White afternoon sunlight bled through Jimmy's long drapes, and the perfect amount for exploring without the aid of lamps or candles. Jimmy slept into the late afternoon, and Mary wouldn't dare ruin the pureness of his slumber. She tiptoed out of the bed, her feet eagerly touching the warm carpet.
Exploring alone was more personal than being shown around by Page himself, and no better time than while he slept. To take his home at a slower glance, soak it all in, feel the passion built up in the walls. Mary paced the hallways cautiously and agonizingly slow. Her fingers grazed the beige walls, stopping and staring every few seconds at each picture and painting. Roses appeared often in paintings, along with dewy mountains and lakes with pure white swans. She stopped and smiled at a picture of Jimmy with a young girl. His smile shined bright in the photograph, the young girl by his side. Mary looked down at her pregnant belly, two days overdue now, and patted it. At least Jimmy is good with children.
Any normal person walking into the rockstar's home would think he was full of himself with the amount of photos he had of he and the band hanging on the wall. Mary admired it and closed her eyes, taking her back to the night she first met him; grinning up at the stage, watching Jimmy play with a sexual aura captivating the whole room. Mm, the sweet screeching sound of his guitar.
Mary continued on down the hall, entering into a new room. Guitars filled the perimeter of the room, each in its own slot. Several golden records lined the wall with golden plaques below it to match, the band name engraved into each of the shiny plaques.
"I see you've found the music room?" Jimmy's low morning voice croaked.
Mary turned, startled. "Yeah, I was just looking around. I hope you don't mind."
"I don't mind. I've got a wide selection. At least twenty. Thirty, possibly."
"How do you even have time to play all of those?"
"A lot of the time, I don't. I try to play whenever I can, but when I'm home I prefer to stray away from the musical world. It's a cleansing time when I'm away from it all." Jimmy stated. "How long've you been up for?"
"I don't know, not too long."
"How are you feeling so far?" Jimmy asked, gesturing to her belly.
"She's a kicker, won't stop. She's definitely coming today." Mary couldn't help but let a smile take over her lips. "She's just as restless as I am over this."
"Let me know if something happens, okay? Right away."
"I will, Jimmy."
"Good. Now come here." Jimmy extended his arms for a hug. He already smelled of cigarettes, even after having woken up minutes ago. An addict never slacks.
Mary loved the scent by now, despite its bitter aroma. It was Jimmy, and she loved everything having to do with Jimmy.
"Princess." Jimmy moaned, pulling himself away from Mary.
"Yeah?"
"Let me show you something." He grabbed her hand and led her out of the room. Down the hallway they went and into a room adjacent to the one they shared. "Ready?"
"Yes."
Jimmy turned the handle of the door and opened it wide. A pink room. Light pink, almost-white-pink, dark pink, all of the pinks you could imagine. The room was a sweet smell, a new smell. Not a cigarette smell, nor an alcohol smell, a fresh smell. A tan crib was the only discolored thing in the room; but nonetheless decorated with pink blankets. Mary walked in first and covered her mouth in astonishment. How did Jimmy do that? She looked back at Jimmy, leaning against a darker pink wall with his arms folded over his chest. "So?"
Mary simply smiled. No response. She dove further into the room. A rocking chair sat empty beside the crib, also a pastel pink. She sat in the rocking chair and rested her hand on the wood of the crib. Her eyes met Jimmy's once again. "How- when did you-?"
"Friends of mine." Jimmy answered shortly. "Do you love it?"
Mary nodded. "It's perfect. It's flawless." She picked up a blanket that hung over the side of the crib and looked at it. An image of red roses hand sewn into the soft fabric popped out. "You love roses."
"So will she." Jimmy agreed. "Soon enough this room will be occupied. Are you nervous?"
Pink flooded around her. Calm pinks. "No. Are you?"
"No." He said confidently. "We got this, princess."
~
"Not too far away, princess."
Mary laid nervously in her hospital bed, connected to IVs and monitors. "I know. I can't believe this is happening."
Jimmy smiled and grabbed her hand. "You're gonna be okay. Stop shaking."
Mary rolled her head over to see him fully. "You wanna know something crazy?"
"What's that?"
"You're Jimmy Page."
"Wow," Jimmy raised his eyebrows. "How'd you figure that one out?"
She ignored his remark. "I'm having a baby with you. Right now. For real."
"I know."
"You have no idea how crazy this is for me, Jimmy. This doesn't just happen to anyone. How did it happen to me?"
"Because you," He kissed her hand, "happen to be the most gorgeous girl I've ever seen. And I don't know how I got so lucky."
Mary smiled. "I love you so much. So much."
"I love you too."
A sappy moment was rudely interrupted by a contraction, gritting teeth, and forcefully muffled grunts. Jimmy squeezed Mary's hand as tight as he could to let her know he's still there through the pain. Mary sighed after it was all over. "Three minutes apart."
"She's coming." Jimmy sang.
Mary nodded and stared at the ceiling. "Where's the telephone? I want to call home."
"You can't make international calls in this hospital. They don't allow it. I'm sorry." A nurse said from the corner. Mary glared at her, knowing her American accent had screwed her out of a call. "You're eight centimeters now."
She swallowed hard. Less than a few hours away, pressure setting in, a baby was coming. Seconds seemed like minutes, minutes seemed like hours, hours seemed like days. Time passed by miserably slow, yet scary quick. Jimmy almost seemed more nervous than Mary, stepping out for cigarettes every so often and pacing around the room. His hands shook when it came time to start pushing, but held Mary's steadily through every push.
The room was filled with cries and yells, inspirational voices, exhaustion, and heavy breaths. After almost a half hour of nonstop noise, the only thing breaking the silence was the cry of a newborn baby. Mary laid her head back in relief as nurses took her baby away for cleaning.
"You did so well, princess." Jimmy swooned.
"Thanks, I tried."
"Y'know, the last time I heard you swear that much, we were making her."
Mary rolled her eyes with a laugh and rubbed her eyes. "What should we name her?"
"Wow, we're so unprepared." Jimmy laughed. "I was thinking something short, like Lenna."
"Oh, Jimmy, that's perfect for her. Oh! And her middle name can be Rose, you love roses."
He smiled widely. "Nevermind, we're prepared now."
A nurse brought the baby back into the room, wrapped in a pink blanket and a pink hat on her head. Mary instinctively shot her hands out to hold her small child. "Oh, look at you, honey. Look at how small you are." She held the child to her chest, rubbing her cheeks and smoothing her hair. "Lenna. My baby."
Jimmy cautiously watched Mary and Lenna, as if too much movement could wake the sleeping beauty. They sat in silence for what seemed like forever, time standing still, admiring the baby in awe, like they'd never seen something so beautiful in their lives.
"Jimmy?"
"Yes?" He responded.
"Do you want to hold her?"
"Of course."
Mary handed her over to her father, carefully. He unwrapped her from her tight cocoon and let her gentle skin hit the warm air. He grabbed her little hand and kissed it, holding her close to his body to keep her as warm as possible.
"Jimmy?" Mary whispered.
"Hm?" Jimmy answered, not taking his eyes off Lenna.
"Who was that girl in the picture in the hallway?"
"Which picture?"
"The one where you're laying and there's a little girl next to you."
"Oh," Jimmy cleared his throat. "That's my daughter. Scarlet."
Mary paused and stared hotly at Jimmy. "Your daughter?"
"Yeah, I guess I failed to mention that part to you. She's four."
"When were you going to tell me you had a daughter, Jimmy? You don't just forget you have a daughter."
"You never asked." Jimmy said shamefully.
"I shouldn't have to ask. She's your daughter! When Robert told me you wanted to start a family I thought he meant you didn't have a family yet. Not start a new one."
"What he meant was settling down. I didn't settle down when I had her. We weren't a family, we didn't get along. Her mother wasn't up for being a part of the rock star life."
"Do you still see her?"
"Every now and then. I love her to pieces, I couldn't live if I wasn't able to see her. She comes to visit me when her mother is in town."
"Promise me we won't end up like that?" Mary's eyes watered.
"I promise you, princess. As long as you don't leave me."
Lenna wrapped her small fingers around Jimmy's thumb and held it as she yawned. Everyone felt the same amount of exhaustion.
~~
hello people! sorry about the short length of the chapter, I wrote it in two-ish days if that makes you feel any better? this is not my best writing, that's what I get after having a several month break from all writing. hope you enjoyed it. mya, you're welcome for the children ;) cya soon!!