The Two of Us... Continued: A Richpez Fanfic

Chapter 14

9 Months later

Lauren's PoV

"Joey come on!" I shouted. "I told Traci I was leaving like an hour ago, let's get moving!"

"Well maybe next time you should get the four year old to choose between the green froggy shirt and the blue princess shirt and then we'll see who's running a bit behind, hm?"

"Oh fine, whatever. Now come on let's get going." Traci had her baby yesterday and asked us to come visit her. It never gets easier, losing a child, but it becomes easier to cope with. It had been about nine months since we'd lost Denise. Not a day will go by where we don't think about her and miss her, but it helps to think of her as our little angel shining down on us.

When we got to the hospital, Joey began to get out of the car, but I remained in my seat.

"Everything okay Lo?" he asked.

"Yeah," I took a deep breath, "I just need a minute."

"I get it" he said, getting back into the car and holding my hand with both of his. "Everything is alright" he said.

"I know, I just..." I closed my eyes, leaning my head against the seat back. After a few more minutes, I was ready to go in. I opened my eyes, exhaled, and smiled at Joey and Amelia. "Okay, let's head in, shall we?" I said.

We met Joe standing outside of Traci's room. "Hey guys, how ya doing?" he asked, giving us all hugs.

"We're pretty good, congratulations man" Joey said, patting him on the back.

"Lauren, Traci says she wants you to go in alone first. She's waiting so just go ahead" Joe said.

"Okay" I responded and smiled. I knocked gently on the door before opening it and slowly peeking my head around, a smile plastered across my face.

"Hey Traci, congratulations! How are you feeling?" I asked.

"Thanks Lo, I'm feeling pretty good."

"And the baby?" I asked.

"She's good too"

"She?"

"Yeah... It's a girl" Traci said, a mix of happiness and sadness taking over her expression.

"That's great" I said with a soft smile. It panged my heart a bit, but I was too happy for her. I walked closer. "Can I hold her?"

"Absolutely" Traci smiled, passing me the baby.

"What's her name?" I whispered, the joy of holding such a tiny baby spreading over me.

"Olivia" Traci said.

"I like it."

"Olivia Denise T. Walker."

"Oh Traci..." I immediately felt the tears streaming down my face. To think that Denise's spirit would live on in some way in Traci's daughter warmed my heart. "Oh Traci, thank you so much, y-you didn't have to though."

"I know I didn't have to. I wanted to. After how supportive you were of me when I didn't think I would be able to have children and when I finally got pregnant even though you were grieving. You've always been there for me and I could never thank you enough." At this point we were both crying. I laid Olivia in the bassinet and hugged Traci tightly. After a few moments, Joe and Joey walked in.

"Woah what's going on here?" Joey asked, most probably referring to all the tears. I picked Olivia up out of the bassinet again and walked her over to Joey.

"Joey, meet Olivia Denise T. Walker." Immediately, he understood. I saw the tears beginning to form in his eyes. He passed me by and went to pull Joe into a hug and then Traci.

"You guys. This really means so much to us" Joey said.

"It's the least we could do" Traci said, Joe nodding along.

"Thank you" Joey said. He walked back over to me and I passed Olivia to him.

"Amelia, would you like to come say hi to baby Olivia?" I asked. She nodded and came closer. Joey sat down in the chair so Amelia could see her. She sort of pet her head and smiled looking up at us.

"Amelia, this is Olivia. She's Traci and Joe's baby" I explained to her. "And you know who else she's named after?" I asked, teary eyed. Amelia shook her head no. "She's named after Denise. Do you remember baby Denise?" Amelia nodded and gave me a hug. I'm not sure how much she truly remembered, but I think she could see the sadness in my eyes and wanted to comfort me. Her hug instantly made me feel better and I scooped her up.

We visited with the three of them a while longer before deciding to head home and give them some space. When we got home, Joey and I put Amelia to bed together, thankful for every moment we had with her and every moment we would get.

Joey and I sat down on the couch together and turned on a movie. I snuggled up into his chest and let myself be calmed by his playing with my hair and rubbing my back. We cuddled for a few more hours before heading to bed.