Nolie climbed up the main spiraling staircase that went to the third level of the house, taking a deep breath before she pushed the door to her parents' room open, instantly seeing her mom curled into a ball in the middle of the giant bed. She walked over to the bed, using the platform to pull herself up. She placed her hands on the mattress and grabbed a hold of the sheets so that she was now on top of the bed, and crawled over to her mom, tucking herself into her embrace as she sighed and listened to the familiar sound of her mom's heartbeat.
She really didn't want to wake her mom up, in fear of getting snapped at again, but her dad had told her to because the family was downstairs. She knew that she wasn't supposed to know, but she knew why her mommy was so cranky and sleepy lately. She had heard her and Wilmer talking about it and had asked Marisol what it had meant to be "pregnant". Her mommy was having another baby, a baby that she didn't want her to have. It was bad enough that her mom was already acting weird around her; she didn't want a new baby to come and take her spot. She was her mommy's little princess, and she always would be. No one was going to take that away from her.
"Mommy, daddy says it's time to wake up," Nolie said, gently nudging her mom who groaned and turned on her side, away from Nolie. Nolie placed both of her hands on her sides and lifted herself up onto her knees. She used one of her hands to brush her mom's hair away from her face, like she had done for her so many times, and kissed her temple.
"Mommy, you gotta get up. The family is here," Nolie said, peering out of the door before looking back at her mom. She shook her again before sighing, crawling back into her embrace and closing her eyes.
"Nolie, what are you doing?" Demi hoarsely whispered as Nolie turned into her mother, placing her head on her chest as Demi let her fingers run through her hair.
"Daddy told me to come wake you up. You're not mad at me, are you?" Nolie questioned as Demi shook her head and sat up, bringing Nolie up with her. Nolie tucked a piece of hair behind her ear before shyly looking at her mother.
"Even with the new baby coming, you're still gonna love me right?" Nolie asked as Demi widened her eyes. "Marisol told me. You're not gonna forget about me right? You or daddy?"
"Nolie," Demi breathed out, wrapping her arms around her daughter and placing a kiss on the crown of her head as Nolie let herself cry into her mother's shoulder.
"I promise I'll be a big girl and I won't cry for cuddles anymore, and I'll listen really hard, I promise. Just don't forget me," Demi pulled her away from her chest and locked eyes with her, seeing herself in Nolie. Seeing the little girl growing up who just wanted to please her parents, the little girl who would do anything and everything to make sure that her family wouldn't fall apart, even if it was falling apart right before her eyes.
"I could never forget you. Yes, a new baby is coming, and you're gonna be a big sister, but Nolie, I had you first. And because of that, you'll always hold a special place in my heart. You're my little princess, and that's never gonna change. Your father and I are still gonna love you, and continue to love you, no matter what happens," she wiped her tears away as Nolie nodded and threw her arms back around her neck, just wanting to stay close to her mother, the one who had seemed so distant, but now it seemed as if things were truly back to normal.
"Let's go downstairs, yeah?" Demi scooted off of the bed, ignoring the fact that she wasn't really dressed properly for a family dinner, before going down the stairs. She heard everyone before she saw them, and she walked into the dining room to see her family and Joe's all around the table, already digging into the food that Joe had cooked along with his mother, and her mother.
"Nice of you to finally join us," Dianna joked, standing up and greeting her daughter, and her granddaughter as well as Demi chuckled and wrapped her free arm around her mother. She knew that Nolie would be attached to her hip for the rest of the night, and since it wasn't like her body was rapidly changing from the pregnancy or anything, she truly didn't mind.
