Chapter 41

Cara went back to sleep and Trey left the room. I stayed staring at the baby. I heard the door creek open so I looked up to see Cody with something held behind him in his hand. "What have you got?" I asked and tried to look around him. "I knew you were gonna be mad at me when you find out what happened with Marcus so I kinda bought a present."

He showed me a small, stuffed bunny. "It's for Baby." He said and sat down next to me. "Do you think she's allowed to have it?" I asked. "I dunno." He shrugged and put it in my lap. "What did you do then?" I asked. "I showed him who's boss." He shrugged and pulled my chair closer to him.

I span around with my feet over the arm of the chair and my back against the other with my head resting on Cody's shoulder. "Can I see your knuckles?" I asked. Cody showed me his hands. There was a few cuts on them. "I didn't want to hurt him that bad becuase I know that you like him but I was mad and he needed to know why I get you and he doesn't." He kissed my head.

"When can we have one?" I turned my attention back to the baby. "When you're thirty." I heard Trey's voice. We both looked over at him and smiled. "You want your baby?" I offered. "You can hold her for now." "She's named after me." I told Cody. "I thought we didn't have a name?" He asked in confusion.

"Blank Lauren Miller." Trey said. "Blank." I repeated and giggled. "We're gonna talk about the name as soon as we can. We have a few to choose from." "Can we hear?" I asked. "Courtney, Mckenzie and Jamie." "Those are all so sweet." I smiled.

"What's your favorite?" He sat down. "I like Courtney." Cody said. "I like Mckenzie." I said. "And I like Jamie." Trey laughed. "What does Cara like?" I nodded towards her. "I don't know. We chose those three together and are gonna choose the final one either today or tomorrow." "It's like midnight now, do you want some space?" Cody looked at his watch.

"Nah. It's cool, I'm not really tired and Cara seems to be sleeping just fine. The nurses said that everything is working smoothly and Baby will be out of here in two days." "That's exciting." I smiled. "I know. What's that?" The bunny on my lap caught Trey's attention.

"We bought Baby a teddy." Cody said and picked it up to pass it to Trey. "I was told that it's alright for newborns to have." "Okay, good." Trey nodded as he looked at it. "Why don't we give her back to you and leave you guys alone." I said and got up. Trey took the baby off me and sat in my chair. "Love you." I kissed his cheek.

"The atmosphere in there is so calming." I said as we walked down the hall. "There's a lot of love in there." "So much." I nodded. "I want one." I sat down in the waiting room. "Oh yeah? When do you want one?" He sat with me. "I want one now." Cody opened his mouth to answer but was cut off straight away. "If I hear more of that you'll be sleeping in separate beds." Dad said.

"I wasn't gonna agree." Cody looked over at everyone as they came over. "Sure." "Are we going home or staying here?" I asked. "We're gonna take off now." Angie said. "Yeah, and we're gonna do the same and come back in the morning." Mom said. "Are you coming with me?" She asked.

I looked at Cody. He shrugged his shoulders. "You have the choice of three houses." He laughed. "Are you going home?" I asked. "I'm coming with you." "I think we'll go with Dad." I said and stood up. "Where's Lil?" "She's at a friend's house." Mom explained. "She's gonna come with me in the morning." She added.

I nodded and then followed after Dad and Cody who had already started walking away. "Bye!" I waved over my shoulder as I caught up and slid my fingers between Cody's. "Is your bed up?" Dad asked me. "Yeah. Trey and I put it up this morning." "It's scary how this morning he had no idea that he was going to be a father." Cody said.

"He was just a big brother, living his life and now he's a daddy." I rested my head on Cody's arm. "He's in love with her." Dad said. "He is. He was so scared before and I'm happy that it's all gone." I smiled. "Everyone's safe and healthy, that's what makes me happy." Dad said with a smile on his face.

In the morning, Dad had to go to work but Cody and I went to the hospital. It was around nine when we got there. We brought a McDonalds breakfast for us and Trey and Cara too.

"Auntie Lon and Uncle Cody brought food!" I sung as we went into their room. "Oooooh!" Cara sat up in her bed. Trey sat up straight in the seat that he was sat in next to the bed. "You guys do know that the baby isn't in here, right?" Cody pointed to the small hospital crib at the end of Cara's bed as he searched the room.

Trey laughed at him and nodded. "She's with all the other babies. She has to sleep in there." "Oh right." Cody sat down. After a few minutes Mom and Lilly came into the room. "Cody!" Lilly climbed onto his lap. "Hey." "I have a new baby." She told him. "She's your baby?" "Mhm." Lilly nodded which made me laugh.

"So what's her name? You said you'd tell us when Mom got here." I turned my attention to Cara and Trey. "Okay." Cara positioned herself. "Actually, you tell them." She looked at Trey. "Yeah?" "Mhm. Go." She nodded with a smile.

Trey opened his mouth to talk but then the nurse came in with the baby. "Ariana's ready for her breakfast." The nurse said. "Ariana?!" I asked. "Ariana." Trey confirmed. "That's so pretty." I covered my mouth. "Are you crying?" Cody laughed. "No." I dimissed and wiped away a tear. "Come give me a cuddle." Trey offered. I went and sat in his lap.

Cara fed Ariana for a while and then sat with her in her arms. No one spoke the whole time but it definitely wasn't an awkward silence. Lilly got up and crawled up the bed before kicking off her shoes and getting under the blankets next to Cara.

"Can I have a cuddle with her?" "Sure." Cara smiled. Lilly climbed into Cara's lap and Cara placed Ariana in her arms. "What's her middle name?" Lil asked. "Lauren." "But that's Lauren's name!" She said. Cody, Trey and I laughed at her.

"What happened to the other names?" Cody asked. "They just didn't fit. We liked them but they didn't suit her and then Cara came up with Ariana and it fit her perfectly." Trey explained. "She's very pretty." Lilly said to Cara. "She is." "She's got the same shape lips as Lauren and Trey and Me." She pointed out. "That's right."

"What color are her eyes?" "She's got big, blue eyes." "Like you do." "Just like I do." Cara nodded. "I like her." "That's good." Cara laughed a little. "Why don't you take her to Mommy." Trey said. "Why?" "Because Mommy wants a cuddle." He answered.

Lilly nodded and carefully got off the bed before handing Mom the baby and sitting back on Cody's lap. "Is there anything that you need doing at home?" Mom asked. "Can you go and clean the house for us?" "I'm sure these two would love to help me." Mom smiled at Cody and I. "Oh we're busy today." I said. "What are you doing?"

"Well," I looked at Cody. "We're taking Lilly to the park." "Yaaaay!" Lilly cheered. "Quick get away." Mom shook her head at him playfully. Cody grinned back. "Love youuu." He teased. "If you weren't my daughter's boyfriend, you would be in trouble." Mom warned. "Poor you." He smirked.

"When can I tweet her and her name?" I asked. Trey and Cara looked at each other, Trey shrugged and Cara smiled before they turned back to us. "Whenever." Cara said. I smiled and got out my phone. I tweeted a photo I took yesterday of Ariana and added a line of writing before sending the tweet.

"She's very well behaved." Mom looked at the baby in her arms. "So far, yes." Cara agreed. "If she's anything like her daddy, that won't last long." "I didn't sleep well as a baby either." "Good luck." Mom wished which made me laugh.

Later that day Cody and I took Lilly to the park while Mom was at Trey and Cara's house. "Push me on the swings!" Lilly demanded. "Push yourself." Cody said while sitting on the bench. I sat next to him and watched Lilly run off towards the swings.

"How are you?" Cody asked me. "Huh?" I looked at him. "How are you feeling?" "Good." "Hmm?" He raised an eyebrow. "What?" "Nothing." He shook his head and looked at the floor. "Okay.." I wasn't convinced. "I have that photoshoot tomorrow. With Madison. Are you coming?" I offered. "Is that a trick question?" "Nope. Do you wanna come or not?" "I'm going to the studio tonight so I'll come but later on." "Okay." I smiled.

The next day I arrived with my dad at the photoshoot which was taking place on a beach. Madison was already there. Her, her dad and Scooter were all talking so Dad and I walked over. "Hi." I smiled. "Lauren!" Scooter hugged me. I laughed and hugged him back. "How is everything going?" "It's all good. Tired, but good." I said.

All the men greeted each other in the way that guys do while Madison and I stood awkwardly. "So how's the baby?" Scooter asked us. "She's fine. She's healthy and everything is going smoothly. Her name's Ariana." I grinned. "That's sweet." "She is and she's so beautiful."

"Did the birth go smoothly?" "Yes. Trey was worried before it but he's chilled now." Dad told them all. "Girls?!" Someone caught my attention so I turned around. "Would you like to come and get your hair and makeup done?" I smiled and nodded before nudging Madison. "We gotta go get ready." I said and walked towards the woman with Madison following me.

I had natural makup done and was given beachy waves. I had a bandeau style bikini top with straps that tied around my neck. The bottoms were high waisted and it was white with black spots. Madison had the same makeup and hair that I did and the same bikini although hers was black with white spots on it.

"Can we talk before we have to start?" Madison asked me. I nodded. "Do you hate me?" "No." "Are you sure because you haven't spoken to me since.. Well, you know. And you said that I was your best friend and that wasn't going to change but you haven't spoken to me. So now I don't know where I stand." "In my boyfriend's pants." I shrugged and walked away.

She jogged up to my side and walked next to me. "Look, I'm not mad at you. I'm just mad. I can't get the images of you guys together out of my mind. Everytime I close my eyes I can just picture the two of you together and I hate it. I need some time to get over it. And in that time I need space from you." I said.

"I told you I was sorry, what else am I supposed to do?" "You think twice before doing what you did." "Cody did it too! It wasn't just me." "I'm not doing this." I dismissed and continued walking. "I don't understand." She sighed. "You don't have to." I said over my shoulder.

It was around lunch time when Cody showed up with a bag of McDonalds and Tom. We were on our break so I went over. "Hey!" I hugged Tom. "Hia." He hugged me back. "You brought food?" I noted. "I got you some nuggets and a diet coke." Cody handed me a box of nuggets and held the coke towards me. I took them off him with a grin.

"Thank you." I smiled. "How come you're here?" I asked Tom. "Mom and Dad are helping Trey." "What with?" I looked between the boys. "Baby stuff. I wasn't really listening." Cody shrugged. "I think it's just last minute things." Dad joined our conversation. "Oh right okay." I smiled.

I noticed Cody seemed a little distracted so I turned to look at what he was looking at. Madison. I snapped my fingers in front of his face. He quickly turned his attention to me. "Do you enjoy being single?" I asked him. He shook his head but then looked back to Madison. "She seems upset. I'll be five minutes." He pushed me out of the way and walked over to Madison. "Wow." I watched him.

"What?" Tom asked. I sat down in the sand with him. "Nothing." I smiled and went back to watching Cody and Madison who weren't there anymore. "Where did they go?" I looked up at Dad and Scooter. "In Madison's dressing room type thing. Can you tell her you guys need to go on in five?" Scooter replied. I nodded and then scoffed while looking at the ground.

"What's wrong with that?" Tom asked me. "I'm about to go find out." I got up again and walked over there. I could hear them talking from a few feet away so I stayed there and listened. "It was a huge mistake. I shouldn't have done it." Madison's voice said. "You can't tell her now. You just have to go along with it." "Why?! It's not fair on me, she's my best friend."

"She's my girlfriend." "And you're happy with lying to her?" "I don't want her to leave me." "And you're fine with her leaving me?" "I'd rather that." "You're so selfish!" "I care about my relationship!" "Well then why did you do it and why do you want me to lie to her? You can't love her if you're happy with what you're doing."

What are they talking about? "I'm not happy with it but it's something I have to do." "You're a pig. You can't fuck with her." "I'm not. I made a mistake. I was vulnerable as hell and I hate myself for what I did." "I don't care how vulnerable you were." "She will hate me." "You should of thought about that." Madi sounded more mad than I'd ever heard her before.

"If you don't tell her by tomorrow, then I will. I'm sorry but I'm not doing this anymore. I'm about to lose my best friend." "If she finds out I will lose my girlfriend, my best friend and my whole world." "I really don't care anymore. I'm done with this mess, Cody."

"Madison, please." "No. She means so much to me." "She means so much more to me. We weren't together when it happened so why do you have to tell her?!" "You were together the first time." Madison said and then came out from behind the curtains. She froze when she saw me stood there, Cody came out too and froze next to her.