"Please, Doctor, tell me she'll live!" I can only hear his sobs echoing off the hospital walls, and a baby's soft whining in the corner. Confusion floods through me as I listen intently to everything that surrounds me... I want to get up and focus, but I'm exhausted. My bones ache and my head pounds. I can barely bring myself to move, so I settle for just listening.
"I can't make promises. I'm sorry," the doctor apologises grimly, and Ed screams at the top of his lungs. Pain burns all through my body as I listen, the sound echoing in my ears. I have to help him. But I can't.
"Don't leave, please no, stay with me, our child needs a mother, Taylor, I love you so much... Please..."
I can't take it. I lurch upwards and lunge for him, stretching my fingers out for the crying man beside my bed.
"Taylor!"
Pain shoots through my veins as I am jerked backwards all of a sudden, but I don't fight it. Pain is worth this kiss. It's passionate and reckless and perfect and I can't think of anything else. Ed pulls away, leaving the taste of tea from his lips in my mouth, and he grins at me breathlessly. I smile gently as the pain eases, and then my eyes land on the tiny baby softly whining in a cot in the corner. I can't take my eyes away from it, and when it catches me staring, it gazes right back in amazement. We connect immediately. I can hear the Doctor announcing something to me, but all I see is the baby.
"MY baby," I whisper, reaching my fingers out as if I can pick him up and cradle him from all the way over here. Ed beams at me and heads over to the cradle, scooping the baby up in his arms.
"Want to hold him?"
"Yes," I breathe, and Ed places the child in my arms as the doctor smiles at me from the side of the bed. The moment the child is in my arms, he stops grizzling. My baby is warm in my arms with a pale milky complexion, a chubby body, short with slanting cheekbones and tiny tufts of ginger curls sprouting from his head. Happy tears form in my eyes as I gaze at my handsome little baby, his eyes fluttered shut as he breathes slowly and surely in my arms.
"He's perfect," I murmur, completely awestruck. I don't want to name my baby after anyone- not Ronan, not Elliot, nobody. My baby will have his own original name. Because he's JUST mine.
"I agree," mumbles Ed, snaking his arm around my shoulder and kissing my cheek lightly. I brush my lips across my baby's forehead, whispering my song to him soft and slow.
"Oh, darling don't you ever grow up, don't you ever grow up... Just stay this little."
"What will you call him?" The doctor enquires gently, and I look up at Ed curiously, not knowing what our answer will be.
"I like Teddy," mumbles Ed with a slight smile. "Or Xavier. Maybe-"
"Xavier," I interrupt. It's just right. "Xavier Teddy Sheeran."
"Okay then," Ed grins. "There you go, Doc. He's Xavier Teddy Sheeran."
The doctor nods with a smile and grabs a little paper wristband off his desk in the corner, scrawling 'Xavier Teddy Sheeran' onto it with his flouncy itallic handwriting. Then he clips the wristband around my darling baby's tiny wrist and smiles at me.
"He's a very sweet baby," the doctor declares cheerily. "I'm sure he'll be quite the musician!"
Ed and I both laugh before the doctor leaves to give us some privacy, and then he smiles at me, clutching Xavier who is gradually drifting into a dazed sleep.
"Love is as easy as ABC with you," he murmurs romantically, and I giggle as he rests his hand on my lap.
"Do you hurt?"
"Not as much as I expected. I can only remember myself on fire before it all blacks out. What happened?"
"You gave birth to Xavier and then passed out. The doctor's face went all grim and he turned to me after he'd sorted Xavier out, and then he told me there was a fifty percent chance you'd live. You can't imagine how painful it was for me," Ed sighs. Tears well up in his eyes as he remembers the scene that played out just minutes ago.
"I'm pretty sure I can," I joke, and he chuckles before leaning back on his chair, fluttering his eyelids shut dreamily.
"You're right. I think you've experienced a lot more pain than me, even though I find that unimaginable."
"Xavier Sheeran," I mumble softly to myself, beaming as I press my lips to our beautiful baby's forehead. He wriggles around before sighing slightly and returning to his first ever dream. Or perhaps he could see dreams before birth? Perhaps he could see everything I saw. Perhaps I'll never know.
"He's perfect," grins Ed.
"Isn't he just?"
"The ideal mix of you and I. Got the chubby factor and the ginge disease from me though. Poor guy."
"I like gingers," I reply pointedly. "I love them, in fact."
"Daw," Ed blushes, and he leans in to brush his lips gently against mine, cupping my cheeks in his hands. I love him. I love him so much.
Suddenly, the door bursts open, and Ed leaps back in shock, trying to look innocent- but the man's not an actress. Xavier squirms around and whines softly, waking up again, as I see Mum and Dad and Austin and Tammy all grinning with joy.
"Taylor!" Austin shouts cheerily, strolling over to the hospital bed. The little crowd follows to reveal somebody I never would have expected- and I gasp in astonishment.
Standing in the doorway is none other than my ex-boyfriend Harry Styles.
I watch him near me with his little lopsided smile, reeling in shock as he flops down on a chair on the right opposite Ed.
"Where is the little munchkin? Is this him?" Harry reaches over and picks up Xavier's tiny hand, balled into a fist. Xavier automatically curls his little fingers around Harry's thumb and I can't help smiling at how naturaully they click.
"I'm sorry," I whisper to Harry, and he just grins at me.
"It's mine," he mumbles in a low voice. "I'm alright now. Time heals almost anything."
And there it is- that happy smile I've wanted to see again for so long, the antidote to my depression over leaving Harry so heartbroken. Everything is better in that instant and I can't even see why I was ever upset.
"Congratulations Taylor," Mum declares through her joyful sobs, perching on the end of my hospital bed. She reaches over to Xavier and wordlessly strokes his little head, her fingers toying with each tiny tuft of ginger hair. "He's a perfect mix of you both."
"Agreed," Ed laughs before Dad and Austin lean over to greet Xavier, who is now squirming around in confusion, clearly pondering over who these strangers are.
"Meet your grandmother," I smile at him, pointing at Mum. "Your uncle-" I point at Austin, hugging a grinning Tammy close. "Your future aunt-" Tammy giggles gently, blushing- "Your grandfather-" I gesture towards Dad who is smiling down at Xavier- "And your godfather Harry."
Harry looks at me in bewilderment, shock evident in his eyes, but then he grins at me like his entire life is complete.
"Seriously?"
"Sounds good to me," agrees Ed, and we both smile at him tenderly.
"Thank you so much," Harry beams. "I won't let you down! For Xavier."
"For Xavier," I nod seriously.
"For Xavier."
*
Shortest chapter EVER, I know, and I'm sorry! But the entire story is about to end. So...
-Danica xoxo
*
YOU ARE READING
Red (Ted Sweeran Romance)
Fanfiction"Love is as easy as ABC." That's what everybody Taylor has ever known has always seemed to tell her. Her family, her friends, even some of her past lovers. But if she's knocking down the letters of the alphabet, Taylor's already at Plan G, and she h...
