Sacrifices in the Long Run

(Revised 12/9/2022)

FOREWORD

… and forewarning.

This isn't your typical Holiday Hallmark Special. Some readers may find it objectionable if not only uncomfortable, but it's rooted in reality.

This story is based on love of various forms between a group of four heterosexual, monogamous individuals. so it's  definitely not Group Sex, and might hint toward How-To … never mind. If you have a better idea than Romance, let us know in the comments.

As the choice of characters might suggest, the events did not occur to us, but to a couple we hold dear as friends.

This story can stand on its own but will carry much greater weight if you read When Ordinary Isn't, followed by The Future is In The Air. We know, it's a lot to ask, but we promise you'll be better off knowing the characters before this story is read.

Since it caused a little confusion in her introductory tale, the name of one of the supporting characters in this one,  Peggy, is a diminutive of the name  Margaret.

All characters engaging in adult decisions and activities are over the age of eighteen.

Parker, Texas
6:44am

"I'm sorry," my wife whispered very quietly in the darkness of our bedroom.

Our backs were to each other. Considering her utterance was subdued, I doubted she'd intended for me to hear it. It wasn't the first time, so I think my ears had become more attuned to the phrase.

"What, baby?" I asked after I'd turned over in our bed to face her direction.

"I didn't say anything," she spoke a little more loudly.

"Oh, okay," I said as I drew the covers off me.

I did my morning business in another bathroom, then went to the kitchen to start some coffee.

I stared into the living room as the brewer began to burble. The tree we'd put up the week before Thanksgiving still stood in a large arched front window. It hadn't been lit in almost a month because neither of us felt particularly festive.

I stared at the wrapped packages underneath the tree. Given my background and penchant for analyzing things logically and scientifically, I'd teased Leah for wrapping them. The individual the gifts were intended for wasn't expected until March and wouldn't know how to unwrap or use them.

Well … they needed to go. I had to remove them from sight.

I stepped out to the garage. I withdrew an empty bin from a shelf, brought it inside, and started depositing presents into it. I tried to will away the tears when I heard the sounds of a rattle hidden in gift wrap. I shook it gently. The beads in plastic forced my emotions to the surface.

I flinched at the unexpected hand on my shoulder.

"I didn't mean to startle you."

I placed the small parcel I was still holding into the bin, turned, and clutched my wife to me.

"What are you doing?" she whispered, though I'm sure she knew.

"I can't look at it anymore. Especially not today. I just can't."

"This sucks , Lance."

I felt her chest racking.

"Yeah. It does."

We both cried. Again. And so began Christmas Day.

November 16
9:44am

"Ready?" I asked with a plug in one hand and an extension cord's end in the other.

She nodded vigorously.

"Yay!" Leah laughed, her beautiful brown eyes glistening with reflections of the fire and the newly illuminated lights.

She clapped happily. I think she would even have jumped up and down, but it would have been uncomfortable.

I tucked the cord under the tree's skirt to hide it away, then rose to take my beautiful wife into my arms.

"I've always loved Christmas," I whispered.

We slowly danced to unheard music.

"I know, baby." She smiled sweetly. "I never really knew what the Christmas season was supposed to be like until I was with the Echolses."

"Yeah, and that's too bad," I said. "My warmest memories are of Christmases with my mom."

"Tell me again why you wait until the ornaments are on the tree before you turn on the lights? My fosters always did it the other way around in case a bulb was burned out, and … what'd you say causes a whole string to fail because of one bulb? A shunt failure?"

I laughed because she'd thrown back at me a nerd fact I'd given her.

"Yeah. My mother thought it makes the reveal more exciting. I remember barely being able to sleep on Christmas Eve as a kid. I don't think I grew out of it until I was maybe ten or eleven."

"We'll have a quiet holiday this year, but it might be the last for a decade."

I smiled broadly as she brought my hand to her tummy.

"God, Leah. You're so beautiful ."

"I'm fat," she groaned, "and I'm probably gonna get cankles soon."

"Get what ?"

"Cankles . Calf ankles. Fat-feet," she said, pointing down.

"I know you worry, but I don't care about things like that. I think I see you differently than you do. Your curves are beautiful, your skin is beautiful, your hair is thick, shiny, and lustrously beautiful. You are, indeed⁠—"

"Beautiful?"

"I was going to say glowing ."

She smiled warmly at me.

"Now that it's almost lunch time, do you want breakfast?" I asked.

"I've gotta visit the potty. Again ." She chuckled. "Would you make me avocado toast on honey wheat with a sprinkle of sesame seeds?"

"You bet," I said, giving her a kiss.

"I'll be back by the time it's done!" she hollered over her shoulder.

I went to the kitchen to prepare what had been her go-to breakfast for at least two months. It seemed as if we'd been buying avocados by the bushel for a while. I wasn't worried, though, because her OB explained how fantastically nutritious avocados are, containing healthy amounts of the folate and potassium my pregnant wife needed.

Four slices of bread went into the toaster. I halved and scooped the meat from a nicely ripened Hass and mashed it with a fork. I spread it on two slices of toast and sprinkled both with a dash of toasted sesame seeds from a spice jar.

My toast was buttered and topped with peach preserves alongside two scrambled eggs and three strips of bacon. I sat at the table and nosed through the news on my tablet while I nibbled. When I realized Leah hadn't reappeared, I called out to her.

"In here, baby," she hollered.

I rose from the table and walked to the master suite. I saw her before I stepped through the open door, and my face formed a broad smile all on its own.

"Shall I bring you breakfast in bed?" I asked the naked woman lying provocatively in our unmade nest.

"Something about the way you said how beautiful I am changed my state of mind. I looked at myself in the mirror a few minutes ago, and … instead of groaning at my appearance, I was smiling.

"I'm going to be a mother, Lance! A mommy !" she said with utter contentment and joy in her voice. "So, no. Breakfast can wait. Right now, I want my husband."

She beckoned me into our bed where we made slow, tender love.

"I haven't heard from Peggy. Has Eric said whether or not they're coming?"

"Oh, snap ! I forgot!" I said, maneuvering our shopping cart in a u-turn.

My wife laughed. "I guess it's a yes?"

"Yeah, but not on Thanksgiving Day," I answered. "He said Peggy is flying back into Oklahoma City after an international conference in Oslo. He said if the weather holds out and we're willing to give her a few days to recover from any jet lag, they can fly in on Saturday."

Leah smiled. "That works for me. You?"

"Definitely. Do we want to do something on Thursday by ourselves?"

She chuckled and cast her eyes downward.

"What's funny?" I asked.

She put her hand on my shoulder, drew me near to her, and whispered in my ear in the middle of the produce section.

"I knew it was possible, but I can't believe how horny I've been lately. Maybe I'm kinda messed up, but yes. Yes , I want to do something special on Thanksgiving Day. By ourselves. As soon as we get home, too."

"Pork loin!" I yelped, pointing the cart toward the meats section.

Her gleeful laughs warmed my heart as they always had.

"Oh, jeez , Peggy, she gets more beautiful every time I see her," I spoke once her mother had removed her FAA-certified combo plane/car seat from their Skylane.

"You always say that," Peggy Reiter said and chuckled.

"Ownwy because it's twue ," I cooed in baby talk to my friends' six-month-old daughter. "Her wittle cheekies are so chubby-wubby !"

They beamed in pride.

"Where's Leah?" Eric asked.

"Home fiddling with everything. I think her nesting instinct has come early. Easy flight?"

"We were busy," Peggy answered. "It was a bit dodgy getting out of OKC, and we were worried when we picked up a little unforecasted rime on the approach. We almost called to divert to Mesquite, but it stopped as quickly as it started."

"Leah and I were keeping an eye on the METARs. We're glad y'all made it in," I said.

The FBO towed their plane into a heated hangar, then I drove us all to Parker after they'd latched their daughter's seat into the back bench and their luggage in the trunk.

Peggy lit up as soon as she saw her. "Leah, look at you! You're so wonderfully preggers !"

The ladies hugged. It'd been a few months since we'd all been together. Considering the status of two of the five, much had changed. Meghan was bigger, and so was Leah. My wife's smile conveyed her joy as she unbuckled the little one from her seat.

"Sweet potato !" Leah giggled as she cuddled Meghan Reiter to her.

The baby girl nuzzled and rooted at my wife's chest.

"I think she's hungry," Leah observed, somehow knowing.

"Do you mind if I nurse her in there?" Peggy asked, gesturing toward our den.

"Anywhere at all. Our house is yours."

Peggy smiled as she withdrew her daughter from my wife's arms.

"I still can't believe you created such a beautiful baby considering how ugly you are," I teased my best friend.

"She definitely got her looks from her mom," Eric replied.

"You're such a baby-daddy," I said, and Leah smacked my shoulder for needling him.

He laughed. "I'm proud, Lance. I'm proud , you know?"

"It shows, and you have every right to be, my friend." I smiled. "Y'all hungry?"

"Yep, and we brought dinner. I'm cooking, because there's no way in hell I'm trusting you with it."

He removed a number of bundles from a canvas tote they'd packed. I think I might've drooled when I read the markings on the butcher paper.

"You know where everything is?" I asked.

"Yep!"

Eric seared in a pan then broiled some prime Black Angus fillets sourced from the Reiter Ranch. Butter-sauteed cremini mushrooms and caramelized onions were kept to the side for the less-adventurous or more sensitive palates.

Once we'd eaten, Peggy settled their daughter into the crib in the nursery my wife and I had prepared for our expected. The four of us then sat at the kitchen table and played cards for an hour or two while chatting.

"Have you picked names?" Peggy asked.

I grinned and looked at Leah.

"If it's a boy, his name will be David. If it's a girl, we're naming her Mirri."

"Mirri ?" She sighed dreamily. "That's so beautiful . I know David is Lance's middle name. Tell us about the other."

"The name is from my foster sister," Leah hinted. "We haven't told her yet since we're waiting until birth to know the gender."

"Mira Jennings?" she asked, looking quizzical.

"Yeah. Her maiden name is Echols," Leah added.

"Oh! Mir-E ? Mirri ! That's so sweet ! I'm sure she'll be honored."

Eric grinned. "It's beautiful. Now I'm hoping she's a girl."

"Jeez!" I barked in mock offense. "Thanks, dude!"

Our conversation continued, but when Leah excused herself to go to bed, I decided to accompany her.

We celebrated our Friendsgiving the following Monday evening.

I caught Eric slipping some additional gifts under the lit Christmas tree. He was mildly startled when I subtly cleared my throat.

"You didn't see that. They're for your baby."

"Sure," I said before we joined our wives at the table to enjoy dinner.

I sliced the bacon-wrapped maple-glazed pork tenderloin, offering the favored ends to our guests, then placed slices on plates for my wife and me. Sides were passed, and I noted Leah's smaller-than-normal portions.

"You okay?" I asked.

"Yeah, just not much of an appetite tonight. My tummy's gone wonky. It feels like our little goofball in there is using it as a punching bag."

Peggy chuckled. "I know what you mean. Sometimes you want to eat the whole kitchen and other times everything's like meh ?"

Leah smiled and nodded.

Peggy had been introducing new foods to their daughter who was sitting in a Bumbo on the table. I watched as she mashed some sweet peas with the back of her fork, then offered them to her baby with a soft spoon. The flavor obviously caught her by surprise as evidenced by her grimace.

"No? No peas?" her mother asked, offering the spoonful which was rejected. "We'll try again another time."

"Not a fan, huh?" I observed.

"First taste. Probably a little too savory. Pureed squash on the other hand? She goes to town on it."

I heard a clatter. When I looked over, Leah was staring off into the distance, and her face was becoming pale.

"Honey?" I spoke with some alarm, jumping from my seat.

She didn't answer and began to lean in her chair. I grabbed the sides of her arms and held her upright.

"Leah?"

"Something's wrong," she whimpered before she went limp.

"I've got you! Eric, help me lay her down!"

He left his seat and helped me lower Leah to the floor so she wouldn't fall to it.

"Oh my god," he murmured.

I looked up at him and followed his eyes.

"Peggy !" I yelped when I saw Leah's bloodied pants.

She was there in two seconds. Her face remained expressionless which made sense given her profession.

"Lance, listen to me and do exactly what I say."

I nodded vigorously.

"Call 911. Get on the phone right now and call for an ambulance."

I only stared at her.

"Lance!" she barked when I hadn't moved. "Do it!"

"Yeah," I said, fumbling with my cellphone.

I spoke to an operator. "I need an ambulance at 403 Paseo Real Drive in Parker. My wife is six-months' pregnant and she's bleeding. A lot !"

"Can you do anything?" I heard Eric ask Peggy.

"No. Not for something like this. I need you to go find some towels, then wait out front for the ambulance," she instructed him.

"Leah, sweetie, which hospital does your obstetrician have privileges at?" Peggy asked.

Thankfully, we'd placed one of his business cards under a magnet on the side of the refrigerator. When Leah didn't answer, I grabbed it and gave it to Peggy. She began dialing a number on her own cellphone. I couldn't understand the conversation which followed.

Eric came back moments later with beach towels we kept stacked on a rack in the laundry room. He then went out the front door toward the street.

Everything moved so fast. I heard Peggy trying to calm Leah. I hung up the phone as soon as the sirens I heard ceased and flashing lights poured through the door. She addressed one of the paramedics.

"Take her to Richardson Medical Center at Renner and Shiloh. I've spoken to her doctor's answering service and am waiting for him to call me back."

"Understood," said a woman. "Are you coming with us?"

"No. Her husband is," she answered. "Lance, I'll be right behind you."

The trip to the hospital seemed to take hours, though it was likely only thirty minutes. I'd never felt as helpless in my life. My wife lay before me on a gurney as the ambulance sped south then west. It was the Murphy Fire Department that responded under mutual aid because Parker's was already out on a call somewhere else. My terrified wife cried and whimpered incoherently for the first half of the journey and lost consciousness as we arrived at the hospital. They wheeled the gurney rapidly into a trauma bay.

I fell to my knees outside the door when the staff forced me to leave her side.

"Lance!" I heard Peggy's voice as she rushed to me, having just entered from who knows where.

"Where's Eric?" I begged, suddenly needing the man I'd considered my best friend since we were in the fourth grade.

"He stayed with our dau⁠—he's taking care of things at your house. You're not doing yourself or Leah any favors by huddling here. Come with me."

I obliviously followed her into a room marked "Private Consultation."

"Lance, I need you to pay attention. Are you able to do that?"

"I don't know," I whimpered.

Peggy wrapped her arms around me. "I think of you like a brother, and I really need you to listen . It's important , okay?"

"I'll try."

"Leah's doctor called me. I told him what I could, and he's on his way here. He voiced his suspicions, then I consulted with the chief of obstetrics at Children's in Oklahoma City. He was our doct⁠—"

"And?" I pressed.

"This is going to be tough, Lance," she said. "I can only imagine. But you need to prepare yourself to make a very difficult decision."

"What ?"

"There's a distinct possibility that you, as Leah's husband and the father of her unborn baby, may need to decide who survives."

"God , Peggy! What the fuck are you saying ?"

"I detest this, Lance. You have to believe me. Her OB suspects Leah has a complication called placenta accreta . I'm not going to lie to you. Your wife and child are in dire jeopardy, and you may need to choose who⁠—"

"Peggy, no !" I heard my own voice echo.

I so desperately wanted to embrace my wife. The next-closest woman in my life acted as a surrogate and wrapped her arms around me as I bawled.

"Sister to brother, Lance. I swear to God I hope it doesn't happen, but you need to be ready."

"I hate you right now!" I cried.

"I know you do."

"Mr. Marlin," a man I'd never seen before spoke slowly, "your wife is in critical condition. Dr. Davis and the team are trying to stabilize her."

"What about our baby?"

"The fetus wasn't viable. Your wife required an emergency hysterectomy and unilateral oophorectomy."

"The fetus ? What ? It's our child you're talking⁠—our baby is dead ?"

"You insensitive ass !" I heard Peggy bark at the man before I crumbled into a ball in a corner of the room.

All I heard from that point were mumbled arguments until the doctor blindly excused himself.

An hour spent in pure, devastating anguish elapsed before I was given more information.

"Where's⁠—oh. Mr. Marlin?" Dr. Davis spoke.

"Yeah," I whimpered.

"I can't begin to describe how sorry I am that I couldn't get here sooner, but I don't believe the outcome would have been different if I had. I hope you understand."

"I don't understand any of this!"

"Can I speak to you like the scientist you are? Leah has a condition known as⁠—"

"I've heard already," I interrupted.

"It means the baby's placenta embedded too deeply into Leah's uterus, which led to a rupture. There simply wasn't enough time to evaluate options. It was an unpredictable complication. Given she wasn't able to provide any family medical history … well, despite Dr. Baymore's bedside manner, or lack thereof, his decision was appropriate."