You Drain The Life From Me.

Once I saw his eyes, I knew.

It all happened so fast. One minute, I was pouring cereal into a bowl, and the next, there was liquid trickling down my legs.

At first I thought it was pee, which I found disgusting. But then, the contractions started, and I was in pain. Lots of it.

"St-Steph-Stephen!" I grabbed the edge of the table for support as my legs crumpled from the pain.

Stephen came running into the kitchen, eyes wide and face drained of all blood.

"Leigh, wh-"

"Hospital, now."

He guided me out of the apartment and into the car, ignoring almost every traffic light and stop sign.

Once there, he headed straight for the emergency room, where he explained the situation to a woman at the front desk. She immediately called for a wheelchair and I was wheeled into a room and transferred onto an uncomfortable hospital bed.

The walls were a dull white and the sheets were a muted blue. The curtains covering the window were a horrid sea green that didn't complement the room at all.

I was told to breathe in and out. My hand gripped tightly onto Stephen's hand, and I was sure his hand was numb, but he didn't say a word about it. He just squeezed right back.

Everything was a blur.

Things would calm down, and Stephen came in and out of the room to make phone calls. He called his parents and mine, who called John, who called Garrett. They didn't call the rest of the boys because the hospital wouldn't allow people who weren't family into the room. Garrett was allowed as the possible father of the baby.

The pain seemed unbearable. One minute, I would be talking just fine to John, and the next I would be in extreme pain that would last for about thirty seconds. The contractions were more or less twenty minutes apart each. As they became worse, the intervals grew shorter, and shorter.

Then it was time to push.

I thought the contractions were bad.

My eyes were closed the entire time, and I grabbed onto the nearest hand mine could find.

"Come on, Leigh, you can do it! Push, just a little more and he's outta there! Come on!"

All my energy went into getting my baby out of my stomach and into the real world. At that moment, I could care less about cheating ex-boyfriends and who this baby's father was. I wanted to see my baby and hold him in my arms.

With one final push, "He's out!" I heard cheering coming from John and sniffles from my mother.

I opened my eyes and looked up to see the pair of eyes I had been hoping to see.

My son was handed to me and I looked down to see eyes that matched the ones looking down at me proudly.

Deep, ocean-like blue eyes.

Garrett's eyes.

The baby belonged to Garrett.

"He's ours," Garrett whispered. "Leigh, that's our baby."

Tears came pouring out of my eyes, the sudden pang of emotion derived from exhaustion, happiness, and relief.

"What's his name, Ms. O'Callaghan?"

"Luke Ryan Nickelsen," I said with a raspy, weary voice.

From across the room, I could see Stephen's brown eyes filled with hurt and confusion.

I wanted to care.

I wanted to apologize.

I knew that he thought that I had lied to him.

I wanted to explain.

But all I cared about was our baby. Garrett's baby. My baby. Luke Ryan Nickelsen.

Garrett kissed my forehead, despite the fact that it was sweaty and disgusting. He couldn't have looked happier.

I felt exactly how he looked.


Everyone had momentarily left to get food while I stayed in the room. The doctor said I would have to stay in the hospital for another day or so to ensure that I was alright.

Luke was in the infirmary, sleeping. He was a beautiful child. His cheeks were a rosy pink, and his eyes were gorgeous, like his father's. His little fingers were the most adorable things I had ever seen, as were his tiny toes. I couldn't believe that he was mine to keep.

The door opened and I expected John to step through as he was usually always the first one back.

Instead, I found Stephen.

He sat down in the chair next to my bed and said nothing.

"I can explain."

He just looked at me. His expression had the same mixture of emotions I had seen in his eyes right after I announced Luke's name. Hurt, confusion, anger, betrayal.

"This whole time, I knew there was a possibility that the baby could've been Garrett's. For a while, I wanted him to be yours. I thought you were the better choice. But, Stephen, you just - you aren't. Not for me."

He tried to protest, but I kept talking. "I know you'll find the right girl someday. I know. And you'll treat her just as perfect as you treated me, maybe even better. You're a wonderful guy. But I don't love you. I wish I could say that I do - I have no reason not to. But you're just not the piece I need for my puzzle.

"You're like that piece that looks like it fits, and you shove it into the space. And it seems to fit, but there's something not right about it. And when you pull it out, it kinda gets stuck. And that's what happened with us.

"I don't want to hurt you - that's the last thing I want to do because you're the least deserving person of this. I'm sorry, Stephen. I'm sorry for leading you on, for lying to you, for pretending to love you, for everything."

I slipped the ring off my finger, opened up his clenched fist, and placed it inside his palm.

"Save it for someone who deserves your love."

He sniffled and wiped his finger under his eye, catching any tears that might have escaped.

"I can't believe this," he mumbled, "When did it happen?"

"It happened on the night you went to your family reunion. Garrett and I got really drunk and words were said, lips were kissed, and blah blah blah. Luke was conceived."

"But you chea-"

"I did not cheat on you because we weren't dating. Yet. You asked me to be your girlfriend the day after."

"When Garrett stayed with you while I was gone, did you..."

I sighed in remorse.

"As much as I regret that, I did. I'm sorry, Stephen. I never meant to be unfaithful. I did love you, at one point. Just know that. But-"

"Garrett's better for you."

"Yeah."

He nodded soberly and stood up, clutching the ring in his hand. He looked at me one last time, and he turned and left.

John came inside. I hadn't realized he had been standing by the door.

"You okay?"

He smiled softly at me and sat down.

"I gave him the ring back and told him everything."

"Good. He deserves at least that."

He took my hand and rubbed his thumb across it. "So they did a paternity test."

I smiled.

"Luke is Garrett's baby. But I don't know why they would need one, you can pretty much tell by Luke's eyes."

"That's how I knew when they gave him to me."

"I'm happy for you, baby sister. You and Gare will be great parents."

"You think so?"

"Yeah."

"You think mom and dad will let me move back in? I think I'm kicked out of the apartment..."

"You know, why don't you talk to them about that?"

The door opened right on cue, as if John knew right when they were coming.

"Leigh, how are you?" asked my mom as John slipped out of the room.

"Tired. But, I'm feeling great," I assured her with a smile.

"You did wonderful, by the way, just like I thought you would. So I'm assuming that John told you about the paternity test?"

"He did!"

"And did you tell Stephen," asked my father.

"I did."

"What happened?" my mom fretted, assuming I was heartbroken.

"I gave him the ring back and I told him that I loved someone else. He didn't take it very well, but it felt good to get it off my shoulders."

"Oh, honey."

"Um, can I move back in? I-"

"Of course, sweetheart!" my mom answered without even letting me explain.

"Ross and Shane miss you like hell, Leigh," said my dad.

The door opened and Garrett stepped in, with a huge smile.

"Hello, Mr. and Mrs. O'Callaghan. Can I talk to Leigh for a while?"

"Of course you can, darling. She's all yours!" The two stepped out, leaving me with Garrett.

"So did you hear about the paternity test?" he questioned excitedly.

"I did, my dear," I replied with a grin.

"Luke Ryan Nickelsen."

"I can't believe it."

"Stephen and I are dunzo."

He looked to my left hand and I lifted it up so he could see better.

"No more ring."

"So this means-"

"It means you can kiss me in public all you want."

The smile on his face looked like it hurt because it was so big.

And I was sure that my smile mirrored his.