Orange Is The New Black- Our Life After Litchfield (Book 2)

Sweet dreams

Warning! This chapter contains content some people may find distressing.

A few months have passed. Ben has moved in, Piper is now at night school and me and Alex are just well being single parents. Well I am Alex will be soon. "I'm heading to work. I'll see you later." Ben said as he emerged in his suit. "Have a good day." I said before we kissed and parted ways. "Kevin it's time for us to go now. It's your first day at school!" I exclaimed "Yay!" He said excitedly. He certainly doesn't get his enthusiasm about school from me.

"Buckled in?" I said to Kevin who got himself in the car and he nodded. I got in the drivers seat and started the car and drove Kevin to school. I wore a hat to avoid detection from other parents and successfully dropped him off at school. I had to change Kevin's last name to pornstache last name which I didn't want to do but it would avoid detection from him using my last name.

I drove back home and started to relax. 5 years without a single day off. Well now I have the rest of my life to relax. I started to drift on the sofa when I heard an agonising scream from Alex's home. I ran out the front door and sprinted across the street and flung the door open to see Alex on the floor in extreme agony. There was water all over the floor. "Alex, did your waters break?" I said as she screamed before nodding. "Shit." I said as I saw all the blood on the floor. She's far to early to go into labour. "Alex I need to call for help." I said but she clenched my arm "No ambulances." She struggled to speak but I complied.

I lifted her up and took her to the living room. "Piper it's me. Alex's is in labour. Get home now!" I said as I called Piper "On my way!" She exclaimed before hanging up. I got some towels and some water, I took a brief basic midwifery class but I'm not prepared at all. "Alex I'm gunna need you to push when you feel a contraction." I said to her and she agreed. "I'm ready." She managed to say "Okay go whenever you want." I said and held her hand. She applied pressure as she screamed and pushed. "Your doing great, just one more Alex!" I said trying to encourage her, she pushed one more and the baby was out. But the room was silent.

I cut the umbilical cord and took the baby to another room and tried to do CPR but every attempt I made didn't work. Piper was here at this point and was in the other room trying to comfort Alex. I wrapped up the baby before emerging into the living room. "Alex I'm so so sorry." I said as a tear rolled down my cheek. She immediately burst into tears as Piper leapt into her to comfort her. I walked over and knelt down next to Alex. "Do you want to hold him?" I said and she looked at me. She held out her arms and I passed over the baby. "He's so beautiful." She said as she wiped away tears. "Sweet dreams little dude." I said to him before I left to allow Alex time to herself.

My phone started buzzing. "Hello?" I said as I picked up. "Hey sweetie, was thinking me and you could go for a run later?" Ben said. "Ben. Something's happened." I said bluntly. "What. Are you okay?" He said growing in concern. "Alex gave birth early. It's not good news." I replied. "Jesus Christ, I'm so sorry." He replied. "Can you pick Kevin up from school?" I asked "Yeah of course. Give my condolences to Alex. I'm here if she needs anything." He replied "I will. I love you." I replied before hanging up.

I emerged back into the living room as Piper was sat holding the baby. "I don't really know where we go from here." I said to Alex. "We are calling the doctor. He won't know who we are." She said. I could tell she was exhausted. "Does he have a name?" I asked. "Peter Timothy Vause." She replied. "It's a beautiful name." I said before I put my hand on her arm for reassurance. A couple more hours passed before Alex said she was ready to call the doctor. Almost immediately he was here. "Miss Gillingham I am so sorry for your loss." He said not realising her name was actually Alex Vause. "What will happen to Peter now?" I asked. "When you are ready we can take him to the chapel of rest. You can then decide the funeral arrangements. I know this is a very sad time for you all and there are plenty of services who specialise with this." He said before handing me a leaflet.

"Faye." Alex spoke as she cradled Peter. "I think I'm ready to say goodbye." She said, "I don't want to take him to the chapel of rest, I can't do it. Please can you?" She said "Of course." I smiled before she passed me the baby. "The chapel of rest is about 5 minutes away. I can drive you." The doctor said. We left the house and drove down to the chapel where a nurse took Peter. "You can visit up until the day of the funeral." She said "Thank you" I replied before walking away. I chose to walk back home and all the time I just cried. I feel extremely bad for Alex that I could not have done anything to save her son.

I got home and opened the door, Ben stared me in the eyes and I just broke down. "Shhh it's okay." He sprinted over before hugging me and I collapsed to the floor. "You did all you could under the circumstances, and I'm sure Alex appreciates all the help you gave today." He said trying to reassure me but it wasn't helping.