Fic: Gossamer (9/18)
Mar. 15th, 2012 12:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sara_wolfTitle: Gossamer
Rating: PG
Warnings: none
Summary: "Paige, you're pregnant." Three weeks after her parents' death, Paige receives some surprising news. What she decides next will change the course of history, not only her own, but that of the family she doesn't even know exists...
*****
"Aren't you supposed to be breathing, or something?"
"I am breathing," Paige said, with a chuckle, as she looked up at Henry who was pacing the small confines of the elevator. "You look a little pale, though. Maybe you should sit down."
"I'm breathing just fine," Henry muttered, defensively, but he stopped pacing and sat down beside her.
When he started drumming his fingers anxiously on his leg, Paige reached out and covered his fingers with her hand.
"You okay?" she asked, and Henry laughed.
"Shouldn't I be asking you that?" he countered, and Paige shrugged.
She reached back, bunching up Henry's coat that he'd given her to use as a pillow, but Henry tugged her shoulders until her head was resting in his lap.
"Figured I'm comfier than my jacket," he said, when she looked up at him, and she grinned.
"You are pretty soft," she told him, relaxing when he started rubbing her shoulders. "You know, you don't need to be freaking out."
"We've been stuck in this elevator for over three hours," Henry pointed out. "The intercom is still down, we can't contact anyone, and we don't even know if anyone knows that we're stuck in here. And, oh, yeah," he added, "you're in labor. Why wouldn't I be freaking out?"
"Would you please relax?" Paige asked, patiently. "I've barely had any contractions since the first one."
"Liar," Henry said, succinctly, and Paige looked at him in surprise. "I know you've been trying to hide it, but you get this look on your face every time a contraction hits. I've timed it out to about fifteen minutes, now."
"All right, so I've been having contractions," Paige admitted, sheepishly. "It's just, you were kind of freaking out, and I didn't want you to worry even more. I'm sorry."
"No, I'm sorry," Henry said, with a quiet sigh. "The last thing you need is me making this harder on you."
"I do need you to distract me, though," Paige told him. "The contractions are starting to get worse."
"Okay," Henry said, thoughtfully, "you said that you and Nick had picked a name for the baby. What's it going to be?"
"Well," Paige started, "her middle name is going to be Christine."
"After your mother?" Henry guessed, and Paige nodded. "What about her first name?" he went on.
"Paxton," Paige told him, chuckling at the surprised look that flashed across his face. "It's an old family name, some distant relative of Nick's. The name was Cheryl's idea," she added, with a small frown. "Lately, it seems like everything is Cheryl's idea."
"Interfering mother-in-law?" Henry asked, shrewdly, and Paige just shook her head.
"Let's just say that things would be a hell of a lot less stressful if Nick's family wasn't involved," she replied. "Nick-"
She broke off, gasping in pain when a contraction hit. She gripped Henry's hand, squeezing tightly as she rode out the pain. When it passed, she breathed a quiet sigh of relief, letting go of Henry's hand.
"That wasn't fifteen minutes," Henry noted, as he massaged feeling back into his fingers.
"More like five," Paige said, slumping back against him. "This baby is coming fast," she continued, trying to keep her voice light. But, from the sympathetic look in Henry's eyes, she hadn't been able to hide the tension running through her.
"You okay?" he asked, quietly.
"I'm scared," Paige admitted, quietly. "I'm glad you're here, Henry."
"I'm glad that I'm here, too," Henry told her, leaning down and pressing a quick kiss to her forehead. "So, keep talking. What did you want to name the baby?"
"I hadn't settled on anything," Paige answered. "I was leaning toward Juliet, maybe Prudence, something with significance, you know?"
"Those would have been nice names," Henry mused. "But, really, Paxton?"
"It's not a bad name," Paige said, defensively. "I'm getting used to it. Pax Christine Matthews."
"It's not going to be Long?" Henry asked, and Paige shook her head.
"I'm going to keep my name after the wedding," she told him. "And, I told Nick that I wanted Pax to have some part of my family, my heritage. He agreed."
"You sound surprised by that," Henry commented, and Paige shrugged.
"Everything seems to turn into a huge battle, lately," she replied. "I'm actually surprised when we don't fight about stuff."
Henry frowned, at that, and it was clear that there was something that he wanted to say. But, he kept quiet, at least until Paige poked at him.
"Out with it," she prompted, when he looked at her, curiously. "Come on, I know you're dying to say something."
"Are you-" Henry started, and then he trailed off, awkwardly. "Are you really sure that you should be marrying Nick?" he finished, in a rush, and from the look on his face, he was expecting her to be angry.
But, Paige couldn't be angry with him. Not when he was asking her the same thing that she'd been asking herself for the last five months.
"I'm not sure," she told him, quietly, after a minute. "To be honest, I don't even know if I like Nick, and here I am, planning to spend the rest of my life with him. Things are just moving so damn fast-"
"So call off the wedding," Henry suggested, hesitantly.
"There are some days when I want nothing more," Paige confided in him. "Just pack a bag and disappear. Give Nick back the ring, and this ugly necklace his mother gave me-" She tugged, irritated, at the thin gold chain around her neck. "I even don't know why I'm doing this," she said, quietly. "I thought that I was doing the right thing, that I was making a better life for my baby, but what if I was wrong? What if I-"
She broke off with a sharp cry, curling into a fetal position as pain wracked her body. Contractions, worse than the previous ones, and a splitting headache that made her feel like her head was about to explode. There was a ringing in her ears, and the chain around her neck burned on her skin.
Behind her, she could hear Henry talking to her, a sharp note of concern in his voice. His arms were wrapped around her, holding on tightly, and his voice was a low, soothing murmur in her ear. Paige clung, desperately, to the sound of his voice, trying to ride out the overwhelming pain.
She couldn't move, couldn't breathe. There was a stabbing pain in her chest that matched the stabbing pain in her abdomen, and a jolt of fear ran through her.
"My baby," she forced out, tears running down her cheeks.
"Shh, shh," Henry crooned, gently. "You're going to be okay. Pax is going to be okay. I promise."
"I'm scared," she whispered.
"I'm here," Henry told her. "I've got you, Paige. You're okay."
The world was going gray in front of her eyes, but she forced the darkness back. Henry became her anchor, her touchstone, and she focused solely on the sound of his voice.
Several minutes passed before the pain subsided. When she could finally breathe, again, she slumped weakly against Henry, feeling his arms tighten around her.
"You scared the hell out of me," Henry told her, his voice quiet.
"I scared the hell out of myself," Paige replied, her own voice shaky.
She yelped a couple seconds later when the elevator suddenly started moving again, chuckling weakly when she realized what was happening.
"Looks like we're finally getting out of here," Henry commented, sounding relieved.
"Took them long enough," Paige replied, relaxing when the elevator stopped on the bottom floor and the doors slid open.
A team of paramedics was waiting for them when the doors opened, and they immediately moved to get Paige on her feet and out of the elevator.
"We got called as soon as the power went down," one of the paramedics explained, as they loaded Paige onto a waiting stretcher. "You know you've been in there for three hours?"
"Yeah," Paige said, exchanging a wry look with Henry, "we know. I've been having contractions," she added, as they wheeled her toward the doors. "They're about five minutes apart."
"Is this your first baby?" the second paramedic asked, and when Paige nodded, he went on, "We'll do an exam once we're on route to the hospital, but first babies tend to take their time. Chances are, labor will stall for a bit, and then pick up in a few hours."
"Hours?" Paige echoed, incredulously.
"Longest labor I've ever seen," the first paramedic piped up, a thoughtful tone in her voice, "took nearly seventeen hours."
"Seventeen?" Paige repeated, weakly. "I don't want to be in labor for seventeen hours."
"You'll be fine," Henry told her, reassuringly, patting her on the shoulder as she was being loaded into the ambulance. "I'll meet you at the hospital, okay?"
Paige nodded, wordlessly, resisting the urge to cling to his hand as he pulled away. She locked eyes with Henry for as long as she could, until the paramedics shut the ambulance doors. Then, the driver flipped the siren on, and they sped down the road, screaming, toward the hospital.
Continued here
Rating: PG
Warnings: none
Summary: "Paige, you're pregnant." Three weeks after her parents' death, Paige receives some surprising news. What she decides next will change the course of history, not only her own, but that of the family she doesn't even know exists...
*****
"Aren't you supposed to be breathing, or something?"
"I am breathing," Paige said, with a chuckle, as she looked up at Henry who was pacing the small confines of the elevator. "You look a little pale, though. Maybe you should sit down."
"I'm breathing just fine," Henry muttered, defensively, but he stopped pacing and sat down beside her.
When he started drumming his fingers anxiously on his leg, Paige reached out and covered his fingers with her hand.
"You okay?" she asked, and Henry laughed.
"Shouldn't I be asking you that?" he countered, and Paige shrugged.
She reached back, bunching up Henry's coat that he'd given her to use as a pillow, but Henry tugged her shoulders until her head was resting in his lap.
"Figured I'm comfier than my jacket," he said, when she looked up at him, and she grinned.
"You are pretty soft," she told him, relaxing when he started rubbing her shoulders. "You know, you don't need to be freaking out."
"We've been stuck in this elevator for over three hours," Henry pointed out. "The intercom is still down, we can't contact anyone, and we don't even know if anyone knows that we're stuck in here. And, oh, yeah," he added, "you're in labor. Why wouldn't I be freaking out?"
"Would you please relax?" Paige asked, patiently. "I've barely had any contractions since the first one."
"Liar," Henry said, succinctly, and Paige looked at him in surprise. "I know you've been trying to hide it, but you get this look on your face every time a contraction hits. I've timed it out to about fifteen minutes, now."
"All right, so I've been having contractions," Paige admitted, sheepishly. "It's just, you were kind of freaking out, and I didn't want you to worry even more. I'm sorry."
"No, I'm sorry," Henry said, with a quiet sigh. "The last thing you need is me making this harder on you."
"I do need you to distract me, though," Paige told him. "The contractions are starting to get worse."
"Okay," Henry said, thoughtfully, "you said that you and Nick had picked a name for the baby. What's it going to be?"
"Well," Paige started, "her middle name is going to be Christine."
"After your mother?" Henry guessed, and Paige nodded. "What about her first name?" he went on.
"Paxton," Paige told him, chuckling at the surprised look that flashed across his face. "It's an old family name, some distant relative of Nick's. The name was Cheryl's idea," she added, with a small frown. "Lately, it seems like everything is Cheryl's idea."
"Interfering mother-in-law?" Henry asked, shrewdly, and Paige just shook her head.
"Let's just say that things would be a hell of a lot less stressful if Nick's family wasn't involved," she replied. "Nick-"
She broke off, gasping in pain when a contraction hit. She gripped Henry's hand, squeezing tightly as she rode out the pain. When it passed, she breathed a quiet sigh of relief, letting go of Henry's hand.
"That wasn't fifteen minutes," Henry noted, as he massaged feeling back into his fingers.
"More like five," Paige said, slumping back against him. "This baby is coming fast," she continued, trying to keep her voice light. But, from the sympathetic look in Henry's eyes, she hadn't been able to hide the tension running through her.
"You okay?" he asked, quietly.
"I'm scared," Paige admitted, quietly. "I'm glad you're here, Henry."
"I'm glad that I'm here, too," Henry told her, leaning down and pressing a quick kiss to her forehead. "So, keep talking. What did you want to name the baby?"
"I hadn't settled on anything," Paige answered. "I was leaning toward Juliet, maybe Prudence, something with significance, you know?"
"Those would have been nice names," Henry mused. "But, really, Paxton?"
"It's not a bad name," Paige said, defensively. "I'm getting used to it. Pax Christine Matthews."
"It's not going to be Long?" Henry asked, and Paige shook her head.
"I'm going to keep my name after the wedding," she told him. "And, I told Nick that I wanted Pax to have some part of my family, my heritage. He agreed."
"You sound surprised by that," Henry commented, and Paige shrugged.
"Everything seems to turn into a huge battle, lately," she replied. "I'm actually surprised when we don't fight about stuff."
Henry frowned, at that, and it was clear that there was something that he wanted to say. But, he kept quiet, at least until Paige poked at him.
"Out with it," she prompted, when he looked at her, curiously. "Come on, I know you're dying to say something."
"Are you-" Henry started, and then he trailed off, awkwardly. "Are you really sure that you should be marrying Nick?" he finished, in a rush, and from the look on his face, he was expecting her to be angry.
But, Paige couldn't be angry with him. Not when he was asking her the same thing that she'd been asking herself for the last five months.
"I'm not sure," she told him, quietly, after a minute. "To be honest, I don't even know if I like Nick, and here I am, planning to spend the rest of my life with him. Things are just moving so damn fast-"
"So call off the wedding," Henry suggested, hesitantly.
"There are some days when I want nothing more," Paige confided in him. "Just pack a bag and disappear. Give Nick back the ring, and this ugly necklace his mother gave me-" She tugged, irritated, at the thin gold chain around her neck. "I even don't know why I'm doing this," she said, quietly. "I thought that I was doing the right thing, that I was making a better life for my baby, but what if I was wrong? What if I-"
She broke off with a sharp cry, curling into a fetal position as pain wracked her body. Contractions, worse than the previous ones, and a splitting headache that made her feel like her head was about to explode. There was a ringing in her ears, and the chain around her neck burned on her skin.
Behind her, she could hear Henry talking to her, a sharp note of concern in his voice. His arms were wrapped around her, holding on tightly, and his voice was a low, soothing murmur in her ear. Paige clung, desperately, to the sound of his voice, trying to ride out the overwhelming pain.
She couldn't move, couldn't breathe. There was a stabbing pain in her chest that matched the stabbing pain in her abdomen, and a jolt of fear ran through her.
"My baby," she forced out, tears running down her cheeks.
"Shh, shh," Henry crooned, gently. "You're going to be okay. Pax is going to be okay. I promise."
"I'm scared," she whispered.
"I'm here," Henry told her. "I've got you, Paige. You're okay."
The world was going gray in front of her eyes, but she forced the darkness back. Henry became her anchor, her touchstone, and she focused solely on the sound of his voice.
Several minutes passed before the pain subsided. When she could finally breathe, again, she slumped weakly against Henry, feeling his arms tighten around her.
"You scared the hell out of me," Henry told her, his voice quiet.
"I scared the hell out of myself," Paige replied, her own voice shaky.
She yelped a couple seconds later when the elevator suddenly started moving again, chuckling weakly when she realized what was happening.
"Looks like we're finally getting out of here," Henry commented, sounding relieved.
"Took them long enough," Paige replied, relaxing when the elevator stopped on the bottom floor and the doors slid open.
A team of paramedics was waiting for them when the doors opened, and they immediately moved to get Paige on her feet and out of the elevator.
"We got called as soon as the power went down," one of the paramedics explained, as they loaded Paige onto a waiting stretcher. "You know you've been in there for three hours?"
"Yeah," Paige said, exchanging a wry look with Henry, "we know. I've been having contractions," she added, as they wheeled her toward the doors. "They're about five minutes apart."
"Is this your first baby?" the second paramedic asked, and when Paige nodded, he went on, "We'll do an exam once we're on route to the hospital, but first babies tend to take their time. Chances are, labor will stall for a bit, and then pick up in a few hours."
"Hours?" Paige echoed, incredulously.
"Longest labor I've ever seen," the first paramedic piped up, a thoughtful tone in her voice, "took nearly seventeen hours."
"Seventeen?" Paige repeated, weakly. "I don't want to be in labor for seventeen hours."
"You'll be fine," Henry told her, reassuringly, patting her on the shoulder as she was being loaded into the ambulance. "I'll meet you at the hospital, okay?"
Paige nodded, wordlessly, resisting the urge to cling to his hand as he pulled away. She locked eyes with Henry for as long as she could, until the paramedics shut the ambulance doors. Then, the driver flipped the siren on, and they sped down the road, screaming, toward the hospital.
Continued here
