Thursday the 10th of June 2010

From: Bel
Message: Happy birthday, daddy! =)

To: Bel
Message: Thanks.

 Blaine’s phone started ringing and he picked it up with a sigh.

“Hello Blaine. What’s with the not-at-all happy or excited thanks-text?”

Blaine sighed again. “We’re not celebrating my birthday this year.”

“What? Why?!”

“You’re seventeen now, Blaine. And about to become a father. You have bigger things to worry about.” Blaine mimicked his father’s voice.

“That sucks, man.” Bel said sadly. “I bought you something, though.”

“You didn’t need to do that.”

“Oh, stop. You are like a five-year-old on your birthdays. We started dating before your birthday last year, remember?”

“Sorry…” Blaine mumbled, but perked up at the thought of a present. “What is it?”

“I knew you’d be happy about it.” Bel chuckled. “You’ll get it on my birthday, ‘kay?”

“Okay.”

“Well, I gotta go. But your little girl says “Happy birthday, daddy!”, okay?”

“Aaww.” Blaine exclaimed.

“Dork.” Bel laughed. “Bye Blaine.”

“Bye Bel.”

Sunday the 20th of June 2010

Even though it was now summer, Blaine and Bel’s parents only allowed sleepovers on Fridays and Saturdays.

“Blaine?”

Blaine groaned. “’m sleep.”

“Blaine.”

“Go ’way.”

“Blaine, Blaine, Blaine, Blaine, BLAINE!”

“Whaaat?” Blaine whined and sat up, rubbing his eyes with his fists. “You having the baby?”

“No!”

“Awesome. Goodnight then.” Blaine flopped back onto the mattress.

“Blaine Anderson, I swear I will take this baby and run away if you do not wake up right now!”

Blaine sat back up. “What is it, Bel?” He glared at her where she sat in her pajamas on the edge of the bed.

Bel was beaming. “It’s got the hiccups.”

“No way!” Blaine scrambled over to her on his hands and knees. “Can I listen?”

“Yeah.”

Blaine put his ear against Bel’s now very large stomach and waited. And suddenly, there was the most adorable noise Blaine had ever heard. This tiny hiccup-y sound from deep within Bel’s stomach. “Oh wow!” Blaine exclaimed. "That's adorable!"

"It feels really strange, though." Bel laughed. 

A few hours later they were sitting side by side on Blaine's bed watching Criminal Minds on Blaine's laptop. 

"Oh my God!" Bel suddenly exclaimed, putting one hand on her stomach and grabbing onto Blaine's thigh hard with the other.

"What?" Blaine asked in a panicked voice, putting the laptop aside and grabbing the hand Bel had on his thigh. "Are you okay?"

"No! It feels really strange!" Bel said, her face scrunching up. "Do something!" 

"What do you want me to do?" 

"Call my baby doctor or something!" 

Blaine rushed off the bed and grabbed his phone, dialing the number he had saved. The woman answered after just two rings.

"Yes, hello. This is Blaine Anderson. My friend Isobel Mayer is a patient of yours and something is wrong with her. What do I do?" Blaine blabbered into the phone.

"What exactly is wrong?" the woman asked calmly.

"I don't know. She's grabbing her stomach. What do I do?" he repeated as Bel grabbed her stomach with both hands and leaned forward.

"Can I talk to her and get a more specific explanation?" 

"Bel, she wants to talk to you." Blaine said, kneeling by her on the bed. "Can you do that?" 

"Just give me the phone!" Bel said and held her hand out toward him. 

Blaine felt absolutely powerless as he listened to Bel explain the feeling to the woman on the phone. Powerless, helpless, useless. Bel seemed to be better now though, as she leaned back a bit. Blaine rubbed her back soothingly while his head spun with all the worst case scenarios. 

"Thirty-seven weeks." he registered Bel saying. "Okay. Okay. Thank you." Then she hung up.

"What did she say? What do I do?" 

"She said they're just contractions." 

"Are you having the baby? Now?!"

"Calm down, Blaine. No, I'm not. It's apparantly normal for this to happen in this week of the pregnancy." Bel said and then tensed again. "My womb will get all hard for like half a minute and then relax. She said that it's okay as long as it doesn't hurt." 

"Oh, okay." Blaine said, his heart still pounding. "What do you want me to do?"

"Let's just rewind the episode and watch it. I'll be fine."

"You sure?" Blaine pressed, moving his hand from her back.

"Yes." Bel smiled.

So Blaine put the laptop back on his lap and rewound. He grabbed her hand and leaned his head against her shoulder. "Squeeze my hand if it happens again, okay?" 

They watched the rest of the episode and two more after that before Bel had to go home. Bel only squeezed Blaine's hand a few times, and he panicked less and less every time.

Saturday the 26th of June 2010

Blaine rang the doorbell at the Mayer house and Stanley opened a few moments later.

“Hello Mr. Mayer.”

“Blaine.” The tall, thin man mumbled, stepping aside to allow Blaine into the house.

Things had been very chilly with Bel’s foster parents since they found out about the pregnancy in December. Luckily for Blaine, they worked a lot and were very rarely around when he visited Bel’s house.

“Hi Blaine.” Bel came walking slowly into the front hall, her short mother hurrying up behind her.

“Isobel! Your due-date is less than two weeks away and you have already had contractions. You need to rest.”

“Chill mom.” Bel sighed and walked up to Blaine.

“Happy eighteenth birthday, Isobel!” Blaine smiled and hugged her as best as he could with her big belly between them.

“Thanks, daddy.” Bel grinned. “Let’s go to my room. I have your gift in there.”

Blaine walked behind Bel up the stairs, just to be safe. When they entered her room he sat down on the bed while she looked through her closet. She found what she was looking for, walked over to Blaine with a small, red, plastic box and handed it to him before sitting down beside him. Blaine opened the box to find a bracelet made out of black leather cord with a small silver plate tied into it. On the plate the word “courage” was engraved.

“Sorry I couldn’t give it to you earlier, but they were backed up at the place where I got the inscription done.”

“It’s beautiful!” Blaine exclaimed, picking it out of the box and running his thumb over it. “Why that word?”

“Whenever I hear it, I think of you. You are the bravest person I have ever met, Blaine. Ignoring all the slurs and standing up to those jocks at school. But most of all the way you were prepared to give up all your dreams and plans for our child, the second you found out. You were all in from the very beginning. That is very brave of a sixteen-year old.” Bel smiled, took the bracelet from Blaine and fastened it around his left wrist.

“Wow, Bel. Thank you.” Blaine felt his eyes get wet, but he held the tears back. “You are so brave too, though.” Bel shrugged and Blaine let out a huff of laughter. “Besides, I’m seventeen.”

“Yeah. Now.” Bel rolled her eyes.

“I’ll wear it every day.” Blaine smiled. “I got you something too.” He picked a small, black box out of his pocket and handed it to Bel. “Happy birthday.”

Bel opened the box and gasped a little. She picked the silver chain necklace out of the box and looked closer at the inscription on the small silver plate.

“My girl?” she snorted. “That’s adorable. Thank you, Blaine.”

“You are my girl, though!” Blaine exclaimed. “You are not my girlfriend anymore, but you are the mother of my child and my best friend. You will always be special to me.”

“Don’t say stuff like that when I’m dealing with these hormones!” Bel whined and wiped the corner of her eye. “I love you.”

Blaine chuckled. “I loved you too, Isobel.”

“Kids! Time for cake!” Bel’s mother shouted from downstairs.

“Coming!” Bel shouted back.

“I’ll help you.” Blaine took the necklace from Bel and moved on the bed so he could place the silver chain around her neck.

“Thanks.” Bel said and touched the plate before shakily standing and heading toward the door. “Hurry up or I’ll eat all the cake. You won’t get any.”

“Is that so?” Blaine laughed and followed her, taking her hand as they descended the staircase.

Blaine and Bel were the only ones eating cake since apparantly Bel’s mother (who was on the heavier side) was on a diet and her father disliked chocolate, much to Blaine’s surprise. How could anyone dislike chocolate? But that meant more cake for the two soon-to-be-parents. They both happily munched up three pieces of cake each before pretty much passing out on the couch.

Thursday the 1st of July 2010

Blaine’s phone jangled loudly and he groaned, reaching his arm out to get it.

“’lo?” he mumbled sleepily into it.

“Blaine! This is Lauren Mayer.”

Blaine lifted his head, suddenly wide awake. “Is Bel okay?” There was screaming in the background on the other line. “What’s happening? Are th-they okay?!”

“We’re on our way to the hospital. Bel’s in labor. You should hurry up and come too.”

“I’m on my way.” Blaine hung up and ran down the stairs. “MOM! DAD! I’M GOING TO THE HOSPITAL! WE’RE HAVING THE BABY!” he shouted as he stepped into his shoes, pulling his jacket on over his pajamas and slamming the front door shut.

He only got halfway to the car when the front door opened again. “Young man! You stop right there. Your mother and I are driving you. You are not in a state where you should be driving.”

“Just hurry!” Blaine hissed and ran to his father’s car instead. “She’s not due for another week… I’m not ready…” he mumbled to himself repeatedly as he waited for his parents.

His father disappeared for a moment before coming back outside with Blaine’s mother on his heels.

“PUSH!” the doctor said loudly. “Just a few more times, come on!”

Blaine was standing next to Bel’s screaming form on the hospital bed, his hand in her bone-crushing grip. He was paralyzed. The screaming and the blood and the doctors and the medical terms being thrown around... The only thing he could manage was to hold Bel’s hand and try not to faint.

“There’s the head!”

“ARRRRGGHH!!” Bel shouted. “You bastard! You did this to me!” she shouted with her face scrunched up in pain and Blaine knew she was talking about him.

“I’m so, so sorry. You’ll be okay.” he tried, earning him another scream.

“One more push!” the doctor said and everyone went silent as Bel pushed one more time.

The room then filled with a shrill little cry.

“There she is!” The doctor held the red little baby up for Bel and Blaine to see.

It was the most amazing thing Blaine had ever seen. His own child. His daughter!

“Want to cut the umbilical cord?” a nurse asked and held a strange-looking scissor out toward him.

Blaine grabbed it with shaking hands and nodded. He took a step closer and used the scissors to cut the spongy cord. The texture and sound it had made Blaine cringe and he quickly handed the scissors back to the nurse. He stepped back beside Bel’s upper body as the doctor handed the baby to a few nurses who walked to the other side of the room to clean her off and take measurements. Bel was leaning back on the bed, panting, and her short hair had stuck to the sweat on her forehead. Blaine brushed the hair out of her face and smoothed his thumb along the crease between her eyebrows. “You’re okay. She’s perfect.” Blaine leaned over and whispered into her hair before kissing her temple. “Absolutely perfect.”

Bel didn’t respond, but she opened her wet forest-green eyes and smiled at him.

“Here you go, mommy.” the doctor stood beside the bed with a small white bundle that he handed to Bel.

Bel held the baby close to her chest and adjusted the small white cotton hat that the nurses had put on her so she wouldn’t be cold. “You’re so beautiful baby.” she murmured and ran her index finger along the baby’s tiny nose. “I love you, little girl. Don’t ever forget that, whatever happens.”

Blaine smiled as he looked at the two most important people in his life. His girls.

They had been moved to their own room where they were spending a few days until Bel was recovered enough to go home. Bel had insisted all day that Blaine should hold the baby, but he was too scared of dropping her. Bel was now asleep and their daughter lay bundled up in blankets in a plastic box on wheels between Blaine and Bel’s beds. Blaine was sitting on the edge of his own bed, dangling his legs in the air and watching the baby sleep. He jerked every time she moved and he almost had a heart attack once, when the little girl sneezed. Blaine’s eyes flickered to Bel for a second and then to the pink piece of paper taped to the baby’s “bed”.

It read:
Baby girl Anderson
Born: 1st of July 2010
Height: 49 cm
Weight: 3050 g
Father: Blaine Anderson
Mother: Isobel Mayer

Blaine and Bel hadn’t decided on a name yet. Blaine kept insisting they name her after Bel, but Bel refused. She kept arguing that Blaine’s future husband wouldn’t like his stepchild’s name to be after Blaine’s ex. But Blaine kept arguing that his future husband would love her and the name, whatever it might be. It wasn’t like Blaine was trying to actually name the little girl Isobel too.

The baby twitched in her sleep and Blaine did too. Courage, he thought. He got down from the bed and looked down at the baby for a minute, taking deep breaths and trying to calm his racing heart. Blaine reached down and carefully put his hands under the baby, pausing for a second to make sure she didn’t wake up and start screaming. She didn’t, so he picked her up very slowly while holding his breath. When she was securely tucked against his chest Blaine let the air out through his mouth and moved slowly over to an armchair in a corner of the room. He sat down carefully, took another breath and then looked down at the tiny bundle in his arms. She was awake.

“Hi baby.” Blaine croaked, his eyes already filling with tears. “It’s nice to finally meet you.” he said before he could stop himself, and he could picture Bel rolling her eyes at him in his head. “I’m Blaine, your dad.” A tear slipped down his cheek and fell onto the blanket that was wrapped around the girl, leaving a dark dot on the fabric. “You are so pretty.” He instinctively rocked his upper body from side to side while looking at the little girl’s tiny face.  

Her nose was normal, Blaine thought, a typical baby-nose. Her big eyes were a light blue-green color and her lips were pink and pouty. Her black hair seemed to lie in big curls on her head and her eyebrows had a sharp point to them at the top. She looked like him.

But also like Bel.

“Bella.” Blaine whispered. “Your mommy doesn’t want to name you that. But that’s your name. You are a Bella.” The little girl gurgled happily and Blaine grinned. “I knew you liked it. You did when in mommy’s tummy too.” Blaine continued to rock her back and forth carefully, talking to her about all the things he wanted to show her and all the things he wanted to teach her. When she started to fuss Blaine stood. “Shh, Bella.” he cooed. “You’re okay. Don’t wake mommy.”

Blaine started to sing. He had always loved singing, and before Bel got pregnant he had dreamed of doing it for a living, or at least on a daily basis. He sang one of his favorite ballads and when he was done the little girl had fallen back asleep. Blaine hadn’t stopped staring at her since he picked her up, so he hadn’t noticed that Bel was awake, watching them with tears in her eyes and a smile on her lips.

Blaine walked back to the beds and put his daughter back in her “bed” and took a deep breath. “Bella.” he whispered.

“You can name her that, if you really want to.”

Blaine almost fainted. He jumped back and his legs bumped into his bed, making him fall backwards into a sitting position atop it.

“Shh! You’ll wake Bella.” Bel whispered with a grin.

“You like it?” Blaine disbelievingly whispered back, getting onto his bed properly.

“She looks like a Bella.”

Friday the 2nd of July 2010

“She’s adorable!” Blaine’s mother Anna cried out when she laid her eyes on her granddaughter in Blaine’s arms. “She looks just like you, honey.” She walked over to Blaine and hugged him carefully, so she wouldn’t squish the little girl. When she pulled back she looked at her in pure bliss.

“You wanna hold her?” Blaine chuckled and winked at his mother as she looked back up at him in awe.

“Of course. Gimme!”

Blaine chuckled again and handed the bundle over just as his father entered the room. “Anna!” he scolded. “You could have waited for me.”

“Too excited.” Anna Anderson replied her husband and started mumbling nonsense to her granddaughter. “She looks like you too, darling.” she said and smiled at Bel.

Bel smiled back and nodded.

“How are you feeling?” Blaine’s father asked her awkwardly as he stood by his wife.

“Fine, thank you.” Bel replied and leaned back against her pillows. “Just tired.”

 “Pretty little girl.” Anna cooed. “What are you going to name her?”

“Bella Anna Anderson.” Blaine smiled proudly.

“Anna? Aww, Blaine.” Anna sighed happily. “Bella is a beautiful name. And a beautiful girl, yes you are!” Mrs. Anderson cooed to her grandchild again. “Do you want to hold her, Herman?”

“Not until she can hold her head up on her own.” Herman replied and inched away. “I might break her.”

“Men.” Anna and Bel said in unison and sighed. Blaine chuckled.