Chapter 54
I wantto say I had the best night’s sleep last night, but I would be lying. Shock.
I slept awfully but I think a lot of it was to do with nerves. I had to go into hospital for a couple of weeks so they could keep me monitored and I hated the idea of being away from everyone. And when I say everyone, I mean Keaton.
I needed to tell my dad and the girls, but honestly, I just didn”t want to at the moment. My dad was in his newborn bubble and I just feel like everything that has my name attached to it is drama.
“Ready?” Keaton asks me as he loads my bag into the trunk of the car, and I nod.
I”m not. But I have to do what is best for me and the babies. I need to stop being selfish for a moment.
Kyra said that Keaton is welcome to live in the room with me, but I told him not to. The odd sleepover, yes, but he is so busy at work, and I don”t want him to fall even more behind because of me.
Climbing into the jeep, Keaton leans over and straps me in and makes sure the seatbelt sits under my bump.
“Do we have everything?” I ask as he pulls onto the road.
“Yes baby, we checked the bag three times.”
“What about the babies’ stuff.”
“It”s all prepped, remember? Let”s just focus on you yeah. Everything else can be handled when it needs to be,” his hand slips between my thighs and I know he is right.
I sigh as I watch the trees blur past the window and anxiety swarms in my tummy, my heart thumping harder with each mile that brings us closer to the hospital.
“Everything will be okay,” Keaton says as we pull into a space outside the hospital. I feel a little at ease already seeing that where I will be staying doesn”t look too much like a hospital. Pushing the car into park, Keaton is out and by my side within seconds as he helps me out.
“I am hungry,” Keaton rolls his eyes, laughing softly as he shakes his head from side to side.
“I have spent all morning asking what you want and you told me nothing because you were not hungry, and as soon as we get here, you choose to be hungry now?”
“It”s not my fault, it”s the babies,” I shrug my shoulders up.
“Let”s get you settled then I will go and get you whatever you want,” he steps towards me, placing a soft kiss on my forehead and I tame the butterflies he makes me feel every single time.
Hand in hand, he leads me into the hospital.
“Okay,so checks are done, one of my nurses will be back in a couple of hours to check on you,” Kyra smiles as she pops my chart back at the foot of the bed.
“I”m going to run out and grab Arizona some food and snacks, is that okay?”
“Of course,” she turns her body towards me and smiles, “of course, Ari will have the option to eat here too and I swear, the food is really good. Plus, the chocolate pudding is to die for,” she winks at me, “I’ll see you soon,” and then she”s gone.
“You okay?” Keaton sits on the edge of my bed and tucks a loose strand of hair behind my ear.
I nod.
“Do you want me to call your dad?”
“No, leave it for the minute. He has enough going on with having a new born at home. You tell him, he will panic and then be up here. I don”t want to stress him out.”
“Okay,” he leans in and kisses me softly. “What do you want to eat?”
My stomach grumbles on cue.
“A decaf oat latté, tomato soup and grilled cheese,” and I am drooling at just the thought of it.
“Of course, Blossom,” he stands and I already miss him.
“And snacks. Chocolate, fruit, chips and cereal. Please don”t forget cereal.”
“I would never,” he winks, “if you need anything you call me, okay?”
“Okay,” my eyes flutter, he smiles and my heart melts in my chest. He walks towards the door, pressing his hands to his lips as he blows a kiss. I reach up, catching it and tuck it against my heart.
“That ring looks real pretty on your finger, wife.”
I giggle, shaking my head and once he is out the room, I look down at it.
“It really does,” I sigh.
I”ve not been alonelong when the calmness I was feeling listening to the sound of the babies heartbeats soon fizzles into sheer panic.
We have nothing done at home. Things have been ordered. The cribs are not arriving for another two weeks. The nursery isn”t painted. None of their clothes are washed. Fuck.
Unfortunately, by the time Keaton walks through the door, I am in full panic mode. My heart rate is through the roof, eyes streaming and snot bubbling from my nose. Really not my finest or most attractive moment but it”s real.
“Baby, what”s happened?” he drops the bags, and then my coffee and cartons on the bed table and rushes towards me. His large hands cup my face, eyes flitting back and forth as he searches for anything to give him a hint. “Are you okay?” he asks as my breath shudders on my intake, and I nod, but soon move from a nod to a shake.
“Talk to me Blossom, I can”t help if you don”t tell me.”
I sniffle, trying to drop my head but he doesn”t let me.
“Eyes on me, breathe baby,” he whispers, and I do, for the first time in what feels like hours, I breathe.
“There”s a good girl, slow breaths in and out for me.”
“I panicked.”
He lets out a low laugh, “I guessed that.” He drops one hand from my face and places it on my bump, “But it”s no good for you or the babies, why were you panicking?”
I swallow the thickness away.
“We have nothing ready; the nursery is full of boxes and hasn”t been decorated, the cribs aren”t coming for weeks, none of their clothes are washed...” and my bottom lip trembles. His thumb brushes against my bottom lip, head tilting to the side but not once dropping his gaze from mine. “Baby, I promise everything will be ready for when they come home,” and it takes me a moment to realize what he said.
Then it floors me.
They won”t be coming home with us straight away. If the twins are born early, they will have to stay in neonatal until they can breathe on their own.
“They won”t be coming home,” I whisper because saying the words out loud are too raw.
“They will, they just won’t be coming home with us straight away,” he corrects me, and I nod, head tipping forward and this time he lets me. Keaton pulls me into him, and I have no idea how long we stay in this embrace, but it feels like forever.
I had been herefor four days, and I was already losing my mind. Keaton had popped down to grab coffees and I missed him. A smile graces my face when the I feel twin A kick, and I place my hand there wanting to feel it again.
“Hey,” my head lifts and Keaton rounds the corner with warm drinks and cakes.
“Hey,” I drop my head and continue to feel the baby kick. Keaton places the bag and coffee cups on the table over my bed and places his hands on my stomach, his face lighting up when he feels the kicks and wriggles beneath his hands.
“I will never be over this,” he says, smile wide and I think I may have fallen in love with him a little more.
“Me neither,” I admit. We stay silent, enjoying the sound of the twins’ heartbeats and the movements they”re giving us and at this moment, everything feels perfect.
“Sir, you can”t just go in there,” we hear Becca, our midwife call out into the hallway. Keaton is up off the bed and rushing to the door and I sit up in my bed, eyes wide and frantic, heart racing beneath my skin.
“Yes I can,” and my blood runs cold. Fuck.
My dad bolts through the door, and he is seething. Nostrils flared, eyes bloodshot and bulging and his fists are balled at his side.
“What the fuck?” Keaton steps forward to try and barricade the tornado that is my dad off but it”s useless. He knocks him out the way causing Keaton to stumble back and fall onto the sofa.
“You”re dead to me,” his jaw clenches, his voice tight and venomous as he angrily points his finger at my husband.
“What?” Keaton rolls himself up, standing toe to toe with my dad.
“Can we get security please, labor ward.” Becca stands in the doorway and the blood is pumping in my ears harshly.
“You”re quick to tell me that my daughter dropped out of med school to become a fucking stripper, but you didn”t think to tell me that she was in hospital?” my dad shoves Keaton in the chest with force and my heart fucking drops into the pit of my stomach being disintegrated into nothing as my stomach acid burns all that”s left of my broken and weeping heart.
“She didn”t want to tell you,” Keaton says, not budging when my dad is chest to chest with him.
“You should have told me.”
“You told him?” my voice is a whisper, my lungs burning as they heave, craving for air but I can”t breathe. The beeping of the monitor quickens, and all I can hear is screaming and shouting. There”s commotion, things smashing on the floor, but I can”t see any of it. Everything is a blur.
“Get your fucking hands off of me,” I hear my dad shout, a high ring silencing them out for just a moment before my eyes re-adjust and focus. My dad is being dragged out by two security guards, but he is fighting them with everything he has. Keaton is standing, panting, hands on his hips but his head is turned towards me. His hair is a mess, eyes filled with regret and a busted lip and nose. He doesn”t wipe the blood away; just lets it trickle.
“You told him?” the crack in my voice is evident, my tears rolling down my cheeks even though I didn”t want them to fall. I”m wilted like a rose, losing all hope and the will I had left inside of me has slowly been taken from me. He was the sun I so desperately needed but he didn”t care. He tucked himself away and left me when I needed him.
“Ari... baby,” he takes a step towards me.
“Don”t,” my voice is hoarse as I shout at him.
“Let me,” he takes another step.
“Get out,” I turn my face away from him and point to the door.
“Please,” his own voice cracking so I squeeze my eyes shut so I don”t have to look at him. Because I am weak. Hot tears escape and run down the side of my face.
“Just go,” I choke out, a sniffling weak mess crying over him.
Silence fills the tension that suffocates the room for a few seconds before I hear the sound of his footsteps skate across the tiles and then the closed door follows, and only then do I let myself turn towards where he just was.
Coffees spilled; table knocked over, pure devastation caused in short five minutes.
He broke my trust, snapped the tie between us in a second.
He told him.