Thursday: April 25, 2013 12:29 P.M.

I sat in the apartment, waiting for Randy to arrive. It had been a rough eleven days. I hadn't been with Randy, and despite Eve and Ryse being around for most of those days, things just weren't the same. Randy wasn't even originally supposed to come see me this week, but yesterday, the doctor told me that we should be able to hold the baby today. Of course, I immediately called Randy to inform him, and he was on the first flight he could get from Saint Louis to get here and would be staying at the apartment with me until Sunday evening. He was supposed to be here any time now, but he had not shown up yet. I was getting a bit anxious because I wanted to get to the hospital to hold my son. I turn as I hear a knock on my door and get up very quickly to let Randy in.

Randy walks in and closes the door behind him before pulling me into a kiss. "Hey, beautiful."

I kiss him back. "I missed you."

"I missed you too."

"Do you need me to take your bags to the bedroom?"

Randy pulls out of the kiss. "Nah, I got it, babe. Just give me a second, and I'll be back."

"I won't be going anywhere."

Randy walks into the master bedroom and back out. "So how's it been staying here by yourself?"

I sigh. "I hate it. I know I used to live like this before we started dating, but now, I can't stand it. It's not the same without having you in bed with me for weeks."

"The baby is making progress though. He'll be able to come home sooner than later."

"I know. I just miss being with you all the time."

"I miss it too."

"I'm honestly a bit homesick too."

Randy nods. "That's understandable. Home isn't the same without you there. That's for sure."

"Like you said though, the baby and I should be able to come home sooner than later."

"Yeah, are we good to go?"

"We should be. Let's go."


Randy and I watched as a nurse brought the baby over to us.

"He's so small." Randy whispers.

"No shit. He's premature and not even three weeks old." I replied.

"Fair enough. You can hold him first."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, he came out of you, not me. You can go first."

I nod. "Okay."

The nurse passes the baby to me. "Here you go, Mom. Do you want me to leave you guys alone for a little while?"

"Yeah." I answer as I'm starting to cry.

The nurse exits, and I just hold my son as tears roll down my cheeks.

"Are you crying?" Randy asked me.

"Oh you know it." I replied.

"Well you can't judge when I start crying too because I think I'm going to too."

I laugh. "We're both being emotional today apparently."

"Yeah, man, I can't wait to bring him home."

"Me too. Do you want to hold him?"

"Are you sure you're ready to pass him to me?"

"Yeah. I might take him back when you're done though."

"Okay." Randy takes the baby from me. "We made this."

I nod. "Yeah, we did."

"He's got dark hair."

"Must've gotten it from you. I'm very much blonde."

Randy laughs. "I'm sure we'll see some of your genes showing in him when he ages more."

"We'll see."

"Man, I wish I could be around him more."

"I'm sorry that you can't."

"It's not your fault. We jointly made the decision that I should probably keep working because of medical bills. Even without that, I can't stay here fully yet because Al still has school."

"I know."

"He's a strong baby though. Poor thing went through being born early, but the doctors said he's doing so well."

"He's probably too stubborn to let that hold him down, considering we're the parents. I'm willing to bet he inherited that."

Randy laughed. "Yeah, we're both too stubborn for our own good, aren't we?"

"We've both always been that way."

"That's true. This poor baby is gonna be too stubborn. We're in for a handful with him."

"Definitely but I love him so much already."

Randy nods. "Me too. Thank you for giving birth to him."

"It takes two to make a baby."

"Yeah, but you went through some rough stuff when he was in your womb. I didn't do that."

"But you went through me being hormonal and being mean to you."

"I don't hold that against you."


Randy held me close to him as we laid in the bed at the apartment together. I felt the most at ease that I'd been in weeks as we both didn't move or talk. Randy grabbed my hands and held onto them. I looked over at him with a smile and kissed his cheek. Randy smiled at me.

"You're bothered by something." Randy whispers.

"I'm bothered by everything." I whisper back.

"Fair enough. This has been a lot, Rissa."

"You aren't wrong."

"You've talked about how it is not the same for you to live by yourself in an apartment now in comparison to how you did it before we started dating, and it's gotten me to think about how it is at home for me. Before we started dating, I still had our house, but it was just me, and Al on occasion. Back then, it was fine. Now, it doesn't feel like home because it's too empty. Especially during the day while she's at school. And don't even get me started on travelling on the bus without you. That messes with me so much. You are the only thing that can keep me sane on those rides apparently."

"You could ask Cena to go on rides with you."

"John and I may be best friends, but he and I have such different schedules these days. It wouldn't work well."

"You're lucky I push so much to have similar schedules with you when I work."

"Is that why we do most of our media together these days? I'm shocked, Marissa. Shocked."

I laugh. "You know that I've been doing that for ages."

"And maybe just maybe, I absolutely love that you do that." Randy kisses my forehead.

"I think I'm going to call my therapist."

"Are you having mental health issues?" Randy asks with concern.

"I think this is all just being so hard on me. Plus, I haven't had an appointment with her since the early parts of my pregnancy. Plus, I think I've been having a bit of a rough time since having the baby. We've done appointments over the phone before. I think I need to start again."

Randy caressed my face. "Do whatever you feel is best, Rissa."

"How long do you think things are going to have to be like this?"

"I have no clue. We've just gotta keep going until he's ready to come home. And I'll make sure to take some time to visit you. You know I'm not leaving you by yourself on May 4."

"To be honest, I forgot our anniversary was coming up until you said that."

"That's okay. I'll come to you if it's needed, and I'll plan everything."

"Thanks, handsome."