Brothers at War [#Wattys2017]

bonus chapter iiii

"Sammy!" Callie's voice echoed throughout the house, the walls vibrating with the ferocity with which her voice left her mouth. He might have been four years old, but he had the sass and temper of a teenager, and Callie was usually on the receiving end of it – especially since she and Parker had moved into what I now termed the mad house.

"What has he done this time?" Sophie's exhausted voice muttered as she walked into the room, stretching her arms above her head and yawning. She had been more tired recently, but that was hardly surprising since we discovered that she was pregnant was our fourth child.

The pregnancy had been a surprise. We had already decided that we were content after the birth of Sammy and had been taking precautions – clearly not enough though because she was three months pregnant and I had, following the discovery of the baby, a vasectomy to ensure that we didn't receive any further surprises.

"You know, just being Sammy," Callie sighed as she rubbed her very round stomach and smiled slightly. We had agreed that it would be for the best that she and Parker moved in with us so that we could keep an eye on her and the baby, though everything seemed to be going well for them.

They had more regular appointments with their GP and attend hospital appointments to ensure that there were limited risks with the pregnancy. Parker, as anticipated, had been the perfect husband to Callie. More so as she approached the final month of her pregnancy and Parker made sure everything was in place for the arrival of their daughter.

Apparently, they had decided on a name for their child, but they were keeping it under wraps until her arrival; much to the annoyance of Sophie who wanted nothing more than to be told of the secret.

"In what way this time?" I chuckled.

"Just being more annoying than mum. Pointing at my stomach and simply saying name, repeatedly," Callie rolled her eyes and smiled at her mother.

"What?" Sophie shrugged her shoulders innocently as though she didn't know what her daughter was alluding to. I wrapped my arms around her waist and rubbed my thumb across her stomach, feeling the slight bump which she had attempted to hide beneath her loose-fitting t-shirt. "I have no idea what you are talking about."

"Of course you don't, mum," Callie smirked at Sophie, pushing herself into a sitting position on the sofa, "not like you ask me every single day what Parker and I have decided to call our daughter."

"Nope. Absolutely not. Not a clue what you are talking about," Sophie leaned back into my chest and put her hands on top of my own, joining me in rubbing her stomach with a faint smile on her face. "But I told you what I had named each of your siblings before I even told your father what I had decided on. Therefore–"

"Bribery isn't going to work, Soph. Cal and I have made it clear that we are not sharing the name of our daughter until she is born," Parker nudged Sophie's shoulder with a grin on his face as he walked into the living room and joined his wife on the sofa, lifting her feet up and placing them on her lap to give her a foot rub, as he did religiously each night.

Following the loss of their third baby, I had helped Parker to get checked into a facility to support his mental health and prevent his manic-depressive episodes which occurred on that very same evening. Parker had locked himself in the bathroom and almost overdosed on the assortment of medication which had been kept in the cabinet.

Upon arriving at the hospital, Parker had begged to die and for them to allow him to end his life, and he had even attacked the nurses who oversaw his care. He had refused to see Callie, blaming her for losing their child, and he had banned Sophie from having any contact with him, envious of her for not losing her children and having a happy family.