Liv: The Finale

I have so many feelings about this final post and wrapping up this blog.  It's been 19 months, over 300 posts, and so many different characters' stories.  Can you even believe it?  I can't.  I can't thank you guys enough for all your feedback, kind comments, emails, and loyalty.  You all kick so much ass.  To take the some of the sting out of the very end of Liv's (and Lauren's and Kinsley's, of course!) story, I'll be posting a bonus over on In All the Wrong Places tomorrow.   Thanks for taking this crazy ride with me!
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5(ish) YEARS LATER...

I cocked my hip out to rest Celia on so I could free one hand to knock on Kinsley and Damien's door.  At almost 3 years old (and built like Brody, not me) she was getting too big for me to carry for too long, but she'd just gotten up from a nap and was too groggy (and crabby) to walk.  That changed when Damien answered the door with a tiny baby in his arms.  Celia immediately lifted her head from where it had been nestled on my shoulder.  "Mommy, a baby," she whispered loudly to me.

I laughed and Damien grinned.  "Yes, sweetheart," I told her.  "Remember I told you we were coming to help a friend with her baby today?"  She shook her head, her dark curls brushing my jaw as she did.  

"Hi," I said to Damien, turning my attention to him and the baby as I stepped inside.  Once inside, I put Celia down and she stood patiently next to me, occasionally rising onto her tip toes to peer up at the small bundle Damien was holding.

"Hi, thanks for coming over," he replied, leading me and Celia into the living room.  

"Kinsy!" Celia yelped, seeing Kinsley on the couch.  I tried to shush her but she was already bouncing loudly over to Kinsley.

"Sorry," I apologized.  "Babysitter fell through and Brody's down helping his mom with something today."

"Don't be," Kinsley said, wrapping an arm around Celia and hugging her.  Celia tolerated it for about 3 seconds before she wriggled away.

She came back over to me and tugged my shirt.  "Mommy, wanna hold the baby."  

"Let's hold him together, Cee," I suggested.  She seemed satisfied with that and waited patiently until I got settled in an armchair next to the couch.  I lifted her into my lap, and once she was settled, Damien carefully placed Nicholas in our arms.  I supported his head while Damien helped Celia get her little arms in the right place.  

"Tank you Mr. Damien," Celia said, once we were settled.  She stumbled over his name, and I tried not to laugh at how adorable it was.  She had started calling him Mr. Damien months ago, and none of us had any idea why.  Toddlers.

"Good manners, Celia," I praised her.  

Nicholas's face squished up and then relaxed again, and I gazed down at him.  He was a little over 2 weeks old and definitely still a floppy, squishy, adorable newborn.  I smiled as I watched his lips work in his sleep.  

From the couch, Kinsley laughed softly.  "What?" I asked, looking over at her.  She looked far better than she deserved to just two weeks after giving birth to Nicholas.  

"You want another one, don't you?" she asked.  "I see how you're looking at him.  Don't get any ideas, I worked hard for this one."  And she had.  Kinsley's pregnancy and birth experiences had been the exact opposite as mine.  She'd been sick through the whole pregnancy, and blood pressure issues had landed her on bed rest at 32 weeks.  But once she went into labor, it went fast and without issues and she went from her water breaking to delivering him in less than 3 hours.  

"I do want another one," I admitted, being sure to keep my voice down to not wake the baby.  Celia was staring at him, absolutely entranced.  "Not yet, though.  Maybe once this one starts school."

"Who, me?" Celia asked, suddenly aware of the conversation around her.  

"Yes, you," I told her.  She craned her neck around to look at me and wrinkled her nose.  I laughed.

"Well," Kinsley said, stifling a yawn.  "That's great for you, but I'm never doing this again.  So I sure hope Damien is cool with Nick being an only child."

We both looked at Damien, who didn't miss a beat when he said, "I think I'm going to go run those errands now."  Kinsley smirked as he leaned down to kiss her forehead.  

Celia was starting to get antsy, so I shifted the sleeping baby so she could climb off my lap.  She immediately started hunting for Mowgli, Damien and Kinsley's big tiger-striped cat.  "Mooowgoli," she called softly.  "Kitty kitty!"  

"Mowgli heard you coming from a mile away, kid," Kinsley said under her breath.  "You'll never find him."  I laughed, surprising Nicholas.  His eyes flew open and he made a brief, unhappy sound before falling back to sleep.

"Liv, can I shower while you're here?" Kinsley asked.  "It's been....well, a few days.  Let's just leave it at that."

"Of course," I told her.  "Take a bath if you want.  And a nap.  Just let me run out to the car and grab the things I brought to entertain Celia.  I'm here all afternoon, whether you like it or not.  Take advantage of it."

"You're the most beautiful woman in the world," Kinsley said dramatically.  "Seriously, thank you."  

I handed the baby over to her and ran out to the car to get the stuff I'd brought for Celia.  When I came back in, Kinsley had Nicholas down in the Pack 'n Play in the living room.  He was still sleeping away.  She showed me where to find bottles, formula, and diapers, then disappeared upstairs.  

While Kinsley took a bath and napped, I washed their dishes, sorted the laundry in the laundry room and started a load, cleaned the half bathroom on the main level, swept and mopped the kitchen and living room, dusted, and straightened up.  Celia knelt in front of the coffee table and colored, then helped me dust.  I paused in the middle to feed and soothe an unhappy Nicholas.  He was awake now, and after I changed him I laid him down on his playmat where he could see me and talked to him while I folded clothes.  Celia sat on the floor next to him and entertained him for awhile too.

I was in the middle of folding the second load of laundry when Damien came home with groceries.  He looked around and said, "Kinsley is never going to let you leave."  I had Celia pairing socks as I folded shirts and pants.  "Also, if you can come back when Nicholas is two and teach us to how to get him to help with chores, that would be great."

"She loves it," I said with a shrug, watching her lean over the edge of the laundry basket, happily searching for socks.  "I'm sure it won't last forever, though."  

Damien put the groceries away and then came back into the living room.  "You've been busy, Liv.  Thank you.  I can take care of the rest."

"Don't be ridiculous," I told him.  "I came to help.  Kinsley is upstairs napping.  You could do the same.  Or if you have something else you've been wanting to get done, go for it.  Celia and I have everything under control.  And Lauren had mentioned maybe stopping by this afternoon, so you might as well relax now."

"Oh, that's right!" Damien exclaimed.  "She asked me to make some room in the freezer.  I guess she's bringing some food.  So I'll do that, and then I think I might take you up on that nap."  Before going downstairs to the freezer, he crouched down next to Nicholas and talked to him for a minute.  Then he leaned down and kissed him lightly on the head and headed down to clear some room in the freezer.

"Mommmmmmy," Celia whined, flopping onto the floor on her back.  "Wanna go outside!"

"Maybe when Lauren gets here we can go outside for a few minutes," I told her.  She continued to whine and I calmly paused my folding, took more paper and crayons out of the bag I had brought, and said, "Celia, come draw me a pretty picture."  She stopped whining and seemed to consider this, then rolled onto her side, sat up, and scurried over to the coffee table.  She happily talked to me about what she was drawing while I folded laundry with one eye on her picture and one eye on the baby.

I was just finishing up folding when Lauren knocked and then let herself in.  "Look at you," she said teasingly.  "A regular Suzy Homemaker.  Are you practicing for number 2?"

I rolled my eyes at her.  "The questions never stop.  Never ever.  First it's 'when are you getting married?'  Then it's 'when are you having a baby?'  Then it's 'when are you going to give your baby a sibling?'"

Lauren smirked and replied, "At least you won't hear, 'are you guys ever going to get married?' forever and ever."

"Well," I said, grinning at her, "are you?"

"You're the worst," she said.

"Not nice!" Celia piped up, seeming to just realize that Lauren was there.  She looked surprised as she looked up from her picture.

"You're right.  Sorry, Cee," Lauren apologized as I smirked.

Celia frowned.  "Say sorry to mommy," she demanded.

"Celia, it's okay," I told her.  "And please use your manners."

Celia narrowed her eyes briefly in a shockingly good side-eye at Lauren, then turned to her and said, "Say sorry to mommy, please."  I bit my lip to keep from laughing, and looked at Lauren expectantly.

Lauren threw her hands up and said, "Sorry, Liv."

"Apology accepted," I replied, grinning.  Celia smiled and clapped, then went back to her picture.

"That kid, man," Lauren said softly.  "You're going to have your hands full."

"I don't know if it would be better for her to be like me or Brody," I admitted.  "So far she's an awful lot like me, though.  It's only slightly terrifying."

"I'll stick to 'raising' my child-like employees," Lauren said.  Lauren hadn't been unemployed for long, landing a great job at a small, newer company a couple months after she quit.  When the investigation at her former employer turned into a huge scandal that included a class action lawsuit against the company, she had actively avoided any part of it, and soon after got the new job.  She had been there since, and was now a mid-level supervisor.

I paused as Damien came up the stairs and greeted Lauren.  He chatted for a little while, and I watched Celia get up from her seat at the coffee table, go over by Nicholas, who was sleeping again, and curl up on the floor.  "Want a pillow, Cee?" I asked her.

"I not sleeping, mommy," she informed me firmly.

"Oh," I replied.  I grabbed a small throw pillow from the couch and Damien handed me a blanket and I set them down next to her.  "Well, in case you want to get more comfortable."  She ignored the blanket and pillow until I lifted the sleeping baby from the floor and went back to sit on the couch, then she yanked the blanket over her legs and nestled her head on the pillow.  She was out cold by the time Damien headed upstairs to nap.

Lauren took the freezer crock pot meals she'd prepared downstairs and put them in the freezer, then came back up.  "Want to hold him?" I asked her, already knowing what she'd say.

"No way," she responded.  "I'd probably break him."  She did touch his soft, fine dark hair and smile, but that was the extent of her attention to the baby.

"Have you guys talked to Alex's parents yet?" I asked.  Lauren had worked hard to try to form relationships with Alex's parents, but at Christmas they'd apparently had a huge blowout over Alex and Lauren's choice to not get married.

She groaned.  "No, I haven't.  Alex has a couple times, but he said they've just pretended that it didn't happen and they ignore my existence unless Alex brings me up directly.  If they think we're going to get married just to please them, they've got another thing coming."

Cautiously, I asked, "What does Alex think of it all?"

"He's pretty mad at them.  He's really embraced this whole not getting married thing, and it's almost like his parents pushing back has convinced him even more.  He's so oppositional sometimes."

Lauren and I talked quietly on the couch until Kinsley came down, looking clean and groggy.  "That was the best and worst nap I've ever taken," she declared, reaching for Nicholas.  I handed him over.  "Best because that was probably the longest I've slept at once in 3 months, and worst because I woke up."

"If you hadn't woken up, you'd be dead," Lauren pointed out helpfully.

Kinsley rolled her eyes and eyed up Celia on the floor.  "I wish I could sleep anywhere like a kid," she said wistfully.

"One day, shortly after going back to work at the end of my maternity leave, I actually did just shut my door and take a nap in the armchair in my office," I said.

"Oh good, I have so much to look forward to," Kinsley said, laughing.  "Except I don't have an armchair in my office, so I guess I'm going to have to practice napping under desks."

"I have a couple employees that could probably give you tips on that," Lauren offered.

It was nice to have some time to catch up with Lauren and Kinsley.  We were all so busy now that it was hard to find time to do the things we used to do. After waking up from her impromptu nap, Celia was stuck to me like glue and whiny, so I said my goodbyes and headed out with her.

I wasn't expecting Brody to be home from helping his mom yet, but his SUV was in the garage when I pulled in.  I got a cranky Celia out of her carseat, grabbed the rest of my stuff, and banged on the garage door with my elbow because my hands were full.  Luckily, Brody opened the door for me just seconds later.

He kissed my forehead and took some things out of my hands.  When he leaned in, Celia grabbed a fistful of his shirt and whined, "Daaaaddddyyyyy."

"Hi, honey," he said, kissing her head.  "I missed you and your mommy today."  He gave me a questioning look.

"I think she's getting sick," I guessed.  "At Kinsley's house she laid down on the floor and just fell asleep for almost an hour."  I pressed my cheek to her forehead briefly but she didn't feel hot. Brody set down the stuff he'd taken from me and I handed off Celia to him.  My heart melted a little when she cuddled happily against his chest.

I put away the stuff I'd brought to entertain her today and then peeked in on them.  Brody had her in his lap on the couch, and he was reading her a story.  I smiled to myself as he did voices for the different characters and she giggled.

I stood and watched them for several minutes until Brody looked back at me and motioned me over to the couch with a smile and a tip of his head.  I took just a few seconds more to observe and appreciate the two people that I loved most in the world, then finally went into the living room to join them.