?"
"No. I've just been tired and
my back's been aching," Michelle said between pains.
When they got to the hospital,
Mike ran in and got an orderly with a wheelchair. The nurse at the admit
desk looked slightly amused when she looked up and saw the throng of family
who came in with Michelle. She told the orderly to take Michelle up to
Labor And Delivery, where she was immediately taken to one of the birthing
rooms. The doctor arrived a few minutes later, amused to find the room
full of family. "Michelle, I understand that you might be in labor," Dr.
Gaylord announced as Michelle made a face.
"If water running down my legs
and these pains ripping through me mean anything, then I am in labor,"
Michelle shouted in fury as the doctor smiled.
"Well, let's have a look, shall
we?" The doctor suggested as she snapped on a pair of latex gloves while
Michelle looked at her parents in horror.
"Does the whole family have
to be in here while you do that?" Michelle asked in embarrassment.
"We'll be outside," Jill said
as she grabbed Mike's hand and beckoned to Willie, Jen and Thomas. They
stepped outside where Terry was waiting with Michael and Shelby.
"Is Michelle going to have that
old baby in a few minutes? I'm hungry," Shelby whined as Jill smiled.
"It's going to be more than
a few minutes, but I do think it's going to be pretty soon," Jill said
as she sat down and pulled the little girl onto her lap.
"She ruined some perfectly good
steaks," Terry pointed out as Mike nodded.
"Not to mention my birthday,"
he groaned as Jill slapped at him.
The doctor was smiling as she
stepped out of the room. "You can go back in now. The baby's going to be
here pretty soon. She's already at eight. There's not even going to be
time for an epidural, which isn't making her happy. I'd say at the rate
that she's progressing, it'll probably be another hour, maybe two."
"Until she can push?" Thomas
asked.
"No, until she has it," the
doctor told him.
Jill tapped on the door before
she walked back in followed by Mike, Thomas, Willie and Jennifer. Terry
agreed to stay with the kids. "It would be just my luck that I'm like one
of those peasant women who goes into labor, has the kid and goes right
back to work," Michelle groused as Jill started laughing.
"Hey, believe me, this is better
than a 18-hour labor any day of the week. I know because I went through
that with Mary Kathryn," Jill assured her as she dampened a wash cloth
and placed it on Michelle's forehead.
Within an hour, all of the participants
were wishing they could be anywhere but in that room because Michelle was
screaming for morphine or a gun so that she could just shoot herself. "Michelle,
listen to me," Jen said sternly as she forced the young woman to look at
her. "The screaming isn't going to make things better. Believe me when
I tell you that once that baby comes out, you're going to forget the pain.
It'll be like it never existed. You need to focus and stop screaming. The
screaming is just making your body tense up."
"I can't do this," Michelle
cried as tears ran down her face.
"Yes, you can," Jen assured
her. "I thought the same thing and so did your mother, but you can do
this. Have you got names picked out?" She asked as she tried to get her
to focus on other things.
"Emma for a girl, Aidan if it's
a boy," Michelle said as another contraction gripped her as Jen grabbed
her hands and forced her to focus.
The doctor came in a little
while later and examined her once again. "Well, Michelle. It's show time.
Do you want everybody back in here or just Thomas?"
"I want my mom and dad here
and this is Thomas parent's first grandchild, so they have to be here,"
Michelle told the doctor as she smiled and went to the door.
When they came back in along
with the nurses, the room seemed full of people. "Okay, Michelle. On the
next contraction, put your chin down to your chest, take a deep breath
and push as hard as you can. If you do this well, we should have a baby
in a few pushes. Do you know what you're having?" The doctor asked as she
got into position.
"No, the baby would never cooperate
on the ultrasound," Michelle groaned as another contraction started.
"Well, we'll know soon," the
doctor told her as everybody in the room began counting to ten. Within
half an hour, the baby's head emerged and the rest soon followed. "It's
a boy!"
Michelle fell back, utterly
exhausted, but very happy as she heard all of the happy commotion around
her. Thomas leaned over and kissed her with tears running down his face
as they heard their son angrily howling as he was being towled off. "He's
gorgeous," he whispered.
"Daddy, do you want to cut the
cord?" The doctor asked as she held the scissors out toward Thomas, who
took them with trembling fingers and cut the cord where he was directed.
"So, what's your son's name?"
"Aidan Andrew Gillis," Thomas
said proudly as baby Aidan was wrapped in a blanket and handed to Michelle.
"Hello, Aidan," Michelle breathed
as she looked at his darkly curling hair. "God, he's perfect."
"Let's get him weighed and properly
cleaned up, then you can have him back," the doctor said as Michelle reluctantly
handed him to her and laid back.
A couple of hours later, Michelle
was nursing the baby when she heard a tap on her door. "Come in," she called
out as Jill walked in with Michael and Shelby.
"Hi. Is it all right if the
kids see the baby?" Jill asked as they shyly approached the bed.
"You have perfect timing. He
just finished eating," Michelle told them as she held the baby out for
the kids to see him.
"He's little," Shelby commented
as she touched his fingers. "I can't wait until I can have one."
"Oh, yes, you can," Jill told
her.
"I'm glad you had a boy. A girl
would've sucked," Michael told his sister as Jill made a face.
"Where's daddy and everybody?"
Michelle asked.
"Eating. How do you feel?" Jill
asked as Michelle handed the baby toward her.
"Tired. But, I can't believe
how easy it was," she yawned as she watched Jill with the baby.
"You got lucky. Do you want
me to put him in the bassinet?" Jill asked as Michelle nodded. "We'll let
you get some sleep. Do you know when you're coming home?"
"Tomorrow. Make sure daddy puts
the car seat in the Jeep," Michelle said sleepily as sleep claimed her.
<><><><><>
Three weeks later, Mike, Jill
and Shelby were meeting once again in Judge Marshall's court. Five days
after baby Aidan's birth, Mike had gotten a call regarding Shelby's adoption.
At the moment, the judge was looking over the report from the social worker.
"Ms. Gray, do you have any objections to the adoption proceeding as planned?"
"No, your honor," Ms. Gray said.
"Very well. Mr. Danko, you do
realize that all of this is just a formality since you're married to the
child's grandmother and technically, you're already the biological grandfather
of this child?" The judge addressed Mike.
"Yes, sir. I know. I just wanted
to correct some things I had done wrong," Mike told the judge.
"Very well. I hearby grant the
adoption of the minor child, Shelby Nicole Danko, to Michael Danko. Congratulations.
Court is in recess!" The judge declared, banging his gavel as Mike picked
Shelby up in his arms.
"That was it? I didn't get to
say anything?" Shelby complained as they left the courtroom.
"Did you want to say something?"
Mike asked as they approached the elevator.
"No, but he could have at least
asked," Shelby told them as they got into the elevator with Ms. Gray.
"I thought letting her play
poker was going to be my downfall," Mike commented to Ms. Gray as the elevator
descended.
"Well, like your friend said,
there are worse things a parent can teach a child. Congratulations," Ms.
Gray congratulated them as they exited the elevator.
That night, after a party celebrating
the adoption, Mike joined his wife in bed. "I've been thinking," he said
out loud as Jill curled up sleepily beside him.
"About what?" She asked as she
forced her eyes open to look at him.
"As much as I like living out
here, maybe it would be a good idea to try to get a place in town. I mean,
Thomas is probably going to be shipping out for who knows where, so we'll
need a place big enough for Michelle and the baby along with our two kids,"
he suggested as Jill smiled.
"I like the sound of that. 'Our
two kids.' I love you, Mike," she whispered as he smiled down at her.
"I love you, too, baby," he
said as he kissed her good night.
THE END