Friction [Book 2]

-certificate-

The next day was hard. I still didn't know how well the operation went and I wasn't feeling too good either. Aside from the usual post-birth symptoms, there was definitely something wrong.

It was early in the morning and O was wide awake. Gabe and Bodhi stayed in a room in the hotel opposite the hospital since Gabe didn't want to go back home and neither did Bodhi, but they couldn't stay inside the hospital overnight. Before they arrived, I had another visitor.

I had texted Pete after Gabe left the previous evening. He was eager to get down and see his daughter, even though we were in a fight again. It was weird since I didn't know what to call us anymore. Was there an us?

It was just before 9 when Pete arrived. He knocked gently on the door and I called for him to come in. He looked really tired, like he hadn't slept. I was still angry at him, but the look on his face when he saw his baby girl was a magical thing.

He raced over to her basket and carefully placed his hands around her tiny torso, lifting her into the air. Tears fell from his dark eyes as he rocked her back and forth, staying silent as he did so. Eventually her eyes fluttered open and Pete gasped, realised how much like him she was. All three of his children had his dark brown eyes, I was guessing he didn't know about his fourth yet.

"She-she's beautiful, she's so tiny, I don't want to hurt her."

Pete spoke in a shaky whisper. His voice was cracking since he was trying desperately to hold back his tears and dismiss the lump in his throat. It didn't work.

"I know, I'm sorry you didn't come to her brith, the doctors said nobody was allowed in anyway but, I'm sorry..."

"It's okay, I understand. Have you done her birth certificate yet?"

I shook my head, explaining that I wanted him to fill it out for her. He agreed and I wandered down the corridor to find a nurse. Eventually I saw the nurse that was taking care of me and I called her back into the room. She took one look at Pete with our baby and froze.

"Wow," she chuckled, "Nobody can ever say she's not your daughter!"

The two of us laughed and the nurse signed her part of the certificate. Pete placed our daughter back into her basket and took the pen, pressing it down onto the paper. He stopped.

"Are we still going with the name we picked?"

"Yeah, unless you want to change it?"

Pete shook his head and I watched as his fingers perfectly formed the letters of her name. He took a breath before printing her surname on the dotted line, probably conscious of what I wanted.

He showed it to me, making sure that he had spelt everything right before handing it back to the nurse. She smiled and look at our baby girl.

"That's such a beautiful name, it suits her so well."

I thanked her and she left to finalise the document, leaving. Pete, myself and the newest addition to our family.

Behati Lara Wentz.

*

*

*

*

*

*

"So, I've got to go, my flight is in a couple of hours..."

Pete cleared his throat, standing up. I nodded, understanding that he had to trek across the country to collect Jacob. It hurt me a little, but we had decided that it was best for both of us if we weren't together right now. We needed to be apart and whether it was forever or not was undecided. It was up to fate.

"Okay, I'll um, I'll see you. I'll get Bodhi to Skype you or something later. He'll want to see you."

"Alright, thanks. Just call if you need anything."

I nodded and watched Pete. He walked over to Behati and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead, rubbing his thumb lightly across her cheek before grabbing his bag and leaving.

I sipped some water, feeling a headache coming on. I didn't watch TV or anything because I knew it would just make things worse. I thought it was just dehydration since I hadn't been drinking much, but I soon started to feel sick. Calling in a nurse, I told her what I thought was wrong and she just shook her head.

"Don't worry, for the first few days after your operation, you'll feel awful. This is why we're keeping you in. If you feel anything different at all or you think anything is wrong, just tell us. But right now what you're describing is normal."

"O-okay, thank you."

I felt relieved when she told me that I was fine. I started to get scared again, I had never been more scared in my life before the operation, never. It was the worst thing to ever happen and I still felt guilty when I looked at how tiny Behati was.

For a while, I sat by the window and watched traffic pass. Time ticked on slowly and around half past eleven, Gabe and Bodhi arrived.

"Mama!" I was greeted the same as yesterday by Bodhi who gave me a huge hug. I kissed his cheek and he toddled over to his sister who was sleeping peacefully. She was such a quiet baby.

"How are you feeling?" Gabe smiled at me, resuming his position next to me on my bed.

"I'm good, a little tired and I have a headache but other than that, I'm fine."

Gabe flashed a smile at me. A smile that fluttered the wings of my heart buried inside my chest. When his eyes looked into mine, it filled me with something I hadn't felt before.

"So what's the princess' name?"

"Yeah, what's her name?" Bodhi mumbled, poking her in the cheek as she lightly snored.

"Her name is Behati Lara. She has the same initials as you Bo, BL."

"Wow, that's a beautiful name."

"I know, a beautiful name for a beautiful little girl."

Bodhi got bored of watching Behati sleep and a nurse offered to take him to the nursery. At first, he refused, but Gabe walked him down there and he met some kid who had a shirt with Power Rangers on and went to play with him. When Gabe returned back to the room, I thought about what I was going to say.

I so badly wanted to tell him I liked him, a lot, but for some reason, I wasn't brave enough. I couldn't quite get the wording right without making myself sound stupid. I just couldn't work it out.

I sat cross legged on the bed, Gabe mirroring me with a cheeky grin. He was always smiling and I adored it. He had such a mesmerising smile.

"So I um, I think I might have come off in a wrong-"

"Gabe I like you."

Before Gabe could carry on saying whatever is was he was going to say, I blurted it out. I knew I sounded like an idiot but I didn't care. I said it and he just stared at me, furrowing his eyebrows together in a confused manner.

"I like you too, you know that-"

"No, Gabe. I mean I like you, a lot. I think that it's because I was with Pete that-"

"Woah, woah. If we're going to talk about this, leave Pete out of it, alright? This is about you and me, okay?"

He reached out and took hold of my hands, making me smile. His fingers laced together perfectly with mine and I nodded. I definitely wanted to have this conversation. I needed to have the conversation because it was only then I realised that I needed Gabe.

#%#%#%#%#%#%#%#%#%#%

an;

so you guys now know her name! what do you think of it? let me know here!!

also, I'm guessing 99% of you aren't on board with the Gabe thing but idk I'm finding it hella cute

drop a comment about your opinions on this chapter because I love reading them and it does motivate me to write more!!

love you all x

-evangeline / fxckflint