For Better or Worse

ok.. I´m a little confused... is this present time or is it still a little flashback at how things really got messy?? Cna someone explain, please??? hauhauha thanks
 
The bath story was great.
And I agree that Michael is the romantic one.
Aw, I'm glad that she's having a baby, but the timing isn't exactly the greatest.
Hopefully they'll be able to work out the problems in their relationship soon.
 
ok.. I´m a little confused... is this present time or is it still a little flashback at how things really got messy?? Cna someone explain, please??? hauhauha thanks
nothing is a flashback -- this story is all told in present time and there wont ever be aflashback in it
 
Chapter 9
Sunday morning, Michael awoke feeling very rested from the significant amount of sleep he had the previous night and day. He glanced beside him and saw that Sydney was still sleeping peacefully, curled up in a ball beside him. Gently, he lifted up his hand, reached over and brushed a few strands of hair from her eyes, being careful not to wake her. Even after fifteen years together, he never grew tired of watching her sleep; he could have done it all day long.

Laying there, listening to the soft sounds of her breathing, Michael thought about the possibility of Sydney having a tiny life growing inside her, just like she had the last time they were in that very spot. Michael had to admit he was excited about the prospect of having another baby and all that went with it. He never wanted Henry to be their only child, but work and parenting took over their lives and they never discussed trying for another baby. He knew Sydney wanted another child as well, but her desire was conditional, and it explained why she was less than ecstatic about her potential pregnancy.

Sydney’s desire for children had never been a secret between them ever since the very beginning of their dating relationship. More specifically, it was her desire for a daughter that she voiced frequently. Every time they would be out somewhere, perhaps walking around a shopping mall, and she would see a little baby girl in a stroller or walking along side a parent she would grin at Michael and say quietly, “I want one.” Of course, in the early stages of their relationship, when they had only been together a few months, this only succeeded in freaking Michael out. He wanted children too, but certainly not at that point in his life.

As their relationship progressed, Sydney’s desire for a daughter became even more apparent. She would often puruse children’s catalogs, aww-ing at the pink dresses that came with matching pink booties. When she first found out she was pregnant, Michael practically had to physically restrain her from buying every pink colored item in Baby Gap. They decided to be surprised about the sex of their baby instead of finding out via the ultra sound. When the doctor announced it was a boy, Michael was concerned Sydney would be disappointed, but it was impossible for her to be disappointed when holding her tiny child in her arms, boy or girl it didn’t matter; he was perfect anyway. The only time the issue every came up was when a few months into Henry’s life, when Sydney joked that she would only have another baby if it was a girl. Of course, they both laughed it off at the time, but Michael knew she was quite serious.

Now, with a potential pregnancy looming over them, Michael knew Sydney was wary, not just because of her sleep deprivation, but also because she wanted a daughter and knew it would be her last chance to get one. If he could have, Michael would have given her that little girl in an instant. Unfortunately, nature didn’t work that way.


After only twenty minutes, Sydney began to stir from her peaceful slumber. She opened her eyes and saw Michael smiling over at her, which caused her to smile back. “You sleep well?” she questioned with a slight grunt as she stretched.

“Very,” he said. He leaned over and kissed her forehead gently before asking softly, “So…are we going to talk about it or…?” he let his voice drift off.

Sydney sighed and rolled over onto her back. She stared up at the ceiling for a moment before turning her eyes towards him. “I want a little girl, Michael. I don’t want a boy, I want a girl and I don’t care if that makes me a bad person.”

“I know you do and it doesn’t make you a bad person,” he told her, pulling her closer to him. “You never know; we might get one.”

“We might not,” she said in a rather bitter way.

“Syd,” Michael said in an encouraging manner. “The most important thing is that our baby will be healthy, right?” he asked softly. Sydney nodded and then leaned her head up against his.


For the next hour, Sydney and Michael stayed curled up in bed together. Then, they sadly left their comfortable positions, needing to pack up their things and get ready to go home. They took turns in the bathroom before packing up their bags, making sure to check every corner of the room just incase they had forgotten something. After their packing was complete, they went down to grab some brunch before the long drive home.

“I’ll pick up Henry; you can just go straight home,” Michael said as they were making their way through the breakfast buffet set up in the inn’s dining room.

“Are you sure?” Sydney asked. Michael’s parents’ home was rather out of the way, when compared to the route they would be taking to get home from the inn; Sydney felt bad making him drive that way twice.

“Yeah its fine; no big deal,” he assured her with a smile.

“Alright, but I’m going to make dinner for us all,” she insisted. Throughout their whole marriage they always shared the household chores. Neither one of them had to beg the other to do his or her share and, in Sydney’s opinion, that was one of the reasons why their marriage was so successful.

“Are you sure that’s safe?” Michael jested with one eyebrow raised.

“Shut up,” Sydney said, elbowing him lightly. “I was just going to make us a casserole; I’m capable of doing that.”

“I guess,” Michael said in a skeptical tone. She gave him a rather dangerous look. “I’m just teasing you! I know you are.”

“Good,” she smiled.

~*~

After a long drive, Sydney felt slightly wearier than she had back at the inn. Of course, that was also probably had to do with the fact that at home, there was much more to do like cooking and cleaning and laundry, which was always a daunting set of tasks. It appeared Michael had taken care of some of that on Friday when she was not home, but there was always more to be done.

She tossed in a load of laundry before going into the kitchen and pulling out all the ingredients she would need to make her mother’s infamous casserole - the only dish she was good at making in her opinion. It was a fairly simple recipe (which probably was why she was so good at it) and only took fifteen minutes to prepare, plus another fifty baking in the oven. She made two dishes; one for their dinner that evening, and the other to go into the freezer to be heated up later that week for a meal.

Just as dinner was finished cooking, Michael and Henry bounded into the house bringing never ending amounts of energy with them. “Hi sweetie,” Sydney greeted her son with a hug. “Did you have a nice time with Gramma and Grampa?”

“Yeah it was so fun! We camped out in the living room!” Henry exclaimed.

“I know; I heard,” she smiled at him.

Through dinner, Henry detailed the fun day and night he spent at his grandparent’s house. Then, after they ate, he crashed onto the couch and was thankfully silent. Michael told Sydney this was because he had not had much sleep the night before; he was too excited about the camp out. “He didn’t have an accident, did he?” she asked quietly with concern. It was one thing for her to have to deal with it, but she felt guilty if Michael’s parents or her own had to as well.

“Nope,” Michael shook his head. “Since he was up half the night my dad kept suggesting the he make frequent trips to the bathroom.”

“Gotcha,” Sydney laughed softly.

After Henry was in bed, Michael revealed to Sydney the item he had purchased on the way home from the inn before picking up Henry. Staring down at the pregnancy test in her hands, Sydney was not quite sure if she was ready to see the results or not. “You don’t have to do it now,” Michael said, noting her hesitation to open the box. “I just got it incase you wanted to.”

“No I will,” she said. After all, the uncertainty of yes or no was often worse than actually knowing the answer.

After taking the test, Sydney walked into the family room, sat down beside her husband and took his hand in hers. The results could take up to twenty minutes to process, which meant she needed something to distract herself, although achieving that would be nearly impossible. Michael gave her hand a gentle squeeze before passing her the television remote, allowing her to watch whatever she wanted, but knew she would end up just bouncing through the channels. He did not speak in this time, sensing it was better to be quiet.

Only thirteen minutes passed before Sydney could stand it no longer. She stood quickly from the couch and headed towards the bathroom; Michael followed. He hovered in the doorway as she read the results. “It’s positive,” she said in a quiet voice. She knew it would be, yet for some reason she was still surprised when looking down at the test in her hand.

Michael walked into the room and wrapped his arms around her. “It’s gonna be okay, Syd; I know it is. Besides, we’re gonna have a new beautiful baby to love, and how great is that?” he grinned broadly in hopes she would as well. Sydney only managed to smile softly before burying her face down into his chest and hugging him tightly.
 
“We might not,” she said in a rather bitter way.

Michael walked into the room and wrapped his arms around her. “It’s gonna be okay, Syd; I know it is. Besides, we’re gonna have a new beautiful baby to love, and how great is that?” he grinned broadly in hopes she would as well. Sydney only managed to smile softly before burying her face down into his chest and hugging him tightly.

So Sydney's love for her new baby is conditional. Heaven help Michael and the kids if the baby turns out to be a boy.

After a long drive, Sydney felt slightly wearier than she had back at the inn. Of course, that was also probably had to do with the fact that at home, there was much more to do like cooking and cleaning and laundry, which was always a daunting set of tasks. It appeared Michael had taken care of some of that on Friday when she was not home, but there was always more to be done.

I also noticed in this chapter that Sydney looks at things, not in the big picture, but how it affects her- doing housework, cooking, taking care of Henry. It's all a big bother to her. I'd say if she felt she could get away with it she'd have Michael do everything.

As someone else said earlier in another review, Sydney is selfish.

Chris
 
They're having a baby :love: I'm so thrilled!!!!!!!!!!!

Wonder how Henry's gonna take the news though :thinking: and also whether it will be a girl or a boy... I hope Syd's dream comes true :smiley:

ChrisM:
As someone else said earlier in another review, Sydney is selfish.

I can only agree
 
Positive and supportive Michael, gotta love him! :love:

ITA Syd is selfish! It just keeps getting worse with her. Wonder what it will take to get her to change her tune?
 
I agree that Syd is selfish. She will either learn from that by something horrible happening or by someone finally pointing it out to her and telling her to wise up. She may feel guilty for making Michael do things, but if she lets him continue to add more and more onto his plate they will have a problem.
Great update
 
You are all right. She is soo selfish! Maybe Vaughn should leave for a while, make Sydney see how she doesn´t value the things she has.
 
For the sake of everyone I do hope it's a little girl, on the other hand... part of me thinks Sydney shouldn't be doing/saying things the way she's done/said recently. But then again, I'm not going to even imply that a boy would be some kind of punishment for her, even if she thinks that.
 
She does sound a tad bit on the selfish side, but maybe she wasn't always like that.
Maybe all this business with the bedwetting and the no sleep and generally being exhuasted just has her so depressed she can't see the bigger picture.
 
Just speculating here but could Henry's problem be partially due to Sydney always wanting a girl? Maybe subconsciously he thinks his mother really wishes he was a girl and not a boy.

Chris
 
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