Love and Loss

Twenty

Jeremy's POV

They kept Kirstie in the hospital for about a week. During that time I hardly ever left, in fact I think I only went out twice. Both times were to get something either Kirstie or myself needed.

They monitored Aiyana for the whole week, until she was strong enough that she didn't need oxygen anymore. I went to her sometimes, looking in the window at her and sitting in the chairs outside the nursery to watch her, but I spent the majority of the week at Kirstie's side. She was tired and in a lot of pain, even though she was happy that Aiyana was alive and going to be okay.

By the end of the week, we were both longing for our own home and our own bed. When the doctors deemed us ready for release, we signed the papers and made sure everything was official, and then we were off.

Kirstie heaved a sigh of relief as soon as we were through the door. She was holding Aiyana, smiling broadly, and I watched as the tension went out of her shoulders. "Here were are, baby girl," she said, holding Aiyana so that the baby could see the apartment, even though her eyes were half closed. "Your new home."

She turned to me. There were bags under her eyes from sleepless night spent in a hospital cot, and her eyes showed how exhausted she was. "Can you take her? I need a nap. Or to hibernate."

"Of course," I said, taking Aiyana from her. She leaned up to give me a kiss on the cheek and then turned to walk into the bedroom. Kirstie closed the door behind her and I looked down at Aiyana. She had Kirstie's eyes, I thought as she looked up at me. "I think I'll call you Ana," I decided. "It's... easier."

I walked her into her nursery, showing her all the little trinkets and opening her closet to show her the clothes we'd bought her. "These are gonna grow with you," I told her, showing her all the cute little dresses and pairs of shoes. "And this is your crib," I said, showing it to her. "You sleep here."

I laid her down and stared down at her as she put her fingers in her mouth and looked up at her mobile with wide, brown eyes. "God you're cute," I mused, and she kicked her legs feebly.

I stayed there for I-don't-know-how-long, watching her and smiling. She was a week old and already becoming my pride and joy.

Kirstie's POV

I woke up a few hours later, my phone ringing on my night stand. I grabbed it and hit answer blearily, putting it up against my ear. "Hello?"

"Hey, Kirstie," Avi's voice said, slightly crackly from the connection. "You at home?"

"Yeah, we got back earlier this afternoon. I just woke up, sorry." I sat up with a yawn, running my hand though my hair. I was still wearing my jeans and t-shirt, so I went about changing into comfy pyjama pants, tucking the phone between my ear and shoulder while I did so.

"That's cool. How's Aiyana doing?"

"She's good," I replied. "Jeremy already set her up in her room, I think." I went into Aiyana's room to check on her, and found her dozing in her crib. "Yeah, here she is. You wanna say hi?"

"I would love to," I put him on speaker phone and told him when he was good to talk. "Hi, baby girl. How are you doing?"

She made a soft cooing noise and Avi babbled with her for a little bit before asking me where Jeremy was. I took the phone off speaker and wandered out into the kitchen, finding him making dinner. "He's right here," I replied. "Making dinner, being wonderful."

"That's... good." His voice sounded tight, fake, and I regretted the second part a little bit. "Tell him I say hi."

I relayed the message and Jeremy said hi back. "So I'm going to go out soon and buy an air mattress," I said, pulling out dishes for supper. "I'm hoping you can come visit soon. Meet Aiyana, catch up, hang out a little bit."

"That sounds awesome. I wouldn't mind crashing on your couch, either, if the air mattress is too expensive. Whichever works best for you, but the sooner the better."

I stalled in setting the table, holding silverware and napkins. "Um, yeah, I think that should work. We can figure out details later, but I do want her to know you." As I finished speaking, I heard Aiyana beginning to fuss. "Shit, speak of the devil. I have to go feed her, Avi, but it was really good to talk to you."

"Yeah, you, too. Good luck with the baby. I'll talk to you soon."

"Bye!" I replied, setting the phone down and putting the napkins and silverware on the table before going to tend to Aiyana.

She was in her crib, starting to cry. I smiled down at her softly, feeling love swelling up in my heart. I leaned down and picked her up, cradling her in my arms and running my thumb gently over her cheek. She was wrinkly and soft. "I love you, baby girl," I murmured, smiling happily.

And I really, really meant it.

-

A/N: Oh, good Lord, it's been a journey. Through all my months of inactivity, I thought about this book, and now finally I wrote a chapter and in this one chapter... it's finished. It's really odd, honestly, that all I had to do was this and this book would be finished.

But, fear not, dear readers! I know that this is the end of this book, but there will be a sequel, and it's going to be very good and you should all be on the lookout for it. The upload schedule will stay the same (with this series updated on Friday) except instead of this book on Friday, you'll be getting its sequel on Friday.

Well, that's about it. From Jocelyn and me to you, I want to say that we're deeply grateful for reading this book and sticking by us through all our shit. Thank you for being interested, even if it was only for one chapter, even if you're not interested anymore. From the bottom of my heart, thank you for giving me a reader base to talk to and impact with writing. I know I probably don't seem like the most grateful person, since I left for a year and then just sort of popped up again, but please know that I am so thankful for each and every one of you.

I'll see you in the next update. Peace!