Title: Be Your Everything

Rating: T with potential for M (Will warn if it gets to that)

Disclaimer: I don't own anything in relation to Pretty Little Liars or in relation to any pop culture references that are made in this chapter.

Summary: It's been eight years since their high school graduation, and in eight years a lot has changed. A wedding brings everyone back together, but just how much have these changes affected everyone's lives? Sequel to Better With You. A Spemily focused story with mentions of Aria, Hanna, and Alison friendships.

A/N – Surprise update! I really wanted to try and get my updates back to a normal schedule so I tried extra hard to get this done early, and I was successful. So yay, early update for you wonderful people! But before we get to that, I'd like to say thank you to all of my new story/author followers/favourites. And another big thank you to the wonderful group of you who leave me reviews and make me smile on a regular basis.

Dahliadaria – That makes me feel so special, haha you are too sweet. And yes, the break up really did change the dynamic of everything! And I'm extremely excited to explore that in more depth. I hope you enjoy the Spemily one on one this update.

WeAreAkiller – Well look at that, an early update for ya (; haha what are the odds, right? There are some clues within the text actually; you just gotta reeeeally look for 'em.

Chxndelier – Haha, I find it so hard to write Matthew's character because I've yet to decide exactly how much Hastings I want him to be, and how much Kahn I want him to be. Alison really has matured! I mean, she can pull out her bitchiness if need be, but for the most part she's better! And that will be shown in later chapters for sure. It's funny; one of my favourite things about being able to write a fic that takes place in the future is that I now can use music that is up to date. We will definitely be seeing more of Noel and Pam. Noel is solid comic relief, and Pam is, well… Pam, haha.

Proprocrastinator – More information about Xavi's father will be revealed soon enough, I promise!

Guest – Interesting guesses for the father! Excited to see the reaction once it's finally revealed. Hope you enjoy the Spemily one on one this chapter too!

Guest – If I'm counting my chapters correctly, we will see Emily's side of the break up (the redeeming side) in 3 chapters? Possibly sooner, I just can't remember my story's timeline off the top of my head.

Guest – Questions are good! They keep the story interesting (;

Keepitsmpll – A Halloween flashback eh? Tell you what; if you don't get a Halloween flashback, I assure you I'll do a Halloween one-shot for ya, haha. Because let's face it, it would be straight smut.

Breyanaxo – Teasing is the best part! Makes finding out that much more satisfying, no? (; Good luck on your finals as well!

Kipp – Rum and gays are two of my most favourite things in the whole world!

Jaylahwashere – Oooo please, share your thoughts! I want to hear 'em, haha. I'm sure the Ali/Spencer bickering isn't completely gone, but they have matured nonetheless.

ShamikeGrandberry – I feel like that's something the girls would do on a regular basis. Just placing bets on each other's lives, haha. Thank you for the kind words!

SA – Well you get a little bit of backstory on how Emily's pregnancy went. I'm sure it's not what you were looking for exactly, but it is something this update!

TheFrenchMelody – Haha, well hey everyone is entitled to their own opinion! I just love how much of a complex contradiction Alison's character can be. It's so fascinating, and I love to write her because she has so many layers.

Tns729 – Thank you for reading, and thank you for the kind words.

Crysty09 – Aw, thank you so much that really means a lot!

Guest – Hope you like this one!

This is the wrap up of the housewarming, and is for the most part Spemily as promised, with a flashback thrown in there. As per usual, flashbacks are in italics. The flashback is a little bit angst-y, so fair warning. For those of you that haven't read Better With You (the fic that precedes this) there is one reference to it, nothing big but just in case you're confused at all, if you haven't read it that would probably explain why you might feel like you missed something. But anyways, I don't want to give too much away, so I'll just let you read on. Hope you enjoy! Oh! And also, any and all mistakes are mine because I didn't edit (oops!) Now, without further ado...!

Chapter Four (Part Three) – Then and Now

The house was silent throughout as the girls found themselves in the basement of Aria's house where they had all passed out for the evening after a long night of drinking and catching up. Light breathing and the distinct sound of Hanna's snoring echoed throughout the otherwise quiet room when Spencer found herself waking up. Her eyes blinked open and closed a few times as she sat up from the couch where she had previously been asleep. Spencer let out a barely audible groan as her eyes adjusted to the darkness, looking around to see that nobody else was awake.

Raising an eyebrow, she leaned over to the small table that was beside the couch and glanced at her phone, groaning once more as she saw the time that appeared on the screen. 4:12AM. Exhaling deeply, Spencer took her phone off of the charger and used it as a flashlight, maneuvering her way across the room and quickly throwing on a sweatshirt over her tank top before heading toward the staircase so that she could make her way upstairs to the bathroom, which was the reason she had even woken up in the first place.

After using the bathroom, Spencer made her way back to the staircase of the basement when a noise that came from the kitchen caught her attention. She redirected her attention toward the source of the noise, and upon peeking into the kitchen's doorway she found Emily sitting by herself at the kitchen table, drinking what Spencer assumed to be a cup of tea based off of the smell, while flipping through her phone.

A feeling of déjà vu came over Spencer, her mind flashing back to the night nine years before when she'd found Emily in almost the exact same position at her home in Rosewood. She smiled to herself, briefly recalling the night that served as the catalyst for her and Emily's previous relationship before making her way towards the kitchen table.

"Is it just me, or do these middle of the night encounters during sleepovers seem to be our thing?" Spencer joked. Emily glanced up at the brunette and gave her a smile that let Spencer know that she too was thinking back to the night they had spent together nine years before. "What are you doing up?"

"Couldn't sleep, as per usual," Emily admitted with a shrug. She picked up the mug that was on the table and blew on it gently before taking a sip of the hot liquid. Spencer observed the girl for a few seconds, watching the swimmer continue to casually flip through the photos before taking hold of the chair that was in front of her – across from Emily – and looking down at it.

"May I?" Spencer questioned, and Emily simply nodded her head in agreement without moving her eyes away from her phone. Once she sat down, Spencer carefully ran her eyes over Emily, her brows furrowed at how focused the girl seemed on the device that was in her hands. "Are you feeling alright?"

"Huh? Yeah I'm fine," Emily spoke, and then placed her phone on the table so that Spencer could see it. "I just miss Xavi, that's all," she commented, showing the brunette the photos of her and her daughter that she had been looking through. Spencer nodded in understanding, and the room went silent between the two for a moment before Emily looked up again. "You don't have to wait up for me or anything, Spence. Not that I'm trying to get rid of you; it's just, I know it's late."

"I don't mind," Spencer responded politely, shrugging lightly while smiling at the girl. "Do you… Would you want to go sit outside maybe?"

"Sure, lets do it," Emily agreed. Both girls stood from their seats, and Emily picked up her cup of tea before following Spencer out of the kitchen towards the back door of the house. "Once sec," she called out, placing her tea on the counter beside her and briefly running out of the room only to come back with a sweater on. "Alright, I'm good."

The two girls made their way outside to the back patio, taking the seats that they'd previously sat in just hours before. It was far colder out during the night, and both girls found themselves lifting their knees up to their chest to try and retain heat.

"So, do you always have trouble sleeping when Xavi isn't with you? That's very retro Pam Fields of you," Spencer commented with a chuckle, the joke causing Emily to let out a laugh as well. For a brief moment they allowed themselves to think back to when they were younger during sleepovers, and the amount of times Emily had to excuse herself from whatever activity they were doing due to Pam's constant calling to make sure that she was okay.

"No, no it's not like that. Well, it kind of is. But not completely," Emily backtracked, earning her a curious look from the brunette. "I've just kind of always been really protective of her," she trailed off vaguely, her words peaking Spencer's curiosity even more.

"Why's that?" Spencer questioned, giving the girl a glance. As soon as she looked over at Emily however, the swimmer quickly averted her eyes, looking down at the cup of tea in her hands as she let out a sigh. Noticing the girl's awkward behaviour, Spencer instantly became concerned. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

"I, uhm… I almost lost her," Emily whispered out, her voice so fragile that it startled Spencer more than the words she spoke. She spared Emily a glance in time to catch a glimpse of the tear that fell from the girl's eye. Spencer instantly felt her heart break at the sight of Emily's tears as the swimmer sniffled lightly and wiped it away. "My placenta ruptured and I had to uhm, give birth to her prematurely. Both of us almost didn't make it," she explained further, the pain of the memory evident in her words.

"Em, I'm… I'm so sorry that you had to go through that," Spencer softly spoke as she put her arm around the girl and squeezed her closely to her body. For a brief moment Emily tensed as she wasn't expecting the sudden contact, but it only took her a second to relax and allow herself to be held by Spencer. "If you uhm… If you don't mind me asking, how did it get to the point of a rupture? I mean, I thought any signs of issues with the placenta could be caught early on in the pregnancy. Were there just no signs, or?"

"Well it was a bit of a rough pregnancy in general. My morning sickness seemed to last all day, and I often felt sick and absolutely drained of energy day in and day out. There was some light bleeding early on in the pregnancy as well, but when I went to the doctor he couldn't find anything wrong with me. But the worst by far was the day it happened."

Flashback

"Em, I'm here," Alison called out as she entered Emily's house, a bag of groceries in one hand and her car keys in the other. She reached up and moved her sunglasses off of her face, resting them atop her head. "Em? Emily, where are you?"

Upon entering the house, Alison placed her keys on the hook by the door and made her way inside and toward the living room expecting Emily to be asleep on the couch. When she reached the couch however, there was nobody in sight. Alison furrowed her eyebrows and then made her way to the kitchen to place the grocery bag down.

"Em?" Alison called out once again as she entered the kitchen, but still there was no reply. "Where the hell is she?" she muttered out to herself as she ran her fingers through her hair. Making her way out of the kitchen and towards the staircase, Alison quickly moved upstairs in hopes of finding the girl. Suddenly a loud banging noise grabbed her attention, and Alison immediately ran up the rest of the stairs in order to find the source of the noise. "Em? Emily!"

She rushed to the end of the hallway and entered the master bedroom in a panic, only to let out a heavy sigh of relief when she saw a very pregnant Emily standing with a laundry basket propped against her hip, and a now broken lamp on the floor in front of her.

"Emily, Jesus Christ you scared the shit out of me!" Alison scolded the girl while running her fingers through her hair in frustration. "Why on Earth are you out of bed right now?!"

"Oh, hey Ali. What's up?" Emily responded with nonchalance, giving her a polite smile. Alison however felt her temper rise as her eyes widened at the girl in front of her.

"What's up? You made me think something horrible happened and all you can say is 'what's up'?! You're eight months pregnant and should be resting right now, that's what's up," Alison told the girl, and Emily just looked at her with an annoyed on her face. She opened her mouth and was about to argue with the blonde when Alison shot her a glare and held her hand up, not tolerating the girl for even a second. "Don't even try to argue with me, Emily. Hanna told me that the doctor assigned you to bed rest. Which means exactly that. You should be in bed, relaxing. Not up and about trying to do menial tasks around the house!"

"Ali, I've been on bed rest all week and I'm going insane. Please, just let me do this," Emily requested, pleading to the blonde with her infamous puppy dog eyes. But in a very rare turn of events Alison shook her head no, adamant with her decision.

"Not a chance. Nope. No, no, no, no, no," Alison declared, and Emily rolled her eyes at the girl's need to be repetitive for emphasis. Though it killed the blonde to say no to Emily's puppy dog look, she knew it was for the best. "Em, I can tell just by looking at you that you have a headache," she pointed out. And it was true; she could see Emily's eyebrows furrowing with the slightest bit of unease, which was enough for her to know that the girl was in pain. "Look Em, Hanna would kill me if I let anything happen to you. Literally, she would end my life."

"Hanna isn't even here," Emily groaned out with annoyance.

"Exactly, which is why I'm here right now," Alison retorted quickly. "You know she's in Philly doing last minute prep work before her flight out to Milan tomorrow for the debut of her fashion line. That means my responsibility is to make sure that when she's back, you're in one piece," she continued, her tone firm and definitive. "The only way that that's actually going to happen is if you listen to me, Hanna, your doctor, and your body by laying down in bed and getting some rest."

Emily looked at Alison with a menacing glare, refusing to listen. But upon noticing the girl's look, Alison was quick to cock an eyebrow, crossing her arms over her chest as she glared back twice as hard. It was in that moment that Emily knew she wasn't going to win the argument. Letting out a sigh of frustration, Emily dropped the laundry basket at her feet just inches away from the broken lamp, and crossed her own arms over her chest with a pout.

"Fine," Emily finally agreed, much to her own dismay. "This is ridiculous though, because I'm perfectly fine."

"If you were fine then you wouldn't be sweating bullets right now," Alison pointedly stated with a matter-of-fact tone. "I can tell you're in pain, Em. And I would bet my entire life savings that if I checked the bathroom right now, then I would be able to tell that you just threw up, which I'm betting is how the lamp broke. You knocked it over running to the washroom, didn't you?" she questioned, and Emily remained silent, her jaw clenched. "You need to rest, Emily. End of discussion, no arguments," Alison declared sternly. She stepped forward and grabbed ahold of the laundry basket that was at Emily's feet along with the broken lamp, placing it on top of the clothing. "I will finish the last few loads, and then I'm going to get started on dinner. You are going to lie down right now."

Alison held her stern look, silently waiting for Emily to get into her bed. Emily flashed the girl a dirty look before rolling her eyes and making her way over to the still made up bed while mumbling bitterly under her breath. As Alison watched the pregnant woman waddle her way over to the bed, she bit her lip with amusement, finding entertainment at how Emily exaggerated her irritation with having to lie down. Once in her bed, Emily looked over to Alison with a less than impressed look.

"There, happy?" Emily questioned, her voice dripping in sarcasm.

"Peachy," Alison responded with just as much sass. She walked over to Emily's drawer and picked up the remote that was sitting on top of it, tossing it onto the bed beside the girl. "There's your remote. You have Netflix. Embrace it. I'm going to and get started on dinner, so if you need me just yell, okay?"

"Fine, whatever," Emily bitterly replied as she picked up her remote and turned on the TV, instantly focusing her attention on the Netflix menu that was in front of her. Alison looked at her with a slight grin, and could tell that while Emily held a scowl on her face, she was fighting back her own smile. She headed towards the door, leaning against the entranceway and continuing to watch the girl for a few more seconds. Finally, she went to turn and walk away when Emily's voice stopped her in her tracks. "Hey Ali?" she called out, and Alison smiled to herself before turning back around and giving the girl an inquisitive look. "Thanks."

"You're welcome, Em," Alison replied, giving the girl one last smile before turning and exiting the room.

Twenty minutes had passed and Alison was in the kitchen mixing a garden salad together for dinner when she heard a loud bang similar to the one that she had heard earlier.

"Are you fucking kidding me, Em?" Alison muttered to herself with a sigh. She contemplated not going to check on the girl, but decided against it, knowing that if she didn't show Emily she was serious about her staying in bed, the pregnant woman would be back to doing housework in minutes. Alison quickly placed the romaine lettuce and knife that she was holding in each of her hands down on the counter before taking her apron off and making her way out of the kitchen. "Emily I swear to God, if you're doing laundry again I'm going to chain you to your bed!"

She began to walk up the stairs again, not hearing any sort of response from Emily.

"Em, what are you doing?" Alison called out. When she didn't hear an answer, she cocked an eyebrow and made her way further up the stairs. Upon getting to the upper level of the house, Alison could faintly hear a noise echoing from down the hallway. "Em?" she let out once more, while walking down the hallway. She was about halfway to the end of the hallway when she heard the sound again, only this time, much more distinctly.

"Ali! Ali, h-help!"

Alison's eyes bulged and the blonde quickly ran to the end of the hallway, swinging Emily's bedroom door open to see that the girl was no longer in her bed. Upon seeing the empty spot where she had left Emily just twenty minutes earlier, she looked around in confusion.

"Emily? Em, where are you?" Alison called out.

"B-bathroom," she barely heard Emily groan out, and Alison quickly made her way through the master bedroom to the corner where the door to the master bathroom was. As she got closer to the doorway, Alison noticed drops of blood on the floor and a wave of panic immediately ran through her body.

"Shit," Alison breathed out, absolutely petrified. She had stopped in her tracks as she now stood in the doorway, her eyes following the trail of blood to see Emily collapsed on the floor of the bathroom covered in blood. Emily clutched her stomach in pain, veins popping out of her head as her jaw clenched tightly in pain while tears streamed down her face. "Oh my God, Em," the blonde finally let out once snapping out of her state of initial shock. She rushed over to the girl and cradled Emily in her arms while using her free hand to dig into her pocket and retrieve her cellphone, immediately calling 911.

"S-something's wrong Ali. It hurts s-so m-much," Emily cried out, and as a sharp pain struck her in her core, she cried out in pain. "Fuck! M-make it stop Ali. Please make it stop," she begged, her breaths laboured, as she just barely was able to tolerate the pain anymore. "W-why's there s-so much blood? A-am I dying?"

Alison held the phone up to her face, her hands trembling in fear, as she didn't know the answer to Emily's question.

"It's okay Em, just stay awake with me okay? I'm gonna get you help," Alison reassured the girl, trying her very best to keep her voice steady as she didn't want to cause Emily to go into a deeper state of panic.

911, what is your emergency?

"I need an ambulance to 5297 48rd Avenue right off Queens Boulevard. My friend is pregnant and she collapsed and there's blood everywhere. She's in a lot of pain; can you please hurry? We're upstairs in her bathroom."

Alright ma'am, just slow down. What's your name?

"A-Alison. My name is Alison. Are you sending help? C-can you please send help?"

Okay, Alison? My name is Jessica and I'm going to stay on the line with you until help arrives. I've just dispatched them now, so an ambulance will be there in a few minutes. Is your friend responsive at the moment?

"Y-yeah, I think so," Alison mumbled out, tears now filling her own eyes as she feared the worst for her friend. She blinked them away as she looked down to see that Emily's eyes were now shut. "Em? E-Em? Oh god, Emily wake up," she begged the girl as she started to shake the girl, trying to wake her up. "She's n-not answering me. Oh god, she's not answering me. Where's the ambulance? She won't wake up!" Alison spoke into the phone, panicked. She continued to lightly tap Emily's face in hopes of waking the girl up. Tears were now flowing down her face as her entire body trembled in fear, her voice now a soft whisper. "Please wake up, Em. Please, please wake up."

I know it's scary, but stay calm, Alison. Help will be there any moment now.

Suddenly she heard a few loud bangs coming from the main floor of the house and within seconds, two paramedics entered the room with a stretcher. Alison looked up, tears in her eyes as the paramedics instantly shifted their attention to Emily and began to check her vitals.

"The patient is still breathing, but just barely. Judging by the amount of blood and lack of laceration, my best guess is a ruptured placenta that has caused her to bleed out. We're going to need to transport right now," the paramedic that had been checking Emily's vitals, who Alison had identified as Mark, declared. The other paramedic – Jordyn - prepared the stretcher, and the two of them were quick to move Emily onto it.

Jordyn strapped her into the stretcher while Mark attached a CPR mask to Emily's mouth, which connected to a disposable resuscitator, the man gently pumping air into the unconscious brunette. Once strapped in properly, the paramedics carefully lifted Emily up, and began to maneuver their way out of the bathroom. Alison stood up with them and stayed on their heels while the paramedics led Emily out of the apartment.

"I-is she okay? Please tell me she's okay," Alison cried out, completely freaked out at what she had just experienced.

"Her pulse is very low right now, so need to transport her to the hospital ASAP," Jordyn explained, her eyes still forward as she helped to navigate them out of the house. They were quick to get to the ambulance, and once loading Emily into the back of it, Jordyn turned around to where Alison was standing idly by, watching helplessly as the scene unraveled in front of her. "We'll be taking her to Elmhurst. If you'd like, you can ride in the ambulance with us."

Alison nodded her head in response, too distraught to articulate her thoughts with words. Jordyn gestured for the blonde to follow her and the two got into the back of the ambulance, the siren going off as the ambulance drove full speed to the nearby hospital. The moment Alison was properly seated in the back of the ambulance, she pulled out her phone and unlocked it, quickly dialing the one number that mattered most in that moment.

"Come on, come on, come on. Pick up. Please, pick up," Alison mumbled to herself as her leg nervously shook. Glancing up for a split second, she watched the paramedics attend to Emily before almost instantly shifting her gaze away as she was unable to watch for more than a few seconds. She focused her attention on the ringing that was coming through her phone, when suddenly she heard the line on the other end of the phone stop ringing.

Hello?

"Hello? Hanna?" Alison spoke into the phone, her voice as shaky as the rest of her trembling body in that moment. Though she tried to sound calm, it proved to be almost impossible in her state of panic.

Ali? What's wrong, why do you sound so weird?

"Uhm, it's. I-it's Emily. Sh-she collapsed just now and w-we're on our way to Elmhurst hospital. The paramedics think that she has a ruptured placenta," Alison explained, and as she spoke the words out loud a fresh batch of tears brewed in her eyes. "T-there was so much blood, Han. S-so m-much."

She WHAT?! Oh my god. Fuck. FUCK! Okay I'm coming home. I'm coming home right now.

"Hanna you can't," Alison sniffled out while wiping the tears from her eyes. "Y-you have to go to Milan tomorrow to d-debut your line."

I don't give a fuck about Milan right now! All I give a fuck about is whether or not my best friend and her child are going to make it through the night. I'm getting a flight out right now, and I'll be there within the hour.

Without so much as another word, Hanna hung up the phone and Alison let out a shaky breath. She placed her phone back into her pocket before burying her head in her hands, the tears now uncontrollable.

"Please be okay, Em. Please."


Alison sat in the waiting room of the hospital, her clothing still covered in Emily's now dried up blood. She had her head in her hands, eyes closed while she softly massaged her temples in hopes that it would calm her down. It was unclear to her how much time had passed since she had arrived, but after what seemed like an eternity, the sound of a familiar voice pulled her away from the fogginess that was her mind.

"Ali?" Hanna called out, and as fast as she could, Alison lifted her head in acknowledgement. "Ali!" she exclaimed, quickly running toward the girl. Seeing Hanna sprinting towards her, Alison immediately stood from her seat. When the girl was close enough, Alison launched herself into Hanna's arms, unable to stop herself from bawling her eyes out.

"Thank God you're here," Alison whispered out as she buried her face in the crook of Hanna's neck. "I don't know what's going on, Han. I'm so scared right now and nobody will tell me anything. I just want to know that they're okay."

"It's okay. It'll be okay," Hanna reassured her, trying to remain the composed one of the two of them. The last thing they needed was for both of them to crumble before knowing the severity of the situation. For all they knew, Emily was fine. Pulling away from Alison ever so slightly, she held the girl at arms length and wiped away some of her tears. "Let me see if I can get us some information," she told Alison before turning and walking towards the desk of the ER where an older woman sat with her head down as she flipped through paperwork. "Uhm, excuse me."

"What can I do for you, ma'am?" the woman behind the counter politely asked as soon as she looked up at the two girls.

"My friend was just admitted to the ER, and I was just wondering if I could get an update on what her condition currently is," Hanna explained to her as the receptionist placed her paperwork aside. "Her name is Emily Fields."

"Ah, yes of course. Are you immediate family? I'm not allowed to release any information unless it's to her immediate family," the receptionist explained, and Hanna nodded in understanding.

"I'm not immediate family, but I am her emergency contact," Hanna explained, quickly reaching into her purse and pulling out her driver's license. "My name is Hanna Marin. She isn't in contact with the rest of her immediate family, so it'll just be me."

"Let me just take a quick look here," the receptionist stated, taking hold of the driver's license and holding it side by side with the clipboard. Her eyes scanned the sheet of paper up and down briefly before nodding. "Got it," she confirmed, then handed Hanna back her license. "Ms. Fields is currently in surgery. They had to do an emergency c-section on her because her placenta ruptured. Her current state is undetermined, but I assure you we have an incredible team of doctors that will do anything and everything in their power to try and save both her and her baby's lives."

"I'm sorry, try? What do you mean 'try'?" Hanna snapped, crossing her arms over her chest. While the receptionist's words were meant to be calming, they had the exact opposite effect on Hanna who was now feeling a million times more panicked than she had prior to arriving at the hospital. The receptionist just sighed, and briefly looked away from Hanna who was becoming less patient by the minute. "I'd like an answer now, please."

"Look, ma'am. She lost a lot of blood and was in very rough condition when she arrived. Our doctors are doing all they can to preserve the lives of both her and the baby. But at this point in time until she's out of surgery, her condition is completely up in the air. I'm sorry," the receptionist informed them.

And as soon as those words were spoken, it hit Hanna like a freight truck. All at once the thought of losing Emily overwhelmed her, and her legs gave out as she fell to the floor, sobbing loudly for her best friend. But for the first time, she didn't know that she would get an answer.

End of flashback

"When I woke up in the hospital, I had no idea if I still had a daughter. I was in pain. I was terrified," Emily spoke, her voice quivering as a few tears strayed from her eyes after recalling the memory. "I had this fear haunting me from the second I woke up that the only thing I'd have left from those eight months of pregnancy would be 22 stitches, a hideous scar, and the memory of what it felt like to have somebody literally dying inside of me."

At this point both girls were crying, and Spencer was holding Emily in her arms for dear life. Emily's head nuzzled into the crook of Spencer's neck as she allowed herself to cry while Spencer trailed her hand up and down Emily's side in a soothing manner. Though she had a few tears straying down her face, Spencer made a valiant effort to ensure that Emily felt safe.

"It's okay. You're okay," Spencer whispered out while her hand continued up and down, Emily whimpering in her arms. They sat together in silence for a few moments while Emily cried, and after a little while the two of them pulled away. Spencer quickly wiped the tears from her face before reaching out to Emily's cheeks and wiping hers away as well.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to just throw all of this at you out of nowhere," Emily apologized as she sniffled repeatedly, trying to regain her composure. She ran her fingers through her hair and then let out a shaky breath before wiping away the last few stray tears.

"You're not doing anything wrong Em. I don't mind," Spencer reassured the swimmer before squeezing Emily in her arms once again. "Can I ask you something?" the brunette cautiously asked. Emily glanced up at her and gave the girl a soft nod of approval. "Feel free to tell me to screw off, or just don't answer or whatever. I just, uhm… You had such a tough pregnancy and all. At any point did you think of not keeping her?"

"Never. Not even for a second," Emily quickly answered with a confident tone. She smiled to herself and looked down to the ground briefly before letting her eyes travel back up to Spencer, the two locking gazes. "You know how they say a woman becomes a mother when she first gets pregnant, but a man becomes a father when he sees his baby for the first time?" she asked, and Spencer nodded. "I fell in love with Xavi the second I heard her beating heart for the first time. She's my everything Spence, since the very beginning. Nothing in the world could have ever made me even consider giving her up. Not the morning sickness; not the sleepless nights. Not even the two years I spent not talking to my parents. Xav's my whole world. I almost lost her that night, but the moment I held her in my arms for the first time, I made a promise to myself that I would do everything in my power to make sure I'd never have to go through that ever again."

"That's why you had the shirt on," Spencer mumbled out in realization, and the sudden observation too Emily completely off guard as the swimmer looked over at her with a cocked eyebrow. "I'm such an ass. Earlier in the pool today, you had the shirt on to cover your scar, didn't you? I'm so sorry Em."

"It's okay Spence, you didn't know," Emily reassured the girl with a brief smile before looking away. "But yeah, you're right. I don't really like to draw attention to it. It just reminds me of so many bad memories, and so many weak points in my life."

"Weak points? Emily what you did… What you're doing is one of the strongest things anyone could ever do," Spencer spoke confidently, turning her body so that she found face Emily and truly get her message across. "You made the decision to be a mother, and raise Xaviera by yourself. I mean, even when life threw you adversity, you pushed through it and came out stronger. And not only did you fight for your life, you gave birth to a daughter that had the same exact drive and determination as you did in that moment," she reminded Emily, knowing that any and all strength that Xaviera used to survive as a premature baby was strength she had gotten from her mother. "That scar might remind you of a point in your life where your body wasn't at its strongest, but I think it's the perfect reminder that you're still here. You didn't give up. You won that battle, and you're a fighter."

"I really appreciate that, Spencer," Emily whispered out in admittance as she looked to the ground shyly. "You know, Hanna always tries to tell me stuff like that and I have trouble letting myself think any of it is actually true. But with you, I dunno… I just believe it."

"She really is great with you, huh?" Spencer asked, and Emily looked back up at the brunette, nodding lightly while grinning to herself.

"The best. She put her entire life on hold for me, literally. And I could not be more grateful," Emily responded, and the two shared a brief smile before breaking their gazes and looking out into the night sky. They sat in silence for a few moments until Spencer let out a yawn, which caused Emily to glance over at her. "You wanna head to bed now?"

"I'd rather watch the sunrise if you're game," Spencer offered to Emily, quickly nodding towards the horizon in front of them where the sky was starting to change colour from a dark navy to mixture of reds, oranges, and yellows. Emily smiled ever so slightly as she gave the brunette a nod before shuffling closer to Spencer and resting her head on the girl's shoulder, the two now silently staring out into the sky.

"Thank you, Spencer," Emily whispered out so softly that if it hadn't been silent, it would have gone unheard.

"What are you thanking me for?" Spencer asked, slightly confused.

"I've just… I've never really talked to anybody about what that day did to me. Not to anyone. Not even Hanna. But talking about it with you just now, I dunno… It felt good," Emily explained, letting out a relaxed sigh. "It's like there was this invisible weight that just lifted itself off of my shoulders."

"Well thank you for trusting me enough to share that. I got to learn the new Emily a little bit better tonight, and I really liked that," Spencer replied, looking down to Emily and giving her a smile. Emily lifted her head off of Spencer's shoulder and smiled back at the girl. She bit her lip in hesitation, a look of contemplation suddenly coming across her face as she dropped her gaze from Spencer's.

Then, in a sudden movement Emily leaned in and placed a soft kiss on Spencer's cheek. It was quick, yet gentle, and when Emily pulled away the two shared a silent look with one another before they looked back up to the sky. Emily rested her head back on Spencer's shoulder, only this time the taller girl found herself putting her arm around Emily and pulling the girl even closer into her, which left them cuddled against each other while they watched the sun rise together, completely content.

There it is! I hope you all liked it. Honestly a big part of why this update was so quick was because I had so much fun writing this one, and found everything to flow really well. So I hope that you all did as well. If you've got the time, don't forget to leave me a review. You all know how much they make my life, haha. These first few chapters have been very focused on Emily and how her life has changed, as it's been significantly more drastic than anyone else's. Next chapter however, will give you a little bit of insight on Spencer's life. That's all I'm giving away for now though! I will see you lovely people in a week, and I absolutely love and adore you all!