Until The End of Time: The Prequel

11. Unconditional Love for a Stranger

Thaddeus

I yawned and stretched as the light invaded my eyelids. I looked next to me and Olive was asleep with her lip poked out. I smiled and kissed her neck as I rolled out of the bed to take a shower.

She's been acting so differently lately and I don't know if it's something I did or said. Hazel told me that she's just tired from prom shopping, but my gut is telling me that it's something else. Then again, I'm a man and I'm clueless about women.

As soon I stepped out of the shower and put my clothes on, the doorbell rung. Olive was still asleep and Hazel was with Kyan, so I jogged down the stairs. When I swung the door open, nobody was there.

"Idiots." I mumbled and looked down at my feet to shield my eyes from the sun.

When I looked down, I looked into the face of an adorable baby girl. She had a piece of paper taped to her shirt that said "Olive, meet Cheyenne." The diaper bag and a huge box sat right next to it.

The baby may have been cute, but I was in complete shock. Who left this baby and why did they choose Olive? How did they know Olive?

The baby started to fuss and kick her feet. "Okay, Okay." I cooed and brought the box and diaper bag inside, before picking the baby up out of the car seat. She immediately settled down as I rocked her in my arms. She even giggled a little.

I looked in her diaper bag and got some formula out to make her a bottle.

I had a baby brother once. I took care of him a lot while my parents made the money, but he died when he was one. The doctors didn't know what type of sickness he had, but it was unfortunately too much for him to handle. I promised myself that I would never let anything happen to that little boy, but I let him and my parents down.

After he died, I ran away. I haven't talked to my parents since then and I can't. I'm a disappointment to them and they probably hate me.

"Thad! Who's baby is that?" Olive exclaimed out of nowhere.

"Shh. She's going to sleep." I replied rocking her in my arms. She tiptoed over to me and sat down. "Somebody left her on your doorstep." I handed her the paper.

"Cheyenne." She whispered, playing with the name on her tongue. She flipped the paper in her hands. "I know you'll take good care of her, MD."

"Who's MD?" I asked looking down at Cheyenne with the pacifier in her mouth.

"I don't know." She whispered back.

"You okay? You look a little pale." I asked and she nodded.

"We can't keep her."

"Why not?" I looked at her after putting Cheyenne in her car seat.

"I'm not ready for kids." She shot back.

"So, if you were having my baby, you wouldn't keep it?" I accused and she sighed.

"Of course I would."

"We should keep her." I crossed my arms.

"We're here!" Hazel barged in and I quickly shushed her and looked back at Cheyenne in her seat. Her little fist were balled up and she poked her lips out as she slept.

"Who's kid? She's a cutie." Kyan asked bending down to look at her closely. He gently caressed her brown mess of curls.

"Apparently somebody left this baby on our doorstep." Olive sighed.

"I wanna keep her, Olive doesn't." I argued immediately.

"Why don't you?" Hazel asked her.

"This is a random baby somebody just left there. I don't know the first thing about kids and I'm not ready to have one!" She yelled, making the baby scream at the top of her lungs.

"I'll keep her." Kyan joked as he took her out of her seat. "Did the scary lady wake you up? Yes she did." He said to Cheyenne in a baby voice as he stuck her pacifier back in her mouth. Hazel giggled at him as they set down on the couch.

"You don't have to take care of her. I will." I shrugged.

It didn't really bother me that she didn't want to keep her, because I was going to keep her whether she wanted me to or not. Somebody that knows her obviously wanted her to take care of this baby and if she won't I will.

"She's four months old." Hazel said looking at another piece of paper. Her birthday is June 21st."

"What do you wanna do, Olive?" I asked impatiently as Cheyenne giggled from behind me.

"Let me see her." Olive replied and walked over to Kyan. He handed over the baby and she looked it.

"She reminds me of someone, but I don't know who." Hazel said and Olive nodded.

"I know right. I feel like I've seen her before. Anyway, we can keep her." Olive said hugging her.

"I'll take care of you and her." I promised and kissed her forehead.

"Looks like you don't need much to do it." Kyan said looking in the box.

I walked over and looked in the box. There was clothes, shoes, money, toys, baby formula, baby food, diapers, pacifiers and anything else you could think of in the box.

"Well, me and Kyan are having a baby, so you guys can move the baby upstairs in my room, move into the guest room upstairs, and turn your old room into the guest room." Hazel suggested. "I think I said that right." She giggled.

"Wait, yall having a what?" I said abruptly as a smile attacked my lips.

"It was an accident, but I'm happy." Kyan laughed and kissed Hazel.

"Bihhh," Olive said, trying to sound like Plies on Instagram. "Tattoo and a baby? Bihhhh."

Hazel laughed. "Shut up."

Deep down inside, I was jealous. I wanted a baby that would look just like me. I wanted my own kids with Olive, but Cheyenne was good enough. I immediately loved her the first time I held her, mostly because she reminded me of my little brother. I was jealous, but I was blessed at the same time. Maybe one day, Olive would be ready to have our own kids.