The Gentle Giant

My trip to Pittsburgh went well. I went to the game and hung out for a little while afterwards with Max. We ended up going to a small diner he said he went to all of the time. “So what’s up dear, little baby is growing quick. How is everyone? How are my lil kiddos doing.” I smiled.

Max really was a great friend to Raina and now Danny and myself as well. “Things are good. The babies are getting big. You know Raina, she is busy all of the time. Especially with the boys and their schedules. But she loves every minute of it."

“So how are things here. How are your guys doing?”

Max smirked. “Fine, crazy as usual. Geno is nuts, almost got arrested the other night partying with TK. Jordan has settled down a lot. Heather has been in town for the entire season so far. It looks like he may finally be over Raina, which is nice. I couldn’t take cranky Jordan, acting like he was two.”

I smiled at him. “I’m glad he is doing well.”

He looked up at me with a slight smirk. “So how are you and baby daddy doing?” he asked, the smirk growing.

“It’s definitely a work in progress. He was so mad at me after the whole golf tournament. He didn’t talk to me for a long time. Now, we are engaged. Who knows. Things are good right now. I’m more content with everything. He tries harder now to be less passive. Its working out better than I expected.”

He grabbed my hand with a huge smirk on his face. “Well if not, you can always move here. I’ll convert you into a Pens fan.” I cracked up.

After that, he took me back to the hotel and left. The concert went well and I was flying home the next morning. I laid down on the bed exhausted, waiting for Andrej to call. About a half hour later, he called. “Hey you, how was everything.” I let him know how the concert was and we hung up so we could both get some sleep . I flew home the next morning, happy to be able to get home and get some rest in his bed.

The days turned into weeks and soon enough Christmas was approaching. Andrej’s mom, dad and younger brother were flying in today, Christmas Eve. We spent most of last night decorating. Both of us had been so busy we hadn’t even really had time.

He had been pestering me to cut my hours at work but I enjoyed it too much. Plus it kept me busy when he was. Otherwise I would just sit around and get bigger. I was twenty-seven weeks pregnant and feeling a lot better. I guess I just kind of got used to carrying the extra weight.

He picked up his parents from the airport and brought them back to his place. I was happy to find out that all three of them spoke English pretty well. I was worried that their accents would be hard to understand. We sat around talking all morning. You could tell how excited they were about the baby. His Dad’s face lit up when he spoke about his first grandchild.

We brought them to Danny and Raina’s so they could meet Maman and so we could exchange gifts that afternoon with the kids. Andrej held Jolie during Christmas Eve dinner. It was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. He kissed her on both cheeks as she smiled up at him and cooed.

Raina gave me a hug. “Now that has got to make you exited to have your little one. Look at him. I’m telling you girl, that type of stuff will make you smile for weeks. If you ask me what my favorite memory is in the last year or so is I’d tell you one morning I woke up to Danny cooking for me. I think it was the morning after the Pitt game seven win. The twins were fed and just watching him in their bouncy seats. Amazing. It is the little stuff that matters.” I smiled at Andrej and blew him a kiss, Raina was right. Life couldn’t get much better than this.

I spent Christmas Day and the next few days after Christmas just getting to know Andrej’s mom and dad. His brother Michal had went with him on his road trip. I took them all over the city, showing them the sights and just talking.

It was New Years Eve and Andrej was away in Carolina for a game tonight. His mom, Maman and I were going to lunch at Dinardo’s in Olde City. His mom gave me a big hug as we left the apartment. “Danielle, We are very happy that you and Andrej are a family now together. I am happy you accept ring. We can’t wait for our granddaughter to be born. We miss Andrej, but we know you take care of him here.”

I gave her a quick hug. “He takes good care of me. You raised him to be a good man.”

We sat down in the restaurant and continued to talk. Maman and Raina came in and met us. It was nice just to go out to lunch with the girls. Maman and Raina were so comfortable with each other. I could definitely hope that me and Anna would become that way.

After lunch we went back to the apartment to relax. I went into Andrej’s bedroom. After an hour of laying down, I started to feel really sick to my stomach and I was getting bad pains. I thought maybe I had food poisoning so I called Raina to see what she thought. “Get you butt up and put clothes on. I’ll be over in twenty minutes, you are going to the hospital. I think you may be in labor.” She didn’t have to tell me twice.

I yelled for his mom and explained to her the situation. Raina left Maman at the house with the kids and pulled up outside. His mom and dad helped me into the truck and got into the back. By this time I was hysterical because I knew what I was feeling was contractions. My hospital was only five minutes away. By the time they examined me I was eight centimeters dilated and there was no turning back. Raina talked to Andrej and Danny on the phone and told them it was an emergency and they needed to get here as soon as possible.

The doctor came in and decided her heart rate kept dipping too much and he wanted to do a c-section to be safe. I was scared to death and did nothing but pray as they wheeled me into the operating room.

Raina came in and held my hand once they administered the spinal block. “Its ok Dani. They are going to take good care of you here and they have the best NICU in the city.”

She didn’t make a sound as they pulled her from my body, a little over three months too soon. The nurse came over and let me know she was tiny, but alive. She weighed one pound, fifteen ounces and was fifteen inches long. I asked to see her and the nurses told me they had already taken her to the NICU. I cried hysterically as I slipped into the blackness of a drug induced haze.

Notes

:( This was a tough chapter to write, but I love this story.