CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

"Oh really?" I said taunting him as I turned and kissed my wife.




"Ugh, he said, covering his eyes with his hands, making me laugh amused.

"Alright, enough you two," my mother said, shaking her head.










Chloe's P.O.V 







Dreaming, it's another dream, one that plays over and over; this time Colby isn't in it.

We were back at where we sat outside of Carolyn and Allistair's front gate watching Luceys final moment with them explaining what had happened, or what would happen.




The gun shot rang out through the dead air, my ears rung and I blinked in odd confusion of sound, when I finally came to I began to panic at what I had done, this time I did not hold the gun, it was lost in the woods somewhere where Eli is hiding.

Hayley scrambling to put the car into drive and drove off as fast as she could muster. 










I woke up in a cold sweat, and Hayley sat beside me, staring at a computer screen taking small sips of coffee.

"Are you okay, you started hyperventilating in your sleep," Hayley said tiredly.

"Mmm," is all I could reply with right out of dead sleep.




My hand went over the round of my pregnant belly, feeling a slight movement made me gasp. The strange sensation made me panic a little.

"What's wrong are you okay?" Hayley questioned putting a hand on my stomach.

"Something...moved," I explained through pauses.

Hayley took a minute to evaluate what was happening, and it happened again.

"Wow," she said in awe.

"What?" I said anxiously looking up at her.

She looked as if she had stars in her eyes.

"Its the baby that's moving, its kicking," Hayley explained in disbelief. 

"What does that mean?" I questioned becoming more and more worried. 

"It means the baby is growing," Hayley said in astonishment.




I placed a hand on my oversized belly and took a sharp breath, I smiled then laid back on the couch in my bed for the time being.




Colby's baby, my baby. Our baby.




Tomorrow I find out if I'm having a boy or a girl, and I'm both nervous and excited at the same time.




Will it look like him, or will it look like me?

Will it have blue eyes, or brown eyes?

And most importantly, will Colby wake up to meet him or her?




Questions piling up in my head and by the time I opened my eyes again I realized it is 7 am.




I got up and headed to the bathroom, I still have PTSD episodes from time to time, but hayley's always there to help me through them.




The morning sickness finally subsided and the smell of certain food doesn’t make me feel ill as much anymore. 




After my appointment I’m going to go see Colby so I can tell him the news, I wonder if he can hear me when he is in such a deep coma, but the thought he could wake up at any moment gives me such hope. I'm excited for the day ahead of me.




I get up and head to the bathroom, I turn on the shower as hot as my body can stand, and I get undressed standing in front of the full bodied mirror.

My stomach out stretched and scarred with stretch marks from the way I protrude as the baby kicks and moves around I take a deep breath and look down at my swollen ankles.




I step into the shower as the hot water and steam indulge me, the burning sensation on my skin erasing the kinks and pains from work, the closer and closer I get to my due date the more pain and uncomfortable I am feeling.

I sighed rubbing my stomach, I feel so bloated I could burst at anytime I sit down in the bathtub and let the hot water entangle me in bliss.


That is until a knock came to the bathroom door.




"Yes?" I called out groggy through the slapping of the water.

"Let me know when your ready," she said half asleep. 




"Okay, I'll be out in a bit." I called out.

"Alright, we have to be there by ten." She said once more.




"I know, I just need to wash up a bit." I replied.




"Do you want some coffee?" She asked.

"Yes please," I answered, sinking deeper into the hot water.




Decaf is better than nothing.




My stomach moved as the baby kicked gently, I rubbed it gently thinking about meeting it for the first time.




Will it look like me, or will it look like Colby, or will it look like both of us?




I wonder who I looked like, my mother or my father..

Will I ever meet them, do they even know I'm alive? 

So many what if situations running through my mind.




I washed myself the best I could with a large swollen belly, as I poured water on myself to rinse.




Unplugging the tub and slowly getting out of the tub, I felt like a whale, and my ankles are swollen and sore.




I groaned as my feet touched the cold ceramic tile floor.







It's finally time to get ready for the day.

With a sigh I dried off and put on some clothes and walked to the kitchen and Haley passed me a mug filled with caramel colored liquid of decaf coffee.




Taking a sip of the sweetish, bitter coffee as the heat filled my throat behind closed eyes.




The feeling of missing colby has been growing each day, as well as my stomach which feels bigger than one baby in there.




"Are you nervous about today?" Haley questioned as she leaned against the counter.




"A little, it's one of the most important parts of a pregnancy right?" I asked with a small smile, yet in the back of my mind knowing that Colby isn't here.




That he is going to miss the excitement of knowing our first child's gender is making me feel small and alone.




I think Haley could sense my nerves because she says;




"You have me there with you, so you wont be alone. I'm by your side Chloe." She said with a sad smile I nodded with a smile back.




"Please Colby come back to me…"




























Colby's P.O.V 

None of this feels real, no matter how long I'm here with my wife and my daughter, it feels like it's all just a dream.




Is my father really gone, is the gang really gone?




It just doesn't work that way once your in theres no getting out, at least not without a fight, and dad is no exception.




I watched my family around the table; watched them chat, and laugh and play how everything can be so… Perfect?




I began to doubt the world around me. The blue sky, the voices around me, the happiness, how could I just wake up and have things change so, so extravagantly. It makes no sense to me.

Impossibly so.




The days feel shorter and shorter, and the nights longer and longer, I’ve been getting more tired each day.




“How are you feeling, darling?” Chloe asked rubbing my back.

“Tired,” I replied rubbing my face with my hands.




“You seem to be getting more tired recently, are you feeling alright?” She wondered her face knitted in worry.




“Other than my migraine and being tired, I feel fine,” I spoke with a sigh, I watched Addy play on the slide, as she slid down and ran back to go again.