Always And Forever, And Even After That

Chapter 1- Bump Ahead

Emma-Leigh's POV

" Taste it, it tastes really good", " Do you want to play hide and seek?" ,"Shh, don't tell anybody", "It's our little secret", "Let's hide under the bed", "Just one taste". I felt myself being shaken, and realized it was another dream. Another dream, same content. I looked up to see my best friend looking down at me with tears in her eyes, only then did I realize that I was crying. "Another one?" she questioned. I set my eyes to the floor and nodded, trying to hold back the on coming tears. I felt her place her hand on my head and she started praying for me, half way through the prayer, a burst of emotion just rushed through me, anger, hurt, betrayal, fear, and my body started to shake. I noticed that the hand that was placed on my head was shaking too, and I looked up at her through teary eyes and saw that she was in the same state. In a broken voice I whispered to her "When is it going to end?", and sobs immediately racked my body. Following that episode, I did my devotions and got ready for work. After praying, I was in a significantly better mood and definitely ready to start my day. I usually wear comfortable clothes since I'm with babies for most of the day. I left home and headed straight to my company to make sure that things were as they should be before I went to meet my client. Normally, the owner of a business like this would stay in the office instead of attending to clients, but I love kids too much to just sit in an office all day doing paperwork. Which is why I rely on my best friend to handle all the paperwork.

I contacted my client to let him know that I was on my way to the hospital. I would be working with him for the next four weeks. His baby girl was brought into the world a few days ago and he got the all clear to bring her home today. He needs my assistance for a month because there was some complications with his wife while she was in labour and they kept her in the hospital. Basically, I would be a stand-in mother since he is scared of taking care of her on his own. I parked my car and went to the private wing of the hospital where they were keeping both mother and baby. They had the baby in the NICU (Neonatal intensive care unit) since they wanted her to have as much skin-to-skin contact as possible. When I looked at James (my client), he had tears in his eyes while looking at his baby girl. He was standing outside of the room, I walked up to him and placed my hand on his shoulder. He looked at me with bloodshot eyes. "I can't- I can't go in" his voice cracked. "She looks exactly like her" he continued, turning back to stare at her through the glass. My heart broke for him. This is certainly not the first time I've seen this, and it surely doesn't get easier. I stepped inside and looked at her, the most beautiful little angel calmly asleep, even though I say that about all the babies I see, but it's true.
Arya Rose

I met with the staff and assembled the baby's documents since James was still shaken up. Most of them knew me due to frequent visits at the hospital so it wasn't a tedious process. We made it to their house where they prepared the most beautiful nursery fit for their little princess. I set her down on the bed and proceeded to add the final arrangements to the nursery. Arya, with her great timing, opened those beautiful blue eyes and started twitching accompanied by the cutest coo's, so I quickly left the room to grab her formula, made her a bottle and sat down to feed her. After all this time, I still hadn't heard from James so I quickly burped her, placed her in her now made up crib and I left to check on him, only to find him sitting on the couch, with his shoulders hunched, and a defeated look in his eyes, holding one of Catherine's (his wife) hoodies and looking at their wedding photo. "She's going to be okay you know" I said and say beside him. He gave a lifeless chuckle. "Can you affirm that?" He asked, as though he had already given up all hope, but if you looked into his eyes you could see the tiniest speck of hope that she would come home to him. "Catherine's a fighter" I replied, "Literally and metaphorically" I chuckled, and he smiled, a faint smile, but it was still something. I sighed and then turned towards him. "This is just a bump in the road. You of all people should know that God has a reason for all of the seasons that we experience. You just need to have faith that she loves you both enough to come through for you. She carried this little bundle of joy for nine months, do you think she'll just leave without meeting her? Do you think she'll give up on the two people that love her uncondtionally? She's coming home. Where she belongs, with the both of you." He hung his head, breathed deeply, and replied "I really hope she does" he sniffled. "Could you-sigh- could you take her for the night, please?" he asked, looking like he was at his lowest point. I gave him a warm smile. "Of course, I'll keep her for as long as you need me to".
I called Anna to tell her to prep nursery, which I have in my home incase incidents like these occur. I cooked a meal for James, because he was in no state to do those stuff by himself, and left, taking a spare key and locking the door behind me.
When I arrived home, I parked my car in our garage and took Arya upstairs to the nursery, where I placed her in a crib to sleep, put her stuff away. I then made a beeline towards the kitchen in search of food. Anna, who was already there, handed me a subway, I pouted. "I love you" I said. "You only love me because I buy you food" she replied with a chuckle. I gave her an innocent smile and she rolled her eyes at me. "Did you see her yet?" I asked her with a smile. She has a love for babies, almost at the same capacity as mine. She smiled a really broad smile. " Yes, she's so adorable" she pouted. I quickly excused myself from her company to take a quick shower, then joined her in the living room where we started to discuss the events of our day, that was, before her phone alarmed, reminding her about a date she had. She jumped with excitement, exclaiming "TO BE CONTINUED" and left to go on her date. I returned to Arya and took her to my room, making sure I had all the stuff that I would need for the night. Though I have the nursery, I prefer when the babies sleep with me. I smiled down and whispered to her, "I guess it's just you and I", and kissed her adorable little nose.