Secret's Within (#Wattys2016)

Another One

OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OH MY GOD GUYS WE REACHED 1K. I'M DYING OF HAPPINESS RIGHT NOW. I LOVE ALL OF YOU SO MUCH!!! THANK YOU FOR GETTING ME THIS FAR. I LITERALLY ALMOST HAD A HEART ATTACK WHEN I SAW THE NUMBER. AND AS A TREAT THIS WILL BE THE LONGEST CHAPTER YET! ONCE AGAIN I THANK EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU!!!

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Maya

Both of our cars speed down the street as fast as we legally can. "How come no one mentioned this to me?" I ask Josh, he laughs. "Well you just showed up out of the blue after five years with our daughter. Smackle having a baby wasn't exactly our top priority." There it is again, our daughter. I wish. I've repeatedly told my self over and over again that I shouldn't lie, but I can't do anything about it. "Yeah, well, I didn't have much of a choice." I take a quick turn left, following Riley. "What do you mean?" He asks. "Riley tricked me here. In Philadelphia I was a photographer, she found my info and called me saying she wanted a family portrait. Yeah right."

"And you didn't recognize her voice?" We pull into the hospital. "Of course I didn't. I wasn't expecting it and she didn't sound like Riley." I open the back door and pull Lara out. Her feet land on the ground and I grab her hand. Josh, Lara, and I all make our way across the street and to the entrance of the hospital. My eyes follow Riley, Lucas and Emmy as they walk in. "Yeah, but she's your best friend. You should know it's her." I stop in my tracks. "How about you leave for five years, never talking to your family or friends, never hearing their voice, then they call you out of the blue. Let's see how well you recognize their voice. So cool it." I continue walking in. I stop at the desk. "Hi, I'm wondering where Isadora Smackle's room is?" The receptionist writes a number and floor on a piece of paper, and points me to the right. I say a quick thank you and take off, me still holding Laras hand. Josh walks at the same pace next to me.

Eventually we reach her room. I knock. "Hello?" I open the door. Farkle immediately stands up. "Maya?" Smackle lays asleep on the bed. A baby rests in Farkles arms. "Hey Farkle," I say to break the awkward silence. "How-? What-? Why-?" Lara taps my leg. "Mommy, who these people?" I smile and kneel in front of her. "See the man standing there, holding the baby?" She nods. "That's your Uncle Farkle." She makes a weird face. "Farkle?" Farkle laughs. "Yes, Farkle." He walks over next to me and, as carefully as he can, pulls me to the side. "Josh? Watch Lara for me?" He nods. "Of course," he says then begins to play patty-cake with her. "Uh, Maya? Why was that girl calling you 'Mommy'?" I run a hand through my blonde locks. Every where I go, I have to re-explain myself. This was getting old.

"Farkle, that girl is my daughter. Lara Riley Hart." There's a blank expression on his face. I have no idea what he's thinking. Suddenly the baby in his arms begins to cry. "Shhh," he says and starts to rock the baby back and forth. I decide to break the silence. "And who's this?"

"This is my son, Elliot." I chuckle quietly. "That's certainly a few pegs down to Smackle and Farkle." He smiles. "We named him after my late uncle." I pat him on the tummy softly. "I remember when Lara was born, eighteen hours of agonizing pain for a six pound baby." I chuckle again. "She's in gymnastics now." Farkle continues to rock his son while he looks over at Lara. "Josh is her father?" He asks it as a question. I suck in a deep breath. "Yeah." I wait a moment. "When was he born?" He looks at the clock above the bed. "Two hours ago." I nod. He walks over next to the bed and sets Elliot in a small plastic bed next to Smackle. She stirs, then, out of nowhere, cries out in pain. Farkle jumps to his feet. "Smackle, what's wrong?" She grips her stomach. "It hurts!" She shouts out. Farkle looks at me desperate. I run out of the room. "Mommy?!" I hear Lara call. I look back to see Josh holding her, calming her down. I get to the nearest nurse. "We need help. She was asleep then she started saying she was in pain, lots of it. She gave birth just a few hours ago. Please, help us." She nods and we power walk down the hall and into the room.

Smackle lays there, clutching her stomach and has a face of unbearable pain. The nurse presses a button on the machine, sending out a call to a doctor. "Sir, I'm sorry, but we have to get your son out of here. Along with everyone else." A doctor and two nurses come through the door, ushering us out. "Will she be okay?" I ask before they shut the door, no answer. I sit on the bench outside the room. Lara sits on my lap and I bounce her to help calm her down. Riley, Lucas, and Emmy sit across from us on another bench. Joshs arm wraps around my shoulder. "She's going to be okay Maya." I was freaking out. If anything happens to her... no, she's Smackle, she's one of the strongest people I know. She'll be fine.

***

It's been three hours and nothing. No news, not a single word. The room was soundproof, so we couldn't hear anything. "Riley?" I ask. She looks at me. "Yeah Peaches?" I smile a little at my old nickname. "I think you should go home, you need some rest-"

"No!"

"Riley, you need some rest and so does Emmy. Go home. I'll call you when we hear something. You go too Lucas." I rub Lara's golden hair then begin to softly shake her. "Lara? I need you to wake up honey. You need to go with Aunt Riley and Uncle Lucas." She groans. "Come on sweetie, do this for mommy?" She groggily sits up. "Okay Mommy."

"You mind watching her for a little bit?" Riley shakes her head. "Of course not. Come here Lara, you're gonna stay with us for a little bit." Lara looks at me unsure, she knows that nothing is good right now. I pull her off my lap and gently hold her face. "You've gotta do this honey, daddy-" her face lit up at the word daddy, "-and I are gonna stay here, okay?" Joshs arm tightens around me. "Okay Lara? We'll come get you when we can okay?" She nods and hugs me. "I love you, mommy." I hug her back. "I love you too, Lara." She steps over to Josh. "Goodbye, daddy." He smiles and holds her close. "Bye, sweetie." Lara lets go and skipped over to Riley's outstretched hand. I sigh again and set my head in my hands and they walk away. Josh pulled me up and held me in his arms. If I closed my eyes I could almost imagine being back on the couch that night, watching a movie.

"Lara's beautiful Maya." I snuggled into him. "I know, we did a good job." LIES! I bite my tongue. QUIET! "She's sweet, and kind, she's an amazing little artist, and the most brilliant little four year old I've ever known," I went on and on naming a billion things I loved about my little daughter. "She sounds amazing." I nod. "She's perfect. Her hairs a headache though. In the morning it's full of knots." He chuckles. "I have no doubt. You're hair was the same." I scrunch my brows together then sit up to face him. "What do you mean?" Before he could answer, Farkle exited the room looking shaken. We both stand up at lightning quick speed.

"Farkle, is she alright?" He shows a weak smile. "Yeah, Smackle's perfectly fine. We actually got quite a surprise."

"What?" Josh and I ask at the same time.

"Why don't you come in?"

Josh and I follow Farkle as he walks over to the side of Smackle's bed, she once again lays asleep. He bends down then turns to face us.

"Guys, say hello to my daughter, Peyton Minkus."

Josh's and I's jaws drop to the floor.

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WELL THERE WE ARE!! THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR THE 1K READS! IT MAKES ME SO HAPPY THAT THAT MANY PEOPLE ARE INTERESTED IN MY BOOK! I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!!!