Hanging on a Moment II

Chapter 15

"How are my girls?" Caleb smiled as Ashley brought in Parker, Paisley and Piper.

"I got to meet Minnie Mouse!" Paisley burst out of excitement.

"Me, Minnie!" Piper stated holding up a plush toy she had gotten from her Grandma in consolation for not getting to come on the Birthday trip.

"Come here I missed my girls!" Hanna announced holding out her arms as they ran over to her to give her hugs. Piper went to climb on her lap.

"No, sweetie!" Caleb remarked as he pulled her down. "Mommy has an owie on her tummy."

Paisley looked worried at her. "I have an owie on my stomach from the baby being born, but I will be ok. I don't know if Grandma told you this or not, but you have a new baby sister that Daddy and I named Peyton Grace." Hanna smiled running her fingers through Paisley's hair who was sitting next to her.

"Where is she?" Parker asked looking around the room.

"Well, remember when we told you that the baby was supposed to be born around Halloween time?" Caleb asked as the two older girls shook their heads. "She decided to be born early."

"Like me?" Parker asked knowing she was also born prematurely.

"Yes Parker, but she decide to come a lot earlier than you did and she still needs a couple more weeks to grow big and strong before we can bring her home to our house." Caleb finished looking at his wife.

"She has to stay in a special room in the hospital for little babies until she can go home." Hanna added to her curious kids.

"So we can't hold her?" Paisley asked looking up sadly at her mom.

"No sweetie."

"I have some video of her though." Caleb remembered pulling out his phone. All three girls peered at the screen of the video recorder.

"Baby has owie!" Piper pointed to the footage.

"Peyton does have some tubes and machines and that's to help her get big so she can go home."

"So she will live at the hospital?" Parker frowned sadly.

"Hopefully for only a few weeks and then she came come home."

"She is sooooo tiny!" Paisley remarked. "Can I hold her when she lives at home?"

Caleb laughed at his daughters enthusiasm. "Absolutely!"

Ashley came back about twenty minutes later when she knew the girls would start getting restless again.

"Grandma, guess what?" Paisley stated as Ashley re-entered the room.

"What?" she teased back.

"I have a new baby sister who lives in a fish tank!" she shrieked as she ran into her Grandmothers arms. "It's ok, when she grows she can live at our house."

Caleb and Hanna looked at each other and giggled a little at their seven year olds perception of everything that was happening.

"She's so cute, isn't she, Paisley?" Ashley remarked.

"I love her." She nodded grabbing Pipers hand.

"Alright, Say goodbye to your parents." Ashley prodded as girls gave Caleb and Hanna parting love.

"So you have to stay here, too?" Parker asked as she was giving her Mom a hug.

"No, Daddy and I will be home in a few days." Hanna stated sadly as Caleb grabbed Piper to help Ashley take the kids back to her car. She was caught in a guilty feeling of not being able to be with Parker, Paisley and Piper and the thought of having to leave her fragile little Peyton here at the hospital in a few days.

Caleb shortly returned giving Hanna a kiss and taking a seat on the edge of her bed.

"We have thee most amazing children." She whispered grabbing his hand.

*****HOAMII******

The week flew by and after a few days Hanna was discharged and medically ready to go home, even thought she wasn't ready to leave Peyton yet. She and Caleb went everyday and spent time with the newest addition to their family, cuddling the tiny precious infant.

"You are growing." Hanna cooed as a nurse placed the tiny infant on her mother's bare chest for some Kangaroo care. Peyton slowly but surely snuggled in, opening her eyes slightly.

"I've never seen her eyes open!" Hanna squealed excitedly over to Caleb in the chair next to hers.

"Oh, Piper is going to be pissed." Caleb chuckled looking into Peyton's eyes.

"What, why?" Hanna gasped trying to move her head to get a better view.

"Piper is the only one who got my eye color." He stated with a smile.

"My chocolate eyed lovies are just as beautiful as my blue eyed ones." She smiled not taking her eyes off Peyton's bright blue eyes.

"We are not capable of making ugly children." She laughed as Caleb shook his head.

"Oh Han." He exhaled in a sigh.

"Its true huh, my girls are pretty, pretty princess." Hanna replied in a sing song voice gently patting Peyton's back.

"Alright, I want a turn." Caleb mentioned unbuttoning the top of his shirt. Kangaroo care was skin to skin contact that parents of premies could participate in that gave the infants a therapeutic response that fostered growth and healing for the babies.

The tiny thirty weaker spent most of the day asleep still and dozed back off as soon as Caleb snuggled her in tight.

"She already is a daddy's girl." He smirked over at his wife. Hanna always acted annoyed but secretly she loved that her daughters had such a strong bond with their dad. Something she wished she had.

"Well, that was inevitable." Hanna sighed.

"Speaking of the others, your big sisters colored you some pictures." Hanna smiled as she retrieved them from her purse.

"I can hang those up for you." Carrie, one of the nurses added as she left to the office to grab some tape. Peyton had a few stuffed animals on her isolate and the wall behind it was covered in cards and pictures from the River's family and friends.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but it's about that time." Carrie prodded looking at her wrist watch.

"We will be back tomorrow." Caleb whispered giving Peyton a kiss on the cheek. Hanna did the same, tearing up like she did everyday before they left the hospital.

Caleb grabbed her hand as they walked back to their SUV. "Pretty soon, we will get to take her home babe."

"I know." She sighed. "Just not soon enough."

Authors Note: Hey Pretty Little Readers! Happy 4th of July Weekend! I've been really busy again. I got a new job and summer classes so I don't have a lot of extra time anymore. I thought I'd update since I had today off though. I was super pumped because I was like, oh tomorrow is Monday! That means PLL is close. Then I remembered those bastards won't have a new episode on Tuesday! Grrrrr. It was so flipping good last week too! Hope you all enjoy the new chapter. Lots of Loves.-Brostow