What We Once Were

Chapter 24

Veronica's POV
5 months ago

"Veronica push" the nurse urges, sitting on a stool at the bottom of my hospital bed. "I can't" I whine, leaning my head back. "It's been 4 hours of constant pushing. I'm so tired" I cry more. "Veronica we have to get this baby out. Just a few more pushes and you'll have a baby" she encourages. I push again, and again, knowing that I won't have a baby after this is all over, despite what this nurse says. She doesn't know that a family will be coming by tonight to adopt her. I groan and push again, squeezing the handrails on my hospital bed for dear life. A loud cry fills the room and I lay my head back on the pillow that is dampened by my sweat. "You have a beautiful baby girl, Veronica" the nurse says. I avoid her gaze and close my eyes, blinking my tears back. "Here she is" she says while placing her in my arms. I almost avoid holding her, until I see her. She has dark olive skin and black hair, just like me. I take her in my arms and run my finger on her rosy cheek, "can I have some time alone?" I ask, looking up at the nurse. "Yes, of course" she says before walking out of the room and closing the door behind her. I look back down at my baby and smile, despite the pit in my stomach when I realize I won't have her for much longer. "Well this is probably the only time I'm ever gonna see you" I say sadly, "but I'm your mommy. I'm doing this because I love you, and I want the best for you." I say, tears falling from my eyes. "Your father would love you too, his name is Reggie. He's clueless most of the time, but he can be sweet. And you'd love Archie, because I do. In an ideal world I'd raise you with Archie as my boyfriend and Reggie as your father, and we'd all be happy. But this isn't an ideal world, and I can't be selfish about this." I say. I take a deep breath, "please remember me" I whisper before placing a small kiss on her forehead.

Present time

"Veronica?" I hear Archie calling my name, pulling me from my daze. "Huh?" I question, turning my head to look at him. "What are you thinking about?" He asks. I shake my head, "nothing, just uh... the day I had Reign. I said goodbye and I asked her to remember me. She was only like 30 minutes old and now she's almost 6 months old. Babies form bonds, we don't have that" I say sadly. "Is this wrong of me?" I ask. Archie takes my hand "This isn't wrong of you. The family who adopted her asked you to take her back, because you are her mom" he says. I sigh "Why are you so nice?" I ask him. He smirks, "you make it easy" he says. I smile and look down at the paper work in front of me. "Ugh this is a mess" I groan, laying my head down on the papers. "Come with me" he says while standing up, and putting his hand out for me to take. "What?" I ask, glancing down at his hand. "Come with me" he repeats. "Archie I have to sign these" I say. He shakes his head, "those don't need to be mailed till tomorrow and you need to eat. Let's go" he says, "either get up or I'm picking you up" he adds. I narrow my eyes at him, "you wouldn't dare" I say. He stands up and quickly leans down, wraps his arms around me and throws me over his shoulder. "Okay Okay put me down I'll walk" I say while laughing. He sets me down on the ground and smiles at me, "I thought you'd see it my way" he says. I roll my eyes, "whatever. But you're paying" I say before walking past him and out of the door of my house.

"How am I supposed to raise a baby?" I ask out of the blue. "Huh?" He asks, still practically inhaling his food. "I mean I don't know anything about kids or discipline, I mean obviously I don't have much discipline, I'm the teen mom" I say quickly. He shakes his head, "stop doing that" he says. I shake my head, "doing what?" I ask. He rolls his eyes and takes his attention off his food, "discrediting yourself like being a teen mom means you're not good enough anymore or like you don't fit standards. Screw standards, you're better than any other 17 year old in this town and they don't have kids" he says. I take a deep breath, "except Reggie" I say. "Oh my god I need to tell him" I whisper while running my hands through my hair. "Do you?" He asks. I roll my eyes, "Obviously, yes. And we've been back together for 5 minutes, it hasn't been long enough for the 'jealous overprotective bs' yet" I say, making him smirk. "Understood" he jokes as I keep my eyes on him while Poptate puts the receipts on the table. I quickly snatch the receipt up, fold it and flick it at Archie, saying "Remember it's on you, red" 

"Okay maybe you were right to take me to Pops" I say, admitting defeat as Archie pulls into the parking lot at the Pembrook. "I know. You whine a lot when you're hungry" he says. I glare at him, "I do not" I say. He scoffs, "We're not doing this again" he says turning off the ignition. "Fine. Then let's do this again" I say as I reach out and use the collar of his shirt to pull his lips to mine. His hands find their way to my waist as I run my fingers through his hair, while we push and pull at each other's lips. Suddenly a knock at the window makes us jump and look to see who had the nerve to interrupt our impromptu make out session. I roll my eyes and try to hide the slight blush on my cheek, "good afternoon, Reggie."

Hype everyone likes this 💕 sorry it was a few hours later than it usually is, still getting used to the updating schedule