Kintsugi

Chapter 22

"We gotta go, Doc," John said, gently rousing Marlena from her late afternoon nap. "Sami's water just broke."

"What?" she mumbled, as her mind pulled itself through the sludge of sleep. She didn't remember early pregnancy being so exhausting. It was never like this the other times, but she was getting older. Forcing herself to focus on what he just said, she asked him, "Sami's what?"

"Honey, her water just broke. I know it's a couple weeks early, she slipped on the bottom step, and when she fell..."

"What! She fell? Oh, okay...um...the kids..." she said sitting up quickly, and attempting to smooth her hair.

"Caroline is already on her way, Doc. Don't worry. Just get up, and get dressed. Sami is downstairs sitting on a trash bag on the couch. She's fine," John said reassuringly.

"On a trash bag on the couch?" Marlena said looking at him quizzically.

"What was I supposed to do with her?" he said with a smirk. "I didn't want her sitting on the couch like that. I mean she changed her clothes and all, but still, just in case...she's okay. She's fine. Nothing much going on yet, it just happened ten minutes ago."

Sami picked that moment, just as he had reassured Marlena that everything was fine, to scream at the top of her lungs from downstairs, "Daddy! Daddy! It hurts! Fuck! Oh, G-d, I'm sorry!! Fuck!"

John shot a look of helplessness at Marlena before he bolted from the room, and Marlena leaped from the bed, gathering clothes to put on, clothes that looked better than the t-shirt and sweatpants she was currently wearing, and got dressed hastily. Arriving downstairs, she found Sami apologizing to John for cursing, yet again, just as another contraction hit her, and she yelled, "Fuck!"

"Sami, honey, look at me," Marlena told her calmly, leaning down to look at her face, while Sami looked away. "Look at me baby."

Looking at her mother with a mix of sheepishness, and absolute pain, Sami said, "Yeah?"

Marlena touched her daughters face gently, telling her, "You say what you need to say. No judgement from us okay? You need to curse? Don't apologize."

"Yes, yes, yes...okay," Sami said with shallow pants, trying to remember the breathing exercises her mother had taught her. "Lucas. Lucas, we gotta—fuck!" she cried doubling over, and grabbing at her abdomen.

"Done already," John told her gently. "He's meeting us there." The knock on the door, had all three of them turning their heads. "It's Caroline. Doc, can you grab Sami's hospital bag? Sami don't forget that trash bag for the car," he said as he opened the door.

"Really, John?" Marlena asked him.

"Yes, really. Sami...trash bag," John said matter of factly, while Marlena just rolled her eyes.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Six hours, and a lot of screaming later, Sami and Lucas welcomed their daughter into the world. Weighing six pounds and 12 ounces, she was wailing almost as soon as she took her first breath. As Marlena watched her daughter become a mother, she marveled at the strength of her child. Sami had made a lot of mistakes, and taken many detours in her short life, but Marlena felt that this time she was finding her way. Having a baby at seventeen was never in the plan, but she knew they could work with it.

John entered the room quietly, glancing at Sami and Lucas as they stared at their baby in awe. Walking over to Marlena, he said softly, "Kate called. Her flight from Oslo was delayed due to weather. She might not make it tonight, but she's going to get here as soon as she can." Looking over at the young parents, he whispered, "How are they?"

"In shock, I think. They'll be fine, but there's going to be a definite adjustment period."

"Have they mentioned a name for her?"

"They have one picked out, but they're waiting for Shawn to arrive," Marlena told him, watching how he kept looking over at Sami and her baby. "They want you, and Shawn here when they tell us her name. Go hold your granddaughter, John."

John smirked slightly, smiling at Marlena, and walked over to Sami. When he reached her side, he stroked his finger over the baby's cheek softly, saying, "You made one very beautiful baby, Samantha."

Smiling up at the man she considered to be her father, Sami said, "I did, didn't I?"

"Brat," John said with a smile. "So your mother says we're waiting on Pop—" John was cut off by the sound of the hospital room door opening, and Shawn Brady peeking his head in to ask if he could come in.

Shawn walked to the side of the bed, looking over Lucas's shoulder, saying, "The first great grandchild, and what a beauty she is! You got a name fer her yet?"

"Well...that's why I wanted you and dad here," Sami replied with a smile. "Do you want to hold her, Grandpa?"

"Would I? Pass me the baby, girl," Shawn said with a huge smile. As he cradled her in his arms, he said softly, "She is a beautiful baby, Samantha Gene. Beautiful."

"I wanted you and Dad to hear her name first, before anyone else, because it's going to mean the most to you. Lucas let me pick the name—"

"—because she did all the work," Lucas interjected.

"This is Margaret Luna Brady-Roberts," Sami said. "But we're going to call her Molly."

"Molly. For me sister, and me mum?" Shawn said with tears in his eyes, "Sami...thank you."

"It's a beautiful name, for a beautiful baby," John whispered. Looking at Shawn he said jokingly, "Hand her over, Pop. It's my turn."

Marlena started laughing at the two men vying for the baby, and said to Sami, "Those two are going to be impossible now."

"They already were," Sami said grinning.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Marlena and John were in bed later that night, after having settled Belle and Brady into their respective beds. John pulled Marlena closer, running his hand over her thigh and her hip, saying, "So I was going to surprise you, but I thought you might want to be in on this..."

Marlena rolled over to face him, "What have you been up to, Sailor?"

"I've been looking at houses. I thought I could surprise you, but I'm an idiot. I should know that ultimately, I need you. I'm stuck and well, we need to move on this. Fast."

"You're right. I know you're right, it's just, I love it here so much. This is the place where I came to heal, to become whole again, but I know, we need more room, especially with Sami, and now Molly...plus this little girl we've got coming," Marlena said, softly running her hand over the slight swell of her abdomen. "I just feel so safe here, so comfortable."

"Well, that's what I wanted to talk to you about. The other loft on this floor...it's for sale. I spoke with the building manager, and he said that it was against the building owner's policy to join units...so, um...well...I bought the building," John said sheepishly.

Marlena sat up quickly, propped herself up on her elbow, and looked at John in absolute shock, "Oh my G-d! John! You just bought the whole building?"

"Yeah, I kind of did...well, not kind of...I did," John said. "See, I wanted to buy the loft next to this one. It's for sale."

"So you said..."

"And, I was thinking it would be pretty easy to open up the spaces to make one larger one. We wouldn't even have to move, but the building manager—"

"—he said no."

"Well, yeah. So, I bought the building. Now I can do what I want," John said smugly.

"You're incorrigible, you know that? But I also want to say...thank you. I've become really attached to this loft, and I honestly didn't want to move," she said, leaning forward, and kissing his lips softly. "This place is where I came when I needed you, needed the children, and needed to heal. I didn't want to give it up. So that's the plan? Connect this loft to the one beside us? I'm guessing you bought that too?"

"You guessed right, baby. I bought that one too."