GEN IV: Chapter 22

This particular week in the Fuller family started off on a high note. Jennifer's graduation day. She was so happy that she finally put her high school life behind her. The ceremony did not take long, Jennifer didn't have too many classmates.

Even though it didn't last long, Jennifer was itching to finally get it done. As soon as she left those doors she looked at her diploma, wrapped in a silky red ribbon, and said, "Yes! Finally." She tossed that brilliant piece of parchment into the air as she cheered. Everyone cheered with her, Brian cheering the loudest.

To celebrate further, the whole family went to dinner at the Bistro, they included dessert. After eating everyone was so full they could barely move, even their clothes seemed too tight. Especially Adelaide, she ate way more than her normal portions.

When everyone got home they still felt they could hardly move, for being so stuffed. Brian decided to get to work on a police report from his most recent stakeout. Adelaide and Logan settled down to some video games while Jennifer went upstairs to read.

The rest of the night went smoothly, Logan went to bed early because it was a school night and Jennifer also went to bed early because she had plans early in the morning.

The next morning, Brian made waffles. He had his finished by the time the kids came down to eat and he was in fixing the dishwasher as they finished up.

Upstairs Adelaide was getting dressed. She paused as she began to put on her clothes. She found that she couldn't. Her shirt was way to tight and her pants wouldn't button. It was then that she realised that her clothes had been getting tighter over the past few weeks, and now they have reached the point of no fastening.

She wondered why she had gained so much weight. When she looked at her naked body in the mirror to judge herself, she gasped. It wasn't until then that she saw that the weight she had gained was really centered around her belly only, no where else. Adelaide forgot to breathe. She was pregnant, she knew it, but she couldn't believe it. She couldn't. Now she was slightly worried. She found some old clothes in a dresser and slipped them on, finding them comfortable.

Adelaide walked down the stairs, her footsteps slow and concentrated. How was she going to tell him? She stopped walking just after she left the foyer. She heard Jennifer and Logan in the dining room, their silverware clinking on mostly empty plates. She heard Brian curse from the kitchen, in an instant she assumed that the dishwasher was broken again. In the next moment, her mind was brought back to the situation.

Unconsciously, Adelaide dropped her hand to her stomach she held it there for a moment feeling that defined protrusion. Then she took a deep breath, figured it was not a good time to share the surprising news and went to get some waffles.

She greeted Brian's back as she walked into the kitchen and received a muffled 'Good morning sweetie', in return, between the clanks and bangs of fixing the dishwasher.

She got her own waffles from the counter and went to the table to eat, and think. Before she got too happy about this pregnancy, she wanted to know how Brian felt about it. She feared that he would reject the baby, and therefore her, when he found out. What would she do then? Move back home sure, but she didn't want to be without Brian, ever.

When she finished her waffles she got up and washed her plate in the sink. Brian was still fixing that crazy machine. She went to join the kids in the living room to watch them play games. She hid her stomach as much as she could, of course she wanted Brian to know before them.

After a few more curses and groans of pain, Brian finished banging around in the kitchen and came to the living room. When he entered he looked at the family sitting together. First at Logan, and he smiled at his son. His gaze shifted to Jennifer, she was truly involved in fending off some beasts in her game. Then his eyes fell upon Adelaide, she looked strange, slightly pale and; he looked her up and down, gaining weight. He studied her more closely. No, not gaining weight. Her face was normal, as were her arms and legs. Her hips, though, were wider, and her stomach - her stomach appeared like she had eaten a whole turkey all by herself. Brian's mouth dropped open.

Adelaide had felt Brian's eyes on her and had tried hard not to look at him. Under his scrutiny, she felt cold beads of sweat starting to appear on her forehead when he said "Addy. Come here for a moment."

The silence in the room had been deafening, even though the TV was going and Logan and Jennifer were laughing, Adelaide had been wrapped up in her own thoughts and nerves as Brian was as well. When Brian spoke, Adelaide snapped her head up and said "Sure, yeah okay." probably a little quicker than would be natural.

The two of them went to the closest next room, which happened to be the bathroom.

"Um. Is there something you want to tell me?" Brian said to her.

"Yes, yes. I do. I am about 99% sure that we are expecting a baby." She placed her hands on her hips and waited, while he absorbed the news, she nearly cried while waiting for him to respond.

He gently lay his hand upon her stomach and looked at her. "Honey. Yes I'm shocked - truly - and I'm not sure I can handle it, I'm getting pretty old you know," He chuckled, but it was a slightly nervous laugh. He wrapped her then in a tight and warm embrace. "But I'm more than willing to go through this, and I hope you are too."

She nodded silently as a single tear fell down her cheek and soaked into his gray sweater.

"Now come on," he said with a smile, "I know this is your first baby, so let's go read a book about it."

The two of them went upstairs and sat together to read the same book. Over the years the family had acquired a few extra copies of some books. It was hard to keep track of which ones you already had when you own so many.

They finished the books quickly, kissed and hugged one another, then Adelaide went out into the garden.

Brian went around the house cleaning, doing laundry and finding more messes than he thought there could be in a household.

The rest of the day passed pretty quickly, Logan was at school and Jennifer was out on the town finding a job. She had one place in mind, the hospital. Her mom worked there and since Rachel's death, Jennifer decided that she was going to follow in her footsteps and head toward the goal of becoming a World Renowned Surgeon.

When the kids got home, both Adelaide and Brian told Jennifer and Logan the news of the pregnancy. Logan was thrilled, though immediately said that he would not be changing diapers. Jennifer looked shocked, and happy for her father and Adelaide.

Logan did some homework while Jennifer had some cake, then the two of them went off to study. Jennifer had become very fond of playing chess and of course, Logan was reading a book.

The two of them were always learning in one way or another. Most of their free time was spent studying instead of goofing around.

Weeks flew by full of work, study and school. For Adelaide, those weeks were full of heartburn, sleepless nights and frequent bathroom visits. Brian shared her sleepless nights, he could hardly sleep with her tossing and turning, she constantly had to get up and down trying to deal with her restless leg syndrome. Finally one night he got really tired of it and started sleeping on the couch. Adelaide missed him at night, but she had more room in the bed to sprawl out and that made her legs feel better.

One morning, after only about an hour or two of sleep, Adelaide woke up and didn't even change into her clothes. She had breakfast and sat down to watch TV, she didn't feel like doing anything today and planned on doing just that - nothing.

Jennifer and Logan stood in the dining room waiting for their dad to finish the waffles. When Brian finished he brought his own plate to the table and told his kids to grab them while they were hot.

When he passed by them though the seemed very quiet. He sat down anyway and dug in.

"Did you hear that?" Logan asked Jennifer.

"I did, what was it?"

They heard it again, coming from the living room. It was a small squeak.

In the living room, Adelaide began to panic. She felt horrible cramps and thought something must be wrong with the baby. Then she quickly counted the weeks that had passed. She couldn't be due already, could she? Oh, she had planned to do nothing today too. Now she knew she would be delivering a baby.

Just then another cramp came, which she was now positive were contractions. It felt to her that someone was slicing her belly in half lengthwise starting just below her breastplate and moving down, very slowly. When that contraction passed she walked to the dining room, where she saw Jennifer, Logan and Brian standing and seemingly listening for something.

"It's time Brian, the baby's coming. Lets get to the hospital." She seemed remarkably calm as she spoke, although inside her head she was screaming. She wasn't ready for this was she? What was coming? Yes she had read the books, but nothing had prepared her as much as she thought for this moment.

Jennifer smiled. "Alright! Dad, Addy get dressed and get in the car, I'll drive. I work there so I'll get you in very quickly. Let's go."

The three adults went to the hospital and checked in. Jennifer kept her promises and got her into a bed quicker than you could imagine. Adelaide was settled in nicely when the nurses came to giver her the I.V. needed to keep her fluids up.

Logan got onto the bus directly after the rest of his family left. He was very excited to see the new baby, and hoped it was a boy, though he was really concerned about Adelaide. Also he hoped his father wasn't too stressed out.

To be continued...