Chapter Twenty Three

Jesse had just finished putting everything in her bag when the nurse brought Rebecca Jade into the room. She was all snug wrapped in her pink blanket. Jesse smiled and sat down on the bed.

"Are you excited about taking her home?" She asked handing Rebecca to Jessica.

"Yeah, I'd be even more excited if I could take them both."

"RJ will be home in no time. You're boyfriend is just signing papers and you can be off."

"Thanks, for everything. I can't wait till I get to take them both home." Jesse smiled.

"You're welcome. Take care." The nurse said leaving the room.

Jessica sat cradling Rebecca for a few minutes until Randy came in.

"Papers are all signed and stuff. You wanna say goodbye to RJ before we leave?"

"No." Jesse said.

"You sure baby?"

"Yeah, goodbye is such a final word especially when it's to a baby that's already sick. I won't say goodbye until I have to. But I will go kiss my baby until I see him again later."

Randy smiled. "You're very wise. Ok, go kiss RJ and I'll take Becca down to the car."

Jessica nodded and made her way to the nursery where RJ was still in his incubator. She scrubbed up and walked over to him. He still looked so tiny and weak. But she smiled.

"Hey baby, Momma's here." He said slipping her hand through the holes and gently touching RJ's face. He moved slightly but didn't wake up. "Sleep well son." She said kissing her hand and placing it on his face gently. She wasn't allowed to take him out and touch him much yet. She couldn't wait to hold him properly.

She smiled at the nurse who was busy with another baby, and left the nursery. She made her way through the hospital and down to the parking lot where Randy was waiting.

"Ready?"

"As I'll ever be."

Randy leaned over and kissed Jesse on the forehead. "Don't worry."

She forced a smile. Deep down she didn't want to leave RJ but she knew she had to.

When they got home everyone was inside waiting to welcome Rebecca into the house. Jessica was so happy to see her mom and her brother. She hugged everyone and sat down.

"Thanks for being here." She smiled. A real smile this time.

"She's sooo cute!" Lucy said smiling "Can I hold her?"

"Yeah, but be careful. She's still tiny."

Lucy nodded and gently took Becca out of her car seat. "She smells wonderful."

"She has that new baby smell." Katie said standing over Lucy so she could see the baby properly.

"What's all that?" Jesse asked pointing to four huge bags.

"Oh, that's stuff from my fans. They sent cards and presents for the babies. I thought you'd like to open it with me."

"Are you serious? Fans sent all that?"

"Yep. Pretty neat huh?"

"That's so nice of them. I didn't expect that. We should get a computer and send them e-mails."

Randy laughed. "You try finding all those people. It's crazy."

"Yeah, but we could try."

"Maybe you could do it when I'm working and you're not so busy. But in the meantime, you have four bags of baby Orton fan mail to open."

Jessica laughed. "Awww, that babies got fan mail already. I love it."

"Yeah, and more than what daddy gets." Dave piped in.

"Shut up Dave."

Jessica shook her head. "Men."

"So, when is RJ allowed home?" Dave asked.

"Soon I hope. I'm not sure though. He's still pretty weak."

There was silence after that. No one seemed to want to address the situation. No one wanted to upset Jessica. Randy looked around. He decided to step in and break the silence.

"Well, I think Becca needs her crib now and I'm sure Jess would love to eat something non hospitalish and read some of her mail. So..why don't you all come back tomorrow or something?"

Dave nodded. "See you tomorrow sis." He smiled kissing Jesse on the head.

"Bye guys. Thanks for coming."

Randy saw everyone out. Then he took Rebecca up to the nursery and placed her in the crib. He switched on the monitor and went back down to Jessica. She was sitting on the floor looking through the first bag of mail. He sat down beside her and saw that she had tears.

"Jess, what's wrong?"

"He's going to die isn't he?"

"RJ?"

"Yeah. He's so weak and tiny." She sobbed.

"No, baby don't think like that. He's going to be fine. He's in good hands. Eddie, he's praying for him. You trust Eddie don't you?"

"Yeah, I just..I don't know. I'm scared for him."

"Jess, RJ will be fine. Come on, lets take you upstairs. You need to lie down."

Jessica nodded and let Randy carry her upstairs. He laid her on the bed and kissed her gently.

"If you need anything I'll be downstairs."

He left the door ajar and she listened as he got to the bottom of the stairs. She wiped her tears away and for the first time in her life, she prayed.