Take the Hope for a Good Life

Twenty-Three

LA, USA
January 13th
Miley's POV

"Liam?" I ask.

"Daddy!" River yells, then jumps into Liam's arms.

"Hey little guy." Liam says, then kisses the top of his head when he puts him down.

"Liam...wh- what are you- what are you doing here so early? I thought it was until February." I say, shocked.

"We finished early. I Figured I should surprise you."

"Well you were successful." I say, then he laughs.

"Good." He says. "Now I can be here for little Rydel's birth."

"Daddy you can see the baby be born!" River says excitedly.

"You know what I just realized?" I ask Liam.

"No, what?" He asks.

"Rydel Ashley...RIver Aiden...they have the same initials." I say, then Liam nods with an accepting face.

"Yeah they do. Why didn't we notice that right away?" He asks. Then I shake my head.

"I don't know. But I'm so happy you're here. I've been getting Braxton Hicks you wouldn't believe."

"Are they worse this time? Are you sure you aren't in actual labor?" He asks, worried.

"Liam I'm fine, and I'm sure they aren't. If they are I've been in labor for two months." Then he laughs.

"Just making sure."

"I'm okay, Liam." I say, reassuring him.

"Okay, good." Then he kisses me. "I've been waiting for that for over five months."

"Me too." Then I kiss him again and it turns into us making out right in front of River.

"Ew!" River says, disgusted.

"Shall we do it more and gross him out even more?" Liam asks.

"As much as I want to, we shouldn't." Then he nods. "I have an ultrasound in an hour, wanna come?" I ask.

"Duh." He says.

When it was time to go we grabbed River and went to my doctor's. When we got there I signed myself in and soon later it was my turn. I got in the room and later Dr. Cooper came in.

"Hello, I see Liam's back. Welcome back." Dr. Cooper says.

"Yup." Liam says. "Thanks." Then Dr. Cooper nods. Then I lift up my shirt and Dr. Cooper squirts the goo on my stomach.

"How are the Braxton Hicks?" She asks.

"Horrible. I think they're worse than when I was pregnant with River."

"Well this is your second pregnancy, you'll be able to feel them and the movements more now that's it's your second. Each pregnancy you can feel them more than the last." She explains.

"Good thing this is the last one then."

"No more after this?" She asks.

"Nope, since it's one boy and one girl I'm done." I say, then laugh. "At first I wanted more than two but after giving birth to River I don't think I want more than two." Then Dr. Cooper laughs.

"Understandable, River was ten pounds thirteen ounces." Dr. Cooper says.

"And twenty-three inches long, might I remind you." I say.

"Well I'm sorry to say but the reason you're so big is because this baby is big too."

"Oh, joy." I say sarcastically.

"Mommy is the baby coming yet?" River asks.

"No baby, not yet. A couple more weeks." I tell River.

"This baby is a lot more active than she should be this late in the pregnancy. See how much she's moving?" Dr. Cooper points out,  pointing to the screen.

"Is that bad?" Liam asks.

"No, she just might come a day or two early. She's getting ready, though." She explains.

"Cool." Liam says.

"I'm nervous." I say.

"Why? Are you just nervous for having the baby or for having to take care of her?" Dr. Cooper asks.

"A little bit of both..." I confess.

"That's normal for mothers about to bring a child into the world." She explains.

"And I'll be with you Miles. Every step of the way." Liam says, then I smile.

"Well, the baby is very healthy. I look forward to seeing you in a couple weeks." Dr. Cooper says, then wipes of my stomach and I put my shirt down.

"Thanks." I say. "See you later. This was my last ultrasound right?"

"Unless you're late or there's a problem." She says, then I smile before she leaves.

"Let's go River." I say, then get up. Then Liam takes River's hand and we exit the building.

When we got home; Liam, River, and I all sat on the couch together.

"We gotta catch up." I say. "Tell me everything you can about the movie."

"As long as you tell me everything about you and River." He says, then we siit on the couch with River.

We talked for a while, until it was dinner time. Then Liam cooked dinner this time. After dinner we all watched a movie together until it was River's bedtime.

"Can I stay up? I wanna talk to daddy more." River says.

"He'll be here when you wake up tomorrow, River." I say.

"Yup, I'm here all the time now. I'm not going away for hopefully a long time, okay?"

"Okay." River says. "Can daddy tuck me in?" Then Liam nods.

After Liam got done tucking River in I was in our bedroom in my pajamas lying in the bed.

"Hey." Liam says, coming in and starting to take off his clothes to get in his pajamas.

"Hey sexy." I say, then laugh.

"Was that a joke or...?"

"It was the truth." Then I grab my stomach. "Ow."

"What?" He asks while putting on his bottoms.

"Oh, nothing. Just Braxton Hicks. I'm fine."

"You sure?" He asks, worried.

"Liam." I say. "I'm alright." Then I grab my stomach again.

"Are you positive Miley? Do we need to go to the hospital?"

"No Liam, I'm fine." I say angerly. "Leave me alone and can we just like lie in bed together before we go to sleep?" I ask.

"Okay, okay. I'm sorry. I just worry, you know."

"I know, but I'm fine."

"Okay, thank you." Liam says.

"No thank you for not going on about this." Then I close my eyes. "I'm tired. I'll see you in the morning." Then he kisses me before I turn on my side.

9:00 PM

I kept tossing and turning in bed, but I couldn't get comfortable. The Braxton Hicks were really bad and the baby wouldn't stop moving.

"Ugh." I whisper. Then I toss and turn more. "You've got to be kidding me." I whisper to myself again. Then I feel aa strange all too familiar feeling running down my legs.

"Miley?" Liam asks tiredly.

"Well fuck." I say.

"What's wrong? Is it the baby?" He asks, still half asleep. Then he yawns and closes his eyes.

"Yeah...it is the baby...my water just broke."