By Your Side. (Sequel to Art Girl and Wolf Boy)

By Your Side. (Prologue)

 

Molly's POV:

 

I was there, two years before, when Dylan gave birth to Archer. I was also there for my sister's and Mandie's birth.  

The sweating, the screams of pain as they brought another life forth...I thought I was ready for it.  

No. Never.

"Push!" The doctor urged. I screamed, making Tony wince beside me, and pushed.  

"That's it, that's it, you're crowning Molls."

"You're doing great baby," Tony said, pecking me on the head. I pointed to him, shaking, and yelling in a hoarse voice, "You! You did this to me! You disgusting little--"

I pitched off, screaming.  

"PUSH!"

I pushed. I pushed for all I was worth. A piercing cry came through the air.  

I sobbed as the doctor announced, "It's a girl!"  

Tony was crying too, as the doctor wrapped the girl and handed her to me. She had tanned, rosy little cheeks and curly blond hair like mine, and huge, blue-green eyes like her daddy's. 

"She's beautiful." He said. I rocked her and let him hold her. Carefully, with his huge hands holding her head, he took her. He held her with a protective look in his eyes, the way he did me, as if, instead of one life that he had to look after constantly (despite protests of the protectee), he had another as well. And if I knew him well enough...  

No boy was going to get within a fifty mile radius of her.  

"Phoebe." He murmured.  

"What?"

His head snapped up and he gave me a sheepish grin, along with the puppy dog eyes. A deadly combination.  

"I like the name Phoebe," he said, shrugging a bit. "But you can name her whatever you want."

"How about Gretchen?"

He nearly dropped the baby. "GRETCHEN!?!"

"I think it's nice," I said, trying to fight my smile. "Wait. No." He looked relieved. "I think Brunhilda--"

"No. Absolutely not. Molls, I love you, but I'm not about to let you name our daughter that."

"Fine." I pouted, pretending to think. "How's Phoebe sound to you?"

He put the baby in my arms and let me start feeding her, while he kissed me, pushing a wet piece of hair back. The door flew open.

"Isn't that how this whole thing started?" Dylan asked, bustling into the room like a small hurricane. Her auburn hair was swept up in a ponytail and she was wearng a t-shirt and jeans. Typical.

"Like you can talk." I shot back. The sleeping little two year old boy in her arms stirred a little. Dylan gave me a look. "Point taken. You might want to put that away though, everybody else's about to come in and pester you with oohs and ahhs."

"How come you're here then?"

"Simple. I jumped out of the car with Archer in my arms before Jude could pass the hospital doors."

I stopped feeding Phoebe when she dozed off and zipped myself back up. "I swear Dylan, you're gonna drive him crazy."

"She already is," Jude said, walking into the room and hugging her close. He kissed the top of her head, then Archer's, and handed Tony 'It's a girl!' and 'It's a boy!' balloons.