Pictures of You

Born to Raise Hell

Arriving home, having sped the whole way there, Eddie threw the front door open, looking around the trailer wildly. "Aileen, sweetheart?" Not seeing her in the living room, he rushed over to their room, panicking. When she wasn't there, he called her name out again, his voice going up an octave. "I'm in here, Eddie." Leaving their room, Eddie went to the only other room in the trailer. Throwing the door open, he sighed in relief. Aileen was in the nursery, sitting in the rocking chair her boss had gotten her. Smiling at him timidly, Aileen greeted him. "Hey." Going over to her side, Eddie got down on his knees, taking her hand in his. While he was in full blown panic mode, he noticed that she seemed oddly calm. How could she seem so calm in a moment like this? The whole drive home, his mind had been racing, the reality of the situation before them weighing on him. She was about to have their daughter. In a short matter of time, they were going to be parents. He was excited, there was no question about that, but at the same time, he wasn't sure he was ready. This was going to be major change in their life, one that, yes, they had had time to prepare for. But, he wondered if he would ever be ready. And with that, the nagging doubt in the back of his mind had resurfaced. What if he turned out to not be a good father? What if he failed his daughter the same way his and Aileens fathers had failed them? How could he possibly protect his daughter from all the horrors of the world?

Shaking his head, trying to clear his mind of those intrusive thoughts, Eddie took a deep breath, trying to keep his calm for Aileens sake, he gazed into her eyes, asking her, "Are you okay? God, we...we should probably go to the hospital right? What about your mom and Wayne? Do I need to call them? And...your bag? We have everything we need for that, right?" Aileen chuckled, wincing a little as a small contraction hit her. "Eddie, you need to calm down. I'm doing okay. And I've already called them, they're going to meet us at the hospital. The bag is by the door, everything is set. I just...wanted to take a moment." Looking around the nursery, Aileen smiled. They hadn't done a whole lot with the space, but it was perfect for their little girl. Thinking back to when they had gone shopping, Aileen couldn't help but remember how amusing it had been shopping for everything. They had argued over what to get, Aileen wanting to do the nursery in a floral theme, Eddie wanting to do something more fantasy involved. She had won in the end, but looking around the nursery, Aileen found amusement in the fact that she had conceded in letting him hang a Metallica poster on the walls. She remembered that conversation as though it had just happened.

Entering the nursery, returning home from her baby shower with bags of gifts from her friends and coworkers, Aileen was happy to see Eddie had built the crib and had it set in the room. Gazing around the room, looking at the picture of her and Eddie hanging in there, to a cross stitch of peonies and sunflowers that Molly had done for the baby, Aileens eyes paused on a piece that hadn't been on the wall when she had left that morning. It was a poster, one where the four members of Metallica were posed with each other. Quirking her brow at the poster, Aileen heard Eddie enter the room. "Oh, hey. You're home. How was the shower?" Turning to him, setting the bags in her hands on the ground, Aileen crossed her hands over her chest. "It was fun. My boss's husband is going to drop off a rocking chair later. What is that?" Looking at the poster his wife pointed at, Eddie smiled. "Oh, yeah. Found that at a thrift store. It's from '86. It's in great condition. Had to get it." Looking at the poster, tilting her head, Aileen inquired further, "What I mean is...why is it in here?" Eddie figured she might not like having the poster in the babies room. But, he didn't care. "Come on, Princess. We went with the flowers you wanted. I just wanted a bit of me in here too, you know. It's not like I put an Iron Maiden poster up. Eddie would be way too intense for the room."  Laughing, Aileen shook her head. She might have actually had to kill him if he had chosen an Iron Maiden poster for the room. Observing the four members of Metallica, Aileen sighed in relief the none of them were flipping the camera off, and there was nothing obscene on the poster either. "Alright, fine. We can keep it up. But, please, do NOT get an Iron Maiden poster. Next time you go, see if they have a Talking Heads poster, okay?"