Chapter XXIII

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Narrator's pov

Today is Rosie's birthday. Everyone is coming over for her party later.

Renée's pov

I woke up in Rosie's room after yet another nightmare. It's been 3 weeks and not a night has gone by without Oak or I having to comfort her. Rosie was still sleeping in my arms, her little thumb in her mouth and her teddy bear in her other hand. Oak emerged in the hallway. He placed her in her bed gently to not wake her up.

"Good morning" He kissed me on the cheek after helping me from the floor. I opened my mouth to greet him back before running to the bathroom to throw up. I felt my hair move from my shoulders. Once I was finished, he looked at me with a concerned face.

"Oak not now, I have to get through this party first" He handed me water from the bedside table.

"You shouldn't do this if you're sick"

"I feel fine, I was just a bit queasy" He nodded as we started our morning routine. We were brushing our teeth when Rosie came in. Right on time when she usually does. Oak lifted her on the counter to sit. She started to brush her teeth in between us as she sat.

We continued as usual, Oak braiding my hair as I braid Rosie's. I added bows to her hair for her special day.

"Breakfast?" She smiled as Oak put her on his shoulders. I ordered in some cinnamon rolls for all of us. She giggled as Oak put a bit of icing on her nose.

"Daddy!" They made me smile until my cheeks start to hurt.

Oak's pov

"Tío Lin and Tía V will be here in a few minutes so let's get you ready" Renée held Rosie's hand as they trotted up the stairs together. My girls.

After about 30 minutes the doorbell rang. I opened it to see Lin, Vanessa and Sebastian.

"Hey guys, come on in" I led them inside as Renée and Rosie came down. Rosie was wearing a white shirt with orange and yellow butterflies with blue overalls over it.

"Hey Sebby! Hey Tío y Tía!" Sebastian hugged her at the bottom of the stairs.

"Hey Rosie" "Hi, niñita"

"Her Spanish is getting better" Lin whispered to me.

"Hi Renée" They both said as she went in for a hug.

"Rosie, are you ready for the best day ever?" Sebastian asked.

"I'm so ready I can hardly wait"

"Rosie wait" He ran to the bathroom. He came back with a bit of tissue. He wiped the tip of her nose before throwing it away.

"You had icing on your nose" Rosie glared at me before walking over to Renée.

"Bye Mommy" She kissed Renée's cheek then continued over to me.

"Bye Daddy" She did the same for me. She and Sebastian grabbed each other's hands and walked together out the door.

"Bye guys, have fun" Renée called to them as the door shut. She looked at me for a second with a weird look on her face. She turned and ran to the bathroom to throw up again. I followed behind her and held her hair when I caught up. She sat up by the toilet and looked at me as I gave her more water.

"Don't say it" She stood up and walked to the kitchen. She grabbed the jar of pickles as I sat in front of her.

"Renée, I can't let you throw this party while you're sick"

"I need to do this"

"No you don't. I can take over"

"It has to be me" She argued.

"Why"

"Because this is the first birthday we've ever had together" She snapped.

"I know there will be more and I know that I can try again next year but on this day last year I was wailing on stage as I sang It's Quiet Uptown. You learn to live with the everyday hurt but the day she was taken and the birthdays and holidays always hurt the most so I need to this. For her and for me." She grabbed her pickles and walked up the stairs.

~3 hours later~

There was a knock on the door.

"It's open" Daveed, Lymani and (Y/N) walked in. Daveed held a big box with yellow and white striped wrapping paper.

"What the hell is that?"

"Dog stuff for some reason" Then it clicked in my head. I ran up the stairs to find my fiancée sitting on the floor eating pickles and she scrolled on her phone.

"Renée, we forgot the dog" She looked up at me with wide eyes.

"Let's go, you grab the keys" We both rushed downstairs, getting weird looks from our friends.

"Watch the house. We forgot one of Rosie's gifts" Renée said as we ran out the door.

We came back 30 minutes later with a small chocolate labrador puppy. When we walked in the house Lymani's eyes lit up at the sight.

"Omg, who is this little bundle of adorable?"

"Her name is Nordstrom" Renée said excitedly.

"Is she Rosie's gift?" I nodded as Renée ran to puke again.

I set down the carrier Nordstrom was in and ran after Renée. We came back in, Renée now with water in her hand.

"Damn, my pickles" Renée went up the stairs while I talked to our guests.

"Did she just say pickles?" Daveed asked. I nodded in response.

"She hates pickles" I shrugged as I watched Lymani play with the dog.

"Rosie will be home soon so can you take her to Renée" She picked up Nordstrom and placed her in her carrier. She took it up the stairs and disappeared around the corner.

There was another knock on the door.

"It's open" I shouted.

Jazzy and Anthony walked in holding 2 bags each.

"Hey y'all" Jazzy greeted. Anthony waved before setting the bags by the stairs with the box Daveed brought in. Soon the whole cast was here awaiting Rosie's arrival. The gift pile was huge. There was yet another knock on the door.

"Let me" Daveed said.

"It's open" He shouted as the group laughed. Rosie and Sebastian walked in the door, hand in hand, Lin and Vanessa following behind them. Everyone started to cheer for Rosie as she walked in. Renée took a picture of her as she received her praise.

"Hi everybody" Rosieli greeted. The birthday song started playing. Renée walked up with the cake. Everybody sang Happy Birthday and Rosie blew out her candles.

Renée's pov

I approached Vanessa after we cut the cake.

"V, can I talk to you?" She nodded and followed me upstairs.

"What's up?" I struggled to figure out what to say.

"I think I might be pregnant" Her eyes lit up at my words.

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(a/n: AAAAAND Cliffhanger... Guess who remembered to post today? I did. I love how this story is going. Well peace minha querida)

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