50 comments

Contemporary Drama Suspense

Too-Cute Family

Back and forth, back and forth. Russell paced the OBED hospital waiting area awaiting news on his wife, Chrissy. She doubled over in pain at breakfast so was rushed here by ambulance. Doctors were working on her now.

“You might as well sit down and try to relax, Son. Wearing out the tiles and your shoe leather won't bring answers any faster.” Chrissy's nana, Anna, sat at a nearby table making phone calls canceling their plans for what started out as a perfect end of summer holiday. Plans were for an annual block party at which they were going to do a grand reveal as to the gender of the baby Chrissy was carrying.

“You don't understand how responsible I feel for bringing this on. I was playing too rough with her. What was I thinking? If anything has happened to our child, I can never forgive myself.”

“A little tickling wouldn't cause a miscarriage. Whatever has happened is not your fault.” Anna tried to reassure the flustered father.

Of course, Anna wouldn't know what other kind of play they engaged in before breakfast. The very activity that resulted in her condition. The same thing they engaged in nearly every morning since their whirlwind marriage five months prior. The way they usually said goodnight to one another, too. Maybe love making was too dangerous at this point in the pregnancy. If only he researched more.

He shouldn't have to apologize. He loves that woman. He'd been waiting on someone like her his whole adult life. Even though they seemed imperfect for each other at one time, once they got to know one another better, it couldn't get any more perfect. They were at the point in their lives they wanted to start a family immediately and were blessed. But now this.

This was tearing him up inside. He resumed his marching. Back and forth, back and forth in the small space. What was taking so long? Were they losing the baby? Was he losing Chrissy? Oh, Lord, let them be okay!

“The block party will go on without us but farther down the block. Chrissy's sonographer friend won't be coming after all to present the results. Her publishers, Douglas and Nora Conover, are concerned and still want to drop in to see Chrissy if they can but they may have to bring along little Carlson. That may not be ideal. I'll get back to them once we know more.” Anna gave her progress report to Russell but she doubted he heard any of it.

Finally, a doctor appeared, “Mr. Koolridge, would you like to step into the consulting room with me?”

Russell followed him to a small room down the hallway. “My name is Dr. Allen. I'm an appendectomy specialist.”

“Appendectomy? But she is pregnant!”

“That's the dilemma. So many conditions of pregnancy mimic acute appendicitis it has taken the gynecologists attending her this long to call me in to confirm if it may be her appendix causing the pain. We need your permission to do some tests on her to confirm one way or the other. There are minimal risks to her and the fetuses but there are risks. If confirmed what we think, we will want to go immediately into emergency surgery to remove the offending organ.”

“What kind of risks? Wait! Back up. Did you say fetuses? As in more than one?”

“”Why, of course. Did you not know she is carrying twins?”

“Twins! Twins! No! I didn't, we didn't know. How come nobody told us? Wouldn't somebody have known that by now? She is supposed to be twenty weeks along.”

“That's an issue you'll have to take up with the others. Right now it is imperative you give your permission to operate if necessary. Time is of essence or you may lose all your family.”

“Yes, yes! By all means, yes. May I see her before she goes in? She must be frantic.”

“Actually, she is as heavily sedated as possible in her condition. She may not know you are there. I'll check with the others and let you know. But it has to be quick. Sign here.”

Without reading any details, Russell signed the paper the doctor thrust at him. The doctor rushed out with Russell on his heels as far as the double doors that blocked the way to his wife's side. Through the window in the door he could see Dr. Allen talking with more doctors until a female one walked his way. It was Chrissy's regular gynecologist, Dr. Shaw.

“Come in, Mr. Koolridge. Maybe a touch and some calming words from you would help her but she probably can't respond. Then we need to begin.”

“Can you say why nobody told us it is twins?”

“Until the ultrasound Friday, we didn't know. At the first one done one embryo was shy hiding behind the other one. You understand how tiny they were then.”

At last, Russell was by her side holding her IV'd hand. Chrissy looked so small and helpless in that big bed with tubes snaking everywhere, beeping machines sounding alarms and personnel flocking around. He soothed her forehead and gently kissed it, whispered 'I love you and our babies' in her ear then mumbled a prayer as someone guided him away. They shooed him back to the waiting area as they wheeled her toward an operating room.

One hour stretched to two hours. Russell paced 'til he collapsed. Anna, bless her heart, canceled any visiting by the Conovers for now. She also had the good sense to notify the school that neither Chrissy or Russell would be able to start teaching tomorrow or the rest of the week. Possibly longer for Chrissy.

After what felt like forever, Dr. Shaw appeared with the good news that mother and babies had survived the ordeal. Unfortunately, Chrissy would have to be on pelvic rest probably for the duration of her pregnancy due to placenta previa which had caused the bleeding. This meant no teaching, no stairs or heavy lifting and a host of other no-nos. Not total bed rest but limited activity. Because twins being involved it would be an early Cesarean delivery.

Sounds like everyone in the household will have to make some adjustments. Anna may not want to move to Arizona yet so she can watch after Chrissy then help with the twins. They may have to switch bedrooms so Chrissy can stay downstairs. Russell, well, Russell will have to do without much longer than he would like. One bright outlook is Chrissy can write her sequel to her best seller.

September 09, 2024 20:36

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50 comments

Cedar Barkwood
03:26 Sep 11, 2024

Wonderful! I didn’t even realize how worried I was for Chrissy until I knew her and her babies would be alright. It was very well told, thank you for sharing!

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Mary Bendickson
13:05 Sep 11, 2024

Glad you liked it 😊.

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Alexis Araneta
01:37 Sep 10, 2024

Whew ! Glad Chrissy is okay. Also, surprise twins !! Can't wait to read more !

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Mary Bendickson
03:29 Sep 10, 2024

Thanks. Who knows when a prompt may beckon?

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VJ Hamilton
17:21 Oct 20, 2024

At first this struck a funny note, with the "tickling," but then quickly became serious with the possible complications. You do such great "slice of life" stories, Mary!

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Mary Bendickson
22:00 Oct 20, 2024

Thanks. Glad your like.

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20:12 Oct 13, 2024

I was anxious reading this one. I have four healthy kids but had two losses which were heart-breaking to say the least, then one scare when we conceived after the second loss so its a very sensitive topic for me. I liked that the emotion was pulled back a bit by being from the perspective of the husband but still very much present for him. I felt his self-blame when he worried he had played too rough with her etc. I remember thinking back to my dog constantly jumping on my belly and then losing my pregnancy at 12 weeks and how even though th...

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Mary Bendickson
23:18 Oct 13, 2024

Thank you for seeing the beauty when it could have been painful. Kiss those babies of yours. Not that it exactly relates but my daughter had an extremely disabled baby when she was extremely young. Doctors couldn't say what had stunted his development but didn't think it was her age. During pregnancy she had been middle passenger in a truck cab when it went off the road and tipped to its side. Was that significant enough to cause damage? No one could say. That babe is 35 years old now but at birth they didn't know if he would live three hour...

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23:52 Oct 13, 2024

Thank you for sharing that story about your daughter and grandson. I can imagine she dealt with a lot of self-blame but its so true that things like that can just happen without explanation. I think as human beings and especially as mothers, its a natural tendency to blame ourselves when things go wrong. I'm glad to know that he was able to pull through and that she was blessed with other healthy children ❤️

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07:12 Sep 27, 2024

Omg I missed a few weeks and I've loads of chapters to catch up on. This Is such wholesome stuff ! Yay for happy ending. Two of them!:)

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Mary Bendickson
12:25 Sep 27, 2024

Thanks. So behind on my reading.

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Ralph Aldrich
13:07 Sep 20, 2024

Russell doubled his pleasure.

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Mary Bendickson
13:53 Sep 20, 2024

So true. Thanks for the like and follow.

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Darvico Ulmeli
14:57 Sep 19, 2024

Congrats to the lovely couple

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Mary Bendickson
15:51 Sep 19, 2024

Thanks for like.

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Helen A Smith
13:41 Sep 16, 2024

Delightful piece. Told with a gentle humour.

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Mary Bendickson
15:15 Sep 16, 2024

Glad you enjoyed it.😊

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Bonnie Clarkson
01:19 Sep 16, 2024

I liked the story. Good plot. "tubes snaking everywhere" is good imagery. "have to do without much longer", Without Chrissy? There was a long stretch of dialogue without mention of Mr. Koolridge's name. I suggest including his name occasionally as to who is speaking. "Chrissy's sonographer friend won't be coming after all to present the results. Her publishers," You make it clear later that it was Chrissy's publishers, but I wondered at first whether it was Chrissy's or the sonographer's. Also there were 3 sentences in a row starting with ...

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Mary Bendickson
01:34 Sep 16, 2024

Too late to clean it up. Been approved. Thanks for liking and the constructive support.

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Kathleen March
15:59 Sep 15, 2024

PS The doctor asks the husband for permission to operate?

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Mary Bendickson
18:20 Sep 15, 2024

She was sedated. Needed immediate action. Wouldn't that be the logical thing? 🤔

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Kathleen March
12:32 Sep 17, 2024

Not sure, but plausible.

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Kathleen March
15:45 Sep 15, 2024

So far the ending looks better now. I’m jealous of twins. This appears to be a series of stories/chapters.

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Mary Bendickson
18:17 Sep 15, 2024

First ones were at Christmas time then one in April at the eclipse. Thanks for liking and following.

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Tricia Shulist
15:00 Sep 15, 2024

Good story. I always like a happy ending. It would have been so much darker if it hadn’t gone well. Thanks for sharing.

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Mary Bendickson
18:11 Sep 15, 2024

With a name like 'Too-Cute' can't write a sad ending.

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Annie Persson
16:56 Sep 14, 2024

Phew! Thank you for saving the babies! I was very worried that you were going to make this a Not-Cute story, but I'm glad there's some hope. Can't wait to see how she deals with twins! :)

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Mary Bendickson
17:15 Sep 14, 2024

Thanks for caring.

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Annie Persson
15:54 Sep 15, 2024

It's hard not to with your characters! ;)

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McKade Kerr
15:08 Sep 14, 2024

Wow, this was incredible writing. I was right there with Russell pacing back and forth, feeling every emotion with him. It’s difficult as a writer to suck readers into the story like that, but you did an excellent job. Well done! (And I’m so glad they all survived the scary ordeal!)

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Mary Bendickson
15:22 Sep 14, 2024

Thank you so much!

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Linda Kenah
12:43 Sep 14, 2024

Enjoyed this story, Mary, especially the happy ending. I felt for Russell, and could feel his relief. Nice surprise - twins! Great job!

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Mary Bendickson
14:48 Sep 14, 2024

Thanks.

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Daniel Rogers
03:00 Sep 14, 2024

When my son was only seven, he complained of "A little pain" in his side. We didn't know at that time, my son has a very high tolerance of pain. We dismissed it as a stomach ache. Three days later, my wife rushed him to the hospital with a leaking appendix. Thank God for modern medicine. He had it removed and only spent a few days in the hospital. It is a scary thing, even though it's considered a minor condition now-a-days. You showed Russell's anxiety really well. It was fast paced and well written. 😀👍

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Mary Bendickson
14:42 Sep 14, 2024

Thanks. And thank goodness they found the problem with your son in time.

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22:49 Sep 13, 2024

Oh, I'm so happy she's okay. Well written as always.❤️

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Mary Bendickson
14:38 Sep 14, 2024

Thanks.

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10:53 Sep 13, 2024

At least they found out about the placenta previa. Years ago, a friend and I were pregnant at the same time. She got to about five months before ending up in hospital. They managed to get the baby to the stage where he could breathe outside the womb (with the help of erythropoietin) As baby grew the placenta was stretched and bleeding happened right up until his caesarean birth. He was severely jaundiced as he had lost blood all the time he had been developing. It was a scary pregnancy. Poor Chrissy and Russell. And she's having twins. So e...

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Renate Buchner
20:15 Sep 12, 2024

I felt Russell's fear and uncertainty and the surprise moment when he realized they were expecting twins. Great pace.

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Mary Bendickson
21:29 Sep 12, 2024

Thanks. Glad you enjoyed it.

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Rebecca Lewis
20:03 Sep 11, 2024

Your story draws you in with the tension and the pacing with Russell’s anxiety. I could feel his stress just from how you described him pacing back and forth. You’ve got a good setup, and the stakes are clear with Chrissy in the hospital, which makes me want to keep reading. You’ve got a great series here. Keep going!

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Mary Bendickson
20:14 Sep 11, 2024

Thanks 😊

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