Together

Chapter 28

Chloe's POV

I looked down at the little bundle in my arms, it was crazy, this is my child, I'm a mother

I am so exhausted it's not even explainable, they said I lost quite a bit of blood but yeah, Ryan was really worried, he kept saying I looked really pale but I don't think he took into account the fact that I'm usually pretty pale anyway

But now I sit here with a little baby in my arms, how is any of this real?

So tiny, I look and see those little chocolate brown eyes look up at me, Ryan's eyes and then dirty blonde hair as a mix of mine and Ryan's

I hear a knock on the door and have to look up which was pretty difficult as a was entranced by the little baby in my arms

"Come in" I spoke as loudly as I could manage, still quiet weak and drained

The door opened slowly and in stepped Toby, oh dear god am I ready for this? I'm honestly not sure how's he's going to react when he meets his new sibling

"Hi" he says nervously in a rather subdued voice

"Hi" I reply, I'm starting to feel really tired now so I'm not really up to saying much more

"How are you?" He asks nervously as he closes the door behind him

"I'm okay, tired but I'll live" I reply wearily

He nods, still stood at the door so awkwardly, I smile softly and then gesture for him to come over which he does

"Toby, I'd like you to meet your little sister, Klara" I introduced him and his eyes lit up as he set eyes on his baby sister for the first time

"Woah, she's so beautiful" he gasped, mesmerised by her

"She really is" I reply, transfixed by my daughter, I couldn't take my eyes off her, every perfect little feature, her gentle little smile

He admired her so proudly, I could see he was going to be the best big brother for my little girl, Klara is so lucky to have him, so am I

"Would you like to hold her?" I ask him gently and he looks at me with wide eyes, I can't tell if it's disbelief or fear in his eyes

"R...really?" He asked nervously

"You don't have to" I assure him but he shakes his head and steadies himself

"I want to" he replies

He comes over and stands by the hospital bed, I carefully hand him Klara and I'll admit I held my breath for a moment, rather terrified something bad was about to happen, but it didn't

He rocked her gently and she began to fall asleep in his arms, it was so amazing to watch, my heart just melted at the sight of them together like that

I just watched my little girls every move, I couldn't take my eyes off of her, how did Ryan and I make something so amazing? It's insane

I looked up and realised he was staring at me, what's going on?

Tears began forming in his eyes

I used my last ounces of strength to move myself over on the bed so there was space for him to sit on here with me, he handed me Klara back and then crawled up onto the bed beside me

"I was so scared something was gonna happen to one of you" he whispered shakily as he huddled against me

I wrapped one arm around him while I held Klara carefully in my other arm, he began to cry softly and I rubbed his back trying to soothe and hush him, I had no idea he felt like this, I knew he regretted how he behaved when he had his little episode of acting out but I didn't know anything about this

"Toby honey it's okay, nothing's happened and nothing's gonna happen, everyone's okay" I reassure him and eventually he calms down

He sits up and looks at me, I can see the nerves in his eyes yet again, I'm just so confused right now, it's all processing a little slowly at the moment

"C..can I a...ask you s....something?" He stutters

"Of course" I reply, now struggling a little to keep my eyes open

"C....could I.....I mean, do you think that.....umm.....could I maybe.....call you.....m.....mom" he stuttered and in that moment I was very sure I'd just began hallucinating because there's no way Toby just actually said those words and meant them

"W..what?" I stutter, flustered and confused

"I...it's okay if you don't want me to, I...I was just kinda hoping..." she trailed off, clearly unsure of what to say next

Tears in my eyes I chuckled softly as I nodded and pulled him back into a hug

"Of course you can Toby" I whispered shakily, trying so hard not to cry

At that moment Ryan came in, I just couldn't stop smiling as a few happy tears began to fall

Ryan's POV

I walked in to find Chloe and Toby hugging and Klara in Chloe's arms, my own little family, it was so beautiful my wife, my son and my new daughter all together

I see Chloe's about to fall asleep so I quietly head over and carefully take Klara before kissing her on the forehead, I sit in the chair by her bedside and rock our newborn daughter carefully to help get her well and truly to sleep like her mother now definitely is

This is perfect, this is our family, united, finally we're all together

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Final chapter complete, just the epilogue left, I'm so not ready for this book to end, I hope you guys have enjoyed this book xoxo