Abi's Mom POV

"I HATE YOU!" I screamed at my husband during labor, "THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT AND I HATE YOU."

"Laura, it's not my fault the condom broke." He spat back. "You should have been on birth control."

"I HATE YOU RYAN." I screamed, and squeezed his hand tightly, pushing.

"Maybe you should be sterilized, then we wouldn't be fighting about this, and we wouldn't have wasted money on the abortion."

"IT wouldn't have been wasted if we did it sooner." I said, clenching my teeth. "But no, 'we had plenty of time'." I argued.

"Ms. Edminston, one more and we have it, okay?" My doctor said.

"Okay, okay." I groaned, and pushed again. I felt something come out of me, and I exhaled, falling back onto the bed.

"Congratulations! It's a precious little girl." My doctor smiled, and started to hand her to me. "Now, we need to take her into intensive care, because she's pre-mature, but you can hold her."

"No, just, just take her to intensive care." I decided, waving her off.

"Oh, uh, are you sure?" She asked, confused.

"Yeah." I nodded.

"Oh. Uh, just, just tell the nurse her name, and sign the birth certificate, I'll take her to the NICU."

"Okay, what's your name?" I asked.

"Leigh." My doctor smiled.

"Okay, thanks." I smiled a little and she left the room.

"Hey, Ryan, can you hand me the baby name book?" I asked, and he handed me the spiral bound book on the table. I flipped to the girl section, saw the first name listed, then closed it.

"So, have you decided?" The nurse asked, smiling a little.

"Abigail Leigh Edminston." I said, and signed my name at the bottom, and saw my husband follow suit.

"That's lovely." The nurse smiled.

"Yeah, yeah, when can I go home?" I asked.

"Well, since Abigail was pre-mature, we'd like to keep you here until she can properly roll over by herself."

"What does being pre-mature have to do with anything?" My husband questioned.

"Well, uh, um, she'll be just like any other kid when she grows up, but right now she's behind in her development, and she needs the constant care so that she can survive her first few weeks."

"Is that really necessary? Can't we just take her home?"

"Uh, no. It's completely necessary to have Abigail in intensive care, she, I don't know how to say this, but, unfortunately, she may not make it."

"Oh." I shrugged, "uh, do, do I have the right as her mother to overrule the hospitals decision on that?" I asked.

"No. I'm sorry ma'am, she would have a very low chance of survival."

•••

A few hours later, a nurse reappeared in my room, he was smiling and holding my baby.

"So, she is in stable condition, and I brought her so that Mommy could see her little one." The nurse explained, and started handing her off to me.

"Can't you just put her in the crib?" I asked.

"Oh. Uh, uh, sure." He said, confused, and gently set Abigail in a little, clear, rolling crib. He moved it right by my bed. "Um, actually, we, uh, I need you to hold her."

"Why? I'm tired and I want to sleep."

"Recent studies are showing that the more a child is held by the parent after birth, the more stable, and well adjusted they are afterwards, as adults."

"According to you, she may not survive." I pointed out.

"Ms. Edminston, can you please hold Abigail?" He asked, he had picked her up, and she was cradled in his arms, wrapped in a pink blanket. "She's very sweet."

"Okay." I sighed, and he leaned over and set her in my arms. I felt her little body squirm a bit, and she nuzzled her head between my arm and chest.

"See, I think she likes you." The nurse smiled, "I can take a picture."

"We're okay." My husband said.

"Okay, well, I'll be back in a half hour, if Anything Goes (😂 autocorrect) wrong, call for us."

"Okay." I sighed, and he left. I tried to bounce the little girl in my arms, and she giggled a little. "Alright I'm done." I groaned, "I can't be a mom."

"Hi honey!" I looked up and saw my dad walk in with a gift bag and a pink balloon.

"Oh, uh, hi Dad." I said.

"Is this my grand baby?!" He smiled, and came over to the bed, "oh she's precious, what's her name?"

"Abigail." Ryan said.

"Awe, that's beautiful. Can I hold her?" He asked.

"Yeah, of course." I said, handing her off. He smiled down at her bouncing a little.

"Ryan, can you get a picture of me and my grand baby? I have a camera in the bag, and of course, a gift for the little sweetie."

"Oh, you didn't need to do that, she doesn't need anything." Ryan sighed, walking over to the bag.

"Of course she does, look at her, such a sweet pea." My dad ticked her stomach, and Abigail squirmed, giggling.

"Oh, uh, smile." My husband held the camera up.

"Say cheese, little one." He said, and I groaned a little, as Ryan snapped a picture. "Now, come here my small bean." He carried her over to the bag, and pulled a tiny stuffed kitty out. "This is for you." He tucked it inside her blanket.

"Okay Dad, can you go now? Ry and I need to sleep."

"Of course, honey." He smiled, and kissed my head as he passed Abigail off to me. "I'll see you soon." He said, then left. I dumped my baby into her crib, and fell asleep as she started crying.

•••

Nurse POV

I was making rounds in the NICU, as I approached one of the beds, the baby started whining, as she opened her little mouth.

"Aw, sweetheart, you're hungry, let me find your mommy, come here, love." I smiled, and gently lifted the small, crying baby into my arms. I looked around quickly, and couldn't find any mother that wasn't next to one of the patients.

I walked over to my supervisor, lightly bouncing the fussy baby in my arms.

"I cannot find this ones mother, can you check to see if she's here?" I asked.

"Mmhm, what's the baby's last name?" She replied.

"Uh, Edminston." I said, looking at the tag on her foot.

"Oh, she hasn't been here in a week and a half." My supervisor said, looking over a sign in sheet.

"Oh." I sighed, looking down at the infant crying in my arms.

"Just bottle feed her, it'll be alright."

"Okay." I shrugged, and walked her back to her bed. I got her a bottle, and sat in the plastic chair by her bed. I smiled a bit, then saw the baby's eyes pop open, they were a lovely shade of blue. "Hi honey, aren't you a pretty little one?" I asked, and pressed a kiss to her forehead.

Eventually the baby fell asleep on me. I smiled a little bit, and started transferring her back to her bed. Once I got her back in bed, and connected to all of the machines, I moved a stuffed kitty in the bed right under her arm.

•••

"Mmkay honey, you can do this." I smiled, crouching in front of the little baby on the floor. We were testing her to see if we could release her. She had been in the NICU for two months now, and we had all fallen in love with her. I smiled, seeing Abigail roll over successfully. "Good job!" I exclaimed, and scooped her up. "I'm gonna call your mommy and daddy, and they can take you home."

"Did she do it?" My supervisor asked, as I was setting her back in her bed.

"Mmhm." I nodded, "can you call her parents?" I asked.

"Of course, congratulations sweet pea." She smiled, and tickled Abigail's stomach.

My supervisor walked away and called her parents, while I was changing Abigail.

"They are on their way!" She exclaimed, coming back over.

•••

Laura's POV

"Well, she passed all of her tests, and she's quite excited to be going home." A nurse said, handing me my daughter, who was wrapped in a very fluffy pink blanket.

"She two months old, she doesn't know what's going on." I rolled my eyes, collecting her into my arms.

"Well, we're all going to miss her very much." She smiled at me, and Abigail started crying.

"Okay, uh, well, goodbye." I said, and turned around, but when I did, Abigail started crying more, and reached her chubby arms out back to the nurse.

"Bye sweetie." I heard the nurse say, and I rolled my eyes again, leaving the hospital.

•••

Mmkay, I'm done.

I'm tired.

I'm stressed.

Everything is crumbling.

Help.

My life is hell.

Hell

Thanks for reading!

- ABI