The Baby Arrangement

Chapter 96: An Offering or Sacrifice?

Sitting under the covers of the hospital bed, Beth calms her whole body down with deep breathing and mindful thoughts. Aaron asked the nurse to run some tests on her and the last thing she needs right now is more stress. Generally she finds it a terrible sign if one bleeds during their pregnancy, even if she is five months pregnant.

Sooner than later, unbeknownst to her, Merle and Carol show up holding Kensi in Carol's arms. Sighing in gratitude, Beth slowly sits up and reaches for her baby girl.  It's home. This girl is her whole life. She doesn't know what she'd do if she didn't have her.

"What happened?" Carol asks as he sits on the side of the bed while Merle ops for an arm chair by the window.

"I got into it with a nurse and he shoved me to the ground... I started bleeding and..." She doesn't have to say any more. Carol knows what this could be. He already figured Beth out by that ominous motherly glow pregnant women seem to have. Her face falls as she scans Beth over.

"Mommy okay?" Kensi also looks Beth over but doesn't understand that she is carrying a baby inside her.

"Yeah, I'm okay. The doctors just want me to lay down for a while." She brushes a few strands of Kensi's slightly curled blonde hair from her face and weakly smiles at her. A knock at the door interrupts the moment and to Beth's surprise it's the two boys. "Oh, hello."

"Hi. I'm Ron and this is Sam... We wanted to thank you for what you said to that nurse. Are... Are you okay?" Ron steps forward and Kensi attaches herself to Beth's side nervously.

"I'm fine, thank you. Are you two alright? I'm terribly sorry about your news." The boys shrug and shake their heads sadly.

"We're okay..."

"I'm Beth, by the way. This is my brother and sister in law, Carol and Merle. And this is my daughter Kensi."

"Nice to meet ya'll." Ron says and nudges Sam.

"Nice to meet you." The small boy quietly says.

"Shouldn't you're parents know where you are?" Merle asks slightly agitated that they are interrupting their personal times.

"Our mother just died a few minutes ago and our father went to jail last night....so I guess you can say we're orphans now." Sinking in his seat, Merle feels like an ass. He grumbles an apology and stands up to leave the room. Going over to the boys, Carol puts a hand on both their shoulders and then proceeds to pull them into a hug.

"Don't mind him...he's a grumpy old man. Do you have relatives around here?"

"No..."

"Well now....um, well you're more than welcome to stay with me until you get your bearings." Her motherly voice carries a tune so sweet that the boys grip her tighter and smiles run across their faces. "Now did you boys eat anything?"

"No..."

"Alright. Beth we'll be right back. I'm gonna get these two fed in the cafeteria. We'll be back soon honey." Nodding, Beth watches them leave and looks down at Kensi snuggled in her arms. Tragedy has hit this girl too many times. She needs a normal life- though tragedy tends to hit everyone now and again- she needs to just experience life as a happy three year old.

"Mrs. Dixon..." Aaron pops his head inside the door. "How are you feeling?"

"Anxious."

"Well let me put you at ease. Everything is fine. It was just normal spotting that was naturally influenced. It just so happened that you were pushed at the same time and her jeans were a thin denim."

"So I have nothing to worry about?"

"No. You shouldn't do any worrying. Now is your husband around?"

"Actually we came to see him. He was brought in yesterday. A collapsed lung and broken arms..." Aaron nods his head and smiles to Kensi.

"Well, I want you to rest a bit before you go see him. He's stable now and doing fine, but he's still under medication so he's been sleeping all day. Which is quite natural and should be allowed as much as possible. The body can heal better when it's asleep." Smiling Beth becomes more relieved to hear these words. Of all the tragedy that could happen- losing Daryl over anyone would probably be the hardest thing of all. "So why don't you get some rest and when he's awake, you can go see him."

"Okay. That sounds good."

Down in the cafeteria, Merle has found Carol and the boys eating away at some chicken and mashed potatoes. He sits there watching them, slightly agitated that Carol is so taken with them. He still has problems from losing Sophia. He wishes they were young enough to have more children, but sadly that ship has sailed. Now it comes down to Carol offering the boys to live with them. They don't even know who these boys are- what kind of offer can you make to help strangers? Better yet, what's Merle going to be giving up for them?