Time Ahead

chapter forty-nine

Perrie's POV:

I awoke to the sound of my fan humming in the background. I sit up and look around me, trying to process my surroundings. I was on an air mattress with Jesy next to me. Not the most comfortable bed, but it was fun spending time with everyone. Leigh and Jade were asleep on the couch. I quietly stand up and peak my head into Izzy's room. Izzy was asleep in her bed and all the kids were around her in their sleeping bags. I head over to the other side of the house where we have a movie room. All the guys were asleep on the couches and chairs. I decided to head to the kitchen and start breakfast. It was the most I had done by myself in a while and it felt good to be independent.

I made tons of pancakes and bacon. I had set out cups of orange juice for everyone on the table and at the barstools. I heard footsteps behind me and saw Leigh, Jesy, and Jade appear in the kitchen doorway. "Morning," I said. "How did you all sleep?" They all groaned and I laughed. I handed each of them a coffee I had made. "Should we go get the kids up?" Jesy asked. I nodded and we headed down the hall.

We walked into Izzy's room and one by one, woke all the kids up, but not before taking a picture of them. I walked over to Izzy and lightly shook her awake. "Hey Iz," I said. Her eyes slowly opened and she smiled at me. "Good morning sweetie," I said. She yawned and stretched out. "I made breakfast, are you hungry?" I asked quietly. She nodded her head and got up out of bed. By then, each of the kids had woken up. They were all quiet in the mornings, which is weird considering how loud they are the rest of them time. I held Izzy's hand on the way to the kitchen and helped hand out the food to the kids. As the kids started to wake up and get louder, the guys eventually made their way to us.

"You did all of this?" Alex asked once he joined us. "I wanted to help out a little, since you've been doing everything," I say. "That's sweet,  but I don't mind doing everything," he said, giving me a hug and kiss on the head. All of us sat at the tables and ate our breakfast. Jade was feeding Kaiden before she ate herself. She was feeding him baby food when he mumbled something. He mumbled something again, but this time clearer. "Mama," he babbled. Jade's head shot back at him a little shocked. "Did he?" she questioned. "He did!" I said excited. Jade lifted him up from his carrier and held him close. "You just said your first word buddy!" she said excitedly. Jed had gotten up and was standing with them, a huge grin on his face. Jade handed Kaiden to Jed, who rocked him back and forth. I gave Jade a huge hug and she patted my stomach. "That'll be you soon," she said smirking. I smiled, and placed my hand on my stomach.

I insisted on cleaning the dishes so Alex could go and relax. The girls were sitting on the barstools around me while the kids were back playing in Izzy's room. "Are you sure you don't want any help?" Leigh asked. "No thanks, I'm fine," I said. Suddenly, I felt a sharp pain in my stomach. "Ouch," I said, rubbing my bump. "Are you okay?" Jade asked. "I don't know. I just got a sharp pain right here. It's probably just Braxton Hicks or something. I got those all the time with Izzy," I said. Another pain came. "Are you sure you're not in labor?" Jesy asked. "I don't think so," I said, not very convincing. That's when I felt water run down my leg. "Girls, my water just broke," I said with panic.

"Alex!" Jesy yelled in the boys' direction. Leigh and Jade helped me over to get my shoes on. "I'll grab your hospital bag," Jade said, running upstairs. Alex had come into the room, the other three guys following behind him. "Woah babe, is it time?" he asked running over to me. "I think so," I said in the middle of a contraction. Alex rubbed my back, which helped a little. "Chris, Jed, and I can stay here with the kids while you all go," Andre offered. "Are you sure you don't mind?" I asked. "Of course not, now go have a baby!" Chris said. Jade ran over to us with my hospital bag. "Are we all ready?" Alex asked. We nodded and headed out the door.

We drove to the hospital quickly but safely. I only managed to have two contractions on the way there. "He's early, my due date isn't for two more weeks," I said. "I'm sure everything's fine, it's normal for them to come this early," the doctor reassured me. "Oh my god this hurts," I say, feeling another contraction coming. I grip onto the bed and Alex grabs my hand. Jesy is rubbing my arm while Jade is rubbing my back and Leigh is getting me a cool washcloth. "Thank you girls for being here," I say. "It means a lot to me that you're here." They all smiled. "We wouldn't miss it for the world," Jesy said.

The doctor was in and out. I had progressed slowly but it was about 7:00 when I was fully dilated. "Okay," the doctor said entering the room. "You're about 10 centimeters. Would everyone leave the room except the father," he ordered. Each of the girls gave me a small cuddle before leaving. "Okay Perrie, are you ready?" the doctor asked. I nodded. "Okay, push," he said.

After about half an hour of pushing, a loud cry entered the room. "You did it babe," Alex said with tears welling in his eyes. The doctor placed him on my chest before taking him away for measurements and cleaning. "I'll go get the girls," Alex said. They came into the room behind Alex quietly. The nurses had finished with him and he was now in my arms. "He is 7lbs, 8 ounces and 19 inches," the nurse said as she handed the baby to me. "Thanks," I smile.

The girls looked at him in awe. I gave him to Alex and let him rock the baby. The baby's eyes started to close as Alex rocked him. "That's adorable" Jesy said. I smiled, not being able to take my eyes off of him. "Do you guys have a name yet?" Jade asked. "Actually, Alex and I talked about it a little before you all came in. We think we picked one out but we wanted to ask you, Jade, first," I said. "I really liked the name Lucas that Jesy had written down. I thought about it and eventually came up with Luke. Once I thought of that, I couldn't think of anything else. I wanted to ask you because that is Kaiden's middle name, and I wanted to make sure you were okay with that," I say nervously. "Of course I'm okay with that. Come here," she said giving me a big hug. I gracefully accept her hug and see the tears in both of our eyes. "Okay Jerrie, this is really sweet, but I want to hold my nephew," Leigh said making all of us laugh.

After Alex and I filled out his birth certificate, the girls had left to retrieve their kids and promised to be back in the morning. Alex and I laid on the bed, enjoying each other's company, and the new addition to our family, Luke Jackson Chamberlain.