Baby Girl / J.M.

Chapter One

"Are you sure you're going to be alright?" Her mother's worried voice rang through Delilah's phone. She had her head pressed against her shoulder to hold the phone in place, while she picked up her fussing daughter from her crib.

"Yes, Mom. Don't worry about me. And besides, I got Paul here to help." She tried to calm her mother, while also trying to soothe the small baby in her arms. 

"And what about little Charlotte? If you ever need a babysitter, just call me alright?" 

"Mom, that's a three hour drive." Delilah frowned. Her parents were more than willing to help when their only daughter announced her pregnancy. They had let her move back home and even build a nursery for their first grandchild.

"Exactly, why did you have to move away so far. You could have stayed with us." Her mother reprimanded. Delilah smiled, she knew she was lucky to have a supportive family, especially after the year she had.  It had been nice living with them, but Delilah knew that she needed to get back on her own two feet. She never liked being dependent on other people, but as a single mother she definitely needed any help she could get. Her older brother Paul helped her get an apartment closer to him, that allowed her to be independent, but still have someone to help the young mother when ever she needed it.

"Mom, you know why. I'm about to turn twenty one, I can't live with you forever. And you're always welcome to visit us." Delilah explained as she placed her finally calm daughter down. But then the doorbell rang and the baby started crying again. "Mom, Paul just arrived. I'll call you later, alright? Love you."

"I love you too, sweetie." Her mom spoke before she ended the call. Picking up the crying baby, she headed to the door. Her brother was standing in front of her apartment door alongside his girlfriend Phoebe. 

"Hey there. Nice to meet you, Phoebe. Why don't you come in, but excuse the mess." Delilah greeted them both. Her brother's smile grew when he spotted his niece. He quickly fished the baby out of her mother's arms and the crying immediately stopped. "I hate how you do that."

"So nice to finally meet you, Delilah. Paul has told me so much about you." Phoebe pulled her into a tight hug. "And this must be little Lottie."

"You too. Wow, you're even more gorgeous than in the pictures." Delilah looked at the beautiful brunette that was standing in her tiny apartment. Her brother definitely got lucky. "Would like something to drink?"

"Do you have coffee?" Paul spoke up, taking his eyes off the baby girl for a second.

"Ehm I think so, let me check if I can find the coffee machine." Delilah grinned, gesturing to the many boxes still stacked up. 

It took her a minute or two, but she found the coffee machine alongside some coffee beans and quickly started the machine. Phoebe and Paul were sitting on the small couch, playing with the baby in Paul's arms. They were a beautiful couple, Delilah thought to herself. Hopefully things would end better for her brother than they had for Delilah. After her boyfriend ran for the hills when finding out about her pregnancy, she had basically sworn off love and men. At least until Charlotte was eighteen.

"I'm so glad, you're finally here." Paul said, when she headed back with two cups of coffee in her hands. "And I want to help you settle in."

Delilah was quick to interrupt her big brother, "Paul, you already have done way too much. I don't want you to spend your hard earned money on me." 

"Let me finish, Delilah. I want to help you get to know some people around here. Well, I'm hosting a dinner at my place tonight and I would like you to come." Delilah was about to interrupt her brother again, but he just continued talking. "Hear me out, okay? It's nothing big, trust me. Just some of my friends from work. Very casual." 

"I don't know." Delilah frowned at the idea of being in a room full of strangers. "I don't even have a babysitter." 

"Then bring her, she could sleep in the guest room. I got a crib ready for her." Delilah stared at her brother. 

"You have a crib ready for her?" Her jaw dropped open. He was just that extra, wasn't he?

"See, you have no excuses left. Everything has been taken care of. We eat at seven. I'll send a car to pick you up." Her brother smiled triumphantly and his sister rolled her eyes frustrated.

 "I promise it's gonna be fun. I can't wait to introduce you to everyone." Phoebe spoke up, smiling warmly at the young mother. Delilah bit her lip already feeling nervous.

"I guess, I'll be there." She groaned defeatedly. The couple in front of her cheered, which confused the baby in Paul's arms. 

After her brother and his girlfriend left, Delilah set down the sleeping baby and finally started to unpack boxes around her. Trying to organize the mess around her, the time drifted away. When she checked the time she realised that she was already running late. The girl groaned letting herself fall down on the couch. She didn't want to go to this stupid dinner, she hated meeting new people. But she couldn't get out of it and her brother already had done so much for her, maybe she could do him this one favour. So she sighed and headed to the bathroom. After a hot shower, she rummaged through boxes containing her clothes. Most of her old clothes didn't fit anymore since her pregnancy, so she pushed the box aside and looked for past pregnancy clothes. She opted for a light blue wrap dress, that she had only gotten recently. Pulling over a creme coloured cardigan she frowned at her reflection in the bathroom mirror. She looked like an elementary school English teacher. But it wasn't like she had any other options. So she put on some light make up, trying to hide the dark circles under her eyes, and curled her hair. 

She was packing her bag, when the door bell rang. Quickly she grabbed Charlotte, who was already tucked into the carseat and headed out.