Hello, everyone!

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Michelle awoke to a cold house.

She glanced at the calendar:

January 2, 2011. That was one of the coldest months/years she remembered, so that explained the frigid temperatures in the house.

Michelle dressed herself in a long sleeved shirt, jeans, a hoodie, and knee length socks before descending the stairs and finding her parents shivering in front of the fire place, which contained a nice, warm blaze.

"It is s-so co-cold," Michelle stammered, her teeth chattering, as she rounded the couch.

Oh, gosh.

"Hey, Mi-Michelle," her mother smiled as she ran her hand over her protruding stomach.

Her mom was pregnant, and Tommy's birthday was… oh.

As if on cue, her mother cried out, her hand going from a loving cradle to a pained grip on her belly.

"Sarah!" her father gasped as he placed a hand on her back.

"The baby… it's coming," Mrs. Webster stated through gritted teeth.

"Michelle, grab the keys and start the car," Mr. Webster ordered as he helped his wife stand.

Michelle didn't need to be told twice. The keys were in her hand before her father finished the sentence, and she was out the door before her parents were out of the living room.

Michelle jammed the key into the ignition in the car and twisted it, listening as the vehicle rumbled before the steady hum of the engine took over. She opened the passenger side door and watched as her father practically lifted her mother into the car before she hopped in the back seat.

Michelle felt like she was living this for the first time. Unlike all the other times, where she felt this nagging sense of extreme de ja vu, this time she could easily forget that she'd lived this once before. Maybe it was the energy racing through her veins, the adrenaline. Maybe it was the distressed cries of her mother that distracted her.

"It's coming!" Mrs. Webster yelled as sweat poured down her face. "Hurry!"

"I am!"

As though they jinxed it, the car stuttered to a halt, and the hum of the engine disappeared.

"What happened?" her father asked.

"You jinxed it!" Michelle stressed as her mother let out another cry.

"Michelle, call 911," her father snapped.

Michelle withdrew her cell phone from her pocket and dialed the number.

"911 operator, what is your emergency?"

"Yes, my mother went into labor."

"Okay, tell her to-"

The operator's voice abruptly shut off, and Michelle withdrew her phone from her ear.

"My phone's dead," she yelped.

"What? We left ours at the house!" her dad said. "Oh, gosh. Oh, gosh. Get help!"

"Where? We're in the middle of nowhere!" Michelle pointed out, gesturing to the back road and the surroundings. There wasn't a car or house in sight.

"They have to send an ambulance, right? Even if my phone died?" Michelle asked.

"They will, but they'll never get here in time," her mother choked out. "The baby is coming now."

"Michelle, take off your jacket," her dad yelled as he positioned his wife. "Honey, you're going to have to push."

"You're not a doctor," Michelle said.

"Do you have a better idea?"

Michelle shut up as her mother howled. Michelle squeezed her eyes shut until crying met her ears, and she opened her eyes to see a tiny baby boy, covering in blood and red in the face, but still adorable.

Her dad handed her the baby, and Michelle took the baby in her arms, wrapping him in the blanket and stared at his beautiful face. He was amazing. She'd never thought of her brother as cute before, but that was the only word that came to mind now.

Until he started turning blue.

"Daddy!" Michelle yelled, distressed.

"Michelle, you took that baby sitting class. Don't they have to teach you CPR on a baby?" her father asked as her mother went into panic mode. That's what Michelle loved about her father. Always calm in the face of a crisis.

Michelle nodded and began to perform CPR on the baby in her arms. She tried to forget it was her little brother, but she couldn't. All that filled her mind was… don't take him. Don't take my baby brother… as panic seized her like it never had before. She was afraid she may be unable to breathe if the baby died.

But wait… Tommy didn't die. He was alive in the present. She barely remembered this. All she remembered about today was panic and an hazy, adrenaline clouded memory of holding the baby immediately after it was born. She barely remembered this.

Michelle breathed into Tommy's mouth and sighed in relief when Tommy began to cry once more. His blue skin returned to its normal color, and Michelle started crying in relief.

She could hear the ambulance in the distance, and she looked at her parents.

"Tommy. That's what we should name him," Michelle said. She remembered that. She'd blurted the name out because the name just felt right for the little boy in her arms.

"I think it's perfect," her mother agreed.

And that's when Michelle figure out another truth.

Tommy had nearly died in her arms. She'd already felt so connected to Tommy, and minutes after that connection was established, Tommy had nearly died.

If you don't get too close, you can't get hurt, and Michelle would never have to feel the shattering of her heart ever again, the panic that beat her with all of its strength. She pushed Tommy away all those years because she was afraid of that feeling.

Michelle wasn't sure how much more of The Truth she could take.

I honestly don't know where this came from. It was probably inspired by the episode of Baby daddy that came on the TV right before where one of the characters had to deliver his girlfriend's baby, and I wanted to give an explanation for Michelle's actions towards Tommy. Nothing excuses Tommy's actions towards Michelle in earlier chapters and nothing excuses Michelle's actions towards Tommy in recent chapters, but I hope you can understand their reasons more now than in the beginning of the story.

See you next time!