Secrets - Brollins

14.

"He's perfect" Colby smiled down at the crying newborn in his arms "Absolutely perfect" he said

Knox Daniel Lopez was born at 5:32PM on June 25th 2017, He had his father's dark hair matted down to his head, his mother's nose, and her never give up spirit. He was the perfect blend of the two of them.

"What do you say Knox, do you wanna go meet your mom?" Colby looked up at Rebecca, she was exhausted but she never looked more beautiful than she did in that moment "Let's go meet your mommy" he said as he moved carefully from the floor to Rebecca's side and gently placed the newborn in her waiting arms

"Oh my god" she said in a breathless whisper "Oh my god" she shook her head "Hi Knox" she kissed his head "You're so beautiful"

"You did it" Colby smiled "I told you that you could do it" he kissed Rebecca's head gently

"Is your hand okay?" She looked down at his hand that was slowly starting to regain its color

"It will be fine" he nodded as he moved his fingers quickly "You didn't break it but you were close" he laughed

"You didn't even show me that I was hurting you" she looked him in the eyes for the first time since their son had entered this crazy world

"My mom didn't raise a complete idiot" he shook his head "The pain I was feeling was just a fraction of what you were feeling"

"That hurt" she nodded as she looked at her son "A lot.." She ran her hand over the baby's cheek gently "but it was all worth it" she kissed the baby "He was worth everything I went through"

There was a knock on the door and they heard the knob trying to be turned, they both looked at the door as they heard the knocking turn into pounding.

"I hear a baby crying" Sarah's voice came from the other side and Rebecca and Colby looked at one another "Hand him over you two and nobody gets hurt" she said and Rebecca wrapped her arms tighter around her son and Colby stood up

"Where are you going?" Rebecca asked as he bent down and kissed his son's head quickly "Don't!" She said as she watched him walk towards the door

"I'll be fine" he nodded as he flashed her a small smile

Rebecca watched Colby open and shut the door just as quickly as he walked through it. She looked down at the newborn that was squirming around in her arms, the reality of what had just happened finally hit her, she had just given birth, she watched the blood pouring out of her, she wasn't able to move and she felt herself becoming weaker as the moments ticked by. As weak as she felt, and she knew something was going wrong, her maternal instincts were stronger than ever. She was more protective of this tiny little baby than ever.

Meanwhile with Colby and Sarah...

Colby gently pushed Sarah away from the door, he could have picked her up with one hand and placed her where he wanted her but there was one more factor in this situation, the gun in her right hand.

"Where is he?" Sarah questioned "You're supposed to hand him over to me" she said but Colby shook his head

"Sarah" he closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to remain calm "You need to stop this, stop this crazy plot that you have in your head.. you're not going to take my son anywhere, you're not going to raise him and you're sure as hell not going to be walking the streets when this is all over.. you're going to be in jail.. for a very very long time"

"You wouldn't dare call the cops on me" she shook her head "I've made it very clear that you and Rebecca are in no position to make demands and stupid decisions" he watched her raise the gun

"Sarah.. Rebecca just gave birth... she needs to be in a hospital, she needs to be with professionals" he said "Knox.."

"HIS NAME ISN'T KNOX!" She exclaimed and he held his hands up with a nod "His name is Caden" she said calmly and Colby nodded once more

"Okay" he nodded "Caden.. Sarah.. Caden needs to be seen by the doctors, he needs to be checked out.. he's 3 weeks early"

"He's crying.. I can hear him" she looked towards the door "He's fine"

"You can't take him from his mom, he needs her.. he depends on her completely right now"

"I've got everything set up outside of town, I've got clothes, a bed, toys, I've got bottles and formula.. he's not going to go hungry"

"It's not just that" Colby shook his head "He's knows Rebecca.. he's the only person that will ever be that close to her.. the two were connected for so long.. and he knows her smell.. he depends on her"

"He's a few minutes old.. he'll learn to depend on me" she said and Colby shook his head as she made a move towards the door and he stepped in front of her

"You're not taking my son"

Rebecca looked down at Knox as he began to eat, it was the first time he'd been quiet since he entered this world, his little eyes began to open as he sucked and he looked up at her. In that moment the instincts that she had thought were as strong as they would ever be became that much stronger.

"Knox.." She let the tears fall now as the little boy looked up at her "This is not how you were supposed to come into this world" she shook her head "You were supposed to be born at a hospital.. I was supposed to have pain medication" she laughed slightly "You've had a pretty rough start" she nodded "but knowing how much you beat me up for the last 8 months.. how many times you broke my ribs with these little feet of yours" she held his feet in her hand "I don't think you're going to have a problem, you're going to get through this rough start just fine.."

It was silent, in that moment it was just the two of them finally getting to know one another officially.

"I love you so much" she kissed Knox's head

BANG!

The gun shot rang through the apartment, it vibrated the walls. It was a loud bang and then absolute silence.