Little Ones [A Vikklan, Poofless and Merome Fanfiction]

↞Chapter 18↠

Preston's P.O.V.

I suppose it might have been good fortune or perhaps fate that Liam began to wail in the next room when I was in the call with Rob. I hesitated when I went to get him, bringing him back onto camera swaddled in a blanket in my arms. The look on Rob's face was surprise, shock, disbelief and a little bit of sadness because he now knew the circumstances that came to his existence.

Cuddling Liam close I gently rocked him until he calmed down, letting out tiny whimpers so I could hear Rob. He still hadn't said much other than stuttering out his disbelief, eyes wide and face buried in his hands.

"Jesus Preston..." He breathed, rubbing his face. "I... god I just..."

"It's okay." I mumbled, continuing to rock Liam. "I know you can't really think of anything to say."

My heart was still numb from the death of my wife, I was still rocked and shaken and scared because I felt completely and utterly alone even though I had Liam right beside me. Rob sat in silence for another few minutes, unable to think of anything to say. There were already tears falling down my cheeks.

"I don't know what to do anymore." I breathed, closing my eyes. "I can barely take care of him, I can't take care of myself. I can't record and I can't edit and I just... I don't know what to do. I've considered giving him away, I- I-"

"Preston..." He interrupted, finally looking up. "Can you... can you bring Liam up here? I can't leave at the moment because of... something... but if you need company, if you need sometime away from home, then come up here. Come up here."

It took me a moment to digest his sentence and I blinked slowly, still struggling to understand why he couldn't come down here. I did want company, I really did, but I wasn't sure that I could just up and leave and fly to Canada with an infant because Rob couldn't make it down here.

"I- I don't know, I don't understand, why can't you come down here?" I stuttered, cuddling Liam close. "I can't just leave, not with an infant."

"I just- I just can't." He finally said, looking away. "I can't leave." There was some pit of annoyance, anger, deep in my chest, and it surprised me. Why couldn't he come down? My wife had just died, what was stopping him from coming down to Texas and helping me out, even just for a little bit. I caught myself though- I couldn't think like that.

Liam cried out a little bit and I turned my attention to him, rocking him gently. Rob was silent too, head still in his hands.

"Rob?" I finally asked, barely able to breathe out his name. He looked up.

"Just... I'm just trying to process this. Sorry I... Christ I don't even know." He mumbled. "Why did you never tell anyone? If not about Liam, then about Bri."

"Because I wasn't really.... there." I said. "I was more focused on Liam and trying to keep going. It never really crossed my mind. I was completely isolating myself cause I didn't want to talk to my family. They all went to the funeral."

Rob sat in silence for quite a while, eyes staring off blankly into the distance.

"I- I honestly don't know if this is the right time to say this but I... oh god, I don't know if I can do this..." He was breathing heavily, head in his hands.

"Rob?" My voice was high. "What are you talking about? What's going on?"

"Since you told me about Brianna I've told myself that I couldn't tell you about this... secret because it would only hurt you more after the struggle you've been through for so long before this..." He turned his eyes away. "Having a kid. You always wanted one, you had been planning to have one and so after I knew about Bri I just couldn't tell you. I had been planning to but...."

"Tell me about what Rob?" I said desperately. Liam squirmed in my arms.

"That I had a child as well. Four months and three days ago."

Time froze around me and it took quite a while for me to comprehend the words that Rob had spoken, squeezing Liam so tightly that he started to cry. I took a moment to comfort him before turning my face back to the screen where Rob was sitting with tears in his eyes, his breathing rough and laboured.

"That's why I haven't able to fly down to you. She was born with cerebral palsy and we've been visiting the hospital and doctors almost every day." He finally whispered. "I can't leave home with her because of that."

He turned and stood up, leaving me alone with Liam in my arms while I tried to comprehend exactly what he meant. He had had a child, only three days before Liam entered this world and Brianna left me, and he hadn't told me. There was some part of me that understood why he hadn't told me, mostly because of struggles with infertility and our desperation for wanting a child, but four months had passed. Why hadn't he told me? Then again I hadn't told him about Liam because of the numbness and the pain that came with talking about her. He returned a couple of minutes later with a bundle in his arm which he quickly revealed to be an infant, brown eyes open that looked just like Rob's, grinning toothlessly.

"This is Charlotte." He said.

The first thing I noticed was that she was clearly much smaller than Liam, maybe the size of a two and a half month old, perhaps a three month old. She looked so small.

"She's tiny..." I breathed, eyes wide. "Is she really the same age as Liam?"

"Three days older." He managed to smile but I could tell he was looking from Liam to his daughter, comparing them and their size. Like this it was evidently clear how far behind she was.

There was a pause as we kind of just watched each other, my eyes following Charlotte as she pushed a hand out of the swaddle and reached up for Rob. He smiled, leaning down to kiss her forehead. Liam was settled in my arms, eyes slipping closed.

"Rob..." I finally said. "I understand that you can't come down to Texas now but... can I come up to Canada?" He looked surprised.

"Of course you can!" He exclaimed. "I'd love to have you up here!"

And with that one question, it was sorted. I booked a flight, a single seat as Liam didn't need one, for the following week and almost immediately I started packing my bags. Even though it was quite a while out I couldn't wait until I got to go up there. Any hesitation I once had had gone right out the window and despite Liam still being at risk, being an infant, I just wanted to get away from here. I wanted to leave the house that Brianna had lived in. I wanted change, and I wanted Rob.

I wanted to be able to start anew.