Just One Night
Chapter 9: Reality Check
'...And may she rest in peace and settle with the angels and cherubs in heaven'
I sobbed into Bart's shoulder as they lowered my baby in to the ground.
Bart cried too. Everyone was crying.
What did we do to deserve this? I asked myself.
Why me?
'Yeah, here eyelids are fluttering, she's waking up' I heard a voice say.
I slowly opened my eyes.
Bart, My mom, Watson & Nanny were in my room, looking at me anxiously.
'My baby, you're awake' my mom said rushing over to hug me. 'How are you feeling?'
'Where's the baby?' I asked ignoring the question. Please tell me that, that horrible scene was only a dream. God please tell me.
'She's fine Kristy! She had some trouble breathing as she inhaled something, but it's okay. She didn't have too much in her body, and she's breathing. She's in the nursery. And it's out of her body.'
I burst into tears of relief.
'I know how you feel' Bart said, tears misting his eyes.
'I... I had this dream, we were at her funeral, she died' I croaked out.
'It's not surprising, the last you heard of the baby was her being rushed off blue. But she's pulled through' Watson said softly.
'What happened to me' I said
'Well, you got so panicked you fainted' Bart said stroking my tear-stained cheek
'I did'
'Yes, but you're okay now' My mom said
'We took lots of pictures of the baby, she's beautiful Kristy' Nanny said
'She is?'
'Absolutely amazing'
'Can we see her?' Bart asked
'I'll go and find some one' Watson said.
'Thanks' Bart said
Five minutes later, Watson walked in carrying what looked like a load of heavy blankets. It took me a few seconds to realise it was actually the baby.
'We'll leave you to it' my mom said softly, smiling.
'Wait, don't you want to see her?' I asked
'We've all seen her, a lot of times, but you and Bart haven't yet'
'Oh'
'Kristy' my mom said 'Congratulations'
'Thanks'.
Watson put the baby in my arms. And the three left.
'You haven't seen the baby yet' I asked Bart
'No, I've stayed her, I wanted to stay with you' he said softly staring into my eyes.
'It means a lot, thank-you' I said We gazed into each other's eyes. And suddenly I felt something grasp my little finger.
I looked down, and there she was.
She was perfect. Beautiful brown eyes. A tuff of brown hair. In addition, a tiny body. She looked like a cherub.
She held on to my finger with her little hand. And that's when I felt it.
All these feelings came rushing to the surface. And I burst into happy tears.
'She's amazing' Bart whispered, totally memorised. I think the fire alarm could have gone off and we wouldn't have noticed.
'Can I, hold her?' Bart asked
'Sure' I said reluctantly. I just wanted to keep her with me.
Bart held the baby and slowly rocked her.
'Hi, little baby, I'm your daddy' Bart whispered
'You know, we should name her' I said
'Yeah, we need to I guess, we can't just keep calling her baby, huh?' he said softly chucking.
'I know, could you bring in the baby name book tomorrow?'
'Sure'
Ands we sat there. For hours. Taking it in turns holding her, our little baby from up above. Also trying to feed her by the bottle. With both did it.
We sat there the three of us. Finally all together.
A family.
* * *
A day later, I managed to walk around. I held the baby in my arms. She was perfect.
I found myself on the children's ward.
'Wow, what did you have' a little voice asked me. I turned around and saw a little girl in a bed. She was bald.
'A little girl' I said softly. I walked over to where her bed was.
'Cool, if I had a baby, I always wanted a girl' I sat down on a uncoftarble hospital chair conscious of the person in my arms, sleeping
'You might always have a little girl'
The girl put her Barbie down.
'I won't, I won't be alive until then' she said matter of factly
'What' I said shocked
'I have cancer, and the doctors have told me that after all the chemotherapy and radiotherapy I won't be able to fight it anymore, that's why I'm here, they're trying to make it more comfortable for me' she paused, suddenly seeming brighter and looking at my baby girl 'When I had a baby girl I was going to name her after me, because my name's the best name in the world, mummy said it's a pretty name, that's why she called me it'
Before I could ask her what her name was, a Nurse came to remove the girl's dinner tray.
'You seem sad ' she said. 'Don't be sad, you should be happy you have a child, a beautiful girl, a princess. I was choked. Why was life so unfair? This little girl could have had all her life. Got married. Had kids. Had a brilliant job. And it was being snatched away from her.
We talked for a little bit longer. Then she politely said she was very tired so she wanted to sleep.
'Come and see me later, please?' She pleaded
'Of course'
'Bring the baby' she said softly
'Okay' I said 'By the way my name's Kristy'
'My name's Katie'
* * *
My baby slept peacefully in my arms. I couldn't bear to put her down. She
was too cute for words.
I'd been to a few classes taught (free) by the hospital. You know changing dirty nappies, bottle-feeding.
I heard excited voices.
'This is it'
Suddenly three faces popped in.
'Hi' they all whispered
'Hi' I whispered back 'She's sleeping'
Mary-Anne, Stacey & Claudia tiptoed in. They all carried little presents.
'Your mom phoned Mary-Anne who told the rest of us, Congratulations' Stacey whispered
'Thank-you' I said
'So, have you named her yet?' Mary-Anne asked
'Actually, we haven't yet' I said 'We can't decided on a name'
'Can I hold her?' Claudia asked
'Sure' I softly lifted my baby over to Claudia.
My baby made a tiny sound of protest, and for one horrifying second, along with the rest of my friends thought the baby was going to wake up.
She didn't.
I opened all the presents. Mary-Anne had knitted a beautiful pale yellow cardigan.
'Beautiful'
Claudia had made a picture matching the Nursery theme.
'Pure amazing'
Stacey had brought a unique present.
'I've purchased a star from the internet, Dawn, Jessi, Mallory and a few other friends and I all put money together. So now your baby will always be part of this world' Stacey said
'Thanks, Stacey' I said tearfully
'Oh, don't cry' Mary-Anne said trying to stop herself knowing her.
'It's photo- time!' Claudia said cheerfully.
They're were many pictures taken some of just Katie, Mary-Anne, Katie & I, Mary-Anne & Katie. Katie was in almost every picture.
She was a baby in demand.
Soon enough every-one else left, and I was left alone with my thoughts.
Bart would be coming soon. Then we could finally choose a name for sleeping beauty.
I decided to go and see Katie, at the children's ward.
Painfully I slowly walked to the lift, the baby still in my arms. And went to the children's ward.
A few minutes later I found Katie's bed. But it was empty.
That was funny. It looked like it hadn't been slept in.
I just stared at the bed. I decided she must be having a bath or something.
That's when a nurse came over.
'Hi, where's Katie' I asked brightly
'Oh, dear, are you a friend' the nurse asked pityingly
'Something like that'' I said
'Come with me'
She walked me to an empty room. And asked me to sit.
'I'm afraid I've got some sad news' she started. 'Katie, died an hour ago. The cancer became to much for her body to handle and she passed away in her sleep'
'She died... I mean I only spoke to her a few hours ago, she told me she had cancer, but I assumed she wouldn't die just yet... she made it seem like she's been here for a day'
'That's Katie for you, she's was always so kind, and fun loving, so independent aswell. She tried to protect everybody from the reality of her illness. She's been here for six months to be exact, she was so kind to the other children, always there to play or help, or comfort some-one, she never stop helping or thinking about others even after she was diagnosed'
'God' I said. I couldn't cry. I was in shock.
'Let me take you back to Maternity, shall I' the kind nurse said.
I could only nod in agreement. I was too stunned to speak.
An hour later. I was only just coming to terms with the shock news I'd received.
Bart still hadn't arrived. The baby was just waking up in the cot next to my bed.
I picked her up, and cuddled her.
Suddenly I had one of my flashes of inspiration.
I remembered what the nurse said about Katie.
'She's been always so kind and fun loving so independent as well she was so kind to the other children, always there to play or help, or comfort some- one, she never stop helping or thinking about others'
I looked into the brown eyes of my baby girl. In a two days I'd seen a birth, and lost a little friend.
I remembered what Katie said, when I first met her.
'When I had a baby girl I was going to name her after me, because my name's the best name in the world, mummy said it's a pretty name, that's why she called me it'
Katie represented positives, she oozed with it. She was kind, caring, sweet, and considerate of others. She was strong, smart and independent. She showed the wisdom of someone who had been around the world a lot longer than 10 years old. Maybe she had.
Katie was exactly what I wanted my baby to grow up to be like. Obviously without the illness.
Katie's mom was right. Katie was a pretty name. Katie wasn't around anymore to be able to have a baby and name it after her self. Somebody else definitely should give her a fitting tribute.
Bart walked in grinning. Snapping me out of my thoughts.
'My two favourite girls' he said 'and I have the book of baby names'
'There's no need Bart, I have the perfect name'
********
'Everybody, I'd like you to meet Katie Elizabeth Thomas Taylor' I announced.
My family & Bart's family (bar his dad, who was still in hospital, stable though) smiled and chatted quietly to each other.
Bart had loved my idea of naming her after Katie. In addition, we had chosen to thank my mum, using her name as Katie's second name.
The doctor had just told me that Katie and I would be discharged in a few days time, depending on our progress. However, apparently all the signs pointed to us leaving within three days.
I saw my family. And my beautiful baby, Katie. In my room.
Today I'd experienced a mixture of high and lows, as I had throughout my entire pregnancy. Yesterday, I had left finished a journey of my life. Pregnancy. In the nine months, I had been through the biggest roller coaster of emotions of my life so far. Nevertheless, I didn't regret my decision to keep her though, no not at all. Moreover, I don't think I ever will.
I remember the quote my mom would repeat if somebody lost a job, or something happened. That signalled the end of something in there life.
'As one door closes, another door begins'
Yesterday the door of pregnancy was firmly shut in my face. The minute Katie was out. I entered the door of motherhood, and parenthood.
There was a point in the birth, at the end. Where it seemed that as the door of pregnancy shut so did the door of parenthood. It was almost closed. But she hung on in there. She proved herself to be strong, a fighter. Just like Katie did before she lost the battle as she fell asleep. The door suddenly opened.
Now here I am, in a few days I will be outside of Hospital. I will bring home the most important person in my life. In addition, together. My whole family and Bart's will face new challenges, and new opportunities.
You can never be sure about anything in life. I don't know what life's going to throw at me now...I can't even tell if something different going to happen tomorrow... or the next day. Who knows?
All I do know however is now I have a baby. Yesterday Katie & I started a journey. A journey of fights, tears, tantrums, laughs, through good times and bad. I will have to protect and guide through life. Making sure I try and help Katie make the right decisions in life.
But will I make the right decisions for the both of us... Moreover, try to adapt to motherhood in the real world (outside of hospital).... Well that's another story altogether.
The End
Yes this is a total turn of events. I was going to add more on how she adapted and stuff. However, I will maybe do another fic on that later.
Thank-you each and every one reviewer for making me enjoy this fic. Moreover, keeping me enthused to write. And if your disappointed about the sudden end of this story with no warning... I'm as surprised as you are I just realised I wanted it to end now on a high.... And the possibilities of more spin-offs.
Love & Hugz Forever
Rebecca- Wickdgurl
Chapter 9: Reality Check
'...And may she rest in peace and settle with the angels and cherubs in heaven'
I sobbed into Bart's shoulder as they lowered my baby in to the ground.
Bart cried too. Everyone was crying.
What did we do to deserve this? I asked myself.
Why me?
'Yeah, here eyelids are fluttering, she's waking up' I heard a voice say.
I slowly opened my eyes.
Bart, My mom, Watson & Nanny were in my room, looking at me anxiously.
'My baby, you're awake' my mom said rushing over to hug me. 'How are you feeling?'
'Where's the baby?' I asked ignoring the question. Please tell me that, that horrible scene was only a dream. God please tell me.
'She's fine Kristy! She had some trouble breathing as she inhaled something, but it's okay. She didn't have too much in her body, and she's breathing. She's in the nursery. And it's out of her body.'
I burst into tears of relief.
'I know how you feel' Bart said, tears misting his eyes.
'I... I had this dream, we were at her funeral, she died' I croaked out.
'It's not surprising, the last you heard of the baby was her being rushed off blue. But she's pulled through' Watson said softly.
'What happened to me' I said
'Well, you got so panicked you fainted' Bart said stroking my tear-stained cheek
'I did'
'Yes, but you're okay now' My mom said
'We took lots of pictures of the baby, she's beautiful Kristy' Nanny said
'She is?'
'Absolutely amazing'
'Can we see her?' Bart asked
'I'll go and find some one' Watson said.
'Thanks' Bart said
Five minutes later, Watson walked in carrying what looked like a load of heavy blankets. It took me a few seconds to realise it was actually the baby.
'We'll leave you to it' my mom said softly, smiling.
'Wait, don't you want to see her?' I asked
'We've all seen her, a lot of times, but you and Bart haven't yet'
'Oh'
'Kristy' my mom said 'Congratulations'
'Thanks'.
Watson put the baby in my arms. And the three left.
'You haven't seen the baby yet' I asked Bart
'No, I've stayed her, I wanted to stay with you' he said softly staring into my eyes.
'It means a lot, thank-you' I said We gazed into each other's eyes. And suddenly I felt something grasp my little finger.
I looked down, and there she was.
She was perfect. Beautiful brown eyes. A tuff of brown hair. In addition, a tiny body. She looked like a cherub.
She held on to my finger with her little hand. And that's when I felt it.
All these feelings came rushing to the surface. And I burst into happy tears.
'She's amazing' Bart whispered, totally memorised. I think the fire alarm could have gone off and we wouldn't have noticed.
'Can I, hold her?' Bart asked
'Sure' I said reluctantly. I just wanted to keep her with me.
Bart held the baby and slowly rocked her.
'Hi, little baby, I'm your daddy' Bart whispered
'You know, we should name her' I said
'Yeah, we need to I guess, we can't just keep calling her baby, huh?' he said softly chucking.
'I know, could you bring in the baby name book tomorrow?'
'Sure'
Ands we sat there. For hours. Taking it in turns holding her, our little baby from up above. Also trying to feed her by the bottle. With both did it.
We sat there the three of us. Finally all together.
A family.
* * *
A day later, I managed to walk around. I held the baby in my arms. She was perfect.
I found myself on the children's ward.
'Wow, what did you have' a little voice asked me. I turned around and saw a little girl in a bed. She was bald.
'A little girl' I said softly. I walked over to where her bed was.
'Cool, if I had a baby, I always wanted a girl' I sat down on a uncoftarble hospital chair conscious of the person in my arms, sleeping
'You might always have a little girl'
The girl put her Barbie down.
'I won't, I won't be alive until then' she said matter of factly
'What' I said shocked
'I have cancer, and the doctors have told me that after all the chemotherapy and radiotherapy I won't be able to fight it anymore, that's why I'm here, they're trying to make it more comfortable for me' she paused, suddenly seeming brighter and looking at my baby girl 'When I had a baby girl I was going to name her after me, because my name's the best name in the world, mummy said it's a pretty name, that's why she called me it'
Before I could ask her what her name was, a Nurse came to remove the girl's dinner tray.
'You seem sad ' she said. 'Don't be sad, you should be happy you have a child, a beautiful girl, a princess. I was choked. Why was life so unfair? This little girl could have had all her life. Got married. Had kids. Had a brilliant job. And it was being snatched away from her.
We talked for a little bit longer. Then she politely said she was very tired so she wanted to sleep.
'Come and see me later, please?' She pleaded
'Of course'
'Bring the baby' she said softly
'Okay' I said 'By the way my name's Kristy'
'My name's Katie'
* * *
My baby slept peacefully in my arms. I couldn't bear to put her down. She
was too cute for words.
I'd been to a few classes taught (free) by the hospital. You know changing dirty nappies, bottle-feeding.
I heard excited voices.
'This is it'
Suddenly three faces popped in.
'Hi' they all whispered
'Hi' I whispered back 'She's sleeping'
Mary-Anne, Stacey & Claudia tiptoed in. They all carried little presents.
'Your mom phoned Mary-Anne who told the rest of us, Congratulations' Stacey whispered
'Thank-you' I said
'So, have you named her yet?' Mary-Anne asked
'Actually, we haven't yet' I said 'We can't decided on a name'
'Can I hold her?' Claudia asked
'Sure' I softly lifted my baby over to Claudia.
My baby made a tiny sound of protest, and for one horrifying second, along with the rest of my friends thought the baby was going to wake up.
She didn't.
I opened all the presents. Mary-Anne had knitted a beautiful pale yellow cardigan.
'Beautiful'
Claudia had made a picture matching the Nursery theme.
'Pure amazing'
Stacey had brought a unique present.
'I've purchased a star from the internet, Dawn, Jessi, Mallory and a few other friends and I all put money together. So now your baby will always be part of this world' Stacey said
'Thanks, Stacey' I said tearfully
'Oh, don't cry' Mary-Anne said trying to stop herself knowing her.
'It's photo- time!' Claudia said cheerfully.
They're were many pictures taken some of just Katie, Mary-Anne, Katie & I, Mary-Anne & Katie. Katie was in almost every picture.
She was a baby in demand.
Soon enough every-one else left, and I was left alone with my thoughts.
Bart would be coming soon. Then we could finally choose a name for sleeping beauty.
I decided to go and see Katie, at the children's ward.
Painfully I slowly walked to the lift, the baby still in my arms. And went to the children's ward.
A few minutes later I found Katie's bed. But it was empty.
That was funny. It looked like it hadn't been slept in.
I just stared at the bed. I decided she must be having a bath or something.
That's when a nurse came over.
'Hi, where's Katie' I asked brightly
'Oh, dear, are you a friend' the nurse asked pityingly
'Something like that'' I said
'Come with me'
She walked me to an empty room. And asked me to sit.
'I'm afraid I've got some sad news' she started. 'Katie, died an hour ago. The cancer became to much for her body to handle and she passed away in her sleep'
'She died... I mean I only spoke to her a few hours ago, she told me she had cancer, but I assumed she wouldn't die just yet... she made it seem like she's been here for a day'
'That's Katie for you, she's was always so kind, and fun loving, so independent aswell. She tried to protect everybody from the reality of her illness. She's been here for six months to be exact, she was so kind to the other children, always there to play or help, or comfort some-one, she never stop helping or thinking about others even after she was diagnosed'
'God' I said. I couldn't cry. I was in shock.
'Let me take you back to Maternity, shall I' the kind nurse said.
I could only nod in agreement. I was too stunned to speak.
An hour later. I was only just coming to terms with the shock news I'd received.
Bart still hadn't arrived. The baby was just waking up in the cot next to my bed.
I picked her up, and cuddled her.
Suddenly I had one of my flashes of inspiration.
I remembered what the nurse said about Katie.
'She's been always so kind and fun loving so independent as well she was so kind to the other children, always there to play or help, or comfort some- one, she never stop helping or thinking about others'
I looked into the brown eyes of my baby girl. In a two days I'd seen a birth, and lost a little friend.
I remembered what Katie said, when I first met her.
'When I had a baby girl I was going to name her after me, because my name's the best name in the world, mummy said it's a pretty name, that's why she called me it'
Katie represented positives, she oozed with it. She was kind, caring, sweet, and considerate of others. She was strong, smart and independent. She showed the wisdom of someone who had been around the world a lot longer than 10 years old. Maybe she had.
Katie was exactly what I wanted my baby to grow up to be like. Obviously without the illness.
Katie's mom was right. Katie was a pretty name. Katie wasn't around anymore to be able to have a baby and name it after her self. Somebody else definitely should give her a fitting tribute.
Bart walked in grinning. Snapping me out of my thoughts.
'My two favourite girls' he said 'and I have the book of baby names'
'There's no need Bart, I have the perfect name'
********
'Everybody, I'd like you to meet Katie Elizabeth Thomas Taylor' I announced.
My family & Bart's family (bar his dad, who was still in hospital, stable though) smiled and chatted quietly to each other.
Bart had loved my idea of naming her after Katie. In addition, we had chosen to thank my mum, using her name as Katie's second name.
The doctor had just told me that Katie and I would be discharged in a few days time, depending on our progress. However, apparently all the signs pointed to us leaving within three days.
I saw my family. And my beautiful baby, Katie. In my room.
Today I'd experienced a mixture of high and lows, as I had throughout my entire pregnancy. Yesterday, I had left finished a journey of my life. Pregnancy. In the nine months, I had been through the biggest roller coaster of emotions of my life so far. Nevertheless, I didn't regret my decision to keep her though, no not at all. Moreover, I don't think I ever will.
I remember the quote my mom would repeat if somebody lost a job, or something happened. That signalled the end of something in there life.
'As one door closes, another door begins'
Yesterday the door of pregnancy was firmly shut in my face. The minute Katie was out. I entered the door of motherhood, and parenthood.
There was a point in the birth, at the end. Where it seemed that as the door of pregnancy shut so did the door of parenthood. It was almost closed. But she hung on in there. She proved herself to be strong, a fighter. Just like Katie did before she lost the battle as she fell asleep. The door suddenly opened.
Now here I am, in a few days I will be outside of Hospital. I will bring home the most important person in my life. In addition, together. My whole family and Bart's will face new challenges, and new opportunities.
You can never be sure about anything in life. I don't know what life's going to throw at me now...I can't even tell if something different going to happen tomorrow... or the next day. Who knows?
All I do know however is now I have a baby. Yesterday Katie & I started a journey. A journey of fights, tears, tantrums, laughs, through good times and bad. I will have to protect and guide through life. Making sure I try and help Katie make the right decisions in life.
But will I make the right decisions for the both of us... Moreover, try to adapt to motherhood in the real world (outside of hospital).... Well that's another story altogether.
The End
Yes this is a total turn of events. I was going to add more on how she adapted and stuff. However, I will maybe do another fic on that later.
Thank-you each and every one reviewer for making me enjoy this fic. Moreover, keeping me enthused to write. And if your disappointed about the sudden end of this story with no warning... I'm as surprised as you are I just realised I wanted it to end now on a high.... And the possibilities of more spin-offs.
Love & Hugz Forever
Rebecca- Wickdgurl