"Luke!"
He was off the couch in a heartbeat, heading up the stairs quickly. It had been close to a year since they'd lost the baby. Amber had been reluctant for a while to try again. Three months, no results. Until now.
"Amber, what's wrong?" he asked as he saw tears flowing from her eyes.
She moved her hand from over her mouth, revealing the smile she had. It could mean only one thing. Before he could even get the words out, she nodded. He pulled her against him, grinning like and idiot. They had another chance. And something told him it would be different this time.
----
"Calum? Is Crystal still up?"
"You have Bryana and Ashton there too?"
"It's time, that's why."
"Yes, I'm serious. Do you think I would lie?"
"Do me a favor and call Michael."
"I'll see you soon, mate. Bye."
----
Crystal and Bryana walked into the waiting room first, being followed by Ashton and Calum. Crys stood and greeted them with a smile.
"Amber Hemmings." a nurse called, catching their attention.
The group made their way over, following her back to Amber's room. She stopped and opened the door, stepping aside for the group to walk in. Amber looked up with a bright smile as they walked closer. Luke was in the chair holding the baby, smiling as he played with her.
"Don't leave us hanging, Amber. What's her name?" Crystal asked as she stood by Luke, smiling at her niece.
"Kiara Hazel Hemmings." Amber responded.
"She's as beautiful as her mother." Bryana stated with a smile.
"I guarantee you, she's going to look and act just like him."
Amber's comment sent a wave of laughter through the group, Luke smiling as well.
"I don't know what you're talking about. I'm not that bad." he responded.
"I don't know who you're trying to lie to, Luke, but quit lying." Ashton answered.
The group laughed again as Luke grumbled a rather unkind response, leaving Amber to scold him.
----
"She's finally asleep. We have roughly twenty minutes." Amber huffed as she quietly came from the nursery.
"Fine by me. So long as she sleeps for a bit." Luke answered, rubbing his eyes.
She crawled into the bed beside him, curling up into his side. He rubbed circles along her arm as she relaxed, exhaustion luring her to sleep. By the time she was asleep, he was almost there himself. That was the same moment he realized estimating the time was no use with Kiara's strange sleeping habits. The monitor began to pick up on the soft sounds from her, announcing that she was awake. He laid there for a moment, listening for her to start crying. When the noises stopped, he relaxed again finally being allowed sleep.
Two hours. The new record for the week. Kiara's cries woke both parents this time, Amber already trying to sit up. Luke carefully grabbed her waist, pulling her back to him.
"Stay here and sleep. I'll get her." he said softly, kissing her head.
She did as he said, laying down while he went off to the nursery. He stepped in, sighing as he moved towards the crib.
"Hey, baby girl." he cooed, lifting her from the crib.
As he moved around, holding her close against him, she slowly began to stop crying. Once she stopped entirely, he gently placed Kiara back in the crib. When he returned to his and Amber's room, he carefully laid back down. Luke smiled, pulling her sleeping for against him as he hoped they'd have the rest of the night in peace.
// so this is literally my shortest chapter terribly sorry. just really a filler and to make up for the heartbreak i put you guys through in the last chapters so here. updates are slowing down but i'm trying to keep going. probably only going to be one or two more chapters. even i can't believe this is almost over.
