Swallowed in Grief, Healed by Time

Val and Jamie continued to drag me through the mall that day as they went from shop to shop. Both of them picked out beautiful dresses as a small shop and were very excited at the opportunity to wear them. Jamie was over the moon as this would be the first one she was able to attend, though all of the others had already attended at least one if not more. I did discover that Angelica was the one child that attended more than anyone as she seemed to enjoy the spotlight more. She was wanting fame while the rest of the children wanted their family.

“Try this on,” Jamie said as she trust an outfit into my arms and pushed me into the dressing room.

We were currently in a shop trying on maternity cloths as I was nearly too big to wear my regular clothing. Val and Jamie were having a blast picking out the cloths and I was willing to let them. They seemed to both have good taste and knew what I would look good in despite the fact that I was slowly getting very fat. So I went along with whatever was thrown at me and decided whether I enjoyed the look or not. More often than not I loved what they had picked me and was sure that my father was going to kill me once we got back. We had easily spent over three hundred on me already between the dress and the phone, but now they were piling on more with the purchase of new cloths on top of it all. Val kept saying that as long as we stayed under a thousand Brian would not be angry at all. Though I was having my doubts as the numbers rose that we would be able to stay under a thousand.

“Hey, come on we are going to another store,” Val said as I stepped out of the dressing room holding the outfits that I liked.

Jamie came and took them from me before grabbing the plastic card from Val and checking out. She was loaded down with bags as she met us outside of the store complaining that next time she was bringing Derek along. When I asked her why she smirked at me and said that he was great to shop with because he would carry all the bags. I laughed and shook my head as we stepped into a small baby store. My breath caught as I looked around at everything in the store. Tiny cloths hung on racks with tiny socks near by. Val was over by a wall of little shoes as she cooed over the small blankets.

“Have you found out what sex the baby is?” Jamie asked as she set down the bags and started looking at some of the cloths.

“I had thought about it at first but decided that I would rather be surprised,” I stated. “No matter what it’s my child and I am content with whatever gender decides to pop out.”

“Well then, neutral colors are best,” Jamie said as she pulled out a cute green outfit. “The baby will need something to wear on the first day home. So we should pick out a few cloths. One less thing to do once we get home.”

“Very true, though I do not think we should spend any more of my dad’s money,” I protested.

“He is the one insisting that we do,” Jamie grinned. “He instructed us that you were not to come home without a new phone, a dress, some new cloths that will fit and some baby supplies. We will only need a few minor things as most of the bigger things can wait until we get home. My mom, Leana, and Johnny’s wife, Lacey, are setting up a nursery for you. So they will pick out all of the furniture. Don’t worry though, they are great designers and since no one knew the gender of the baby they went with a neutral theme to the room that I think you will enjoy. It looked pretty cool before I left and I can’t wait to see it when we get back.”

“Wait, where are they setting up a nursery?” I questioned.

“At your dad’s house?” Jamie questioned yet stated as she looked at me with a confused expression. “Where else would the do this?”

“Oh,” I whispered as I looked away from her.

“Elise?” Jamie asked. “What were you thinking?”

“I was going to get a job and an apartment once we got back. Surely my father won’t want a child in the house,” I stated. “Especially with Michelle and Angelica there.”

“Michelle and Angelica don’t live with him. He lives by himself. He won’t let you live on your own right now either. Elise, he wants to be apart of this. Why can’t you see that?” Jamie asked.

“He’s a rockstar,” I stated. “Who just found out that he has twins and now one of those twins is going to make him a grandfather.”

“He’s a person before he’s a rockstar. He’s Brian Haner long before he’s Synyster Gates and Brian Haner was a part of his childrens life. You’re child is a part of your life and he wants a part of that as well,” Jamie said. “I think you need to have a talk with him when we get back.”

“No,” I stated stopping that idea. “No, I’ll stay with him.”

“Why are you so jumpy about this?” Jamie questioned.

“Just, please don’t mention anything to him about this,” I stated. “He doesn’t need to know.”

“Alright, as long as you promise to stay with him I won’t mention anything,” Jamie said after a few moments of thinking it over.

“I will stay with him and won’t bring up the topic again,” I promised.

“Alright.”

We continued through the store looking at all of the clothing. Val had a nice sized stack already picked out with some small socks and shoes as well. Jamie and I added a few things but for the most part Val picked out everything for my child to wear. I really liked everything she picked out and I found myself growing slightly excited about the idea of greeting this baby. Once we had everything finished we headed out of the mall and loaded up the car. Jamie was sitting in the back once again with all of the bags while Val and I controlled the radio up front. Luckily none of us wanted to listen to pop music so we all found a good rock station. Saving Able was currently playing as we drove home without a care in the world, though once my father sees these bags I was going to be in trouble.

Soon we were pulling into the venue and unloading the car into the bus. Derek, Zander and Braden all came out and helped us. The guys were at sound check right now so I did not have to deal with anything for a few more minutes anyways. Jamie took all of the babys cloths and tucked them away in a small compartment for safe keeping while all my things were sitting on my bed. Val gave Braden his new phone and I watched as his face lit up at the sight of it. He gave Val a huge hug before he started playing with the phone and adding everyone’s number. I smiled and went back into the room to get all of my things organized and put away. A few minutes later Zander joined me and we talked softly while he helped me remove the tags from every article of clothing, minus the dress.

After a few peaceful moments the bus grew loud as the guys came back. I took a deep breath as Val told all of the guys about our trip. Footsteps came towards us and my heart seemed to stop as the door opened and my father looked over at me. My eyes flew over his face as I tried to decipher what he was thinking. To my surprise he was smiling and wanting to see everything that we had bought. I breathed a sigh of relief as he picked up my new phone and looked it over. He looked over all of my cloths and gave his approval before he requested to see the dress. At this point I made Zander leave wanting it to be a surprise for him. Jamie actually had to come drag him away as he wanted to see it but I knew she wouldn’t let him come back. Dad really liked the dress and gave his approval almost immediately. He took my hands in his as I put the dress back and sat me down gently on the bed. Then he stated the words that no one ever wants to hear.

“Elise, I think we need to talk.”