The Meaning of Family: The Collections

Unplanned (5/5)

The next few months surprisingly went smoothly without Jake's father ever finding out. It especially got easier once football season was over, as the 17-year-old no longer had to come up with excuses to get out of football practice. While Sammie was still adamant about things never being the same between them, they were gradually growing into a friendship in the least, mostly for the sake of the baby.

Sammie stepped out of the elevator in the music complex to meet Jake in the orchestra storage room, as they had been doing each morning before school started. She stepped into the room with a smile, ready to greet Jake, but her expression dropped as she took in the sight of the male. He was wearing the same outfit as the day before, his gray Conway High School Seniors hoodie rumpled as if he'd slept in it, his hair was mussed and greasy, and the most alarming part of his appearance was the bruise on his cheekbone. "What happened to you?" She asked him.

"My dad found out." Jake said quietly. "I forgot to delete our conversation about baby names yesterday, and my dad went through my phone. He yelled at me, saying I was ruining my future, I yelled back saying this baby is my future and that I wasn't going to abandon him or you, and he hit me, so I left."

"You stayed at a friend's, right?" Sammie asked, wanting to reach out to Jake's face and check out the bruise, but held back from doing so.

Jake shook his head. "None of my friends are actually my friends. They're my dad's. They all turned me away without a word." Before Sammie could even ask him where he slept, he was already answering her question. "I just stayed in my car in the parking lot, I actually just woke up a few minutes ago and came up here."

A thought popped into Sammie's head and, before thinking it over, she grabbed Jake's hand and tugged him out of the storage room. "Come on~" She said as she dragged him to the elevator, not stopping until they were at his car.

"We're not skipping school." Jake told her.

"Of course not~" Sammie assured him. "But we're going to find a place for you to have a shower and get refreshed, then we'll come back."

***

"So, what you're saying is..." Jin spoke slowly, looking up at his granddaughter from his chair in his office while Jake waited outside with Sophia. "You want me to take your ex-boyfriend into my home for the next few months?"

"If it helps, think of him as my baby daddy instead of my ex-boyfriend." Jin gave her a look. "Come on, Grandpa! He has nowhere else to go! Do you want the father of my baby to be homeless?!"

Jin sighed and opened his mouth to respond, but then Sammie suddenly grabbed at her stomach. "What is it? What's wrong?"

Sammie shook him. "I just felt something weird. I'm sure it's nothing-" Sammie clutched her stomach again, and Jin immediately stood up to move closer to her.

Before he could ask her what was wrong again, a splashing sound permeated the room, and Sammie looked down in surprise at the puddle of liquid surrounding her. "Okay, so you're water just broke." Jin said in a calm voice, wrapping his arm around his granddaughter and walking her to the door of his office, wanting to do everything he could to keep her from panicking. "That means you're going into labor. We're gonna go get your mom and Jake and then we'll head straight to the hospital, and I'll call your dad and whoever else on the way there."

"This is gonna hurt a lot, isn't it?"

***

Sammie screamed in pain as another contraction ripped through her, Jake almost screaming along with her as she squeezed his hand. Once it finished, Sammie fell back against her pillow. "Mommy, I don't think I can do this!"

Sophia calmly brushed her hair out of her face. "Shh, of course you can."

Sammie shook her head manically. "No, I really don't think I can-"

Sophia shushed her again. "You know, I had those exact same thoughts nearly 17 years ago, and you know what my mom told me?" Sammie just looked at her mom. "That no matter how scary it is or how much it hurts, it'll seem like nothing once you have that baby in your arms."

"Was she telling the truth?"

Sophia giggled a bit at her daughter. "Most definitely~" Sammie managed a small smile, but her face quickly contorted into pain as another contraction hit her.

Her nurse came in just a few minutes later to check her and announced that it was time to push. The doctor arrived soon after that and began guiding her through the last part of labor. After 30 minutes of pushing, the delivery room filled with a newborn's cries. "You did so great, baby~" Sophia praised her daughter, kissing her on the forehead.

"He's beautiful~" Jake informed her after seeing their son for the first time, squeezing her hand but much more gently than she had done for him.

After they cleaned him off and took his measurements, the doctor brought the baby back over to Sammie for some skin to skin bonding. "I'm gonna go tell everyone the good news and let you guys have some family time." Sophia kissed Sammie on the head again, whispering once again how proud she was of her before exiting the room.

As soon as he heard the doors to the waiting room open, Yoongi looked up, jumping out of his chair as soon as he saw his wife leaving the room. "How is she? How's the baby?" He asked as everyone else in the waiting room also rushed forward to hear the news.

"They're both just fine." Sophia informed the family. "He's 7 pounds (3.17 kg) even and 20 inches (50.8 cm) long and the doctor said he's as healthy as can be."

Jin squealed, hugging onto Namjoon's arm. "I can't believe we got our first great grandbaby!" Namjoon playfully rolled his eyes but wrapped his arm around his husband and pressed a kiss to the side of his head.

***

Sammie and Jake both stared down at the sleeping newborn in amazement. "You think we're ready to do this?" Jake asked, gently stroking the hat covered head of his son.

The 16-year-old shook her head. "Not at all~" She answered with a laugh, Jake joining in quietly. "But we have my family to help us along the way."

"That actually doesn't comfort me at all." Jake joked, moving his hand from the top of the baby's head to his little hand, where he automatically grabbed onto his dad's hand in his sleep.

"I know right?" Sammie giggled. "You're in for a crazy life, Jason Layton McDaniel."