Lullabye

[bradyell]

Just a shortish update to keep you going....off on my holidays so the next one will take even longer than usual!!

Oh...and the Liam in this fic is the old rock starish bit of a rogue Liam not the new improved teacher Liam!!

10

Aden let out a deep sigh as he ran his fingers gently over his daughters head. The hospital bed she was lying on dwarfed her small body, making her seem even smaller than she actually was. The barriers at the far side of the bed had been raised to prevent her from falling out but Aden had insisted on the others remaining dropped, his body, sat as close to the bed as possible acting as a guard in case she moved too close to the edge. Various tubes and wires snaked their way from her body to a collection of machines and stands arranged next to the bed, their bleeping and whirring providing the only noise in the small hospital room.

With nothing else to distract him Aden let his thoughts drift over the events of the past few hours.

Nicole had had to literally prise him away from Lola when the paramedics arrived. He had wanted, needed even, for them to do their job, to look after his baby girl but the reality of actually letting go of her, leaving her in the hands of somebody else, no matter how capable they were killed him. He watched their every move as they set about getting Lola stable and ready to move to the hospital. The questions they asked him were answered in a voice that was barely audible, even to his own ears. Once they were in the ambulance he’d had to sit on his hands to prevent himself from reaching out to her.

As the doors of the ambulance opened at the entrance to the hospital Rachel appeared, Nicole having called her from the car as she followed behind them. She reassured Aden that she would take care of Lola personally, easing a little of the worry from his shoulders. She took Lola from the paramedic and carried her into an examination room, Aden hot on her heels. He remained within touching distance of his daughter as Rachel examined her and as soon as she was done he closed the gap and perched onto the edge of the bed taking Lola’s hand in his and leaning down to press a kiss to her forehead.

Rachel explained to him that Lola had suffered a febrile convulsion due to her high temperature but she would need to give her a more thorough examination before she was able to determine what it was that had caused her temperature to climb so high.

He had nodded his understanding, his eyes never once leaving his daughters face. She had been unresponsive since the convulsion and he was watching avidly for any signs of her coming round.

Moving Aden out of the way again, promising it wouldn’t take long Rachel quickly set up a drip stand, quickly inserting the IV into the little girls arm and set up a heart monitor so she could keep her eye on her vital signs. She also took a sample of blood and assured Aden she’d get them rushed through the lab as quickly as she could. Once this was done and she was satisfied that Lola was getting enough medication to lower her fever she had left to take the bloods for testing, reassuring Aden that she would be back as soon as she could to complete a more in depth examination.

That had been almost half an hour previously and Aden had remained in the same position since. Nicole had joined him as soon as Rachel left the room and was standing behind his chair, a hand resting on his shoulder.

“You should sit down.” Aden murmured.

“I’m good…” Nicole replied. “..I can’t see her from over there.” She gestured to the chair on the opposite side of the room.

“She’s ok isn’t she Nic? She’ll be ok?” His fingers trailed from Lola’s hair down her chubby cheek and back again, his other hand encasing her tiny one.

“She’s a fighter Aden, she’ll be fine.” Nicole insisted with a nod.

“I hope so.” He sighed. “Hey, come here.” He let go of Lola’s hand and reached around him, taking hold of Nicole’s hand and pulling her towards him till she was perched on his knee. “Thanks Nic, I dunno what I would have done if you weren’t there, at the house.”

“You don’t need to thank me!” Nicole replied quietly as she reached out and brushed her hand gently over Lola’s chest. “I just did what I had to do for my little princess here.”

“You hear that Lola? Come on angel, auntie Nic’s come to see her princess, you gonna wake up for her huh?” Aden let out another sigh as Lola remained unresponsive.

“Her body is just recovering Aden, don’t worry too much.” Nicole reassured him. “It’s best she sleeps it out yeah?”

“Yeah I guess.” Aden replied. “I just hate seeing her like this.”

“I know you do.” Nicole hooked an arm around his neck and gave him a much needed hug pulling away when Rachel came back into the room.

*******

Rachel spent a few minutes looking over the baby girl before turning to Aden.

“How has she seemed before today Aden? Anything different or..?

“No….no she’s been fine.” Aden replied after pausing for a moment to think over the last few days.

“Has she been unsteady on her feet at all?”

“Rach, she’s only been walking a couple of weeks, she’s always unsteady on her feet! Do you think…is there something…?”

“It’s nothing to worry about.” Rachel smiled as she reached out a hand to rest on his forearm reassuringly. “It looks like she has an ear infection.”

“An ear infection? That’s all?” Aden asked relief clear in his voice.

“I think so.” Rachel nodded. “We’ll get her started on some antibiotics and she should be as right as rain in a few days.”

“And the convulsion? There won’t be any after affects from that?”

“I highly doubt it. Like I explained earlier, that was just her bodies’ reaction to the fever. Now, children that have one convulsion tend to be slightly more prone to get more so we are just gonna have to make sure we keep an extra eye on her whenever she gets a fever ok?”

“Yeah, ok.” Aden nodded. “Thanks Rach.”

“My pleasure.” She smiled letting go of his arm and brushing her fingers tenderly over Lola’s hair. “Now, we have a very anxious grandpa outside…should I send him in whilst I get the meds sorted.”

“Roman? Yeah send him in.” Aden nodded a ghost of a smile finally making its way to his lips as he turned his attention back to Lola, brushing a kiss into her hair.

Roman entered the room seconds after Rachel had left followed by almost the last person Aden would have expected to see, Liam Murphy.

“Hey, how is she?” Roman asked at the same time as Nicole vocalised her shock at Liam being there.

“What are you doing here?” She asked.

“She’s doing ok...”Aden answered before Liam had chance to reply to Nicole’s question. “She has an ear infection, that’s what caused her fever which caused the convulsion.”

“So it’s nothing big then yeah? You can leave then babe.” Liam reached out to take hold of Nicole’s arm.

“What?” she asked as she flinched away from him. “I’m not leaving! What are you doing here anyway?”

“I was in the diner when you called; overheard, thought you might need a ride home. C’mon, Aden just said she’s ok right? You might as well leave nothing you can do here.”

“I…no Liam! Just…just go home!”

Nicole was relieved to see Aden and Roman had begun chatting next to Lola’s bed and seemed unconcerned with her conversation with her boyfriend.

“But…Nic...Come on…there’s a party going down at the studio in the city…I said we’d go.”

“You go Liam but I’m not leaving Lola!”

“Not leaving Aden more like.” Liam hissed.

“What!” Nicole quickly looked over her shoulder to make sure Aden hadn’t heard Liam’s last statement. “Just…just go! I’m not discussing this now!”

“Everything alright hun?” Roman asked as he turned his attention to his daughter and noticed the strained atmosphere between the couple.

“Yep.” Nicole answered, quickly forcing a smile onto her face. “Liam’s just leaving.”

“I’ll see you around then.” Liam snapped at Nicole before turning on his heel and leaving the room.

“What was that all about?” Aden asked as Nicole approached the bed once more and perched onto the end.

“Nothing, just…..nothing. So Is Rachel coming back with her meds right away or…?”

“Nic...” Aden interrupted, It’s me yeah…you can talk to me, what’s going on?”

“Honestly Aden its fine, I just wasn’t expecting him to come here and you and Lola don’t need him hanging around so….”

“As long as you’re sure…I don’t mind if you wanna leave and go after him.”

“I’m staying here.” Nicole insisted.

“We might as well make ourselves comfy eh.” Roman suggested as he dragged the chair over from the corner to a spot right next to the one Aden was sitting in. “Here you go Nic. I’ll go get us all some coffee, you two look like you could do with some.”

*******

“So I was thinking…” Aden began as he ran his fingers absentmindedly over Lola’s hair. “…We could have her birthday party on the beach. What do you think?”

“That’s a great idea mate.” Roman grinned. He’d avoided the subject since Aden’s outburst the last time it had been mentioned but as the day was now only weeks away he had been trying to think of a way to broach it again. “She loves it down there.”

“Yeah you do don’t you bub?” Aden whispered to the still sleeping baby.

“Who are you gonna invite?” Nicole asked “Are you having a theme? What about a cake?”

“Whoa, slow down Nic! I only just thought about the beach idea.” Aden grinned looking up at her briefly before returning his attention to Lola. “I guess just you guys, Irene, Marilyn and Miles, Rach, Tony and Harry…..”

“Ruby? Charlie and Angelo? Leah? VJ?”

“How about you do the guest list Nic?” Roman suggested.

“Aden?” she looked to him for an answer

“Yeah, if you don’t mind, that’d be great.” He replied, relieved that at least one task had been taken out of his hands. “You’ll do invites too?” He asked sheepishly.

“Sure.” Nicole giggled. “Do we have a theme then?”

“Lola is one!” Aden grinned “That theme enough?”

“I think I can work with that.” Nicole answered

“I’ll sort the cake mate.” Roman offered “And the food.”

“You sure? That kind of leaves me with nothing much to do…”

“You just concentrate on getting the birthday girl better hey.” Roman nodded his head in the girl in question’s direction. “Speaking of which…..”

Aden had looked over at Roman so he had missed the moment when Lola’s eyes fluttered open. The second he returned his attention back to her and saw she was awake he jumped out of his chair and leant over the bed so that she would be able to see him.

“Hey there my baby, how you doin huh? You scared your daddy Lola!” Very carefully so as not to disturb the tubes and wires Aden lifted her into his arms and held her tightly against his chest as she rested her head against his shoulder. He pressed kisses into her hair as he let out a loud sigh of relief. “I love you so much sweetheart.” He murmured. “Don’t ever scare me like that again!”

[xknomex]

Firstly *breathes sigh of relief* SHE'S OKAY!!!!!!! whoooooop!

secondly.... Aden is just, the most amazing person in the world, he's just *sigh*

Nicole is also just brilliant, an amazing aunt and i think she loves Lola almost as much as Aden does!

Liam is just... no!

that birthday party, i'm not sure i'm mentally ready for it.. its gonna be so ^_^/:(

but i'm sure it will be written AH MA ZING!

P.S that was not too short

[hitmanfan]

awwww, THANK YOU!! so glad that Lola is better and that Aden is thinking about celebrating her birthday.

[Inactive User]

Awww!!!!!! Great chapter. Glad Lola is okay. Update soon please xx

[HighwayUnicorn]

Deleted.

[Red Ranger 1]

I loved Nicole in that chapter, when she said she wanted to be where she could see Lola and when she got excited about the party.Glad that it seems Lola's going to be okay.Not impressed with Liam trying to take Nic away from the hospital.Glad that Aden's ready to think about the party now after he's had this shock.

[bradyell]

Soooooooooooo sorry about the ridiculously loooooooong wait...blame Mikey mouse, he lured me to his place for two weeks and then forced me to take a gazillion pictures which i've had to sort out and then....well...*whispers* i think he stole my muse! Naughty mouse!!! Anyways...i have said muse back...for now...which is lucky because....It's birthday time!!!!

11

For the first time in…..Aden couldn’t even remember how long, he awoke of his own accord. No Lola crying for his attention, just the sounds of the world coming awake outside of his window. He didn’t need to look at the clock on the nightstand to know that it was early but he glanced at it anyway, groaning as he saw the numbers 6:22 displayed. He brushed a hand wearily over his face, trying to rid himself of the thoughts that had woken him up. Today was Lola’s day; he wasn’t going to spoil it by wallowing…grieving for what he had lost.

The pain of losing Belle was still there every morning that he woke without her in his arms, it was so hard to fight it, especially today he thought as his mind drifted.

Flashback

“Aden”

“Mmmmm”

“Aden….baby wake up.” Belle placed her hand on his upper arm and shook him gently. “Babe!”

“Huh? What? I’m awake, I’m awake. You can stop shaking.” He used one hand to push himself up the bed slightly whilst the other rubbed the sleep from his eyes. “What’s up?”

“I er……It’s…….” Belle fidgeted nervously on the bed, a hand coming to rest on her stomach. “I think….”

“Belle, is it…..?” Aden was sitting upright with a hand resting over Belle’s in an instant.

A slight nod of Belle’s head was all it took to send Aden flying off the bed.

“Shi…right ok…it’s ok yeah? It’s…..we’re not gonna panic or anything are we? We’re……ok….we’re good right? Yeah….all good….the bag, we need the bag and car keys…where are the….clothes…yeah clothes, we need clothes…”

Belle watched with more than a hint of amusement on her face as Aden hopped around their room trying to pull on a pair of jeans whilst muttering to himself.

“C’mon then let’s g…..why are you laughing?” He asked as he eventually came to a stop and looked at her.

“Because...Aden, look at you all in a panic! It’s too funny!”

“Funny? I’m not…I…I’m not panicking I just…..you’re in labour Belle we need to….why are you shaking your head?”

“Because…” Belle giggled “...because I’m not in labour!”

“What! You…you said…you…you…”

“Honey, do I look like I’m in labour?”

“Well…I…you said Belle!” Aden exclaimed rubbing a hand over his face and taking a deep breath to calm himself down.

“I didn’t!” Belle insisted finally standing up from the bed and slowly winding her arms around Aden’s neck even as he remained unresponsive, his arms hanging at his side.

“You nodded!” Aden insisted.

“You asked is it?” Belle explained “I didn’t realise you meant is it the baby coming.” She bit her lip as she stared into Aden’s eyes realising that she had perhaps taken the joke a little too far. “Baby, don’t be mad…I was kidding.” She stretched up and brushed her lips against his.

“That was mean Belle, I thought…I…”

“You panicked….just a little bit, admit it!”

“Yeah, ok, I panicked!” Aden finally conceded. “I just thought you were…..” the corners of his lips twitched and he slowly broke out into a smile. “Come here.” He leant down and pressed his lips against hers. “So what was it that you really wanted?” Aden asked as he pulled away.

“Well…I er…..kind of felt like….”

“Pancakes?” Aden guessed with a chuckle.

“Uh huh” Belle nodded with an almost shy grin. “Is it too early?”

Aden’s gaze moved from his wife to the clock that was resting on the nightstand and bit back a sigh when he took in the time that was displayed .

“Too early? Nah, I reckon five am…on a Sunday…is the perfect time for pancakes.”

“I love you, you know that?” Belle grinned.

“I should hope so, who else would cook for you so early!” Aden replied as he planted one last kiss against her lips before taking hold of her hand and leading her out of their room.

_______

After they had finished the pancakes Aden insisted on the two of them returning to bed where they spent another few hours enjoying each others company. At ten am he finally managed to drag himself out of Belle’s arms to get ready to go for a run on the beach.

“Do you have to go?” Belle pouted as he climbed out of bed.

“Aww, babe don’t! I’m meeting Roman, I have to go! Besides, I have to do something to keep in shape for you, I know how much you love the abs!” He winked at her as he tapped his stomach.

“You got me!” Belle grinned. “I’m gonna miss you though…who’s gonna keep me warm...and entertained?”

Aden let out a groan as he pulled a pair of shorts from the dresser and threw them onto the bed.

“How about you come and join me in the shower and then when you are ready you can head down to the diner and I’ll meet you there after my run?” He suggested.

“Hmmm, not a bad idea I suppose.” Belle agreed as she climbed out of the bed as quickly as her large bump allowed “There’s cake at the diner.” She added causing Aden to roll his eyes and laugh.

_______

Within an hour Aden was running gently along the beach in the general direction of the diner. Roman was at his side matching his pace to Aden’s allowing them to hold a conversation as they jogged.

“…so yeah, I kinda freaked!” Aden finished explaining about the events of that morning.

“Good job she was just joking around then eh mate?” Roman laughed. “Seriously though, when the time comes Aden I’m sure you’ll be fine.”

“It’s just the thought of her being in pain and knowing there will be nothing I can do about it. I hate that.”

“Yeah I know you do mate and Belle knows that too. All you can do is support her and….well and try not to freak out!”

“I’ll try!” Aden chuckled “And hey…maybe this morning got it out of my system right?”

“So you’ll be cool when Belle does go into labour? Maybe. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see. Hopefully it won’t be too much longer.”

“Yeah, well she’s due on Wednesday so shouldn’t be….”

Aden trailed off when he heard his name being called. Turning his attention from Roman he spotted Nicole running along the sand towards him.

“Hey Nic.”

“Aden, thank god!” Nicole exclaimed as soon as she was in talking distance of the pair who had come to a stop.

“What’s up?” Aden asked grinning as Nicole tried to catch her breath.

“It’s Belle…” Nicole managed to get out between breaths. “The baby….it’s coming.” She added.

“Yeah, ok.” Aden laughed as he began to jog once again.

“Aden!” Nicole cried going after him and pulling forcefully on his arm to stop him. “Belle’s in labour! Didn’t you hear me?”

“Yeah I heard you…it’s you Nic, we always hear you! I just…I’ve fallen for that already once today, you can’t get me again.”

“Get you? Aden I’m not getting you! Belle’s in the diner and she’s having contractions. She had two already and Irene said something about them being close and…”

“And I don’t believe you.” Aden replied as he turned and attempted to carry on running only to be stopped again, this time by Roman.

“Mate, I think she’s being serious.”

“Why?” Aden asked still showing no signs of believing Nicole.

“Because it’s Nicole and she used the word contraction….I don’t think she knows words that long so somebody….”

“Hey!” Nicole struck out at Roman catching him on the arm as he chuckled.

“Sorry hon, but Aden, I think she’s being serious.”

The grin had finally fallen from Aden’s face as it started to dawn on him that Nicole might be telling the truth.

“I am being….” Nicole was interrupted by the sound of her mobile ringing. She pulled it out of her jeans pocket and glanced at the name displayed “It’s Belle.” She said as she touched the screen to connect the call. “Belle? Yeah he’s here.”

She handed the phone to Aden who took it from her immediately.

“Babe, you ok?” he asked.

It took only one word from Belle for him to realise that Nicole hadn’t been joking. The fear was clear in her voice.

“Alright baby, it’s alright. I’m on my way, I’ll be there in two minutes.”

He was already moving as he spoke and as soon as he ended the call he broke into a flat out sprint, Roman hot on his heels and Nicole a little further behind.

_______

As promised within two minutes Aden was crashing through the doors of the diner, his eyes sweeping the large space in search of his wife.

“She’s through here darl.” Irene was standing behind the counter and gestured behind her towards the kitchen.

Aden cleared the gap between them in a few large strides and was soon crouching in front of Belle who was sitting on a chair in the store room area at the back of the diner.

“Belle, sweetheart, are you ok?” One of his hands took hold of hers, the other tenderly tucked a lock of hair behind her ear.

“I dunno.” She shrugged. “It really hurts.” She added in a whisper.

“Alright baby, come here.” Aden pulled her towards him and wrapped his arms around her. “What happened?” he asked after a few minutes.

Belle pulled back slightly so she could see Aden as she explained but his arms still remained firmly around her.

“I was walking over here and I got to just by the beach and this pain just….i couldn’t stand up Aden, it hurt so much.” Aden pressed his lips to her forehead as she spoke. “Then I saw Nic, she came over but by then it had stopped and it was like nothing had happened so we came in here and I ordered and we were sitting down when it happened again.”

“contractions yeah?” Aden asked

Belle nodded. “Yeah I think so.”

“How far apart were they? Nic said something about them being close…?” Aden turned his head to look at Irene who was hovering behind him.

“About fifteen minutes or so I think.” Belle told him

Irene confirmed her guess with a nod. “That’s quite close but nothing to get yourselves worried about.” She reassured them both.

“Have your waters broke?” Aden asked glancing down to Belle’s feet almost as if he was expecting a puddle underneath the chair.

“No.” Belle let out a small giggle as she saw the look of relief that quickly flashed across Aden’s face.

“That’s….ok, that’s good yeah?”

“Err I guess…I don’t know…I….”She looked up to Irene who grinned back at her.

“Well it means that you don’t have to rush into the hospital just yet.” Irene explained “you might be a bit more comfy at home.”

“Home?” Aden turned back to Irene quickly. “We should be at the hospital shouldn’t we I mean, what if the baby comes…I don’t know…”

“Luvvie don’t panic.” Irene laughed.

“Panic…Aden…No way?” Roman quipped as he came into the kitchen. “How’re you doin Belle?”

“I’m alri….oh god Aden….” Belle felt another contraction beginning to build and quickly moved her arms from around Aden’s neck and brought her hands to grip onto his upper arms

“It’s alright babe, I’m here, I’m here.” Aden soothed as he brushed a hand gently over her back.

For the duration of the contraction he whispered reassurances into her ear, somehow managing to remain calm.

“Over?” He asked as he felt her grip on his arms relax.

“Ye…yeah.” She stuttered quietly.

“Alright baby, you did really good.” Aden once again pressed kisses to her forehead. “What do you wanna do? Go to the hospital or….”

“Let’s go home for a bit.” Belle decided on after a moment. “You need to get changed and we need to pick up the bags so we’ve got to go anyway. Irene’s right, I’ll be comfier there.”

“Just don’t leave it too long darl.” Irene offered her advice “Once the contractions are every five minutes or so you get yourself to the hospital. Or if the pain gets too much to cope with.”

“Ok, thanks Irene.” Belle nodded as she stood up from the chair with Aden supporting her.

After saying their goodbyes and receiving good luck wishes the couple left the diner with Roman who had offered to drive them home.

End flashback

A sigh of relief left Aden’s lips when he heard the sounds of Lola waking through the baby monitor. His mind had drifted to the events of the previous year and he knew that had they gone much further then the hurt he was feeling would have intensified. He took a deep breath to steady himself and then climbed out of bed and made his way to the nursery.

He pushed gently on the door and peered around it, a huge rush of love for his daughter hitting him when he watched her face light up as soon as she spotted him.

“There’s my birthday girl. Mornin angel.” He crossed the room to her crib in a few strides smiling as she raised her arms up to him. “Come here beautiful.”

Lola giggled as he lifted her into his arms and showered her face with kisses.

“Happy birthday Lola Belle. Who’s a big girl today huh? You’re one Lola, can you say that? Can you say one?”

The little girl babbled a reply.

“Nearly, clever girl.” Aden grinned. “How about a special birthday breakfast for my special birthday girl. What d’ya say?”

As if she understood the question Lola started to clap and let out another giggle.

“That sounds like a yes to me. Let’s get going then.”

*******

After finishing breakfast Aden took Lola into the lounge and placed her down on the floor holding her until she was steady on her feet. He chuckled as she instantly made her way towards the large pile of presents he had prepared the night before.

“What’s that hey angel? You wanna take a look?”

Lola had grabbed for the smallest present on the top of the pile and waved it in the air before throwing it onto the couch and making a grab for the next.

“This looks like it could take a while.” He laughed as he swept her into his arms, nuzzling her cheeks as he sat down onto the floor placing her on his lap. “Let’s start with this one shall we?”

Wrapping his arms around Lola he used his fingers to make a tear in the pink wrapping paper that was covering the gift she was holding. “Here you go, can you pull Lola? Pull the paper.” After he had demonstrated what to do it took Lola no time at all to rip the rest of the paper from the gift revealing a bag of wooden blocks each baring a different letter of the alphabet.

“See that baby, we can do some building can’t we huh? You like these?” He twisted Lola around on his lap so that he could see her face. “Or we could just play with this paper” he added with a laugh as he watched her play quite happily with a piece of wrapping paper she had torn from the gift, the bag of blocks laying virtually un-noticed on his lap. “Shall we get….”

He was interrupted when a knock sounded from the front door.

“Who could that be? Shall we go see?” He stood Lola on the floor and stood up himself. “Come on missy, it’s not gonna be for daddy is it, come see who’s here for you.” He waited until Lola began a slow toddle towards the door and then followed behind her.

Reaching over her as soon as he was close enough Aden pulled open the front door and was met with a wall of pink balloons behind which he could hear a chorus of happy birthday’s.

“I guess you guys had better come in.” he laughed as he picked Lola up so that she wouldn’t get knocked over by the group of people filing their way into the house. “Looks like your party’s starting already sweetheart.”

[xknomex]

awwwwwwww that was BRILLIANT... I dont know how Aden's not crying cause i am!!!

I can't believe she's 1...

loved the labour bit... so funny the beginning. hehe pancakes! ehehe

can't wait for more!

[Red Ranger 1]

The flashback had some funny moments, with Aden panicking.It's good that Aden's focusing on the happy things.

[HighwayUnicorn]

Deleted.