There's a very good excuse as to why this chapter has been delayed for a month. And that's that I didn't want this to end. It's been written for about two weeks, but I couldn't bring myself to type it out or let either Tony or Mike to do it. I guess I didn't want to change the status from In-Progress to Complete. Well now you have it, so... Enjoy?
Chapter 38: A new Beginning
Liam's POV
"Daddy..." I heard my almost five-year-old daughter trying to wake me up. When I intentionally didn't budge, she started nudging me and telling me to wake up, but I still didn't a move a single muscle until I abruptly flipped over and she fell in my arms grumbling. "Why did you do that?" She asked pushing her black hair back to reveal her beautiful green eyes.
"Because I wanted a hug from my daughter." I said and hugged her close as she did the same. I looked next to me only to find that Melanie wasn't there. "Where's your mother?"
"Downstairs with aunties, Joey and Clay." She answered resting her head on my chest.
"So they send you to wake me up?" I asked rubbing her back.
"Yap." She simply replied and stood up pointing at me. "You're late!" She yelled and jumped off the bed storming out of the room. I looked at the nightstand in a rush and saw that the squirt was right. I got up, had a shower and got dressed in less than ten minutes in my hurry. I practically ran downstairs where I found my wife, sister, daughter, friends and nephews eating their breakfast calmly. But if I was late why was Amanda still here. That was weird...
"Good morning, honey. Why are you in such a hurry?" Melanie asked raising her eyebrow.
"I'm late and will probably lose my flight." I said and rampaged through whatever was on the table quickly.
"LJ, our plane leaves in two hours." Amanda said looking at me weird.
"No. It's supposed to leave in one." I countered.
"Would I really be here and so calm, if what you said was true?" Amanda asked. She had a point...
"But the plane leaves at 11am, so we'd have to be there by 10 and it's already.." I trailed off trying to lift my sleeve so I could check the time.
"... 9:15am." Abby said raising her eyebrows at me as well. What the hell?
"But the clock in the nightstand..." I said confused and took my jacket off settling down next to my wife.
"Leila, haven't I told you not to mess with you dad's clock for work." Mel said feeding me a bite. That little monster... She got me again.
"Sorry, mommy. Couldn't help it." She said giggling and ran with Joey upstairs to her room probably.
"She really loves to pull pranks on you, doesn't she?" Alex asked looking at me.
"Yeah... I think she's spent a little bit too much time with you." I said scrunching my face.
"Oh come on! I wasn't that bad." She said blushing while Abby and I looked at her in disbelief.
"You're kidding, right?" I asked taking a sip of my coffee.
"You once made the poor guy think that the camp was under attack." Abby exclaimed and Alex's blush became deeper.
"I was just a kid." She tried to defend herself in vain.
"We didn't say otherwise, but you can't say you weren't as bad when you probably were worse." Amanda stated looking at my sister closely.
"Hey hey, stop it!" Melanie yelled and all four of us, grandchildren of Athena, stopped to look at her. "Both Leila and Alex have taken a liking to fool their fathers and that's the end of it. Understood?" She asked very seriously.
"Yes, ma'am!" We said bringing our right hands to our foreheads to salute her.
"Good. Now get back to your breakfast." She ordered and we complied. An eight-and-a-half-month pregnant Melanie isn't one to be messed with.
"And you two have to go soon or you'll really miss your flight." She said pointing at me and Amanda.
"True." Amanda said and got up while I turned to Melanie. She kissed me lightly and started fixing my tie.
"You never get it right while in a hurry." She said giggling lightly to herself. When she was done, she pulled back to check her work, but when she saw my sad face, she put her hand on my cheek. "It's just a day. You'll be back in no time." She said and kissed me lightly so as to calm me down.
"You know I don't like being away from you." I said pouting and noticed that the girls had given us some privacy by leaving us alone.
"I know, but I'll have your sister, Abby, the kids and the guys with me. I'll be fine." She replied and kept on stroking my cheek. I knelt in front of her and kissed her stomach.
"Promise me you won't do anything reckless or exhaust yourself...?" I wanted to say but it came out as a question.
"I promise. Both me and our son will be alright. Our daughter will make sure of that, don't you think?" She asked and I couldn't help but chuckle. It was true. Leila had taken it upon herself to make sure her mommy wouldn't do anything that would tire her while I wasn't around.
"Yeah... But I'll still be worried." I said and got up helping her up as well, as she just rolled her eyes. She, Abby and the kids escorted me and Amanda out, where we said our final goodbyes for the day. We got our bags in the car, got in and the driver set off for the airport.
24 hours later
After six hour in the air, we had finally landed at the LAX. Some would believe that I'd be afraid to go to LA by plane because of Zeus, but I couldn't care less. If he wanted to blast me away, he could do it anytime. Being in his domain didn't mean much. A car was waiting for us at the airport to take us to the hotel we'd be staying and having the meeting in.
Being owners of one of the most profitable architecture firms in the country had its perks, which included a driver, perfect accommodations and all. But even with that, we hadn't been lucky enough to have the other party arrive soon enough to get the meeting started the same day we arrived, so Amanda and I just called our family and kept on talking to them for a couple of hours before they had to go to bed. It was the three hour difference in the middle of course, so they had to. We stayed up to review our presentation and then went to bed. Twenty six hours after our departure from my house, Amanda, our team and I entered the conference room our presentation would soon begin in.
Alex's POV (meantime)
I had been sleeping comfortably in Ben's arms in my brother's guest room, when my little boy decided to wake me up and request to be changed. Of course being a little over one, his request was made by crying, so one of us would have to get up and stop him before anyone awoke. Since Ben had had a much more difficult day than me, I let him keep on with his sleep, while I went to tend to our son. After changing and getting him back to sleep, I returned in my husband's arms, but really shouldn't have expected to have my peace. I heard her light footsteps before I saw the door open and Leila come in.
"Auntie..." She whispered with a sleepy voice.
"Sorry for waking you up honey. Your cousin just needed to get his diaper changed. Go back to sleep Leila." I said sitting up to look at her. She didn't move though, so she must have wanted something else. "What's wrong sweetie?" I asked.
"Mommy needs to go to the hospital. She said she's having the baby." Before she even finished her sentence, I had woken Ben up.
"Ben, go wake the others up as well. Leila, let's go see mommy." I said, picked her up and ran to Mel's and Liam's room, where I found her preparing her suitcase with her hand on her stomach. She looked up and I could see the annoyance in her eyes.
"He just HAD to come now that his father is away on a business trip." She said scrunching her face.
"I know... Just sit down and let me do that." I said and she complied groaning. I could easily guess that another contraction hit her. "How far apart are they?" I asked placing Leila next to her mom and hurriedly finished up with Mel's suitcase.
"I'm not actually counting!" She yelled. "Gods! I don't remember it hurting so damn much!" She yelled again gripping the sheets. Just then Mike, Owen, Abby, Ben and the kids came in.
"Guys, help her in the car and we'll take the bag and the kids." Abby said and I nodded in agreement. Owen put Joey down and Ben gave Clay to Abby, before they gently picked Mel up heading for the car. "Start even before we get outside. Hurry!" She urged them. They just nodded and picked up the pace.
"Why is mommy in so much pain?" Leila asked with a sad face.
"It's just because she's having the baby. Don't you remember how I was a year ago?" I asked. We really needed to distract the kids from everything.
"Yeah, but why is Jamie hurting her? Did I do that too?" She asked gasping. I looked at Abby for help.
"Leila, sweetie, all kids put their mothers through that. But when we look in your eyes for the first time, it really doesn't matter anymore. All that matters is that baby in our arms." Great job Abs.. Leila did seem distracted in that moment. "Could you take Joey TV? We'll be right there." She said and our niece nodded before taking her cousin's hand and going downstairs.
"We need to get Liam right now." I said and took my baby back in my arms. He was still asleep thankfully, despite the havoc.
"Already tried. His phone is off. Amanda's too." She replied.
"The rest of the team's?" I asked although I doubted it.
"Switched off too. They've probably already started on the meeting." She said and scooped up the beg so we could go.
"But Abby, if it's almost 11 am here, there it's only 8 am. They couldn't have started a meeting that early, could they?" I asked trying to find something would make Liam's coming in time more possible.
"It's your brother we're talking about. He probably wanted to get things over with as quick as possible so he could come back as soon as possible." Abby said and unfortunately I knew she was right.
"We could Iris message him..." I trailed off. Iris was Ben's grandmother after all...
"Alexandra Brooke Rodriguez! Use your freaking brain! Iris message them while they're in a crowd full of humans. Even with the Mist they'd have lots of explaining to do." Abby yelled a little bit too loud waking Clay up. I glared at her trying to calm the wailing baby in my arms. "I'm sorry for yelling but we can't do anything other than be there for Mel now. Come on." She urged me and we went downstairs only to find Athena, Poseidon, Ares and Iris there sitting with Joey and Leila.
"Don't look at us so shocked. You can't take the kids with you in the hospital so we'll look after them. Go to Melanie." Ares said and came to take Clay from my arms. I was too stunned to move.
"Um... Alex, Abby..? Go!" Our grandmother ordered us and we couldn't do anything but what she said.
We got in Owen's car since they had used ours to take Melanie to the hospital. Abby definitely drove fast, but this time she had outdone herself. Just 15 minutes later we were running past the entrance to the hospital and headed straight for the front desk where we asked about where we could find Melanie and then ran towards that direction. Two floors up, we found our husbands and Mike sitting in the waiting right outside a room where Melanie's screams came from.
"We can't find Liam, Amanda or their team." Mike said titling his phone in front of us.
"Did you tell her that?" Abby asked and got her phone out dialing a number.
"No. They didn't let us in." Owen answered.
"More like she didn't want us in there." Ben said coming to me. "She wants you." he whispered in my ear. "Good luck!" He said before pushing me in the room with the screams.
"Alex!" She yelled at the top of her lungs making everyone in the room cringe. Including me.
"I"m here, Mel." I said, went to stand beside her and also hold her hand. She had a tight grip...
"Have you find him?" She asked calmly after the contraction apparently passed.
"No. They've probably already started the meeting. We're trying though." I said in an attempt to calm her down.
"Damn him..." She said as another contraction came.
Three hours later
Liam's POV
"So as you can see, these designs Mrs Di Angelo, our team and I have prepared for you are exactly what you need at the lowest possible cost. Your hotel will have everything other hotel in the area does, maybe even more. All you need to do is sign the deal and construction will begin immediately." I finished my presentation and speech after a good four hours of an endless meeting. After my partners described our designs, it fell upon me to give each and every aspects of our work, pointing out all weaknesses and strengths and generally giving them a good review of whatever was said before about the suggested facilities. And I was ready for questions. "Do you have any questions?" I asked taking a sip of water before straightening my glasses. But before anyone had the chance to talk, there was a knock on the door.
"I'm sorry Mr Jackson. I specifically ordered no one to interrupt you." The manager of the hotel we were having the meeting said getting up to probably scold whoever had the nerve to go against his orders. But whoever knocked on that door didn't wait for us to let them in. The moment she stepped in mine and Amanda's eyes went wide.
"I'm terribly sorry for interrupting your important meeting, but Mr Jackson there really is an emergency." Aphrodite said looking straight at me. Now.. When you have the Goddess of Love interrupting one of your meetings you know something's wrong.
"Mr Camden, it's okay. She's my personal assistant. Excuse me for a second." I said and went to the door, where Aphrodite was. "What's wrong? Did anything happen to my girls?" I asked frantic.
"No, but your son decided he wants out early, so Melanie went into labor three hours ago. The guys have been trying to reach you all this time. Where's your cell?" She asked glaring.
"In my pocket, but I always switch it off for meetings." I answered looking away. "Damn it. I need to get to New York fast then." I said mostly to myself, my brain already trying to work something out.
"Oh really? I never would have thought." She mocked me rolling her eyes.
"What's going on?" Amanda asked coming close.
"Liam needs to get back to New York because Melanie's giving birth." Aphrodite explained and Amanda's eyes went wide.
"Then what are you waiting for, goof? Move it." She whispered-yelled and tried to shove me out of the door. "I'll take care of the rest. You've already made an excellent impression on them. Go to your wife!" She said and closed the door behind me and Aphrodite.
"Great... Now, any idea how I'll get back? Before my son is born preferably?" I asked and once again straightened my glasses so I could see her.
"I got one. Let's go out from the back, shall we?" She asked and disappeared.
"I'm guessing I'm the one that has to walk out back then." I said to myself while running towards the back. The people I passed by looked at me as I had a second head or something, but in that moment I couldn't care less. When I reached one of the back entrances I found Aphrodite smiling at me. "How exactly am I gonna get back?" I asked out of breath.
"With the help of your friend of course..." She trailed off as a white, winged stallion came down from the sky. Cloud!
"Hey smart-ass. Hop on." Cloud said excitedly.
"Thanks Aphrodite." I said and got on Cloud's back. "You can't possibly imagine how glad I am to see you."
"I think I have an idea. Now hold on tight. I may be saving you an hour, but it's still a five-hour flight." He said ascending from the ground.
"Any cut down on time I spend not being there for her is welcome. Thanks Cloud." I replied holding him tight as instructed.
"No problem, LJ." He said and picked up speed
5 hours later
"Where do you want me to drop you off?" Cloud asked when the skyscrapers of New York came to view.
"As close to the hospital as you can. The front door even." I joked.
"Same hospital with when Leila was born?" He asked.
"Yeah. Now could you hurry? My wife's been there for eight hours already." I pleaded.
"I'm trying man. Hang on." He replied and it seemed as if he picked up the speed.
We passed over the streets of Manhattan with incredible speed. The card seemed to pass like a blur underneath us. Little colorful dots on gray lines, straight of curvy it didn't matter. Life was moving forward like those cars on the streets, like time went by as Cloud and I raced against it. Against the time of my son's very first breath, if he hadn't taken it of course. Mel would probably be mad at me if we didn't make it even though it wasn't really my fault. She forced me to go on this trip after all. I just hoped Jamie had stayed in there 'cause in that moment Cloud landed right at the entrance of the building I longed to see there past few hours.
"What about the people?" I asked looking around to check if anyone looked at us weird. No one was.
"You've been living in their world for way too long. Are you forgetting about the Mist?" He asked me dumbfounded. Before I could answer... "Go. Your wife awaits..." he urged me.
"Thanks Cloud. You're a life savior." I said patting his mane as I remembered the time he saved me from certain death when I fell off that Hecatonchir ten years ago.
"No kidding. Go!" He yelled and I did.
Dressed as formally as ever, I ran in that hospital. My tie found itself hanging over my shoulder from the speed I was going. The front desk of the second floor was my destination. But when I reached the appropriate floor I didn't need any directions to my wife's whereabouts. Her screams of pain gave away her exact location. I ran into that room, faintly realizing I had passed by my friends sitting outside, before I was right by Melanie's side... As I should be.
"Liam..." She whispered calmly before screaming again.
"I'm here baby girl." I said and kissed her sweaty forehead before my hand found its way into hers and let her squeeze as much as she needed.
"How did you get here? Who told you?" Alex asked pretty surprised to see me.
"Aphrodite told me and Cloud brought me." I said never averting my eyes from my beautiful wife. The only time I did was when I stole a glance at George, who smiled at me and gave me a thumbs-up sign before going back to his work. "You're doing fine, Mel. Keep going." I encouraged her and caught a glimpse of my sister leaving the room, so Melanie and I were left alone with the doctors.
"Just like Liam said: Keep going Mel. You have no reason to fight it anymore. Your husband's here." George instructed and Melanie nodded. The pressure on my hand multiplied. She kinda sat up and the pushing began. When she started screaming, I turned her head to me with my free hand and kept it there. Time seemed minimal in that moment. We kept looking in each other's eyes while she was gritting her teeth so as not to scream, which made her fave turn red and we waited... And waited... And waited... Till that miraculous moment we heard our son's cry of life filling that room and her features softened. She laid back. I kissed her. George gave us our son. Even in his bloody state, his resemblance to his grandfather and Melanie's dad was incredible.
James Perseus Jackson ha just entered our lives and just like when Leila was born, I turned to Melanie and whispered in her ear: "A new beginning."
So guys... this is the end of our little two-piece story. Much loved and at times difficult to write, but it was all great. Your support was also incredible. If we exclude that flamer, everything else you guys said was so heart-warming. Calling us great authors, adding us (well me, but basically both) to your favourite authors list, our stories to your favourite and giving us a total of 861 reviews for both stories. You're all amazing. Both the ones that have been reviewing and talking to us and the ones that just keep reading these stories increasing the hit-and-visitor traffic. Thank you all.
Now.. on second note, there's already a pretty good idea in my mind (good according to me of course), the first chapter of which will soon be written. Also, I would like to suggest the story of one of the many friends we got because of this.XxVampire AcexX and his story "A life to remember". It's still early for it, but it has good prospect to be great. So check it out if you want. Well... bye... for now... :)
Catherine & Tony P.