I see the whole world in your eyes

It's like I've known you all my life

-Better Place by Rachel Platten

Enjoy this chapter!!:)

Thank you to @BrookeN66 for the song!

******

"No," I said to Luke. "The crib should go right there, in that corner. I don't like it by the window."

"Eileen, Jesus Christ! We've moved the damned thing five fucking times already. Every time we put it there you change your mind," he said with exasperation.

"Just move it," Alex groaned. He was painting the last wall, while Luke was supposed to be placing the crib where I liked it, but no matter what it just didn't look right. Luke muttered something under his breath before moving the crib once again.

I smiled. 

Marty knocked on the door to the nursery, and I greeted him with a smile when I saw the pastry basket he had brought for me.

"Oh, thank you so, so much." I said hugging him.

Marty chuckled, returning the hug. "I see you have those boys working hard."

"You want to join?" Alex asked with pleading eyes. 

Marty burst into full blown laughter while Luke and Alex just looked at him in disbelief. 

"You haven't been here," Alex complained.

"You haven't," Luke agreed. 

"I'll come back after she eats her pastries," Marty said, effectively avoiding their request. "Let's go, dear. Your feet look like Mexican tamales."

I smiled, not before turning around and giving the room one last look.

"Actually," I said, watching Alex run his hand through his hair, leaving some paint on it. Luke only cursed. "I think it would be best if you move the crib by the window after all, just be sure that it's centered. And Moretti, I think that we should've chosen another color. We should try a light yellow instead."

"You're killing me here, Eileen," he said with a smile. "I'll see what I can do."

Marty and I sat out on the bench. Every so often he would place his hand over my belly, to feel the baby kick or move. My dad showed up an hour later with Nicole. It seemed like there was a family reunion.

"So, I have an idea," I said after friendly conversation.

"What is it?" My dad took a seat on the chair next to the bench, pulling Nicole onto his lap. As awkward as it was, I loved seeing them together. I loved seeing him happy.

"I want to create a shelter for abused women," I said. Everyone raised their eyebrows, except Nicole who smiled like a proud mom. "I want to help them find jobs, get an education... Just help them. Many of them don't have anyone and I want to help. They many times would need therapy, I want to give them the knowledge they need to be out on their own, and their kids if they have them."

They were quiet for a long time, until my dad cleared his throat.

"Have you talked to Alex about this?"

"Yes, he said that we could do as I pleased. I just wanted to know what you all thought about it."

"Well, I know some organizations that may be able to help," Nicole said, typing something on her phone. "If you're sure about this we can start right away."

"I can help, providing some food and what not," Marty added.

I looked at my dad who sat thoughtfully. Again he cleared his throat, blinking several times before his eyes met mine.

"I wish that the reasons why you want to this didn't exist," he said with a sad smile. "I know a large part of it is what you lived through, and I regret it every day."

"It doesn't matter now, dad," I said. "We made it, I'm alive and though Angie isn't here, I'm sure my baby girl is happy to see that things are going well."

He nodded, pushing away the regret and letting happiness settle in its place. "I agree, Eileen. I think it would be a great idea."

The baby gave his agreement as well with a sharp kick.

"You should go help, Alex and Luke," Nicole said nudging my dad. "I've heard Eileen is giving them a hard time."

"I am not!" I said, feigning offense. "They just can't seem to get it right."

"Yeah, those boys do whatever you ask," Marty chimed in.

"So do you," I said narrowing my eyes. "You brought me the pastries exactly how I wanted them and the two chocolate crossaints with extra chocolate."

Nicole laughed while Marty stood up. "I should go help too, I guess."

We watched both men walk inside, Nicole smiling widely at my dad.

"The adoption papers have been finalized," she said.

"Really?" I asked not hiding my excitement.

"Yes, we still have to meet the little girl in person, but we are so excited." I took her hand in mine. I knew how much they wanted this. "I'm also pregnant."

"WHAT!" I said and once again she laughed.

"I have no clue how it happened," she paused and then smiled. "Well, I do. And when."

"Gross, Nicki, I do not need to know this. Does my dad know?"

"Not yet," she said. "Can you believe it? I'm nearing my forties and I'm pregnant."

"Come here," I said, opening up my arms for the woman who had taken on the role of my mother. "Congratulations, Nicki. I know my dad will be happy."

The men had made great progress when we checked up on them. They were joking like old time friends. Everything had finally fallen into place, and I was happy.

"Go sit, pumpkin." I rolled my eyes at Luke, who had started to use that nickname as my belly had grown. "You look like you're about to pass out."

"Screw you, Luke," I said. He placed his arm over my shoulders when Addie walked in to the nursery. She was carrying two teddy bears; one that looked rather old, but still well taken care of and the other one I couldn't see because she was somewhat hiding it.

"What?" She asked, when I kept staring at her. "I can give Alex's baby a gift can't I?"

"Mmhm." 

"Give it to Eileen," Alex said. "I'm busy here and I don't want to get the stuff dirty."

Addie hesitated, but gave me the old teddy bear first.

"My mom gave this to Alex, then it was passed down to me. It's nothing special, but whatever. The baby can have it." 

I tried to hide the smile that I was sure wasn't going to be welcome by her but couldn't help it. Addie simply let out a breath, before speaking up again, showing me a little teddy bear, with a white shirt on. I felt Luke tense behind me when he read the words on the shirt, and only a sharp gasp left my lips. The whole room went quiet when they saw it.

"I, uh... I thought this was appropriate," Addie said quietly. "I can return it if you'd like."

I shook my head slowly, reading the words over and over. 

A special teddy,

With love from my angel sister

"It's beautiful," I said, holding the teddy bear to my chest. "It's beautiful."

Addie nodded, seemingly uncomfortable. 

"I am going to hug you now," I said to her. Her eyes widened and she took a step back. Still, I hugged her and after a few seconds her arms awkwardly wrapped around me. 

"I still don't like you, Eileen," she said. 

"Yeah. And you're still a bitch." 

We ate dinner together, like the big family that we were. The nursery was finally done and after a long day I put my feet up. I sighed in relief as I stretched my legs out, lifting up the large shirt I wore and exposing my large belly. I could see the baby moving as my skin stretched, a little elbow here, a little kick there.

"Baby is still awake?" Alex asked, placing a kiss on my belly. "Hmm, you should settle down," he murmured. "Mommy gets cranky when she doesn't rest."

"Oh, be quiet," I said, laughing. 

The baby listened though, and steadied. 

Soon Alex moved to my feet, rubbing them like I craved. I moaned in appreciation while he only chuckled. 

"I talked to everyone about the shelter idea," I said, closing my eyes. 

"Oh? What did they say?" 

"Everyone is willing to help."

"Good," he said, cleaning up. "We'll get this started as soon as we can."

It didn't take long before he was done, turning off all the lights. I let Alex hold me against him, tightly like he always did. The baby wasn't moving too much, which was strange but nonetheless, I let sleep pull me under.

It was past midnight, when I woke up with the need to use the restroom.

"Shit..." I mumbled. "I fucking peed myself."

I realized that the pee wouldn't stop. Either my bladder had been terribly full or...

"Alex," I whispered, nudging him. "Alex, wake up."

He was sleeping like a rock. He was exhausted, but he would need to get rid of that exhaustion pretty quick. I sat up, placing a hand over my belly.

"Your dad wont wake up," I whispered. "Alex, wake up."

He merely stirred a little bit, then went back to sleep.

"Alexander Moretti," I said, now a bit louder. "Wake up, my water just broke."

That woke him up.

He shot up, turning on the lamp. His eyes were wide, and when I moved the sheets back to show him the soaked sheets they widened even further. I raised an eyebrow and smiled, to which he could only stare. 

Within seconds, he jumped off the bed and ran out the door. I sat there dumbfounded until I heard him yelling.

"Luke, her water broke! Luke, get the fuck up! Her water broke!"

I heard Lucas groaning, and then cursing. There was movement in the hallway but no one came to the room to check on me. The two men were freaking out. I stood up, making my way to the restroom to clean up. Addie was in the bedroom within seconds.

"Jesus, what the fuck is going on?" She asked. "Alex is yelling like a madman."

"My water broke," I said with a shrug. "He's freaking out and thought it would be a good idea to do the same with Luke."

"Men," she muttered. "Do you need help?"

"Yeah, just hand me some other pijamas or something and my robe."

I quickly changed from my wet clothes, though it wasn't much used since there was still water coming out. A dull pain in my lower back made me bend over a little, and I let out a long breath. Surprisingly, Addie helped me stand up. 

"Let's get you in the car," she said. She grinned, placing her hand over my belly for the first time. "My niece or nephew is coming."

"What are you doing?" Alex asked when he saw us walking down the stairs.

"Waiting for you to stop shitting yourself," Addie replied. "We'll wait in the car."

It took about five minutes for the two men to get inside the car. Alex rode in the back with me while Luke and Addie argued about the speed. Addie was already going ten over the speed limit but it wasn't enough for Lucas. Alex was still royally freaking out, asking every five seconds how far apart my contractions were.

"How long was your labor with Angie?" He asked, after looking at his watch for the thousandth time. 

"Why do you ask?" Another contraction made me gasp, squeezing his hand with such strength he winced.

"I-I read somewhere that the second labor is shorter than the first, so I need to know how much time I have before you start cursing me."

"Oh, you don't want to know then," I said. 

"Tell me, Eileen." He was frantic, and I was trying hard not to laugh.

"Okay. It was only seven hours long." As soon as the words were out, her started cursing, running his fingers through his already messed up hair. 

"Shit, shit, shit. That means, I have five hours to prepare myself."

As soon as we arrived at the hospital, they wheeled me into a room, connected me to the machines and checked how dilated I was. Sure enough, I had already dilated to six centimeters. I was still only thirty-six weeks pregnant, but the doctors weren't too worried. They said at this point any issues the baby may have would be minor, the NICU team would be ready for us though.

Luke and Addie waited outside, while my dad and Marty were already on the way. 

"Damn it," I hissed, squeezing my eyes shut as my uterus contracted again. I had learned to breath through the pain, both physical and emotional, and that was exactly what I did. I knew that in the end I would have our baby in my arms. Alex was worried, he even looked regretful.

He placed a damp towel on my forehead which helped. 

"You're doing great, love. You can do this," he encouraged. 

It was too late to get any medication for the pain and at the end of four more hours, the contractions were so strong and close together I could barely breathe. 

"Alex," I said. "Alex, could you get a nurse?"

His eyes met mine and when he saw the look on my face he ran out the door, calling out for help. A nurse, with already graying hair and a sweet smile walked in, attempting to calm Alex who was still rushing her.

"What do you need, honey?" She asked, checking my blood pressure.

"It's time," I said with a smile. Alex looked like he was about to faint, but took my hand in his.

"You feel the need to push?" She asked, lifting the sheets that were covering the lower part of my body. "Oh, yes, dear. I see the head. I'll go get the doctor."

Alex had gone pale, speechless. The next five minutes flew by. The doctor rushed in, while the NICU nurses rushed in, preparing everything for the thirty-six week old baby to arrive. Alex held my hand the whole time and when I began pushing, he forgot his fears, encouraging me, telling me how brave I was. Within minutes, with one strong push, our baby was born. 

I fell back on the bed, exhaling shakily. Alex kissed my sweaty forehead, and then my lips. 

"You did so fucking good," he murmured, letting out a breathless chuckle.

A loud cry echoed throughout the room. Our baby was breathing. Our baby was here.

"Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Moretti. You have a beautiful baby boy."

A/N: This chapter has my heart<3 Baby boy Moretti has been born and I am ECSTATIC.

One more chapter and the Epilogue to go.

Are you guys ready?

I hope you are.

Thoughts or comments?

Baby name suggestions?

Brace yourselves for the last bit:)