Ava Grace

It was the fourth of February, 2009, and it was also Ava and Mike's fifth wedding anniversary. And, just as it had been five years prior, a Green Day album was ready for release, and Ava was expecting, her's and Mike's fifth child, due in early March.

That afternoon, with the kids on their way to Disneyland in Anaheim with Anna, Marci, their children and Ollie, Ava began making the dinner for her and Mike, while he went to Rudy's to check up, and then to pick up Ava's gift, which he kept out of the house.

By five-thirty, Ava had the meal nearly ready and the table set for the most part, when Mike walked into the kitchen from his office, and opened the refrigerator door.

Turning around, and tucking her long black hair behind her ear, Ava sighed and said "Please, don't start eating anything, Mike."

Mike took the half eaten strawberry away from his mouth and said "It's just one."

"They're for later."

Mike put the rest in his mouth, and then as he and Ava smiled at each other, she said "Go sit at the dining room table. I'll be in soon."

"Kay, babe."

Mike left the kitchen and Ava began taking up the two plates of food. A few minutes later, Ava walked into the dining room and put a plate in front of Mike, and one where she was going to sit.

Mike took a drink of his water then said "No wine?"

Ava opened her mouth to speak but Mike bet her to it. "Tons of doctors say it's all right. As long as it's not in the first trimester...and you're in your third."

Ava sighed and said "Fine. One glass for me, and you can have as many as you can hold."

"Sounds good."

Ava walked into the kitchen, got a bottle of white wine out of the refrigerator, popped the cork, and pulled a chair from the island to the counter, where in an above cupboard, the wine glasses were kept.

Climbing up on the chair, Ava opened the cupboard and reached for two glasses. At that exact moment, the house and ground began to shake. Uneven as her balance had been in the first place, Ava screamed to Mike just as the chair tilted, and she fell backwards.

Then, within mere seconds, just as fast as it began, the earthquake ended.

Not wasting any time, even with the risk of an aftershock, Mike got right out from under the dining room table and carefully made his way to the kitchen to find Ava. Walking around the toppled over fridge, Mike rushed to Ava as he saw her lightly breathing and laying on her side on the floor. Fearing for his wife, and unborn son, Mike bent down and brushed Ava's bangs away from her face.

"Ava?"

Mike sniffed and said "Ava? Babe?"

Not gaining a response, Mike picked Ava up in his arms and said "Why, at eight months pregnant, can I still pick you up?"

Mike carried Ava down the hallway, grabbed the keys to her Escalade and his cell phone, then walked outside.

Getting into the truck, with Ava's head resting in his lap, and her laying across the front seat on her back, Mike turned the key in the ignition and began to pull out of the driveway well his cell phone began to ring.

Flipping it up as he finished pulling out of the driveway, Mike said "Hello?"

"Did you fucking feel that?"

"Of course I fucking felt it!"

"Can I come over your house?"

"No, Beej."

"But, I'm home alone! Adie took the boys and Marissa, and went with mom, Anna, Marci, their kids and your kids to Anaheim-"

"Call Adie and tell her, your mom and your sisters that Ava fell."

"Ava fell! Is she all right? Is she in labor?"

"She's unconscious. And, she's not in labor...yet. But, I'm driving her to the hospital."

"Oakland's?"

"Yeah. It is the closest after all."

"Right...okay, I'll meet you there."

"Okay. Just make sure you call them first."

"I will."

Mike closed his phone and shoved it in his pants pocket. Ten minutes later, Mike finally got to the hospital. Parking as close as he could to the emergency entrance, Mike turned of the SUV, got out and then carefully got Ava out.

He carried her into the emergency room and within a minute, spotted his older sister, Myla. He yelled her name and within a minute, she turned around and saw him walking towards her around the people who were already there and in need of medical care.

Meeting him halfway, Myla signaled for a stretcher and said "What happened to her?"

"She made dinner for our anniversary, and she went back out into the kitchen to get wine and two wine glasses, cause I asked for it. Then, the earthquake happened."

"Did she fall? Or did something hit her in the head?"

"She fell off a chair from the island onto the floor."

A male nurse came over with the stretcher and Mike laid her on it.

"What exam room should I bring her to, Dr. Mocling?"

"Uh...number five. And, page Dr. Ramirez. She's in the maternity wing as far as I know, but tell her Ava Pritchard fell and is in exam room five, unconscious. And, make sure my sister-in-law gets the best care she can right now...she's had a hard time through this pregnancy already."

"Okay."

As the nurse walked down the hall towards exam rooms, Mike looked down at his older sister and said "Can I go with her?"

"I need you to help me fill out her chart. If anything happens, to her or the baby-"

Mike frowned and Myla continued "God forbid, if anything happens to Ava or the baby, the hospital needs to have it on record that injuries were caused because of the earthquake."

"Fine. Can we just do it quickly?"

"Yes. How far did she fall?"

"The chair's three feet high."

"Okay. Do you know if she hit her head?"

"I'd guess that she did. But, I'm not positive."

"And, she's eight months now, right?"

"Yeah."

"Okay. Go be with her...I know the rest of her information enough to finish this. I'll come find you in a few minute to check on her while Amada checks the baby."

"Thank you."

Mike hugged his sister and then rushed off towards the exam room. He burst in through the doors, just as Dr. Ramirez finished strapping the baby heart rate monitor around Ava's stomach.

She looked up and said "I was wondering when you were going to make your appearance."

"Is there a heart beat?"

"Yes, he's fine. He's still resting comfortably in his bubble. I just have to put the one in case she goes into labor."

"Okay."

Mike walked over to Ava and kissed her gently on the lips. For the next few minutes, Mike just hovered over Ava, gently stroking her cheek. Five minutes later, Myla walked into the exam room, followed by Billie Joe. With Ava being all checked out and being just fine, while Mike and Billie stood against a wall, she was cleared to go up to the maternity ward until she woke up.

Three hours later, at ten, Adrienne and Ollie got to the hospital with Audrina, Ryan, Sophia, and Isabella. With Ava still not awake by eleven-thirty, Adrienne and Billie left with Mike and Ava's children for their house in Berkeley, since it was just fine, and soon after, Ollie left for Rodeo.

Hours later, it was two in the afternoon, of the fifth, and Mike was trying to find something to watch on television, when the baby's heart rate monitor began beeping differently than it had been.

Mike poked his head out into the hallway and saw Dr. Ramirez at the nurses' station. "Amada? The baby's heart rate monitor is going nuts."

Dr. Ramirez left her clipboard on the counter of the desk and made her way to Ava's room. She looked at the printout coming from the machine and pressed the red button behind Ava's bed.

Mike walked to Ava's side and said "What's wrong with him?"

"He's in distress. Since Ava's not awake yet, I need you to give me permission to perform a cesarean."

"Do I really have a choice?"

"No. Not really."

"I can be in the room with her though right?"

"Of course."

Two nurses came into Ava's room and Dr. Ramirez told one to get Ava ready to go into surgery and told the other to get Mike a set of father scrubs. Within ten minutes, Mike was sitting next to Ava's head in the operating room, as Dr. Ramirez numbed Ava from the chest down for the C-section.

By three, Ava and the baby were all cleaned up and Ava was brought back to her room, while the baby was brought to the nursery for tests because he was early. While Mike sat in Ava's quiet private room, he finally decided to call Billie Joe, Ollie and his mother to tell them about the baby.

At five, a nurse brought the baby to Ava's room, just as Billie Joe and Adrienne got to Ava's room. As Adrienne took the baby from Mike to hold for a little while, Billie said "We figured it would be easier to introduce the kids to him when Ava wakes up."

"If she ever wakes up..."

Mike sighed and leaned his head to rest on his arms next to Ava's body. He brushed a piece of her black hair away from her face and Adrienne said "It's only been a day. And her body's been in overdrive trying to stay calm since she's been on bed rest...maybe she's just having a well deserved nap."

"I should've gone and gotten the wine. Only I really wanted it. If I went to get it...I wouldn't have needed the chair and she wouldn't have fallen."

Billie walked to sit in the chair next to Mike, rubbed his best friend, and brother-in-law, on the back as Mike wiped away tears on his face, and then Billie said "She is going to be fine. Ava's a fighter...look at what she put up with before you two finally got together...first there was Ben dying, and then having to keep the fact the twins were yours from practically everybody, then Sara, and then she finally got the guts to tell you. Adie's probably right. Her body might be drained from all the hectic stuff she's been putting up with. Don't blame yourself, dude. Imagine what Ava would be saying right now if it was you lying in that bed..."

Mike shrugged then said " 'Why the fuck does he needs all this rest? He doesn't have to run around after five kids or work on a clothing line. Just strum a fucking bass and check on a stupid restaurant every few days.' Then she'd probably shake my shoulders and say 'Michael Ryan Pritchard, you wake up right now!'."

Mike, Billie Joe and Adrienne laughed then Adrienne said "I could actually picture that. Except with Ava...there might be a few more fucks."

Mike sat up, crossed his arms then said "That's my Ava."

The three sat in silence for a little while and when Billie took the baby from Adrienne to give her arms a break, he said "So, did you guys have a name picked out for him?"

"Not really, just a ton to pick from. James. Scott. Seth. Lucas. William. Patrick. Ava really liked Patrick after my dad...but I don't know. I mean...I didn't even have a chance to really work on the nursery and now, I have to work on cleaning up the house. I don't even really know how bad it is yet until I get it assessed. I know we need a new refrigerator and coffee machine though for sure."

Adrienne looked at Billie Joe and said "There's a lot more that needs to be replaced."

Mike furrowed his eyebrows and said "Why?"

Adrienne sat at the foot of Ava's bed and lifted one finger. "Number one...Audrina's fish tank cracked apart meaning you need new fish, a new tank and there's a ton of water damage in her room. Numbers two through four...we're pretty sure your house wasn't all that earthquake ready because there's cracks in Isabella's, Ryan's and Sophia's ceilings. And, that's just what we could tell."

Mike covered his face with his hands, groaned then said "Time to call a contractor then."

Billie looked at Mike then said "I like William."

Adrienne shook her head and said "Naturally...even if it isn't you really name"

Mike looked at Billie then said "I am not naming my son after you or in honor of you. Even if you are my best friend...band mate...brother-in-law...brother to his mother...or his uncle. I wouldn't even name him after you if me and Avs were bound by law to do so."

Billie frowned and said "Well...that's not very fair..."

Billie looked at Adrienne and said "Can we have another one?"

"So you can name him William?"

"Yes."

"No. No to the name and no to the fact that by the time he or she is born I would be forty."

"You don't look forty Adie baby."

"Shut up Billie Joe. Three is enough."

Billie Joe sighed then Adrienne said "Mike, I agree with Ava on Patrick. He looks like a Patrick."

Mike looked at his son in Billie Joe's arms then said "But...then, I need a middle name."

Billie Joe looked up and said "Mike."

"What?"

"No. I mean for a middle name dude...Michael."

Mike scratched his head then said "Patrick Michael Pritchard..."

Adrienne spoke up then said "I think that's perfect."

Mike nodded then said "Patrick Michael it is."

The three sat talking for the next hour and a half, then a nurse came to take Patrick back to the nursery. When she left with him, Mike stood up, stretched then said "Got room for me at your place, you two?"

Billie Joe stood up then said "Yeah...your kids are gone to stay with your sister anyways."

"Which one?"

"Lauren."

"All right then. So, they're in Sacramento. I'm gonna go check out the house and call someone about it, then, I'll be at your place."

Adrienne stood up and pulled on her coat, then said "Okay. We'll see you soon."

Adrienne and Billie Joe left the room, and Mike walked closer to Ava. He bent down, kissed her forehead then whispered "I'll be back as early I can manage after I get stuff at the house sorted out."

He kissed her gently on the lips and said "I love you Ava."