2-29: Song For Someone

You let me into a conversation

A conversation only we could make

You're breaking into my imagination

Whatever's in there is yours to take

I was told I'd feel

Nothing the first time

You were slow to heal

But this could be the night

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Rain bent over the porcelain basin again, her stomach heaving. She didn't have anything left in her system to throw up. She put her hand on her swollen midsection, her head pounding.

She hadn't expected this pregnancy. And it was killing her. She could barely eat enough to sustain both herself and the baby without immediately getting sick. She'd been on bed rest more times than she could count.

The bathroom door opened slowly, and Apollo made his way into the room. He sat down on the floor next to his mom, running his hand down her back.

"Are you okay, mommy? Is sissy hurting you again?"

Rain tried to laugh, but she couldn't quite find the strength to. Her four year old son understood what she was going through more than most adults did. It was almost comical. A young child with that much empathy. But then again, he was her child.

"I'm okay, Apollo. Go play. Mommy will be out in a few minutes."

Apollo shook his head from side to side, sitting on the edge of the bathtub next to her. He pushed the car in his hand across the porcelain, humming a song under his breath. It reminded Rain of what Ryan said about her as a child.


The only difference being, Apollo's little songs weren't nonsensical. And his voice was perfect. Even at his young age.

He might not be a full blown vampire like his siblings, but he was unique and advanced in a lot of ways that they weren't. Especially creatively.

Rain sat up, brushing her hair out of her face.

Her son met eyes with her and he smiled, directing his attention back to his car. She didn't understand his overprotective nature at all. But she admired it.

The door opened again and Ryan stood in the doorway, his gaze traveling between his son and his wife.

"Are you sick again?"

Rain nodded once, nausea rolling through her at his mention of it.

"I am, but it's not like I can throw up. I can't eat enough to do that."

Ryan leaned against the door frame, concern coloring his expression.

"She'll be here in a little over two months. And then this will be over. Thank God.

The others weren't like this."

Rain nodded in agreement, getting to her feet. Apollo followed suit, brushing past his dad on his way out the door. Ryan ruffled his hair and Apollo laughed, the sound carrying through the downstairs hallway.

Rain crossed the room, leaning against Ryan's chest when she reached him.

"I'm never having another baby. Just so you know."

His fingers traced down her spine and his laugh made a familiar piece of her chest spark.

"No more babies. Four is more than enough anyway. You're not my mom."

Rain had wanted a big family. Or big enough anyway. But after the twins were born, three had been plenty. Rhea came at a really odd time, and Rain's body seemed to object to her presence. Almost as if it wanted to reject the pregnancy entirely, but couldn't manage it.

Which scared her.

Rain was weak and tired constantly, but the doctors assured her that the little girl she was growing inside was perfectly healthy.

"Do you want me to get you anything? The doctor gave you medicine for the nausea, I can get that for you."

Rain looked up at her husband, shaking her head.

"Those pills don't work. I'm just tired. I want to sleep."

She took a step back from Ryan and crossed through the doorway, heading for the stairs for their room. She turned around on the bottom step, a weak smile on her lips as she looked at him.

"I love you, Ryan."

He nodded, the smile he returned full of light.

"I know. I love you too, Rain. 

Always."

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Rain tossed and turned for an hour, contractions sending pain shooting through her body. And it was like she could feel it everywhere. Not just in her abdomen. She rolled over to Ryan's side of the bed to wake him, but he hadn't come upstairs yet.

She released a sigh, sitting up straight. She was barely 31 weeks along. She knew it couldn't be true labor, but it felt like it.

She bit her lip to keep the cry that came out of her throat from coming out of her mouth. They were coming incredibly close together. She looked over at the clock on the night stand, watching to see just how far apart they were.

Seven minutes.

She called out Ryan's name as soft as she could, pulling a pillow against her chest. His hearing was adept, and she knew he'd hear her. 

He was through the door in seconds, and at her side.

"What is it? What's wrong?"

Rain's eyes stung as she spoke, looking down at the blankets.

"I'm pretty sure I'm about to have this baby."

Ryan's eyes filled with alarm and his brow furrowed.

"It's too early. You aren't due for months."

She pulled the blankets off of her body, getting to her feet.

"I don't think Rhea cares. We have to go."

Ryan nodded once, putting his hand on the small of her back to steady her. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialed Sparrow's number. Rain barely made out the words he was saying to her about watching the kids as she made her way downstairs.

As soon as her new found teal eyed friend arrived on their doorstep, anxiety set in.

Rain was terrified. It was what she'd always been afraid of. Something going wrong in her pregnancy because of what she'd been through with Thorne.

Years later, her mistake of marrying him was still messing up her life.

"Thank you, Sparrow. We'll call you when we find out what's going on."

Sparrow's face showed her concern as Ryan led Rain out to their car.

Just this once, God. Let me have some luck. Just this once.

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"What is going on in there?"

Eden's angry voice carried down the hallway from the waiting room, and Ryan couldn't help but sigh. He knew just as little as she did and it bothered him just as much. But Eden was less equipped to deal with how it made her feel.

Ryan put the styrofoam cup under the water spout of the cooler and squeezed his eyes shut.

They wouldn't let him in the room. All he was told was the baby was okay, but Rain had lost a lot of blood. They had taken her straight to surgery.

He didn't open his eyes until ice cold water spilled over the sides of his cup and pooled on the floor at his feet.

"Shit."

He took a step back, glancing down the hallway at his wife's mother. The water had been for her. Something about prescription Xanax and desperately needing to take it.

He dumped a little of the water out into the pool that was already on the floor and walked back over to her. She took the cup with shaking hands.

Eden was an expert at hiding emotions, but some things just couldn't be hidden. And the chance of losing her daughter when she'd already lost a son, it was leaking through her exterior.

Xavier appeared from inside the waiting room, an orange prescription bottle in his hands.

"Here. Take this and go sit down with Kiara and Rae."

Eden dumped what had to be more than the recommended amount of pills in the palm of her hand and swallowed the entire cup of water. She handed the empty container to Ryan and disappeared into the waiting room without another word.

Xavier's eyes were empty when he looked up at Ryan.

"She's going to be okay."

Xavier's voice sounded far more sure than he looked. He leaned both of his hands against the wall, speaking to the paint like it would answer.

"She's survived a lot. She'll survive this too."

Ryan nodded even though Xavier wasn't looking at him.

"She will. She's gonna be fine, Xav. She'll make it."

Xavier's eyes lifted to Ryan's face again and he still looked empty. Like all of his hope was gone. He pushed off of the wall and disappeared into the waiting room like Eden had.

Ryan stared after him for a while. Watching Eden cry through the glass windows of the waiting room. She was trying to hide it, but Ryan knew her well enough to know that was exactly what she was doing.

"Mr. Hunter?"

Ryan turned toward the sound of the voice, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah?"

He gestured toward the NICU doors, a genuine smile on his face.

"Would you like to see your daughter?"

Ryan glanced again through the waiting room windows, a heaviness on his chest. Rain would be okay. Rhea would too.

Everything would work out.

Because it had to. This was one time it absolutely had to.

Because he didn't know what to do if it didn't.

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