Time passed quickly. In a matter of months 2D had managed to find us a little two bedroom apartment and he had taken it upon himself to ready the other bedroom for our little bundle of joy. He had found a part-time job at a nearby bar where he sung occasionally but it wasn't quite cutting it, even with the royalties.
I had become a planet. My stomach had swelled to a humongous size and 2D couldn't get enough of it. Since the first night back from the island we had begun a system, every night before we went to sleep 2D crawled down to my belly and told the baby growing inside me a story. Every night it was different and every night I could feel the baby relax at his voice. I knew the baby had fallen in love with 2D like I had. Well, maybe not like I had.
But our family was already shaping together.
"2D, you said you put the finishing touches on the baby's bedroom days ago!" I called from my spot on the bed.
"I know, Elle, but I just need to finish this one thing." I heard him call back.
I sighed and swung my legs off of the bed.
"'D," I whined, "You said you were done and your girlfriend's feet hurt."
I leaned on the doorframe and smiled at 2D, who was standing on one side of the room, admiring a small crib tucked into the corner of the room. He closed one eye and brought his hands up to form a box and started surveying the room like a film director surveyed his shot. His eye landed on me and he dropped his hands and opened his both of his eyes.
"What are you doing up?" He murmured, striding across the room and grabbing onto my arms. "You need to rest!"
I laughed, "'D, I'm up because you're up. You think I don't hear you banging around in here?" I placed a kiss on his cheek, "Besides, I'm fine. I promise."
2D wrapped his arms around me and I felt his lips press against my hair for a moment.
"I know, I know. I just want to make sure that the baby is ok." He whispered.
I snuggled into his bony shoulder and sighed. "I understand. I'll get back in bed."
His lips tugged into a victorious smile. He had won and now I was going back to bed and he was going back to work on our bundle of joy's new room. But I wasn't giving up without a fight.
"I'll go back to bed if you come with me." I murmured.
His arms tightened around me and I could feel him choosing between working tirelessly on an already finished room for his unborn child and coming back to bed with his girlfriend that needed him. He sighed and, using one hand, pushed my chin up so I was looking into his black eyes. He smiled a big toothy grin at me and placed one soft kiss on my lips.
Then something was wrong. My first thought was that something had happened to the baby and my hands shot to my belly to feel for any wrong kinds of movement or if there was any movement at all. I thought back through the day and realized that there had been some weird moments where I had felt pains in my abdomen but they had come and gone pretty quickly so I didn't think much of them.
I didn't form a connection until I felt fluid rolling down my legs. I gasped as a small bolt of pain shot through my body and 2D pulled away. He looked into my eyes worried.
"What's wrong?" He asked.
I couldn't answer; I stared up at him speechless for a moment. Finally I managed to gasp out a few words that I hoped formed a coherent sentence.
"My water broke."
He looked confused for a moment and then it all set in and his jaw dropped.
"Oh, oh! Shit! Shitshitshit!" he sprinted around the room gathering things he thought we may or may not need and then he grabbed my wrist and pulled me toward the door.
It was a few hours of doctors and nurses coming in to check on Elle and give her a dose of meds 2D didn't even realize was legal. He barely got out a question ("Are you sure those drugs are good for the baby?") before they were gone and Elle was moaning and groaning about the pain ripping her body apart.
She thrust out an arm, searching blindly for his hand which he gave to her. Every time another lightning bolt of pain shot through her she tightened her fingers around his hand until he thought she was going to pop them off one by one. He was frightened; he had never seen Elle look so…helpless. He wanted to help but how do you take away someone's pain? Especially the physical kind
Finally, after what seemed like days, no years, of waiting the doctor came in and announced to the room that Elle was fully dilated. 2D had no idea what that meant but he took note that the doctor had his head and his hands between Elle's legs and he wasn't sure if he liked that. He wanted to get up and say something to him, confront Dr. Feel-'er-Up about feeling up the love of his life but the grip on 2D's hand was too tight and he didn't want to go too far away from Elle.
At the first "Push!" Elle let out a bloodcurdling scream that seemed to reverberate around 2D's very soul. At the second "Push!" Elle's voice cracked and her voice fell silent but her mouth remained open in an empty scream of agony that left the edges of 2D's vision dark. At the third "Push!" Elle's eyes closed and she tipped her head back grunting with pain and exertion and 2D's hand went numb.
At the fourth "Push!" 2D blacked out.
He woke up lying on one of the hospital beds out in the hall. A nurse had placed a bag of ice on his head and a note with instructions to lie there until he felt 100% better. 2D ignored her note and stood up quickly to try and find his suffering girlfriend. He stood up too quickly, it turned out as the floor swooped toward his face and he almost fell over again. A few nurses nearby rushed to help him but he threw out an arm to stop them.
"Elle Mede" he said. "Where is she?"
The nurses exchanged glances with each other and smiled, "She and the new baby are resting in that room over there Mr. Pot."
He blinked for a moment and then smiled before thanking them and going on his way, slowly now that he knew it was all over and he didn't need to rush. Quietly he opened the door and peeked inside. There was the light of his life, eyes closed, waiting for him to come back to her and there in the corner was the baby that had stolen his heart. He felt a lump rise in his chest.
Elle's eyes opened at the sound of 2D's breathing catching.
"Hey you," she said weakly, "I heard you passed out."
She cracked a small smile and then patted the bed beside her, "c'mere."
He made no waste in joining her. "Is that-?" he asked once he had settled in and made sure he wasn't squishing any part of her.
"Yes, Stu, I'd like you to meet your son, Zeke Russel Pot." She smiled and glanced over at the sleeping baby.
Even though he had just settled in with Elle, 2D found he couldn't stay away from his new son. He carefully dislodged himself from the bed and quickly walked over to where baby Zeke lay. Hesitantly he looked back at Elle.
"Can-Can I hold him?" He whispered, unable to speak any louder.
Elle smiled. "Of course."
He reached in slowly and picked the baby up in his big hands and cradled him to his chest. Sleepily the baby opened his eyes for just a moment and 2D gasped.
"He has my eyes." He smiled up at Elle an uncontrollable urge to laugh rumbling through his chest. "He has my eyes."
The baby looked up at 2D and he swore he could see the edges of Zeke's lips curl up into a smile before sinking back into a deep slumber. 2D sunk into a nearby chair and just stared at the sleeping baby in his arms. He could feel Elle watching the two but he couldn't tear his eyes away from the masterpiece in his arms.
There was a tuft of delicate blue hair on the baby's head that made 2D smile. He couldn't help but reach out a finger and wrap the blue hair around it. He placed a kiss on the baby's forehead and was surprised to find tears running down his face when he came back up.
"I love you Zeke Russel Pot." He murmured. He looked up at Elle. "And I love you Elle Mede."
Elle gave 2D a tired smile and wiped tears from her own eyes. "I love you so much Stuart Pot. You and Zeke are my two favorite boys."
So is it slightly shallow to say that I was getting a little choked up writing this. I could just imagine 2D being so overwhelmed with being a daddy that he just can't help but cry happy tears and imagining him cry kind of made me want to cry and...yeah.
Anyhoo, sorry for the distance between updates. Schools back in session and I like to pass all my classes so updates are going to be a little thin. Plus I'm working on creating my own characters with their own stories so I'm not totally stealing the characters of other people and then making my own stories. But I will not forget you loyal fans. I will still update. This story is not done being told. I promise.
I mean we haven't even gotten to the point where they tell Russel that their baby is named after him. :)
So Happy New Year everyone! Let's make 2011 just as good, if not better, than 2010.
Stay classy my friends.