Nicholas POV:
I’d been so happy-not just about all the sex-but because it seemed she’d become better. Then she grew lethargic and nauseous again, not quite as bad as the first trimester, but enough to worry me and Dr. Whitney.
She’d had weekly visits to the doctor for the last two months, only recently those being upped to at least twice a week. Dr. Whitney had been concerned she may be showing symptoms of pre-eclampsia, but then her blood pressure would normalize.
At this point, they didn’t know exactly what was wrong, and it would be a miracle if I wasn’t completely grey-headed by the time the triplets were born.
My eyes flickered back over to Willow, and she lifted her head as if she felt my stare.
“I love you,” she mouthed.
Even silent, those three little words from her made my heart pound against my chest. I watched her close and could tell by her fidgeting she was starting to become uncomfortable.
“Hey, William,” I said, interrupting him. “It’s about time for you to brush your teeth.”
“But I’m telling the babies about Christmas.” He held on to Willow tighter.
I stood up and put her legs back on a cushion, before moving down to tickle William until he let go of his mom.
“Come on.” I placed him on his feet. “You go on up and pick out a book. I’ll be there in a minute to read to you.”
“I want Mommy to read to me,” he whined.
Sometimes it was a trial getting him to settle down at night, but I couldn’t complain. He was generally well-behaved.
“Not tonight, Buddy. Let Mommy get some rest.”
She grabbed William’s arm before he could take off. “Give me a kiss before bed.”
It tugged at me the way they held each other and said their goodnights. But my heart almost stopped when she cradled his face in her hands and told him she loved him with watery eyes. Something was wrong.
As soon as William scampered off, I knelt down beside her and brushed her hair back off her face. “What is it? Are you okay?” I asked, rubbing her belly.
She reached for me, trying to pull me closer. “I’m okay. Just overly emotional, I think.” She kissed me and sighed. “Maybe it’s the tree lights.”
I was far from convinced. “Baby, we can go to the hospital right now. Laura can stay with William.”
She shook her head. “No, it’s fine. I promise. Just a little queasy, but it’s okay.” Her hand joined mine, rubbing circles over the triplets. “They’re really active tonight. I like that.” Her smile was brave, but her eyes were still teary.
I was torn about what to do. She obviously didn’t feel well, but she didn’t want to leave. I wasn’t going to force her out in the cold and snow tonight if I didn’t have to. Besides, we had another appointment with Dr. Whitney the next morning.
I pressed my lips to hers again, before kissing her nose, her cheeks, her forehead. When she finally giggled, I felt a little less nervous. “Are you sure you don’t want to go tonight?” I asked again.
She nodded. “Yes, I’m sure.” She squeezed my hand. “Go on up and check on him. He’s probably covered his bathroom in toothpaste by now.”
“Do you want me to take you to bed first? Are you okay to wait here?”
“I’m fine. I’ll stay here with the lights. You two did a good job decorating.”
I watched her face for a few moments, looking for any more signs of distress. She either really was feeling better or she was hiding it very well.
“I’ll be right back,” I said, giving her one more kiss. She chuckled, both of us knowing it’d take longer than that until William fell asleep. I stood up and stretched my legs, walking slowly toward the stairs.
When I glanced back, her head was turned toward the tree. She almost looked like an angel with the lights reflecting off her hair and her face. She was an angel.
Willow’s fingers dug into my hand as we watched Dr. Whitney enter the room again, her face stony. We’d been in this examination room for over two hours now, while Willow had been poked and prodded without pause. “Willow, we’re going to get you admitted to the hospital. Your blood pressure is still much too high, along with your protein levels.”
I tried to remember to breathe. To not flip out and scare Willow even more than she already was.
“What does that mean?” Willow asked, the fear rolling off of her. “You have to take the babies out now?”
“We’re going to keep monitoring you, but yes, if your blood pressure doesn’t improve, we’ll deliver soon. Your triplets are slightly under what I’d consider term weight, but both of their heartbeats are strong. They may have to spend a little time in the NICU adding weight, but I fully expect two healthy babies, even if we deliver immediately. I’m more concerned about your health right now.”
Willow seemed to calm a little at Dr. Whitney’s assurance the babies should be fine. However, I was still a mess worrying about her.
As soon as Dr. Whitney mentioned pre-eclampsia weeks ago, I’d read everything about it I could get my hands on. Basically, the placenta from carrying the babies was making Willow sick. It was poisoning her. There could be progression to eclampsia, HELLP syndrome, liver failure, kidney failure, convulsions. Death.
I swallowed the lump in my throat, grabbed Willow’s clothes, and stood up. “I’m taking you now.” There was no time to waste. Why were we still in this fucking room? I glanced at Dr. Whitney. “You’re meeting us there?”
“Yes. Take her straight to Labor and Delivery. They’ll be expecting you.”
I contemplated just carrying Willow in the gown she was wearing, and probably would have if it wasn’t so cold outside. Instead, I helped her get dressed, calling John to pull the car up at the same time.
The next few hours went by in a blur. Willow was quickly ushered to a room and hooked up to a million machines, doctors and nurses coming and going constantly. I left her only to call home and check on William, returning to find Dr. Whitney at her bedside.
“Oh, good. You’re here,” she said, seeing me rush in. “I was just telling Willow that the good news is her blood pressure has stabilized somewhat.” I ran my hand through my hair and let out a gust of air.