"Angela, come here!!" Bryan screamed. He heard immediately the sound of her little feet on the floor she ran out and squealed as he ran after her.
"No, Daddy!! No!! Go that way! Go that way!! I don't want to go back!!" Angela screamed. She refused adamantly to go back to her mother's side.
Lauren was standing in the living room, making sure that everything was ready and set up. "Lauren! Lauren!" Angela screamed. "Help me."
Lauren laughed and picked up the three year old in her arms. "Hey, sweetheart. Where's your brother?"
"With my mommy. Daddy wants me to go, too."
Lauren looked up and saw Bryan coming her way with an amused expression on his face. Then she turned back to Angela. "You should probably go and go with your mommy. You know she's my aunt."
Angela nodded. "Where's Landon, your husband?"
"He's out there somewhere."
"Okay."
"I'm sure he would want you to go with your mommy. He would want you to follow your daddy and go with him."
Angela pouted her lips and thought hard about it. "Okay."
Lauren handed her to her father. Bryan then took her in his arms and held her up in the air before bringing her back down to his arms again. "Let's go little one."
Lauren watched them go. Bryan turned out to be a great father. She couldn't believe it had already been six years since Bryan and Emileigh got married. She looked down at her baby bump. She was eight and a half months along. It was her first child. Landon and her had married exactly two years ago. She was a nurse now. She still painted everyday, and she sold some of her paintings to the people that wanted to buy them, but her actual career was being a nurse. There was nothing about it she didn't love. Of course, there were patients who were in very bad condition and there was nothing she could do to help them, but in many occasions the patient's family would thank the doctor and also her, because she had been so nice to them. She occasionally gave the patients one of her own paintings as a get well soon gift.
She climbed up the stairs to go to the room. She didn't understand why they had bought a house with two stories. It was amazing when she was not pregnant. She loved two story houses, but right now at this moment was not the time to have a two story house. Especially because she kind of couldn't see where the next step was. When she looked down all she saw was her tummy.
When she got to the room, Lauren went over to the closet and fished out a light cardigan sweater. It wasn't that cold, but it still made her feel chilly. She looked out the window and there she saw Landon, walking through the yard. He was so handsome in his navy blue suit. There was nothing that she wasn't happy with. As long as he was by her side, everything would be okay.
Laura knocked on the door.
"Hey, darling." Laura said.
Lauren turned away from the window to face her mother-in-law. "Hi, Laura."
"What are you doing here all alone?"
"Not much. I just wanted to get a sweater, because I'm getting goose bumps just by being downstairs."
"You could have just told me. I could have gotten up here and fished you out a sweater."
"It's fine. I made it up okay and besides. I want to be able to do things by my own. I'm pregnant not sick or anything like that. I like to be able to do things by myself sometimes. Sure, they might be more difficult, but it doesn't mean I can't do it."
"I know, but I just worry about you. I just want to make sure that everything is going to be okay. You are two weeks away from giving birth, so you have to take care of yourself now more than ever."
"Can I tell you something?" Lauren asked her.
Laura nodded her head and went to sit don on the bed, then patted the spot next to her so that Lauren knew that it was okay to sit next to her, although Laura never minded. "What's going on?"
"I'm scared." Lauren said, barely above a whisper. "I'm scared of having this baby. What will happen if something goes wrong? What will happen if either one of us dies? What's going to happen to me, to the baby, to Landon. I know how much he really wants this baby. I don't want to screw it up."
"Hey," Laura began, "don't be scared. I know it's scary because it's your first baby, but once it's over and you're holding your baby in your arms, you'll see it was all worth it. Don't be scared. I know what you're going through. I went through the same thing with Lance, but look where he is now. You'll be fine, sweetie."
Laura then hugged her.
"Thank you." Lauren said. "You're amazing. Like completely and truly amazing. I see where Landon gets it from."
Laura blushed. "Oh, stop it. There needs to be none of that."
They walked out and in the living room, there was Emileigh with Angela and Jacob. Jacob was five years old. He had blue green eyes, and he was one of the sweetest boys that she had ever seen, and it wasn't because he was her cousin. It felt weird thinking about it like that. They were little kids and she was so big, but it was true. They were cousins.
Emileigh looked tired, but she also looked happy. She couldn't recall a time in which she didn't look happy after she had married Bryan. Of course, Landon's surgery didn't count, because everyone was nervous and worried that something bad would go wrong and that he would end up not leaving the room alive. But thanks to everything out there, Landon was okay. Safe. With her.
Emileigh noticed them there and told them to go over, Lauren and Laura made their way over to Emileigh. One they got to her side, they sat down.
She let out a sigh. "This is so tiresome. But it is definitely worth it. I can't wait to meet your baby, Lauren. He will be probably be a smart one. And he might play soccer and he'll definitely like the park. and then he'll go to school. And then he'll grow up and then he'll fall in love and marry the girl of his dreams and start a family and then get a job and all that good stuff."
Lauren looked at her surprised. Even she hadn't even thought that far ahead. Emileigh really loved kids. There was nothing that she didn't want to do for her kids. She wanted to make sure that they were raised well, to learn how to respect everyone else, but to not let anyone step all over them in any way.
"You sound more excited than I am." Lauren teased her.
Emileigh smiled at her. "I am excited. But I think mothers are the ones who are more excited about meeting their baby than anybody else. I know I was."
"Yeah. I think so, too. But Landon is really excited about this baby, too."
"That's good. How is he taking the whole fact, being not able to see his baby?"
"He's used to it. He's a little sad, but I mean, all fathers are."
"Yeah, I understand his situation. He'll be a great father, though. Angela absolutely loves him, although she does ask me what's wrong with him. And I ask her what she means and her answer is always the same. She says that he looks at her funny."
Lauren laughed. "She's always so alert to things. But I believe you're right. He'll be a great father. I can see it in the way he treats both Jacob and Angela. He's so sweet to them, but then again, Jacob and Angela are really sweet kids so it's natural for people to be sweet to them."
Emileigh looked at her niece.
"What?" Lauren asked with a smile.
"You're going to be a great mother. It's tough for the first few weeks, you'll be sleepless, running on like two hours of sleep, but you'll survive. It gets easier on the sleep later on, but it doesn't get harder on you raising them."
"Yeah. I know. I think. But it's going to be worth it. Hopefully, they'll be good kids and I'll be a god mother to them."
"Trust me, you will be."
Lauren smiled at her aunt. She always knew the right thing to say. She always knew what to say to make her feel better, to calm her fears, to cheer her up. It seemed amazing how much time had passed and nothing had changed. Of course, they were getting older, but other than that, it was the same thing that they had been doing ever since Landon and Lauren were in high school.
Jacob and Angela ran out the door and into the yard. They were still arranging the stuff. Today, there was going to be a celebration because Angela's birthday had been a few days before. And well, they couldn't leave her without a little festivity, something good planned.
Emileigh and Lauren walked out there, Lauren with her baby bump. Everything was pretty much ready, and the food was about to be served. They all went to a table and picked out chairs. Before Lauren could sit, she felt like a stream of current had passed over her and then an intense pain entered her body. She froze, and her eyes grew wide. She looked at Emileigh and Emileigh got her signal immediately.
"GUUUUUYS!! Lauren's water just broke. We need to take her to the hospital. As soon as these words were heard, Landon and Laura went into the house. They had practiced what was going to happen. Landon went and grabbed the kit that he would take and ran out to the car to put it in. Then he came back with Laura to Lauren and he guided her to the car.
He got into the driver's seat and drove as fast as he could. He looked over to Lauren, and asked her, "Are you okay, Lauren? Take in deep breaths."
"It's not helping!!" Lauren shouted at him. Then she turned with a worried expression on her face. Landon, seeing this, told her. "It's two weeks. The baby will be fine. Don't worry."
They drove all the way to the hospital and as soon as they got out of the car, a few nurses came up to them and they already knew what was going on. Landon never once let go of her hand. They were going to do this together. It was mostly her, but he was going to be there with her every step of the way.
Lauren looked into his eyes, and for a while, she felt no pain at all. She smiled, thankful that Landon was at her side.
She remembered the day that Landon's life changed forever.
Flashback
"Can you see me? Did the operation work?" Lauren had asked him. He wasn't saying anything. And then out of nowhere, he smiled.
"You're even prettier than I thought you would be. You're so beautiful."
Lauren looked up at him. "You can see?"
Landon nodded. Lauren jumped up into his arms and hugged him. He hugged her back. Then he went around the room, taking the time to look every person in the eye. He couldn't have been happier. He could see again and then the last person he turned to was the doctor that had returned the light back to his eyes.
"Thank you." he said to the doctor.
"No problem, Landon. It was my pleasure." Jack held out his hand, but instead of taking his hand and shaking it, Landon hugged him.
"I will be eternally grateful. Forever and ever and there is going to be nothing that will change that."
End of Flashback
They got to the hospital and the nurses came out immediately. They took Lauren and set her down in a wheelchair and then they carried her off. Landon was with her the whole way. They told her that she wasn't yet ready and that she had to wait a little longer. They also asked her if she wanted to give birth naturally or with a pain reliever and she preferred naturally.
When the nurse came in next, they told her she was ready and they took her to the birthing room. Landon stayed with her while she was giving birth. She was sweating and she was breathing hard. She looked at him, and she whispered, "I can't do this."
Landon took her hand and with his free hand, he caressed her face. He looked into her eyes. "You can do this. You're stronger than I am. You can do this. It's hard. I can't imagine what you're going through right now, but you're doing an amazing job. You can do this, sweetheart. Just trust yourself."
Those were the words that she needed to hear. Landon always knew what to say. She wanted to meet her child. She was scared, but having Landon next to her, with him being his usual self, made everything feel okay. She continued pushing until she heard a baby cry. By the time this happened, she was breathing hard. She turned to Landon and he was smiling at her. "I told you that you could do it."
He hugged her and she smiled. After all of that complicated and strenuous activity, they took her to the room and brought her baby in with them.
"Congratulations," the nurse said. "It's a baby boy."
The nurse then put the baby in her arms, and Lauren couldn't believe how amazing this little baby was. She looked up at Landon with tears in her eyes. "Isn't he beautiful?" she whispered.
Landon walked over to her and nodded. "Have you decided a good name for him?"
Lauren nodded.
"What is it?"
"Liam." she looked at him.
He looked at her and he asked her, "You're serious?"
Lauren nodded. "His name will be Liam Valentine Reyes."
Landon laughed. "Okay."
Three days later, Lauren and Landon went home with baby Liam with them. Once they arrived, everyone swarmed around them especially Lauren to see the newest addition to the family.
"What name did you decide on?" Laura asked.
"Liam." Lauren answered.
Laura looked at her and smiled, tears filling her eyes. "That's a beautiful name."
Everyone was happy to see them. Landon and Lauren were happy. Emileigh and Bryan were happy. They were forming a family together, and there was so much happiness in their lives.
Who would have thought that one prayer, one plea...would bring so much happiness?