Climbing up the stairs of our newly bought house two at a time, I couldn't stop the fucking excitement crawling up my skin ready to have the woman I somehow got lucky enough to love all to myself for the night. It had been manic lately, Tess being nine months pregnant with our third child with Emery and Auden being the best fucking kids I could have ever wished for had me feeling like the luckiest man on earth, but I couldn't wait to spend the night with just the two of us, cuddled up on the sofa watching a rerun of any shitty show she wanted.
"Tess" I called with the widest grin laced on my lips ready to show all the junk food she was craving pilled up in my arms, "I'm back baby"
Seeing the light to our bedroom turned on, I quickly moved my feet towards the door before moving the frame ever so slightly, "Tess lo- TESSA"
The sight before me had me dropping the items weighing down my wrists to the ground and sprinting towards the woman drenched in her own blood, "Tess baby, Tess please wake up" I begged with tears slowly littering down my cheeks at the image of her laying on the ground with her hand resting on her abdomen, "please love, just open your eyes"
With no sign of movement, I didn't think twice about lifting my arms underneath her waist and rushing as fast as I could back out of the door I'd entered only moments ago.
I couldn't comprehend how fast I was driving or how I even fucking got to the hospital, all I cared about was the women I was lucky enough to call my wife and the third child of ours who she was carrying, holding on to her for dear life as she failed to even make a slight movement.
"Doctor, I need a fucking doctor please" I begged with my voice cracking, running through the doors with water still staining my cheeks, "please, my wife's not moving, she's pregnant, please someone fucking help them"
I'd never felt my heartbreak like in this moment, all the shit me and Tess had been through, all the shit my family had put me through, none of it had ever forced an ounce of the pain I was feeling at this very second.
"Sir we are going to take your wife into another room" a team of nurses announced rolling out a stretcher prompting me to let the love of my life go, "please stay out here whilst we figure out what the situation is"
"What the fucking situation is? You can't fucking do that she's my wife, she's carrying our baby" I began screaming as I was pushed back by several male members of staff working, "Let go of me, you can't fucking do this"
"Sir we need you to calm down" spoke a man who knew nothing about the woman stolen away from me, nothing about the way she'd took a broken man and fixed his shattered hearts, nothing about our baby who we'd chose not to find out the gender of who I already knew was currently at a risk which I could never take away.
"You have no fucking idea what it's like to see your wife and baby be taken away like that, not one fucking clue so don't even dare tell me to fucking calm down" I screamed letting out more emotions to the stranger positioned to my right than I'd ever allowed myself to spill before with anyone other than Tess.
"I understand sir bu-"
"I don't give a fuck what you have to say just someone let me see Tess, please, I'm fucking begging you" I said not letting him finish his sentence which wasn't even being processed by my brain.
"I'll see what I can do sir"
It had been hours since his last statement had been said, all I could do was lay on the ground and try to act like the man I'd promised Tessa I would be. The amount of times I'd tried to run past the security guards was unaccountable, the number of times I'd been threatened by the same careless soul to be sent home was unimaginable, but I really didn't give a fuck for anything in this world other than two of the most important people in this world to me positioned only metres behind the door.
Moments later, the sound of footsteps trailing towards me had me launching to my feet and staring at the man dressed head to toe in PPE, "We've had to do an emergency cesarean section on your wife sir, the baby was delivered healthy but unfortunately Mrs Scott had lost a lot of blood."
"Had? What the fuck do you mean had? Why are you talking about Tess in the past tense." I screamed shaking the doctor's shoulders with the tears that had come to a slow arriving on my cheeks knowing in my head the words which would come next.
"I'm so sorry sir, she's suffered serious damage, the only thing keeping her alive is the machines we've put in place"
Just like that, just with those few words a stranger had spoken, I found my entire world crumbling leaving me nothing but a shattered heart. I couldn't see straight, my vision had become blurrier than I'd ever imagined it could be and my lungs felt they'd just be stabbed repetitively leaving me no room to breathe.
"Why the fuck are you lying, let me see her" I spoke to myself trying to ignore the truth, finally gaining the strength to push past all the individuals blocking my path and heading straight for the route I'd watched them take my Tess in hours ago.
"Where the fuck is my wife?" I screamed running through every door until finally coming to the room she was in, her eyes closed shut with no sign of life from her, "Tess, Tess baby please wake up I'm here. I'm so sorry love, I'm so fucking sorry I wasn't there"
I don't know how long I lay there, cradling to the lifeless body of the only one I'd ever love, letting the tears wash over my body as the reality sunk in, the sound of the door reopening being the only thing to snap me out of the nightmare I was stuck in.
"I know you probably don't feel like it right now sir, but we have a little girl next door who would love to meet her daddy" the nurse asked me, keeping her eyes glued down on the floor.
"A girl? A little girl? Did you hear that baby we had a girl?" I spoke to Tess, knowing she wouldn't respond but feeling comfort in the fact she was laying beside me.
"Would you like to go and see her?" She asked.
I was reluctant to leave the side of Tess, to leave her for a split second not knowing what could happen in the few short seconds I was away, but I made a promise which I wasn't about to break. A promise that no matter what, no matter what happened to either one of us, we'd always be there for our kids.
With no words from myself, I quickly pressed my lips to Tessa's head holding onto her hand for as long as I could before I followed the woman dressed in shrubs out of the room. Guiding me into the small nursery filled with newborns, I couldn't help but fall in love with my daughter as soon as I saw her.
"Would you like to hold her?" She asked causing my head to nod in response as my eyes stayed on my daughter.
As soon as I held her in my hands, the pain flooded over me once again like a tidal wave as I analysed every feature of my little girl who looked exactly like her mother. Her nose, Tessa's. Her eyes, Tessa's. Her smile, my Tessa's.
Once the nurse left the room, I couldn't help the words flowing out my mouth as I tried to stay as strong as humanly possible for my baby and the two kids at home who I knew would need me more than ever, "I'm here baby, I promise to be the best daddy you could ever wish for. Your mommy would love you as well, you look just like her and I know she's going to be watching over us."
Looking into her big blue eyes, I knew right then and there I'd have to be strong, that I would be the dad I'd always promised my kids and most importantly, I'd make my Tess proud, "I promise you everything, Catherine Tessa Scott"
