Telling Our Story

Epilogue

*PRESENT TENSE*

            “Hun, are you sure you’re going to be okay?’ I asked Harry warily. The closer we got to the birth, the paler his face became.

            Yes, it was finally that time. I was becoming a grandma. It seems like only yesterday I was in this very same hospital room giving birth to my daughter. Walking into this room brought back some good and terrible memories. The walls were a pearly white, probably due to touch up paint. There was a large window directly across from the doorway. The view was being obscured by the thick, tan curtains, so we weren’t able to look down on the busy streets ofLondon. The only visible change was the way the room was laid out. Obviously, the sink and bathroom were in the same spot; the sink directly under the TV that hung on the wall, and the bathroom next to that. The bed was in the middle of the room and tucked back against the wall with a pinkish bedside table. It currently held a cup of water and tissues, as well as the phone in case you needed to call a nurse.

            “Dad,” Darcy hesitantly said. “You don’t have to stay. I’ll understand if you want to wait outside.” She smiled slightly, and then winced in pain as another contraction started.

            “It’s almost time.” The nurse,Lorraine, smiled politely. I was thankful that this nurse seemed friendlier than the one I had had.

            Harry suddenly sat down in the plush, faded pink chair that was next to the door. “I’ll be okay. Just nervous, that’s all.” He said, squeezing my hand and trying to muster an appropriate smile for his daughter.

            “You’re doing great, honey.” Brodie said, kissing Darcy’s hand and smiling fondly down at her. He’s been so calm this whole time. It must make Harry feel like a baby that a young adult can handle this better than he, a grown man who has already been through this, can. We may all think that, but none of us dare say anything.

            “I’m going to go update everybody, okay?” I asked. After receiving a nod of approval from Darcy, I slid out into the hall and made my way out to the waiting room.

            It wasn’t a long walk, just about five minutes. When I arrived, everybody stood up and looked at me expectantly. Everybody had hurried to the hospital as soon as they heard that she was going into labor. Even Liam, Danielle and the rest of the family had flown in from their vacation inFloridato be here for Darcy.

            “How’s she doing?” Perrie asked, looking genuinely concerned.

            “Great, her contractions are starting to get closer together.” I replied, leaning against the back of one of the unoccupied chairs. It seemed like the main theme of this hospital was the same grungy pink as the rooms. There were four different rows of chairs; the two in the middle were back to back and then the other two were on either side and pushed against the wall. On each end of the rows, there sat a brown coffee table that had magazines thrown on top; probably at some attempt to make the room more suitable.

            “How’s Harry?” Niall chuckled. The boys were in the waiting room when I was having Darcy, so they remember quite well how he reacted.

            “He’s,” I stifled a yawn. “Sorry. He’s been better.” The exhaustion was finally getting to me. We’ve been at the hospital for twelve hours so far and I haven’t slept a wink for the last two days. I’ve been slightly stressed out because I knew Darcy’s due date was coming up.

            I received a few sympathetic smiles. “Well, I better get back.” I yawned. “I’ll send Harry out if anything happens.” We hugged and then I made my way back to the room.

            “How’s she doing?” I whispered when I entered the door. I didn’t want to be too loud, because she and Brodie looked like they were having a private conversation.

            Harry slid me onto his lap and replied. “Good.”

            I kissed his cheek and leaned back on him gratefully. “You okay now?” I asked.

            His nose nuzzled my cheek. “Fine.” Came his muffled reply.

             As scary as it is, I’m excited to be a grandma, and I know Harry is just as excited to be a grandfather even if he doesn’t like how it happened.

            Darcy get’s six months maternity leave from her record label. Though, she probably won’t stay away for that long. Darcy figured out what she wanted to do with her life when she visited Simon Cowell at his studio. With his help, she established her own, and is now gaining more and more clients every day, so it’s easy to say that it’ll be too busy and hectic for her to stay away that long. Brodie, however, decided he wanted to go down the business route. He now owns one of the most successful law firms in the city. We’re all so proud of the both of them. They’ve grown into two beautiful and mature adults.

            “Epidural please!” Darcy groaned. I jumped off of Harry and went to stand by her side. She was gritting her teeth together, and breathing heavily.

            “Take deep breaths.” I spoke calmly, letting her grip my hand. “Ouch.” I said under my breath. Her grip did not come from me. “Harry, come here.”

            He got up off the chair and came to stand by my side. “Hold her hand.” I ordered. After mine was free, I moved my fingers around trying to get the blood flow to circulate.

            Finally, the nurse and Doctor showed up. “Ready to have a baby?” The Doctor asked cheerily. It was a rhetorical question, so nobody bothered an answer.

            “It’s a girl!” Brodie yelled joyfully. Darcy was panting heavily, but her breathing seemed to slow as she saw her baby being lifted up off the bed.

            “A girl.” I faintly heard her whisper. None of us knew what the gender was because they wanted their first child to be a surprise.

            Harry and I were positioned at the top of her bed. I smiled up at Harry. He returned it with a twinkle in his eye. Leaning back into him, I sighed contently. “We have a granddaughter.”

            “Do you want to hold her?” The nurse asked Darcy, to which she nodded eagerly. I’ve never understood why they ask that. If you had just birthed your child after carrying it around for months, and then taking hours to birth it, wouldn’t you want to hold it? “She’s beautiful.” She smiled, gently kissing the top of her head.

            Brodie took her hand in his and looked down on them, happiness clearly displayed in his eyes. “She looks just like you.” Kissing the top of Darcy’s head, he asked. “Mind if I take a turn?” She shook her head and lifted her slightly. As cliché as it sounds, the baby fit perfectly in his arms, as if she was meant to be there.

            “So what’s this beautiful baby’s name?” Louis asked, strolling in through the door, the others following. Darcy was covered underneath her blanket again, so it was safe for them to come in.

            Without looking up, he replied at the same time Darcy did. “Emilia Sadie Eleanor Tomlinson.” They smiled fondly at each other and I met Eleanor’s eyes. Her face was a mixture of shock and happiness, just as I was sure mine is. Along with keeping us in the dark about the gender, we also had no idea what their options were for names.

            “She’s ours.” Darcy quietly said while another smile took up her features.

            Brodie did the exact same thing and nodded. “All ours.”

            I smiled. The room was filled with so much love. We’ve had our fare share of ups and downs. And, believe me, there were plenty of bumps in the road, but we made it out okay. Actually, we made it out better than okay. I might have lost all my family, but I gained a new one. I know that somewhere out there, my mother and brother are smiling down at me. One day, we’ll all meet again. I loved my life, and can’t wait to see our family grow. The happiness I was feeling almost brought me to tears.

            Before I started blubbering like a baby, I smiled at everybody and then spoke to the new parents, “One day you’ll tell her your story.”