I walked back into the room by myself. My dad had left again to go see the baby. I had offered to go with him, but he thought that maybe I should stay with mom. I'm cautiously walked over to her bedside. I don't think she saw me – she seemed to be in some sort of trance. I reached my hand down and gently placed it on hers. She flinched.
"goodness, Charlotte, you scared me."
"Sorry, mom." I paused.
"How are you?"
She looked me in the eye for the first time. She furrowed her brow and tilted her head.
"Are you kidding me Charlotte. Really? I'm not OK. My baby just died."as she continued to talk, her voice got louder and she was shouting."Something terrible happened, and one of my babies is alive, and the other is dead, but both should still be inside growing healthy. So no, I am not good." She crossed her arms and looked away.
I was taken aback and felt hurt by her sudden anger. I turned to walk out of the room but I heard her sigh, and I turn to see her with her head in her hands.
"Lottie, I'm so sorry." I turned back around to see tears streaming down her face.
"I never should've gotten angry at you, I just…" She started to get choked up.
"I just…" I walked over and hugged her. She cried on my shoulder.
"I just wish my baby boy was here too." She finally managed.
"I know mama, I know." After a few seconds, I back out of our hug.
"I know what you need to do." She looked up at me and wiped her eyes.
"What?"
"You need to go see your baby girl. She's right downstairs, we can go in the wheelchair. She's perfect and beautiful, and she needs you right now. It's horrible that he is gone, but he is. The best thing you can do for him now is to be with her sister." She nodded, not needing an explanation of who 'he' was.
After a few minutes, the nurses got her in a wheelchair and cleared her to go down to the and NICU. We rode quietly in the elevator with some other families. Finally we got off and we're about to turn the corner to see all the babies. My mom let out a deep breath.
"You can do this mom." I said.
"I know." I pushed her around the corner and we saw my dad standing there.
He looked up with a shocked look on his face. He smiled at my mom, but then looked at me with a concerned 'what are you doing?' look. I nodded, assuring him in response.
He looked back down.
"Emma, love, are you feeling better? Do you want to see her?"
She nodded hard.
"OK."
I wheeled her up next to the window and she leaned in. My dad pointed to her. My mom smiled and a tear rolled down her cheek.
"She's beautiful. So beautiful."
After a few seconds of all three of us staring at the baby, a nurse came out.
"Is she yours?" She asked, pointing to my sister.
"Yes, she's ours. Is something wrong?", My dad said.
"Oh no, no. We are just moving her to the regular nursery in a few minutes. I just thought you might want to know. We've been closely monitoring her stats since she was born, and Dr. Montgomery thinks she's healthy enough to go out of the NICU. That means you will be able to hold her soon."
My mom smiled and hugged dad. He kissed her and smiled too.
"She's OK, Killian. She's really OK."
"Aye, Love," he said and kissed her head. "She's perfect."
We went back upstairs to our room before the rest of our family came back. Just a few minutes after we sat back down, grandma, grandpa, and Aunt Zelena came back. Right away, grandma wrapped my mom in a big hug and gently rocked her side to side.
"I love you, Emma."
My mom wiped her cheeks of her tears.
"I love you too, mom."
My grandpa joined the hug, and put his hand on the back of mom's head.
I felt aunt Lena put her arm around my waist and my dad move closer to me. Even through all this drama we had just been through the past day, I knew, looking at all of my family, that we were going to be OK.
Thanks for reading!! I know this was another filler chapter, but next chapter you will know the baby's name!! Please review this story, I love hearing your thoughts and suggestions. Tweet me at @EllaHill_Crouch. Next Ch will be up Saturday!
Xoxo Ella