Paper Hearts

𝔼𝕡𝕚𝕝𝕠𝕘𝕦𝕖

Epilogue

The night was completely silent, stars twinkling brightly above them. Crickets could be heard in the background while the occasional car zoomed past their street. Everything was calm and peaceful... Except—

"LEX! GET IN THE CAR, DAMMIT!"

Except in the Stephen-Anderson house. It was around 3AM. Not even thirty minutes earlier did Lex get the scare of his life. Nathan had barged into his room, rattling on and on about broken water and prepared bags. Lex was two seconds away from asking him if he'd gone a little crazy.

Water couldn't possibly break. Unless...

Lex had jumped up so fast he'd tripped over his blankets and bedsheets. He'd grabbed his phone, dialing the second number on speed dial, ushering Nathan out and rushing to get the bag filled with things for when the baby was to be born.

It had taken six calls before Fern picked up, but when he did—

"GET TO THE HOSPITAL NOW! TELL MATEO." And he had hung up immediately after.

Then, they were rushing to the nearest hospital by car, Lex holding Lexis' hand and helping her through breathing exercises as contractions racked through her body.

"Lord, I don't think I've ever seen Nathan so damn stressed." Lex muttered to himself, massaging Lexis' lower back to help relieve the pain. It worked, but only for a while before the pain got to be too much to bear.

Nathan continued to speed down different roads, occasionally taking a glance at Lexis through the rearview mirror.

"W-we're almost there."

Lex gave him a look, one that told him to focus on the road or he'd stress himself and everyone else around him. They couldn't get into an accident now. Or ever. 

His phone rang, but he ignored it, having to shush and soothe Lexis through more frequent contractions. He kissed her head, rubbing her back and muttering little phrases to distract her.

"You're so strong."

"You bet I am. If– oh shit." She gripped onto his right hand tighter, lowering her head and speaking through gritted teeth. "If you or Nathan did this, both of you would be choking on snot and tears right about now."

Lex made a displeased face. "Right."

Lexis made a show of kicking a foot behind Nathan's seat. "Drive faster. I don't think you want blood and pregnancy juice on your seats."

After that threat, they were at the hospital in no time, Lexis being rushed to an available room as quickly as possible, Nathan trailing behind them while Lex was forced to wait outside her room.

Honestly, he was glad he didn't have to be in the room too. He didn't want to see how popping a baby out looked like. Grimacing at the thought, he proceeded to pace around the waiting area, a hand on his hip while the other gripped his phone tightly against his ear as he called Sam.

"Do you want something to munch on?"

Lex shook his head. "I'm not five, but thanks Mateo." Mateo patted his shoulder, standing up from the crouch he'd been in so he could get Fern the juice he asked for.