Skinny Love

“You’ve got to be fucking with me right now.”

“Jess,” Zayn moved closer to his wife.

“Don’t touch me.” The tears in her eyes were more than evident. “Why does this always happen to us?”

“Babe, this is our last tour ever! What was I supposed to do?”

“Could you not even negotiate the date? I have two fucking infants inside of me that YOU helped make. They should be your first priority.”

“But, babe,” he started. “Some things are just out of my hands.”

“Why is that always the excuse? It’s always the problem, Malik! It’s about fucking time that you fixed it.”

She didn’t care that the whole building could probably hear them and issues, but this wasn’t like a problem like it used to be a couple years ago. This was an issue with two more people involved. If it was only those two, she would hop on a plane and figure out a way to be with her husband. However, with two babies to care for, it just wasn’t that simple. Zayn had to be a man and stand up for his family. It was time that he realized that she wasn’t just his girlfriend to string along with his every action. She was his wife and the mother of his children.

“Stop saying that to me! I am a goddamn man! I can make my own fucking decisions.”

“Then fucking do it, Malik!”

He got really close to her face with red flushing his cheeks, “It’s not that simple, Jessica!”

His voice erupted through her ears and fear struck her face.

His features softened as he saw tears spring on the rim of he eyes. She looked down and he felt the guilt. “Baby, I didn’t mean to yell at you. I just…”

She was dead silent as he spoke.

“I think my water just broke.” She spoke so softly, the shock on her face was crystal clear.

“I know that I should talk to… Wait babe. What?”

She felt the liquid running through her opaque tights and just nodded.

“My water broke.”

Zayn shook his head.

“We still have two more months, babe. How is that possible?”

She looked up at him for the first time in what felt like an eternity. The new information hit him like a ton of bricks.

“Babe, let’s get you to the hospital.”

He lifted her bridal style and carried her out of the studio. His work could wait. It hit him with a true realization: he was about to become a father.

She didn’t speak the entire car ride. She held Zayn’s hand as he drove and listened to him sing. She needed to feel the babies move and know they were okay. She craved their frequent motion. She needed to know that they were alive. She was a stone on the outside, but she had a plethora of emotions running inside of her. Every so often, Zayn would look her way and see what he could read off of her. His most accurate reading was fear.

“It’ll be okay.”

“How do you know that, Zayn?” She made no eye contact with him. She held his hand and placed the other on her stomach as she looked forward.

“In the end, everything will be okay. If it’s not okay, it’s not the end.”

“I love you, Malik.”

They pulled up to the hospital and the nurses whisked her away.

The secretary called the hospital as they left the studio. Jessica had no idea of the immensity of the situation until she saw the nurses faces. She looked up at all of them as they had sweat across their brow and a serious nature of stress as their looks intensified.

“How often have they been moving since the incident, Mrs. Malik?”

The way that they called it the “incident” made her almost cry out with heart ache.

“The moved in the car, when Zayn sang.”

The nurse following with the manilla folder spoke and wrote, “Responsive. Can you sing again to see if they’re still responsive.”

Zayn nodded, catching on to the situation. He crouched down to her wheelchair as they stopped in her private room. He leveled with her pertruding stomach and sang, because their lives depended on it.

Your hand fits in mine like it’s made just for me

But bear this in mind, it was meant to be

And I’m joining up the dots with the freckles on your cheeks

And it all makes sense to me

I won’t let these little things slip out of my mouth

But if I do, it’s you, oh it’s you, they add up to

I’m in love with you

Tears streamed down her faces as she shook her head. Zayn looked up at the woman with the manila folder as she crossed out words.They knew what she was writing.

Unresponsive.

“What does that mean?” Zayn asked frantically. Standing next to the woman, he saw Jessie removing her clothes as asked by the other nurses.

“The amniotic fluid keeps the placenta live and well. They’re a little too young to survive without the placenta. They’ve just gotten to the stages of learning how to practice breathing, but they can’t breathe on their own. We’re prepping the O.R. now. We’ve got to get those babies out, now and on breathing machines, sir. If we don’t she’s at risk for still born births and infection. Either way, your children are at the biggest risk.”

He saw Jessica in the corner of his getting prepped with drugs. He wasn’t expecting to meet his children like this. Jessica looked emotionless and worried.

He had to get changed into scrubs for her impromptu surgery. He grabbed her hand as they wheeled her into the operating room.

“Zayn, this can’t be the end,” she cried. “Nothing is okay.”

He’d never seen her cry the way that she did. The tears flowed freely down her face and his joined. There was no way that he could truly comfort her in that situation. They were at risk of losing their babies. All of the boys were in the waiting room, patiently awaiting a response. Harry went to the studio right when they left and saw the scattered papers. He asked the receptionist and she informed him on the situation. He alerted the boys and they were all there; waiting for the sweet sound of new life.

Jessica didn’t feel any motion as they cut her open on the table. She felt the pressure of the tugging, but absolutely no motion from the baby. She had no idea what to expect. The first one they pulled out was little Landon and he was motionless and silent. Next was Isabella, the room was cascaded with her cry. She’d never been more thankful to hear a child’s cry.

It was Landon that they waited for.

Zayn prayed and prayed as they tended to them both. They hooked Isabella onto a breathing machine and focused on Landon as they whisked their little girl away. Jessica cried, thinking it was the end for their little boy. Zayn went over to him, he had to see his little boy on his own. He needed to see what he looked like, what of his he got. Even if it was the last time that he would see him. The nurses had no hope left and stepped aside for Zayn. He looked at his little boy, he was only 3 pounds 14 ounces. He tickled his little cheek and saw his little head of black hair. He cried at the very thought of what he could be. He was his son and he placed his finger into he palm of his little boys’ hand.

“I’ll love you no matter what happens, Landon.”

He sang Jessica’s favorite Spanish lullaby to him. He closed his eyes as he sang. He continued and the room silenced at his voice. He opened his eyes as he felt to smallest touch against his finger. He touched his boys chest and sang a little louder. He stroked his chest as he felt the heat rise in his son’s body.

It was silent, until they heard a little boy’s cry.