A/N: Hello, everyone! I hope you are all doing well. Here is our next chapter. It's a bit filler in my opinion but I wanted to get something posted before the holiday. I apologize if it's not the best. But more will be coming that is pretty exciting I promise!
I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving (if you celebrate) and enjoy the time as best as you can!
Thank you all for reading, reviewing, and taking the time to message me those of you that have!
April 22, 2005
Angel Grove, CA
I was woken up a few hours later by a nurse who had come in to change out my IV bags. She apologized and took my vitals since I had stirred. When I looked towards the window, I saw that my mother and the baby were gone. Panic filled my chest as I sat up straight.
"What's wrong?" The nurse asked, looking at me with concern.
"Where's the baby?" I asked, moving to pull the covers off of me. She smiled, putting a hand on my arm.
"She's fine. She's in the nursery right now. Your mother asked us to take her for a little while to give you both a break. I can have them bring her back in if you'd like." I sighed in relief, putting a hand over my chest. I'm not sure why but my mind automatically thought of Nick when she wasn't in the room anymore. The thought of him taking her somehow had imploded in my brain with such a panic that I assumed it was true. Now that I knew she was safe, I felt relief and embarrassment. It was silly to think that, especially since he was in prison for probably the rest of his life.
"No. She's fine there for right now. I was just worried. Supposed I have a lifetime of that ahead of me now, right?" I leaned my head back and smiled at her.
"That you do. Have you decided on a name yet? I saw she didn't have one on her cart when I changed her a little while ago."
"Not yet. I've been thinking about it though. I've been thinking about a lot of things actually." I said, remembering what my mother had said before I had gone to sleep.
"I find that the best way to come to a decision is to ask yourself what you think is best. The longer you dwell on something, the more chance you have at making the wrong choice. It's like ripping a bandaid off. You know it's going to hurt but in the end, you won't be yanking all your hair out." She smiled at me as she double checked the IV poll. "Do you need anything else before I go?"
"No. Thank you for the advice." Nodding, she left the room. Putting my hands on the back of my neck, I stared out the window. I had a tough choice to make. Last night, I knew I was going to tell Tommy the truth. I had almost done it until Mom showed up, stopping me. I had been so sure that it was the right thing to do and that I needed to do it. Now, I was just as confused as I had been before they ripped an eight pound baby from me.
I had always wondered if Mom was over her issues with my father. When they first broke up, it was clear that she had been hurt deeply. But then she met Pierre and she seemed to be fine. Was that not the case? Did she have some deep rooted trust issue in her that she was trying to push on me? On the other hand though, she knew what it was like to raise me on her own. After Dad left, he only tried once or twice to keep his relationship with me alive. I didn't respond much to him and he bounced out faster than the speed of light. He's avoided me since then, even going out of his way to make sure that he didn't have to see me when my grandmother died a few years ago and I attended the funeral with my mother. He missed the funeral for his own mother just so he didn't have to look me or Mom in the eye. I didn't blame her for having trust issues and it made me wonder if she was right.
Tommy was a great guy. He always has been. But, would it be enough for him to look passed our past? After what I did to him when I broke up with him via letter, it crushed him. He was still dealing with it, not even telling me so. I wouldn't have even known if it wasn't for Jason talking to him for me. How was I supposed to imagine him reacting in a calm and fair way when he finds out that I've been lying to him for the last nine months? He was going to not only be livid but also crushed, yet again, that I had done something to him that he never even saw coming. He was planning on the two of us getting back together. We've talked about it multiple times over the last four months. If I told him now, it would never happen. We'd be that broken family I was trying to prevent from happening.
"Knock, knock." A voice said as the door opened. Turning my head, I saw that Trini, Marci, and Jason were standing there. He was carrying a bouquet of flowers with a pink balloon attached to it. I smiled at the group. To my surprise, the door opened again and Aisha walked in with Adam and Billy.
"Well, did the whole town come to see me?" I asked. Marci shrugged.
"I mean a good portion of it." She replied, walking over to me. She gave me a hug, rubbing my back as she did. "You look fantastic for just crapping out a baby."
"Marciā¦" Aisha said, giving her a warning glare she best reserved for Rocky.
"It's a compliment!" She replied, holding her hands up in defense. "I said she looked good."
"She didn't crap out a baby. She had surgery." Trini said, shooting me a wink. She had Jason set the flowers down on the end table next to the bed.
"It felt like I was crapping out a watermelon." I said, laughter coming from the group.
"Girl, it's the worst." Aisha said, giving me a hug.
"You guys didn't all have to come down here. It could have waited until we were home." I said. "Thank you for the flowers."
"Well, it's the least we can do since you'll be missing your surprise baby shower tomorrow." Aisha sighed, sitting in the chair next to my bed. I looked at her confused.
"What baby shower? I thought I said no shower."
"You did but we figured a small surprise wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. Except she surprised all of us by coming early. We told everyone though so we're going to collect the presents and have them all at your house for when you're home. Sorry!"
"I should have known you would plan a party." I said, leaning back into my pillow. "Thank you guys for everything. You have no clue how much it means to me and how much I'll owe you for the rest of my life."
"Look at this party!" Mom's voice said as the door opened. She entered, her clothes changed out of what she was wearing before. I was surprised to see that she didn't have the baby with her.
"We thought we'd stop in to see Kim and the baby." Adam explained.
"Speaking of, where is the little peanut?" Marci asked, rubbing her hands together. "I've waited nine months for this and I am ready to fulfil my aunt duties!"
"The nurse was changing her and will be bringing her over in a little bit." Mom said, walking over to the window.
"I'm so excited!" Aisha said. "Not that I don't love Matteo with all of my heart but a little girl is so fun! We can dress her up in cute little outfits and do her hair when she's older."
"Where is Matteo?" I asked. "Did you leave him home with Rocky?" She nodded.
"Both of them have a case of the sniffles so I made him stay home. I didn't want a chance of you or the baby getting sick. I'm clean though. I've been sanitizing everything in the house and myself all day, every day. I've had my fill of sitting home from maternity leave and don't want to be home sick."
"Wish I could take ten weeks off of work." Jason said, stretching his arms over his head.
"Push a baby out your penis then." Trini responded, grinning at him. I laughed loudly, a snort coming from my nose. The noise was contagious, spreading through our group as Jason blushed sheepishly.
"And this noisy bunch are all of your aunts and uncles." Tommy's voice said softly as he walked through the door. The baby was cradled in his arms and the nurse was pushing her nursery behind him. Everyone turned to look, their laughter growing hush as they saw her. I noticed Tommy had showered somehow, his hair pulled back into a ponytail. The baby was wrapped in a pink blanket today, a big pink bow on top of her head. Her eyes were wide open and I could see the thick dark hair on her scalp.
"Everyone has to wash their hands first and then you can hold her." The nurse said, smiling at us. "Let me know if you need anything. She just had a feeding so she might fall asleep. She'll need another one in about three hours if you want to try to breastfeed her." She said to me. I nodded. "Okay. I will see you then." She checked my IV again before leaving, closing the door behind her.
"Who wants to hold her first?" Tommy asked. Marci nearly knocked Jason over with how quickly she darted forward. I smirked as Aisha stood, allowing Marci to sit. Once she was in the chair, Tommy gently held the baby out to her. She took her in her arms, looking down at her.
"She's so perfect." I heard her whisper, her voice cracking as she spoke. When she looked up at me, I saw she had tears streaming down her face. "I can't believe you made this."
"Me either." I replied. She turned back to the baby.
"I'm your aunt Mimi. You can ask me for anything you want. I'll help you get away with murder when you're older. Just don't tell your mother. She's a square." She said, rocking her. "I can't wait to spoil you for the rest of my life. I'll try to be that rich Auntie that leaves you everything when I kick the bucket."
"How are you feeling?" Tommy asked, walking over to the bed. He gave me a kiss on the top of my head. "They said your pain tolerance seems to be improving."
"Yeah. It's not as bad today. How'd you sleep?" I asked.
"At a ninety degree angle. I'm pretty sure my back is one big knot. They are going to set up cots for your mother and me tonight so we can get some sleep." Behind him, I saw that Trini had taken the baby now and she stood up to hold her. Jason looked over her shoulder at the baby, a smile on his face. I noticed, however, that he looked down at the baby and then back up at Tommy before looking at the baby. Our eyes met for a brief second and I saw something behind them. I looked away, not wanting to think about what he might be thinking.
"I can't believe I'm holding your baby." Trini said, giving me a watery smile. "Feels like it was just yesterday we were doing our homework at the youth center. Now look at all of us. We're having babies, some of us are getting married. I can't even think about how fast time has gone by."
"And you are all still friends!" Mom said, putting a hand on Aisha's shoulder. "I couldn't think of a better group of people for my Kimberly to hang around with. Marci included of course."
"I better be included." MArci said, crossing her arms and propping her feet up on my bed. "Who else is going to run through traffic in heels to wave down a ride for you to the hospital?"
"Speaking of, does anyone know how the show went?" I asked. Adam nodded.
"We talked to some of our friends this morning and they said it was the best rendition of RENT they've ever seen. You were a hit in all the reviews too. Another great show, Miss Director. That's why Zack isn't here. He's sort of filling in your shoes since it wasn't planned for you to be out so soon."
"Yeah. She came a bit early. Seems like she wanted to surprise everyone."
"Just like her mother." Tommy teased, giving me a wink.
"Who wants to hold her next?" Trini asked, looking at Jason, Adam, and Billy. Adam shot forward, holding his hands out. Trini gently set the baby in his arms and he pulled her into his chest. He smiled, looking down at her.
"She's all you, Kim." He said, rocking her in his arms. "She even has your height."
"Oh, ha ha." I said sarcastically. Billy put an arm around Adam's shoulders and looked down at the baby.
"We need one of these." Adam said, glancing at his fiance. Billy had a look of panic for a second before he cleared his throat.
"Let's do one taboo activity before we jump into another one." He said, patting Adam's back. "We're fortunate enough to be reciting our nuptials. Let's not push the envelope."
"Did you guys find a venue?" Aisha asked. Adam nodded.
"We settled on the Angel Grove Country Club. There's that small little garden in the back with a patio area. We don't want anything too big so we figured that would be perfect. We'll get more details in a couple weeks. We were lucky enough that they had an opening on our date with such short notice."
"Now that you have a place, we can really start planning! I have so many ideas that I've been getting ready for you. You'll have to come over sometime this weekend to see." Adam smiled over at Aisha.
"Maybe after our witnesses get the okay to come home with the flower girl." He responded.
"Which will hopefully be tomorrow." I sighed. "The doctor said that I needed to pass the pain test but I think I will be fine."
"Girl, take all the free help here that you can! It's a whole different game when you're home and there's no nurses there to help you. I wish I brought one home with me that first night instead of Rocky. My advice is to make sure that you sleep plenty during the day before you leave because you won't be getting much at home in the beginning." Aisha glanced up at the clock on the wall. "Speaking of, I should probably give him a call to see how Matty is doing. I'll be right back." She ducked out of the room, allowing a space between Marci and Trini. Jason stepped into it, holding his hands out.
"Alright. Uncle Jason is all ready for her." He said. Trini took the baby from Adam and handed her to Jason who tucked her head into the crook of his arm, holding her gingerly. "Hey there, little missy. I'm your cool Uncle Jason. I'm the one who will get you out of the trouble Marci causes."
"Hey!" Marci said, glaring over at him. He grinned, shooting Marci a wink.
"You know I'm right." He replied Gazing back down, I saw that there were unshed tears forming in his eyes. "You've already been through so much in the little time you've made an impact on this Earth. I'm going to do my best to protect you for anyone that might want to hurt you. Even when I'm old and gray and using a cane. You've got a lot of people here who love you and you will never have to wonder if that's the case." A single tear slipped down his face and Trini reached up, wiping it away.
"Oh, Jase." She whispered. He cleared his throat.
"So, what is this little one's name?" He asked, glancing over at me. "Unless we are just going to refer to her as Mini Kim her entire life."
"Oh, Kim doesn't have one yet." Mom explained before I could reply. "She came so soon that she hadn't had time to come up with one yet."
"I thought you had a list." Marci said, looking concerned.
"I did." I responded. "I just hadn't settled on one yet. But now, I feel like none of them work for her." Jason walked over and handed the baby to me. She stirred a bit, causing me to shh her as I settled back into the pillows.
"It's not important now." Mom said. "You still have plenty of time before the paperwork needs to be filled out.
"You'll come up with the perfect name." Tommy said, rubbing my back.
"Lily." I said, the name coming from my mouth like I couldn't control it.
"What?" He asked. I glanced up at him.
"I want to name her Lily Rose." I answered. He smiled, putting his hand on the bed rail next to my arm. Rose had been his grandmother's name. It was something he had told me when we were teenagers, her passing shortly before him moving to Angel Grove.
"Are you sure?" He whispered. I nodded, smiling up at him.
"Yeah. Yeah, I am."
