Jimmy’s POV

“Hey, man” Brian says, jogging towards where I am, sitting on a hallway waiting for the doctor to come out of the room where Lea has been for the past hour.

“How is she?” Michelle asks, sitting next to me, rubbing my back.

“They say that her pressure went up” I mutter, not looking up from the same fucking spot I’ve been looking at for the past fucking hour. “They told me to wait outside since I was getting a bit out of control in there”

“What about the baby?” Brian asks, taking a sit next to her fiancé.

“I don’t know. They haven’t said one thing” I say. I hear him sigh & grab Michelle’s hand. “Where is everybody else?” I ask.

“Johnny & Lacey are on their way. Val & Matt are picking up Zacky & Gena. They were at my father’s house already helping Suzy out with something” Brian replies. I nod.

“Where’s Anna?” I ask after a while.

“Shit. We forgot to call her” Michelle says. “She’s spending Thanksgiving with Justin’s family in Chicago. They leave…” She checks her watch. “About an hour ago” I just nod. I could use Annabelle around right now. She’s good at making me feel better & comfort me. She’s the next best thing after beer & cigarettes & since I can’t smoke nor drink here, I really need her to calm me down. “Don’t worry, Rev… they’re gonna be ok” Michelle says. I just nod cuz, honestly… my hopes aren’t that high. We waited for another hour, without any word & I was going insane! Just then, the doctor came out & everyone charged him.

“How is she?” I ask, desperate to know.

“She’s fine now, but I’m afraid that we have to take the baby out” He says, glancing at the chart on his hands.

“What?” I ask.

“Yeah. The longer we wait, the higher the risk that she might suffer a miscarriage & her life would be in danger”

“So the baby is gonna be ok, right? If you take it out, it’s gonna be ok, right?” He just looks at me. “They’re gonna be ok, right?” I ask again.

“The risk is high that the baby might not make it. Since she’s not fully developed yet, she might have some problems. We cannot yet determined what, but she’s gonna be really fragile… that’s if she makes it” He says again.

“She? We’re having a baby girl?” I ask. Leana & I decided not to know the baby’s gender cuz we wanted it to be a surprise.

“Yeah” He says. I turn to look at everyone staring at me.

“Will she be ok?” I ask.

“Like I said, Mr. Sullivan, there’s a high risk that she might not-“

“Not the baby. My wife. Is she gonna be alright?” I ask him, staring down at him.

“She has the same amount of risk as your unborn daughter” He says, looking down. I let of a sigh. I can’t do this. That woman is my life. That baby is her life. “If the time comes, you’ll have to decide which one will live” I look at him shocked. He can’t seriously be asking me to decide. “Let’s hope we don’t come down to that” He says, returning to the room to prep Leana. I stay still, not breathing, not thinking, not blinking. When did my life turned upside down?

“Everything’s gonna be ok, man” Zacky says, putting a hand on my shoulder. I just nod, not crushing their hopes.

*~*~*

“Mr. Sullivan” A nurse comes out. I look up, dreading the worse.

“Y-yes?” I stutter.

“Come with me, please” She says. I turn to look at everyone & they just smile, reassuring me that everything was ok. Leana had been over an hour in surgery. I walk in a room, seeing Leana there, lying… still. I feel my eyes beginning to water. This can’t be happening. “She’s been asking for you” The nurse says & I look at her. She has a small smile on her face. I walk towards my wife & sit next to her, grabbing her hand. She slowly opens her eyes & smiles at me. God… I love that smile.

“Hey” She says.

“Hey” I reply kissing her forehead.

“It’s a baby girl” She says. I nod. “She’s really small” She says & I see a tear escape her eye.

“Hey, its gonna be ok. Everything is gonna be fine, I promise” I whisper to her. She nods & laughs. “What?”

“Annabelle won” She says & I furrow my brow in confusion. Won what? “They made a bet about the sex of the baby. Everyone thought it was gonna be a Lil’ Jimmy running around & chasing giants duck. Anna said it was gonna be a pretty little girl” She says. I laugh too. “Have you seen her?” She asks me & I shake my head no. “They took her to the baby’s room. Go see her” She says, closing her eyes & falling asleep.

“She’s at the special care unit for babies. You won’t be allowed to go in but you’ll be able to see her through the glass window” The nurse informs me after I left my wife’s room & lead me through a hallway. When we arrive, she leaves me to go inside, moving closer the incubator that held my baby girl. I gasp. I’ve never experienced so much amount of love in my life like I do right now. Just seeing her small chest barely rising made me want to give my entire life for her to make it.

“They say that after the 24th week, there’s an 85% amount of survival & for her to lead a normal life with the help of special cares & specialists” I close my eyes & laugh. “Thank God, Leana had 26th weeks. That’s when they gain weight so that’s why she’s been having back pains. They also start learning to breathe by themselves & their muscles become stronger so they start kicking harder” Leave it to Annabelle to know that. She’s always been kinda of a dork.

“How would you know that?” I ask her, turning to look at her.

“London made me read every single fucking book about pregnancy & babies” She says, hugging me. “How are you?” She asks, while we turn to see my little girl connected to countless amounts of tubes & what not.

“Scared. Look at her, Anna. She’s so small” I say.

“Just like her mom. What did you expect? To be obnoxiously tall like you? Thank God she isn’t” She says, placing her arm around my waist. I laugh. This is what Anna does to me. She knows how to light up the environment & keep positive thoughts. And whenever you drift to a dark place, she becomes the fucking light bulb to help you see the light again. She says it’s normal… I consider it a gift. “How is Leana?” She asks.

“Tired. Or drugged… I don’t know” I say & we laugh. “We were scared shitless” I say, letting out a sigh.

“I wasn’t. Doctors tend to over react about these things. Maybe they feel it’s better for you to be prepared for the worst” I think a little bit about this. She kinda has a point there. “Besides… God owed me a favor” She says looking up at me & winking.

“Really? What for?”

“Haven’t had sex in 4 months. I guess since it has taken all my will for me to do that, it counts for something, right?” This girl is crazy. & there’s no way that she hadn’t had sex with Justin. Even I would do him. He’s that good looking. It’s just then that it hits me.

“What are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be with your man on Chicago right now?” I ask. I see her smile falter a bit & bite her lip. “Ann?”

“That didn’t work out” She simply says & I watch her swallow a lump.

“What do you mean? Did you miss the plane?” I push. She lets out a big sigh, not saying a word. I nod slowly my head, not really wanting to force her to tell me something she isn’t prepared to talk about it. “Who called you?”

“Papa Gates. He was actually yelling at me about how inconsiderate & selfish I was by going to spend this holiday with someone else’s’ family. ‘You don’t disappoint & bail on your family like that, Annabelle. You know this is our holiday. What were you thinking running off with that guy you barely know?’ Blah, blah, blah” I laugh out loud at her impersonation of Papa Gates & her rolling her eyes while telling me. She does it so well. “And in the middle of his tirade, this bomb landed, so… here I am”

“We should tell the others” I say, remembering the guys sitting on the waiting room.

“That’ll be a good idea” She says, starting to walk.

“By the way, I hope you buy me a beer with the money from the bet” I say. She laughs.

“No way. That money is going to the baby’s college fund” She says, walking towards Leana’s room instead of the waiting room. “I stopped by the waiting room earlier & nobody was there, so I think they must be smothering our beautiful wife” She says, linking her arm with mine.

“How much was the bet?” I ask.

“500 per head… girls & boys. So that leaves me with 4000 dollars” She says. “I don’t know why they thought it was gonna be a boy. God can’t punish Leana with another Jimmy running around” She says & I fake gasps.

“I feel slightly offended by your comment”

“Oh, shut up. I know you were dying for a little girl” She says while we entered the room & see everyone surrounding Leana’s bed.

“Look who I found snooping around” I say, walking to kiss my wife’s forehead, whispering that our baby was doing fine.

“ANNA” Zacky yells, running to hug her & pick her up. “What are you doing here?” He says, placing her down.

“Did you really thought I was gonna miss my niece’s birth?” She says, hugging everyone. “How are you doing, baby?” She says, hugging Leana & kissing her cheek.

“In a little bit of pain, but ok” She says. They start talking about the baby & I can’t help but smile that all the people that really matters to me are here right now.

“So, Rev… what are you gonna name the baby?” Val asks.

“We haven’t decided yet” Leana says.

“I was thinking about Zepellin” I say & everyone glares at me.

“You’re kidding, right?” Michelle says.

“What? I think is a cool name” I defend myself.

“For a dog maybe. Not for your child” Matt says & everyone nods… even my wife. I cross my arms over my chest & huff.

Annabelle’s POV

Jimmy told us that it wasn’t necessary for us to stay there. Well… actually, the doctors & nurses kinda threw us out. They said that Leana shouldn’t be making so much force with her just being recently operated & that there were too many of us. 9 persons aren’t too much, right? And after Papa Gates scolding me for 45 minutes when we arrived, here we are… cleaning the table after our Thanksgiving dinner. “Leave it, Ann. I’ll clean them up. Go outside with the rest & have fun” Suzy says, taking the plate I was currently washing from my hand. I smile & kiss her cheek, before walking outside, leaning over the railing next to the stairs that lead to the big back yard & the pool. I smile at the sight. All my family is here. I wouldn’t trade this for anything. & that’sdefinitely something I’m thankful for.

Gena’s POV

“Hey” I walk to Annabelle, handing her a beer. “What happened?” I ask.

“What are you talking about?” She asks me, even though she knows what I’m talking about. “Oh, Suzy kicked me out of the kitchen”

“Don’t pull that shit on me, Anna” I say, leaning over the railing too. “What happened?” I ask again & she lets out a big sigh.

“We kinda… broke up” She says, sipping from her beer.

“Why?”

“Because… he didn’t want me to stay” She says, hoping I would leave it alone. But she knows better than that.

“And?” I ask, drinking from my red cup.

“And… nothing. He didn’t want me to stay & leave his whole family stood up” She says in a small voice.

“Bullshit. I’m not buying that” I say to her & turn to look at her. “Tell me” I say & she remained silence. “Ok. You don’t want to talk, I get it. I’ll just ask you a favor… I rather prefer for you to tell me you don’t want to talk than you lying to me. Cuz I know you’re lying, Anna” I say, turning to leave.

“I couldn’t give this up” She says & I stand still, turning to look at her, still gazing where everyone was. “He wanted me to give this up” She says & I see tears brimming on her eyes. “The minute he said to me, ‘Forget about them, I’m sure they’re fine, let’s go’… that was it. That’s when I realized I couldn’t give you guys up” She says, wiping the tear that fell from her eye. “You guys are my fucking family. You don’t give up on your family, no matter how screwed up we are… we’re family” She says, looking at me. I smile to her. “I just couldn’t give him up” She says in the smallest voice, almost a whisper, almost a mumble. But I heard her.

“Who?” I ask. I see her battling with herself.

“Brian” She says. “He asked me to give up Brian… specifically” She says & looks towards where Brian was sitting, with Michelle on his lap, laughing at something Johnny said.

We all know the kind of relationship Annabelle & Brian have. They are very close. Closer than anyone I’ve ever met in my entire life. I even think they are closer than Michelle & Brian. But I’ve always kinda felt that there’s something underneath all that. I told myself that it was just my imagination, that you can actually love someone so much without being in love with each other & that they were the living proof of that. But ever since Brian & Michelle got engaged, their dynamic changed completely. They’re not close like they used to be. She’s talking to me, for Pete’s sake, when she would be talking to Brian about this if it happened a few months ago.

“He told me that I was staying for him” She says & I look at her collected again. In control, like she always is.

“He can’t actually expect for you to cut him out of your life. I mean, it’s Brian. He’s been there forever” I say.

“I know. He told me that as long as Brian has such an important role in my life, I would never completely move on. That he’s my anchor” She says. “He’s the reason I don’t give my heart completely to anyone else. He’s the reason I don’t fall in love with anyone else. Cuz, according to Justin, I’m in love with Brian” She says & turns to look at me with these eyes that I can’t decode. “That’s crazy… right?” She asks me. But it’s the tone of the question that intrigues me. It’s not the playful it-doesn’t-matter tone. It’s more like she’s asking me to make her believe that it’s crazy. So I do what she’s asking me to do… I lie to her.

“Of course. Justin’s an asshole” I say & see her give out a sigh, almost like she’s relieved. “We should’ve known that he wasn’t perfect. He was way too hot” I say making her laugh.

“Another dumb blonde?” She says & I nod, stopping immediately.

“Hey… I’m blonde” I say & she laughs & I see her shoulders relax. I know she’s ok… for now.

“What are you guys talking about?” We turned to see Lacey walking towards us. I turn to look at Annabelle.

“How I’m $4000 richer tonight” She says, smiling to Lacey.

“Stupid bet” She mutters & I groan. I guess we have to pay up.