Violet sat in an uncomfortable hospital chair, not caring about the sharp pain that was starting in her lower back and looked at the baby boy in her arms, catching a glimpse of his ocean green eyes when he blinked furiously after a particularly big yawn. She knew that Clementine would fall in love at first sight and her heart ached.
"He's real cute Vi, look at those cute squishy cheeks. He looks just like you!" Louis joked, Violet just continued to stare into those greenish blue eyes, not even bothering to roll her own.
"I can't do this Louis... I can't raise a baby on my own..." a fresh wave of tears started.
Louis bent down to Violet's level, "Come on Vi, Clementine is going to be fine, she's tough. Remember that time I dared her to walk across the frozen lake and she fell in?"
"I'm still pissed at you for that. She would have died if that guy didn't save her." Violet glared.
Louis smiled sheepishly, "How about the time she crashed her car, it flipped like three times! She came out of it with nothing more than a knock on the head."
"She had a pretty serious concussion. I have never been more scared than when I got that phone call." Violet frowned, "Not until today at least."
About 5 years ago
Violet's cell phone rang, she glanced at the screen, an unknown number. She didn't usually answer unknown calls but for some reason she found herself sliding her finger to answer the call.
"Hello?" Violet said.
"Is this Violet Everett, Clementine Everett's wife?" said the voice on the other end of the line.
"Yes." Violet answered in a 'what's it to you' kind of way.
"I'm sorry to inform you that Mrs. Everett was in a car wreck this morning. She was taken to Mercy hospital." the voice said.
"What? How is she? Is she hurt? What happened?" Violet's mind was racing and she felt physically ill.
"She's alive ma'am but we really can't give you any more details over the phone. I'm sorry." The voice said as they hung up the phone.
Violet sat with the phone held to her ear for long after they hung up, her mind in a haze. When she snapped to her senses she texted Louis.
Vi: I need a ride, now
Lou: coming
She didn't feel like it was safe for her to drive right then. Louis came over quickly, he didn't ask questions, he didn't pry, he simply drove. Violet had never seen Louis so serious before, it was almost unsettling, but he knew that's what she needed at that moment. He was better at reading her than she had previously given him credit for.
"Thanks for always being there for me Louis. It really means a lot to me." Violet attempted a smile.
"You don't have to thank me," Louis leaned in and placed a quick kiss on her cheek, "that's what family's for. Besides, you're always there for me too." Louis looked down at the blonde headed baby, "What's up little dude, I'm your uncle Louis. You have the two best mommies ever."
Violet wiped at her eyes, surprised that she had any tears left to cry. Louis frowned at his friend, his heart breaking for her but knowing that she needed him to be strong.
"Vi, Clementine is invincible, she's going to be fine. And... if the unspeakable does happen... you won't be alone. You have me and your mom, Lee and Carley. Everyone, we all love you and this baby more than you will ever know. If you think I'm not buying this kid everything he ever asks for you're crazy! Little dude's going to be well taken care of."
Violet managed an eye roll and a watery laugh as she leaned her head into Louis's side.
They sat in silence for a minute before Louis spoke up again, "As much as I love calling him little dude, does he have a name that everyone else can call him?"
Violet frowned, "Clem and I never agreed on a name, we decided that we would pick something when we met him, see what he looked like. She was wanting to name him Kenneth," Violet shook her head and wiped a tear from her eye. "She said it was the name of an old family friend. Now that I look at him though, he could totally be Barbie's boyfriend, Ken. Look at those blonde locks, he's going to be a heart breaker." Violet gently played with the baby's wispy hair.
"He sure is." Louis grinned allowing the baby to hold his finger in his fist. "And he's as strong as his mommy Clem."
Carley popped her head into the nursery. "Violet, she's stable and awake."
Violet stood up so quickly that she caused the baby to cry with the sudden movement. "Um, I, Louis, can you take him?" Louis held his arms out, cradling the baby like a pro.
"Go Vi, go!" Louis said, rocking the baby back and forth, quieting him down.
Violet ran down the hall, dodging around the happy families and nurses busy at work, all of them oblivious to the fact that Violet's whole world had been shattered just hours ago. When she reached the room she burst in to find Lee sitting on the edge of the bed, holding Clementine's hand, he was whispering softly. A couple nurses were still in the room, monitoring machines and checking Clementine's vitals. Lee saw Violet and moved immediately out of her way.
"Clementine! I was so worried." Violet fell onto the bed beside her, crying. She gazed at Clementine's face through her tears, she was still so pale. "Don't you ever scare me like that again."
Clementine smiled weakly, "Where is he? I want to see him."
"He's in the nursery with Lou, maybe the nurses can bring him in." Violet looked up at the nurses and then back down at Clementine, she didn't want to leave her side, even for a second. Lee, who was good at reading situations, saw the torment in her eyes and offered to talk to the nurses about having the baby moved back into the room. Violet smiled at him in relief and carefully climbed into the bed next to Clementine, wrapping her arms around her, watching out for all the cords and iv line. Violet leaned in and kissed Clementine on the cheek, tears freely falling from her eyes as she held onto the wife that she thought she may never get to hold again.
Clementine put an arm on top of Violet as best as she could with the blood pressure cuff digging into her bicep. "Shhhh... it's okay Vi... I'm okay."
"I thought... I thought I had lost you Clem... I've never been so scared." Clementine turned her head to kiss Violet's forehead.
"You're not getting rid of me that easy, sorry." Clementine said with a yawn as she nuzzled Violet's soft hair.
"You sound just like our boy, he gave me the biggest yawn today and his eyes Clem. You're going to love his eyes." Violet smiled, the thought made her happy now that she knew Clementine would get to see them.
"Does he have your eyes? I love your eyes." Clementine sighed, allowing her own eyes to close, she was exhausted.
"He does, it's a little weird staring into my own eyes, but it's amazing." Violet was in awe of the life they had created together. She couldn't wait to see Clementine meeting him.
Lee walked back into the room, Clementine's eyes snapped back open at the sound of his voice, "They're going to move you to a new room Clem, they'll bring the baby in at the same time."
"Thank you Lee." Clementine said, eyes drooping closed again.
"They say it will be soon, but nothing ever happens quickly in a hospital," Lee gave a soft warm chuckle that Clementine couldn't help but smile at, "You should get some rest in the meantime, you both look exhausted. I'll tell everyone that you're doing well and to come back and visit later, when you're settled in your room and had some time to rest. I'm going to take AJ and Carley home. Violet, call us if there are any... changes... and text us the new room number when you're moved."
"Of course, and thank you." Violet smiled at the man she had considered a father more than she had ever considered her own. He quickly kissed each of them on the head before leaving and shutting the door behind him, she could hear his deep soothing voice through the door as he talked to their friends.
Violet reached down pulling up the blanket to fully cover Clementine and herself. Snuggled against each other as best they could in the tiny bed with wires stuck all over Clementine's body, allowing themselves to close their eyes, feeling safe in the others embrace. The sound of Clementine's soft snores, which had started during pregnancy, had never sounded so beautiful to Violet as they did at that moment, she closed her eyes and allowed them to lull her to sleep.
Violet woke up as a nurse arrived to transfer them to another room. She rubbed at her bleary eyes and got out of the bed as carefully as she could, trying not to wake Clementine up. To no avail though, as soon as Violet left her side Clementine's eyes fluttered open, feeling the warmth leave her side.
"We're switching rooms, you'll get to meet our boy soon." Violet smiled, grabbing their bags from the couch on the side of the room as several nurses unhooked wires and resituated IV bags for the trip.
"What time is it?" Clementine asked groggily, Violet noticed that she was regaining some color and let herself relax a little bit.
Violet looked at her watch, "Almost nine o'clock."
"I am starving. I haven't eaten anything since yesterday." Clementine groaned as the nurses began wheeling her from the room.
"How late is the cafeteria open?" Violet asked the nurse that was pushing Clementine's bed down the hallway.
"It closes at nine. I'm so sorry." The nurse frowned, "We do have a fridge on the maternity hall with some sandwiches, fruit and drinks for our mom's. Sometimes we have late night births so we like to have something for our mom's afterwards. We'll get you something to eat once we get you settled."
"Thank you." Clementine smiled, leaning back on her pillow as the nurse opened the door to her new room.
The nurse rolled the bed in, rehooked up all the wires to the monitors, hung up the IV bag, plugged the blood pressure cuff back in, checked Clementine's temperature and other stats before leaving to get some food.
Not long after the nurse left, another one walked in pushing a bassinet with a screaming baby boy. Clementine sat up immediately, Violet hadn't seen her sit up that fast in months.
Clementine reached her arms towards the crying baby, tears starting to leak from her eyes. "Violet, give me my baby." Violet grinned from ear to ear, finally getting the family moment she had dreamed of since they had found out that Clementine was pregnant.
About 8 months earlier
Clementine paced back and forth, holding a pregnancy test in her hand. She didn't know the results, she promised Violet she would wait to look at it until she got home from work. She should be home any minute but any minute wasn't soon enough.
Clementine held the stick up to her eyes before quickly pulling her hand back down, no, she couldn't betray Violet's trust. She had to wait. She promised. She stuck the test back into the box on the counter and continued her pacing.
Violet finally arrived and it took her more than one try to successfully stick the key into the lock her hand was shaking so bad. When she opened the door she was met with a pacing Clementine. "So?" Violet asked, nervous.
"I haven't looked yet. I was waiting for you." Clementine ran and threw her arms around Violet. "What if it's negative?"
"Then we try again." Violet shrugged, trying to appear nonchalant when she was screaming inside. "Let's look." Clementine pulled the stick out of the box, turning it over until they could see the window. "Is that a positive?"
Clementine's face broke into a huge grin, "It's positive!" she screamed as she grabbed Violet by the arms, jumping up and down, Violet joined in as they 'whooped' with joy.
When they stopped jumping Violet crouched down, pulled Clementine's shirt up and kissed her on the stomach. "I don't know if you can here me in there yet, but I'm your mommy and I love you." Violet then pulled out her phone as she stood, "First picture of our new family! Hold up the stick!" Violet cried, holding up her phone to take a selfie of her and Clementine.
"You know I peed on this right? Do you really want a picture of something I peed on?" Clementine raised an eyebrow, holding onto the stick doubtfully.
"It's got a cap on it and yes, yes I do." Violet grumped, still holding her phone up. Clementine chuckled, kissing Violet on the cheek as she held up the stick so that you could see the little plus sign.
Violet reached into the bassinet, cradling the baby against her chest as she carried him to Clementine. "This is your other mama buddy, she worked so hard to get you here." Violet carefully handed him over and Clementine took him eagerly, tears dripping onto his crying face as Clementine smothered him in kisses.
"He's perfect." Clementine cried, staring into his red blotchy, crying face. Violet sat on the bed next to the two, adjusting the back of the bed so that they could comfortably sit up and pulled out her phone. "First out of the womb family photo!" She took a selfie of the three of them.
Clementine looked at the picture, "It's beautiful, I don't even care that I look like a royal mess. I'm just so happy to have my boy in my arms and you beside me. For just this moment, life is perfect." Violet leaned over, kissing Clementine on the lips.
The nurse who had brought the baby in, was busying herself with paperwork on the side of the room while they had their moment. After Violet pulled back, both of them crying happy tears, the nurse approached them. "I think he's hungry, we knew we were bringing him to you so we didn't want to feed him until we talked to you, are you planning on breastfeeding?"
"Yes, I want to try, I read some books on it..." Clementine said, not taking her eyes off her baby, examining every feature, from his wispy blonde hair to his long slender fingers. He had his eyes shut tight, not allowing her a glance at them.
"I can call the lactation specialist to come talk to you but she may have already left for the day. I can help you though if you want, I breastfed all my babies." the nurse offered.
Clementine nodded anxiously and allowed her to help. Violet stood out of the way as they worked on it. The nurse brought in the promised food just as Clementine got the baby to successfully latch on. Violet took the tray and set it on the bedside table, adjusting it's height so that clementine could easily grab some food from it.
Soon they were alone again, just the three of them, baby boy fed and sleeping on Clementine's chest, she refused to put him down. Violet pushed the food towards her. "Eat babe, you said you were starving almost an hour ago."
Violet smiled as Clementine grabbed the apple, face beaming, looking like a kid in a candy shop. She took a bite, "Have you eaten at all?" She turned towards Violet with a concerned look on her face.
"No, I was too worried to eat earlier, I felt sick to my stomach. I'm fine though, you've been through so much today, you need it." Violet moved to sit next to Clementine on the bed. Clementine grabbed half a sandwich and stuck it in Violet's mouth. Violet grabbed it as Clementine let go just so that it wouldn't fall to pieces on the bed.
"Clem, you need it more than I do." Violet tried to hand the sandwich back.
Clementine held her hand up rejecting it, "This is a team effort, you supported me and took amazing care of me for 40 weeks, you earned yourself half a sandwich." Clementine laughed at her own statement as she took another bite of apple. "Sorry, you deserve a lot more than a half a sandwich, but it's all I have to give right now."
Violet took a bite of the sandwich and pulled out her phone, "I'm going to tell Louis to bring me some chicken nuggets, want anything?"
"Cheeseburger!" Clementine said gleefully, startling the baby, causing him to stir in his sleep. Both Violet and Clementine froze until the baby settled back into a peaceful sleep. They let out a joint sigh of relief. "Also french fries and a vanilla shake." Clementine whispered, careful not disturb their son.
Louis texted back quickly, saying he'd pick up the food and be over as soon as possible. Violet laid back into the bed, stroking the baby boy's cheek. "We need a name."
Clementine nodded, "I was thinking... what do you think about Luke?" Clementine looked at Violet, gauging her reaction.
"Luke, like from Star Wars?" Violet asked with a grin, she didn't hate it.
"No, well, yes, but Luke is the name of the man that saved me from the frozen lake when I fell in. Do you remember that?" Clementine explained.
Violet nodded, "Louis and I were just talking about that today. I'm still pissed at him for daring you to do that." Clementine patted Violet on the knee. "I didn't know that guy's name was Luke. I wonder what he's doing now. I hope he's happy wherever he is in his life, I owe him everything." Violet kissed Clementine on the cheek, "Yeah, Luke is good, I like it. I especially like it better than Kenneth."
Clementine frowned jokingly and playfully nudged Violet. "Luke it is. What do you think about that Mr. Luke, is that okay with you?" Clementine asked in a high pitched voice directed at their son. Violet rolled her eyes and grinned as the door opened.
"The food has arrived!" Louis yelled holding up the bag and milkshake. Luke began to cry at the sudden outburst. Violet rolled her eyes as she got up and snatched the food from Louis, setting it on the bedside table.
"Wash your hands." She demanded. Louis did as he was told. Violet reached down and took Luke from Clementine, leaving her pouting, and handed the boy over to Louis. "Here, hold your godson so we can eat in peace."
Louis took him willingly, "I'm the godfather? Really?" Violet nodded as she popped a chicken nugget in her mouth.
"Of course Louis, if you're willing." Clementine smiled.
"Absolutely, I love this little dude already." Louis sat in the chair beside the bed, smiling at the boy in his arms. "I'm glad you're feeling better Clem. You sure had us all scared."
"Thanks Lou and thanks for the food." Clementine said as she pulled out her cheeseburger and looked at it like it was the sexiest thing on earth.
"Babe, you're drooling." Violet smirked, "Why don't you ever look at me that way?"
"Because I'm starving for food, you've never given me a chance to be starved for sex." Clementine shrugged as she took a big bite.
"That, I did not need to know." Louis shook his head and covered the baby's ear with one of his hand. "And neither did your son."