When I Come Around

Chapter 15

"Hey Val!" I said, smiling as I sat down across from her in the small cafe.

"Harry! How was your meeting?" Valerie said, her smile bright and welcoming.

"It was like every other meeting, nothing new," I said, "but how was your appointment? Did you find out the gender?"

"The nurse gave me this slip of paper, she said I could open it whenever I wanted," Valerie explained, pulling the card from her bag, "I haven't looked at it yet."

"Well, what are ya waiting for? Let's see!" I said with a smile. I was excited for this, maybe even more excited than Valerie.

"You sure you don't want to wait? Let it be a surprise once the baby is born?" Valerie asked.

"Hell no! I can't wait that long," I said, making her laugh. Valerie grinned, unfolding the paper. I moved my chair closer to hers to read the paper, and I smiled brightly when I read the one word I had been looking forward to for months. I glanced towards Valerie, my smile bright. Valerie was grinning, her eyes teary.

"A little girl," Valerie said, happy-tears rolling down her face.

"Valerie Jr!" I said, smiling.

"You can only name boys Jr, not girls," Valerie said, laughing softly.

"Oh, come on. Valerie Jr sounds cute!" I said, grinning.

"We can think of names later, we still have five months to go," Valerie said, and I nodded. I honestly couldn't stop smiling. I had been hoping for a baby girl, and here we are: expecting a girl. I know it isn't my baby, but I loved her like my own. And in that moment, we had no worries. Valerie didn't worry about her parents, I didn't worry about Andy tracking her down. We were happy and content in our little family.

Later that evening, Louis was staying the night at Eleanor's while Valerie and I stayed at our apartment. I sat on the couch, watching a movie while Valerie was getting something to eat.

"I had a craving for pizza," Valerie said, giggling as she walked into the living room holding a plate of reheated pizza. I grinned, patting the spot on the couch beside me. She sat next to me, leaning against me slightly. My arm went around my shoulders, and even as I tried to relax, my mind kept floating back to the meeting earlier. They were treating us as a PR stunt, and I hated it.

"Hey, I have to talk to ya about something," I said, sitting up slightly to see her face.

"Yeah? About what?" She asked, looking up towards me.

"About us," I said. Almost immediately I noticed a change in Valerie's face. "No, I'm not breaking up with you, it's just about management earlier." Valerie looked slightly relieved, letting out a deep breath.

"Thank God," Valerie said, and I laughed lightly.

"No, I was just talking to the boys earlier about you and I, and management was saying to wait to announce our relationship until Baby Girl is born. I just want to go ahead and tell everyone, because you aren't a PR stunt. I don't want to have to hide our relationship for five months," I explained.

"It's our relationship, not theirs. You can announce it whenever you want," Valerie said.

"I wish it was that easy. I have to tell them my final decision tomorrow, but of course my decision has to be approved by them. I just don't know what to do," I said honestly.

"Listen, sleep on it. Whatever you want to do, you can do. It isn't their job to approve your decisions, it is your life and our relationship, yeah?" Valerie said. I smiled softly, kissing her forehead.

"You give the best advice," I said, laughing with her.

"It's what I do," she said, giggling.

"But tomorrow our manager wants to have a meeting without the boys, so I am worried. I hate meetings, let alone when it is only me," I said.

"I can go with you," Valerie said, "I don't have anything to do tomorrow except for one doctor's appointment."

"But you just had an appointment today? I thought it was monthly appointments, not daily," I said, looking towards her in confusion.

"It's a long story, I don't want to bore you," Valerie said, blowing it off.

"I have all night," I said with a tiny smile.

"Well, earlier at my appointment they were asking me if I had felt any movements yet, and I haven't. They were worried because I am 24 weeks, and most women have felt true movements by now. They were looking for a heart-beat, but it wasn't as strong as they wanted. Her heart-beat was sorta erratic, so they need me to come in tomorrow and check on it," Valerie said softly.

"Why didn't you tell me earlier?" I asked, staring at her. I wasn't mad, just worried. What if something was wrong with her?

"I just wanted to ride it out, it may just be no big deal, I don't want everyone worrying over it," Valerie said.

"Val, if I am going to step up to be her father, I want to know these things. I'm here to help you with things like this, you have to tell me," I said, looking towards her.

"I'm sorry, i should have told you earlier," Valerie said, looking into my eyes.

"Don't worry about it, let's just make sure Baby Girl is alright, yeah?" I said, wrapping my arm around her shoulders. Baby Girl was the name we had basically tacked on for the baby. We hadn't gotten time to give real thought to her name, so until we figure it out, her name will be Baby Girl. I loved the nickname, and so did Valerie.

"But I'll go with you tomorrow to your meeting, then I'll head to my appointment," Valerie said.

"I'll go to your appointment with ya if you are cool with that," I said.

"That would be great," Valerie said with a small smile. I grinned. I didn't want to stress Valerie out by constantly worrying about the baby, so I stayed quiet, but my mind was racing. The possibilities of what could go wrong flooded my mind, and the thought of leaving for a four month tour wrecked my mind.