Southern Cross - Pt. 02

"I'm positive your mom and dad will be more than happy to have you stay with them the last three months. And I'll find a way to keep myself busy without worrying about you too much. Dr. Mitchell, I think we have a plan."

And so it was set. That night, Sara made reservations at her parent's favorite restaurant and called to let them know to meet them there. She then called Sean and Amanda to let them know the news and to say they wouldn't be back this winter. Jack then called his mom and dad to give them the news.

"Hi mom, it's Jack."

"Jack, honey, it's good to hear your voice."

"Mom, is dad there? We were calling to tell you both some news."

"Sorry, no. Your dad is out running fences with Rich and Isaac today. I'll just pass along the news. So what is so important?"

"Nothing much. Just that Sara is going to have a baby."

"What? A baby! I thought that was impossible!"

"That's what we all thought as well. The doctors are mystified how this happened, but somehow she healed enough for this to occur. And because this is such a mystery and surprise, Sara is going to end up in several medical journals and textbooks."

"This is such a nice surprise. Is it all right if I tell the others? Your brothers and their wives will be thrilled to hear the news."

"Yep, go ahead and share the news. Tell them we'll be in touch with more details as things go along. But we need to get going. We're meeting with Sara's parents for dinner to tell them the news."

"Ok, Jack. Thanks for calling, and give Sara a hug and kiss from all of us. Bye."

An hour later, the couple exited a taxi at San Fratello's, an upscale restaurant that was a favorite of Sara's parents. As they entered Sara saw her parents and waved across the restaurant. Hugging both her parents, the couple sat with expectant smiles.

"So what is so important that you need to make a big deal out of seeing us?"

"Not much, but we do need to ask you an important question. We are wondering if in five months I could stay with you for a while -- something like three months."

"Honey, you know you can always stay with us for as long as you like. Will Jack be coming along too?"

"No, just me. Jack will still be busy with his business."

"Ok, what's going on? I can tell you aren't divorcing each other, you have a very specific timeline, and you both are smiling like the cat that ate the canary. What is it?"

By now both Sara and Jack were laughing, so Sara decided to stop teasing her folks.

"I'm sorry, mom and dad, but we just wanted to have a little fun with you. It's a simple reason -- my doctor wants me to take it easy and be close to her for my last trimester. I'm going to have a baby."

Stunned was the only response Sara received. After several moments, both her parents started laughing and crying, hugging Sara and Jack.

"I thought Dr. Mitchell said this could never be. What happened?"

"Not a clue. Dr. Mitchell brought in several colleagues, experts in OB/GYN, and they are mystified as well. So for the next five months I have to fly back here once a month for checkups, and for the last three months I have to stay close. So can I stay with you?"

"Of course you can. This is such wonderful news, and such a surprise I'm not sure how to react. But we will be thrilled to be grandparents once again.

"So how did your brother take the news?"

"Sean and Amanda were thrilled, and their girls are anxious to be aunts. I haven't called my other brothers yet, so if you want to spread the news to them, that will be great. Now lets order something -- I'm starving."

So life went on for the next five months, with Sara flying to San Diego once a month for her checkups. She spent several days each time, spending time with her brothers and their families. At the same time, she and Jack were making changes to their house, remodeling a guest room into a nursery. All their friends were anxious to help, with most of them volunteering to help babysit whenever needed.

When Sara hit her six-month mark, she began preparing for her long stay with her parents. Packing became a nightmare, with her not being able to decide what to take and what to leave. Finally Jack put his foot down.

"Sara, just take enough for one suitcase. I know you are there for three months, but you mom does have a washing machine, and there are more stores than I can count waiting for you to spend our money. Stop worrying about this -- you'll be fine."

Their last night together found the couple in their pool, naked together for the last time for three months. Sara pulled herself up on the pool edge and spread her legs wide for Jack, inviting him in one last time. They had decided a while back that intercourse might be too much strain on Sara, so their sex lives became that of oral sex from both and hand jobs from Sara.

Moving between her legs, Jack began kissing up the inside of her thighs, skipping over her wetness to kiss the other leg. After several minutes of teasing, Sara grabbed his head and pushed against her pussy. Jack delightedly began to lick her lips and clit, and pushed his tongue as far into her as he could. Lapping at her wetness, he quickly brought her to a climax.

"More, Jack. Eat me more. Make me cum enough to last three months. Please..."

Encouraged by her moans, Jack began to eat her again, only now adding several fingers into the mix. Soon he had her cumming again, and when he tried to pull his face away, Sara closed her legs around his head and trapped him against her pussy.

"Again, baby. Again. Make me cum again."

After bringing Sara to many more orgasms, Jack finally pulled away from his sex-sated wife and carried her to their bed. Exhausted by her multiple orgasms, Sara quickly fell asleep. Soon Jack joined her, and husband and wife slept in each other's arms for the last time for several months.

At times, the next three months flew by, and other times it seemed to crawl by. Sara was kept busy with numerous visits to her doctors, and with catching up with friends and her parents' neighbors. Sometimes she missed Jack so much she cried herself to sleep, and other times she was able to video chat with him. Jack flew to San Diego as much as possible, but still it wasn't enough for either of them. He timed his last visit to coincide with Sara's appointment with Dr. Mitchell, where they decided on a date for her c-section.

"Hi mom. How are you doing tonight?"

"Jack, honey. It's good to hear your voice. Everyone here is fine. How's Sara holding up?"

"As she said this morning, she's ready to get this alien creature out of her body, the sooner the better. So all in all I'd say she's doing okay."

"Sounds like something Tiffany said when she was pregnant with Heather. So have you set a date yet?"

"Yep, that's why I'm calling. I know you said you wanted to be here, along with Tiffany. Is that still the plan?"

"Yes. Susan is way too busy to get away, and the last person you want to have there is your father. When should we come out?"

"We set the date for October 1, so you can come out anytime around then. Let me know and I'll make hotel reservations for you."

"Sounds good. Let me call Tiffany and I'll get back to you. Give Sara a hug for all of us."

"Will do, mom. See you soon."

Jack also called Sean, who decided to come down for this as well. Once Jack heard back from everyone, he made their reservations at the Marriott Marquis, paying for their stays in advance.

Several days before Sara's date, Jack flew in to be by her side. He knew she was getting nervous about the delivery and hoped he would be a calming influence. Because hers was such a high-risk pregnancy, Sara was spending the last few days in the hospital under close supervision.

"So is the room where they are holding a runaway mother-to-be?"

"Jack! You're here! I'm so happy to see you. Come here so I can give you a kiss."

Bending down, Jack touched his lips to Sara's, and she, in turn, threw her arms around him and held him tight.

"I'm so glad you're finally here. I was beginning to think you abandoned me for some tropical floozy."

"Never. You're the only tropical floozy I want. So how are you feeling tonight?"

"Ok, I guess. I'm just ready to get this over with. Are Donna and Tiffany here yet?"

"No, they get in tomorrow, as does Sean. So I'll need to slip out and get them from the airport. Unfortunately, they come in at totally different times, but it will be good to see them again. And when I spoke with Tiffany the other night, she was ready to walk here she was so excited. And we're all staying at the Marriott, so getting together will be easy."

After a while, one of the nurses came in and asked Jack to leave for a bit, as she needed to check Sara's vitals and draw some blood. When he went back into the room, Sara had a worried look on her face.

"Baby, is everything all right? You look upset."

"Come sit by me and hold my hand. I'm getting worried because the nurses seem to be checking on me and drawing blood more often. Jack, I'm scared something is wrong. I'm scared I can't do this. I'm scared I won't be a good mother. I'm sure nothing is wrong, but I'm still scared about everything."

"First of all, you are going to be a wonderful mother. You had great role models, and I know you will be just like them. I'm sure they just want to keep a close eye on you. After all, this pregnancy is one of a kind and nobody wants to see anything go wrong.

"I know it's easy for me to say 'take it easy and relax', but that's what you need to do; you're surrounded by a team of experts who know what they're doing. Plus you have me right here, holding your hand and loving you more and more each day. What more do you need?"

Holding Jack's hand made Sara smile, and hearing his silly encouragements made her giggle.

"You always know what to say to make me feel better. That's probably why I love you so much."

"Plus the way I make you cum over and over doesn't hurt either, right?"

That got both of them laughing so loud that the nurse stopped in to see if Sara was all right.

"I'm fine. It's just my husband being a jerk is all."

The next day, Jack was back and forth between the hospital, hotel, and airport as he picked up Sean first and then his mom and Tiffany later. They all had a quick visit with Sara before returning to their hotel for the night. Jack joined them for dinner, but not before seeing Sara once more. She seemed more tired than the night before, so he wanted to let her rest.

"I'll see you first thing in the morning, sweetie. Eat some dinner and then get some rest, ok?"

"Ok, I will. And Jack -- thank you for being such an amazing husband. Everything you do for me makes me love you even more. See you in the morning."

When Jack arrived at the hospital the next morning, several nurses were buzzing around Sara's room with an air of urgency. As he entered her room, Dr. Mitchell was right behind him.

"Jack, good, you're here. I was just about to have a nurse give you a call. After speaking with Dr. Peterson, we decided to push the delivery up to today. Some of Sara's blood work was not what we wanted to see, so instead of waiting another day, we're going today. Nothings wrong -- we just want to stay on top of everything. Dr. Peterson and the surgeon are both busy this morning, so we are scheduling for 1:00 this afternoon.

"None the procedures we spoke about will change, so if there is anyone you want to see before hand, tell them to be here no later than noon. I'll let them have a quick visit with Sara before we take her to the OR, and then I'll send a nurse to bring Jack in before we start. Sound good?"

Sara gave Jack a nervous smile and nodded her head, and Dr. Mitchell left them alone.

"I better update everyone. I'll tell Sean to have the hotel shuttle bring them over so I don't have to leave. Be back in a few minutes."

By noon, the waiting room was filling up. One of the nurses came out and started to bring people back to see Sara, two at a time and for just a few minutes. Larry and Rachel went first, followed by Donna and Tiffany, with Sean going in last.

"Hey, little sister, doing ok?"

"Sean, thanks for being here. Yeah, I'm doing all right, but I am nervous and scared. What if I'm a rotten mother? You and Amanda make it look so easy. What if I can't do it?"

"You're going to be a great mother, Sara, so stop worrying about it. It is difficult at times, don't get me wrong, but it will be a wonderful time for you and the baby. And Jack will be great as well. Between the two of you, you'll figure everything out."

"Thanks, Sean. You always had the knack to make me feel better. I'm glad you're here."

Sean leaned over, kissed Sara's forehead, and softly whispered into her ear.

"I love you, sis. Mom and dad would be so proud of you."

Shortly after 1:00 Sara was wheeled from her room, and shortly after Jack was brought to the OR as well. Once he was gowned up he was ushered into the room and sat by Sara. As the doctors worked they kept telling Sara and Jack what they were doing, and kept telling Sara she was doing a great job. Suddenly, one of the doctors said 'here we go', and the room was filled with the sounds of a squalling baby.

"It's a girl."

The baby was taken to the warmer to get checked over and cleaned up while Sara and Jack sat smiling at each other. One of the nurses then came over and placed the swaddled baby onto Sara's chest, and the love connection between the three of them was instant and complete.

After a few minutes, that same nurse came back for the baby.

"Sara, like we told you, we're taking your baby to the NICU just to get a complete checkup. They can do more there than we can do here, but don't worry -- your baby looks beautiful."

Suddenly, people began to move about with more urgency, and the doctor nodded towards Jack. Another nurse came over and ushered him out of the room quickly, not saying a word -- which worried Jack.

About an hour later, Jack slowly entered the waiting room, faced by his family members. With a slow smile he said,

"It's a girl, a beautiful, blue eyed, red haired girl who is doing fine. They took her to the NICU just as a precaution. Sara is doing ok now. Because of her complications, the c-section didn't go exactly as planned, and she lost a lot of blood. She's stable now and in post-op, where she'll be for a while. The doctor wants her to stay in the hospital for several days, and to come back in a week. So Rachel, feel like having your daughter and granddaughter hanging out with you for another week?"

"You bet, Jack. So what's with the red hair?"

"I'm not sure where that came from, but we're not complaining."

Just then Sean spoke up.

"I think I can help with that. When Sara was young, her blond hair was tinged with red, and both of our birth parents had red hair. I'm sure they're looking down and laughing, because Sara never liked the red. So what did you name her?"

"We decided to give her a Tahitian name, as that is where all this started. We did some research before hand and had several names; we waited to see which ones would fit best."

Just then Jack was interrupted by one of the nurses.

"Jack, this little girl is looking for her daddy. Want to take over?"

With trembling hands, Jack took the bundle into his arms. With tears welling in his eyes, he introduced his baby to her new family.

"Everyone, meet Maimiti Heiura Owens-Armstrong. Maimiti, meet your family."

"So what do the names mean?"

"Maimiti means 'comes from the sea', so we thought that would be fitting. Her middle name is one we just liked, but it works out even better, as it means 'crown of fire'."

Before long little Maimiti was being passed from person to person for a quick hug. Not long after, the nurse came back in to return the baby to the nursery. As she left she told Jack that he could go up to see Sara whenever he wanted, so everybody decided to leave. They all gave Jack hugs and decided that they would get together the next night for dinner. The last ones to leave were Sara's parents, and they lingered until they were alone with Jack.

"Thank you, Jack, for taking such good care of our little girl. She went through hell, and a lesser man would've left her after knowing what she endured. But you listened to her, held her, and loved her all the more. You have a beautiful wife who we are proud to call our daughter, and a beautiful daughter whose life we will be honored to be a part of."

Two weeks later, the new family was heading home. Sara worried about how Maimiti would act on the plane, but the flight attendants made sure she was well taken care of, giving Sara and Jack some alone time.

"I can't believe how beautiful our baby is. You did a good job, mom."

"You didn't do too badly yourself, dad. We do have a beautiful baby, don't we? I can't wait for her to get a little older and get her into the water. Think she'll end up a mermaid like me?"

"Of that I have no doubt."

*****

Twenty-five years later...

Jack was in the galley putting the finishing touches on lunch when he heard someone yelling for him.

"Come on, old man, get in the water. You've got a couple of mermaids who are sorely lacking attention."

Laughing as he climbed topside, he wondered why they ever worried about Maimiti wanting a life in the ocean. She had learned to swim as a baby, and as the years went by, spent as much time as possible in the water -- either their pool or the ocean. Their pool became a favorite gathering spot for her and her friends, especially once they all reached their teen years. After a while it evolved into a game -- which of her girl friends could wear the smallest bikini. At times it got so bad that Jack had to stay inside to keep from staring at the beautiful young women they were becoming. Sara, as well, had a difficult time not looking at her boy friends.

When it came time to choose a university, Maimiti was unsure what she wanted to pursue. She was a gifted musician and singer -- thanks to her father -- and an accomplished swimmer and lover of the ocean -- thanks to her mother. In the end she decided to travel to New Zealand and study marine biology and follow in her mother's footsteps. Now with her advanced degree in hand, she spent her time freelancing across the South Pacific. She was in between gigs, home for several weeks before she headed out once again.

"Ok, dad. If you're not going to join us in the water, can you at least get lunch ready? Mom and I are both hungry."

"All right, smart ass, that's exactly what I was doing. Whenever you're ready, lunch is served in the main dining room."

Laughing, Sara and Maimiti began to swim back to the Music II. Using the diving platform at the stern, Maimiti climbed up first, water streaming off her naked body. Nudity wasn't a big deal with their family, and Jack always beamed with pride whenever he saw the beauty his daughter had become. She was tall (almost 6 feet) and lean, a product of spending so much time in the water; long, red hair that reached the middle of her back; legs that seemed to go on forever; breasts that rivaled Sara's. But it was her eyes and smile that everyone fell in love with -- deep, blue eyes that sparkled and shimmered, but could turn dark and menacing if angered, and a smile that lit up her face. All in all, she was very much her mother's daughter.

"So are you going to sit there and stare at me all day, or can I get a towel?"

"Sorry, baby. Just doing a bit of daydreaming. Here you go."

Giving his daughter her towel, Jack gave her a hug as well.

"It's so good to have you home, even if it's only for a few weeks. Your mom and I have missed you."

"I've missed you both as well. And I've got some good news to share over lunch."

Just then Sara climbed into the boat, naked like Maimiti.