It's been two days since the baby was born, and Jessica has been discharged from the hospital.
She was a wreck. Knowing she had to leave her baby hurt her more than anything.
They were both in the NICU with their hands in the incubator and Jessica said, "Danny, we need to name her."
"I know.. Do you have any names that you like?"
"Well, I've been thinking, and I really like Arabella Kaidyn.. Arabella means beautiful and Kaidyn means little fighter... And, well.. I just think that sums up our little girl." She looks down at the baby and rubs her little foot in her hand.
"It's beautiful.. The name is perfect for her, Jess." Danny smiles.
Jessica looks up at him and gives him a small smile.
"So that's it.. Hi Arabella!" She smiles with tears in her eyes.
Jessica caressed her lightly and Arabella held her finger tight.
She let out a teary chuckle and said, "You've got quite a grip!"
"She's tougher than she lets on." Danny smiles.
"Hmh! Yeah..." She looks down.
Danny rubs her back and she lays her head back on him and cries.
Danny kisses the top of her head and closes his eyes to try and stay strong.
***
That evening Danny drove Jessica to get the kids from his moms house.
They had no idea what had gone on, so they were going to explain to them everything that's going on.
"I'm so nervous, Danny! I can't even talk about it without crying, and I-"
"It's okay.. I'm here for you." He places his hand on her thigh.
"Mommy! Daddy!" They kids run to them.
"My babies! Oh I've missed you two so much!" Jessica says in tears.
"Where have you been?!" Sofia asks.
Jessica just looks at them, and Danny says, "... Let's go to the other room.. We need to talk."
They sit them both down and with a worried look Sofia asks, "Is something wrong? Are you mad again?"
"No. No sweetie, it's just.."
Danny grabs Jessica's hand and says, "Kids... Your mom.. She had the baby."
"What!? Where is she?!" Sofia's eyes light up.
"She's at the hospital, and she will be for a while. She came very early, so they have to make sure she grows and develops just like you and Jax did."
"When can she come home?"
"We don't know... She's very very weak and extremely tiny.. She.." Jessica says as she has to stop.
Danny wraps his arm around her and she leans onto him.
"She's only one pound, eight ounces.. Which means she has a very long road ahead of her, but we all know she can make it through and beat the odds.. Right?" He smiles down at Jessica and slightly shakes her.
"Yeah.." She says in a whisper with a fake sad smile.
"Can we see her?" Jackson asks.
"She's in the NICU, so you can't go in, but daddy has a picture on his phone." She looks at Danny.
"Let me see!" Sofia gets excited.
"Okay.. But Sof, don't expect a full grown healthy baby. She's very small and she's connected to all kinds of tubes and things."
"I wanna see her!"
"Okay."
Danny shows her the picture and she stays quiet, "She's so small..." She says with sad eyes.
"She is.. But she's a little fighter!"
"What's her name?"
"Arabella."
"That's pretty!" She smiled.
"Your mom picked it out." Danny smiles at Jessica.
"Yeah.. Arabella Kaidyn which together that means, Beautiful Little Fighter... That's what she is."
***
Danny drove to Jessica's house and walked them in.
"Excuse the mess.. We were moving in when it happened."
"No it's fine. Nice place." He looks around.
"Thanks. Do you want anything?" She goes to the kitchen and looks in the fridge as she continues, "I have... Nothing."
Danny chuckles and says, "I'll go pick something up, what would you like?"
"I'm not hungry."
"Jessica, you have to eat something. You've barley eaten anything the past two days. You have to take care of yourself for her. She needs you to be healthy. You've been pumping milk non stop for her and you need to eat and make that milk even better for her."
"Yeah.. Well, just get me something light wherever you go."
"Alright..." He sighs.
***
The kids were in the play room and Jessica was in the living room alone.
I need to call, what if somethings wrong!
Jessica grabs her phone and calls the hospital.
"Hello, this is Jessica Huston. I'm calling to check on my baby."
"Hello, Mrs. Huston. As of right now there has been no change in your daughter."
"Okay... Uhm.. Well..."
"Mrs. Huston, I know this is extremely hard, but try and get a good nights sleep. You've been through a lot and you need some rest."
"How am I supposed to do that?" She scoffs.
"I know it's hard, but it's important that you do. Now you have a good night, Mrs Huston."
***
Danny comes back with the food and they all sit at the table and eat.
Jessica can't help but get a sick feeling in her stomach, from the guilt.
She felt guilty that she wasn't by her baby's side, but she also felt bad that she wasn't with her other kids a hundred percent.
"Jess?!" Danny takes her from her thoughts.
"Hm?! What?" She looks at him with a dazed look.
"You need to eat, sweetie."
"Oh.." Jessica looks down at her untouched food.
After they ate, Danny cleaned up and put the kids to bed. He didn't want Jessica doing anything.
Jessica watched him and thought that maybe she should have taken him up on his offer to stay with her, and help take care of her and the kids. Of course she had a good reason not to, but she couldn't get it out of her head.
Maybe if I would have let him move back in, this wouldn't have happened..
"Thank you, Danny." She says as he cleans and moves boxes around so it looks a little more "Homey"
"You're welcome, sweetie.. Well.. I'm done. I guess I'll Uhm.. Head home."
"No!"
"Huh?" He looks at her.
"I mean..." She looks down and plays with the throw pillow that was on her lap.
"Can you stay with me?"
A small smile appears on his face and he says, "Of course I'll stay."
"Thank you."
"You're welcome." Danny sits beside her and touches her leg.
"Jess... Are you okay?"
"... I'm fine..."
"Why don't you get some sleep. In the morning I'll call Jasmine to come watch the kids, and we'll go to the hospital."
Jessica nods her head and he rubs her back.
Jessica stands up and walks towards the stares as Danny lays on the couch.
She turns to see him laying down and she says, "Can you sleep with me?"
"Yeah, of course. Are you sure?"
She nods her head and says, "I don't wanna be alone."
"Well then of course I will."
Danny laid down and Jessica cuddled up next to him.
He was surprised that she did, but he didn't bother questioning it.
The top of her head was in the crook of his neck and her face was on his chest, along with her arm.
Danny softly brushed the tip of his nose on her head and took in her scent.
"Thank you.." She whispered.
"Don't thank me.. I'm always here for you... No matter what."
