What was it they said about children? That children were a bundle of joy. Ofcourse sure they were, children were and always will be cute bundles of joy well that was before they started crying, throwing tantrums, pulling your hair, kicking bowls of cereals down the floor and you'd be forced to clean the whole house again.

After washing the dishes, she wiped her hands with the kitchen rag wondering why Kylie wasn't making a fuss over her refusal to give her the chocolate ice cream Marc brought her. She had dreamed of having a child, atleast that's how she felt, memories or not and now with Kylie around the house, she could say she was content with everything. Marcus seemed to be happy too, not a day went by without Rue feeling a tad bit jealous of the relationship Kylie and her husband shared.

"Kyles-Ky-" she stopped in the little doorway separating the dining room and the living room.

Leaning against the wall, she watched daughter and father cocooned in each other's arms heavily asleep. They were both heavy snorers, a trait Kylie shamelessly picked from Marcus no matter how many times he denied it. The man snored like a tractor engine.

She switched off the TV which was yet again airing another Barbie cartoon.

"Marc? Love?"she poked his chest. A familiar memory came to mind, the night when Kylie was born.

*

She stood in a room full of mirrors, and every mirror showed someone different. The first mirror showed a woman different from her with straight deep caramel hair, the other mirror showed a guy atleast that's what he looked like, he wore a hoodie and even behind that hoodie, Rue knew that deep grey eyes were staring at her more like calling her towards him.

She always dreamed of the same grey eyes, sometimes they were different and other time frightening. Most of all, the one thing scary in her dreams since they weren't nightmares, was the woman in the mirror. The woman who cried to her, asking her to 'remember' When she told Marcus about it, he dismissed it by saying that her memories were trying to communicate and that she shouldn't be worried.

Ofcourse she hadn't been worried but that night when the woman emerged from the mirror, she woke up fast only to realize that the sharp pain hitting her belly must have triggered the nightmare.

She couldn't hold it, it was like the baby was trying to push itself out of her belly. Right on the instant, she knew that it was time. Although it was supposed to happen the next week or so, she couldn't take it. She simply couldn't tolerate the agonizing pain.

"Marc! Marc? Love!" She shouted trying to poke his hard chest.

"Mmmh?" Marcus mumbled in his sleep.

"Marc, freaking wake up!"

And Marcus turned around, his eyes going wide when he noticed her unsteady breaths.

"It's time?It's time. B-but he said...he said"

He stuttered. Marcus Pierce only stuttered on rare occasions and although it would have amused her at the moment, she didn't feel amused. She felt annoyed, she felt like she was being ripped to shreds from the inside and her love ooh her love looked dumbfounded as ever.

"Hospital. W-we need to-"

"I got you, hun" Marcus conveniently cut her short stumbling out of bed looking for his car keys.

He searched the room for his keys while Rue lay in bed watching him. He was worried, he was anxious, he wasn't thinking straight if he couldn't see the car keys right above the nightstand. They always put the keys above the nightstand. That was obvious.

Ruby dragged herself from bed holding her back to balance on the wooden floor. And as immediate as she could stand on her two legs, she felt a warm liquid drizzle down her thighs like waterfall. Her water had just broke and Marcus saw it too meaning that he too knew they had to get to the hospital fast.

"A-are we there yet?"

She asked for the umpteenth time, the baby was going to come out. She was sure it would. It. They hadn't known it's gender, was it going to be a boy? Or a girl? Ofcourse Marcus refused them knowing it's gender, for some reason unknown to her. But still whether it was a girl or a boy, it didn't matter, it would be their kid and they would love him or her with all their hearts.

"Poor choice of words, but can't you hold it?"

"Wanna try holding it? It's not pee or Doo Doo that I can hold!"

She yelled clutching the ends of her seat tight.

Marcus shut his mouth trying to focus on the endless road ahead. Ten minutes or so, Ruby was being escorted inside the hospital and although the nurses told him to wait outside till the procedure was over he never let go.

He stayed firm, "I'm not leaving my family"

Gosh he even sounded like Vin Diesel saying one of those cool catch phrases like 'I don't leave family or we are family'

And the procedure as the nurses called it was nowhere near easy, it is the look on Marcus' face. The look of 'you can do this for us and our baby' that helped her get through.

"You can do this, Rue. Push just one more time" the chubby nurse said and with one long push she gave it her all.

When the sound of her child crying rang in her ears, she blacked out. And when she woke up, Marc's parents were there together with Marc, holding their baby daughter. Their Kylie. Their Kylie Anne Pierce.

*

She poked his chest once more until his eyes fluttered open.

"Huh?"

"You fell asleep,"she stopped to whisper,"she's also asleep"

"W-what time is it?"

"Almost ten. Here lemme take her to bed,"she carefully took hold of Kylie from Marc's chest. Gosh the kid was heavy.

"You good?"

Marcus asked. He always asked that everytime she carried Kylie in her arms. The dominant side of him wanted to make sure that things were alright, that Rue could handle Kylie's weight and that his precious daughter was in safe hands.

"Yeah am good. You want to help, don't you?"

Rue smiled.

"I mean if you want me to"

"I was joking, love. I got her"

Minutes later she was tucking Kylie in bed putting her favorite teddy bears to the side incase she woke up and asked where Mr Knuckles was.

Walking down stairs, she found Marc seating where she had left him.

"Come here," he gestured and being obedient she went to sit on his lap.

"Do you know how much I love you?" He started with little tender kisses on her neck.

"What do you want this time, Marc? And no, I am not allowing you to buy another boat with Greg. The first boat was an even terrible idea that I shouldn't have agreed to"

He put his hand on his chest, feigning hurt

"Why would you assume that I want something? Can't a husband shower her wife with some little romance here and there"

"I don't doubt your advances at all, it the motives behind it that I'm worried about"

"Okay. Fine. You got me. I don't want you to go"

Ofcourse, it had to be about that. He didn't want her to go to the foundation's event in Newyork. Sure it was a long way from home but still she couldn't bail on Carmen. The sponsors for 'Help a kid foundation' had invited them and if it wasn't for them the kids wouldn't have gone to school or have all those toys to play with. So whether he liked it or not, she was determined to go.

It was only for some few days, three days at most. And perhaps, they wouldn't die without her for two or three days.

It was her chance to meet the woman she looked up to. The woman who considered a poor orphanage for a gracious charity donation. The woman who Carmen hadn't stopped raving about since they got invited to the event.

Kimberly Cervantes.