My Half Brother - A Ross Lynch/R5 Fanfic

Chapter 18 - Rydel and Unexpected Happenings

Chapter 18

Ashley-

"ASHLEY!" I hear Rydel holler throughout the bus, and run to where she is. "The baby's coming..."

My eyes widen. "Where's Ell?" Rydel shrugs weakly. "He went out with the boys."

I decide to call him. "Hello?"

"ELL! You need to get back here; Dell's gone into labour," I try to stay as calm as possible as one of Rydel's contractions comes and goes.

"Oh my god," Ell breathes. "Okay um, I'll be right there." He hangs up, and try to comfort Rydel as best as I can.

"I'm here!" Ellington runs in, coming right to Dell's side, followed by the other boys as the bus starts to drive to a hospital.

They all sit, Ross beside me, and Mom rushes in. "We're at the hospital, do you just want Ell and I?" Rydel weakly nods, Ellington supporting her weight as they walk from the back lounge.

"I hope everything goes okay," I say, and Dad comes in, Carter resting on his hip.

"He wanted to see his mommy," he smiles at me, putting him on my lap. I send a small smile Dad's way, and start to bounce Carter.

"Everything will be fine, babe," Ross kisses my temple gently. "Rydel's going to be okay." I look up from Carter, meeting his eyes. "But what if something does happen?"

"It's unlikely," he says. "I mean, remember what the doctor had said about you?" I nod slightly as he pulls me into his side. "Yeah."

"Why did you guys decide to have a child so early?" Rocky asks after a small silence and I look at him across the lounge.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I ask a little offended. "I mean, why'd you have a child so early in life?"

"It was a little mistake," Ross pipes in, his arm tightening around me. "But Carter's here now, so we'll try to give him the best life he can have."

"You guys aren't even married yet though," he opposes.

"Guys!" Riker raises his voice. "Stop. And Rocky, just shut up. It wasn't their choice, but on the other hand, it really doesn't matter when you guys had a child." He turns to us as Rocky crosses his arms, slouching back on the couch.

I stare at Carter. Did he really think that? Maybe he's right.

"Don't worry about it," Ross whispers. "I can tell you are."

"Okay," I say softly, and then a somewhat awkward silence fills the air, I'm assuming because of what happened just before.

"Ashley, Ross," I hear Rocky say quietly, sitting up.  "I should've just kept my mouth shut. I'm sorry." He apologizes.

"Okay," I say softly. Ross doesn't answer, so I nudge him.

Ross-

I can't believe him! How dare Rocky talk about my family like that?! I'm not accepting his apology until I think this over. I feel Ashley nudge me gently. I ignore it, my fingers traveling through Carter's blonde, slightly curly hair.

"Ross," Ashley leans up to whisper in my ear. "He just insulted my family. I'm not accepting his apology." I whisper in her ear. She sighs. "He's trying to fix it, give him a chance."

She did have a point. But still. I don't know, I guess I should. Everyone makes mistakes.

"Hey, it's good bro," I look over at Rocky across from us. "Just don't let happen again." I add, and I feel Ashley's eyes on me, but I ignore it.

"Thanks guys. But I really am sorry. I didn't mean it. It just kind of came out." Rocky apologizes again. "Okay, Rock. Just try to have a filter next time." Ash tries to ease things up a bit by sending Rocky a small laugh making him smile. "I'll keep it in mind."

"The baby's born!" Dad bursts in the lounge. "It's a girl!"

Ashley-

"Oh my gosh," I breathe. "Can we go see her?" "Yeah. Let's go." Dad beckons us out, and we all follow, and we arrive in Rydel's hospital room.

"Delly!" I exclaim, putting Carter in Ross' arms, walking over to Rydel's bedside. "What's her name?"

I look down at their little girl in admiration. She looked so peaceful in her sleeping state.

"Ariel Mary," she smiles up at me. I nod. "Is it alright if I hold her?" She nods, placing her gently in my arms, and I remember to support her. I feel a body beside me and then an arm around me.

"She's looks just like Ell," Ross whispers, and I nod. She did. Same nose, same hair, almost everything.

"Here, hun, let your dad and I see her," Mom holds out her arms, and place Ariel gently in them, then turn to Ross and Carter, playing with Carter's hair a little.

~~~

Back on the bus, Rydel had asked everyone to keep it down only because she was pretty exhausted and Ariel needed the sleep.

"Have you ever thought about what you wanna do for your birthday?" Mom sits next to me on the couch as I watch some random show on TV.

I completely forgot about my birthday with taking care of Carter and getting bust with tour and things like that. It just slipped my mind. It's in about a week and a day.

"Uh, no," I look at her, and she laughs a little. "You forgot about your own birthday?" I smile slightly. "Well, we have been busy."

"Yeah," she nods. "But what do you want to do?" I shrug. I never really had parties at the orphanage; they never held parties on the kids' birthdays, unless there was a special request.

"I'll have to think," I say finally. "Okay, Jill let you think. Where's that cutie of yours?"

By cutie, she meant Carter. The nickname caught on once he was born. "I dunno. Ross had him the last time I saw him."

She nods, getting up, walking off to go find them. After a few moments, I feel two arms around me.

"Oh - hi," I smile slightly up at Ross. "Where's Carter?"

"With Mom," he says simply. "What do you want for your birthday?" I shrug. "Don't go to too much trouble. Nothing big."

"But why? This is the first birthday you're celebrating with us!" He smiles, making a small smile appear on my face. "I think it should be big."

"Nah, don't go to too much trouble," I repeat. "I can't promise anything." He grins.