I see it in your Eyes (you'll be alright)

Chapter 20

"Alright, so if you guys are happy to proceed with taking your daughter home this Friday then I can start with the paperwork and arrange to have someone come to your home and get everything set up for her."

"We're more than happy." Lisa beamed as she ran a thumb over the top of Jennie's hand, intertwined with her own beneath the table. "We can't wait to get her home."

"There is one more thing that we need to discuss, are you guys familiar with the car seat test?" the nurse asked as she glanced over the rim over her glasses.

"Yeah, we are." Jennie nodded, grip tightening ever so slightly on Lisa's hand. "She has to sit in there for around an hour and a half to make sure that her body can cope with it."

"That's exactly right." she gave them a friendly smile. "Now, what we would expect from her in order to be discharged is that she's able to remain in there without us having to increase her oxygen. If she passes then she's good to go."

"And if she doesn't?" Lisa voiced the question that had been running around Jennie's head for the last few seconds. "Are we still able to take her home?"

"Unfortunately not." the nurse informed them. "In that case, we would give her a little more time to allow her lungs to mature before we retest her."

"Alright." Lisa nodded. "When would we do it?"

"We'll arrange to have someone come to your home and get everything set up for you, even if she doesn't make it home this weekend then at least everything will be done and ready for her. If you guys would bring her car seat in on Friday morning then we'll move right along with hopefully getting her discharged and home as soon as possible."

-----

They had decided on the way home from the hospital that evening to hold off on telling anyone the good news, they didn't want to get anyone's hopes up just in case the baby didn't get to come home. Still, it didn't mean that they weren't excited themselves.

"My face hurts, I can't stop smiling." Lisa admitted when they were stopped at the lights, turning to Jennie to prove her point.

"I know, me too." Jennie agreed with a happy scrunch of her nose. "I'm not gonna be able to sleep tonight, I'll be too nervous about tomorrow."

"Hey, she's gonna pass with flying colors. She's Jennie Kim's daughter, after all."

"Manoban-Kim." Jennie corrected as she reached out for Lisa's hand.

"Oh yeah, she'll have plenty of Manoban traits too, Ella and I will be sure to teach her the physics behind stuffing a full pack of gummy bears into her mouth before you catch her eating them."

"You can be the one to deal with two kids high on sugar before bedtime." Jennie rolled her eyes. "I'll be nice and cosy up in bed, all on my own."

"Not if they want to bounce on our bed, you won't." Lisa teased before her expression shifted into something a little more sincere. "I really can't wait, I just want them both to be together."

"Me too."

-----

Against what she knew to be the right thing, Lisa called in sick for her final day of work before her maternity leave was due to begin. Jennie had insisted that it was alright, that she could go into work if she wanted to, but Lisa had assured her that she wanted to be right there holding Jennie's hand for the entire duration of Evie's car seat test.

A small nursing team had come to the house earlier in the week, Jennie had stayed home that morning instead of going into the hospital so that she could be there for it. She had taken rigorous notes despite already researching every last minuscule detail, and had gratefully accepted each and every phone number that had been offered to her for help with different things. She was assured that there would be a support worker from the NICU that would check in periodically and offer help with whatever they needed, but by the end she was feeling surprisingly confident.