I open my eyes to see I was in the hospital and that I had just returned from surgery. Erik wasn't in the room yet. I really miss him although it hasn't felt long since I have saw him. I look over at the time. I was in surgery for 3 hours. Wow! I try to sit up in the bed a bit and a wave of pain rolls through my body and tears come to my eyes. I look over at my shoulder and see it all wrapped up. Damn it looks so bad.
Moments later the doctor walks into the room.
"Hello, Ms. Ballinger. You're awake! Are you in any extreme pain at all?" he asks. I nod my head. He inserts some medicine into my IV.
"This might make you a bit loopy later on once it settles in so don't be alarmed. That just means it's doing its job. Do you need anything?"
"Can Erik come in?" I ask. The doctor nods.
"Let me go get him," he says and walks out of the room. I am just left there in awkward silence. I get lost in my thoughts. I go to look at my engagement ring but frown when it's not there. Was that part a dream? Was it all just a dream. I look down at my stomach at my little bump. Well, that part wasn't a dream. I rest my hands on my stomach and smile.
Erik then walks into the room smiling at me.
"Hey, baby! How ya feeling? He asks taking my hand of my unhurt arm.
"So, so. The doctor gave me medicine to help. He says I might get a bit loopy from it" I reply. He nods.
"Erik, can I ask you a question?" I say kind of nervous and unsure.
"Of course, baby. You can ask me anything." He smiles at me lovingly. I gulp out of nervous.
"Where is my engagement ring?" I ask not making eye contact.
"They had to take it off for the surgery, don't you remember?" he asks. I shake my head no. He gives me a sad expression. I frown. How come I can't remember? Now that I think about it I can barely remember anything. My mind goes blank. I begin to feel dizzy and so out of it. I don't feel like myself anymore. Erik can tell too.
"Sleep, baby. Get your rest." He smiles and the next thing I knew I was out like a light.
..............................................................................................................................
I'm now home relaxing. Weeks have gone by and I'm now 2 months pregnant. 7 more till our little one arrives. The only thing that makes me a bit sad is that the baby is due on July 2nd, Josh and I's wedding anniversary. But I cant focus on that anymore.
It is the beginning of December and you know what that means. Christmas is right around the corner! My favorite time of the year. It used to be much better before I lost contact with my family but that's another story. I am pulled out of my thought by my phone going off. It was a text from Erik. I read 'Come downstairs, I have a surprise for you" and a little winky face. I smile and roll my eyes. What is this boy up to now?
As I make my way down the stairs I hear a whole bunch of laughter coming from the living room. What I saw was so unexpected. It was my family. I was happy to see them but yet so nervous. There in the living room was Erik, my mom, my dad, Chris, Jessica, the kids, Trent, Rachel, her boyfriend, and Kory.
Parker comes running up to me and hugs my legs.
"Be careful parker! Aunty panties in hurt." I hear jess call to him.
"I've missed you so much! So, have Bailey and Jacob" he says to me smiling. He and the kids are kind of too young to understand what had happened. I feel bad for them. They had no clue. He then runs off and does his own thing with his siblings. My mommy then walks up to me with tears in her eyes.
"Mom, don't be sad. I'm ok." I say to her. She just hugs me gently.
"I've missed you so much pumpkin!" she says sobbing. Hearing the sound of my mom cry always breaks my heart. Especially if its cause of me.
"Mom, I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere." I say letting out a small chuckle as she pulls away.
"I know, darling" she smiles at me and then goes to sit down. Everyone comes up and greets me in their own special way and Rachel is last.
"Hey sis, I've missed that but you probably already knew that." She chuckles on the verge of crying. It took me by a bit of surprise when she said that. She was the one who didn't really want anything to do with me. I guess people can change over time.
"Rachel, please don't cry. It is totally fine. I've learned to look past it" I smile softly at her. I engulf her into a hug best I can. After we have finished I pull Erik over to the side asking him what he had told them meaning the engagement and all that.
"I only told them about your surgery cause I wanted them to be careful around you. I was hoping we could tell them about the pregnancy and the engagement together." He smiles at me. He is the sweetest. The literal sweetest.
"You're so sweet! I would like that very much" I smile back. We make our way back to the living room where everyone was.
"Attention, everyone! Colleen and I have a couple of announcements we would like to make to you all" Erik says to everyone and they all settle down.
"Tell them" he whispers to me with a smile. I nod.
"A month ago today, Erik proposed to me." I smile and so did everyone else. It was so nice to see everyone here and happy after all the drama that had happened a year ago.
"Also... mom and dad you're gonna be grandparents again, Rachel, Chris, Kory, Jessica, and Tent you are all the be aunt and uncles again, and kids you will have a new little cousin in 7 months today." I smile. It took a second for everyone to comprehend what was being said.
"Aunty panties?! You're pregnant?!" Bailey says jumping for joy.
"Yup!" I smile wide. Everyone congratulates us. After everything settles a bit bailey comes up to me while I'm in the kitchen talking to Kory.
"Aunty panties?" Bailey questions me.
"Yeah Bails?" I say looking down at her.
"Is it gonna be a girl?" she asks. I know she has been wanting a little girl to play with for years. It didn't matter if it was a sister or cousin. Yes, she loves her brother dearly, but she has wanted another little girl for a while now.
"I'm sorry sweetheart, we don't know yet. We find out next month." I say to her which breaks my heart.
"It's ok! I just hope it's a girl. If it's a boy I'll still be happy!" she says with a positive attitude and skips off. She is so strong.
It starts to get late and our little gettogether dies down. As soon as the last person leaves its 12 am. Erik and I get in bed and cuddle.
"Baby?" he asks me rubbing his thumb on my cheek.
"Yeah?" I ask him.
"If you don't mind me asking, what was the reason behind you and your family splitting." My heart fell to my stomach. I manage to hold back my tears. I knew that question would pop up eventually.
"Promise not to get mad?" I ask out of fear.
"Babe, I could never be mad at you" he gently kisses my forehead on my hairline.
"They believed I cheated on Josh with you and they all were mad and disgusted and lost contact with me," I say softly.
"I'm so sorry, sweetheart," he says frowning.
"It's ok. I've learned to look past it but thank you. Thank you for bringing them back together" I say with happy tears.
"You are more than welcome. It's what you deaserve."
I yawn and smile sleepily at him.
"Get some rest. It's ok." And with that, I buried my face into his chest and passed out.
