Jackson looked at the number on his cell phone. Why was Miley calling him? She never called him unless something was wrong. She was going to sit with Lilly at the hospital. Curious now he flipped open his phone, "Hello."
"Hey Jackson, got a minute?" his sister asked through the phone.
"Yeah, its dead here right now. What's up?" He held the phone tighter to his ear and leaned against the counter while Miley went on to tell him what had happened at the hospital. Worry began to eat its way into his stomach. He should have been there for her.
It sounded like this little melt down of Lilly's had been coming for a long time. This was stuff that had been eating at her for a while now. She tried to put on such a brave face though and not let anyone see what she was really feeling. He should have known something was bugging her. He had to make up for it now.
"I'll be there as soon as I can."
"She's okay now, so you don't have to. I know you need to work. I just thought you should know."
Is that what people thought? That work came before his family? And Lilly was his family. Her and RJ were the most important members of his family. He'd just have to try and reason with Rico and if he couldn't, well his family needed him now and later he'd look for another job.
"No. I'll be there."
Miley smiled. Her brother sure was growing up through all of this. He was taking responsibility for his family seriously. It saddened her to realize that it was now her brother's job to be there for Lilly. They'd always be best friends and there for each other of course. But now they were in two different places in their lives. Lilly was creating a family and Miley was still just trying to get through high school. How the last year had changed.
Twenty minutes later Jackson came rushing into the NICU. The first thing he noticed was that Lilly wasn't sitting up straight. While she had her hand still connected to RJ, she was slumped over and looking at the floor. Kneeling down by her side, he began rubbing her back. "Are you okay?"
At the sound of Jackson's voice she sat up and wiped the tears from her eyes. Finally turning to look at him with glossy eyes, "Jackson you're here. Why are you here?"
"Miley called me. I just wanted to make sure you're all right. I had to fight tooth and nail with Rico but I'm here." The two held each other tightly. Sitting down in the chair on the other side of her they faced each other and finally began to talk about what mattered.
It was one of those rare days, two weeks later, that Jackson and Lilly got to spend the whole day together without him having to work. They went to the hospital for a few hours in the morning. After that they went out to lunch. They ate at the local fast food joint both excited about what they were going to do next.
As soon as they were finished they raced off to the nearest baby store. While everyone else had gone and bought RJ some cute outfits and stuff, Lilly and Jackson hadn't had the chance to shop themselves since before RJ was born. Lilly couldn't wait to hit the stores and finally buy some of the outfits she thought where darling but never did since she didn't know if she was going to have a boy or girl at the time.
They looked at the preemie clothes first. They found three cute onesies that were blue and had either a snowboard, a surfboard, and a skateboard on it. Of course Lilly insisted that they had to get the surfboard and skateboard ones. Jackson easily agreed. He hadn't seen Lilly this happy in a while and he'd do anything to keep that smile on her face.
A hundred dollars later they finally admitted they'd reached their limit for the time being and went to the check stand. They passed a rack with all different patterns of blankets. Lilly instantly fell in love with one that had an ocean print on it. Grabbing it she threw it in the cart and Jackson just looked the other way not saying a word.
Back at the hospital, Lilly chatted excitedly to her son. Telling him of all the cute little things they were going to dress him in just as soon as he was strong enough to get off all these machines. With him still being in an incubator all he wore was a diaper. She hoped that soon that would change soon.
They were still there when the doctor made the even rounds to check on all the babies. Looking over RJ he finally had some good news for the couple. "This little one here is doing excellent. His lungs are getting bigger every day. Now I'm not promising anything but I think we might be able to take him off the oxygen tube soon."
Lilly and Jackson both hugged each other tightly swaying happily. They thanked the doctor and Lilly gave him a hug as well. He had just given them the hope she had so desperately needed.
Eight days later, the whole family, including Mamaw and Aunt Dolly, were allowed to gather round as the doctor and staff prepared the infant to take out the tube. They watched in utter silence as they waited to see if he would take his first breath unaided. They weren't disappointed as almost immediately his small chest began to rise and fall on its own.
To be on the safe side they hooked a much smaller tube around his head resting below his nose blowing in small puffs of air. "This is just a precaution and we'll monitor him closely throughout the night. Hopefully soon you'll be taking this little one home."
The doctor went on to explain more fully what they'd watch for and what their expectations where as one of the nurses began wrapping him snuggly in a light blanket. "Now for some more good news, you can finally hold him."
The nurse handed him to a shocked Lilly making sure they were careful of the tube. She plopped down in the chair behind her and hugged her son closely to her. She had waited almost a month for this day and could hardly believe it was finally here. Staring down into his beautiful blue eyes, she had a hard time accepting this was real and not just a dream.
"Oh my beautiful boy, I've waited for this day for so long. You just keep getting stronger so we can take you home. You room is ready just waiting for you. I love you so much." Lilly continued on for more than forty-five minutes, just repeating over and over again how much he meant to her.
It took awhile, but Jackson finally managed to convince her it was his turn. She reluctantly hand him over. "He's so tiny." Folding him into the crook of his arm, he looked a little uncomfortable with him, afraid he might drop him or something.
After about ten minutes of struggling to get it right, Robbie Ray swooped up and took his grandchild. "Here son let a pro show you how to do it." He held him in his arms gently swaying. He began to sing the same lullaby he had sung to Jackson and Miley when they were babies.
As soon as the song was over Aunt Dolly took him only to have him stolen once again by Mamaw, stating to the younger woman that she was the great grandma. It wasn't long before Miley then grabbed him out of her grandmother's arms.
She began singing "Who Said" to him. She changed the words a little taking out the I's and putting in You's, so that she was telling him he could be anything he wanted. Looking around she was glad there weren't very many people in here and that they weren't paying attention. Otherwise she might have just blown her secret. It didn't matter though singing to her nephew was worth it.
After it was over, Miley handed RJ back to Lilly, who held him for a few more minutes until he fell asleep. The group then discussed going out to lunch in celebration. Carefully laying him back in his bed, she placed a kiss on his forehead. She left her lips there for a minute savoring the moment she had waited so long for. Finally letting up, everyone said a goodbye to the sleeping infant and they made their way out of the NICU hoping this would be one of the last times they'd have to walk through those doors.
A/N: Thanks for the reviews so far! You guys are awesome! I hope this story is coming out better than the last since I'm putting far more time into it.
I've been thinking about giving the chapters titles so I want your opinion. Is it better when they are titled? Or do you even notice? Let me know what you think.