Long awaited update for a lot of you...sorry to leave you hanging, but this week was the first week at my new job and it was a very long, crazy, intense week...however I'm back now and you'll finally get to find out what happens to the newest Baby Punk...
Thanks for all the reviews...I hope this chapter appeases you all and you keep coming back for more b/c I've got quite a bit of story left with this one and I have a sequel idea in the works as well, but I'm trying to ignore said idea and finish this first...enjoy and please let me know what you think! :)
Punk watched on as Brooke began the second round of competition; as much as he wanted all of his focus to be on his daughter's performance, his mind was elsewhere. He'd texted Melissa over a dozen times and hadn't heard anything in return making the sick feeling in his stomach grow worse. As much as he knew Melissa was right saying that he should be there for Brooke, he felt an overwhelming amount of guilt and concern for Melissa as a number of scenarios went through his head, the worst replaying over and over again.
There was no doubt that she was a strong person and could handle anything; the fact that she'd been a single mom for ten years showed that, but he wasn't sure she could handle hearing that she'd had a miscarriage on her own. Even though there hadn't been a lot of positive conversation about the new baby, Punk wasn't dumb and he knew she wanted to keep the kid, she'd even admitted it. At the age of thirty her clock was ticking and the fact that she couldn't find a decent guy to settle down with meant that she had to take what she could get.
Checking his phone for the fifteenth time, he was relieved to see Melissa had texted back, but only slightly seeing she still hadn't seen a doctor. Taking a deep breath, he continued to look on as Brooke made a flawless save advancing to the final round in her age group. Punk was quick to put a smile on his lips as his daughter ran towards him beaming with pride.
"Did you see that pin?" Punk gave her a high five before pulling her in for a hug.
"I did, it was amazing…I'm sure Mr. Gracie will be proud because I know I am." Brooke's smile grew wider after hearing that she'd gained her father's approval, but she quickly noticed someone was missing.
"Where's mom? I looked for her earlier, but I haven't seen her." Punk took a deep breath searching his head for an excuse quickly remembering Brooke didn't buy into bullshit…she was way too much like him. He pulled her close running his hands up and down her arms to try to comfort her.
"I don't want you to worry because everything is okay, but your mom had to go to the hospital…" Brooke's eyes went wide as her dad's words sank in, the worst case scenarios running through her head.
"The hospital? Is she sick again? We need to go see her, she can't be alone!" Punk picked up Brooke holding her close to try to calm her down, but he knew she was right, Melissa shouldn't have been alone.
"Listen to me please…" Brooke looked into his eyes as Punk began wiping the stray tears from her face. "I promise you everything is going to be okay, but I need you to stay here and finish this competition because that's what your mom wants. If you want I can stay here…"
"No dad you need to go be with her! I don't care about this stupid competition, it doesn't matter anymore…" He nodded afraid that he'd just talked her into quitting, something he didn't want to do. "You need to go be with mom and after I win then I'll come too." Punk couldn't resist smiling after hearing her comment; she was so sure of herself, yet another trait they shared.
"That's my girl…" Punk hugged her tight placing a kiss to her forehead before running to catch a cab.
Melissa picked at her fingernails trying to take her focus away from the pain in her abdomen, but things weren't looking good. She'd discovered once she'd arrived at the hospital that she'd been bleeding a lot, a sure sign that the accidental pregnancy she'd gotten herself into was no more. Tears started to fall again as she began blaming herself for the possible loss; what could have been her last chance to be a mother was destroyed because she couldn't take two seconds to take care of herself. Her self-loathing was interrupted as she heard commotion in the hallway, a nurse yelling at an unwanted guest.
"Sir come back here! You can't go in there!" Melissa looked up in awe as she watched Punk skid to a stop and walk into her room breathlessly, the middle aged nurse hot on his heels. "Miss Mercer I apologize for this, I tried to tell this gentleman that he couldn't come back here, but he took matters into his own hands; security is on there way to take care of the matter…"
"No…" Melissa was almost surprised to hear the word come out of her mouth and borderline shocked when she realized she meant what she was saying. "It's okay, he can stay…he's the father…" The nurse nodded giving Melissa a sympathetic smile before glaring at Punk.
"I see…anyway the doctor will be in shortly…" Melissa nodded watching as the nurse closed the door before turning her attention to Punk.
"What are you doing here? I specifically told you to stay with Brooke!"
"I'm aware what you told me, but we both decided that it wasn't okay for you to be here alone." Melissa closed her eyes realizing just how selfless her daughter was, something that was very rare at such a young age.
"So you told her…"
"No, I didn't go into specifics because I figured we should know what's going on before bringing her into the mix. What is going on?" Melissa shrugged her shoulders feeling another onset of tears.
"The doctor hasn't confirmed anything, but it's not looking good. The cramping has only intensified and I noticed once I got here that I was bleeding pretty heavily…" Her voice faded off unable to say anymore as the tears continued to flow. Punk was never very good with crying women, but in that moment he knew he had to do something as he sat on the edge of the bed taking her hand in his and kissing the back of it. Even though Melissa was forced to feel the physical part of this tragic event, he felt his heart ache as well wishing that he could take back the way he'd reacted to her news.
"I'm so sorry Mel…" Melissa continued to sit quietly taking solace in the small circles Punk rubbed on the back of her hand.
The doctor arrived in the room a few minutes later bringing along a portable ultrasound machine. Punk stood up to leave the room figuring Melissa would want some privacy, but she quietly squeezed his hand while shaking her head giving him the go ahead to stay. Not only did she need him for strength, but the baby was also his and he deserved to hear the outcome first hand.
It only took a few minutes to confirm the miscarriage, but neither Mel nor Punk had a moment to morn as the whooshing sound of a heartbeat could be heard. Melissa recognized the sound and immediately questioned it.
"I don't really understand what's happening…"
"Well Miss Mercer I'm going to send you for a more thorough ultrasound, but it appears that this is a case of vanishing twin syndrome."
"Twins?" Punk managed to mutter out despite the overwhelming dry sensation in his mouth making it hard for him to speak.
"Yes you heard correctly. This is actually more common then people think, but basically there were two sacs and for one reason or another one has miscarried, but you still have another and from the sounds of it the remaining baby is healthy and forming normally. The heart rate registered at 107, which is strong for six weeks gestation. I'll have the nurse come in and take you down for a second ultrasound, but while I'm sorry for your loss, there's still a reason to celebrate."
The senior doctor left the room as Punk and Melissa continued to sit in silence until the nurse came to take Melissa for her second opinion. Punk continued to sit by the empty bed completely dumbfounded by everything that had just happened, but relieved that Melissa was okay. As much as he'd promised Brooke she'd be fine, even he wasn't one hundred percent sure she would be. Just then Brooke entered the room carrying a first place trophy and was immediately terrified at the site of the empty bed. Luckily Punk had heard her come in and was quick to connect the dots and console her.
"She's okay, she just went downstairs for a couple tests, but she should be back in a few minutes." Despite her dad's attempt to console her, Brooke was still very concerned and very much thinking the worst.
"She's okay now, but what about later? Is she really sick? Is it cancer? Ashley's mom died of cancer and I don't want that to happen to her…" Brooke burst into tears as Punk tried his best to keep consoling her. Thinking the worst in a situation…she does not get that from me…
Punk was thankful to see Melissa appear in the doorway at that minute, "A little help here please…" Brooke turned around to see her mom sitting in a wheelchair and cried even harder.
"Brooke please calm down and tell me what's wrong…" Brooke continued to sob leaving Melissa to look in Punk's direction taking note when he mouthed 'She thinks it's cancer' leaving her to hold Brooke even tighter. "Sweetie I promise you I don't have cancer, in fact I'm free to go home." Brooke sat up beginning to wipe the tears from her face before looking from her mom to her dad and then back to her mom.
"Well if it's not cancer, then why are you in the hospital?" Melissa pursed her lips looking to Punk for some guidance; she knew he was usually good with words and hoped he'd find the right ones.
Punk took a deep breath before kneeling down and taking Brooke's hand in his left hand and Melissa's in his right. "Well Brooke how do you feel about being a big sister?"
Brooke sat at the kitchen table continuing to stare down both of her parents. They'd spilled the beans that her mom was expecting and while she understood how babies were made, she was still confused how her parents had made one.
"So let me get this straight, this new kid is yours too?" Brooke looked in her dad's direction with an eyebrow raised.
"We've been over this, yes, the baby your mom is carrying is my baby."
"But how?" Punk dropped his fork finding that he'd lost his appetite as he silently pleaded with Melissa across the table to please end the very awkward conversation.
"Brooke we've discussed how babies are made…"
"Yeah I know, but you two don't love each other."
"On the contrary, your dad and I love each other very much, but it's a different kind of love. Don't worry about the specifics, all you need to know is that we love you very much and we're going to love this baby just as much."
"Right…" Punk stood up from the table wanting to get as far away from the awkwardness as possible.
"I'm going to go for a walk, maybe find some rope and a tree…anything to forget this conversation just happened…"
"Phil!"
"I'm sorry, but I wasn't expecting for her to know all about the birds and the bees at the age of ten! I'm pretty sure I wasn't informed of any of this stuff until I was at least thirteen and that's only because things started happening…."
"What kinds of things? Do boys get a period too?" Punk glanced at his daughter noticing that her question was in all seriousness.
"I'm really hoping this one is a boy or the next eighteen years with all of us in the same city will prove to be interesting."
"Are you moving to California?" Punk realized what he'd said as he slowly sat back down meeting Melissa's eyes across the table.
"Well kiddo besides the big addition to our family, we're also moving to Chicago." Melissa glanced at Brooke noticing her face falling at the news. Even though she'd hoped Brooke would take it well, clearly she was having the opposite reaction.
"But I don't want to move! All of my friends are here, so is my school and my room!"
"I know it's going to be hard sweetie, but think of all the fun you had in Chicago when you went to visit your dad. Plus you'll have the chance to make new friends and you'll have two bedrooms. Doesn't that sound exciting?"
"No! It sounds stupid and I'm not going! You two can move to Chicago with your new baby and just forget about me; I don't want to be apart of this family anymore!"
"Brooke Marie that's enough; I understand you're upset, but it is not acceptable for you to act this way." With that Brooke got up from the table knocking her chair to the floor and running up the stairs to her room, slamming the door so that it echoed through the house. Melissa sighed as she covered her face with her hands.
"What do we do now?" Punk thought for a minute, an idea quickly coming to mind, but he wasn't sure if Melissa would go for it.
"Well we should keep her environment as familiar as possible…"
"I don't understand, what do you mean?"
"This might sound absolutely insane to you and I haven't fully thought it through, but it'll help all of us in the long run."
"Can you just cut to the chase please?"
"Move in with me…"
;) You're Welcome (per Damian Sandow's voice)