After delivering the after birth the doctor sewed her up.

"Ohh.. oww!"

"It's okay, we're almost finished, Jessica.  Keep your legs spread."

"It hurts!" Jessica cries as a couple of the nurses holds her legs back.

Autumn holds her face in her hands and softly caresses her thumbs on her skin.
"It's okay, momma.  Look at me." She smiles.

Jessica looks at her as tears roll down her face.

"I'm so proud of you.  I've never been so proud to call you my mom.  You are so brave, and so strong!
I hope I grow up and be just like you!"

"Aw baby girl.. I love you so much!"

"I love you more, mommy!"

Just then Sam opened the door and rushed to Jessica's side.  He heard the baby's cries and he felt terrible that he missed the birth.

"Sam!"

"Daddy!" Autumn smiles.

"I tried so hard to get here in time, Jess.  I'm so sorry you had to do this alone.."

"How did you know?"

Sam looks at Autumn.
"I called him.  I didn't really have to tinkle!  I just took your phone and called him."

"Aw.."

"You don't deserve this!  I'm so sorry I didn't make it in time."

"No, it's okay.. Autumn was here and she did great." Jessica smiles and takes her hand.

"I did!  Me and Juju rubbed her back just like the nurses taught us!  Oh and after I called you they came in and they.." Autumn looks at Jessica with a puzzled look.

"They broke my water."

"Yeah!  That's what it was!  All the water that was in her belly came Pouring out!"

"Wow!" Sam chuckles.

"Juju was cracking up!"

"Really?  Hah!  Hey, where is the little Princess?"

"She's in the room with a nurse.  They're bringing her back soon."

Sam nods then looks down.
"Oh Jess!  You poor thing!" He makes a painful face.

"Sam!  Stop!" Jessica laughs.

"Oh God, I've seen it plenty times before, Jess."

Autumn makes a face making both Sam and Jessica laugh.

"Oh goodness.."

Jessica chuckles and rubs her arm.

"Where's Landon?"

"I left him with my mom."

"Oh.. I'm so sorry.  Thank you for coming, Sam.  I feel bad, you have things at home to worry about."

"Jess, you said it yourself!  We're family!  When I heard I dropped everything and came as quickly as possible."

"You're so sweet."

Sam smiles softly and kisses her forehead.
Jessica then chuckles as she starts crying.

"I'm sorry my vagina is out for everyone to see!" She covers her face as it turns red.

"You're fine, sweetie." Sam laughs.

Just then a nurse walks over with the baby bundled up in her arms.

"Alight!  Someone is ready to eat!"

"Aw, come here my precious!"

"Oh my gosh, I don't even know yet!  Is it Theodore or Evangeline?"

Jessica takes the baby and smiles.
"This is baby Theodore Alexander.."

"Alexander.." Sam smiles.

"Yeah.. I loved it so much!  Plus our Uber driver's name was Alex.  I thought it was meant to be.
..He doesn't deserve to have his son named after him.."

Sam nods.
"..A baby boy!  That's exciting!  I'm so happy for you, Jess."

"Thank you, Sam."

"Baby girl is back!" A nurse says walking into the room with Julia.

"HI!" Julia says in a cute voice.

"Hi baby!  Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry, you've been with her for over an hour!"

"Oh it's not a problem!  She's a good baby!"

"She is!  Sam, both of the girls behaved amazingly!"

"Aw!  Of course they did!"

"Mama!" Julia smiles and claps her hands.

"Hi, baby girl!"

Julia gasps and waves at Sam. "SHAM!"

"Hey pretty lady!"

"Shaaam!" She laughs.

"Juju, you see the baby?" Jessica asks as Sam takes her from the nurse.

"Baby come out!" Julia widens her eyes.

"Yeah, the baby's out!  What do you think it is?"

"Baby!"

"Hah!  I know, silly!  But do you think it's a boy or a girl?"

"A baby!"

Jessica giggles. "It's a baby boy!  Say hi to your little brother, Julia!"

"Hiiii!"

Jessica smiles and tears up. "You're a big sister, Ju!"

"Bih sish!" She hits her chest.

"Yeah!  Wanna see him?"

Julia nods her head.
"I shee him!  I shee baby!"

Sam sits her beside Jessica and she smiles.

"Cute!"

"He is cute, huh?  Just like you and sissy!"

"What color is his hair?" Sam asks.

Jessica smiles and says, "He's blonde!"

"Aw!  Adorable!  And look at his nose!  Man, all of your kids look like you." He chuckles.

"Right?  It's funny!" Jessica laughs.

"They've all got that button nose."

"They do.. it's so kissable!  I always kiss them on the nose.  Now I know why you constantly kissed mine!" She laughs.

"You see?!  I wasn't weird for that!  It's cute." Sam chuckles.

"It sure is.."

"I gonna touch his hand!" Julia reaches over and takes the baby's hand who had now fallen asleep.

"Aw da wittle fingers!" She say in her high pitched baby voice.

"They're so tiny, huh?"

"Yeah, Mama!  Was his name?"

"His name is Theodore."

"Theo-" Julia says the first part but then babbles the rest.

"Yes, that's so good!" Jessica giggles.

"Yay!" She claps.

"Yay!" Jessica chuckles.

**

Autumn was absolutely exhausted from the past few hours, so she went to bed right when Julia did.
The room they were in had a separate room for the girls to sleep in.  Jessica was very grateful.

In the main room it was Sam, Jessica and the baby.

"Would you like to hold him?  You don't have to, I just thought I'd ask!"

"No, I want to hold him.." Sam says sitting on the side of her bed.

Jessica hands him over and lays back onto the pillow.

"Hey little buddy.. heh.. he's so cute."

"Thank you.." Jessica smiles softly.

"Him and Everly would have been great friends."

"I know.."

"Jess, after you're released from the hospital, let me take you back to Minnesota."

"Sam that's a long drive for a newborn."

"Please?  I don't want you back at that apartment with Danny."

"..I shouldn't have lied to him, Sam."

"Jessica, that still doesn't give him the right to do that to you!"

"I don't know what to do.."

"At least stay at your parents'.. have you even called them?"

Jessica nods with tears in her eyes.
"No.  I can't, I'm too embarrassed.  I don't want them to know what he did."

"Jessica they're going to want to know the baby's here!"

"I know.. I'll call my mom later."

"You can't keep protecting Danny.  He doesn't care about you, Jess.  I'm sorry but he doesn't."

"You don't understand, Sam.  I still love him."

"You took an Uber to the hospital while in labor!
He knew and didn't care, Jessica!"

Jessica covers her face and cries.
"I know.  I know but.. it's not easy for me to just walk away from him, Sam.  He's not always like this."

Sam sighs and looks down to the baby.
He silently prayed that Jessica would finally see who Danny truly is, and leave him for good.

***

The next morning Jessica called her mother and told her the baby was here.  All she said was that Sam was there, and that Danny was working during the birth.

Of course both Albert and Dorothy immediately hopped in the car to be with their daughter.

The girls were still sleeping, so Jessica got some baby cuddles in before they woke up and wanted to hold their brother.

"I love you Theo!  Mommy loves you so so much!" She smiles and kisses his nose.

Just then Jessica hears a camera go off.
She looks up and sees Sam taking her picture.

"Samuel!" Jessica chuckles.

"Sorry!  I couldn't pass it up, you two looked so cute!"

"Aw, thanks!" She giggles.

**

Jessica's parents arrived and were ready to love on their new little grandson.

"He's a big boy for being three weeks early!" Dorothy said gently bouncing the baby.

"I know!  Eight pounds." Jessica smiles.

"He's so big, he ripped mommy!"

"Autumn!" Jessica laughs.

"Oops!  Sorry." She smiles.

"Oh Jessie, you tore?"

"Yeah.. pretty bad.  He decided to do a flip coming out."

"Ouch!"

"Where's Danny?" Albert asks.

"He's um.. well he.."

"Jessica?  Is he not here?" Dorothy asks.

"No but he's coming later!  He just.. he had to grab something for me."

Just then they hear a light knock on the door before Danny slowly walked in holding roses.

"Oh there he is!" Jessica panics.  She knew Sam would be coming back any minute now and she knew he wouldn't react well.

Danny walks over to the bed and hands Jessica flowers. "I'm so sorry, baby."
Danny leans in to kiss her but Jessica turns her head.

"What do we have?  A boy or a girl?"

"It's a boy.."

"Alright!  I knew it!  Dorothy, do you mind if I hold my son?"

Dorothy hands him the baby and he kisses his forehead. "I'm so sorry, little buddy.  I promise I won't miss another moment!  I love you Theodore Daniel."

"That's not his name." Autumn says in a smart way.

"Did you change Theodore?  Cause I'm okay with that." Danny chuckles.

"No, his name is Theodore Alexander." Autumn responds.

"What?  Jess!"

"You weren't here, Danny!"

"Autumn, enough!"

Just then Sam returns. "Alright, I'm back with McDonald's pancakes for two very special Princesses!"

Jessica's heart begins to pound.

"What the hell is he doing here?" Danny asks.

"Me?  What are you doing here?  How dare you show your face here like you give a shit about anyone but yourself!"

"Sam!" Jessica shouts.

Danny hands the baby to Jessica and walks towards him.

"You stay away from my wife!  Just because you wife and daughter are dead, doesn't mean you can take my family!" Danny shoves Sam.

"Albert!" Dorothy says as Albert gets between the two guys.

"Don't touch my daddy!" Autumn shouts.

"You have no place here, get out!"

"No, Danny!" Jessica shouts.

"What?" He turns to her.

"He's staying.  I want you to leave."

"Jessica!"

"No!  You didn't care if you missed your son's birth, you didn't care that I had to take an Uber to the hospital, you don't care about anyone but yourself, Daniel!  You need to leave.  Please!"

Danny scoffs and walks away.  He then slams the door scaring Julia.

"No loud!" She cries and covers her ears.

Dorothy walks over and sits with the girls, trying to comfort them.

"I've had it with him.  It's one thing after another and he always thinks if he says Sorry, it all disappears!  Well it doesn't!" Jessica cries.

She softly bounces the baby and looks down.
"I'm sorry for yelling, Theo.. you don't seem fazed by it though." Jessica chuckles softly.

She then kisses him a couple times and pats his bottom. "It's all okay, baba."

**

"Excuse me, Mrs. Huston! Sorry to interrupt while your family is here, but you have a gift!"

"Aw! From who?"

"It says Alex." The woman looks at the card.

"Aw." Jessica pouts. "That's our driver! Oh my gosh, he's so sweet!"

Sam takes the gift and sits it beside Jessica.

"Oh wow! There's something in here for everyone. Let me read the card.."

Congratulations Jessica.
Out of all my rides, yours is definitely one I will never forget. I know I don't know you personally, but I can tell you are a strong woman and amazing mother. I wish you all the best. Please never forget that you are special and deserve to be treated with respect.
-Alex.

Jessica took a deep breath and smiled softly.
Maybe all these people were right.
At this point she had no idea where she and Danny would go from here. She still loves him and hopes to work things out, but right now a break would be best thing for both of them.

***

The next morning.

Danny was working, so Albert and Dorothy went to the apartment to grab the kids' things.
They were going to take Autumn and Julia in their car, and Jessica and the baby were going with Sam.

Jessica was nervous about Theodore's first car ride being around two hours, but she didn't want to go back to the apartment. She just needed to be away from Danny for a while.

Jessica was in a lot of pain from the birth so it was extremely hard for her to get around.

Sam helped her into the back seat and she was in tears.

"It hurts so bad!"

"I'm so sorry, Jessie.. you have your ice?"

"Yeah.." Jessica says slowly sticking it between her legs.

"Okay.. let me know when you want me to stop, okay."

"I will.."

The drive was horrible for Jessica.
The baby did very well and only cried when he was hungry.  But sitting in the car for so long was very hard on Jessica.

Arriving at the house, Albert and Sam helped Jessica up the porch.

"Owww.. Wait, I can't!"

"It's okay, just take your time." Sam says.

Jessica breathes in and out before continuing up the stairs.

Once they are in the house Jessica rubs the baby's back and kisses his head.

"Well baby boy.. here we are."

"Yummies! Yummies, peeees!" Julia says.

"Grandma is gonna cook us up some yummies! You girls want to help me with lunch?" Dorothy asks.

"Yeah!" They both shout and run to the kitchen.

Jessica smiles and turns to Sam.
"Here's your bags."

"Thank you so much Sam. For everything."

"It's not a problem, Jess!  Really.  You know you can call me whenever!"

Jessica smiles and hugs him.
Sam kisses the top of her head.

"I better go get Landon."

"Poor baby probably misses his daddy!" Jessica pouts. "Give him a kiss from me."

"I will!  Call me if you need anything."

"I will. Take care, Sammy."

"You too, Jessie.."

Sam left and Jessica took a deep breath in.
Her eyes filled with tears as she looked around.
Jessica is so grateful for Sam and her parents, but she is angry and hurt by Danny.
Danny should be the one taking care of them.
Instead it's like he doesn't even care.

**

That evening.

"Oh mister Theodore, you were a hungry boy tonight, huh?" Jessica looks down to the baby as she nurses him.

He makes the cutest little humming noises as he eats. "Heh!  You are the cutest little eater!  Do you know that, little man?  You are!" Jessica says in a high pitched voice.

Jessica watches as his little tired eyes began to fall.
"Are you so sleepy, baby?  Go night nights." She pats his bottom.

Jessica gently rocks him.
Just then she gets a text on her phone.

*I'm sorry.  I know I was wrong.*

Jessica ignores it and soon gets two more messages.

*When will you come back?*

*They're my kids too, Jess.*

Jessica then decides to call him.

"Hey.."

"Hi.."

"How are you feeling?"

"Fine."

"The kids?"

"They're fine."

"Could I go up there this weekend and see them?"

"I don't know.. They're afraid of you, Danny."

"I'm sorry, I was just so angry at the thought of you going behind my back to stay with Sam."

"I understand and I was wrong for not telling you the truth. But I was in labor, Danny! You let me give birth alone!" Jessica cries.

"That first breath our son took.. you weren't there! And you will never get that moment back, Danny."

"I know and I'll never forgive myself for it. Please let me make it up to you, Jess."

"I just need time. Please at least give me that."

"Okay.. What are you going to do about Autumn's school?"

"She's going to finish out the year at her old school."

"Finish the year?!  It's February!"

"We we'll see.  But for now that's the plan."

"Fine.. I won't fight you, that's your daughter."

"Yeah.. well I better go, Daniel."

"I love you."

Jessica felt a lump in her throat.
She swallowed and said, "I love you too."

**

One week later.

Things have been rough in the house.
Julia has been extremely clingy with Jessica so she's been sleeping in the same bed as her.

"Mama!  Mama!" Julia whines as she holds her and lays on her chest.

"Baby, I'm right here.  You're okay."

Julia fusses and rubs her nose on her mother's chest before she sneezes.

"Oh goodness!  You feel sicky, baby?"

"Yeah.." She sniffles and pulls on her top. "Hold you!  Hold you!"

"Honey, I'm holding you!"

"Shiiiick!"

"I know you're sick, I'm so sorry, sunshine!"

Julia then fusses and kicks her legs.

"Oh my goodness!" Jessica sighs.

**

That evening, Jessica laid down with Julia and Theodore on each side of her.  Both sleeping peacefully.

"Mommy?" Autumn knocks lightly.

"Hey!  You're out of your shower!" Jessica smiles.

"I am!  I'll stay over here because I don't want to get sick!"

Jessica chuckles. "That's smart!"

"Momma, what if Theo gets sick from being in the same room as Juju?"

Jessica sighs. "I'm trying to keep them separated, so hopefully he won't.. but Julia throws a fit if anyone else takes her, and Theo always only wants his mama." Jessica smiles and softly rubs his stomach.

Theodore flinches in his sleep and smiles.

"Aw!  Look at his smile!  Are you dreaming about mama?!" She says it a cute voice as she gently rubs the top of his head.

Jessica then kisses his chubby cheek and he giggles.

"Oh my gosh, Theodore!  You are melting mommy's heart right now with all these smiles and giggles!" Jessica kisses him once again.

"Carful not to wake him, mommy!  He might get really mad."

"I know.. I just can't help but kiss this cute little face!"

"He is pretty dang cute!" Autumn smiles.

"All my babies are!"

"Cause we look like you!"

"Awww!  My little Princess!"

Autumn giggles.
"Well I'm going to bed, I need my beauty sleep if I want to stay beautiful like you, mommy!"

"Oh Autumn!  You are the sweatiest little lady!
Give me kiss!" Jessica puckers.

Autumn chuckles and walks over to give her mother a goodnight kiss.

"I love you."

"I love you too!" She smiles.

"I was wondering uhhh..
How's you um.. Your lady part?  Does it still hurt?"

"It does!  But it's okay." Jessica smiles softly before looking down to Theodore.

"He was worth it.." She once again rubs his stomach and says, "My little acrobatic!"

Autumn laughs. "He Flipped out of you!  It was nuts!"

"It was!" Jessica laughs.

"Well.." Autumn yawns. "Goodnight, mommy!"

"Night night, baby." Jessica smiles.

Autumn left Jessica and the babies alone.
Jessica sighed and looked down to her two younger children.  Something suddenly came over Jessica.
All that she had been worried about, the things going on between her and Danny; she felt okay about everything.  Like someone was there telling her she and the kids would be alright.
She felt like she now knew exactly what she was going to do.

Maybe one day in the future she and Danny will have a healthy marriage.  But for now, all she needs to focus on are her and her babies.

Jessica looked down and ran her hand over Julia's soft blonde hair.  She then spoke to herself in a calm voice.
"I think can do this alone....
....No.. I know I can do this alone."