THE RETURN

Chapter 84

The hospital bag was packed, sitting by the front door just in case.

She was propped up, not to her absolute liking but Elliot insisted, in bed. Dressed only in one of his shirts, her legs covered with the blanket, her back resting against the headboard. The tinges of pain were still happening every so often but in her opinion they were still probably a pinched nerve. They weren't getting stronger and they felt like they were becoming more inconsistent than consistent and she couldn't decide if she was happy or disappointed about the fact that she most likely wasn't in labor. She wanted Hannah to come when she was ready but damn, Olivia wanted her to be ready already. She sighed, rubbed her hand along the swell of her abdomen, smiled slightly at Elliot as he took a seat beside her.

"How you feeling?" He asked. He could tell she was a little bit frustrated about the whole thing. They had gotten rid of the boys just in case she progressed and the fact that nothing was changing was definitely irritating her.

She shrugged, "Like you can pick up the boys as soon as the sun rises." Actually, she would have preferred them to be picked up right then and there but it was pushing midnight and she didn't want to wake anyone.

"I will. As long as nothing changes." She still wasn't out of the woods yet. Evident by the way she was still shifting uncomfortably at random times, at the way small sighs of discomfort were leaving her mouth. He didn't know what exactly was going on, but even if Hannah was just on a nerve, which he was pretty sure she wasn't, they still needed to shift her off that nerve. But she was exhausted, he could see it on her face. And whatever plans of seduction he may have had were already on the back burner of his mind. She needed rest. A good night's rest and that's what she was going to get.

"I'm pretty sure nothing is going to change." They were going on hour five and nothing had significantly changed. So she was pretty sure nothing was going too.

He nodded, she was the woman experiencing the pain and he had no right to question her. His hand reached over to turn off his bedside lamp and he said, "Come on, Liv. Let's try to get some sleep."

He helped her, as he always helped her. His hands on her lower back, on the swell of her abdomen, adjusting her pillows the way she liked once she was completely on her side facing away from him. His chest pressed against her back, his hand wrapped around her to rest on her belly and when Hannah kicked against him, they both smiled. She really did like her daddy.

"She's going to come, baby," he whispered, his lips meeting her shoulder. As disappointed as she was that it was false labor, Hannah was going to come, within the next three weeks, she was going to come. And it was best if they just savored every moment they had of her jumping in her mama's belly.

She knew that, she did. So she tried to push the emotion out of her voice when she said, "I know. I'll be patient."

She would be.

EO

She awoke with a dull pain in her abdomen and a soft groan escaping her lips. Okay, that was definitely not a tinge of pain that time.

Elliot woke with her, popped his head out of the comfortable spot he always found at the back of her neck, rubbed his hand softly along her belly and waited until she exhaled, until her body relaxed again, to ask, "You okay?"

She nodded, licked her lips, placed her hand on top of his, "That was either a Braxton hick or a contraction. No doubt about it." No fucking doubt at all.

"Okay. Let's just wait and see if you have another one." They needed her to have consistent contractions that were getting closer and more intense, for it to be considered labor. God, he didn't even want to tell her about how many times the twins gave Kathy false labor. He swore they were in and out of the hospital so many times, he lost count at the end. And the last thing he wanted was to take Olivia to the hospital, only to be sent home. She would not be happy if that was the case.