CHAPTER 167: Two O'Clock

POV: Avalon Pierce

He drove too fast and knew it and didn't slow down.

Selene was waiting outside the apartment when he pulled up. Coat on and bag in hand. 

He got out.

"I'm fine," she said immediately.

"I know," he said.

"You drove too fast."

"I know that too."

She got in the car.

He got back in.

Neither of them said anything for a block.

Then Selene said, "She probably just wants to check vitals after last night."

"Probably," he said.

"The stress. No sleep. She's being cautious."

"Yes," he said.

"Say something other than yes," she said.

"I'm scared," he said. "Is that better?"

She looked at him.

"Yes," she said.

Dr Okafor was waiting for them at the door of her office. Which meant she'd been watching for them. 

"Come in," she said. "Sit down."

They sat.

"Tell me about last night," Dr Okafor said. "All of it. What time you went to sleep, what time you woke up, stress levels, food, water."

Selene told her.

Dr Okafor listened without expression.

"You were awake from midnight to approximately four AM," she said.

"Yes," Selene said.

"Significant emotional stress during that period."

"Yes."

"Did you eat anything?"

"Avalon made coffee," Selene said.

"Coffee isn't food," Dr Okafor said. She looked at Avalon.

"I know," he said. "It was four in the morning, and there was a journalist in our kitchen."

"There was a journalist in your kitchen at four in the morning?" Dr Okafor asked.

"It's a long story," Selene said.

"I read the Chronicle piece," Dr Okafor said. "I think I understand the story." She stood up. "Let's take a look at her."

The examination room was quiet.

Selene lay back while Avalon stood beside her.

Dr Okafor worked methodically. The monitor showed Elena's heartbeat.

Present. Rapid. Certain.

Avalon watched the screen and breathed.

"Her heartbeat is strong," Dr Okafor said.

"Good," Selene said.

"However," Dr Okafor said.

The word sat in the room.

"However," Avalon said.

"Her position has shifted," Dr Okafor said. "She was head down two weeks ago. She's moved."

"Is that dangerous?" Selene asked.

"At thirty-one weeks, it's not uncommon," Dr Okafor said. "Babies move. She still has room." She paused. "But combined with your blood pressure today, which is elevated, and last night's stress, I want to talk about what the next few weeks look like."

"How high?" Avalon asked.

"Not dangerous," Dr Okafor said. "But higher than I want. High enough that I'm adjusting my recommendations."

"Tell us," Selene said.

Dr Okafor sat down across from them.

"I want you on modified bed rest," she said. "Mornings at home. Short afternoon activity if you feel well. No foundation, crisis management or 4 AM kitchen tables with journalists."

"For how long?" Selene asked.

"Until she arrives," Dr Okafor said. "Which could be six or eight weeks."

Selene was quiet.

"The foundation—" she started.

"Has Amara?" Avalon said.

"Has James?" Dr Okafor said.

"Has Nadia?" Avalon added.

Selene looked at all three of them.

"You called Amara," she said to Avalon.

"In the car," he said. "On the way here."

"You were certain she'd say bed rest."

"I was certain she'd say something that required Amara to know," he said. 

Selene looked at Dr Okafor.

"If I do the modified rest," she said. "Elena will be okay, right?"

"Elena is healthy," Dr Okafor said. "Her heartbeat is strong. She's just moved, and you've stressed your body significantly. The rest is for you as much as for her."

"How much did last night cost us?" Selene asked.

 Dr Okafor looked at her.

"Nothing that can't be recovered," she said. "If you stop now."

"Okay," Selene said.

"Okay," Avalon said simultaneously.

Dr Okafor looked between them.

"Remarkably easy," she said.

"We have a daughter coming," Avalon said. "Easy is the only option."

In the car afterwards, Selene was quiet for a long time.

He drove carefully. The speed from before was reversed entirely.

"Modified bed rest," she said eventually.

"Yes," he said.

"Six to eight weeks."

"Yes."

"I built that foundation from nothing," she said. "Fourteen pages at five in the morning. And now I have to—"

"Trust the people you built it with," he said.

She looked out the window.

"That's harder than building it," she said.

"I know," he said. "That's also the point."

"When did you get wise?" she said.

"I've always been wise," he said. "You just weren't paying attention."

She looked at him.

"That's Maya's line," she said.

"Maya's right about most things," he said.

She almost smiled.

She put her hand on her stomach.

"She moved," Selene said. "She was head down, and she moved."

"She's repositioning," he said. "Getting ready."

"She has opinions about her position," Selene said.

"She's a Castellano Pierce," he said. "She'll decide in her own time."

Selene leaned her head back against the seat.

"Amara is going to run everything perfectly," she said.

"Yes," he said.

"And I'm going to be at home watching."

"Yes," he said.

"And I'm going to hate it."

"Probably," he said.

"And it'll be fine," she said.

"Yes," he said. "It will."

He called Maya from the apartment.

Maya arrived in twenty minutes with food.

She walked in and looked at Selene on the couch and then at Avalon.

"Modified bed rest," Selene said before Maya could ask.

"Okay," Maya said.

"She moved position," Selene said.

"Okay," Maya said again.

"My blood pressure is elevated."

"Okay."

"Stop saying okay," Selene said. "Say something real."

Maya sat beside her.

"You did too much last night," Maya said. "Your body is telling you to stop. Your stopping is not failure. That's listening."

"I don't like stopping," Selene said.

"I know," Maya said. "You never have." She took her hand. "But you're not stopping for yourself. You're stopping for her."

Selene looked at their hands.

"That makes it easier," she said.

"I know," Maya said. "That's why I said it."

Kofi arrived ten minutes later because, apparently, Maya had called him from the car and he had rearranged his entire afternoon without being asked.

He walked in.

"The chair in the nursery," he said to Avalon. "I should check it again."

"It's fine," Avalon said.

"I'll check it," Kofi said.

He went to the nursery.

Avalon followed.

Selene looked at Maya.

"They're going to find something to fix," Selene said.

"Yes," Maya said. "Let them. It's how they're useful right now."

"Is Kofi checking the bookshelf?" Selene asked.

"Almost certainly," Maya said.

"It leans," Selene said.

"I know," Maya said. "He knows. That's why he's in there."

That evening, the apartment was quiet. Maya and Kofi had left, Avalon sat beside Selene on the couch with his laptop working and her book in her lap and the television on low.

Deliberately ordinary.

"Amara sent a briefing," he said without looking up.

"Don't tell me about it," she said.

"I wasn't going to tell you the content," he said. "Just that it exists and it's thorough, and everything is fine."

"Okay," she said.

"The land trust first transaction closes Friday," he said.

"Avalon."

"Gloria Reyes's mother's building," he said. "I thought you'd want to know that specific one."

She looked at him.

"That's allowed," she said.

She went back to her book.

At 9 AM, her phone rang.

Unknown number.

She almost didn't answer.

"Mrs Castellano Pierce." A male official voice came through from the other end. "This is Assistant US Attorney David Kim. I'm calling regarding the Henderson matter."

"Yes," she said.

"We've been reviewing the evidence submitted today," he said. "Diana Mercer's statement and the email documentation." A pause. "We'd like you to come in tomorrow. There's something in the financial records Henderson obtained that we need you to look at."

"What?" she said.

"The donor list," he said. "One of the names on it." Another pause. "Ms Castellano Pierce, are you aware that one of your foundation's major donors has been under federal investigation for eighteen months?"

Selene sat up.

Avalon looked at her immediately.

"Which donor?" she said.

The name the attorney said made the room tilt.

She looked at Avalon.

He read her face.

"What?" he asked.

She lowered the phone and said the name.

He went completely still.