Little Ones [A Vikklan, Poofless and Merome Fanfiction]

↞Chapter 23↠

Rob's P.O.V.

Preston sucked in a shuddering breath, already crying, as he fell into my arms at the airport. Liam and Charlotte were held in our arms and we tried not to squash them between us, but we hugged long enough the Preston's eyes were red and there were tears crawling down his cheeks. I cupped his face with one hand, brushing his hair off his forehead.

"It's so good to see you." I whispered, moving that hand to instead wrap around his waist. "I'm so glad you're here."

"And I'm so glad to be here." He glanced down at Liam, then across at Charlotte. "I need this."

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Both kids were asleep when we finally got to talking about everything that had been happening over the last... four and a bit months and of course we ended up crying again, but I managed to finally get everything from Preston that he had been hiding from me. Everything he hadn't been able to tell me.

He hadn't been able to tell me about the pregnancy due to my own preoccupation, my planning for the arrival of my own daughter, and because of that he kind of just.. stopped trying. He hadn't had the time to record or edit or interact with me at all so in the end he never told anyone outside his close family that they were finally expecting. He couldn't entirely explain why, outside of the fear that they might lose it.

That night, only three days after Charlotte entered the world, while I was sleeping in the hospital most likely, everything had gone downhill. The doctors hadn't been able to stop the bleeding and she had died there, while Preston sat there and watching completely helpless. Liam had been rushed away and he had been left alone with his world completely shattered. He had been completely alone. He went to her funeral with Liam in his arms, blankly accepted the condolences from his family and went home to hide away from everyone and everything. Preston had spent months like this, alone, in silence, trying to raise Liam but he couldn't record or edit or tell anyone.

I held him as he cried, hugging him tight to my chest but I was crying myself with tears blurring my eyes. Preston eventually just lay there sniffling and hiccupping, a blank look in his eyes. He didn't speak for several hours, staring off into the distance while I ran a hand through his hair, whispered gentle words and once got up to comfort Charlotte, who had woken up crying. He didn't move, he just... lay there.

"Preston?" His eyes switched to me, but he wasn't entirely there. He blinked. "How bout we go to bed, okay, talk in the morning?"

He nodded slowly but didn't make to move, so I almost had to pick him up to carry him to guest bedroom where Liam was sleeping. Charlotte was asleep in her own nursery but there wasn't enough room for the two guests to have separate rooms because of the size of my apartment. But just as I guided him down the hall he hesitated, digging his heels into the carpet. There was a pause.

"I don't want to sleep alone." He finally whispered, choking. "I can't."

So that night I slept with Preston curled up beside me, tears still dripping down his cheeks long after he fell asleep but his breathing was calm. My arms remained around him because I was worried about him, I really was, and I was also worried about myself. We had our children to look after and I especially worried about Charlotte and her future, so on top of Preston and Liam I was high with anxiety. I pulled him close.

It was a long few hours before I fell asleep, and it wasn't long before I woken again by one of the kids.

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Preston didn't sleep much longer than me and the kids, creeping into the living room while I fed Charlotte and watched Liam closely, not even noticing that he was there until he stepped in front of me to pick up his son. Liam had been cooing, kicking up in the air.

"I've already fed and changed him." I said once I got over the sudden fright, gently sitting Charlotte up more. "He should be alright for now." He nodded.

"Thanks Rob." He said quietly.

I could see his still red rimmed eyes, meaning he had likely cried after I had left that morning, and my heart panged. When he sat down on the couch beside me I reached one arm out, the arm that wasn't holding Charlotte, and pulled him into my side so I could tuck him there. He let out a surprised noise but within a few minutes his head was resting exhaustedly on my shoulder, grip on Liam occasionally slipping as he drifted into sleep, so I took both kids into my own lap and gently bounced my knee until they settled. Preston drifted in and out for quite a while, head falling and then jolting.

It was only when both were down for their naps- they napped 3 times a day for around 4 to 5 hours total- that I was able to talk to Preston. His head continued to nod. He hadn't had anything to eat all day and I could hear his stomach grumbling but he had flat out refused to move, curled up on the couch now with his head buried in his arm.

"Hey, can we talk for a bit? Pressy?" I asked, squeezing his shoulder. He didn't move and I felt a shot of panic running through me- he hadn't had any time to grieve for Brianna because of Liam and maybe the full force of everything that had happened was just hitting him now.

It had taken me a while, a couple of months at least, to accept that my girlfriend was gone and she hadn't accepted her daughter because of her disability and although there was still anger, I had mostly come to peace with it. She was gone, she would never play a role in Charlotte's life and I hadn't stopped missing her. But Preston- he hadn't had the time or perhaps the mental state to go through those motions, to go through the process of grief due to the numbness, and it was only now he was being given a break.

Pulling Preston into my lap I quickly settled him just as I might have done with Charlotte, his head in my shoulder, my arms tight around him and my lips on his forehead. Sure, he wasn't my 4 month old daughter but Jesus Christ his wife had died giving birth to his son and he had isolated himself the entire time, he might need some comfort. I pulled a blanket over the both of us and held him tight as he cried, sniffled and eventually fell limp, his eyes flickering as his breathing finally slowed.

I thought he was sleeping when I finally leaned down and pressed a kiss to his lips, gently and softly, to the point I barely felt our skin touch. Then Preston's cheeks filled with red, his eyes flickered and he looked up at me, gaping. My heart was pounding- I thought he was asleep!

He sat up and I reached out to grab him because I thought he was leaving- but then he leaned over and kissed me back. We broke only when we were gasping for breath.

And as we lay there, both gasping and stunned, I knew this was the beginning of something new and amazing.