Send Me In Orbit

Genius

As the eldest of the Medina siblings, CJ could honestly say that he loved all of his siblings equally. He didn't have a favorite because all of them were special in their own ways and each of them occupied big spaces in his heart. He might treat Claire as more of a friend and a confidante because they were closest in age. He might spoil Larissa more because she was the baby girl, the princess of the family. And he might protect Ceres more because she was so quiet and shy and selfless that she hardly ever asks for what she needs. But baby Lucas...CJ worried about him the most.

Lucas was the reason that CJ almost backed out of going to New York even after getting Mom and Dad's blessing.

From the very beginning Lucas was special. Mom and Dad weren't planning to have more kids after Larissa was born. They had been hoping for another boy but after three tries, they probably figured the odds were against them. CJ remembered overhearing a conversation that Mom had with Ninang Angela. She said that her pregnancy with Larissa was the hardest that she had so far and even though she wasn't that old, she could feel her body responding to her pregnancy in a different way. CJ thought that was probably why they decided to stop having more kids. He thought that his parents could have happily gone up to ten kids if Mom's body could take it. But they decided to stop and Dad said that he has two boys anyway because they have Henry. That made Henry really happy and CJ thought his Dad was right, Henry was the brother CJ never had.

But because his Mom and Dad were Clark and Leah and it's like physically impossible for them to keep their hands off each other (a fact that gets more gross as CJ gets older, especially after he learned exactly what the "special" kiss and hug is that parents do in their bedroom), Mom did get pregnant again four years after Larissa was born. They were happy, of course they were, but it was the most difficult pregnancy of all. CJ didn't know the details of what happened but he was 13 at the time and he only had to look at Dad's face when he came out to the waiting room to talk to Lokay to know that it was very very bad. Ninang Tiffany took them all home after that and CJ had to distract his siblings and pretend everything was okay.

It was only later that CJ understood what had happened. Mom had gone into labor too early. She was so scared for the baby that she refused to deliver him, she wanted the doctors to wait, to try to keep him inside longer. But she was losing too much blood, if they didn't get the baby out she could die, they both could. They had to cut her open to get the baby out, Mom had lost too much blood and went to sleep. She was asleep for so long that the doctors worried she might not wake up. CJ didn't see what Dad was like during that time but it wasn't hard to picture. Dad would have been falling apart. But Mom did wake up and the baby was put in an incubator so he could grow more. They couldn't take him home from the hospital for two weeks. CJ barely saw Mom or Dad during that time because they were always at the hospital with the baby.

CJ had been happy to have a new sibling, especially a little brother like he had always wanted. But he had to admit, when Mom and Dad finally took him home from the hospital, CJ wanted nothing to do with the new baby. He had almost taken Mom away. No one would admit it to him and his siblings, but CJ had seen Dad. He had seen Lokay and Lola, Ninang Tiffany and Ninong Tolayts, Lola Jack...they had all looked so scared. No, scared wasn't the right word. They were terrified. Because of the baby, they had almost lost Mom. They didn't even need a new baby. In CJ's opinion, their family was already complete.

Mom and Dad couldn't get enough of Baby Lucas. He was their little miracle, born over a month premature but completely healthy after two weeks at the hospital. He was small and a little underweight but doctors were sure that would normalize with his feedings. Everyone adored Lucas, even CJ's siblings. They were young though, they didn't understand what Lucas almost did. They didn't know how close they all came to being motherless. CJ wasn't going to tell them but that didn't mean he had to like Lucas.