"Oh my Gosh. Look at you!", Lana expressed with widened eyes when she got a look at Maddie's well-grown stomach.
They just returned from Lana's mom but the woman couldn't handle another day without her Lola, so she was driving to Matthew the morning after arrival. She hadn't seen Maddie for quite a while now since she wasn't at home when Lana had dropped off her beloved dog, so it was more than a change seeing the young woman with such a round stomach already.
"I can't believe it. We just met a couple of months ago and now you look so much more… mature and grown-up.", Lana chuckled proudly, pulling her into a hug which wasn't too easy.
"Yeah… We just started our 23rd week.", The girl explained, rubbing softly over her baby bump before letting Lana into the apartment. "I can tell you. Lola is obsessed with my stomach. Such a sweet girl. She always looks out for me and even puts her head on my knees to watch the little one kick sometimes.", Maddie laughed, walking with Lana into the living room.
"Naw. She is the best. Little Loli.", Lana grinned, kneeling down when her senior dog recognized her owner immediately after stepping through the door. Her tail started wagging uncontrollably, whilst the dog was almost wincing out of happiness.
Lola turned back into a puppy right there, jumping excitingly around Lana before licking over her owner's face, then hand.
"What's going on, Lola?", Lana asked laughingly. "It's me. Just me.", Lana chuckled since the dog normally calmed down quite quickly after greeting her. But not this time.
When Lana sat down on the couch with Maddie, since Matthew was at a model job, her dog jumped next to her, laying down with her front paws over Lana's legs.
"That's what I meant. Haha. She did that all the time to me and watched my stomach.", Maddie chuckled. "Sorry. Must be a new habit for her.", she said.
"Oh don't worry. I love it. She isn't much of a cuddle freak otherwise. I mean she likes it but she wouldn't lay down with me too often. She always wants her own little space, so having her that close is great. I can give her a lot of attention like that.", Lana chuckled, before her eyes fell on Maddie's stomach again. "So… the baby kicks?", She smiled.
"Yeah! But it just started recently. Like two weeks ago I felt like a little flutter and it was weird, to be honest. It didn't hurt but it still wasn't that pleasant, so I asked my gyn during my last ultrasound… and yeah. Our little baby boy was big enough to reach his mommy's inner tummy.", she laughed, still having a protective hand on her stomach.
"It's a boy?? Oh my God, that's awesome!! That's what you have hoped for! Congratulations. Honestly. I am so so happy for you two. I think you're doing amazing.", Lana smiled.
"Thank you… that means a lot.", Maddie answered, trying to find a more comfortable position with the bump. "It isn't that easy with Matthew's parents, to be honest. So… your words mean a lot.", she said with an uncomfortable smile.
"I am so sorry. Are they at least behaving a bit better now?", Lana questioned.
"Well… Ehm… depends on the day I guess. His mother bought some baby clothes, which was quite a cute gesture. And his father… let's say he's not ignoring me anymore but I don't feel too comfortable around him. I believe he thinks I am not good enough for his son.", she explained.
"As someone who spent 7 years with him, I can tell you that nothing is good enough for his standards anymore. He changed… and I really would wish to have the man back that he once was because… the version he is now… doesn't feel right. He either betrayed me in all those good years we had… or he betrayed himself. I don't know. I just wished I could have him back as a friend... But the old him.", Lana sighed. "Anyway... What about your parents? Are they happy?"
"I think… yeah… I mean… of course, they are a bit troubled by our age but they will be here for us. I know it."
"And so will Sean and I.", Lana chuckled. "Pretty sure Sean has lots of advice if you're struggling because he is like a superhero when it comes to the kids.", Lana chuckled, realizing that Maddie had started to massage one point of her stomach. "Is he kicking?", She asked curiously.
"Yeah… he is. And slowly but surely you can feel it even on the outside. It's amazing.", Maddie said with sparkling eyes. "Here.", she said, placing Lana's hand gently in the right place. "It's not too strong yet but…"
"It's amazing.", Lana breathed out with a smile on her lips. "I was fortunate enough to feel those movements when friends or even my sister were pregnant… but it takes my breath away every time again.", she smiled softly. "How are you feeling? Is all nausea gone?"
"Yeah.", Maddie breathed out. "Gladly. I really had enough of it. And all the smells. But it got much better during the last few weeks. I could actually leave the house again without needing to have a toilet around.", she chuckled. "Enough of me. Where are you going tomorrow? Was it Comic-Con?", She asked interested.
"No. Well, it is a con but something completely new for Vancouver. It's a Disney Expo, which is literally like a con but it's also appropriate for a younger audience since topics like Frozen are included to take pictures and buy merchandise. It's like a portable mini Disney land without the rides.", she laughed.
"In fact, Leo and Flynn were asked to participate in our panel session to have a variety of ages even in the panel. So it's going to be child friendly.", Lana laughed. "They are thrilled about it…and Amélie is going with her friend Bailey and her dad Marc. He will be stuck with them at Frozen I guess.", Lana laughed. "The two are like twins… that's why Milo, Bailey's older brother is probably with his grandparents. He has different interests than them."
"That sounds fun! Like really. Maybe I will convince Matthew to go with me because I really enjoy Disney.", she laughed. "How long will you be there?", Maddie asked.
"Basically the whole day. Sean and I got the photo sessions in the morning, then the panel and after autograph sessions till the late afternoon. Sean will just drive Flynn and Leo to friends after the panel before coming back.", Lana sighed. "It's going to be a bit chaotic and… stressful but we will manage somehow I guess. Thank God we are all good again. Sean was just a bit cranky and I was all over the place too. My mom gave us a rest, to be honest.", Lana chuckled.
"Oh no. Well good that you're fine again, honestly because it sounds like you need your energy.", Maddie assured her.
"Yep. And I guess I am gonna head back home as well to prepare for tomorrow. Like outfits and stuff. But It was really nice to see you again.", Lana grinned. "Give us updates on the baby, yeah?", She grinned.
"Oh, I will. Or at least Matthew. He is so proud already.", Maddie chuckled, walking Lana to the door with all of Lola's stuff.
"And thank you again. Honestly. It means a lot.", Lana confessed, putting some money in Maddie's pocket.
"Lana, please. No. We do that because it's fun. Take it back.", Maddie said straight away but Lana shook her head.
"No way. If you don't wanna keep it, see it as a present for my kind of grandchild.", Lana laughed. "Honestly. Nurseries are expensive. Just take it as a thank you.", she said, hugging Maddie once more before leaving the apartment.
She drove home with Lola, who didn't want to leave her side even at their house, making Lana wonder if she had neglected her too much in the past three weeks since they were barely home, so the woman gave her some special attention today and even slept with her in one bed since the senior dog preferred it that day.
The next morning began as chaotic as Lana thought it would. Everyone had to get ready, Sean needed to drive Amélie to Marc and Lana wasn't in the best mood either.
"Please. Just put it on, Leo. I have a headache. Honestly. We don't have time to discuss it. Yesterday you were fine with wearing this outfit. Just… please.", she said with a hand on her temple to rub it slowly.
"But I wanna look pretty like you.", he argued.
"You are pretty, Leo. Those clothes are totally fine, okay? And you picked them yesterday. Please.", she asked again, making him finally wear the outfit.
When Sean came back they all hopped into the car, driving off to the location. They arrived just in time through the back entrances, where security guided them towards the space where the photo-taking would take place.
Leo and Flynn joined Matthew in the meantime, something they arranged spontaneously, so they wouldn't have to wait two hours behind the stage.
Pictures were something Lana actually loved since she could interact with fans and listen to their creative photo ideas, even though her feet get a bit tired after a while, why she most of the time does her photo shoots without her shoes on.
Once she finished taking all the pictures, she met up with the boys and Sean backstage to get ready and get a bit more energy, especially since her headache was not simply going.
"Hey… please… I know you don't like medication but you're going to feel awful the whole day otherwise.", Sean said, giving her some aspirin, which Lana took.
"Just today.", she announced, giving in to the pain and dizzy feeling it brought to her. "I hope this will work. But from now on it's just sitting. I will be fine.", she said.
"I hope I didn't pass whatever I had to you. I had a headache as well. That's how it all started.", Sean confessed, making Lana nod. "We got 10 more minutes.", I tell the boys to go to the toilet before we go.", he said, leaving Lana to herself.
In the meantime, Marc and Rebecca's parents found their way to the Con and as predicted, Milo wanted to have some time for himself, which meant they split, leaving Marc with the twins, as they call them.
"Alright, girls. No one is running. You will stay on my hand, yeah?", he asked, looking left and right to get a confirmation. "Nice. Let's go.", he sighed. "Why am I doing this?", he mumbled, when entering the kids' section.
"Anna! Elsa!!", Bailey shouted, jumping to Amélie's side. "Daddy!! Go!", she grinned.
"You wanna go there? You know you two look like Anna and Elsa. You even got the reddish hair.", Marc chuckled.
"Yeah!!", Amélie squealed. "Amé an Lee Lee, Anna Elsa!", she grinned widely when she saw all the dresses from her favorite characters.
"You wanna be Anna and Elsa?", Marc asked with a chuckle. "Well let's search for your sizes. Even though your mommys are going to kill me when I buy stuff.", he mumbled. "but it's cute.", he told them, before finding the right dress for each girl, which they wanted to wear straight away of course.
The two of them chuckled at themselves in a mirror near the little shop, swirling around like proper princesses they were, whilst Marc took a little video as a memory. "Do you wanna go and take a picture with Olaf? Look. He's right there.", the man pointed out to someone in a whole-body Olaf costume. Very convincing.
Of course, the two girls were running to him straight away, bombarding him with questions, before holding still for one second, so Marc could take the picture.
"Alright, alright. Where should we go next?", he asked, when he heard his wife's voice in the background, making him chuckle straight away.
"Mama!", Bailey gasped, looking around immediately.
"Yeah. That's right. That's Mama speaking.", Marc grinned. "She is the best.", he said. "Wanna go and have a look at her and Amélies parents?"
"Yessss!", the girls said at the same time, jumping up and down on their way to the stage.
"There they are. But we have to be all quiet, okay?", Marc smiled at the two princesses but Amélie and Bailey clearly had different plans.
"Mamaaaaa!!", the little redhead yelled through the room, which was only audibly because no one was talking at the moment. Marc immediately knew that this was his death since his wife was very careful about pictures of her kids and right now a good hundred of cameras swirled around to the little girl.
"Oh gosh.", Bex said through the microphone in front of her, fastly covering her mouth when she recognized that everyone could hear her.
"They are Anna and Elsa.", Ginny grinned from the stage. "That's adorable.", she mentioned, almost melting because of how they looked.
"Alright, let's go back to Olaf.", Marc said, trying to get the two girls but neither of them was willing to go since they had to obviously show off their dresses, so Bailey and Amélie ran hand in hand to the staircase of the stage, where security helped them climb up.
"Mama. Elsa!", Amélie said, spinning in front of Lana, totally interrupting the whole panel without even bothering since they had no idea what was going on. For them, everyone was basically family at that stage and all the "Awws" didn't bother them at all.
"That's very cute, sweetheart but you know… we actually are busy right now. Would you like to sit with us all quietly or do you wanna go back to Marc and see Olaf, Mh?", Lana asked.
"Ehm… Olaf.", she said, agreeing with Bailey. "Tiss.", she said, blowing a kiss to her parents before getting escorted by security back to Marc, who looked extremely apologizing at everyone that attended, avoiding the gaze of his wife before leaving to the kids' section again.
"Sorry for that.", Sean laughed. "But two princesses have to do what they have to do. And I guess it was pretty smart to dress them up as Anna and Elsa. Could have been my idea.", he laughed. "Alright. Sorry. Please continue.", he said to the interviewer.
"Oh, no worries. I guess that was the cutest interruption of all time.", he laughed. "Once we had that little improv, let's stay with the children because we got two special guests today.", he said, whilst all eyes of the cast landed on Leo and Flynn, who grinned nervously between their parents. "Fans wanted to know, did you practice at home quite often to learn all your lines?"
"Yessss!", Leo exclaimed loudly with a huge grin. "And I loved it!", he added.
"Yeah Lana taught us a lot about acting and how to play a character because that's very important.", the older one explained. "We did exercises for our voices as well and Dad practiced with us how to show emotions and how to memorize lines. But we didn't have that many. Only a couple.", he said, sounding like a grown-up when talking about the profession he enjoyed.
"And who was forgetting lines the most?", the interviewer asked with a smirk.
"Daddy!!!", both boys yelled in agreement, followed by a laugh from the whole cast. "Dad always forgets lines. And Mum is sometimes silly whilst practicing. Once she put a mustache on her face and we couldn't stop laughing!", Flynn said giggling.
"You didn't like my mustache? Oh come on.", Lana laughed.
"It is actually really interesting.", the black-haired interviewer said, looking down at his paper for a second. "You two just made your relationship official.", he continued, looking between Lana and Sean. "Did it change the whole dynamic on set or did it remain the same?"
"We had to deal with more kissing. Couldn't separate them", Josh cut in before they even had the chance to answer, making the audience laugh.
"That's not true.", Lana chuckled. "Ehm… no… well… you know obviously it is a little different on set and how we approach it but we were so comfortable working together even before our relationship started, there wasn't a big change. But it does feel even more real when acting out a romantic scene for example.", Lana smiled.
"Yeah. I agree. And especially since we saw Robin and Regina finally having a decent life together without him dying every half a season, it felt pretty much like at home. Especially since our kids portrait Robin and Regina's.", Sean chuckled.
The Interview went on with the focus on the other cast members until the audience was allowed to ask questions, which were mainly for Jennifer, Ginny and Josh since they haven't attended Cons for a long time because of their work schedules. That's why Leo got a bit bored after a while, sadly looking at his dad. "I wanna answer a question too.", he said, clearly audibly since the microphone was right in front of him.
"Naww.", the Interviewer said, turning to the audience. "Anyone here who has a question for Leo to answer, please?", he asked, letting the mic move to a different person for now.
"Who is your favorite family member?"
"Oh come on.", Sean said. "Obviously me?"
"No!!", Leo laughed, putting his hand in front of Sean's mouth. "That's my question.", he added before thinking about it. "Ehm… it's Lola!", he grinned.
"fair enough.", Lana chuckled. "Lola is awesome.", she smiled. "Who is funnier at home? Daddy or me?", She asked, looking at the children.
"Daddy!", Leo answered straight away with a laugh. "But you are funny too…just… daddy is more silly. And you can cook better.", he announced.
"Yeah!", Flynn nodded eagerly. "And Lana tells better stories. Like… she creates new ones. It's funny because we don't want books anymore. We always say 'Mummy please tell us a new one'.", he chuckled. "They teach you a lesson every time.", Flynn smiled.
"What is the most important lesson it taught you?", the interviewer asked with a smile.
"Ehm…", Flynn started to think about it.
"To be myself!!", Leo grinned, looking at Lana. "She always says that. And when I want to wear a dress she doesn't laugh at me.", he confessed nervously. "I love her because of that.", he admitted quietly, causing the whole audience to hold their breath because of that special moment, whilst even Lana struggled to hold back her tears.
"Yeah. That's true", Flynn grinned. "And she taught us to always be kind….and talk about problems. That's important.", he pointed out. "And not to take her chocolate. That's part of a lot of stories too.", he laughed.
"Yes! She hides them from us and daddy in the nightstand!", Leo confessed.
"Obviously not pretty good. How do you know about that?? I hope you haven't taken some", Lana laughed. "Ask Bex. She knows the consequences of touching my chocolate. We need to talk about this later.", Lana finished, so the interviewer could continue.
When the interview finished, It was already past lunchtime and to their surprise lunch was actually prepared for them, which wasn't very common for Cons. They had a lot in the past were being hungry was quite a problem over time since no one had thought about their lunches.
This time there was a variety prepared for the participating guests and the boys were more than thrilled.
"Alright. Let's eat quickly because I have to drive you and be back asap.", Sean said, helping them to sort out their plates. "Are you not eating?", he asked Lana, when she joined them with a simple piece of bread in her hand. "Honestly… you shouldn't do the autograph session.", he added, putting one hand on her forehead. "You're all sweaty.", Sean sighed worriedly.
"Only two more hours of autographs. I can do that. Some people came by plane to be here. I can't just disappoint them. I don't like doing that…", she confessed.
"I know… and I understand but you look awfully pale. And you're not eating.", he pointed out. "Did the painkillers work at least?"
"A little I guess… and I am eating. Bread.", she said, putting a small piece in her mouth. "Seeing all this food makes me sick to be fair. My stomach can't handle it right now."
"But then you need to go to bed, Mama. To feel better soon. Like daddy did. He was in bed all day and now he is feeling good again.", Leo exclaimed, putting a fork with pasta into his mouth. Just looking at him eating was hard for the woman to watch since her tummy twisted and turned violently.
"Yeah. I… I will do that when I am back home. Just not now. You have your lunch. I am right back.", she excused herself, hurrying to the bathroom to take a good breath. Gladly the smell of all the different flavors was gone in there, not following, which caused her to finally take deeper inhales.
When her reflection looked at her through the mirror, she saw immediately what Sean was referring to. Her skin looked all sweaty, whilst she was as white as a blank sheet of paper.
She couldn't simply cool herself down with water since her makeup would be ruined, so all Lana did was take a paper towel to gently dab the sweat away. When she finally got control of her breathing again, she returned to her family, who gladly finished their food by now.
"Alright. Have fun boys. We will pick you up when we finish.", she told them, placing a kiss on each head. "See you later. I gotta go.", Lana said quietly, kissing Sean's cheek just in case to not pass on any germs.
She went off before he could say another word, so he pulled Colin to over, who was on his way to the autograph table as well. "I will be back in around an hour. Could you have an eye on Lana for me?", he asked.
"Sure… why? She is not going to cheat on you.", Colin laughed.
"Not because of that.", Sean said, rolling his eyes. "Honestly. Please. She is not feeling well. She hasn't eaten since this morning and I have the feeling it's just getting worse.", Sean pleaded seriously.
"Yeah… yeah sure. It's alright Sean. She is a big girl. Not a kid.", he said, placing a hand on his friend's shoulder. "You need to try and be less scared. Tanya's accident was a year ago… and it was awful. But you can't monitor Lana every time, okay? But I will keep an eye on her. I promise.", he assured him.
"Thank you…", was the only thing Sean said. He knew that he needed to leave Lana a bit of space even when she wasn't her best self but it was hard for him. After Tanya, he got sensitive around situations that made him feel uncomfortable.
When Colin went to the autograph tables, he put a bottle of water next to Lana's half-empty one. "You need at least to drink.", he warned, before walking up to his chair, whilst Lana just chuckled since she knew immediately that Sean must have had a word with him.
Lana's line was long, as usual, making her speed up unfortunately since she wanted to get through them all without leaving anyone behind. It was nice to see familiar or new faces, have small talks and have a bit of an inside view of her fans.
But even her love for all those people who attended couldn't distract her from the building-up pain in her stomach that made her feel even nauseous over time. At one point she didn't even feel alive anymore. People came and went in front of her table, her body functioned, but her brain wasn't really participating anymore. Her view got blurry, like looking at a text without her glasses but this was a new feeling. A new situation.
Without responding to anything the person in front of her just said, Lana stood up to walk up to Bex, who was sitting next to her. Her body was shaking by now, her steps small and unsteady. She couldn't remember when she felt that bad before.
Her head was screaming for help but she couldn't say one word. She was standing between her own chair and Bex hers, saw how her friend was treating her fans and not recognizing Lana at all.
It was Colin who had a glance to his right, looking up from signing one picture, when Lana caught his eye. She was even paler than before, her legs only a second apart from not being able to hold her own body weight anymore.
"Lana!"