Billy had just left and I walked into the living room with Joe. He looked up at me as I sat down next to him and laid my head on his shoulder.
"Sorry I keep interrupting you guys." he apologized. I smiled and grabbed the remote.
"It's alright. As long as you don't do I ton purpose. You know how we get if we don't get laid." I laughed.
"Yeah god help everyone." he joked. We flipped through the channels and sighed. "Let's watch a movie." he said and stood up. He walked over to the DVD and looked back at me. "What will ya watch?" he asked. I thought for a moment and smiled.
"Cloverfield. We haven't seen that one yet." I told him. He nodded and put it in. We started to watch it and got about 30 minutes in when someone knocked. Joe looked at me and pointed at me.
"Stay." he ordered and walked over to the door. He looked through the peephole and back at me. He slowly opened the door and my jaw dropped when I saw who was standing there.
"Mother!" I squeaked. She gave me a nasty grin and walked in. She looked at Joe and our surroundings in disgust as she walked over to me. "What are you doing here?" I asked.
"Heard you were hanging around with some gang bangers. Figured I'd come by to see if you look like I thought you would." she said sweetly.
"And how is that?" I asked.
"Like a trashy whore. But looks like you got your little junkie to keep you pampered. Guess he's good at his job." he smiled. Joe walked into the kitchen and leaned against the wall keeping an eye on the situation.
"How did you know where I was?" I asked. She laughed and smiled at me.
"I have my ways. So I know he can't be the boyfriend, you're too much of a slut for someone as innocent looking as him." she said. I stood up and walked over to her. Joe was by my in an instant.
"Get out! Now!" I yelled at her. Her eyes looked me up and down but stopped suddenly at my belly. I instinctively place a hand over it and backed up. I saw her face twist with disgust as she looked back at me.
"You're pregnant?" she asked.
"Yes. But..."
"You got knocked up by some gang banger?!" she screamed and cut me off. I stepped back and Joe pulled me beside him.
"I think you need to leave." Joe told her calmly. She completely ignored him and walked over to me.
"You nasty slut. Get rid of it!" she yelled at me. I was shocked to say the least.
"Go to hell. That's my baby!" I yelled back. She grabbed my arm and pulled me to her.
"No blood of mine will have some bastard child!" she screamed. Joe pulled her off and pushed her back.
"That baby isn't a bastard. My brother takes damn good care of Ness and he will do the same for that baby." Joe yelled at her. I never saw Joe so mad. He looked just like Billy as he yelled at her. The way his voice got deeper and he looked taller as he stood up straight to prove a point. It actually made me smile a bit.
"Bullshit. You are nothing. You come from nothing. None of you know anything about raising a baby or having a family." she told him. I snapped...
"Oh and you do?!" I screamed form behind Joe. "You didn't raise me. Daddy raised me and when he died I finished the job. You never were a mother or a wife."
"I tried to be a good mother. But you're a damned monster. Going out late and now getting knocked up by some misfit boy." she yelled.
"He's a man! He takes care of me. He loves me and our baby. You never were a mother. You never will be." I screamed. I felt a tiny pain in my belly as I yelled but ignored it.
"And you will be? You now nothing about children. You just know how to make them. You think I failed just wait until you see yourself years from now." she laughed. I stepped forward but Joe grabbed my arm. The pain grew as I yelled louder.
"Fuck you! You don't know me!" I screamed. Tears were streaking down my face but it wasn't from the fight. The pain was throbbing in my belly. I let Joe pull me back.
"What would your father think of you?" she asked. I snapped my head at her and glared.
"He'd be proud of me." I told her confidently. She laughed and grabbed her purse.
"He'd be as disgusted as I am." she said. I was about to say something when I clutched my stomach and let out a shrill scream. Joe held me as I was falling and sat me on the couch. He looked at my mom who oddly enough looked panicked.
"You cause her to loose this baby and I will kill you myself. Now get the fuck out before Billy gets back!" he yelled at her and flipped open his phone. He said very few words and hung up.
"Joe, the baby." I cried and held my stomach. The pain was unbearable. I shook my head and cried while Joe rubbed my back.
"Where does it hurt? Ahh stupid question." he said and panicked. Not five minutes later Billy and Bodie burst in. Billy was picking me up and carrying me out the door before I could say hello. He jumped into the passenger side of his car with me in his lap. Joe jumped on the back and Bodie drove off in the direction of the hospital. I sobbed into his neck as Bodie sped through the snowy streets of Boston. I felt something hot on my neck and tilted my head to see a tear fall from Billy's eye. He looked down at me and sniffed.
Please don't do this...Don't take this away from us...
Billy's POV
I hadn't been at the bar for more than an hour when Joe called. I answered it after downing my fourth shot with Bodie. All he said was that Vanessa was hurting and we were gone. The normally 10 minute drive was cut short to 5. I walked in and saw Vanessa laying on the couch screaming. I picked her up and carried her to the car. Bodie was driving as I held her in my lap. Before I know it I felt tears fill my eyes. I kissed her head and accidently let one out. She looked up at me and my heart broke. This can't happen...
"I need help!" Joe yelled as we ran into the hospital. A nurse ran up and looked at us.
"What's wrong?" she asked grabbing a wheelchair for Vanessa.
"She's pregnant. Her mom came over and they got into a fight when she just started screaming in pain." Joe told her. I didn't know her mother had been there. I cursed myself for leaving.
"How far along is she?" she asked as I set Vanessa in the chair.
"Three months." I told them. She nodded and pushed Vanessa to the back. Joe and Bodie fell back and I slowed down. "Can I come?" I asked. She nodded and I waved to the boys. The sat down and I followed the nurse to a tiny room.
"Give me a minute and I'll get a doctor. Put this on." she handed Vanessa a robe and rushed out. I kneeled in front of Vanessa who was still crying and breathing hard. I helped her up and took her shorts and panties off. I helped her on the bed and held her hand.
"It's gonna be okay." I told her. She shook her head.
"The baby..." she sobbed. The door opened and a doctor walked in. He asked me to step back as they hooked an IV up and pulled these things from the side of the bed. I saw him put Vanessa's feet in them and life her robe up. The nurse patted my back and I watched the doctor.
"Was the pain sudden Vanessa?" he asked. She nodded her head and winced as he pressed on her tummy and looked...down there. I moved to the side of the bed and kissed her hand. "Focus on him. I'll be done in a minute." he told her. He was quiet for a few minutes and I notice Vanessa was calmer. He lifted his head back up and took his gloves off. I notice blood on them and paled.
"Why's there blood?" I asked.
"Don't worry. It was a cyst. They form sometimes during pregnancy and before. The stress cause it to rupture. Everything's fine. But I wanna do an ultrasound just incase. I'll write a prescription for antibiotics and one for pain. Let me get the machine and I'll be right back." he told us and walked out. I laid my head on the bed and sighed. I heard Nessa laugh and I looked up at her.
"Why are you laughing?" I asked.
"Because I just had the scariest moment of my life and I needed to." she told me. I kissed her hand. The doctor walked back in and told Vanessa to lay down.
"Have you had one yet?" he asked her.
"This morning actually." she smiled. He smiled and lifted her shirt just above her belly. I smiled when it was uncovered. He squeezed some gel on her stomach and pressed a handle down. I looked over at the screen as he moved around her stomach. She squeezed my hand and smiled at me. "He didn't get to make it earlier." she told him. He looked over at me and smiled.
"Well, then. Let's give him the tour." he moved the handle back to the top of her stomach and made his way down. "This is the head as you can tell by the profile. Here are the arms and legs. That's the umbilical cord." he said and pointed out all the ins and outs of her stomach and our baby. Vanessa smiled the whole time. "Ready for the heartbeat?" he asked. I nodded and he turned a knob.
It was like the world stopped as the steady heartbeat filled the room. I closed my eyes and let it fill my ears and mind. I felt my hear step in synch with the baby's. I hadn't realized how much it scared me earlier. I didn't want this baby as first and tonight I was brought to tears. It would have killed me if something bad had happened. I didn't even go to first ultrasound. I could have lost my baby and never heard the sound of its heart beating.
"You okay?" I heard Vanessa ask. I leaned over and kissed her lips. They lingered there as I pulled back and rested my forehead on hers.
"I'm fine." I told her. I sat back down and looked at the doctor. "Is everything okay?" I asked.
"Yes. Perfect. Baby and mommy look fine." he smiled. Vanessa lit up when he called her mommy. "You can get dressed and I'll sign your release papers." he told us and walked out. I helped Vanessa get dressed and walked out to the counter to fill out a few papers. We walked out into the waiting room and saw not only Joe and Bodie but the rest of the gang, including Heather. She ran over to Vanessa and hugged her. The boys stood up and walked over.
"Is everything ok?" Heather asked.
"I will say it one so listen. I'm fine. The baby's fine. I had a cyst burst from the stress. I'm getting more medicine and I'll be okay." Vanessa told everyone. They all sighed in unison and Joe looked down. "It's not your fault, Joey." she whispered to him. He looked up with tear filled eyes.
"I should have made her leave. Billy could have made her leave. I could have made you loose..." he trailed off. I grabbed his shoulder and put a finger in his face.
"This was not your fault. You did everything you could." I told him.
"Joe, you stood up to her. I've never seen you so mad or mean. You looked like a little Billy." she smiled. I looked back at Joe and patted his shoulder.
"Really now?" I asked proudly.
"You would have been proud of him. He was awesome." she told me. Joe smiled and hugged her. We all said out goodbyes and left. Joe rode with me and Nessa back home and he went straight for the beer. Vanessa sat down and closed her eyes. I stood in the living room and looked at Joe.
"I'll be back later. Make sure she goes to sleep." I told him. They both stared at me.
"Wait, where are you going?" Vanessa asked. I walked to the door and opened it.
"To have a little chat with the bitch you call a mother." I told them and left. I heard Joe laugh as I walked down the hallway. I got in my car and drove to Vanessa's old house. I smirked when I saw her mom's car outside. I parked the car and walked up the steps. I rang the door bel repeatedly until the door swung open. She stood there and glared at me.
"You must be her junkie?" she asked. I smirked and pushed my way into the house. "I'll call the cops." she threatened. I grabbed her by the throat and pushed her against the wall.
"You could have made me loose my baby." I told her.
"It wouldn't be missed." she squeaked. I squeezed harder.
"Oh yes it would. Because as much as you think I don't care about Vanessa or a baby, our baby, you're wrong. I do care. I love her. I take care of her. When she's in pain, I'm there. When she's crying, I'm there. Where are you? No where. Therefore, you have no right to tell her to get rid of the baby and no right to tell me that I don't care for her. You're nothing and you will always be nothing. And the next time you come near my family, I will have your blood on my hands and I will love every single second of it." I screamed at her. I let her go and she fell to the ground with wide eyes. I walked out and drove back home.
"That baby better be a boy. These fucking women are driving me nuts." I mumbled as I lit a cigarette and drove down the road. I walked into my bedroom and took my coat off. Vanessa sat up and looked at me.
"Everything okay?" she asked as I sat down. I laid down next to her and pulled her on my chest.
"Everything is fine. I don't think we have to worry about her anytime soon." I told her. She kissed my chest and ran her fingers down my side.
"Thank you." she whispered.
"For what?" I asked.
"For being there for me. For loving me and our baby." she said. I looked down at her and brushed the hair out of her face.
"How could I not?" I asked. She smiled and laid back down on my chest.