#samandcolbyfanfics

[britswriting]

Do people still want Katrina in fics?? Like if I post blurbs... are we still using her? or are we switching to Katelyn now or what? People want part 3 of a series I did awhile ago, [the pregnancy roulette] but Katrina is a part of it, and idk if we're still doing that or ? lol help

#samandcolby #samgolbach #colbybrock #samandcolbyfanfics #samandcolbyblurbs #colbybrockoneshot #colbybrockblub #samgolbachblurb #samgolbachoneshot #helpmeidkwhattodolmao

[britswriting]

Devotion (16)

Devotion Masterlist

Read on Wattpad

*Colby's POV*

"How about Hope?" I suggested, Leighton and I bouncing baby names off of each other for the past hour.

"Hope Brock sounds horrible" Leighton once again disagreed.

"But if you tossed a middle name into there? It would split it up" I reminded her, Leighton rolling her eyes.

"No one is going to call her Hope middle name Brock her entire life. How often do we use G's middle name?" She asked, my mouth staying shut, "Exactly. I don't like Hope. What about..... Jolina?" She suggested, my nose wrinkling as I shook my head, "Mackenzie?" 

"Mackenzie Brock? No. What were some baby names you had for Gemma?" I asked, Leighton scrolling through her phone.

"I don't fucking remember. That was like five years ago and I'm pretty sure I was dating my ex"

"Oh the dark ages, huh?" I joked, Leighton flipping me off.

"Heather? No... Faith? No... Oh! Courtney-"

"No" I cut her off, Leighton's jaw dropping.

"Why not?"

"I'm a social media influencer. I refuse for the world to find out my baby has the same name as a Kardashian" I stated, leaving no room for argument, only to hear Leighton laugh.

I glanced back over to her, seeing she was still scrolling.

"Anna? No. I like longer names" She mumbled to herself, "Ophelia? Ophelia Brock?" Leighton checked in, my head shaking. "Why not?"

"Sounds weird with Gemma"

"They don't have to match, Colby"

"Oh. So you're going to introduce our kids to your friends as Gemma and Ophelia?"

"Why not?"

"I don't like it"

"Okay, well you could've just said that instead of throwing a fit about them not matching"

"I didn't throw a fit" I huffed, Leighton ignoring me as she listed another name.

"Selena?"

"As in Gomez?"

"Not exactly" 

I shook my head, Leighton groaning, "We're getting nowhere"

"Well stop picking shitty names"

"They're not shitty!" 

"They're pretty shitty, babe" I chuckled, Leighton taking a deep breath through her nose. 

"How about Olivia?"

"Olivia Brock? Eh"

"Oh my god! Colby, this child is going to be nameless!"

"Leighton, I'm sure we'll figure it out. What if you looked at unisex names?"

"Dillion"

"No"

"Why not?"

"Dillion Brock? Do you want her to get bullied?"

"Whatever. We could always do with a Y. Dylan, with a Y?"

"Still no"

"God you're impossible"

"I'm impossible?" I chuckled, Leighton nodding. "I'm not the one suggesting shitty names like Dylan"

"Dylan isn't a shitty name" She argued back, my lips staying sealed as I slowed the car at the intersection, awaiting the greenlight. "Parker?"

"Parker's cute" 

"Gemma and Parker" Leighton tested out, "Is Parker too boyish next to Gemma's name?" Leighton pondered aloud.

"I don't think so?"

"It doesn't give you little brother vibes? Compared to little sister vibes?"

"Well clearly you think so, so move on"

"But we like Parker?"

"I think Parker is cute, but you clearly have an issue with it. We can leave it on the table, but list another name" 

"Hm... Zoe? Zoe Brock?"

"No"

"Why not?"

"Gemma and Zoe?" I questioned, catching a frown on Leighton's face.

"Yeah, what about it? It sounds cute"

"Zoe. Zoe. Zoe Brock. Gemma and Zoe. This is my daughter, Zoe" I tested out, Leighton giggling. "I mean, it's better than Dylan"

"Oh my god! Get over the Dylan thing!" Leighton laughed, a slight whine to her voice. "So we're keeping Zoe?"

"Sure"

"Okay.... how about Riley? Riley is cute"

"Riley Brock" I tested, "Riley? Riley and Gemma?" I questioned, Leighton nodding. "I mean, it's alright. I'm not in love with it or anything"

"You see what I mean? Naming a baby is so hard! What about Cameron?"

"Cameron Brock? No. I don't like the C, B, sound"

"You're so weird" She chuckled.

"It sounds weird" I defended myself, Leighton giggling to herself.

"So does that mean all C names are out of question?" 

"Probably"

"But what if we really like a C name?"

"Then we'll add it to the list"

"God, this is annoying" she grumbled.

Leighton and I spent most of our trip debating different names, marking down ones we liked to circle back too.

"I'm getting so much Deja vu. It feels so weird to be back" Leighton noted, our car right behind Logan and Cynthia's as we pulled up to the all too familiar Airbnb. "I still can't believe I hung out with your YouTuber friends and participated in your dumb videos when I was pregnant. I really was trying to befriend your ass" 

"We should watch those videos again" I chuckled, turning off the car, seeing Logan step out of his car and start to greet us as Leighton collected her things, struggling to grasp her giant ass water bottle she got when we stopped at a Gas Station for her to pee.

"Hey! You have the keys right?" He asked as I opened the car door, stepping out and digging the correct key out of my pocket, passing it to him.

"Can you grab my stuff? I need to pee like no tomorrow" Leighton begged and I nodded, watching her awkwardly run to her brother who was unlocking the place.

The sound of tires against the rocky terrain got me to turn around, Sam and Kat coming into view as I popped open the trunk, grabbing the two suitcases.

"I can't believe we're back!" Sam yelled out his window, putting the car into park.

"I know! Leighton and I were just talking about that! I feel like this is where it all started" I spoke in astonishment, turning to look at the unreal castle behind us.

"I was telling Kat that I feel like we have to film here. Even if it's just for ourselves, to have that like.. memory comparison, ya know?"

"Oh my god!" I laughed, "Leighton was just talking about how she can't believe she filmed our dumb videos with us"

"Hey! They weren't dumb! If I recall, she fucking won that hide and seek game" He laughed, stepping out of the car to pull me into a hug.

Sam, Kat and I met Logan, Cynthia and Leighton in the Airbnb, April and Kevin sadly weren't able to get the time off to join us.

"I'll fight you to the master, I swear to god Colby!" Kat warned, slipping her shoes off and racing me up the stairs.

She ran straight down the hall, my quickened steps right behind her, only to abruptly stop, seeing Leighton laying in her little hobbit hole.

"Hey" I panted, my heart attempting to beat right out of my chest from racing up the stairs, "What are you doing? I thought we were getting the master?" I questioned, leaning against the door frame as I attempted to catch my breath.

"Just wanted to sit here again. I uh, it uh.. feels surreal. Last time I was here, I was pregnant with Gemma, and now I'm pregnant with our own little one" I smiled softly, her hand rubbing against the fabric of her shirt, caressing the bump. "I remember sitting here, journaling about hanging out with you guys and what I thought life was going to be like" She spoke softly, her hand running across the blue patched quilt, "This feels like a dream, and not a like.. I really wanted to come here and can't believe it's happening dream, but a like....... time warp back to five years ago"

"I know what you mean. I remember sitting right here, and you declaring I had a foot fetish" I chuckled, standing at the end of the bed. 

"The verdicts still out on that one Brock" She giggled, shifting to lay down on the bed, my hand reaching out for her foot, dragging her down to me, my body leaning forward to rest the palms of my hands on either side of her. "I don't remember last time being this intimate" She spoke softly, pulling a boyish like grin out from me.

"I don't remember last time you having a ring on your finger vowing to be mine forever, and your womb to be carrying our love child" I let my nose brush against hers, Leighton's nose wrinkling.

"Did you have to say womb and love child?"

"Mhm" I hummed into her neck, Leighton shivering from the sensation.

"The last time I had sex here, it was with Ariya" 

"We're not talking about that" I grumbled, hating the idea of her sleeping with one of my friends.

"Someone's jealous" She hummed, her hands moving underneath my shirt, her nails teasing the skin on my back.

"As I should be" I scoffed, "You're mine, and you let someone else have you"

"Hey! That was before I knew you liked me" She defended herself, her hands slipping into the back of my jean pockets.

"Haven't you heard the term, boys are mean to girls on the playground because they like them?"

"That's a load of bullshit. Boys are just pricks who have nothing better to do with their time than pull a girl's hair and make her cry. It still stands true even at 26 years old" She raised a brow at me, grinning when I scoffed.

"Girls are just teases who tell you one thing and do another"

"Oh? You want to go there?" She warned, my lips folding shut. "That's what I thought, pretty boy. Now get off me before I knee you in the balls"

"Come on. Let's go find a room that will sleep us both" I offered my hand, Leighton eyeing me.

"Who said I want to sleep with you?"

"My baby that you're willingly carrying is my first guess" I shook my hand at her, Leighton rolling her eyes as she grabbed my hand, allowing me to pull her up.

I grunted slightly, Leighton glaring, "Don't you fucking start or I will sleep in my hobbit hole"

"I didn't mean to" I laughed, Leighton appearing annoyed. "Leigh, baby, wait-" I rushed, grabbing her arm and wrapping them around her, trapping her against me, "I didn't mean to. It was the angle, I swear"

"Mhm. If you know what's good for you you'll let me go"

"Leigh" I whined, Leighton groaning, her head resting against my shoulder, her back to my chest. "I win" I murmured only to feel her elbow jab me in the stomach, setting her free, "Hey!" I groaned.

"I warned you" She laughed, her hand gripping the door frame before turning the corner.

~

"Do you know how happy I am that this baby allows you to have pizza?" Sam said, grabbing another slice of our oh so delectable choice of dinner.

"Oh, you and me both!" Leighton practically moaned biting into the pizza.

"Do you think it's the grease and cheese?" Cynthia questioned, "When I was pregnant with Harper, I hated seeing melted cheese for months"

"It was honestly the smell, so I don't know, but I am very pleased that is not the case at this moment. I felt so high maintenance anytime they'd ask me what I wanted because I couldn't eat pizza" 

"Leighton, you are high maintenance" I teased, her jaw dropping as her hand came to cup under her chin, catching the stringy cheese, all of us laughing.

"I am not!"

"Just a little bit" I pinched my thumb and pointer finger close together.

"How? I-" she paused, her jaw still dropped.

"It's alright Leighton, we still love you" Logan teased, Leighton glaring over at him.

"How am I high maintenance? Because if I recall, I did my best to try and get along with everyone- oh, I'm hearing it" 

I snickered, "When I first met you, you always had your nails done, your makeup on-"

"And?" She interrupted, "What's wrong with wanting to look pretty?"

"Nothing is wrong with wanting to look pretty, babe, it's just, you don't like to show your bare self-"

"Well not in front of my brother" 

"That's not what I meant and you know it!" I laughed, Cynthia choking on her pizza.

"To be fair, Cynthia paid for the nails. Cynthia, back me up here" Leighton turned to look at her sister in law.

"I did, but that's because it was our bonding time since Logan and I were dating. It was our only time away from this one" her thumb pointed at Logan next to her, "Where we could gossip without him interrupting" 

"We should start that again. I can finally afford to pay it myself"

"What if we looked for a place around here? Kat, would you want to join us? Have some girl time whilst the boys have their boy time?" Cynthia asked, catching Kat mid bite of her pizza. "Think of it like a birthday gift from Leigh and I" Cynthia passed me a sickening sweet smile.

What is she doing?

"Uh, yeah, sure, that sounds fun" Kat passed a smile, the room falling quiet until Logan sparked a conversation with Sam and I about our plans for the upcoming year.

Once the sun began to go down the six of us walked out onto the stone patio where an enclosed fire pit was, Logan and Sam setting it up whilst Leighton, Kat and I grabbed the s'mores stuff.

"Please be careful" I begged Leigh, watching her step around a few of the chairs to sit between Cynthia and I.

"I'm fine" She waved me off, not settling the flutter in my stomach at all.

"Leighton, please, just, there's an open flame and you're a klutz"

"Okay, I'll be careful. I'll just make you get up and grab me things" She smirked, leaning back against the metal chair, popping open the box of graham crackers.

"That I can do. Whatever keeps you from falling period, let alone into fire" I muttered, Cynthia passing out the sticks, skipping Leighton.

"I still can't believe you don't like marshmallows" Kat stated, happily opening the bag and placing one on her stick.

"I'm here for the graham crackers. You guys got the good ones" Leighton cracked the cracker in half, taking a bite.

"The good ones?" I questioned, unable to see the label from how dark it was.

"Mhm. The honey ones"

"I thought they only came in the honey version?" I grabbed a graham cracker, Leighton shaking her head. "Hm. Well you learn something new every day" I chuckled, all of us sticking our marshmallows in.

"Can I do one? Will someone eat it?" Leighton asked, looking around our circle.  

"Nope. Last time I let you make me a s'more, you put... shit, what was it?" Logan looked over at Leighton who was already starting to giggle.

"I spread marmite on his crackers" She giggled, Logan fake gagging.

"Ohhh! That's disgusting" Sam gagged, "You're actually evil. Colby, did you know you were marrying the devil?"

"I mean, it's his mistake for taking something from Leighton" I laughed, Leighton having a proud grin on her face.

"Do you guys remember that horrendous drink you made me?"

"Yes! Brennen was annoyed you ate his snack" Sam laughed, Kat and Cynthia caught in their own conversation as Logan excused himself from the group.

"Dude, those were so good! God, what were they?"

"I don't know, this was like five years ago!" Sam exclaimed, pushing a marshmallow onto Leighton's stick.

"Double or nothing Samuel! Come on now. This isn't amateur hour" Leighton scolded, Sam sliding a second marshmallow onto her stick. "Who's eating this?"

"I'll eat it" I volunteered, Leighton nodding, my legs spreading, allowing her to stand between them to roast her marshmallow, my hands holding her hips as the fear of her toppling into the fire rattled my veins.

"Woah! Hey!" Sam abruptly shouted, startling me.

"What?" I questioned, peaking around Leighton's hip.

"You can't just shove it in the fire!" He lectured, Leighton's posture straightening.

"I'm too impatient to let it—"

"No" Sam interrupted, shaking his head, "What kind of animal burns their marshmallow on purpose?! You said you wanted to roast a marshmallow"

"Okay, what are you? S'mores police?"

"Yes, yes I am! Colby! Look who you're marrying!" Sam complained, Leighton laughing with a head shake as she put her marshmallow back into the fire, pulling it out as the reddish orange flame crisped the outside, blowing it out.

"Do you care that it's burnt?" Leighton questioned; the motion of Kat standing up to burn her own catching my attention.

"It doesn't matter" 

"Do you want it on a cracker or on its own?"

"Here" I opened my mouth, Leighton's eyes widening.

"For real? It's hot"

"Well no shit, it was on fire" I laughed, opening my mouth again, waiting.

"I'm getting flashbacks to that time you put juice in your mouth and then fucking poured it into mine"

"Shut up and give me the marshmallow or you're banned from roasting" 

colbybrocksecret: "What kind of animal burns their marshmallow on purpose?" - @samgolbach

~

"You look so pretty, baby" I hummed, Leighton's glorious bump on show as she stood in front of me in just a bra and the sweatpants she was wearing earlier.

"This belly is definitely bigger than when I was pregnant with Gemma" her hand caressed her stomach.

My head shook, "You were definitely bigger with Gemma"

"Excuse me?! Colby!" She gasped.

"What? You were a lot bigger when you were in delivery"

"Colby! I'm talking about for how far along I am. 5 months with G, I was a lot smaller than I am now with your baby"

"God, you're halfway through already?" I exhaled, feeling like everything has gone by so fast.

"Mhm. Our little baby girl is already half cooked in here" She smiled, my hands holding the side of her belly as we looked in the mirror above the dresser.

"I can't believe you're doing this again. I recall you saying you were never having a baby ever again after Gemma's delivery, and now you want to do a home birth? No meds?" My brow raised, Leighton's cheeks turning crimson.

"That's the plan"

"Are you prepared for that?" I asked, Leighton's tongue poking out to wet her lips as her head shook.

"I don't even know where I'm doing it. I mean, I could do it at my parents house, but wouldn't that be a lot? The other option is at our apartment.. and uh, I don't think our neighbors want that"

"Silly option number three" I hesitantly began, Leighton's face masking confusion, "We buy a house together"

"Colby" She sighed, my hopes and dreams immediately getting squashed, "We don't even live together right now"

"Hey! That was your choice!" I noted, my hands dropping from her waist, taking a few steps back.

"You know why I did that" 

"Leighton, be honest with me. Are you ever moving back home?" I asked the hundred million dollar question, holding my breath as I analyzed her movements.

Her breath hitched as her shoulders tensed, taking a few Mississippi seconds before turning around to face me, exhaling through her nose, "I want to"

"Okay? And what does that mean?"

"It means I want to. I want to be with you, to have a house with you, to do life with you.. I'm just... I'm nervous. I'm nervous to commit again and repeat last time. History lately appears to be going in a vicious cycle and I just, I don't want to repeat this again" She emphasized, reaching down to pull an oversized shirt over her head, pulling her hair out of the neck of the shirt, letting it cascade down the front of her chest. 

"I'd undo it if I could. You know that, right?" 

"I'd like to hope you would. Did uh, community service go well?" She asked quietly, her finger spinning her ring.

"Was fine" I muttered, not wanting to talk about my quite literal walk of shame, slipping my rings off my fingers.

"What did they have you do?"

"The cliché road side trash pickup"

"Ah. I had to do work inside of the prison. It was like a prison job without the pay before I was fully let go" Leighton confessed, surprising me that she was opening up about her jail time.

I decided to not push it, knowing it was extremely rare for her to share this information, my head nodding in acknowledgement that I had heard her.

I tugged off my shirt, tossing it towards the open suitcase before sliding down my skinny jeans.

"I can feel you staring" I mumbled, kicking them off.

"Oh, I can't stare?" Leighton jokes, crawling onto the bed.

"I never said that. Do I have to wear pants?"

"Well you're not sleeping nude" 

"No. Like can I just wear my underwear?" I asked, Leighton barely acknowledging me as she plugged in her phone. "Leigh?"

"That's fine. Just don't wake up with an erection because I'm too pregnant to have self restraint" She shimmied down the bed, pulling the covers up over her bump.

I smirked, sliding into bed next to her, copying her movement as I got comfortable.

We laid in silence for a moment before I spoke up, "This feels weird"

"What does?"

"Being in the same bed again" I mumbled, Leighton's bedside lamp giving off a dim yellow glow to the room.

"Oh. I haven't really registered it to be honest. I mean, it's been kind of weird all day. Feels like old times" 

"It does, doesn't it" I hummed, shifting to face her, "I've missed you, you know?" 

"I've missed you too" She replied, sounding half ingenious due to scrolling through her phone.

"Please come home" I begged softly, Leighton looking down at me.

"Colby" She sighed, "Is this what this trip is about? You begging me to move back in?"

I shook my head, "Leighton, please. I'm already missing so much and I know I royally messed up" I paused, my brain annoyingly reminding me I have yet to tell her my biggest screw up. I cleared my throat, "But I miss you. I miss Gemma. I miss being a family. I miss coming home to you guys, and tucking G in at night, and cuddling you to bed"

"I'll think about it, okay?" She said and I nodded, knowing this was the best I was going to get.

I woke up the next morning to Leighton's body drifting towards mine, our limbs kept to ourselves, but a beautiful sleeping face just out of reach of being able to easily lean over and kiss her.

Every fiber of my being wanted to go back to every horrific choice I've made and undo it.

All night last night I just laid there, listening to her soft breathing and occasional snore, pretending to be asleep when she got up to go pee around 3 or 4 in the morning.

I held my breath when she laid back in bed, silently praying that she would inch closer to me if she thought I was asleep, but that wasn't the case. Her awake mind slept closer to the edge than her asleep brain, where she had drifted towards me. 

I walked into our kitchen, Cynthia and Logan sat at the island eating what appeared to be frozen french toast sticks and scrambled eggs.

"Good morning" Cynthia greeted me as I opened the fridge.

"Mornin'" I grumbled, my voice gruff from the lack of use.

"Leighton still asleep?" She asked and I nodded. "I called around 9 this morning to a salon near us, so later today the girls and I are going to head out. Any idea what you boys will do whilst we're away?" Cynthia asked, looking between Logan and I.

Logan shrugged, my lips staying sealed as I poured cereal into a bowl. "You guys are not morning people" Cynthia spoke to herself, scraping the end of her breakfast into the trash before washing her dish.

"Sorry" I mumbled, Logan following Cynthia's lead. "Do you uh by chance know what Leighton would want for breakfast?" I asked, feeling like a horrible fiancé for not knowing her do's and don'ts of pregnancy food.

"I don't, I'm sorry" She apologized and I nodded, the drawer slamming shut as I placed my spoon into my bowl.

"Don't worry about it"

"Everything going alright between you two?" She asked, Logan making himself scarce.

"Define alright" I half heartedly chuckled, Cynthia frowning as she joined me back at the island.

"Still planning on getting married?" She asked, making my very tired brain suddenly alert.

"What? Has Leighton told you otherwise?" I worried, Cynthia's eyes widening.

"Shit! I'm sorry!" she freaked, "She hasn't said anything! I just..." shit. Does Leighton not want to get married? Is Cynthia covering for her? "She had talked a little bit about her concerns and things, I just didn't know where you two stood now. I mean, you slept in the same bed, right? That has to mean something" Cynthia tried to save her reaction, my jaw clenched as I chewed my cereal, nodding.

"We shared the bed, yes. I don't know if you can clarify it as sleeping together, no. Leighton practically slept thirty feet away from me unless she was asleep and the weight of our bodies causing the dip in the mattress to make her roll closer" 

"So no makeup sex then?" She joked, her smirk flattening out when I sighed, shaking my head.  "How bad is it Colby? Be honest with me, what happened?"

"What has she told you?" I questioned, walking on eggshells due to Cynthia basically being Leighton's best friend, whether Leighton wants to admit it or not.

"Not much. She just expressed her concerns about whatever happened and how she felt about you" Cynthia shrugged, my eyes squinting.

Is she lying to me? Does she know more?

"Let's just say.. Leightons actions are valid" I replied quietly, shame filling my chest as I took another bite of cereal.

"Her actions? She seemed okay earlier?"

"She hasn't been my biggest fan, and it's deserved"

"Well, what did you do?" She asked, my nerves beginning to boil.

"I don't want you to hate me as well" I admitted, Cynthia leaning on the palm of her hand to look at me, her elbow resting against the countertop.

"Colby, I could never hate you. I mean, I've seen you and Leighton go through it all, and we have even had our own moments. Shit happens sometimes. I mean, what's the worst you've done to her? It's not like you'd ever cheat on her" She laughed, my eyes widening, "You for years could barely give her enough room to breathe" She continued, my brain beginning to reel at the four little words she just laughed at.

Trying to wrap my brain around the fact that I had supposedly cheated, and I had to confess to Leighton still felt like an impossible task. I mean, how does one practically confess a sin that he can't even recall? How fucking stupid do I look having to lean on Sam to recall the basic facts he walked in on? 

Attempting to contact Chloe felt like a lost cause. I'm sure she got what she wanted and left. 

I never thought she'd be the girl to do that. Hell, I never thought I'd be capable of doing that.

Having cheated in the past, even if our relationship was basically done, I really never saw myself sitting in this position. Loving Leighton felt so easy. Even in the hard moments, it was harder to walk away from her than stand by her, and now here I was, sat next to her sister in law arguing with my own brain over how the fuck to tell the love of my life that I did possibly the worst thing imaginable.

How do you come back from breaking someone's trust this bad? 

I'm so far gone that the light at the tunnel could barely be found, yet here I was scraping the end of the barrel for any sign of hope that all of this could work out. That if I was nice to her, and loved her the way she deserved, that we could just overlook this. 

"Colby?" Cynthia's hand waved in front of my face, my head shaking me out of the trance I was in.

"Hm? Sorry, what?" I fumbled, Cynthia's face scrunched up in worry.

"You alright? You just zoned out for like five minutes. I was talking and then I noticed you stopped reacting. You good?"

"Uh, yeah. Sorry. Was just uh, thinking" 

"Well? Are you going to tell me what you did?" She asked, my lip getting caught between my teeth.

"I uh, I don't think I should. Sorry" I mumbled, excusing myself, leaving my bowl on the counter as I swiftly exited.

I took a seat on one of the balconies, staring at the morning sun as I wracked my brain for any possible way I could come clean without destroying everything I've worked towards.

Is there really any way to come clean without crumbling everything beneath me?

What would it take for her to understand? To hear me out? 

Not only is she Leighton, but she's pregnant Leighton, and pregnant Leighton is scary.

She's moody, dramatic, she holds more grudges than non-pregnant Leighton..

but I can't hold off, can I?

I mean I have to tell her.... right?

But what about the baby? What then? Would she withhold me from seeing my babies birth? Especially with it being a homebirth....

Would she ban me from the birth? From seeing my baby at all? The same way she has with Gemma? 

The idea of how much control she has over me is fucking terrifying. One wrong move and everything I've worked for these past five years just vanished.  I'm not talking every accomplishment, but my literal family.

The girl I'm head over heels for, the almost four year old I'd die for, and my unborn child who doesn't even know how fucking messy our lives were... it could all be gone with a little of few to no words.

"What's got that vein poking out of your forehead this early in the day?" Leighton asked, my body jolting at the new sound. "Good lord Colby" she laughed, "Why are you so jumpy?"

"Nothing. Just thinking"

"Well stop thinking so hard" She snickered, leaning against the balcony, "Cynthia told me we're getting our nails done later. Any requests?" She asked, shifting to face me as I leaned back against the chair.

"Requests?"

"Mhm"

"You want my opinion?"

"Why? You picked cool nails that one time"

"What one time?" I laughed, Leighton's eyes rolling, taking a seat in the chair next to me.

"You don't remember when you let me paint your nails?"

"Oh"

"Yeah oh" She mocked, chuckling.

"That was a long time ago" I replied quietly, silence falling between us.

"Colby?"

"Hm?" I hummed, keeping my eyes locked on the horizon in front of me.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine"

"Ah. The classic I'm fine excuse. I thought we were going to work on our communication skills?"

"Leighton" I warned, Leighton scoffing, "Colby. You said you were going to work on it, and I'm trying to be here for you"

"Oh. You mean the same way I was trying to be there for you with Aaliyah, and you decided that you didn't get to talk about it?" 

"Jesus, did you wake up on the fucking floor this morning? What's your problem?"

I exhaled a deep breath through my nose, turning to look at Leighton, "I'm just saying I would appreciate the same courtesy of leaving me alone when I want to be left alone, that I've given you"

"Courtesy? Are you feeling okay?" She chuckled, stretching her jaw to the side before licking her lower lip, leaning back against the chair, her arms crossed over her chest as she attempted to cross her leg, only to realize her belly was in the way, extending her legs to cross her ankles. "Alright, damn, I'll stop asking you about it" She huffed, the silence beginning to linger before she cleared her throat, "Are you going to be mad at me all day or? I just," she paused, shifting to sit forward, starting to talk with her hands, showing me how impatient she was becoming, "I got up like ten minutes ago, and you're already mad at me? I'm just confused how we got from point A to point B so quickly?" 

"I thought you were done asking about it?" I griped, Leighton's lips pursing as she nodded, pushing herself out of the chair, heading back inside.

I groaned, running my hands through my hair.

God damnit.

By the time I walked downstairs, the girls had left and Sam and Logan were chilling in the family room, Sam looking up over his laptop as I entered, "Hey. You look like shit" 

"Thanks man, I feel like it too" I chuckled, my jaw tightening as I plopped down on the couch next to him.

"Why do you look and feel like shit?"

"Because I'm a shitty person, Samuel"

"You're not a shitty person Colby. What's got you in a funk this time? This trip was your idea"

I eyed Logan who was already looking at me with a glimmer of skepticism written all over his face.

"The usual" I mumbled, pulling out my phone.

"So are we all going to sit here on our phones or do you guys want to do something?" Logan questioned, giving me a knowing look.

"And what do you have in mine Mr. Fox?" I teased.

 "We could go out to a bar?" He suggested, Sam immediately shaking his head.

"We're staying alcohol free this weekend" Sam shot down.

"What? Why?" Logan questioned.

"Leighton's pregnant" Sam tossed back immediately.

"And sober" I chimed in, Logan giving us weird looks.

"Leighton doesn't care if we drink"

Sam and I stayed quiet knowing he was right, Logan speaking up again, "Plus, isn't that what guys trips are for? Getting drunk and having fun?" he joked, Sam eyeing me.

"It's 1pm?" I tried, Logan chuckling to himself, "It's 5'oclock somewhere" 

"If you want to go out to a bar we can" I shrugged, Sam's eyes narrowing at me as Logan shoved himself off the couch.

"Great! I'll go get ready. When do we want to leave?"

"Um.. half hour?" I suggested, Logan nodding before excusing himself.

"You for real, Colby?" Sam spoke harshly.

"What? I won't drink" I promised, Sam shaking his head.

"Yeah right. As if Logan will let you get away with that"

"Hey. I have freewill ya know" I grumbled back, Sam closing his laptop and setting it on the couch cushion next to him.

"Yeah, freewill that got you fucking arrested and practically ruined your relationship" He whispered harshly.

My eyes rolled, "I'll be fine"

"How do you plan on not drinking?"

I stayed quiet for a second and right as Sam's lips parted to speak again, I beat him to it, "Sober driver!" 

"You? Sober driving?"

"Yeah, and?"

"Really?"

"What?" I questioned, my eyebrows tugging together.

"You know he's going to try and get you to drink"

"And? I won't"

"You can't" Sam reiterated, "You have a law to abide by. You're not supposed to be drinking for a while"

"And I won't. What are you so concerned for?"

"I just don't think we should be testing the limits. Last time you went out drinking with your friends, you woke up in bed with your ex"

"Correction, you woke me up"

"That's worse Colby!" Sam exclaimed.

"Look, we've got like twenty five minutes before we need to leave. Let's just go get ready. I'll be fine" I reminded him, Sam scoffing yet agreeing, the two of us disappearing upstairs to get dressed.

~

"God those are strong!" Logan winced, setting the shot glass against the bar top. "You lucked out" He told me, choking on the drink he just swallowed by coughing, his closed fist hitting his chest as he sputtered, "God, what was in that?"

"Straight tequila" Sam laughed, Logan shaking his head.

"I haven't drank that shit since my first army party. We got so drunk and woke up hungover the next morning, barely able to function for our drills" he chuckled, drinking a chaser.

"Wussing out already?" I teased, Logan scoffing.

"Say the man drinking a Pepsi!"

"Hey, designated driver!" I shook my glass at him, the dark liquid sloshing against the sides a little.

"One drink won't kill you" he teased, turning away to order something else to drink.

"I'm already walking on thin ice with Leighton. I think it's best if I stay sober tonight. But hey, that means you can get as fucked up as you want" I noted, Logan shaking his head, his elbows moving to lean back against the bar.

"I can't hang like I used to. I'm getting old man, and I've got a kid now. Definitely not in my army college days anymore" He snickered, the bartender passing him his drink.

"How is the kid thing going for you guys?" I asked, Logan laughing with a head shake.

"The kid thing? Colby, you also have a kid. You see my niece more than I do" He laughed, my face falling. Has Leighton not told him? "Harpers' been good. I'm definitely nervous of that whole angelic first kid and demonic second kid thing" he chuckled, taking a long sip of his drink.

"The what?" I questioned, catching Sam slinking away from us towards the other end of the bar.

"You know how they say your first kid makes you want a second, and the second kid makes you want to wear a condom for the rest of your life?" He joked, his face falling into a serious mask, his head tilting, "You haven't heard that?" I shook my head, "Oh, shit man" he laughed, his head thrown back, "Good luck" he laughed.

"Is it really that bad?" 

"I mean, that's what they say, but hey, what do I know? I've only got one and that little angel rules my world, I can tell you that much"

"If Gemma's the angelic one, I'm afraid for our next little girl" I nervously chuckled, bringing the straw to my lips as I glanced next to me, Sam and the bartender at the end were talking, Logan's voice bringing my attention back to him.

"It's exciting though, right?" He asked.

"Hm?"

"Having another baby. I mean, Leighton's always been indifferent about kids even when we were little, but I think that has to do with growing up with the twins. Multiples are a lot, and Leighton was used to being the baby for a few years and then here came two others that stole her spotlight... I think that affected her way more than she would lead on. I honestly was a little worried when she told me she was pregnant; for multiple reasons. One, her and Gabe were a mess. I mean, she'll tell you they weren't, but he really wasn't the best to her. Our dad used to make fun of him all the time for his inverted frosted tips as he'd called them, and douchey jersey shore style" He snickered, "But hey, look at you guys now" he motioned towards me, "You guys are engaged, living together, expecting another kid. It's really working out for you guys and I'm happy to call you a brother-in-law, Colby" He raised his drink to me before taking another long sip. "Speaking of, are you guys planning your wedding? Should I be expecting my RSVP plus one in the mail?" he joked, unknowingly digging his knife even deeper into my chest, the twist of his hand causing the air to get knocked out of my lungs, my throat clearing as I took another sip, really wishing this wasn't just a Pepsi.

"We uh— Leighton um— uh, she just.. She has a lot on her plate, you know?" I stuttered, "With everything going on with your mom and uh, having a baby and all that, I think it's um, been put on the back burner a little bit" I slowly spat out, my eyes falling down to my glass as my pointer finger traced the rim of it.

"Ah. So uh, feel free to tell me if I'm crossing a line, but uh, what's the real reason you're not drinking today? Worse case we call an uber" He tossed a small smile towards me, taking another sip of his drink, my eyes drifting back towards Sam, seeing he was sitting by himself at the end of the bar, drinking.

What the hell?

"I just thought it would be in my best interest to stay sober tonight" I shrugged, tugging on my lower lip.

"Hm. Well, whenever you're ready to tell me, I'm open ears" He shot a supportive closed lipped grin.

~

"You smell like straight whiskey" Cynthia laughed, pulling Logan away from her hug.

"You guys went drinking?" Leighton questioned, looking between Logan and I.

"We had fun" Logan grinned, "Well, Sam and I had fun. This one was a party pooper" he nodded towards me, a look of relief washing over Leighton's face, her eyes meeting mine as she mouthed "Thank you" and I sent a curt nod.

The six of us sat in the living room, Leighton showing me her nails.

"I went with shorter rounded ones this time" She showed, "I didn't want much hindrance since I'm pregnant and have a four year old at home" She smiled, "I thought the pink was cute? You know, 'cause we just found out it's a girl" She beamed, holding her nails up so I could see.

"It pops against your tattoo" I noticed, seeing the shadowing in her rose tattoo on the top of her hand pop out more against the delicate pink brushed against her nails.

"Awe thanks" She grinned, looking down at her tattoo, her eyes trailing up the sleeve of her arm. "Should've gotten my toes done, huh?" She teased, wiggling her toes that were covered by a black ankle sock.

My lips parted out of surprise, "All I said is it made your tattoo pop! I don't have a foot fetish!" I laughed, catching everyone else's attention.

"Foot fetish?" Cynthia's nose wrinkled.

"Stop! Leighton Rae!" I hissed, Leighton cackling next to me.

"Oh my god!" She panted, struggling to breath from laughing, "Shit!" She hissed, her hand digging into my thigh as she tried to push herself up off the floor, wobbling a little before landing on her feet and rushing to the bathroom, flipping the group off as we laughed.

"I don't have a foot fetish" I noted, wanting to clear the air before this oh so not fun fact spread.

"Suuurree" Sam expressed, my jaw dropping.

"I don't!"

"Just for Leighton huh?" Kat teased, joining in on their fun.

"No!" I disagreed.

"Ew, that's my baby sister!" Logan fake gagged, Cynthia's nose still wrinkled.

"Yeah, ew Colby" She agreed, my heart starting to pick up in pace.

"I don't! This stems from the last time we were here, remember?" I looked over at Sam, knowing he was in the room.

"What?" his eyes squinted, my own eyes widening.

"Sam! You don't remember that?"

"Sorry, I don't" He shook his head, holding back a grin.

"Oh my god!"

"I can't believe I didn't know you had a foot fetish Colby!" Kat grinned.

"I don't!"

"Whatever you say, Colby" She replied in a sing-song tone, only frustrating me further.

"I don't have a foot fetish! Listen, I'll own up to anything, but a foot fetish is not one" I shook my head, my nose wrinkled as well. 

I saw Leighton come back into view, my finger pointing at her, "You!" I exclaimed, stopping her in her tracks.

"What?"

"Tell them I don't have a foot fetish"

"But you do" She laughed.

Of course she wouldn't help me. She fucking started this.

"I don't!" I declared, Leighton giggling as she sat down between Kat and I. "Leighton" I warned, Leighton biting her lower lip.

"I bet you he likes to kiss her foot before fucking her" Sam muttered to Kat, Logan's eyes widening, matching my own.

"Samuel Golbach!" I hissed, Sam snickering, "I don't have a fucking foot fetish. Oh my god!" I groaned, "I regret saying I ever liked your foot tattoo"

"Are you a toe sucker Colby?" Kat asked, my frustration starting to turn into anger as Leighton's cheeks flushed and Logan's throat cleared, Cynthia snickering to herself.

"For the last time, I don't have a foot fetish"

"Sticks and stones may break my bones but whips and chains excite me" Kat sang Rhianna, my entire body wanting to crawl into a hole and die.

"For the last time, I don't have a foot fetish" I repeated, "Now can we move on? — What are you giggling at? This is your fault" I glared, Leighton giggling to herself, her lip being captured between her teeth as she tried to quiet herself, triggering arousing memories to flash through my brain.

God, not now

"I'm sorry" She apologized, attempting to stop her giggling. "I was just teasing, you know I love you, Colby, it was all fun and games" She smiled, completely oblivious to the three little words that slipped past her lips, stopping my whole world.

I love you

Everyone continued talking as I just stared at her in complete and utter shock.

It's been so long since I've heard those three beautiful words fall from her lips.

She loves me.

I felt like I could cry from pure happiness and utter pain.

She loves me. She finally said she loves me, and she doesn't even know the worst thing I've done to her.

God I can't fucking tell her now, can I?

A smile started to tug at my lips as the sound of her saying I love you played through my brain on repeat, my heart clenching at the idea as my stomach tightened.

"Colby?" Leighton nudged me, bringing me back to the conversation.

"Hm?"

"Logan asked if we were ready to make dinner? You didn't say if you were hungry or not" 

"Oh, um, yeah.. I could go for some food" I hummed, Leighton nodding as Logan and Sam stood up, moving towards the kitchen.

I looked down at Leighton's hand, seeing her engagement ring shine against her beautiful skin and the pink polish of her fingers. Two fingers over on her pointer finger rested the anxiety ring that her thumb loved to spin and the infinity jeweled pendant resting against the dip of her neck, right above where the collar of her shirt rested, daring to show off the sobriety necklace.

She was littered in gifts of my love and affection, dangling those beautiful words right under my nose and she let them slip so casually.

Everything about it felt like a dream.

Her smile and laugh as she said it, the way it sounded and the way my gift of marriage brushed against my thigh.

She loves me.

After everything we've been through, she still loves me.

I leaned in against her, my lips ghosting over her ear as I whispered, "did you mean it?" watching the shiver go down her spine as she turned to look at me, confused.

"Mean what?"

"That you love me" I asked softly, not wanting the rejection to be voiced so publicly.

"What? Of course I love you" She frowned, stating it like it was the most obvious thing ever.

Of course? How was that an "of course"? 

"You do?" I asked softly, hating how my insecurity was dripping off of those two words, Leighton's green eyes moving to look at my blue ones.

"I love you Colby" She repeated, her eyes staying on mine as her hand came up to cup my jaw, her thumb brushing against my cheek, her eyes flickering down to my lips then back up to my eyes before she leaned in and placed her lips on mine, kissing me for the second time in just a few weeks.

My body stayed tense, afraid of melting into the kiss, fear of this entire thing coming back to slap me in the face, only for Leighton to pull away, my eyes opening as the fear kicked in, her eyes still closed as she leaned in again, placing a few sweet pecks against my lips.

"I love you" she murmured against me, her eyes opening, the same twinkle of happiness shining as the night I proposed to her.

I love you

* * * * 

Do we think Colby will ever tell her? 😬

Written on: June 28th, 29th, July 1st, 2nd, 3rd 2023

Published on: July 3rd 2023

Word Count: 7.8k

Part Seventeen

#colbybrock #colbybrockimagine #colbybrockimagines #colbybrockoneshot #colbybrockoneshots #colbybrockblurb #colbybrockblurbs #colbybrockfanfics #colbybrockfanfic #colbybrockfanfiction #colbybrockfanfictions #samandcolby #samandcolbyfanfiction #samandcolbyfanfics #colbybrockwattpad #wattpad #wattpadfanfiction #samgolbach #katrinastuart

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Desire (40)

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*Leighton's POV*

Life's definitely been weird lately. I hated feeling like I was constantly walking on eggshells around everyone, but I was afraid that with one wrong move, everything would come crumbling down. So that's why on Thursday morning, Gemma and I decided to make Colby some brownies before I had to go over to Cynthia's, taking my mind off of whatever might happen there. 

"Come here baby!" I encouraged Gemma to crawl over to me, her hands grabbing my pajama pants to try and lift herself up. "You're getting so big" I kissed her cheek, picking her up, holding her on my waist. "Wanna help mommy? Here baby, we're making Colby yummy treats"

I grabbed her bumbo chair, plopping her down on the kitchen island, buckling her in before opening the box of brownie mix, handing her the bag of dry ingredients to mess around with whilst I got the wet ingredients ready.

I cut open the bag, moving the bowl closer to her. "Look Gem" I hummed, smiling when she giggled as the powder landed in the bowl, creating a dust cloud.

I listened to her giggles and babbles whilst I baked, finding myself smiling every time I looked over at her.

She just looked so happy.

I picked her up out of the booster seat, holding her on my hip as I cooed at her; picking up the oil. "Wanna help momma? Here baby" I pried open her hand, letting her grip the measuring cup in front of my hand. "Let's pour it in" I murmured, leaning her forward as we dumped the oil in "Woo!" I cheered, a big smile on her face as I bounced her. "Let's drop it in the sink baby"

I chuckled when her eyes widened at the loud noise, the metal measuring cup having been tossed into the sink. 

I tried to have her help me stir the ingredients, but she had more fun just clutching a wooden spoon in her little hand and banging it on the bowl.

"You're going to be such a little chaos baby aren't you" I snickered, her hand pulling at my shirt as I stretched, her eyes wide. "I've got you baby. Look at your chubby little cheeks!" I munched on her cheek making her laugh, loving hearing her belly laugh.

I sat on the floor with Gemma, playing with some blocks and baby books as we waited for the brownies. When the timer rang, I hurried to the oven; hearing Gemma's baby hands smack the floor as she crawled, following me.

"Watch out baby" I warned, not wanting her by the oven. Not surprisingly, she didn't listen. "Come here monkey, up you go" I moved her to the bumbo seat, clipping her in so I could grab the brownies.  "Look yummy, baby?" I asked, showing her the brownies from afar, giggling at her grabby hands and whines. "We've gotta give them to Colby honey, you can't have one" her lip quivered, destroying my heart. "I'm sorry baby, you did such a good job though! You were such a big helper!"

Her whimpers turned into cries; her hands reaching for the pan of brownies.

"It's gotta cool off Gemma" 

I sighed, setting the browns down and picking her up, bouncing her in front of me as I made funny noises; trying to get her to laugh again. I kissed all over her face, hearing her small giggles start to erupt from her.

I grinned, feeling proud of myself. "I knew you had giggles in you. You're such a giggly little girl aren't you? Mommy's giggly little monkey" I cooed, loving the smile on her face right now.

She eventually started whining, so I let her down, listening to her little baby hands slap the floor as she crawled away.

I kind of missed when she didn't know how her legs worked. She's been getting quicker at crawling, making my life even more stressful as I tried to keep her out of danger.

By the time we were out the door, Gemma had completely forgotten about the brownies she so desperately wanted, making my life a million times easier.

When we arrived at Cynthia's door, I helped Gemma ring the doorbell, her eyes wide when we heard Nova's barks on the other side of the door.

Cynthia opened the door, appearing extremely pregnant which looked so weird considering I haven't seen her in so long. 

Nova was going berserk at us, barking and going into a play bow, her nub wiggling as Gemma stared at her with wide shocked eyes.

"It's like the doggies at home G, Remember Captain, and Dakota?" I smiled, trying to get Gemma to giggle again by bouncing her and tickling her tummy, even placing a kiss on her cheek. 'Nova sure has missed you baby, she's so excited. Wanna say hi?" I asked, crouching down so we were at Nova's level.

I tried so hard not to laugh at how shocked and overwhelmed Gemma appeared, her eyes wide and lips parted as Nova came up and sniffed her.

"Do you not remember our doggies at home? Nova looks just like them" I giggled, Cynthia smiling down at us.

"Nova, be a good girl. Gentle" Cynthia reminded the dog, Gemma's hand coming out to hit the top of Nova's head.

"G, careful" I softly lectured, Nova freezing. "Nova, you're going to have to get used to little baby hands smacking you" I chuckled, running my hand over Nova's head and ears. "You're such a good girl; I've missed you" I hummed, the memory of when I first met her coming to the forefront in my head.

"She's gotten so big since the last time I saw her" Cynthia fussed, her eyes a little glossy. "I totally get your pregnancy meltdowns now" She giggled, wiping under her eyes before reaching out for Gemma. "You're getting so big!" Cynthia bounced, Gemma clapping her hands which made me laugh.

"She's been loving to hear herself make noise lately, so sorry in advance" I warned with a snicker, focusing my attention back on Nova, peeping up over at my daughter and sister in law.

I honestly felt really nervous visiting Cynthia today, but surprisingly it went well. Neither of us really brought up our slight falling out, sort of just making it water under the bridge as we hung out and caught up.

We both ended up getting emotional when she mentioned Logan not being here for the delivery of her baby. I hated that for both of them. I knew how much it would mean for my brother to be at his child's birth, and I hate that he has to miss it. I hate that he's gone and that neither of us can turn to him whenever we need him. He was my rock at my lowest points and fuck did I miss him.

G and I left around dinner time, making our way towards Colby's, and I was annoyed that Gemma had fallen asleep in the car, knowing how much of a pain in the ass it has became to transfer her from her car seat to her crib.  

I carefully unclipped her buckles, wincing when I saw her face scrunch up.

Shit.

I paused my movements, waiting it out, only to continue when I saw her face relax.

Thank god.

I carefully moved my fingers under her armpits, slowly lifting her out of the seat, praying to god that she stayed asleep.

I thanked the good lord when she was safely against my chest, not making a peep. I gently closed the car door, bouncing and shushing her as her body froze at the sound, trying so desperately to keep her asleep.

I rang the bell, rocking Gemma softly, humming as I waited.

The door quickly opened, startling me as Jake stood there in front of me.

My face scrunched up as he let me in.

"Jake?"

"Hey Leighton" He welcomed, my feet carrying me into the house, Jake shutting the door behind me.

"Why are you here? Not that I uh.. don't want to see you.. but?"

"Oh! I heard about what happened to Colby, wanted to make sure he was okay" 

I nodded, continuing my soothing motion to keep Gemma asleep.

"Where is he?"

"Up in his room, I really have to poop so sorry to just leave you, but uh" He laughed, throwing me a peace sign for quickly walking to the bathroom.

I took a deep breath, shaking my head before walking further into the home.

I didn't see anyone downstairs, so I walked upstairs and found Gemma's makeshift crib still in the guest room, laying her down and carefully closing the door.

I knocked on Colby's bedroom door, my lips pursed as I waited.

"Come in!" He called, my hand twisting the handle as I pushed open the door, spotting him immediately. "Oh! Hey" he smiled, making me smile as I walked over to him.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" I asked quietly, stepping over a pile of laundry as I walked over to him.

"Been alright" I nodded, leaning down to kiss him. "I thought you had plans today?"

"I already went and saw her, wanted to come see you before it got too late. Gemma and I wanted to drop off something we made for you, but it's still in the car"

"You didn't have to do that babe-"

"It's nothing. Was a good distraction" I shrugged, Colby nodding.

"Where is G?"

"Asleep in the guest room"

"Ah! So I have you all to myself" he smirked, his hand grabbing my wrist, "Come here pretty girl" he hummed, patting his lap and my eyes widened.

"Absolutely not! Your leg is injured!"

"My leg is, but my thigh isn't-"

"Colby, no!"

"Party pooper"

"No! I don't want to hurt you!"

"Excuses"

"Colby!"

"Fine, fine!"

"You're annoying" I muttered, Colby chuckling.

"Come sit with me at least. If I can't have you on my lap, I at least want you on my bed"

I obliged, moving to the other side of the bed, crawling under the covers and cuddling closer to him.

"I've missed you, I hope you've had a good day"

"S'fine" I slurred, shifting under his arm. "I wasn't expecting Jake to open the front door"

"Yeah? It's been nice seeing him though! It's been a while"

I nodded, "Do you guys talk often? You haven't spoke about him in a while"

"Been busy"

"Too busy for your friends?"

"Something like that" He said softly and I dropped it, not wanting to ruin this moment somehow.

I ended up falling asleep against his chest, Colby scrolling through his phone and showing me a few Instagram posts here and there before dozing off.

When I woke up, the bed was empty.

I huffed, stretching out against the silk sheets, not bothering to get up until I remembered he had a broken leg and somehow wasn't in this bed right now.

When I got out of bed, I quickly used his bathroom before walking to the guest room, seeing the door open and the playpen crib empty.

Surely he didn't carry my baby and his crutch down the stairs, right?

I descended down the stairs, faint voices directing my feet towards the living room.

I turned the corner, Sam, Jake and Colby all sitting on the couch, Gemma snuggled into Sam's chest appearing passed out as they all talked.

Shit. I didn't want to disrupt them. I didn't want to be that person who came between their hang out time.

I sighed and walked back up the stairs, knowing Gemma was fine.

I crawled back into Colby's bed, missing the warm covers as I texted a few people back.

Landon and I were currently looking at possibly getting an apartment together which made my chest flutter, and not in a good way.

I hated the idea of moving back home, but I really didn't want to miss out more time with my mom, so I knew I needed to suck it up and just do it. After all, it shouldn't be permanent, but like Colby said, it should help make this a lot more convenient as I tried to get my record expunged. 

I was however nervous about landing a job here again, especially after how hard it was the first time, meaning I needed to start my search now.

I don't know how long I laid in bed for, but I did text Colby letting him know I was up and to text me if Gemma needed anything.

I was definitely surprised when three hours went by before I got a text asking if I was staying for dinner.

I sent back that I didn't want to intrude on their guy time, Colby leaving me on seen.

The clock read 6:40, and I knew Gemma should've been hungry a while ago which was confusing.

I walked down into the kitchen, prepared to see a cranky baby, but instead I saw her sitting in her High Chair happily eating the food in front of her.

"You guys didn't have to do that" I spoke, startling Sam.

"She was hungry and you were resting" Colby shrugged, offering Gemma her bottle.

"But-"

"No but's Leighton. She's fine"

I sighed, nodding. "Thank you for your help" I ran my hands over his shoulders, his back to my chest as I bent down and leaned forward to place a kiss on Colby's cheek. "You really should be the one resting though" I mumbled into his ear before fixing my posture.

"I'm alright Leighton, stop worrying. Just sore, but I have meds"

I kept quiet and just observed as Colby fed Gemma dinner, Sam and Jake sat at the kitchen island scrolling through their phone.

"Do you leave tomorrow?" Sam asked, looking up from his phone.

"Yeah, at 3pm"

"Are you staying the night?"

"I don't want to intrude. I'll head out soon" 

I heard Colby sigh, "Leighton, you're not intruding"

Doesn't feel like it.

"It's fine Colby, I know you haven't seen Jake in a while. I just wanted to make sure you were okay. Oh! Speaking of, I need to go get your treat!"

I carried the brownies in, Gemma's big smile making me laugh when I entered the kitchen again, her face covered in food.

"You having a good time baby?" I giggled, setting the glass pan on the kitchen table. 

"What did you make me? Oh! Brownies! Yummy" Colby spoke in an excited tone towards Gemma, Gemma instantly giggling at him.

"G was a big helper. She definitely deserves all of the credit"

"Yeah? You gonna be a baking prodigy Gem?"

~

"You really don't have to go Leighton-"

"It's fine. I need to get her to bed at a reasonable time anyway"

"Leighton, honestly you're not intruding"

"Colby, hang out with Jake. I'm not mad or anything. You're allowed to hang out with your friends. I wouldn't of came if I knew he was here"

His eyebrows furrowed, "Do you have a problem with Jake?"

"What? No. Why would you think that?"

"Because the second you got here, you've been eager to leave"

"No. I just don't want things to be weird. I don't want to intrude on your hang out time or whatever"

"For the last time, you're not intruding! No one is mad that you're here. It's literally all in your head!"

I frowned, "It isn't in my head. I just.."

"You just what, Leighton?"

"It's nothing. I gotta go. Please be careful and I'll text you before I leave"

"What? I'm not seeing you tomorrow before you fly out?"

"I don't want to intrude-"

"Oh for the love of god! You're not intruding!" His voice raised, catching me off guard, "What is going on?"

"Nothing is going on"

"Leighton!"

"What?"

"Stop it. What the fuck is wrong?"

"Nothing"

"Why are you lying to me?"

"I'm not lying to you. Why do you think I'm lying? Why are you making such a big deal out of this?!"

"Maybe because I don't want my girlfriend to leave? Maybe because you leave tomorrow and I want to spend time with you, and you're leaving and saying I won't even see you before you fly out tomorrow?!"

"What, do you want to see me tomorrow? You should be resting! It's not like I'll never see you again!"

He groaned, "Fine whatever. Have a safe flight back" He muttered, turning to crutch away from me.

"Colby! Stop being dramatic!"

"Goodbye Leighton"

I rolled my eyes, slamming the door behind me as I made my way towards the car, feeling extremely frustrated.

What was such a big deal of me leaving so he could hang out with his friend? It's not like he was hanging out with me anyway. 

I don't understand.

When I got back to my parents house, I got Gemma ready for bed and thankfully she went down nicely, leaving me to be able to watch a movie with my mom that night, trying not to focus on whatever Colby's problem was earlier.

Right before we boarded our flight, Colby sent me a text saying he loved me and to fly safe. The text under it read to send him a text or call him when I landed.

I sighed, leaning my head against Gemma's, thankful that she was in a good mood today.

The flight went well, Gemma and I watched baby shows the entire flight, keeping her occupied for the most part.

Once I got my bags and waited for Uncle Garret to pick me up, I texted Colby that I had landed safe, not hearing from him until hours later.

Towards the end of August Aaliyah had flown in to hang out with us, and it definitely felt good to see her again.

It felt like no time had passed at all and it made me feel silly for letting my mom make me think Aaliyah was distancing herself, reminding myself that we both were just busy now.

Aaliyah and I made cookies one night as we watched Hell's Kitchen, just enjoying each other's company again and I loved seeing how excited Gemma got seeing her Aunt Lay Lay.

"She is getting so big! I remember when you were in your mommy's tummy" Aaliyah spoke in a funny voice to her. "That feels like so long ago" She sighed, looking over at me.

"I can't believe she's going to be a year in practically two months" I sighed, wishing I could turn back time.

By mid September Landon and I had found an apartment, my dad and him going to go snoop it out, FaceTiming me the walk through and letting me hear the realtors spiel about why this place was so great.

Colby and I have been okay.

We've definitely been FaceTiming a lot less lately which sucked, but we were both pretty busy so I understood.

Colby's leg had been healing well, and he was able to walk on it now, he just had to be careful, so I was pretty pissed when I found out that he had gone on a trip with Sam to go film at some weird haunted place, but I kept it to myself.

The last thing I wanted to be was controlling. I was just worried, but I was afraid he wouldn't understand where I was coming from, and I really didn't want to argue anymore.

Aunt Ginger helped me pack up my stuff whilst Gemma was FaceTiming Gabe aka Gabe was talking to her and watching her play, Gemma completely ignoring his presence, more interested in the building blocks in front of her.

"So Leighton" I heard him call, catching my attention.

"Hm?"

"What are we doing for her birthday? When am I booking my flight?"

"What do you mean? You're not going to be here for her actual birthday?"

"Are you having the party on her birthday?"

"I don't know yet Gabe"

"Well that's what I'm trying to figure out. I need to figure out my classes, Leigh, and buy tickets before it's last minute. Speaking of, can I bring Zara?" He asked, stopping me in my tracks.

"You want to bring your new girlfriend to our daughter's first birthday?" I asked, caught off guard. I saw him nod and I sighed. "Fine, but she's not allowed in all of the photos. I don't want her in all of my daughters first birthday photos if you don't stay together"

I opened my calendar, scrolling two months over. "Her birthday is a Thursday.. Do we want to do it on the following Saturday? The 27th? — Shit, we can't. That's Sam's birthday"

"Leighton, who cares-"

"I'm not going to intrude on Sam's birthday Gabriel"

He rolled his eyes as I scanned my calendar, trying to figure out when the best time for her party would be.

"Do we even want to have a party? We could just spend it together with her. Order a cake, buy some gifts. Have it be lowkey" 

"She deserves a party Leighton"

"But she's not even going to remember it!"

"No one said it had to be extravagant, but she should at least be celebrated. You just said you wanted to do family photos or whatever"

"Well yeah"

"Look.. it's still two months away.. but we do need to figure it out. I can't miss too much school, so I wouldn't be able to stay for like a week or whatever, but I could come for like three days or something"

"I mean.. we could do it Friday, the 24th? Or the Saturday before her birthday"

"Do you want to do it that far before her birthday?"

"I don't fucking know Gabe! I haven't thought about it!"

"Shit, her birthday lands on Thanksgiving Leigh"

"Fucking hell, why couldn't she have been born on her due date? — Wait, shit! That's going to be a recurring problem isn't it?!"

"Yeah"

"God dammit! Well fuck us, right? How the fuck are we supposed to do her birthday parties!"

"Like we are now, before or after her birthday"

"We could just have it on Thanksgiving. We could all come together-"

"We both know that's a bad idea. Our families do not get along"

"Yeah well tell your mother to fuck off, and we'll be fine!"

Gabe chuckled, shaking his head. "I'm sure that would go over well"

"Well what, am I just supposed to throw two parties her entire life?!"

"I'm sure G would love that"

"But my bank account wouldn't!"

"Look, let's just do it on Thanksgiving.. have both of the families come together and see how it goes" He suggested and I sighed, opening November 25th on my calendar, typing in "party" next to "Gemma's birthday". "Fuck! Those tickets are going to be so expensive!" he groaned and I rolled my eyes, ignoring him.

September 29th was our official Move In Day of the apartment. Landon was going to "move in" first, and make sure it was good to go and all cleaned, my dad helping him baby proof the place before we got there.

Uncle Garret was a god sent for offering to help us move back, I truly couldn't thank him enough.

Gemma and I flew to California on October 3rd, Uncle Garret having left on the first so we hopefully make it there together, Uncle Garret planning on flying back home on the next day.

I truly owed that man my life for how willing he was to drop everything and help me at the drop of a hat.

I already was in debt to my Aunt and Uncle for letting me live with them, so I can only imagine how much it'll take for me to feel like I fully paid them back for their generosity.

"Ready to go see our new home G?" I cheered, picking her up out of her car seat, grabbing the diaper bag and pushing the car door closed.

We were on the fourth floor of the building, Gemma surprisingly loving the elevator.

She kept giggling at herself in the mirror, her grubby little hands wanting to touch the glass.

I knocked on our apartment door since I didn't have a key yet, not expecting Finn to open the door.

"Long time no see!" I joked, stepping into the apartment.

Gemma squealed at the sight of Landon's best friend, Finn happily filling her into his chest to say hello.

"Where's Landon?"

"Bathroom"

"Go figure" I laugh, my eyes scanning the apartment.

It looked nothing like my last apartment.

You walked into a small entryway, walls on either side of you. You could see the living room from the front door. 

I walked further in, not slipping off my shoes just in case Landon did a half ass job with cleaning.

To my left was a small kitchen, but it looked nice. Everything in here was definitely older looking than my last place, but it wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

To my right was a closet and what appeared to be a bathroom. I hated that the only bathroom was near the front door, but beggers can't be choosers, so I got over it.

I passed the kitchen, stepping into the living room, a dinning room on my left and a hallway leading to the bedrooms on my right. 

Uncle Garret got there two hours later, all of us helping on unpacking the truck, Lexi being put on babysitting duty.

Uncle Garret, Finn and Landon started working on Gemma's crib, whilst Lexi, my mom and I dug through boxes, working on organizing everything.

"So where is Sam and Colby? I figured they'd be all over helping you" Mom asked, handing me hangers of my clothes for me to put away.

"They're gone filming"

"Ah"

"Mhm"

I could feel my mom's gaze burning a hole in my back as I hung up the hangers.

"How is Colby doing since the accident?"

"As far as I'm aware, he's fine" 

"Oh"

"What mom?"

"Nothing"

I rolled my eyes, letting it go.

Two hours later I walked into Gemma's nursery, seeing the crib and diaper changing table put together.

"Where do you want everything, Leighton?"

We shuffled a few things around, Finn helping me put the crib sheets on.

We decided to focus on getting Gemma's room put together so it was done and ready for her to sleep in, all of us focusing our attention on filling the drawers, unboxing diapers and organizing her baby toys.

Her nursery was small, but it got the job done and it felt good to leave her room later that night and know it was finished and ready for her to use as bedtime approached.

We all sat on the floor eating our take out pizza, watching Gemma crawl around and squeal when Finn crawled after her, letting her think she was getting away from home.

Something about this moment just felt like home.

I caught myself multiple times smiling and laughing with my family, watching our antics unfold as we ate dinner together.

That night Gemma was pretty rough to get down to bed, which was unsurprising since she hated sleeping in new places, so I was definitely exhausted by the time she finally passed out in her crib.

I fell asleep around 1am, tossing and turning the entire night.

I guess we both hated sleeping in new places.

That week Landon and I worked on really organizing everything and figuring out where we wanted things, and what would work best.

I thanked him for baby proofing the place, laughing as he complained about the safety drawer clips, griping every time he went to put a knife away that it was a pain in the ass to unclip.

"That price we pay for her safety!" I reminded him, laughing as he muttered "Yeah yeah yeah"

Landon was organizing our movie cabinet whilst I played with Gemma, next to him, hearing him mention Cynthia. "I heard they're going to induce her"

Cynthia was still pregnant, much to her distaste.

"I feel so bad for her. The last few weeks of pregnancy for me were a bitch, and Gemma came early!"

"I heard she has a doctor appointment tomorrow, she's supposed to text mom and let her know I guess"

"Are you excited to be an uncle again?"

Landon nodded, "I hate that Logan is going to miss it though"

"Me too" I sighed, wishing I could just bring my brother back home.

Later that night whilst I fed Gemma, Colby's name popped up on my screen, asking me to facetime.

I immediately panicked, and just clicked the audio button, not wanting him to see I was in my apartment.

It didn't dawn on me until that split second that I still haven't told him I moved back, wanting it to be a surprise, but he's been too busy for me to be like "Come over" 

Colby's face popped up on the screen.

"Hey! Why can't I see your face?" He pouted and I gnawed on my lower lip, debating what to do.

"I uh.. sorry"

"What's wrong? Why did you decline the video?"

"Er.."

"Leighton?"

"I moved!" I quickly spat out, my eyes widening, not daring to look down at his face.

"You what?"

Shit.

"I moved back to Los Angeles"

"Leighton! What the fuck?! What do you mean you moved?!"

My heart raced as I turned the video camera on, holding the phone out so he could see my face.

"Surprise?" I spoke with uncertainty, hating the look on his face right  now.

"When the fuck did you move?! Why didn't you think to mention this to me sooner?! Leighton, what the hell?! You fucking moved?! When?!"

"Slow down-"

"ANSWER ME!" His voice raised, Gemma's eyes widening at the tone, shoving a cut up carrot into her mouth.

"Damn, okay!" 

"I moved in on the third"

"THE THIRD?! LEIGHTON RAE FOX! THAT WAS ALMOST TWO WEEKS AGO! Are you fucking kidding me?!"

"I'm sorry!" I whined, hating how he was looking at me right now.

"No! Genuinely what the hell?! Why wouldn't you tell me! When did you decide to pull the fucking trigger?"

"Uh. Landon and I started looking back in August-"

"You've got to be fucking joking-"

"Colby-"

"No, fuck off. I— Are you fucking serious?"

"About what?"

"Oh my god!" He groaned, his had running over his face. "Where the fuck are you living now?"

"Not too far from my parents place. It's maybe... 25 minutes?"

I watched his head roll back as he breathed heavily before looking at me again, shaking his head. "Were you just never going to tell me?"

"No! We've just been busy"

"Oh!" He scoffed, "So you couldn't have just dropped it in one of our hundreds of texts these past two months?! Are you for real right now?!"

"Colby-"

"No! You don't think I deserved to know that my girlfriend was moving back to California?! That was less than an hour away from me?! What, was I just supposed to run into you at the grocery store?! Genuinely Leighton, what the hell goes through your head sometimes?!"

"I've been fucking busy Cole! It's not my fault-"

"BULLSHIT!" he cut me off, my face turning stone cold as I glared at him.

"I'm not doing this right now-"

"Of course you're not! Not now, not ever!"

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?"

"Typical Leighton fashion, always thinking of herself-"

"THAT'S NOT TRUE!"

"YOU DIDN'T TELL ME YOU FUCKING MOVED!"

"YOU'RE ACROSS THE DAMN COUNTRY! IT'S NOT LIKE YOU COULD HELP ANYWAY!"

He chuckled, his jaw clenching as he shook his head, staying quiet.

"If you have something to say, fucking say it!" I glared, Gemma eyes trained on me as she played with her food, a look of curiosity in her eye as she watched.

"I have nothing to say to you" He muttered, angering me.

"Fucking bullshit. Spit it out Colby"

"You've been incredibly selfish these past few months" he said, my jaw dropping.

He did not just-

"Goodbye" I muttered, ending the call and taking a few deep breaths, wanting so desperately to cry, but I sucked it up and focused on my daughter.

My phone buzzed, my eyes glancing down at the screen.

Colby 🙈🥵 Typical.

I felt my jaw clench at the message, swiping it away and locking my phone.

I let Gemma out of her highchair once I wiped down her face and hands, tossing the messy bib onto the table.

I cleaned up after dinner, listening to Gemma crawl around and bang some toys on the floor as she giggled at the sound of Elmo's annoying voice playing from one of her books.

I heard my phone ring and I swear I was going to chuck it out the fucking window.

The third time it rang, I walked over to it, surprised to see my dad's name.

"Hello?"

"Hey! Was just calling to inform you that Cynthia had her baby"

I almost dropped my phone.

"WHAT?! Boy or girl?!"

"She had a baby girl, you've got a niece" He said, sounding extremely happy.

"Oh my god!"

"She went into labor early this morning"

"Wow! I.. I can't believe it" 

My mind immediately went to Logan who missed out on seeing the birth of his first child, a lump forming in my throat.

"Visiting hours tomorrow starts at 12 if you want to pop by" He informed me and I nodded, still reeling at the fact that I now had a niece.

"What's her name?"

"Harper Jude Fox" 

Instant tears.

"She gave her Logan's middle name?" I whimpered, feeling like I needed to sit down.

"She looks perfect, Leighton. Both my granddaughters are precious. Truly God's gift, just like my children. I can't believe I'm lucky enough to be a papa again!" 

He sounded so excited and I couldn't help but smile as I started to cry.

Our little family was growing. I had a niece. My brother had a daughter...

Wow.

"I'll definitely come tomorrow! I can't wait to meet her!"

I got to the hospital around 1:30, having bought Cynthia a gift and some treats, struggling to carry the bag and Gemma.

Gemma was babbling my ear off, a few things starting to sound like real words as she talked, earning a lot of looks from the nurses who waved hello at her.

I knocked on Cynthia's door, my dad opening the door and taking Gemma, saying hello.

"There's my other granddaughter! Well don't you look stinkin' cute" 

She giggled, her hands tossed in the air as he kissed her cheek, fawning over her outfit.

"Tell Papa we got it for a steal! I found that at the thrift store a few months back. Isn't it adorable?!"

"Look like a princess Miss Gemma Lorraine" He cooed, pretending to throw her in the air, listening to her squeals and giggles.

"Hey momma!" I leaned down to hug Cynthia. "Feeling okay?"

"I'm doing alright. Really sore"

I nodded, both of us smiling over at my dad who was still messing about with Gemma.

"So where is my perfect little niece?"

"She's in the nursery right now"

"Dammit!"

Cynthia laughed and I walked over, grabbing her gift.

"I got you a few things. If you don't like something, we can return it. It was kind of last minute"

We hung out for a little bit, Cynthia making fun of how impatient I was to meet my niece.

The second they reeled her in, I swear I was going to cry.

"Oh my god!" I whisper yelled, "Oh she's so cute! She's a lot bigger than Gemma was"

"Well I hope so, she cooked a lot longer" Cynthia laughed and I twitched my fingers above her, wanting to pick her up so bad, but not wanting to disrupt her.

"They're going to have to forcibly kick me out to get me away from her" I warned, finally picking her up and snuggling her close to my chest. "Oh she's so cute! You guys did good!" I half joked, Cynthia laughing. "Gem?" I called, my daughter's head turning towards her name which made my heart flutter. "Wanna meet your new best friend?" 

My dad sat Gemma upright, and I crouched with Harper. "Gemma Lorraine, meet Harper Jude, your new best friend" I smiled, trying hard to keep my tears at bay. 

Gemma stared down at the baby, her hand carefully landing on the baby's forehead before giggling and I swear I was going to lose it.

"She's your new cousin G, isn't she so cute? I guess it runs in the family" I winked, grinning at how happy and bubbly my baby looked. I looked over my shoulder towards Cynthia, "I love that they're not even a year apart. I can't wait to watch them grow up together" Cynthia nodded, my dad's voice turning my attention back to the kids.

"I can't believe I have grandkids! I'm only in my 40s" He shook his head in disbelief.

I choked out a laugh, shaking my head. "You wish you were in your 40s! Gemma, tell papa he's an old man now!" I grinned, my dad shooting my fake daggers. "Wanna hold both your granddaughters, papa?" I asked, amazed at the sight in front of me.

We got both the girls situated and I pulled out my phone, snapping a few photos.

It all felt so surreal.

Life has changed so much lately. I couldn't believe Gemma's birthday is next month, or that my brother has a daughter now. Let alone the fact that I moved back to California.

I was in a state of awe and disbelief when Gemma and I finally left the hospital.

G and I arrived at my parents house to check up on my mom, the three of us lounging in my moms bed as we watched TV, Gemma crawling all over us and the comforter when my phone buzzed.

Colby 🙈🥵 We need to talk

* * * * 

Written on: December 5th, 6th, 7th 2022

Published on: December 7th 2022

Word Count: 6k

Part Forty One

#colbybrock #colby brock one shot #colbybrockimagines #colbybrockfanfics #colbybrockfanfiction #colbybrockwattpad #samandcolby #samandcolbyfanfics #samandcolbyimagines #wattpad

[britswriting]

Devotion (15)

Devotion Masterlist

Read on Wattpad

Place your guesses here: Boy or girl? - to my friends who know, zip it lol

*Leighton's POV*

"Do you think this is stupid?" I worried, Colby and I leaving the arts and crafts store with three different bags of supplies, a white canvas under Colby's arm.

"Leighton, I think they'll leave it no matter what we do. They're finding out if our baby is a boy or a girl" 

"I know, I know! I just, I don't want it to be dumb, ya know?"

"It's not dumb Leighton" He eased, slipping the canvas into the back seat, taking the bags from me. "I think everyone will be excited. I don't know why you're so worried"

"I don't know. I just want it all to be perfect. I want Gemma to enjoy it and be excited and I'm nervous as fuck for your parents to be there. I mean, everyone is finding out at the same time that I'm pregnant, and what the gender is. That's a lot to digest in one afternoon"

"I can't believe we're trusting April with this" Colby chuckled, looking over his shoulder as he reversed.

"I know. She was losing her mind last night on the phone, telling me I needed to come to her house immediately so she could tear open this piece of paper. I still can't believe that I could just like, flip it open and see, ya know? Like our baby's gender reveal is sitting in my bag. That's fucking wild"

We arrived at April and Kevin's home, April sprinting out the door before we even had our seatbelts off.

"GIVE ME IT!" She yelled, her hands slapping the window on Colby's side, both of us laughing as we got out, April's eyes wide as she looked between the two of us.

"You're not allowed to look till we're gone! I don't want to hear or see your reaction!" I warned, April glaring.

"You can't do that to me!"

"Yes I can! It's my baby!" I laughed, helping Colby grab the stuff.

"God, you guys weren't kidding when you said you bought a bunch of stuff"

"I had a vision!"

We entered her backyard, Colby filming on his phone as I laid the canvas down, going through the bag, showing April what we got.

"So I thought we could use these" I showed her the balloons, "and like we fill them with paint and then pop them on the canvas? It be like the correct colors or whatever" I showed her the different paints we got, "And I thought about using like tape or something on the canvas and put like Brock or something? Something more personal? I thought we could test it out and if it didn't work, just scrape that all together" I giggled, letting her dig through the supplies we got.

"Tell the camera what we're doing Leighton" Colby spoke up, getting me to look over my shoulder, seeing his phone pointed at me.

"I'm showing April my idea for the gender reveal" I smiled, starting to get giddy at the fact that we'll know soon.

"I can't believe you're having my baby" he teased, a smirk on his face behind the phone.

"Shut up" I laughed, turning back to focus on the project.

~

"God I'm shitting bricks" I let out a breathy laugh, knowing our guests are going to be here soon.

"I just can't believe you got everyone to come. I mean, Colby's family is flying in, and Sam and Kat are coming" Cynthia noted and I nodded, both of us helping April set up the party.

People started trickling into the house, a few questioning why the windows to the back yard were covered, no one questioning why I was wearing a 3XL hoodie that covered my dress, and bump.

Logan and Sam helped my dad get my mom downstairs in her wheelchair, Landon holding the oxygen tank, mixed feelings bouncing around in my chest as she came into my line of sight.

I was happy to see her here, to be involved, to see her... upright, but it also saddened me to see her just look soo.. lifeless? Fragile? Like with one wrong move, it was over.

I felt a hand grasp mine, causing me to jump, our two hands intertwining as I looked over, seeing Colby was next to me, a sympathetic lazy smile on his face as he squeezed my hand, mouthing "You alright?" to which I nodded.

"Do you think Lexi will show?" I asked quietly, watching Gemma and Harper mess around with Landon and Finley.

"I hope so, but I wouldn't hold your breath. Don't let her ruin your day though, okay?" 

I nodded, Gemma running up to us, Colby picking her up, "How is my Gem Gem?" He asked, a big smile shining on her face.

"Good!"

"Yeah? Are you excited for the party? Excited to see your uncles and cousins?" He asked, Gemma nodding, my hand pulling out my phone to take a photo of them.

"Can you smile for me G?" I asked, Gemma grinning, Colby kissing her cheek as I snapped the photo, snapping another when Gemma started to giggle as Colby messed with her, placing endless kisses on her face.

"Stop!" She squealed, wiggling against his grasp, "Coco!"

"What's the magic word?" He asked, Gemma's adorable laughter catching our friends and families attention, the smile on my face growing as my cheeks tightened.

"Peas!" She begged, Colby shaking his head as Harper came over to try and help, jumping up towards Gemma and Colby before tugging on his shirt, demanding that he put Gemma down.

"Say I love you" He demanded, everyone laughing, both of us knowing Gemma was quite the ham for attention.

"I wuv you!" She giggled, Colby flipping her upside down as her tickled her, his arm staying around her stomach, "I can't hear you"

"I LOOOVE YOU COOOCOOO!" She squealed, catching her breath as Colby turned her right side up again, kissing her cheek, "I love you too Gemma" before setting her down, Gemma running over to me.

"Momma!" She panted, "Coco mean!" 

"He can't be that mean if you've got a big smile on your face, bug" I teased, carefully squatting down, praying to god I didn't pee myself. "But if your feelings are hurt, go tell him" I nodded towards Colby who was now talking to Sam, his body slightly tense as his eyebrows furrowed.

I watched Gemma toddle over to Colby, his little finger stabbing him repetitively in his side, catching his attention; his eyes looking down at her as her arms crossed, there quick exchange ending in a hug and a kiss before Gemma ran back over to me; my brain using every ounce of willpower it could find to keep my arms at my side, and not caress my fluttering stomach.

"Momma!"

"Yes, baby?" I answered, this time not crouching, generally afraid of the baby pressing too hard against my bladder.

"Coco say.. say sworry!" She giggled, her face full of pride and glee.

"He did?" I played along, my eyes flickering between my daughter and my fiancé.

"Yes!"

"I'm so proud of you Gemma Lorraine" I smiled down at her, her beautiful little face reminding me far too much of my own.

Her fathers eyes twinkled bright, but her smile shined just like mine and I swore our smiles were identical to my mothers.

I took a deep breath, my hand brushing her baby hairs out of her face before she ran off to go play with Harper; my eyes glancing back over to where Colby was, only to see that he wasn't there anymore. 

"Hey sis" I heard behind me, my head whipping around quicker than I intended, Logan chuckling when I winced, my hand coming out to smack him.

"Stop doing that!"

"I didn't do anything" he laughed, pulling me into a hug, carefully giving me his big brother hug, gasping when I smacked him on the back of the head. "What the hell, Leighton!"

"You're a dick" I laughed, shoving him away from me, "And you can't hit me back because I'm.... pregnant" I whispered, checking to make sure no one was paying attention. "Now stop scaring the shit out of me every time I see you. You're going to make me pee myself" 

"You didn't even jump!" He defended himself, his eyes crinkling as we grinned at each other. 

"I didn't have to jump to still smack you, you're still an asshole"

"I'm your favorite asshole though" he shot back, both of us grimacing at the way it sounded, "You know what—"

"Actually" I heard behind me, a hand sneaking up on my waist, pulling me into their hold, "I'm her favorite asshole" he murmured against my ear.

Logan was flabbergasted, "Now why didn't you smack him?!"

"Because she loves me" Colby smirked, my hand pinching the sink on his waist, Colby jumping slightly, looking down at me, "You're both equally annoying" I grumbled, moving out of his hold, Colby quickly grabbing my hand, keeping me hostage, "Where are you going?"

My eyebrows raised, "The love of your life has to pee" Colby let go of me and I quickened my pace down the hall, locking myself in the bathroom, practically tripping over my own feet in the rush.

"You've got to stop leaning on my bladder, bubs" I quietly griped, still feeling unstratified as my dress fell down against my thighs, the sound of someone knocking getting drowned out by the toilet flushing. "One sec!"

"It's just me" Colby announced, my fingers quickly pushing in the lock, allowing him to twist open the door as I washed my hands, carefully closing the door behind him, locking it again. "You alright?"

"Mhm"

"You've been in here a while"

"What if I had to poop, huh?"

"This is not your pooping bathroom. It's too public" He snickered, my jaw dropping.

"What does that mean!"

"It means if you had to poop you would've gone upstairs" He chuckled.

"I told you I had to pee"

"When would you ever tell me you had to poop?" He asked, passing me the towel.

 "When it's an emergency"

I ignored his stifled laughter, snatching the oversized hoodie off the counter.

"I can't believe we're telling everyone today"

"I know. Do you think your mom is going to hate me more?" 

"She doesn't hate you, Leighton"

"Well she doesn't love me. I don't buy the nice act. I'd place my bet on the fact that this whole buddy buddy thing is for you. I'm pretty sure if you weren't here, she wouldn't be coming"

"Well, you are having my baby, Leigh"

"That's not the point" I huffed, double checking that my bump was hidden, Colby quickly on my trail to the living room, Katrina being the first new face I spotted.

"Hey!" I greeted, attempting to give my best friendly smile, Colby slipping past us back over towards Sam.

"Hey" She smiled, the awkwardness being enough to make me wish I hadn't said anything.

"Thank you for coming" I smiled, my hands hiding in the sleeve of my hoodie, balling the extra material in my palms.

"Anything for Colby" She passed a tight smile, my lips pursing as I nodded.

"Alight, well uh, I should um.." I pointed back towards my family, Katrina nodding.

God that was awkward.

I mingled for a bit, silently hoping the quietness of the children wouldn't end in destruction.

"Leighton, babe, are you ready?" Colby questioned, eyeing down towards my stomach.

"Your parents?" I mouthed, Colby nodding over towards Sam.

I spotted his brother, his brothers' girlfriend and his parents, confusion washing over my face.

Are they ignoring me too, or is that just something my brain is making up out of insecurity?

"Yeah, I'm ready" I sighed, Colby grabbing my hand, leading me towards the patio door, clearing his throat.

"Hey everyone!" he started, the volume of his voice making heads turn, "I just uh, wanted to tell everyone how much Leighton and I appreciate you showing up, especially on such short notice" I nodded, a smile plastered on my face as the nerves ate away at me. "I'm sure you've gathered that this isn't just a get together" He chuckled, a few people following suit, "Leighton and I actually have been meaning to tell you something" he led on, my eyes immediately finding the most supportive faces I could.

My dad, the small smile on his face as memories flooded through of him finding out, and then Cynthia, and the wave of emotion that brought upon me, Logan right next to her... April, how excited she was to do this whole party. To be involved. 

My eyes scanned the room, catching all of my biggest shoulders to lean on, but there was someone missing.

"Leighton?" Colby nudged, my eyes filling with tears as my smile waivered.

"Colby and I are uh.. um, expecting" I stuttered, the tears threatening to fall as I lifted the hoodie, showing off my beautiful baby's bump.

I scanned the rooms as faces lit up, cheers were let out and people began to huddle closer, hurdling a thousand questions to both of us, passing on congratulations and how they expected this to happen, and yet the person I really wanted by my side wasn't here.

I mindlessly answered the due date question, how my pregnancy has been, when we found out and even how both of us reacted to finding out before excusing myself, throwing the hoodie to the side and rushing back off to the bathroom, carefully falling to my knees as I emptied my stomach.

Tears streamed down my face as I exhaled, leaning back against the cabinets, listening to the flush cycle through.

I don't know how long I sat here, messing up my makeup until the lock clicked open, my eyes squeezed shut, not ready for Colby's reprimanding of leaving my own party.

"Hey" A soft voice surprised me, my eyes popping open as streaks of light continued to hinder my vision, "What's wrong? Everyone's excited" She said, taking a seat next to me.

"What are you doing in here? You don't have to do this" I sighed, wiping under my eyes, not wanting Katrina's pity right now.

"I know" She stated, her shoulder brushing against mine.

My eyes rolled, snatching the toilet paper roll in hope of saving some of my makeup and not looking like a girl the morning after.

Kat sighed, "Why are you hiding out?"

"I'm not hiding"

"Oh, so this isn't looking like that time in the bowling alley?" She joked, the room falling quiet.

"I'm alright. You didn't have to check up on me. I know you aren't my biggest fan—"

"I never said that"

"You don't have to Kat, and it's okay. I don't have to be everyone's friend. It's fine, I just, I don't want your pity either. For whatever reason you're here.. you don't have to be" 

I struggled to push myself up, hesitantly accepting Kat's help, the two of us staying silent as we walked back out to the party, Colby's eyes meeting mine, the room having cleared out; everyone in the backyard.

"What's wrong?" He asked and I shrugged, offering a pity smile, stepping into the backyard.

I found my best actress smile, mingling until it became time to find out what April and I have been waiting for only for Colby to pull me away.

"Leighton, why do you look like a beaten puppy? What happened? People are starting to notice, and I know that's not a big deal, but this should be a happy day. We're finding out our baby's gender!—"

"Gender doesn't even mean anything" I grumbled, snatching a cupcake off the table, undoing the wrapping and taking a bite.

"Yes, of course, we will love that baby no matter what, but it helps us figure out a name" He continued.

"We can name it anything" I huffed.

"I'm just going to stay quiet now" He noted, ignoring my glare as I grabbed another cupcake. "Are we just going to angrily eat cupcakes now or can we talk about why you were crying in the bathroom?"

"Is it that obvious?" 

"Your mascara is a little smudged"

"Shit!" I pulled out my phone, fumbling to open my camera, "I look like shit, Colby!"

"You don't look like shit"

"Shut up" I grumbled, shoving my cupcake at him, "Hold this" before scurrying away to fix my makeup.

I wiped off the smudged disaster, carefully reapplying a hopefully even coat only to be met by Colby again.

"Talk to me, please" he begged, "You're always telling me to communicate-" I shot him a glare, "So please, communicate with me, Leighton"

"Not the time. I need to plaster a happy smile on my face and go find out if we're having a mr or misses Brock"

"Please"

"It's not going to fix anything"

"At least tell me what it's about. Is this still about Lexi?" He asked and I shook my head, "Your mom?" he guessed again, my obvious glare making him continue, "Gabe? Come on, Leigh. Tell me"

"It's Aaliyah" I caved.

"Oh"

"Yeah oh" 

"Have you talked to her since you kicked her out?" He asked, throwing away the mascara covered makeup wipes.

"I've tried to. I wanted to apologize for my actions. Make it up to her, yet I got nothing in return and I'm pissed off that she won't talk to me, and It's my fault and I know that. I do. I know I fucked it up and I know that she was right.. but.. did I mess it up this fucking bad? So bad that she won't show up to my gender reveal party? How was that worse than picking me up from jail? I mean, I know we've both had our moments and shit happens, but it's always water under the bridge. It's always been okay after a little while"

"How about we go see her tomorrow? Tell her the good news, let you guys talk? I know it doesn't fix her not being here now, and I'm sorry that her absence is causing you pain and sadness, but don't let one person's grudge hold back your happiness. It's supposed to be a good day, baby. Gemma's going to tell us if it's a girl or a boy and we can go from there. Whether it be the most beautiful unisex name and nursery and upbringing, or the more basic bitch name that they'll get teased for at school.. this is our baby. Our pride and joy. A piece of our family, and I want to share this joyous moment with you. With our friends and family, our daughter. Please, let's just take a deep breath and go enjoy our day, okay?" He suggested, bringing my knuckles up to his chapped lips.

"Okay"

~

"Are you excited, G?" Colby asked, squatting behind her as we handed her the water balloon full of paint, the canvas propped up by a child size easel, a white tarp covering the fence and grass, creating what will hopefully be a stress free clean up. "You know what to do, right? Just throw this at the white board" He pointed, Gemma nodding, giggling as she messed with the water balloon, the small amount of water and paint shaking up in the black balloon.

"Cameras rolling, right?" I called out, knowing Sam was recording and April was taking photos.

"We're rolling!" He called back out and I nodded, shaking the jitters out of my hands.

We're going to know within seconds.

Blue or pink paint in that balloon changes our entire life.

Was it basic bitch colors? Yes. But it was easy, and Gemma knew what it meant, so fuck everyone else. I'll love my baby no matter what it wants to be, no matter if it's got Colby's shitty communication issues, or my crappy drug issues, or our so called gay gene as Colby puts it, this is my baby and whether it's porn with a penis or vagina, it's part of our family-

"Leighton!" Colby's fairly loud voice shook my thoughts.

"What?"

"Ready?"

"Ready" I nodded, grabbing my own paint filled balloon, Sam stood behind the canvas, capturing our reactions as everyone counted down from 10.

10

9

8

7

"I'm so fucking nervous" I muttered, Gemma practically bouncing in front of us.

"I'm excited" Colby grinned.

5

4

3

"Ready G?" He asked, Gemma nodding.

2

1

"Throw at the board, Gemma!" I gave her the green light, all three of us tossing our paint filled water balloons at the white canvas, the water mixing with the paint making it splatter in chaos against the canvas.

"OH MY GOD!" I shrieked, Colby pulling me into a hug, his arms wrapping around my back and before I knew it, my lips were placed on his.

A moment passed before our eyes fluttered open, wide smiles mirroring each other, our eyes holding gaze for a few seconds before Colby picked up Gemma and spun her around.

"It's a girl, Gemma! Can you believe it? You're going to have a baby sister, lovebug! Are you so excited?" Colby cheered, Gemma giggling as she got tossed in the air, my heart dropping to my stomach until his hands swiftly caught her, littering her in kisses.

It's a girl

We're having a baby girl!

Oh my god

OH MY GOD

"Holy shit" I muttered, my eyes wide as a million things began to go through my head.

We're doing this again.

It's Gemma all over again.

It felt like the past 4 years were replaying through my head. The labor and delivery, the late night feedings, the frills and the sparkles, the barbies and baby dolls.

Times two.

We're doing this again.

My eyes found my mothers, and as lifeless as they looked, I swear I could see life within.

She's going to be a grandmother to another baby girl.

She'll have three granddaughters.

Three beautiful bundles of joy to carry on her legacy.

I quickly walked over to her, carefully crouching in front of her as I wrapped my arms around her.

"You're going to be a grandmother to a baby girl again, mom" my voice cracked, tears starting to roll down my cheeks as I pictured introducing my second daughter to my mother. 

Showing my mother her beautiful eyes, her ten fingers and ten toes, the way her chubby cheeks smiled.

"I can't wait for you two to meet" I smiled, swiping the tear off my own mothers cheek.

"Con......grat....ulat........ions...... su......n.....sh....i....ne"  Her slow raspy voice let out, my entire body crumbling beneath my feet.

"Thank you, mom" 

~

I felt guilty for sitting, watching everyone else help clean up, my gaze lingering a little too long on Colby's mom who has yet to talk to me; in fact, his entire family seems to be avoiding me for reasons I was unsure of — quickly looking away when she'd turn around, only to land on Landon who was sitting next to Finn, Gemma and Harper appearing to be showing them something.

Cynthia plopped down next to me, mirroring my position by kicking her feet up, "Hey creeper"

"Creeper?"

"Mhm"

"I'm not a creeper" I pouted, turning my neck to look at her, taking her appearance

How did she look so good in this heat?

Her hair was pulled into a tight bun, her tight curls falling over the top of it, giving this cute messy look; the blue t-shirt popping against her dark skin, the white shorts making me raise a brow.

"Experimenting?" I half jokingly teased, motioning towards the stark white shorts.

"It's called Logan bought me them and I'm being a supportive wife" She replied, ignoring my laugh.

"He tried. Doesn't he know you never wear white pants? I mean, I think you barely own white sundresses" 

"We're being supportive, Leighton" She chuckled, her lips staying in a tight line, threatening to crack into a smile.

"HEY LOGAN!" I yelled across the yard, catching his attention, motioning towards us.

"Leighton!" Cynthia hissed.

I waved her off, watching my older brother make his way over to me.

"What?"

"Your wife? You're the only white she does. Got it?" My eyebrows raised, Logan's face masking confusion, Cynthia gasping.

"Leighton Rae!"

"What is going on? Was that a race joke? From you?" Logan asked, tossing me a weird look.

"Cynthia says she's being supportive by wearing the ugly white shorts you've bought her. I thought I'd save your marriage and let you know that your wife? Doesn't do white"

Logan and Cynthia began to converse about the drama I've stirred up, Cynthia sending me a harsh glare as I excused myself, wandering back over to the snack table that I know Colby and April have ordered no one to clean up.

"Leighton" Colby's dad greeted, nerves making the muscles in my back tense.

"Mr. Brock" I smiled, hoping he bought it and couldn't read me like the worst book ever written.

"Congratulations on your pregnancy. I can't wait to meet the little one" He tossed me a supportive look, my eyes catching Colby's blue ones, seeing he was talking with Gage and Landon, his face full of worry not setting me at ease by a landmine.

What was he so worried about?

Shouldn't he be happy I was talking to his dad?

"You and I both. I can't believe it's a girl. I honestly thought it was going to be a boy. I literally voted for boy on that game my friend set up" I giggled, my hand running over my stomach, feeling another flutter, naturally starting to rock my hips side to side a little bit, knowing the baby settles with movement, praying to god she didn't add more pressure onto my bladder.

"Take it from a Brock boy, who raised Brock boys.. be glad it's a girl" He laughed, my nerves immediately take ease at how lighthearted he was being.

"That bad, huh?"

"These gray hairs? Gage has one half and Cole has the other. Now if you ask Lesa, they're her perfect boys who've never broken a lamp in their day" He chuckled, my eyes flickering back over to Colby, catching him quickly looking away.

"Got room for more gray hairs? Something tells me  it's about to get a lot more messy" I joked, my hand going in a soothing motion over my stomach.

"You've done this before, it'll be alright" He reassured, my head tilting.

"You just told me the Brock genes gave you gray hairs!" I laughed, "Gemma's working on it, but this one is going to have your son's DNA written all over it. I'm going to need all the help I can get"

"Speaking of" shit, now what? "I've heard you guys have been thinking about moving" double shit. Who told them? Colby... "Have you considered Arizona? I'd love to be a lot closer to my granddaughter" Granddaughter? Singular? What about Gemma?

"Sir... Mr. Brock, as much as I'd love to be closer to you guys.." I caught my lower lip between my teeth, slowly releasing it, "I wouldn't want to get hotter than California, and Arizona sounds god awful. I mean, how do you guys survive? I heard that some days you can cook an egg right on your driveway! That sounds like hell. I mean, how don't you cook alive? California is kicking my ass.. er.. butt, as it is. I can't imagine being pregnant in that kind of weather" I rambled, annoyed at myself and Mr. Brock for not having cut me off sooner. 

Colby I swear to god if you don't come save me—

"It's not terrible all the time" He attempted to coax me into an agreement and I quickly excused myself, pulling the I'm pregnant and need to pee card, praying to god I can outwait this conversation in the kitchen.

I walked into the living room, finding Landon sitting on the couch with Nova, his eyes lighting up when he spotted me, calling out "Leighton!" being a much welcomed disaster.

"Hey" I smiled, plopping down next to him, getting a closer look at his face, my jaw dropping, "How the fuck is your liner so even? What the hell?"

"Years of practice" He teased,  my face shifting into a glare of disbelief, Landon stifling his laughter, clearing his throat, "I actually have been meaning to talk to you"

"Oh?" My ears perked, my head tilting as he chewed his lower lip.

"Yeah, I uh.. It's um.. been... somewhat of a long time coming?" He started, visibly swallowing the lump in his throat.

"Well I already know you're gay" I joked, Landon rolling his eyes. "Just spit it out, you know I'll love you no matter what. I didn't think talking to me was so scary"

"It's not scary, I'm just.. nervous of you disapproving" He led on, my eyes squinting.

"Disapproving? Of what? I've already met your boyfriend"

"Yeah... that's the thing" He murmured, struggling to keep eye contact.

"What? Did you guys break up? I thought you said he was busy today" I interrupted, Landon's lip turning white from how hard he was biting it.

"No we're still together" He eased, confusing me.

"Then what?"

"Well.. uh.." He stuttered, my patience growing thin.

"Spit it out Landon Roy"

"I'm in a polyamorous relationship" He quickly slurred, my lips parting out of shock.

"A poly what now?" I gaped, Landon turning white, uncomfortably shifting away from me. "Wait, so you're in an open relationship?" I asked, my head feeling like it was spinning.

Landon quickly shook his head, "No that's different"

"Then you're a what? What's a poly— poly what? What did you say?"

"Polyamorous"

"Polyamorous" I repeated, Landon nodding. "What's that?"

"It's uh.. well, I'll explain from my perspective to make it easier" he explained, myself nodding, allowing him to continue, "So I am dating Xavier" he stated and I nodded, having already knew that, "And I'm also dating Finley" he dropped the biggest bombshell of my life.

My jaw dropped as my throat became dry, my eyes widened, Landon's reddened cheeks flushing white as he nervously licked his lips.

"You're dating Finn? Like.. like best friend Finn? Like Landon, Finley and Molly, the trio that we once knew to basically be added on siblings? That Finn?" I confirmed, feeling like I got slammed into a wall.

Landon nodded slowly and I blinked a few times, struggling to wrap around whatever the fuck he just told me.

"For how long?" I started, figuring I might as well give him the third degree if my brain wasn't going to keep up in speed. Might as well go on autopilot.

Landon hesitated, "It's been.. a while" 

My eyes narrowed, "Define a while" 

"You're how far along?" He asked, my eyes widened again.

"Landon! Oh my god" I scolded, "I'm almost five months" I glared, scared as to where this was going.

"Um... so around... seven months?"

"SEVEN MONTHS?!" I shrieked, Landon wincing. "WHAT THE FUCK?!"

"I'm sorry" He immediately apologized, his face filling with sorrow as hurt lingered in my chest.

"You've been together for almost a year, and you're just now telling me?!" 

"We uh, wanted to wait-"

"NO SHIT! Seven months is a long time, Landon!"

"I know, I'm sorry" he frowned, my anger beginning to boil.

I thought we were close?

We fucking lived together! How did I miss any sort've signs that he was interested in Finn?!

"We wanted to just test the waters. See if this is really what we wanted... and uh, a few months past, and then I was scared"

"Scared? Scared of what? Of me?" I questioned, my heart feeling heavy when he nodded. "What?" I whispered, "Why?"

"I didn't want to lose you" he confessed.

"Lose me? Lose me, how?"

How could he think that? 

"I didn't want you to judge me? Disagree?... hate me"

"Hate you? Landon, I could never hate you" I reached forward for him, frowning when he yanked his hand back.

"You hate Lexi" he shot back, the creases on my face softening.

"I don't hate her"

"You don't talk to her, and you disagree with her relationship" 

"I disagree with her relationship because of their age gap. It's different when you're older, but when you're so young.. I just.. I don't agree with it"

"You can see why I'd be nervous to tell you I'm poly" He pointed out, my lips pursing.

"I'm sorry I made you think you couldn't tell me" I apologized, hating that he felt the need to hide such a big secret for so long.

Who all knew?

"What's going on in your head?" He asked, surprising me by how mature he sounded.

I always forget he's no longer my annoying twelve year old brother.

"A lot of things" I answered honestly, not even knowing where to start.

"Well, ask away" 

Surprisingly Landon answered every question. He and Braxton broke up because Landon wanted to experiment with being polyamorous; everything slowly starting to piece together at how out of left field their breakup felt. Landon stopped hanging out with Molly as much due to her constantly feeling awkward now that Landon and Finn were in a relationship.

I decided to learn about what being polyamorous meant, Landon explaining that it meant x amount of people were committed to each other like a typical relationship, whereas an open relationship you were able to mess around with anyone. Or at least I think that's what he meant. I don't know, I'm still learning.

"So you're not mad?" He asked quietly and instead of answering I pulled him into a hug.

"I'm not mad. I'm curious and have a shit load of questions, but I'm not mad. Thank you for finally telling me, and I'm sorry that you felt like you couldn't just because of how I reacted with Lexi. I love you, Landon"

~

"Leighton, I don't understand why you're so nervous" Colby expressed, holding the door open to a somewhat nice apartment complex.

Clearly Aaliyah had to of gotten have her feet to afford this place.

"Because what if she doesn't want to ever talk to me again? Colby, you don't understand. We're never like this. Even when we're mad at each other, we get over it! It's rare for us to go this long without at least texting each other" 

"Leigh, I understand. Believe it or not, I've known you longer than you're currently giving me credit for" He snickered, my finger jabbing into the elevator button as I tried to calm the nerves in my stomach.

Colby's hand rubbed soothing circles on my lower back as I rang the bell, praying I had the right apartment.

Is she going to slam the door in my face? Will she hear me out? Can we finally patch up this ridiculous tiff we had?

We were met with silence. 

"Do I try again?" I asked softly, my voice dripping in insecurity, Colby shrugging, allowing me to hit the bell again.

I tried knocking, ringing the bell a third and fourth time before giving up.

"Maybe she's not home?" Colby suggested and I sighed, running my hand through my fairly long black hair.

With one final attempt failing, we quietly walked back to our car, no one saying a word until we reached a stoplight near my parents house.

"I'm sorry you didn't get to talk to her" Colby said softly, my head leaning back against the headrest.

"I just, I don't understand, ya know? Like I want to fix this. I want my best friend back. I want to share this with her and I feel like she wants nothing to do with me. Did I really burn our bridge over something so fucking stupid?"

"Leighton, you can't control how other people respond to things. The best you can do is keep trying. Maybe she's busy, maybe she wasn't home?" He rambled off, the feeling of his eyes on me becoming hard to ignore as I kept my gaze held outside the passenger side window. "Leigh?"

"Hm?"

"Are you okay?" He asked, his hand grabbing mine, getting me to look at him.

"I'll be fine"

"That isn't what I asked"

"I don't want to talk about it because I know it's my fault, and I regret it enough as it is"

"Okay...." he glanced back over at me, our eyes meeting for a few seconds before I looked back out the window, "Have you asked your boss about the trip?"

"I have"

"And?"

"It got approved. Four days off"

"Four days?"

"Don't push your luck Brock, I've got bills to pay" I warned, Colby smirking as he shook his head.

"I wasn't pushing my luck"

"Mhm"

"I wasn't!" He laughed, his smirk growing into a grin when he noticed my face was slipping to keep it's careless posture. "Come on! It's going to be fun, Leigh"

"I know it will be fun. I'm just nervous"

"Well don't be" He teased, my eyes rolling.

"Haven't heard that one before"

"Someone's moody" he hummed, his lips rolling inwards when I glared at him.

"I'm sad. I'm mad. I'm annoyed. I'm hungry and can't have fast food—"

"Why can't you have fast food?" he interrupted, his brows furrowed.

"Because I've had one too many McDonalds milkshakes and then thrown up afterwards"

"Ah. So we're done with the milkshakes? What's your current pregnancy obsession if it isn't hangover food?"

"Pretzels" I chuckled, "And chocolate. Anything chocolate is great"

"Oh!" he quickly opened the center console, blindly digging around before pulling out a small bag of something, "Here! I uh, I don't know how melted they are, but they were once Reeces" he snickered, handing me the orange bag.

I dug one out, seeing they were melted, and then resolidified, and slightly melted again, "How long have these things been in there?"

"I don't know"

"Colby!" I shrieked, laughter following behind my shock, "Were you planning on poisoning me?!" my chest shook from failed attempt of holding back my laugh, tossing the back into the cupholder. "You're going to need to start storing snacks in here if you want me riding with you to the Airbnb" 

"I get the pleasure of you riding with me?" He asked, his gaze lingering as we waited at a stop sign.

"Only if you bring snacks"

"I don't know if I want pregnant Leighton has my copilot" he snickered.

"Hey! You got me pregnant! I don't want to hear your complainants!"

"So I'm thinking we leave two days after Kat's birthday? That way her and Sam can go do their thing, and then we can all start the few hour drive there?" Colby checked in, his head tilting when my lips pursed, "What?"

"We're not doing anything with Kat for her birthday?"

"Baby, I think they want to just do their own thing"

"But you always do stuff with her for her birthday?" 

"We can do a bigger thing at the rental, how about that? Plus, I thought you guys didn't get along? You've made it clear that she isn't your favorite person to hang around, why I invited more people than just her and Sam to come with us"

"I don't hate her, I just... we don't mix well, ya know? We're different in a way that if we didn't have you and Sam forcing us to hang out, we wouldn't really hang out. She was great and all when I was pregnant, and had the baby, but I don't think us on our own works well"

"How is it that you and Sam are like best friends, but you and Kat don't get along?" He chuckled, my eyes lingering on his arms as he turned the wheel, biting my lower lip as I watched his muscles flex a little, doing a somewhat U-turn move.

"It's not that we are at each other's throats, it's just... we don't mix well. We have different interests, different conversations.. I just, I don't think we would make good friends outside of our common interests of you and Sam, or even just Gemma. Nothing against her, we just— It's not like how her and Stas can have sleepovers, and Stas and I can have sleepovers. We can't be alone. It's honestly kind of awkward"

"Alright well, this time around we get the master bedroom instead of them. They can have your little closet nook"

"Hey! I liked my closet nook" I frowned, not understanding what Colby had against my little cozy hobbit hole.

"It has a twin bed in it, Leighton. I don't know how you survived being pregnant in that thing"

"If I remember correctly, you squeezed into that twin bed, in fact, you yanked me out of it—"

"I was quite rough with you, wasn't I?" He chuckled, "You should've told me you were pregnant. I would've gone easier on you"

"I can't believe we're going back" I sighed, astonished that this was really happening again.

"I know. So much has changed since then" he agreed.

"I know, you got me pregnant and put a ring on my finger" I giggled, wiggling my fingers in front of us, the ring twinkling against the sunlight.

"If you like it then you should've put a ring on it!" He began to sing, my hand coming over to cover his mouth, shrieking when he licked me, only to feel another flutter in my stomach.

Every time I feel the baby move, it feels surreal.

There is life growing inside of me, and these little flutters keep proving that.

"Here, hand me your hand" I rushed, Colby sending me a weird look, "Shut up, just give me your hand" 

I placed his hand on my stomach, Colby constantly looking between me, my stomach and the road, "What are you doing?"

"I keep feeling a flutter and I want to know if you can feel it too!" 

"A flutter?"

"Mhm! Remember when Gemma would kick? I don't know if the baby is positioned enough to feel it on the outside of the stomach, but I keep feeling a similar sensation in my tummy. Make me laugh again" I demanded, Colby stifling his laughter.

"I can't just make you laugh on demand"

"Yes you can! Come on, do it. You're not allowed to tickle me!" I warned, not wanting to pee my pants in his car.

"This is a lot of pressure!" He exclaimed, getting me to giggle, but not enough to make my chest shake. "Oh! Remember when we went to Minnesota and I had met your Aunt and Uncle and we had that dance party in the kitchen making those pizzas? I truly thought your uncle was going to disown me" 

"I'm shocked Aunt Ginger didn't disown Melissa" I giggled, memories of dancing with the Rotty's flashing through my mind. "We should go back" I sighed, missing the environment that was my Aunt and Uncle's house. 

"Tell me when to book the flight and we'll go"

"We can't. I have too many responsibilities"

"Leighton, you've got to live a little"

"I am! I am living! This is me living! I can finally get a good job now that I don't have my record over my head. I can possibility go to college"

"You want to go to school?" He questioned, putting the car into park outside my parents house.

I chewed on the inside of my cheek, "I've thought about it"

"Really? What would you go to school for?"

"I don't know... I want to do something though, ya know?"

"Is this you wanting to go to school for yourself, or to prove to others that you aren't a fuck up?" He asked, fully turned to look at me.

"You know" I sighed, "I'm learning that doing shit for others is getting me nowhere. I think I want to do this for myself. To feel accomplished. To feel worthy of something"

"Leighton, you're worthy of everything. You've already accomplished so much. If you want to go to school, I'll support you, but you don't need to do this just to add it to a list of accomplishments to show off. You're never going to be truly happy if you don't do it for yourself. Be proud of the list you made to show yourself, not others" He gave my hand a squeeze before taking his keys of the ignition, unclipping his seatbelt and opening the door, only to turn back to look at me, "Plus, I think having two incredible daughters is already such a huge accomplishment" he winked before climbing out of the car and shutting the door, leaving me alone.

Having two kids was an accomplishment, but what about my best friend? My mother? My sister? Having those people by my side as I achieved these things?

What am I going to tell my daughters when they ask what life was like before them? Or when they were growing up? 

That I'm a drug addicted fuck up? That I lost everyone I loved and had to piece it all together, only to repeat it again?

"Leighton? Are you coming?" Colby called out, his voice muffled from the closed car doors.

I nodded, unclipping my own seatbelt and climbing out of the car, shutting the door, allowing him to lock it.

"You alright?" He asked, motioning for me to walk in front of him up the sidewalk and steps. 

I nodded, pulling the storm door open, Colby's hand reaching out to hold it above my head.

"Coco!" Gemma yelled, scooting off the couch and running over to us, Colby happily picking her up.

Having two incredible daughters is already an accomplishment... Right?

* * * * 

This was supposed to be out days ago but I was preoccupied having a birthday and seeing Taylor Swift lol I apologize 

I also apologize for it being another girl, but it was already written into the storyline when I realized how annoying that kind of is... 

My next Colby book he will have a son, I promise lol it's already planned - I kind of always write kids into my books if you can't tell lol

Lastly, did anyone suspect Landon's secret??? 

Written on: June 12th, 18th, 19th, 20th, 21st, 22nd, 26th, 27th, 28th 2023

Published on: June 28th 2023

Word Count: 7449

Part Sixteen

#colbybrock #colbybrockimagines #colbybrockimagine #colbybrockblurb #colbybrockblurbs #samandcolby #colbybrockoneshot #colbybrockoneshots #colbybrockfanfic #colbybrockfanfics #colbybrockfanfiction #colbybrockfanfictions #sasmandcolbyfanfictions #samandcolbyfanfic #colbybrockwattpad #colbybrocksmut #colbybrockbaby #samandcolbyimagines #samandcolbyoneshot #wattpad #wattpadrecs

[britswriting]

Unbroken (31)

Unbroken Masterlist

Read on wattpad - wattpad gets it first. as of posting 31 here, chapter 39 is posted there..

*Leighton's POV*

That week I spent a lot of my time hanging out with family and friends, getting their help on meal ideas and having Katrina and Aaliyah be my exercise buddy. I also talked it out with Silas about why he was mad at me, which turned out to be because I put me and the baby in danger on July 4th, and it scared him.

Lexi and Aaliyah went with me to the hospital this morning so I could be monitored and they could check for any more developing preeclampsia symptoms. They also helped me get ready for my date with Silas whilst I facetimed Kat getting her opinions on the outfit.

"I always forget Leighton has a sleeve" Kat said out of nowhere as we did the finishing touches to my makeup.

"How? It literally takes up my whole arm" I laughed, reaching for my eyebrow pencil as Aaliyah worked on my hair.

"You're always in hoodies!"

"They're comfy, and they don't press in on my stomach. Speaking of wearing hoodies, do you know why Colby is mad at me?" I asked her, grabbing my eyeshadow palette.

"He's feeling sorry for himself" She rolled her eyes making my face scrunch up.

"What do you mean?"

"Leigh, stop being oblivious!" Katrina scolded and I glared.

"Sorry I'm not babying him! I'm too busy worrying about my literal baby!" I snapped, Lexi and Aaliyah staying quiet.

"Why don't you ask him?" She lectured and I rolled my eyes.

"So you're telling me that on top of all my own bullshit, I also have to worry about him?"

"Leigh stop" Kat spoke in a monotone and I flipped her off, grabbing my highlight.

"Wow, real mature"  

"Hey, let's all get along, yeah?" Aaliyah suggested, setting down the straightener.

"Look Kat, I get you're used to having an easy going life, but that is not my story right now. I can't be bothered to constantly worry about my roommate, when I have a high risk pregnancy, okay? It's not my fault he's acting like a child. I'm not in charge of him, or his feelings. I need to make things right with Silas tonight, and I need to focus on my own family. At the end of the day, they're more important" I explained and Katrina scoffed.

"You're literally so stupid"

"Did I fucking ask? I don't think I did. All I asked was if you knew why he was mad. Not to be lectured about how I don't fucking pay attention every time he cries wolf! Look, it's whatever. I need to finish getting ready. I'll let Sam know that I probably won't be home. Bye" I ended the FaceTime before groaning, then shaking my head and grabbing my lipstick.

"So, what was that about?" Aaliyah asked hesitantly and I grumbled.

"Ever since I told Colby I was moving out, he's been distant. I thought we made progress back in Minnesota ya know? But I guess not"

"Is there a reason you haven't asked him?" Lexi wondered aloud and I sighed.

"I haven't had time. I still need to show him the finished artwork. I've been busy monitoring my body with this baby, trying to meet the requirements so I don't get preeclampsia and god knows what else. Plus I have everything with Silas, and I've been neglecting him lately, along with Logan being gone and not having him to talk to right now. Then there is everything with Mom, and yeah she's getting better, but I'm still fucking terrified something is going to happen. Plus, Gabe has a new girlfriend and it's kind of hitting me that my baby will have a stepmother. There is just so many life changes right now, that I can't pay attention to my fucking roommates and what's going on with them. None of this is including what is going on next week. I'm just swamped, and now I'm annoyed that she's blaming me for his bullshit. Does it look like I have room on my plate for another full course meal of emotions? No" I ranted, both of them staying quiet. "Can you hand me my dress please" I asked quietly, Lexi leaving to go get it.

~

"I'm so glad you didn't choose a booth. I probably wouldn't have fit" I giggled, twisting so I could sit down without falling over.

Silas and I had some small talk before ordering, but his next question caught me off guard.

"Have you figured out a baby name yet?" He asked and my eyes widened a little, shaking my head.

"Gabe and I have only touched on it a few times. Why? Do you have any ideas? I'm all ears. Is it okay if I grab my phone to write them down?" I asked and he nodded.

"Boy or girl?"

"We don't know. Just tell me whatever comes to mind"

"I mean, I think Silas is a great name" He cocked an eyebrow and I laughed.

"I only have room for one Silas in my life, sorry"

"How about Cordelia?" He asked and I scrunched my face, shaking my head.

"That is not my vibe" I let out a breathy laugh.

"Neveah?" He suggested and I shrugged, writing it down.

"It's not bad, but I don't know if I love it"

Silas pulled out his phone and then asked "How do you feel about historical names?"

"Um, I guess I don't mind? What's the name?"

"Cleopatra" he said and I could tell he was trying to keep a straight face.

"Maybe the second baby can be Cleopatra" I chuckled , biting my bottom lip.

"You could call 'em Cleo for short?"

"Cleo is cute"

"Yeah?"

"Yeah"

"Griffith?" He asked and I shook my head.

"Reminds me of my roommates friend named Griffin"

"Emmett?" He asked and I shook my head.

"Gabe's last name is Bennett. It can't be Emmett Bennett" I laughed, Silas cracking a smile as I spoke the name together.

"Why not? I think he'd be a fun guy"

"Caspian? Casandra? Conrad? Coven? Cora? Callie? Christina?" He listed off and I tilted my head to a few, saying no.

"Conrad is the dumbest name ever. I'm sorry if you know a Conrad, but what kinda name is Conrad? Conrad Bennett? Hard no"

I ended up googling some of my own, and a few made the list, but for the most part, it was just us passing time as we waited for our food to arrive.

~

"Queens don't hate, queens don't fight, queens don't stay unless their kings treat them right!" I yelled along to the radio, my hands in the air as Silas laughed at me. "Every jewel on my crown, you better believe I earned it, won't keep people around that don't believe I deserve it!"

"You're so cute" He laughed and I grinned, leaning over and kissing his cheek.

"Oh shit!" I laughed, reaching up to wipe the lipstick mark off.

"Could've left it" He said without looking at me, paying attention to the road.

"You want to walk around with my lipstick mark on your cheek?" I laughed and he shrugged.

"All yours baby" He turned to smirk at me and I smirked back.

"I better be"

He went back to focusing on driving, so naturally I started singing along with the radio again.

"No, I don't need the tallest tower to prove to anyone I ain't weak. I turn my pain into power, every tear's a diamond on my cheek" I sang along and I felt Silas take my hand, lacing our fingers, causing me to smile as I looked down.

It was quiet for a bit, myself humming along to the radio when Silas out of nowhere said "I'm really happy" In a content sigh, causing me to turn to look at him.

"Yeah? I'm glad you're happy. You deserve to be happy baby"

"The happiest" He said when he turned to look at me, squeezing my hand and I felt my cheeks warm up.

~

"Hey babe, do you have a spare shirt I can borrow?"

"You look gorgeous, but I guess I can give you a t-shirt" He grabbed one from his closet, tossing it at me.

"AH!" I yelled, quickly catching it before it hit me in the face. "I didn't bring fucking makeup wipes. I'm going to look like a racoon when I come out of that bathroom" I sighed and Silas laughed.

"You're the prettiest racoon I've ever soon"

"I hate you" I grinned, closing the bathroom door.

I took a quick shower, washing my makeup off.

When I went to get dressed, I quickly found out that that wasn't happening.

"Hey babe?!" I yelled, cracking open the bathroom door.

"Yeah?"

"Erm... we got a problem" I muttered and I watched him get off the bed, walking over to the door.

"What is the problem- oh my god" He laughed as I opened the door and I frowned.

"This is bullshit" I grumbled, looking at myself in the mirror.

"You look cute" He noted and I rolled my eyes.

"It doesn't fucking fit. This isn't helping me not feel fat right now. I can't fit in my boyfriend's clothes!" I grumbled, seeing my little baby belly poke out at the bottom of his shirt.

"I mean, you fit, just your baby doesn't"

"I don't even have a bra!"

"I'm not complaining" He smirked and I glared at him.

"Yeah, I'm sure you're not! Now what?"

"I mean, it still works" He said, eyeing me over and I huffed.

"Do you have sweatpants so I can at least cover my ass? This is ridiculous" I grumbled, turning to the side, seeing the stretched out shirt.

"Hey, come here" He grabbed my hand, pulling me into him. "You look cute. I get it's annoying, and frustrating, but I think you look adorable"

"You just like that my thong is exposed in this ensemble"

"It's a perk, but I spend more time looking at your pretty smile than your ass" He smirked and I glared.

"Yeah, sure. Can I have sweatpants please?" I asked and he nodded.

He walked back in with dark gray sweatpants, handing them to me.

"Oh god what if they don't fit" I groaned, afraid to put them on. "What if they're like jeans, and I move and they rip? Oh my god, take them back!" I threw them at him and he just started laughing at me.

"Leighton, just put them on" He opened them up and crouched down. "C'mon, one leg first"

"Not shit sherlock! What did you think I was gonna do? Fucken jump into them?"

"C'mon!" He laughed and I braced my hand on his shoulder, stepping into the sweatpants.

"There you go baby, look, you can even tie them. You look perfect" He smiled at me in the mirror, tying the drawstrings.

"My stomach still sticks out" I grumbled, tracing the bottom of my stomach with my finger tips.

"That's a mood" He laughed and I smacked his arm.

"Silas! I'm only gonna get bigger!"

"At least I know you won't steal my hoodies" he cocked an eyebrow and I punched the side of his arm "Ow!" He laughed, holding his arm.

"Good!"

"If it really bugs you, you could just take the top off?" He suggested and I narrowed my eyes at him.

"I don't have anything on underneath"

"Leigh, I don't care what you do, I just want you to be comfortable. I'm sorry, but I don't have any bras for you to barrow" He teased and I rolled my eyes, smiling.

"If I take my shirt off, do you promise not to look?" I asked and he chuckled. "Baby, I'm a guy. I can't help but to look. I promise you're stunning, and I won't do anything inappropriate to you, but I can't promise to not look"

"Fine, turn around"

"What, just so I can turn around and see you topless? You're not hiding anything Leigh"

"Oh my god! I hate you. Fine" I grumbled, pulling his shirt over my head, and when I opened my eyes, he was staring at me. "HEY! It's rude to stare! I know, my nipples look weird" I frowned, looking down.

"What?" He laughed and I pouted.

"They're bigger. Like my nipples grew. I talked to Dr. Hughes about it, and apparently your nipples become larger and more pronounced as your boobs grow, getting ready for milk and the baby. And like the middle can darken. Ugh my boobs are gonna be so ugly!"

"I don't notice anything weird Leigh, you're perfect"

"I'm far from perfect!" I laughed, cupping my boobs and wincing. "Yeah, you're sticking to first base. These bitches still fucking hurt"

~

"I'm excited to see it. You've spent a long time on it" Colby said as we climbed my parents' stairs.

"God, I can't get any bigger or I'm going to need one of those stair chairs the old people use" I panted, stopping halfway up the steps.

"Our new house has an elevator" He laughed and I breathed heavily before meeting him at the top.

"Good for you. My apartment does too. Anyway, lets go look at it"

I opened the art room door, and I saw my dad was sitting at the desk, sketching.

When he heard the door squeak, he looked up at us before looking back down at what he was doing.

"Sorry to bother you. Just wanted to show him the art piece" I told him and he nodded, getting back into the zone of his sketching.

I walked over to the piece, turning the easel around so he could see it.

"YOOOO! THIS LOOKS SICK!" He yelled, my dad chuckling.

"You like it?" I asked and he quickly shook his head.

"This is insane! You out did yourself! Oh my god! It's going to look sick in our living room!"

"I'm glad you like it"

"Like it? I love it Leighton! I might make you do all the artwork in our house" He laughed, getting closer to the piece.

"God no, this thing took me months. You'd have a bare house for a long time" I laughed.

"Do you care if we keep it here till we move in?" Colby asked and I turned to look at my dad, asking him.

"That's fine, Leigh, can you hand me the charcoal?" My dad asked and I nodded, grabbing the bin.

Colby and I ended up going to Chick-fil-a and we sat down at a table outside and I decided now was a good time to do what Kat suggested, and ask Colby what was going on.

"So.. erm.. I've been meaning to talk to you"

"About?"

"Uh.. is everything okay? Between us, I mean. You've been.. distant.. again?" I asked and he sat up straighter in his chair.

"Yeah, why?"

"I just... what happened back on the fourth?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well uh.. like.. you were.. mad? And you said that I was moving out, and uh... when I asked you what you meant.. you uh.. kinda ignored me?"

Colby sighed, dipping a french fry into ketchup, almost seeming like he was trying to figure out how he was going to answer this.

"Please don't lie to me" I begged and he threw his head back, turning it from side to side before looking at me.

"I guess I'm just disappointed"

"Disappointed? Why?"

Colby groaned, looking off to the side before back at me, slouching back in his chair again.

"I guess I just... I thought we were becoming friends? Like.. we were starting to hang out together.. and get along and now you're leaving. I guess I just feel like it was for nothing. Like we went through all of this.. for nothing"

"How was it for nothing?"

"It just feels like everyone was on our necks about getting along, and now we finally are, and you're leaving. Like.. the things I've learned to love doing with you.. won't happen anymore. I guess I'm just feeling sorry for myself, I don't know"

"Just because I'm moving into my own place, doesn't mean we still can't do stupid stuff. I get it. I felt the same. It does suck knowing I can't text you at 2am and ask you to get cheesy fries with me.. but that doesn't mean we'll never get cheesy fries together again."

"Why did you want to move out anyway?"

"Independence"

"But you have independence?"

"It's not the same"

"How? What is independence to you?"

"Being on my own"

"But you are on your own. So what, does that make Sam and I codependent because we live together? Like.. we still do our own thing? You don't have to be alone to be independent Leighton" Colby tried to make a point and I groaned.

"You're sounding like Aaliyah!"

"Aaliyah is a smart girl" Colby chuckled and I rolled my eyes, chucking a french fry at him.

"Why do you want to be on your own?" He asked and I sighed, my stupid little brain giving me stupid little flashbacks of my stupid life.

"I just do"

"Now don't lie to me Leighton" He mocked and I glared.

"Shut up. I want to be on my own because I never have before. I've never been on my own. I've always been with my parents, or Gabe or Aaliyah's and I spent some time at Stephens.. I just.. I want to be alone. I need to be alone"

"How does being alone prove your independence?"

"It's just.. I've always depended on someone y'know? Like.. when I was kicked out.. I had someone to go to. I know that sounds dumb, but like.. there always is a safety net, and don't get me wrong.. it's nice.. it's just.. I have a lot to prove. And like, even my dad is the second signer on my lease in case I can't pay rent. Like I said, safety net"

"What's wrong with having a safety net?"

"I will never not be looked at as the girl with a drug addiction. You know what tomorrow is, right?" I asked and he looked down at his phone.

"Uh... the 13th?" He asked and I nodded.

"Tomorrow means a lot to me. It's the day I'm starting over, and I'm going to prove to everyone that I can do this. I need to do this"

"What's tomorrow?" He asked and I sighed, knowing I shouldn't have brought it up.

"I don't want to talk about it"

"You can't just start and not finish"

"YOU DO THAT ALL THE TIME! We WERE talking about you!"  

"Okay, but what's tomorrow? Your birthday was a month ago? It's not your due date... is it your anniversary with Gabe?" He asked and I shook my head.

"Tomorrow is a year ago that I vowed to start over"

"What does that mean?"

"On July 13th 2019, Aaliyah picked me up from prison, and brought me to her house.. and I started my recovery journey"

"Wait, you went to jail? We both went to jail in 2019? Hold on-"

"Cole Brock, did you just make this about you?"

"No! I just... it's weird we both went to jail in 2019, anyway, continue" He chuckled and I rolled my eyes.

"I went for drug possession. Look, I don't really want to talk about this, okay? That's just what tomorrow is, and that is part of the reason I want to be on my own. There is a lot to prove, and Aaliyah told me I should look into getting it expunged"

"What is that?"

"Like wiping it from my record"

"Can they do that?"

I nodded, grabbing one of my chicken nuggets.

"It just can't be for something serious y'know.. like a serial killer or podophiles. I don't know. It would make it easier to apply for jobs and such. It was such a dumb crime too! Ugh, still annoyed about it"

"I mean, Sam and I were busted for trespassing on a construction site near a school, so we are both dumb criminals" he laughed and I rolled my eyes, smiling.

"Can I say something controversial?"

"Hm?"

"McDonalds chicken nuggets are better" I took another bite of the chicken nugget and Colby laughed.

"So, going back to you being upset that I'm moving out, why don't we try to hang out more often? You could always join my family and I? Or my friends? We could go see Nova at Cynthia's? We could do our late night diner things too. I don't move out till the beginning of August. We have time. Just tell me when you want to"

"What if before you gave birth, you moved back?" Colby suggested and I gave him a weird look.

"That defeats the purpose of me moving out" I laughed and Colby shook his head.

"Hear me out. You're on your own, you feel that independent life, you move back"

"Isn't that literally two steps forward, three steps back?" I asked and Colby narrowed his eyes at me.

"I don't get it"

"Get what"

"Why you want to move out"

"Other than being independent?" I asked and he nodded. "Well... I, uh.. erm.. well" I stuttered and he gave me a look. "I don't want to be inconvenient"

"What do you mean you don't want to be inconvenient? You're being more inconvenient by moving out, than moving with us"

"Shut up, and that's not it. You guys didn't ask for a pregnant lady, and then her baby to move in. I just don't want to take over your space with baby stuff. You guys didn't ask for the late night crying, and the baby bouncer being in your way. And don't tell me "we wouldn't mind" because you don't know that. You haven't lived with it. You guys like to live in big houses with family and friends, and throw big parties and get drunk till 5am. That's not going to be my lifestyle. I will be up till 5am crying alongside my newborn. We live two different lives, and I think it will be a good thing that I'm in a separate place"

"Can't you get a noise complaint about a crying infant?" Colby asked and I glared at him.

"Don't start giving me anxiety about my new place!"

"Well like, we could get noise complainants for parties. Why we learned we do best in a big house"

"No shit, you guys throw insane parties"

"Thank you" He grinned and I rolled my eyes.

"That wasn't a compliment"

"You know... if you didn't move out, you wouldn't get a noise complaint. We could even put you on the other side of the house"

"Why are you manifesting me getting a noise complaint about my crying newborn?"

"I'm not"

"You are"

"No I'm not"

"Colby Brock, stop it. You're not going to change my mind all because you think it's a grand idea to have me and my newborn crying in your house at 3am"

"You know, most of the time Sam and I are gone filming" He pointed out and I shook my head in disbelief.

"Stop. I don't care. I'm moving into my own place. Deal with it. If your big concern is us not hanging out, we can still hang out. You hang out with Brennen all the time, and he doesn't live with you. Plus, you can fuck whomever you'd like, and won't have to hear me tease you about it" I smirked and Colby smirked back.

We finished eating and found ourselves walking through Target.

"When we get home, can you help me?" I asked him, Colby grabbing a basket.

"With what?"

"I normally wouldn't ask you this... but with my labor and delivery stretches? I'd normally ask Gabe, but he's hanging out with his best friend on my free day"

"What do these stretches entail?"

"Erm"

"Leighton"

"You said we're friends right!"

"Do friends help their friends do labor and delivery stretches?"

"Yes"

"Do male friends help their female friends-"

"Oh, you're going to be sexist now?"

"Leighton!"

"If you don't want to, just say no!"

"I didn't say no-"

"So yes?"

"FINE" Colby grumbled and I grinned.

"Thank you"

~

"We're opening what?" Colby asked, making me laugh.

"My hips and strengthening my pelvic floor"

"What is that?"

"My pelvic floor?" I asked and he nodded. "You know how girls sneeze and they'll pee? It helps with that. After the hospital they make you do Kegels"

"What the fuck is that?"

"You're basically flexing your vagina muscles to strengthen your pelvic floor so you don't pee yourself"

I hit play on the video, groaning at the fact that it was 24 minutes long.

"Breathe in and out" The video said and Colby and I did that. "Sway your hips from side to side" I copied the video and Colby laughed at me.

"I will not allow you to film this if you're going to make fun of me the whole time!"

"I'm sorry! Okay, side to side. Just like Ariana Grande said"

"Oh, I regret asking you to help me" I grumbled, moving my hips slowly side to side.

"Now we're going to do half circles" The lady said and Colby watched the video, both of us trying to copy her.

"Damn, after this video I'll be ready to perform at the strip club" He joked, shaking his ass.

"Oh my god, shut up"

"You're literally just shaking your ass in a circle! MY MILKSHAKE BRINGS ALL THE BOYS TO THE YARD!" He yelled, shaking his ass at me and I laughed a little, shaking my head.

"Now half circles forward" She instructed and Colby laughed at me, causing me to flip him off.

"You're so annoying!"

"It's not my fault you look stupid"

"WHEN THIS BABY POPS OUT OF MY VAGINA, WHOSE GONNA LOOK STUPID THEN, HUH?!"

"Still you"

"You know what-"

"WHAT, TELL ME WHAT BABY MAMA"

"EW! Don't say that to me ever again" I gagged and he cackled.

"That's what you are!" He defended and I rolled my eyes.

"I'm not your baby momma, now can we focus on the video please"

Colby and I finished the hip circles, and now we were standing in a weird squat.

"So this is basically twerking, just from side to side?" He asked and I rolled my eyes.

"No. You know what, do whatever you want" I muttered, doing the awkward motion with the video, my ass sticking out as I moved my hips side to side.

"Damn Leigh! Get it!" He yelled at me and I bit my lip, trying not to slug him.

"I feel sorry for whoever the fuck you impregnant" I muttered.

"God she said to go lower, Imma fall on my ass. If I fall, you have to help me up Colby"

"You've been mean to me all day, no thank you" He told me and I looked up at him, glaring.

"You're one word away from getting punched. Watch it Brock"

I continued with the pelvic floor muscles, ignoring Colby as he also tried to do them, not really getting it.

I watched the next position and I shook my head.

"There is no way in hell I'm doing that"

"You got to try Leigh!"

"I will split my vagina in two, no"

"Let's at least try?" He asked and I glared.

"What, are you gonna fucking try?"

"I can if it will make you do it"

"I hate you"

"The feeling is mutual"

"So you're basically going into a lunge, but our hands are on our thigh and we point out our toes" I muttered, wobbling a little as I lowered my hips into the right position.

"If I fall, so help me God"

"You're going to be fine" Colby reassured, but we both knew he was lying.

Our knees rested on the mat, our hands out in front of us as we slowly rotated our hips to the side.

"How does it feel to do these stretches whilst pregnant? Because I'm not pregnant, and this feels weird"

"Um, I can feel the stretching in my hips and like the back of my thigh. Can you?" I asked and he nodded.

"This is weird"

"Ugh I gotta touch my hand to my opposite foot. I'm not flexible, I'm not gonna make it" I panted, watching the instructor.

The second I touched my toes, the instructor moved on and I groaned, wanting to give up.

"There is no way in hell I'm doing this in my third trimester" I grumbled, Colby chuckling.

"Look at me Ma, I'm doing it! NO HANDS!" He yelled, copying the instructor as he held his hands up in the air.

"You're such a dick. I'm glad you're enjoying this" I panted, opening my hips to the 90 degree hand, my right hip feeling like it was going to leave my fucking body as I did this lunge.

"Imagine if you just pee yourself" He laughed and I rolled my eyes, shaking my head.

"You're annoying"

The second she said we were gonna sit, I thanked the lord until she said we were stretching again, and I wanted to murder her.

"I'M GONNA DIE!" I yelled, leaning forward to stretch out my back muscles.

"You're being dramatic"

"I'M CARRYING A BABY COLE! NOTHING ABOUT THIS IS DRAMATIC! OH GOD!" I groaned, leaning forward, feeling all the weight of my baby pull me to the floor.

"These stretches kill. I'm never getting up off the floor" I grumbled, copying the video. "I'm pissed that you're doing this well. What the fuck" I grumbled, watching him copy her exactly.

"THIS BITCH IS TRYNA MAKE MY LEG FALL OFF!" I yelled, breathing heavily as I rotated my hip muscle back and forth.

"How is her leg so straight? Dude, I'm not gonna be able to do this" I groaned, pushing my leg in the air, copying the video.

"You look great Leigh!" Colby cheered and I flipped him off, knowing I look fucking stupid right now.

"I'm going to kill you. Next time you're pushing out this baby. Why the fuck are you nailing these? What the hell"

"I'm just a better pregnant woman than you are"

"YOU WANNA GO?! I'LL FUCKING GO! YOU'RE NOT EVEN FUCKING PREGNANT!" I yelled, pushing my leg out to kick him in his thigh.

"That's cheating!" He exclaimed and I rolled my eyes.

"YOU'RE CHEATING!"

"How am I cheating?"

"I DON'T KNOW BUT YOU ARE! FUCK THIS HURTS!" I groaned, feeling the stretching in my upper thigh.

"SHE WANTS ME TO GRAB MY FOOT COLBY! MY FOOT! I CAN'T EVEN- OH MY GOD!" I groaned, trying to reach my foot and failing.

"Do you want help?" he asked and I glared.

"Do I want help" I scoffed, still trying to reach my foot.

"Leigh"

"Go away Mr. I'm always fucking perfect"

"Here, can I push your leg forward a little so you can grab it?" He asked and I sighed, nodding.

He pushed on my lower upper thigh, my fingertips barely grasping the bottom of my foot as I breathed heavily.

"I deserve ice cream after this, dear lord" I panted, trying desperately to grab my foot.

"Nah fuck her and fuck this" I growled, watching her lower her knee into her shoulder.

"You can do it Leigh!" He cheered, helping me a little bit.

"Fuck me" I growled, feeling the sting in my thigh and groin.

Colby helped me lay on my back, pushing my knees towards my shoulders as I tried to hold onto my feet.

"I feel fucking stupid" I grumbled and he laughed.

"You look fucking stupid"

"I hate you"

"I know. Do you want me to push harder?" He asked and I threw my head back, my forehead starting to get sweaty.

"You do that, I will break your fucking legs"

He helped me a little bit with the butterfly stretch, myself breathing like I just ran 10 miles in a wetsuit.

"Hey Leigh... I'd just like to inform you that you're only 11 minutes into the video out of 24 minutes" He said and I kicked him, hard.

"Ow!" He yelled and I rolled my eyes, standing on my knees.

We copied the same stretch from earlier, just on the other side, and I swear I was gonna collapse.

"I regret getting pregnant. This fucking sucks, ow! Fuck me!" I groaned, feeling a tiny pinch in my back.

"Would you like help? He asked, and instead of fighting him, I just nodded.

"I hate this" I whined, practically doing the splits, but with my legs bent.

"You said this was supposed to help you?" He questioned and I nodded.

"It's supposed to help make labor easier but fucking hell I hate it right now" I felt small tears fall down my face as I stretched, Colby's face filling with concern.

"Are you hurt? We can stop-"

"No! I'm frustrated! I'm- fuck!" I cried, bracing myself on the mat, my arms wobbling.

"Hey, hey, hey! It's okay! You're doing a good job!" He reassured me and I shook my head.

"I got fucking noodle arms!" I cried and he chuckled.

"You have 4 minutes left. Come on, up you go" He lifted me up off the mat, back onto my knees.

"Here, I'll hold you so you don't collapse, just try and spread your legs in the weird squat thing" He said and I sighed, more tears falling down my face as I got angry with myself.

"Fuck! I should be able to do this!" I whined, leaning forward over my leg.

"Okay, wait, stop" He said quickly, causing me to look at him.

"What's wrong? The lady in the video isn't sobbing?" He questioned and I glared.

"MAYBE BECAUSE SHE DOES THIS ALL THE DAMN TIME!"

"But why are you crying? Are you in pain? If you're in pain, you should stop"

"I'm crying because I'm mad!"

"Why are you mad?"

"BECAUSE SHE'S MAKING IT LOOK FUCKING EASY AND I'M STRUGGLING!"

"Leighton. You said it yourself. She's done this before. She already has kids. It's not her first time. This is your first pregnancy. Things are going to be harder. You're not the carbon copy of her. It's okay to struggle. Slow down, take a deep breath and try again" He encouraged me and I sighed, wiping at my face.

Colby handed me my water bottle and some of my crackers before I slowly eased back into the stretch.

"It's not a race, Leighton. It's okay to go at a slower pace"

"Would you like me to join you again, or do you want me to just help? He asked and I ignored him, focusing on trying not to breathe like an insane person.

We went back to the butterfly stretch, but this time my legs had to be straight, and pushed backwards.

"Do you want to try on your own, or do you want help?" He asked and I felt more tears fall down my face as I got frustrated again.

"I can't- ugh! Help, please" I frowned, trying to grasp my feet, but I couldn't reach them.

"My toes are not touching the ground I can tell you that" I muttered, Colby moving to sit behind me.

"Do you want me to hold your ankles?" He asked and I nodded.

"Lightly push down" I reminded him, knowing that I am not at all flexible and I will simply parish away if I pretended to be.

"I hate the burning sensation in my thighs" I grumbled, feeling Colby lightly push my legs back a little more each time.

We moved to the last stretch, and Colby handed me a pillow so my belly wasn't resting on the mat, myself spreading my hips and leaning forward.

"This is your last one Leigh, you can do it" He encouraged and my arms were literally shaking as I leaned on my elbows, my forehead resting on the mat.

All I could hear was my heavy breathing as I felt the muscles pull in my lower back.

"Please help me up" I sighed, slowly getting up.

I sat on my butt, reaching my hands out towards Colby, but instead, he went behind me and reached under my arms, pulling me up.

The second I was standing, I felt all the tingles, stinging and aches in the places we stretched.

"Can I ask for another small favor?"  

"Hm?"

"Can you sit outside the bathroom door whilst I shower? My legs feel like jello"

"Yeah, let me grab my phone"

Colby walked behind me on the stairs so I didn't tumble, patiently waiting as I walked up the stairs at snail speed.

I was walking towards the bathroom after grabbing a pair of cotton shorts and a baggy shirt, smiling at myself as Colby sat against the wall, scrolling on his phone.

I closed the bathroom door, leaving it unlocked just in case, turning on the shower and stripping from my sweaty clothes.

I found myself looking at my baby bump in the mirror, seeing the differences in my body now, verses when I first found out.

Everything was bigger.

I noticed some tiny little stretch markers on my stomach, and my boobs, knowing they're just going to get bigger.

I also knew that you could put lotions on them to try and help, but I always heard that most of them didn't do jack shit for you and that they were a waste of money.

The second I was under the warm shower head, I felt my back muscles slowly relax, my shoulders dropping a little bit as I reached for my shampoo.

The second I lifted my arms to wash it out, I winced.

I slowly tried to do it, but the moment I realized I would have to repeat the process with conditioner, I just cried.

God knows how long I cried in the shower, feeling sorry for myself, but I eventually sucked it up and pushed through the body aches to finish my shower.

I stepped out of the shower, my legs wobbling a little bit, causing me to brace myself against the counter.

I felt my head lean back, my hips pressed into the cupboard as I took a deep breath, feeling the tears brim at my waterline.

I felt like a baby. Like I was failing.

I was tired of crying all of the time, but it was hard to know that no one understood what I was going through.

I guess I was crying pretty loudly, because Colby knocked on the door, asking if I was okay.

"Um.. yeah" I spoke slowly, feeling some aches near my ribs.

I slowly got dressed and opened the door, smiling at the fact that Colby was still sitting there, right outside my bathroom door.

"Can I ask one last favor and then you can run away?" I asked him, startling him.

"Uh, yeah. What do you need?"

"Can you help me brush my hair before my arm breaks off?"

Colby nodded, standing up and putting his phone in his pocket.

"How do I do that?"

"Erm... well, take the brush, I can brush the roots and then um.. you know how to make a ponytail right?"

"You just like.. scoop.. right?" He asked and I laughed.

"I mean, I guess. Just gather the hair. I say this, 'cause if you hold the hair, I'll show you, it won't pull"

I brushed what I could, and then I created a ponytail, having Colby take grasp of my hair.

"Carefully brush it. If you feel it start to tug, stop and gently go through it. Having your hair pulled is not fun, and can cause a headache"

"How do I start?" He asked and I smiled, watching him try to assess the task at hand.

"You can either start from the bottom, so when you're brushing at the top it doesn't snag, or, you can start at the top and gently work your way down"

I watched him in the mirror, and he decided to start from the bottom and work up.

I've never seen him try to be so gentle with anything in his life.

"Tell me why my arms feel like Roman Noodles when all of the workout was my legs"

"It was all of those feet grabs" He laughed and I rolled my eyes.

"It was all of that trying not to choke you for mocking me"

"Kinky"

"You seem like the type to be kinky"

"If the shoe fits" is all he said and my jaw dropped.

I kept my mouth shut, letting the silence fill the room as he finished the task.

"Okay, drop my hair, and brush through it all. Careful of snagging" I reminded him, watching my hair fall from his hand.

"I'm so glad I don't have this much hair" He muttered, making me laugh.

"I was always told to cut my hair once the baby is born, because the baby will grab, and yank" I smiled, unsure how I felt about losing my long hair.

"Are you attached to your hair?" He asked and I shook my head.

"I'm not attached, no. But I do like the way I look with it, and I haven't had short in since I was a kid, so I don't know how I feel about it"

"I think you could rock short hair"

"Yeah? Just fully shave it off? Ya know, my friend Aimee did that"

"It would definitely be a look"

* * * *

Written on: April 19th, 21st, 22nd, 23rd 2022

Word Count: 6.6k

Part Thirty Two

#unbroken #colbybrock #samgolbach #samandcolby #colbybrockfanfiction #colbybrockfanfic #samandcolbyfanfic #katrinastuart #stasiavuu #solby #satrina

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Desire (28)

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There isn't any dialogue in this chapter... just trust me ;)

*Leighton's POV*

Entering an empty hotel room yet again was probably the most infuriating thing that could happen to me at this moment.

Where the fuck did he go?

I tried to busy my mind by picking up the room and making sure I had all of my things before we had to leave again, but no matter how hard I tried to distract myself, I couldn't help but feel hurt by the fact that he wasn't here.

I was grateful he didn't follow me, but it still hurt knowing he left.

I wanted to call someone so bad, but it was so expensive to do so, so I just sat here, pumping in the quiet hotel room, my mind swirling with endless confused thoughts.

I felt so alone.

I had so many ways I expected this trip to go.... but this wasn't one of them. 

I couldn't keep sitting in this empty hotel room. I felt like I was going to go insane.

I grabbed my phone, doing a quick Google search of things to do near us, wanting to just get back out and busy my mind. After a few quick scrolls, my eyes spotted the word "tattoo" and I was sold.

The perfect thing to get my mind off everything.

I don't think I've ever dialed a number faster in my life.

I somehow managed to book a timeslot at 5:30, even with how booked they were.

I knew what I wanted, I had been thinking about it since I was pregnant.

It was fairly simple, easy linework. Honestly it was a quick in and out appointment.

The tattoo shop was about 45 minutes away so I started to plan my route of how I would get there.

I mean, I could ask to borrow the rented car, but I didn't feel like explaining where I was going.

I figured it would be easier to take a Taxi over there now, so I texted Sam that I was going to go out and explore a bit and that I would catch up with them later.

I didn't even wait for a reply before grabbing my backpack, phone and phone charger.

I needed to get out of this room.

All it held was hurt feelings and angry memories.

Where the fuck did he go?

Were we really over all because I don't share the same interest in the paranormal as him?

Do you know how dumb that sounds?

"oh why did you two break up?", "I don't believe in ghosts." Like the fuck?

Whilst in the cab, heading towards Rome, Sam texted me back asking where I was going.

I figured it was smart to at least tell someone where I was going in case something horrific happened, so I texted the street the tattoo shop was on without saying exactly where I was headed off to. Only he texted back "Why the fuck are you all the way over there????" to which I left him on seen.

Sometimes you just need a break. To be alone. And hey, I can't get drunk or do drugs... So why not get a tattoo?

I walked through the door, a bell chime going off, the receptionist looking up.

I got checked in and figured out my payment method before meeting with the actual tattoo artist.

A girl walked out, introducing herself as Marnie, leading me over to her bench, getting started immediately.

We did a few quick templates on sizes and fonts.

It felt weird going through this process again.

The tattoo would take 15 minutes which reminded me of when I got "Perfectly imperfect" on my ribcage.

The inkwork would look very similar, so I wasn't surprised that it wouldn't take too long.

I took a deep breath, laying down in the chair.

I'm really doing this.

She disinfected the area right under my left collarbone towards my shoulder and I closed my eyes trying to zone out as I prepared for the needle.

Before I knew it, we were done and she was cleaning up the area, grabbing the fun foam that for some reason I always loved watching be wiped off.

It felt like forever since I had done this last, and it felt good.

I missed this.

She gave me a brief overview of the care, but since you can clearly tell this isn't my first rodeo, she didn't go too in depth.

Walking out of the tattoo polar with the fresh in on my skin felt weird, but good.

I always felt weird when I walked out with new ink.

I mean, after all, I was altered forever.

It is kind of a weird feeling.

I'll never see that patch of skin bare ever again.

I checked my phone as I walked down the sidewalk, seeing 15 new messages in the group chat and 5 new messages from Sam.

I opened the messages from Group Chat, a lot of them asking where I was and what I was doing. 

The whole car ride back I felt guilty.

I was so nervous to arrive at the hotel and just be met with my livid friends.

I took a deep breath before swiping the keycard, not knowing if I was praying that he was in there, or that it was empty like before.

The second the green light shined and I pushed the handle, I could feel my heart race.

Please be in here.

When the door pushed open, my breath hitched.

The room was pitch black. There were candles lit all over the room making a beautiful yellow glow. The city lights shine through in a subtle manner.

I thought this only happened in movies.

I kicked my shoes off, not wanting to ruin it as I walked through.

"Colby?" I called out, my heart racing as I looked around the room in awe.

My eyes watered when I saw the beautiful rose petals on the ground, leading to the bed where there was a heart with "I'm sorry" written in the middle.

I walked over to the table in the room, and noticed a note.

In Colby's childish handwriting, there was written

Leigh, I'm sorry. I left some things around the room to treat yourself while Sam, Kat and I are out. Next to this note is a yummy surprise in the bathroom there is hopefully some things you like in there. I wasn't sure what you liked. I'm going to stay in Sam and Kat's room tonight so you have the hotel room to yourself. I'm sorry for what I said. I love you. Colby

My eyes caught the white box, carefully pulling open the lid.

My heart was racing so fast that I thought it was going to explode.

Wouldn't he want to set this all up so we could share it together? Why is he staying with Sam and Kat?

I wandered to the bathroom, curious to see what he had left.

There were candles burning in the bathroom, the fake wick flickering.

At least he was smart.

In the mirror there were rose petals pinned against the glass spelling out "beautiful" in lower case letters across the mirror. 

I couldn't help but smile at the small touch.

He knows me so well....

On the counter next to the sink there was a small box.

In the box was a lotion, two bath bombs, a sugar scrub, a real candle, Epson salt and lavender oil. Tucked on the side, I saw a few facial packets and burgundy nail polish.

I picked up the lotion first and I felt my eyes start to water as I looked through the bin.

He bought my favorite things.

I never talk about, or show him these, how did he know?

I mean, I packed my lotion in my suitcase.... but this was new.

There was even the bath bomb that I used once when I was pregnant, along with one I've never tried before.

Next to the bin was a package of chocolate chip cookies and macarons.

There was a small note next to the cookies but my eyes were too watery to read it.

I rubbed my eyes, thankful I wasn't wearing any makeup.

I picked up the note, blinking my eyes so I could see.

I wasn't sure if you liked macarons I thought the colors were pretty though just in case, I got you cookies. I hope you still like chocolate chip cookies. I know you ate these and cheese its whilst nursing If you rather something else, there is a note on the side table

And the tears were streaming down my face.

I was an idiot.

I wobbled over to the other note mentioned, misjudging the turn and banging my knee on the side of the bed.

"Motherfucker" I groaned, my eyes blurry and my knee now burning. "Stupid fucking bed" I hissed, rubbing my knee.

That's gonna leave a bruise.

I bruised like a goddamn peach, and I hated it.

I grabbed the sticky note, letting the adhesive stick to my pointer finger as I read it.

Order whatever you'd like. I have a tab open for our room or you can order from some fancy five star Italian place Treat yourself. It's on me Colby

Oh I've fucked up. I fucked up big time.

Yet again. You've screwed yourself over. Way to fucking go Leighton.

I sat here for a moment to feel self pity.... but then something hit me.

He said treat yourself.

So that's what I did. 

A quick Google search and a 30 minute walk later I paid for a few treat yourself items and made the 30 minute walk back.

By now it was 8:30pm and I ran my bath, my phone playing music off of YouTube.

I sat in the bath, my razor and cookies next to me as I got started.

If he can do all of this for me, I can do something for him.

I soaked in the tub, letting my skin become squeaky clean and wrinkly before starting my shaving process.

Both legs and armpits were clean shaved and I went to start to work on my vagina when I stopped.

How does he like it?

We've never talked about it before.

I've always clean shaven my whole body... but is that his preference?

I decided just to clean shave, figuring that it would be better than him preferring clean shaven and it wasn't.

I don't know him at all.

I didn't know if it was lack of trying, lack of observation, or lack of communication.

He did all of this for me; with all my favorite things... and I don't know him.

I sat my razor down, the warm water feeling incredible against my smooth skin.

Once I got out, I wrapped the towel around me and washed my face and grabbed one of the facials he had gotten, following the directions before applying the product.

I wanted to FaceTime Aaliyah, but it was 8am for her and she'd be at work.

Instead I took a selfie after I applied the face mask, sending it off to her 

Once I was lathered in lotion, my face mask washed off and my body was fully shaven, I grabbed the nail polish, YouTube playing on my phone as I got to work.

I carefully painted my nails. My fingers and toes matching.

Whilst they were drying I carefully waddled over to my suitcase, not letting my toes touch the floor.

Do I straighten or curl my hair?

What does he prefer?

I've never paid attention to his preferences on my appearance and now it was biting me in the ass.

Curled hair is normal people's sex appeal, right? Isn't that why a lot of Victoria Secret models' hair is curled?

What if he doesn't like it?

I never really do my hair. It takes so long and I have so much hair...

Waves it is. The happy medium.

"I swear to god if I burn myself..." I muttered, plugging in my hot tools.

I somehow managed to not nick myself shaving, so watch me burn the fuck out of my neck.

It'd look like a hickey without any of the fun.

Thankfully, no burns this time and my hair looked pretty decent.

Can you imagine if I put in all this effort and my hair looked like shit? I swear I'd cry.

I don't remember ever putting in this much effort. I was too young and dumb to care when I was with Gabe.

I mean, I was also high and just didn't care. 

It was nice to be sober and actually putting in effort to hopefully impress him.

Oh god.

What if he hates it?

What if he doesn't like how I look? What if he doesn't want this? Would he think I'm slutty? That I'm throwing myself at him? I mean... I am, but not like that...

Is it going to come across wrong?

If his way of communication is through actions and not words... surely this isn't slutty.. right?

It's not like I'm wearing a full porn star outfit.

Would he rather a porn star outfit? The slutty lace and straps and clothes that barely cover anything?

If only I could ask.

It's too late for that now.

I tugged the towel closer to my now dried body, my makeup bag open on the counter as I dug through it.

How do people do this on the daily?

I throw some mascara on and hope to god I don't look like a racoon. How am I supposed to make sure I look sexy?

I used handy dandy YouTube and googled "Sultry makeup look" like a noob, scrolling through different thumbnails until I found one that looked pretty yet simple.

I swear to god if I look ugly after all this effort, I will cry all this makeup off.

What a sight that would be.

You come home to your possible girlfriend/dating partner sitting on a bed full of rose petals in somewhat sexy clothes looking like hopefully a bombshell, just sobbing.

I started the process, hoping my foundation at least matched.

Maybe if I make the room even darker he won't notice.

Would he care? 

Gabe would care.

Gabe always pointed out my makeup mistakes. He said they were embarrassing. That he didn't want to go out in public with my face looking like that, so like a normal person, I stopped trying.

Can't fuck up if you don't try right? Sigh.

Then Aaliyah sat me down one night and she showed me how she does her makeup, walking me through it and I learned.

Am I amazing at it? No. But I'm good enough to know I can leave the house in it and not feel embarrassed.

"I swear if I fuck up this eyeliner" I muttered, sitting on the counter, the mirror shoved in my face as I tried to focus on making it as even as possible.

Sisters, not twins.

Don't they say that for eyebrows? Oh well, it works for eyeliner too.

I grabbed my mascara, remembering to hold it outwards so I didn't get it on my nose.

It's been a hot minute since I've worn makeup, or at least this much makeup. It felt weird.

I stared at myself in the mirror, thanking god that I didn't fuck up my foundation.

I couldn't help but smile as the word "beautiful" was written out in front of me, covering my chest in the mirror.

I think I looked hot? Would he also think that? 

God, I wish I knew what his sexual preferences were when it came to appearance. Does he like the red and black look? Does he like neutral makeup? The waves? 

He's not allowed to hate it. I spent too long making myself look like this for him to hate it.

There was one last step.

Slipping on the outfit.

I took a deep breath before dropping the towel.

I turned to the side to grab my bra, my eyes catching my protruded stomach in the mirror. The rose petals right above it.

Beautiful.

I truly felt beautiful. He's never made me feel insecure about my baby weight or the way my weight sat on my body.

Yes my stomach stuck out and yes my thighs were bigger, my boobs were bigger and shaped weirdly from breastfeeding and my ass hung lower... but he's never once made me feel like he preferred a tighter and higher body.

He's never given me a reason to feel insecure, and for once, I didn't.

I felt hot, sexy, and beautiful.

I clipped my bra, struggling a little bit with the awkward arm stretch.

It appeared to fit nicely and my boobs looked alright in it, only adding to my confidence boost.

Last but not least, the shorts.

Do I put on underwear?

I don't really have any sexy underwear with. I didn't plan on trying to get anything to happen.

Again, would he care?

Is there a preference?

Maybe instead of trying to sleep with him, I should tie him to the bed and make him answer all his sexual preference questions because how the fuck am I supposed to know?

Knowing my luck I'd fuck up and completely turn him off because the color red has some sort of horrible memory attached to it.

He wouldn't buy me burgundy nail polish though if that was the case, would he?

After a long stare in the mirror, futzing with my hair and making sure I didn't have lipstick on my teeth, I grabbed my phone and without thinking twice, I opened Colby's text messages and hit send.

Come to our hotel room 

* * * *

It's short.. and "lame" but just.. hang on ;)

Written on: October 6th 2022

Published on: October 7th 2022

Word Count: 2940

Part Twenty Nine

#colbybrockfanfiction #colbybrockfanfic #samandcolbyfanfiction #samandcolbyfanfic #colbybrockimagine #colbybrockblurb #colbybrockoneshot #samandcolbyoneshot

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Desire (11)

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*Colby's POV*

This past week has been insane. Leighton has been a wreck due to Gabriel leaving a few days ago, which meant I ended up spending the night at her place on the 29th. We've been in contact pretty heavily since our talk in the park, and now that Gabe is in New York, I've been trying really hard to check up on her and make sure she's okay.

On the first of February, I got a text from Aaliyah a few days prior inviting Sam, Kat and I to her family's cabin, the text reading, and I quote, "Harry Styles Birthday Party, February 1st, 1pm. Be there or meet my shovel" followed by "dress appropriate" which could mean many things, so naturally we went and it was surprisingly really fun.

We were all decked out in Harry Styles / One Direction themed clothing, and everything from food names to games were One Direction themed.

I honestly was unsure on how this party would go.. but if Aaliyah can do one thing, it's throw a good fucking party. I did however almost get ice poured down my shirt for saying the Jonas Brothers were better, both Leighton and Aaliyah wanted my head on a silver platter that night.

On the fifth of February, Leighton finally RSVPed for the Italy trip seeing as we finally got her signed up for a rehab center that would be a couple weeks long in the end of March going into April.

One of the concerns she brought up is her treatment falling over the trip, so we wanted to figure that stuff out quickly, plus, we were concerned about possible waitlists, and thankfully, the one we had found wasn't too bad.

I really hoped this works for her.

I hate seeing her in pain, even when she tries to hide it.

Once you're aware of how someone's feeling, it's really hard to see those glances or ticks and let them go unnoticed.

We've had a few close calls when it's come to her sobriety, but I knew she was truly trying.

It's been weird to be an outsider looking in during this time, and one thing I kept thinking about is when she first came over, and how "weird" she was acting... it was sort of like that now, but this time.. I knew why.

When Valentine's Day came around, I texted Leigh and asked if Gemma could be my valentine for the night, aka, can I babysit, and much to my surprise, she agreed.

I figured with Aaliyah moving and all, she'd want Gemma all to herself, but much to my surprise, Leighton actually had plans with someone, so it worked out well for her.

I ended up buying her an outfit, and Kat took some photos of Gemma and I that I posted to Instagram and Twitter, a cute red heart covering her little face in the photos.

I honestly expected the photoshoot to go the same way it did on Christmas, but much to both Katrina and I's surprise, she was a happy little trooper for the whole thing, and we actually did get some really cute photos of not only her by herself, but her with Kat and I.

I saved the images to send to Leigh till after the day was done, not wanting to ruin the surprise of the adorable outfit.

I wasn't quite sure how the day would go, especially since Gemma was now two months old, but honestly, it wasn't bad.

She helped Katrina get ready for her and Sam's date night, she took a hardcore nap, and in the evening, her and I did a cute late night stroll in the park, looking at the stars and hearing the water.

We sat on a blanket in the park next to a pond, and watching her explore grass was something so little yet so big.

It was crazy to watch someone explore the world for the first time.

I caught myself running my own hands over the blades of grass, enjoying this moment with her.

I always knew we took things for granted, but I was almost envious of the two month old.

She was so excited to explore the world for the first time, that even something as small as grass made her appear so excited.

The way her little eyes would widen, and her hands would touch and grab, I truly couldn't take my eyes off of her.

Even at two months old, she had this look of curiosity, and I just knew she was going places.

Not in the sense of, oh she's going to run the world, but I could already tell she was going to be so interesting to get to know. She just had this look in her face as she saw shiny things or heard loud things that she was intrigued and wanted more.

She was already such a sweet, yet wild soul, that I couldn't help but daydream about what she'll be like as she gets older.

I think the weirdest part of the day was putting her to bed.

I wasn't used to having all the baby stuff in my room.

Yeah, I was used to seeing it around the place or in Leighton's room.. but my room.. it was weird.

She went out like a light and I ended up just chilling in bed, watching movies and letting her lay on my chest, taking in this day as a whole.

It was truly a day I will remember forever.

On the last week of February, Sam and I went on a mini trip down south to do some filming which was fun yet tiring and honestly, I was thankful to get back home when it was done.

Filming and traveling were taxing all on their own, but now we had to edit and do promo and prepare, so I was definitely feeling overwhelmed and extremely grateful that Leighton and I had our first ever "date" tomorrow.

I honestly don't think I've ever felt this nervous.

I felt like such an idiot standing in my closet trying to figure out what to wear.

It was kind of chilly out, but I wasn't sure if I should wear jeans, or shorts, a tank top, or even a t-shirt.

I ended up just going with some patterned pants, a graphic tee, slipping on some black shoes and grabbing my keys.

When I arrived at our meeting spot, I saw Leighton immediately. I took a second to look her over, my eyes following her curves and the way her shorts hugged her hips as she was sat.

I locked my car, practically jogging over to her, a smile lighting up her face.

"Hey!" She greeted, unclipping Gemma from her car seat on the stroller.

"Hey! Ugh she's getting so big!" I groaned, Leighton lifting Gemma out of the car seat.

"I know!" She whined, kissing Gemma's cheek. "I can't believe she's two months old" She pouted, "She's finally putting on some good weight though" Leighton grinned and I felt a smile show up on my face.

"That's amazing! She looks good Leigh" I complimented, seeing Gemma has chunked up a bit.

"Yeah" She breathed out, propping Gemma up against her thighs, Gemma's back against Leighton's stomach.

"Does that mean you're back to using breast milk?" I asked and Leigh nodded.

"Yeah, thankfully. I definitely learned my lesson with that one" She replied.

"So you've stayed clean?" I asked and a grin spread across her face as she nodded.

"I have! I uh, I have my moments, but I use some good old mean self talking to not follow through. I think finding out that weed stays in your body for so long and affects the breast milk is a big factor. I need to be able to feed my baby. I mean, you know I drank a bit at the end of February after Logan left, but I haven't touched anything for two weeks, and Cynthia has been taking me to my meetings"  She explained and I nodded.

"So living with Cynthia is going well?" I asked, knowing Leighton ended up giving up her apartment and moved into Cynthia's place since Logan was currently overseas.

"Uh.. yeah. Thanks for helping me move by the way" She mumbled and I sighed, knowing how hard this was for her.

She felt good about living on her own, but she hit a point mentally and financially that it just wasn't possible anymore, especially with Gabe now in New York.

We ended up talking about her moving back into our house, but with Cynthia now pregnant, and Leighton needing to be in a sober living house, we decided that her moving in with Cynthia so they both could help each other, and keep each other company would be for the best.

"It's a good thing Leigh, and it's only temporary" I reminded her and she nodded.

"Yeah, I know.. just sucks"

"I know, but this is just a stepping stone to the bigger picture. Don't let it hold you back" I reminded her and she nodded, reaching down and grabbing a toy for Gemma.

"She's starting to hold things now, she likes to death grip this like beaded toy thing" She chuckled, Gemma's fist grasping around the toy.

"She really is growing up so fast" I sighed, reaching over and tugging on the toy a little, smiling at the death grip she had on it, not letting my friction make it fall. "Well, should we blow this pop stand and get the hell out of this park? I'm hungry" She asked, standing up and I laughed, nodding.

"Are we driving together or separately?" I asked and we decided to drive separately, not trusting our current location to do any damage to our vehicles.

I held the door open for Leighton, laughing a little when the car seat banged into the wooden door.

"Leighton, careful! Precious cargo" I half teased and she held her hand down low as she flipped me off, pulling Gemma's car seat closer to her.

We got seated in a booth, and ordered our drinks, Leighton asking for a warm glass of water to prepare a bottle.

"I can't believe you're still obsessed with this place" She laughed, grabbing the hair tie off her wrist, pulling her hair back.

"This place is great, I don't know what you're talking about" I cocked an eyebrow and she snickered, tugging at her hair before unclipping Gemma from the car seat that was next to her.

"I'm thinking about cutting my hair, because now that she knows how to grab things, my hair is the golden ticket from Willy Wonka Chocolate Factory as I breastfeed" She grumbled and I laughed, my eyes landing on our sweet baby girl.

"How short are you planning on going?" I asked, glancing away from the menu, my eyes landing on hers.

"About shoulder length" She explained, motioning with her hands.

We stopped talking as the drinks were placed in front of us, thanking the waitress before looking back at our menus.

Leighton made Gemma a quick bottle with the warm water and formula, propping her correctly to feed her the bottle.

"You know, Kat's lowkey killing us for Gemma not living with us, and that you both are now living with Cynthia" I brought up, my eyes scanning the menu even though I got the same thing every single time I came.

"She'll be thanking me when she starts teething, or we start sleeping training. I gave up when she was so young. It was too hard, especially with having to get up in the middle of the night to feed her. I remember when Lexi and Landon were teething and I would literally cry to my mom about the fact that they were crying. I was such a bitchy child because I'm grumpy on low sleep, and I had school in the morning and their nursery was right next to my room and they'd cry twenty four seven. It was so annoying" She groaned and I chuckled at how annoyed she was, even to this day. "Logan luckily had the basement bedroom. I still call BS on that" She grumbled, censoring her swear.

"Weren't you four?" I asked, chuckling and she nodded.

"Yes. But it was still annoying, and I had preschool in the morning" She grinned and I shook my head, my smile getting wide as my chest shook.

"I thankfully am the youngest" I grinned and she rolled her eyes, a smile tugging at her lips.

"Lucky SOB" She spelled out and I laughed pretty loud, startling Gemma but thankfully she didn't cry.

"Yeah, but my brother tormented me" I told her, folding my menu and setting it down, knowing damn well I'm ordering my usual.

"It's Gage right?" She asked and I nodded, "Did you guys get along growing up?" She asked me, setting her own menu down.

"For the most part. Like all siblings, we had our moments" I told her, and we ended up getting lost in telling each other stories of growing up with our siblings before ordering our food.

"Dude, you need to branch out" She laughed as the waitress from earlier walked away.

"Hey! Don't fix it if it isn't broken" I raised an eyebrow and she rolled her eyes, her lips pursed as she held back a smile.

"Look at this little chunk-a-monk, she finished her bottle" Leighton cooed, setting the bottle down on the table, reaching for her burp cloth.

"Does she still spit up a lot?" I asked and Leighton nodded, getting in position to burp her.

"Not as bad as when you watched her and she wrecked your cute Valentine's Day outfit, but she is still quite the bubble machine" She noted and I grimaced, flashbacks to spit up running all down the front of her cute onesie, thanking god we took photos beforehand.

"Yeah, that was bad" I laughed.

It felt really nice to just sit and talk to Leighton for a while. I forgot how much I missed this.

Yeah we've FaceTimed a lot lately, and I've been over a few times, but we've both been pretty busy separately, that a lot of our communication lately has been through texts or just having each other on speaker as we did stuff.

It was nice to sit here, together, in person, even if it was at a slightly busy restaurant.

I somehow got forced into doing Gemma's diaper change, and that was quite the feat.

I thankfully made it out alive, and all of the fluids stayed where they should've.

As I walked Gemma back to the table, propped against my side, Leighton had a smile on her face, her eyes staying locked on us.

"You survived" She joked and I playfully rolled my eyes, sitting back down at the booth.

"Gemma and I have some war stories, you better be careful" I eyed her, both of us knowing fully well just how bad it's been sometimes.

~

"Oh I'm stuffed and my boobs hurt" Leighton breathed out, arching her back against the booth, rubbing her stomach as it hit the table.

"You're full in more ways than one" I teased and she chuckled, shaking her head at me.

"You're so annoying" She laughed and I grinned, bouncing Gemma against my thighs, her baby hands slapping the dirty restaurant table. "I was supposed to use this milk to feed her, but I refuse to breastfeed in public, and I don't want to lock myself in the handicap bathroom for an hour, so I suggest we pay and head home before I embarrass myself and my boobs explode and soak this shirt"

~

"Last year before you're a legal adult, how does it feel?" I asked Lexi, throwing my arm around her shoulder, pulling her into a hug.

"Ready to make bad decisions and my parents still be blamed" She grinned and I laughed, nodding as I let her go.

"Happy Birthday" I told her and she thanked me, Macy tackling her into a hug.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" Macy screeched, Lexi laughing.

"Jesus Christ" I winced, plugging my ear. "Your scream is louder than baby G's" I laughed, cleaning out my ear, seeing Macy grin at me.

"It's my best friend's birthday!" She told me and I chuckled, nodding.

I heard a car door shut behind us, Leighton holding a car seat as she approached us.

"No it's alright Cole, I don't need help at all, thanks for asking though" She mocked, struggling to lift Gemma's car seat up higher against her inner elbow.

"Oh shit" I chuckled, "Sorry" I apologized, reaching for the car seat, but she turned away from me, pushing past me. "My bad"

"Happy birthday Roo" Leighton side hugged Lexi so she didn't smack her with the car seat.

"I was just excited to tell your sister Happy Birthday before you" I explained and Leighton ignored me, walking to the front door.

"Ohhhh" Lexi teased, grinning. "You're in trouble!" She scrunched her face up and I playfully rolled my eyes, trying not to smile.

I walked into the house, and Leigh was greeting her father, showing off the sleepy baby.

Leigh and I drove here together to one, save gas, and two, she slept over last night because Kat insisted on having a girls night, claiming that they never do stuff together anymore.

"Hey Colby" Her dad greeted and I nodded, saying a quick hello as Leigh excused herself to go lay Gemma down. I talked to her parents for a bit before I saw Landon enter the room followed by someone I didn't recognize.

"Happy birthday Landon!" I greeted, mingling a little bit with Leighton's younger brother.

When Leighton came downstairs, baby free, she walked past me and I mentally groaned, following her.

"Are you actually mad at me?" I asked and she turned around, shaking her head.

"No. Gemma's been a brat this morning, you know that. I'm just tired, sorry"

"It's okay. What's up with your brother?" I asked, and she gave me a weird look.

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, well I talked with him for a bit, and he seemed off" I shrugged.

"Oh. Braxton broke up with him"

"What?!" I exclaimed in disbelief.

"Mhm"

"Why?"

"I dunno"

"Damn" I breathed out and she laughed, grabbing a water bottle out of the fridge. "I really thought they were endgame. I know they're only in High School, but as long as I've known him, it's just been Landon and Braxton" I rambled and she nodded, opening the water bottle.

"Yeah well, Lexi and whoever she's dating seem to still be going strong. I'm convinced he's make believe though because I don't even know his name" She laughed.

"I honestly forgot she was dating someone. I figured she'd be more annoying about it" I told her honestly, chuckling a little.

"Right!" She exclaimed, snickering. "Who knows, maybe they did break up and Lexi just hasn't said anything. I don't know. I just know her and Macy have been attached at the hip. If I didn't know any better, I'd think they were lesbians"

"Maybe they are"

"Honestly, I can't see it. Macy, maybe, but Lexi? No. Lexi is so boy hungry it's annoying, so if she's gay now, I want the past 12 years of my sisterly duties back" She laughed.

It was nice to hang out with Leighton's family for the day, celebrating her younger siblings birthday.

Lexi has been hogging Gemma since the second that poor little girls eyes opened, so when it was time to go, Gemma was not only exhausted, but probably happy to see someone else's face for a while.

"Hey, don't be a stranger. You're welcome anytime" Leightons dad told me as I slipped on my shoes, Leigh finishing up changing Gemma's diaper.

"I'll try not to be. Thank you for having me over. It was nice" I told him genuinely.

"Gotta keep the Missus happy" he joked, making me chuckle a little.

"She seems to be doing well" I noted and Sebastian nodded.

"Thankfully. She's 10 months into remission, so we're hoping we are heading in the right direction. I'd have for my kids to lose their mother this way, or for our granddaughter to not grow up with such an amazing woman" He told me and I nodded, agreeing.

"Alright dad, say goodbye to your grandbaby" Leighton interrupted, passing the freshly changed infant to her father.

"Look at this precious girl" He cooed, placing a kiss against her cheek.

"Bye bye lovebug" He murmured, snuggling the two month old against his chest. "You better bring her over here more often or we're gonna need to talk" he warned Leighton and giggled, nodding.

"Yeah, mom said the same thing. She used the fact that Gem's her namesake as a reason for why" She snickered and I chuckled, Sebastian eventually handing Gemma over so she could go in her car seat.

We finished up our goodbyes with her family, and the car ride home was pretty quiet besides Gemma's soft cries in the back.

"Do you want to go to my house or yours?" I asked, needing to know which direction I turned at this stop sign.

"Um... we can go to Cynthia's so I put her down" She decided and I nodded, turning on my left blinker.

"Have you had a good day?" I asked, not having seen her much during the birthday party.

"It was okay. I'm tired though" She leaned her against the window and I nodded, staying quiet.

We arrived outside Cynthia's house and I got Gemma out, walking to the front door with Leighton.

"Go wash your makeup off, I've got her" I told her softly, Leighton unlocking the front door.

Nova barked, scaring us half to death as she ran at the door, Gemma now crying again.

"Nova it's just me. Whatcha gonna do? Bite me? I raised you. You love me, move it" She snickered, carefully shoving her out of the way.

Nova lost her actual mind as we walked in, excitement radiating off of her.

After about an hour, we got Gemma down to bed and I gave Nova attention before wishing Leighton a goodnight and heading home.

Leighton came over two days later on March 15th, laying sprawled out on my bed as I edited, researching how to get rid of her criminal record.

I felt something hit my back, causing me to take my headphones off and turn around.

"Did you just chuck her stuffed animal at me?" I laughed, seeing the plush elephant by my leg.

"You weren't replying, what else was I supposed to do?" She asked and I chuckled, shaking my head and picked up the toy, tossing it back over to my bed, making sure it went in the opposite direction so it didn't hurt the nursing baby.

"Sorry, I was editing. What do you want?" I asked, making sure I paused the video I was editing.

"Do you think it's possible to actually do this? Or am I just wasting my time?" She asked, my laptop resting against her knees.

"What, getting it expunged?" I asked and she nodded. "I don't know. It doesn't hurt to try" I told her and she nodded.

"It's just.. it's so hard to get a job when I have a criminal record.. and it was a stupid thing I did in my teens, and now it's ruining my life. I can't get a good job to give her a good life with this hanging over my head. Just sucks to know that my dumb actions as a teen are affecting me now"

"Yeah.. I don't know what to say to be honest. I've never had it affect my career, I'm sorry" I told her sympathetically, not quite sure how to respond or help.

"Again, you're a lucky bitch" She laughed, shifting the boppy a little.

"I know, and I'm sorry that you're struggling to find a place that will let you work. I can't say that I know how hard that is, but I can imagine, and I wish I could help you more"

~

"Hey! I apologized for my actions" Leighton defended, Sam making fun of her for slapping him.

"I know, but I refuse to let it go" he joked and she rolled her eyes, tucking her legs up on the couch.

"I truly am sorry for how I acted.. I was just upset, and I know that doesn't give me any right to slap you" She apologized again and Sam nodded.

"I already forgave you. It's okay, but I still find it funny that you slapped me" He chuckled, Kat cooing at Gemma, shaking a rattle.

The four of us hung out for a while, ordering in and just enjoying our time together.

Kat someone got us all to start a puzzle with her, Leighton bringing up the Minnesota trip.

"I like doing puzzles until I get stuck, then it pisses me off" She laughed, flipping the pieces over.

"Kat is addicted to puzzles" Sam noted, Kat grinning.

"They're fun!" She defended, scooping a pile of pieces towards her.

Once our food arrived, Gemma was laying in Leighton's arms, being rocked to sleep so we stayed pretty quiet as we opened our containers of food, starting to do the border of the puzzle.

"Leigh, can I take a photo?" Kat asked, before snapping a photo of the two snuggling.

"Text it to me please" She said softly, Kat nodding.

"Leigh, you need to come to pizza night next week" Sam brought up, Leighton looking over at him.

"When?"

"Friday"

"Oh.. um.. I.. uh.." She stuttered and once my brain caught up as to what was happening, I shot Sam daggers.

"Hm?" He hummed, now looking at me. I glared at him, shaking my head. "What?" he asked, Leighton now looking at me, causing me to groan.

"Don't" I warned and Leighton sighed, her head leaning back against the couch.

"Colby, it's okay. He can know" She said and I nodded slowly, Sam now confused.

"Leighton leaves for Rehab Tuesday " I told Sam, his eyes widening.

"What? Really?!"

Leighton nodded, grabbing a forkful of her pasta dish.

"Damn.. so wait, why can't you come Friday?" He asked, the room getting quiet.

"I mean, I could.. but I do need to prepare to leave" She said and he nodded.

"I mean, consider it a last hoorah before you come back" He said and she nodded.

"I can try.. I um.." She paused, Sam and I keeping our eyes on her as Kat continued to work on her puzzle. "I.. I don't know" She said softly, her gaze falling down to Gemma.

"Hey, what's wrong?" I asked quietly, leaning down to catch her attention.

"Um.. it's nothing. I'm good. I'm okay, let's just do this puzzle, and I'll try to come Friday" She said and I sighed, but dropped it, turning back to the puzzle.

~

I walked Leighton out to the car, carrying Gemma's car seat after she said goodbye to Sam and Kat, clipping the car seat into the car seat bucket, making sure it was secure.

I carefully closed the door, not wanting to wake the baby, Leighton leaning against her car door.

"Thanks for coming over" I told her, resting next to the back seat car door.

"It was fun. Thanks for letting me" She smiled and I grinned, shifting my weight on my feet.

"You're going to be alright, right?" I asked and she nodded. "You don't have to come Friday" I told her, not wanting her to feel forced to come hang out with everyone.

"It's alright. I'll try.. I just... I don't know what head space I'll be in. Last time it was rough. Preparing to go always sucks so" She shrugged and I nodded, pretending to know what that felt like.

"Alright" I sighed, "Well, drive home safe and text me when you get there. Sam and I have a meeting tomorrow, but I think I'm free Wednesday?" I told her and she nodded.

"I will, and I'll text you. Goodnight Colby" She leaned forward hugging me.

"Goodnight Leighton"

* * * *

Lil filler

Current date in the book: March 15th 2021, just so we can keep up with our timeline lol

Written on: July 18th, 19th, 20th 2022

Word Count: 4k+

Part Twelve 

#colbybrock #samandcolby #samandcolbyfanfic #colbybrockfanfiction #colbybrockimagine #wattpadrecs #wattpad #colbybrockwattpad

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Desire (3)

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Read on Wattpad

Hi I feel insecure about this chapter, bye lol

*Colby's POV*

The door opened, and my eyes looked up from my phone to see a nervous Leighton.

Her hands were folded, and fiddling with the rings on her fingers, her hair was tossed up in a messy bun, The Grinch pajama pants synched at her ankles, and a long baggy t-shirt ending at her thighs. Her face was clean of makeup, acne scars and marks on her face.

"What's wrong?" I questioned, confused as to why she'd be nervous.

"Can I talk to you?" She asked and I nodded.

"Yeah, what's up?"

"Nothing" She said almost out of instinct which made me chuckle. She noticed her reply and she blushed, glancing away for a moment, seeming to be thinking. "I wanted to talk to you about the key-"

"Leigh, if you don't want it, you don't have to have it" I quickly reminded her, confused as to why my small gesture was making her this nervous.

Was it a mistake to give her the key? Should I have not done that?

"No, that's not it.. it's just.. ugh! I'm nervous, okay?"

"Okay..." I spoke slowly, trying to figure out what was going on.

"God, you're frustrating!" She groaned and I chuckled, noticing she was fiddling with the anxiety ring I got her.

"Why?"

"THAT'S WHY! What's with the one word replies?! Why have you been so closed off lately?"

"What do you mean?"

"God it's like talking with a brick wall!" She groaned, her hands in her hair now.

I chuckled, watching in amusement as she paced in front of me.

"I don't understand anymore! I'm trying, I really am.. but.. but you're not! What changed between now and then? Why are you so quiet?"

"What do you mean? I didn't know I was being quiet.."

"Oh this is useless. I'm going to bed, goodnight" She grumbled and I quickly got up, stopping her.

"No, you wanted to talk. You wanted to talk about the key I gave you"

"And yet you're not talking" She huffed and I raised an eyebrow.

"Why would I be talking when you want me to listen? What's wrong Leigh?"

"I don't know if I want to move in because I don't know how I feel about you" She said bluntly and I just stared at her.

"What does that mean?"

"We said honesty right?" She asked and I nodded, confused. "I can't figure out if I like you like you, or if it's post pregnancy hormones or the fact that I haven't been with someone in quite a while.. I haven't had sex since Aryia and my brains all confused. And then I'm concerned about moving in with Gemma and it going badly. I thought we agreed that I'd have my apartment as my personal space? That we worked better together when we were apart?"

"Wait wait wait, what? You have feelings?" I asked, my heart racing as my head started to pound, trying to keep up.

"That's not the point of the conversation. It's just a factor" She said and I shook my head.

"No, that's a pretty big point-"

"Why? I'm not acting on it" She said like this was something to shove under the bridge.

What happened to too many skeletons in the closet?

"Okay, and if you did?" I asked, not sure how I felt about her bluntly saying she could maybe like me more than just a roommate or a friend.

"Well you don't like me, and I don't want to date anyone right now, so" She shrugged.

"Who said I didn't like you?" I asked a genuine question, confused as to why she thinks I had zero interest in, but she played it off as a joke. Like I was kidding. She rolled her eyes and moved on, "Anyway, are you sure you want to live with a baby?" She asked, but I was still caught on the last confession.

"No no no, go back" I stuttered, trying to keep up, fully awake now.

"Why? Look, it's embarrassing. I don't know why I brought it up"

"But you still said it.. wait, does this have to do with not regretting that kiss?" I asked and she shrugged.

"Full transparency, I don't really remember the kiss. I know it felt right in the moment, and it was probably all the hormones from giving birth and feeling appreciative towards you" She shrugged.

"I..." I started then stopped and Leigh ran her hands through her hair.

"I'm sorry. I didn't expect you to care. You said girls say that all the time. Kinda just blurted it out because it's in my head from everything Gabe said"

"Wait, Gabe said something?"

"Oh my god I should've just went to bed-"

"No, wait-" I tried to stop her, but she shook her head.

"I'm sorry, goodnight" She muttered, turning around to walk away and before I could even process my own movements, I grabbed her arm, stopping her.

"I think I like you too" I blurted out and her eyes widened as she turned around and she let out a breathy laugh, "You think?" She asked and I grinned, shaking my head at her.

"You said you think too!" I defended myself and she laughed, my hand dropping from her arm.

"You don't have to say it back just because my stupid brain blurted it out. I don't even know if it's true or not" Leigh said and I sighed, extremely conflicted on what I should do or say.

Do I confess more, or do I just shut up?

Would I regret this?

"Leigh.. I'm not just saying it back to make you feel better about it. You asked me why I've been so quiet, and it's because I've done a lot of thinking lately, and I'm sorry that my thinking has made you feel like you were unwanted, when it's the opposite. I'm nervous too. I've never felt like this, or had this reaction to such a situation... but I've been distant because I'm trying to figure it out, and I'm sorry"

"I..." She paused, and I could tell her mind was racing.

"You've got these stunning green eyes that captured me the second Sam opened the front door, letting you into our home. The way you seemed nervous and confident all at the same time was intriguing. Of course I was nervous. You get along with my friends, and it turned into insecurity when I should've felt grateful-"

"Colby-"

"And then when I found out you were pregnant, all I felt was protection. I wanted to protect you. Help you.. be there for you. I never expected to be in the labor and delivery room with you. I never expected it to go that far. It was honestly one of the best moments of my life. Watching you do something so beautiful, even if it was hell for you.. all I felt was gratefulness. You never asked me how it felt to see that. To be there.. Leigh, it was magical. The whole process.. I... watching Gemma be born is a memory that will never be forgotten nor replaced. The emotion I felt as you were almost done pushing... the way you turned to me for help and comfort.. I.. Leigh, it was fucking incredible. Top 3 best memories of my life. I.... I don't even know how to explain it. I didn't turn away from you because I was done.. I was quiet and distant because something changed. Something changed watching you rock on the exercise ball in pain, and watching you go through contractions like a superhero.. I... you brought life into this world Leighton. That sweet, gorgeous little girl.. I was there for when she was born. Not many people can say that. It's different to make the baby, than it is to birth the baby. Gabe may be her biological father, and he got to sleep with you to create that pretty girl in there... but he didn't hear her first cry. He didn't change her first diaper. His eyes weren't the first laid on her... Leigh.. I know I may by overstepping here or saying things I shouldn't.. but I truly love that little like she was my own. Those memories aren't memories that can ever be replaced. She might be his by blood.. but she's family to me Leighton. You're family to me. I didn't give you that key just because I missed getting Taco Bell with you. We all miss you. You complete our tight knit family-" I rambled and before I could finish, she leapt forward and her lips were pressed against mine, her hands on my face.

I was stunned for a second before I kissed her back, my hands finding her hips as our lips moved together, Leighton slowly pulling away.

"If these are post pregnancy hormones, I never want them to stop" She breathed out and I chuckled, moving hair out of her face.

"Stop worrying" I murmured, her green eyes staring back at me. "We want you Leigh. We want you and Gemma. We don't give a fuck if she wakes us up in the middle of the night. We were there your whole pregnancy. We knew what we were getting into. Who wouldn't want to live with that perfect baby girl? We want to watch her grow up Leighton. We want to be involved in her life. I.. I want to hear her first word, or giggle, or her first steps. I.. I was there when she was born, and I want to see the rest. I want to watch her grow. I want to mean something to her"

"You already mean something to her" Leigh spoke softly, her hands now around my neck.

"Do I mean something to you?" I asked as she pursed her lips, a gleam in her eye.

"Fuck no" She scoffed and then giggled and I rolled my eyes.

"Damn, okay then" I chuckled and she grinned, leaning up on her tippy toes.

"Whatcha doin'?"

"Debating if kissing you is a good idea or not" She said quietly and I hummed, my arms wrapped around her waist now to steady her.

"You've already kissed me twice, gonna make it a triple threat?" I asked and she raised an eyebrow.

"You're right. It's your turn" She smirked and I chuckled, shaking my head.

"Why would I want to kiss you? I mean nothing to you remember" I replied back, faking offense.

"Yeah, I remember"

"Hm. I guess I should just take that key back huh"

"Mhm" She giggled and I tried to keep myself from grinning, Leighton now flatfoot again.

"You're short"

"No I'm not"

"Well I'm looking down at you so.." I trailed off and she glared.

"Just cause your head is bigger doesn't mean I'm short"

"It's because you're Italian" I joked.

"What is that supposed to mean?" She laughed.

"Aren't all Italian's short?" I asked and she rolled her eyes.

"I'm also Irish" She smirked, her fingers running through the hair by my neck.

"And Swedish" I replied and she grinned.

"You remembered"

"How could I forget your Mormor?" I asked and she didn't reply, instead she just kissed me again quickly.

"Mhm" I moaned, "Triple threat huh?" I asked and she lightly smacked the back of my head making me chuckle.

"You're a dick"

"And yet you keep kissing me"

"Shut up" She laughed, backing away from me.

"Now what?" I asked and she shrugged.

"Well.. yours aren't pregnancy hormones, so what's your excuse?"

"You made me fall in love with your baby"

"Hm.. so shouldn't you be kissing her.. wait.. that sounds weird. Never mind"

I laughed and she giggled, glancing down at her foot.

"I always forget you have a foot tattoo"

"You forget about every tattoo"

"That's true"

"I'm nervous" She said softly.

"Me too"

"What if these are just fucked up hormones? or what if they aren't? What if we fuck this up? I.. I don't want to lose you. It's cliché as fuck, but I've grown attached to you as my friend"

"You'll never lose me" I reassured her and she shook her head.

"Liar"

"How am I a liar?" I laughed and she grinned, looking back up at my face.

"Cause all men are liars"

"Ah, yes. The male species" I chuckled and she nodded, smiling now.

"It's late. We should go to bed. Maybe I'll wake up tomorrow and find you repulsing" She grinned and I smirked at her, "One can hope"

~

"What do you mean you kissed?" Sam asked as I laid in her parents' guest bedroom.

"I don't know man. It's kind of all a blur.."

"Colby"

"I didn't mean to!"

"I thought you were only giving her the key for Christmas. Not your silva?"

"Fuck off" I laughed and Sam snickered.

"Well now what"

"I don't know"

"Colby Brock"

"She came onto me!"

"Yeah, I'm sure she did. You definitely haven't been drooling over her for a year" You could hear the eyeroll which made me roll my own eyes. "I thought you didn't like her anymore?" Sam asked.

"I don't know what I want anymore" I confessed and Sam sighed.

"Colby. We don't want another Devyn and Corey situation! Figure it out before you pursue things with her, and have her move in!" Sam lectured and I groaned.

"She's the one who said she might have feelings for me"

"Colby, are you seriously willing to risk this all because of some possible feelings?"

"Isn't it better than doing nothing at all?"

"Not if it's going to ruin everything! You two are finally at a point where you can hang out without wanting to murder each other! How the fuck is it going to work if you breakup? I'm all for you being happy, but I want you to be sure. It's not easy dating social media influencers. You know that"

"Yeah I fucking know Sam, but what do you want me to do about it? Pretend she doesn't exist or quit our job?"

"Colby, if you feel like playing house, Leighton isn't the one you want to do it with"

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?"

"Does she really scream girlfriend material to you?" Sam asked and I glared at the ceiling.

"You know Sam, you don't really scream best friend material right now, so" I grumbled and Sam sighed.

"I just don't want you getting hurt"

"I know, and I appreciate that brother, but... I can't stop thinking about her. I lay here, and all I can think about is the way she looks at me. The way her eyes sparkle and her smile shines.. her laugh.. the way she makes me feel. The way I love when we fight, or make fun of each other. I love seeing her with Gemma, or with her family.."

"Do you like her, or do you love her?" Sam asked and I closed my eyes, listening to his breathing on the other line.

"I don't even know if I actually like her"

"Bullshit" He laughed and I couldn't help but chuckle, both of us knowing better.

I sighed, laying the phone on the pillow next to my ear, my arm covering my eyes, "I don't understand how I went from hating her.. to missing her"

"You grew a bond. You helped her through one of the biggest moments in her life. You were in that delivery room with her. You saw her at her worst. You saw her go through something extremely painful, and you helped her. You grew an unbreakable bond with her Colby. No one can replace you in that room. She wanted you. She could've had anyone, and she wanted you"

"Yeah.. I know. I feel guilty though"

"Why?"

"Because that should've been Gabe. Maybe if it was Gabe, I wouldn't be feeling like this"

"You can't change what happened, and you can change how you feel. You need to either act on it, or move on man"

"I know. Doesn't change that it still feelings wrong. It feel undeserving"

"Yeah, I get that.. but you need to stop thinking about it. What happened, happened Colby"

"I know. I'm nervous I'm making more mistakes than I can fix"

"Why? Because you're allowing yourself to think about having a relationship?"

"Remember my last relationship. It destroyed me. You almost stopped being my friend"

"Yeah, but this is different. Leighton is different, you know that"

"Yeah, I know.."

"Want to tell me how she's different than whatever her face is"

I chuckled, rolling over to check the time on my phone.

"They're cut from two different cloths Sam"

"Well, what do you like about Leigh?"

"What don't I like about Leigh?" I laughed, aware that I need to keep it down since I was in her parents home, across the hall from her room.

Sam laughed and I heard Kat's voice in the distance, water running.

"What don't you like about Leighton?" He changed his question and I thought for a moment.

"I honestly don't know. There are small things that are annoying, but they're also endearing"

"Yeah? You know Colby.. you're starting to sound like a love sick fool" Sam teased and I rolled my eyes, scrolling through Twitter.

"Why is Colby starting to sound like a love sick fool?" I heard Kat ask in the background and I groaned which made Sam laugh at the cost of my misery.

"Leigh kissed Colby" Sam spilled to Kat and I groaned out of annoyance.

The next 15 minutes were spent telling Kat everything, listening to her squeal and telling me not to fuck it up.

~

"Ope, sorry" Leigh quickly grabbed a cover up as I entered the living room. "Thought everyone was still out"

"Uh, yeah. They're still in the back. Are we going to talk about what happened last night?"

"Oh, you mean the same way I wanted to talk about our first kiss and you said what is there to talk about?" She asked and I shook my head, ignoring the sass in her voice.

"I'm sorry" I apologized and she nodded, looking back down at Gemma.

"That was unnecessary. I'm sorry" She also apologized and I nodded, taking a seat in the chair across the living room from her.

"What do we want to do? Clearly we both have some sort of feelings"

"Hey, speak for yourself. Mine might just be the baby talking" She snickered and I rolled my eyes, a smile making its way onto my face.

"Hey, mine might also just be your baby talking" I argued back and she laughed.

"One second, I need to switch sides"

I watched her shift under the blanket and I saw her struggling to see what she's doing.

I stood up and walked over to her, "Here, let me help. I won't look, but I'll hold the blanket" I grabbed the top of the blanket, looking past her to the front door as she successfully shifted Gemma to the other side.

"Thank you" I nodded, and let the blanket go back down. "About the key" She started, catching my full attention. "What do we do if this all goes wrong? I'm a planner. It something that bugged Gabe"

"There's nothing wrong with wanting to be prepared. It's hard to plan something or even fix it, if it hasn't gone wrong though"

"Aren't you scared?" She asked and I nodded, my hand resting on my ankle.

"Of course I am. I'm not scared of you living with us, but I'm nervous that these possible feelings will affect us in a bad way again"

"Yeah" She hummed, glancing down at her baby under the blanket. "I know you keep saying it doesn't matter, but I am nervous that you aren't actually prepared to live with a baby. That isn't a dig at you.. I'm just saying.. I've had to grow up a lot this past month and I would never expect you guys to have to do that.. but living with a baby isn't easy. Once she starts crawling, you're going to have to be really careful. An apartment is a lot smaller than your big house, a lot less to watch for, no stairs.. I know where all the outlets are... I'm nervous that something will go wrong, and the last thing I want is for something stupid to happen, and it was one of your guys fault. I never want you guys to feel bad because babies are babies"

"It's only the three of us there now. Everyone moved on. People come and go.. but it's just Sam, Kat and I. I think if we make the extra effort and are diligent about it.. I think we'll be okay. We can always buy baby gates to keep her out of rooms, what are they.. outlet covers? So they can't stick their fingers in them? We don't have strings on blinds.. isn't that one of them?" I asked and she nodded, an unknown emotion on her face as she stared at me.

"Yeah, they can pull on them and get hurt"

"We can do this. We're adults"

"Yeah? You're not going to party every weekend anymore?"

"Hm.. I don't know Leigh.. I like my drinking games" I teased and she rolled her eyes, a small smile on her face.

"We're really going to do this? You're all willing to sacrifice your young adulthood for my baby?"

"Well, you're doing that, aren't you?" I asked and she pursed her lips, nodding a little. "So you're going to move in?" I asked, hearing her exhale through her nose as she closed her eyes.

"What happened to giving me time?"

"What was before you kissed me"

"Yeah.. about that" She trailed off and I narrowed my eyes at her, watching her smirk at me.

"Leigh" I warned and she grinned, her eyes twinkling.

"What? What if it is hormones? How are we supposed to sleep under the same roof?" She asked and I raised an eyebrow, my arms crossing over my chest.

"We slept under the same roof before"

"Yeah, I was dating Silas and you were fucking girls every week"

"Oh my god, no I wasn't!" I groaned, tired of being accused as a fuckboy.

"Turn around" She said, my forehead wrinkling.

"Why?"

"Because I don't need you looking at my boobs. She's done"

I turned around and heard some shuffling before a clip sound and she said I could turn around again.

"Want to burp her?" She asked and I nodded, grabbing the white cloth.

I sat down with Gemma, trying to burp her as Leigh cleaned up the Cheez-It wrappers.

"You know.. we have to talk eventually"

"We were just talking" She called from the kitchen, and I heard a cabinet close. "What do you want me to say about what happened last night? What are either of us supposed to do about a maybe?"

"Communicate Leigh. What do we want to do?"

"Are you needy?" She asked, confusing me.

"Needy?" I questioned and she nodded. "What do you mean am I needy?"

"You know.. like you need constant attention. I can't raise a baby, and a boyfriend"

"Damn" I laughed and she shrugged.

"I'm being honest. I'm 21, and I have practically a newborn. I can't also have the demands of a relationship. If it is going to work, we have to be honest, and I'm telling you that I can't have you having high expectations. I can't be your girlfriend twenty four seven. If we're being realistic, I'm mommy 80% and girlfriend 10% and I need you to be okay with that"

"I can't make promises because I don't know if I'm needy or not" I replied honestly and she nodded, biting her bottom lip.

"The wild side of me is telling me to say fuck and jump your bones, but the mom side of me is telling me this is a bad idea. I need a new job, I need to go to school, I'm raising a baby now.. it's a lot.. and then add a new relationship on top of that.. I don't want us to resent each other"

"I personally think you should listen to the wild side. I could rock your world"

"Oh my god never say that ever again. Your dick will get nowhere near me if you say "Rock your world" again" She threatened and I laughed, smirking. "So you were thinking about my dick getting near you huh?"

"Hormones Cole, now shut it"

"God do I love hormones" I moaned and she rolled her eyes.

"Tell that to me when I'm on my period and I'm yelling at you. Now can we stop talking about your dick and my hormones whilst my baby is in your arms?"

"Fine, what do we want to talk about"

"Your birthday's coming up" She mentioned and I nodded. "Got any plans?"

"I don't know. Sam usually plans it. We switch off for each others birthdays"

"You're going to be 24 right?"

"Mhm"

"Hm. I'm assuming I won't be invited since it'll be a party with drinking, so what do we want to do for your birthday? Anything fun that doesn't involve booze? I mean, you can drink, but I'm breastfeeding so.. anything?"

"You can come to my birthday party Leigh" I reassured her and she shrugged.

"Baby bond remember, and I don't want you having less fun just because I have a baby"

"We can figure it out later. You're not moving until after January anyway"

"Oh, I'm moving in am I?"

"Are you not?"

"I don't know. We should probably go in the backyard now. Do you have her do you want me to take her?" Leigh asked, Gemma snuggled up in my arms.

"I got her"

* * * *

Written on: June 27th 2022

Word Count: 4k

Part Four

#colbybrock #samgolbach #samandcolby #samandcolbyfanfic #colbybrockfanfiction #wattpad

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*Leighton's POV*

"Look how cute!" Amber squealed, holding my hand in hers. "This color is so pretty on you!" She looked down at the dark nude color that she just finished putting a clear coat over.

"Well guys, this has been fun, love the nails.. and the foot rub.. but I think I'm ready to be alone again" I spoke up, my social battery plummeting.

"Kat and Sam put us on Leigh duty" Colby said for the hundredth time, showing some slight annoyance from me trying to get rid of him.

"I don't need a babysitter"

"Your baby will if you decide to go into labor right now" Amber chimed in, passing me my Goldfish crackers.

"I'm not having this baby. Plus, Gabe comes home today"

"Have you talked to him since he left?" Colby asked and I shook my head.

"I have nothing to say to him. He made his choice"

"Alright.. well.. let's take your blood pressure" Colby grabbed the machine, Amber holding it whilst he put the cuff around my arm.

"Do you have your chart?" He asked and I nodded, reaching for my phone. "I took a photo of it"

I felt the cuff tighten around my bicep as we waited for the reading, my hand running over where my baby was moving.

"Okay you're blood pressure is 160/100" Colby read off and I went down the chart, my eyes widening.

"Fuck! Where's my phone?!" I spoke frantically and Colby gave me a really look.

"It's in your hand" He said and I glanced down, quickly opening up my contacts and finding Melinda Hughes.

My fingers tapped as I listened to the dial tone, ignoring their questions.

"Hello?" She answered and my heart raced.

"Dr. Hughes?" I asked, my voice shaking.

"Leighton? Everything okay?" she asked and I quickly shook my head.

"My blood pressure is 160 over 100" I told her, tears welling up in my eyes as fear started to ripple through my body.

Next thing I knew, I was being told to grab my hospital bag and make my way there because I was going to have a baby.

I had hypertension stage 2... one of my biggest fears was coming true.

It got worse.

I know a lot of people say a phone call can change your life.. but it's true. Seconds ago I was getting my nails painted, my feet rubbed and talking with Colby and his friend.. and now I was on the way to the hospital because we didn't want my baby to go into distress.

I didn't even bother telling Colby or Amber as I pulled myself up and waddled towards my room in a frantic way.

As I was digging through my hospital bag, making sure I had everything when it hit me.

Gabriel

"Fuck!" I yelled, not bothering to reply when Colby and Amber asked what was wrong.

"I need to call Gabe, what time is it? He might be on his flight" I spoke my thoughts aloud.

"It's 2:17pm, his flight is at 3 isn't it?" Colby asked and I nodded, dialing my baby daddy.

"Leighton, what's going on?" Colby asked in a serious tone, but I was too focused on hearing the dreadful ring sound.

"Hello?" Gabe asked and my heart started to race.

"I'm on my way to the hospital. Dr. Hughes wants to start an induction due to how high my blood pressure is. I just wanted to say I didn't mean what I said. I want you there. Please have a safe flight and I love you" I spoke quickly, Colby's eyes widening as he quickly started walking to his shoes, asking Amber to grab his phone and keys.

"What?! You're not due till the 5th!" Gabe spoke quickly, sounding panicked.

"Inductions take a while. You shouldn't miss much.. just come straight to the hospital. I gotta go" I hung up, slipping my phone into my back pocket.

I felt my body fill with anxiety as I prepared to go to the hospital.

I can't believe I was going to meet my baby soon.

"You said you loved him" Colby said in a monotone, opening my apartment door for me.

"Yeah?" I gave him a confused glance, before waddling towards the elevator.

"Did you mean that?" He asked, and there was something about his tone that I couldn't quite place, but it made everything in my brain feel fuzzy.

"Of course" I replied and he just gave me a strict nod, hitting the elevator button.

Colby, Amber and I all made our way towards the hospital, I formed a group chat with everyone who needed to know the information of my hospital status, and I sent that we were on our way for a possible induction.

Everyone was very excited and frantic to get to the hospital, but were all still at work and school.

Aaliyah replied "It should be illegal that my shift ends at 8 when my godchild is being born 😡" Which made me laugh.

Colby helped me out of the car and helped me waddle to the reception desk.

I glanced at the clock near the door, seeing it read 2:15 and I breathed out a sigh of relief, thanking God that I lived so close to the hospital.

"Um.. Dr. Hughes had me come for an exam to see about an induction?" I told the older women who nodded.

"Name?"

"Leighton Fox"

"Birthday"

"June 13th 1999"

She handed me a form and we sat down so I could fill it out.

Amber got picked up by someone, leaving Colby and I alone in an almost empty waiting room.

When I handed the form back to the woman, I turned towards Colby asking "Are you mad at me?" which caused him to shake his head, but still ignored me.

"You know, if you don't want to be here, you can go home" I told him and he just shook his head. "Okay, so if you're not mad at me, what's wrong? You know Colby, if you want to keep being my friend, you need to start vocalizing your issues instead of cutting me out. I'm too tired, swollen, hungry and humungous to deal with your issues too" I grumbled, wincing as I felt the baby kick my upper stomach.

"I'm not mad at you" He stated yet again, and to be completely honest I was so uncomfortable psychically, that I didn't want to be uncomfortable emotionally as well, which made me snap at him. "Look, you can either tell me what the fuck your problem is, or you can go the fuck home. There is only room for one whiney bitch in this waiting room, so unless you want to grow a uterus and get pregnant, I suggest you get it together and tell me what's wrong, or leave. I much rather be alone than argue with you"

"I don't have a problem" He groused and I rolled my eyes.

"Okay, then get the fuck out. Go home, go hang out with Jake, or Corey, or Brennen or even Amber. You and your non existing problems need to get the fuck out of my face. I'll text you when the baby pops out of my vagina" I spoke in a sharp, but quiet tone, trying to keep others from hearing the conversation.

"I'm not leaving you alone" Is all he said and I just crossed my arms, turning away from him.

I eventually got called into an exam room and I was sat on the exam table waiting for a nurse when I turned towards Colby "It's almost like we're the one having a baby" I snickered, deciding to pretend nothing happened in the waiting room, twisting the anxiety ring Colby got me. It was quiet for a moment and I sighed, "Do you think he'll make it?" I asked quietly, Colby now looking at me.

"Who, Gabe? It's a what.... 6 hours? He should. You said that first time labor is slow, right?" He asked and I nodded.

"That's what the studies say." I replied, glancing around the room. I sighed, looking back over at him. "I'm going to be early... my baby is coming on November 23rd... woah.." I breathed out, letting it sink in.

"We should Google what celebrities have that birthday" Colby said, pulling out his phone.

I looked around the familiar room, waiting for his reply.

"Erm... Miley Cyrus, Nicole Polizzi, Kelly Brook, Franco Nero" he listed and I gave him a confused look.

"I only know Miley" I admitted and he let out a breathy laugh, saying "same"

Eventually a nurse came in and took my blood pressure to see if we got the same reading, which we did, and she checked a few more things like if the baby had dropped, where the baby was facing, if my cervix was dilated or ripened and what the fetal heart rate was.

Long story short, because of the blood pressure, I wounded up in Labor and Delivery, hooked up to an IV and dressed in an oh so flattering green hospital gown.

"You don't have to stay here ya know. I'm okay" I reminded him, watching him sit in the chair across from me, seeming lost in his thoughts.

My parents and Cynthia were currently on their way since they had gotten off work about an hour or so ago depending on the person.

"I'm not leaving you alone Leighton" He told me for the second time today, reminding me of our moment in the waiting room.

"My family is going to be here in half an hour, you can go and hang out with Amber again. I'll text you when the baby gets here so you can meet them" I tried again but he just stared at me.

"Leighton, I vowed to myself that I wouldn't leave you alone. I've made it this far, I'm not leaving now" he said with the most serious tone I've ever heard him use.

I was quiet for a moment, before glancing over at him, "You know... you're the last person I expected to be in my delivery room"

"You and I both, but a lot has changed since you moved in. We've stopped snapping at each other, and ignoring each other. We've hung out more.." He trailed off, glancing over towards the door that was opening.

That's ironic

"Hey baby, how's it going?" My mom asked, my dad, Cynthia and Lexi trailing behind her.

"Just hanging out. They're going to come in and start the induction process soon. I'm on some sort of drug to try and lower my blood pressure. The baby isn't in distress or anything, so they don't think I need a c-section. I just need to calm the fuck down so I can deliver this baby safely, and not as a medical emergency" I explained, repeating what the on call doctor had told me.

"Leigh, language" My dad gave me a look and I gave him a fake smile.

"Dad, I love you, I really do... but there will be no filtering during labor. I'm sorry" I said honestly and he just sighed, and nodded.

Dr. Hughes was on her way, but she lived about half an hour from the hospital, so as of right now, we had an on-call doctor named Mike Fringley.

"Do you have contractions yet?" My mom asked, setting a bag down by my feet.

I shook my head, mentally groaning at the slow process. "Once I'm given Pitocin they should start, but the nurse said it's about an hour a centimeter. So we are in this for the long haul" I grumbled, not looking forward to a long labor.

"Well hopefully once it kicks in things will move quickly. You got this Leighton" She smiled at me and I turned towards Cynthia, asking "Where's Logan?" taking in her appearance.

Her hair was in her gorgeous natural curls, tossed up in a high bun on her head as her sun dress flowed down her knees.

My brother really won with this one.

"He's at some sort of meeting for the Military. Something to do with the plan for the recruits or something. I don't remember what it's called. He should be done around 6, and I think he's going to try and call you or stop by" She said and I nodded, taking in a quick breath at the mention of him going into the army.

"If you ever have a baby, they better get all of your genes. The stunning dark skin, the beautiful brown eyes, the gorgeous curls.... Please lord, don't let your child get my brother's nose. Or his eyebrows. Cynthia, you might as well get a sperm donor" I joked and she rolled her eyes smiling at me.

"Are you already planning our children before we are?" She asked and I smirked, placing my hands on my stomach, feeling the slight movements from my baby.

"A girl can dream, right?" I asked and she laughed, nodding and I noticed my dad was talking to Colby.

"What are you two talking about?" I asked, looking over towards them.

"Nothing" My dad said a little too quickly.

I eyed him suspiciously and gave Colby a look, silently asking if he was okay.

Colby nodded, turning to look back at my dad.

"I can't believe I'm going to have a niece or nephew" Cynthia said, Lexi pulling out Uno which made me smile. "Have you heard from Gabe?" She asked and I nodded.

"He won't be in till around 10 or so" I sighed, kind of glad labor was going to progress slowly.

Colby, Cynthia, my mom and Lexi played Uno with me for a little while as we tried to pass time and after about an hour Dr. Hughes walked in with my chart.

"Good afternoon Leighton" She smiled at me, walking over towards the fetal monitor that was resting on my stomach. "You've got an active little one in there" She grinned. "I'm going to press in a little on your lower abdomen, are there any sore areas I should know about?" She asked and I nodded.

"Up near my ribs is pretty sore. I've been getting kicked a lot lately. Feels like a bruise there" I muttered, still in a bit of discomfort.

"I'm going to do a cervical exam to see if you're dilated and or effaced at all. Have you had Braxton Hick contractions previously?" She asked, glancing up at me from her medical chart. "I've been in so much pain in general, that if I have, I haven't noticed" I admitted and she nodded.

"Would you like them to be in the room for this exam or out?" She asked and I looked over towards Lexi and Colby. "Do you want to stay? If you stand behind me you won't see anything" I laughed and they nodded, moving.

After a few moments she said I was 10 percent effaced and 0 centimeters dilated.

"What does that mean?" Lexi asked, Dr. Hughes looking up over at her.

"So when you start to dilate, your vagina is opening to make room for the baby. To be effaced is the cervix widening so the baby can make its way through. There is an um..." She stopped, spinning around and grabbing something off the counter. "Photo of what it would look like. It's a drawing. Nothing graphic" She handed it to Lexi.

"Is an induction more painful?" I asked her, not sure if I wanted to know the answer.

"It can be, you still want to go through with the Cervidil correct? That and then the Pitocin if needed?" She asked and I nodded. "Okay I'm going to order you Cervidil around 8pm. I suggest you eat something now if you'd like. Keep it light. Don't eat a five course meal" She laughed, grabbing my medical chart again, marking something down.

My parents left with the girls to go pick me up some food, so it was just Colby and I again.

"Can I ask you a question?" he said softly, almost like he was afraid to disrupt the silence.

"Sure"

"What are you most afraid of?" He asked, taking me by surprise.

"What do you mean? Of life? Of having a baby? Of what?"

"Of giving birth" He clarified and I shifted a little, wincing.

"Um.. tearing... I guess"

"Tearing?" He asked and I nodded, "What do you mean?"

"Well if the baby is too big or whatever, your vagina can tear. They sometimes have to make a cut on the side so it doesn't tear to your asshole" I informed him and the look I got was priceless.

"Excuse me?"

I giggled, nodding.

"That's... that should be illegal. That's a thing?" He asked, clearly baffled.

I nodded again, still quietly laughing at the look on his face.

"You know, a lot of pregnant women poop whilst pushing the baby out, because it uses the same muscles"

"That's too much information" He shook his head, walking away from me.

I laughed, grabbing my cup of water. "I said you could leave" I reminded and he turned around.

"Leigh, I'm not leaving unless you tell me to. I told Sam I would be here for you.......no, I want to be here. I want to be with you, I want to help you. I want this. I don't want to leave you alone" He said firmly and I nodded slowly, feeling the butterflies in my stomach.

He wanted to be here.

"If you can't handle the idea of pooping and tearing, how are you going to stay in the delivery room?" I asked, kind of curious as to why he was so persistent on staying.

"Have you ever thought about having a baby?" I asked, Colby now standing in front of the hospital bed.

"Leighton I don't exactly have the right parts" He joked, and I rolled my eyes. "In all seriousness, no, I haven't... I mean.. I don't know. I told you I didn't see myself getting married. I think meeting you has made me think about these things a lot more. You're going through life stages I never imagined going through.. but watching you do them I guess has made me a little curious"

"Yeah? Do you think kids are something you would want? In the future I mean. Like.. do you see yourself doing the whole marriage and kids thing?"

"I don't know. I think I'll be perfectly fulfilled just watching you go through it. You know... you feed and change the baby and we just get the laughs and the birthdays" He smirked and I laughed, shaking my head at him.

"They'll love their Uncle Sam and Uncle Colby, and Auntie Kat so much" I cooed, daydreaming a little bit.

His nose wrinkled, eyes squinting as he replied, "I  don't like that. It sounds weird"

"What? Uncle Colby?" I asked and he nodded, which made me laugh a little, "Why does that sound weird?"

"I don't know.. it's a weird thought" He admitted, almost seeming uninterested in the topic.

"Why?" I laughed, shifting a little bit to look at him. "You've never thought about being an Uncle? You have a brother" I pointed out, seeming confused as to how he's never thought about any of these life milestones.

It's all I thought about growing up, all the way through High School with Gabe. Marriage, love, a baby, a house, a family, grandkids.. I wanted it all.

How could he never let his mind wander to the even hypothetical idea of it?

Colby stayed quiet, the machines next to me filling the uncomfortable silence.

"I think it's interesting that you haven't. Not that it's weird, it's just that like.. I've always thought about it. Of course, I thought I'd be doing it all with Gabriel.. I never imagined... not" I whispered at the end, my emotions starting to take over.

"You are doing it with Gabriel though" He pointed out, walking over towards the sink and plugging in his phone.

I shook my head, glancing down at the IV in my hand. "I'm not. I'm not doing what I pictured... I'm not happily in a relationship, doing this together.. he hasn't been here, with me, doing this. He's showing up. He hasn't been involved. You know why I put Sam and Kat on the birth chart? Because they've been involved. They've gone to appointments, they've gone shopping with me, they've hung out with me.. and I know it's unfair to say. I know I said I needed space, and I know he wishes to a certain extent that it could've been him........ but... it wasn't. It hasn't been.. and it never will be. It's hard to know how much it won't be. He has the privilege of being at the birth... but he has a right to this child. He is this child's father.. and the idea of us doing it together.. but separately is weird. Like I'm going to have this baby.. whether it be vaginally or through a c-section.. and he's going to be here, watching it happen.. but the second we leave this hospital.. we're two separate people again. We aren't doing it together. I never.. I never imagined.. it would be this way ya know? I don't know.. I guess I fucked it up for myself" I whispered at the end, wiping the stray tears that fell down my face.

My eyes were closed, and I felt his ring covered hand intertwine with me.

"But you have us Leigh. You have your friends. You have so many people that are here, that are doing it with you. We are here" He squeezed my hand. I looked over at the blue eyed boy, tears blurring my vision as I squeezed his hand back.

"Thank you" I whispered and he nodded

"You're going to have this baby, and you're going to kick ass Leighton. Whether he is involved or not, you are going to kick ass. You've kicked so much ass already, this should be a cake wake. It's going to fucking suck, and I know you're going to regret a lot of things.. but you can do it. We can do it. We will do it"

~

By the time 8pm rolled around, Aaliyah and River walked in, my family was sitting around the fairly large hospital room, playing games and talking to me.

My dad had his pencil and notepad out, leaning his back against the hospital chair.

Colby was laying on his forearms on my hospital bed, his hair tickling my arm.

"It's a party in here" Aaliyah laughed, the room pretty quiet. "I would've come sooner, but I didn't get off work till 8. Have they let you eat?" She asked and I nodded, listening to my baby set off the fetal heart monitor.

I was about to get the Cervidil inserted, they just wanted to give me time to let my food digest before inserting it since I won't be able to eat for a while, and nurses kept coming in to check my blood pressure and see how the baby was doing.

So far so good, so I guess that was good.

The second a nurse came in with the scary looking device, having everyone step out of the room as it got inserted.

"I'm putting a water based lubricant on it, it might have some discomfort, if it hurts unbearably, hit the nurse button"

"How do you insert it?" I asked, seeing the scary looking ribbon in front of me.

"I hold it like this" She held it between 2 fingers, "and I take this" she showed a little jar of clear gel, "and I cover it. That way it doesn't hurt.. or shouldn't anyway. It's a water based lubricant so you shouldn't react to it. I even carefully place it in, kind of like a tampon I guess" She let out a breathy laugh, trying to focus on her job. "I'm going to put some of the gel at the opening to prevent soreness, is that okay?" She asked and I nodded, trying to relax.

By the time it was done being inserted, I had big fat tears streaming down my face and I swear death would've been less painful.

"I'm so sorry" She kept apologizing but I just tried to breathe through the pain.

"Almost done" She told me and I nodded, trying to calm down.

It hurt so bad

"Your cervix is tight and tender, It should calm down in a little bit" She told me and I just nodded, trying to not spike my blood pressure, breathing slowly.

Colby came in when the nurse left and asked if I was okay, and I couldn't manage to talk so I just shook my head.

I felt his hand grab mine, his other hand rubbing my back as I cried, leaning forward.

"God I can't wait to get this thing out of me" I groaned, Colby rubbing my back.

"We're at the final stretch Leigh. We can do this" He encouraged me but I just ignored him, trying to get comfortable.

"Do you want me to rub your back?" he asked and I gave in, not expecting to be moving forward and have him sit behind me.

I leaned forward, stretching out my back as his hands moved over the muscles, low moans falling from my lips as some of the pain disappeared.

9pm had rolled around, and it was just Colby and I sitting in the hospital room, my eyes slightly closed as he sat on his laptop in front of me.

I got a text from Gabe that the flight had been delayed and he was stuck in the airport still, which meant Colby watched me have yet another breakdown in fear of him not making it.

It was weird to have it just be Colby and I in the room since visiting hours were over.

I never imagined that I would be in a labor and delivery room with my ex-roommate/best friend if I even want to call him that..

We talked for a little while, but I was getting pretty sleepy so he was going to work on some editing whilst I dozed off.

When I woke up, it was to a nurse coming in and seeing if I was okay, and asking if I was still in discomfort.

At this point the Cervidil had been inside of me for four hours and I hadn't made much progress.  

She took my temp, checked my blood pressure to make sure I wasn't at a dangerous level, gave me my popsicle and was on her way.

It hit me that it was November 24th now, and that my baby wouldn't have the same birthday as Miley Cyrus, and I couldn't help but hear Colby's voice telling me to Google celebrities' birthdays.

I ended up finding out the actress who plays Izzie Stevens on Grey's Anatomy was born on November 24th, and I thought that was kind of cool, so I opened up our texts and sent "My baby is going to share a birthday with Katherine Heigl, maybe they'll become a surgeon or an actress" and at about 4:15, I fell asleep for a few hours and eventually was woken up at 8 for a cervical check, a fetal check, a blood pressure read, a temp read, and breakfast.

Now when I say breakfast... you're probably thinking eggs, sausage, oatmeal, pancakes etc.. when in reality, I got a really yummy, mouth watering cup of ice chips.

Aren't you jealous?

I spent my morning texting Aaliyah, Katrina and my mom, trying to pass time since I clearly wasn't giving birth anytime soon.

I was starting to get stronger contractions, but I was only a centimeter dilated and 15 percent effaced.

It was a pretty restless night and quite a few checks in and by that morning, Gabriel's plane was supposed to lane at 9, and I was getting my Pitocin drip at 9:30.

Colby had gone back to my apartment to grab a few things and take a shower, leaving me alone for an hour.

At 9:35 Dr. Hughes and a new nurse walked carrying what I assume was Pitocin, the nurse walking over towards my IV bag.

"Alright Leighton. This is a small dose, we will be monitoring it every time we increase it. It will be given through your IV" Dr. Hughes explained and I nodded, getting prepared for yet another cervical exam.

"You're 50 percent effaced from the Cervidil if that makes you feel any better" Dr. Hughes told me and I just nodded, feeling like I was going to pass out from not sleeping last night.

They checked me and the baby over real quick before leaving, marking down the initial marks before the Pitocin kicked in.

Around 10, the door opened and I expected it to be Colby, but was surprised to see Gabe.

"Hey gorgeous" He said and I gave a small wave, feeling anything but gorgeous.

I gave him a quick synopsis of what he missed before having him help me bounce on the birthing ball.

I could feel the pain in my back and hips, feeling like period cramps in my back and it felt like no matter what position I laid in, I couldn't get comfortable.

I don't know how long I laid there, draped over the exercise ball, tears falling down my face as Gabriel rubbed my back, pressing in on certain areas to relieve some pressure, talking to me softly as I breathed.

"You're doing amazing Leighton" he said softly and I took another deep breath, hearing the door open.

I didn't even bother looking up until a woman said my name "Leighton? I've come in to ask if you'd like to walk a little bit, do some stretches. Try and progress dilation. Do you need the bathroom? Water?" She offered and nodded, having her help me up, taking the IV cart with me to the bathroom.

Once I peed and washed my hands, we slowly walked down the hall, taking it step by step as my back and feet felt like they were burning.

"Is.. erm.. Is Emily... whew, here?" I exhaled, pain shooting from my back to around my stomach.

"Emily Backstrom?" She asked and I nodded. "Her shift starts at 2pm today" She said and I nodded again, slowly working my way down the hall.

"Are these.. contractions?" I asked and she asked me to explain them.

"They are, but they're not strong ones" She said and I swear by the end of the night I was going to smack her.

She is really pissing me off.

"What do you mean they're not.. god.. they're not strong ones?" I asked and she laughed a little.

This woman was asking for a death wish.

"You can talk through them" She said and I was very fucking close to hitting her.

Can I? Can I talk through them?

Fucking bitch

We got back to my room and I laid back down, trying probably another half an hour to fall asleep.

By the time I was interrupted again, I was ready to ditch this place.

"I'm sorry" A recognizable voice apologized causing my eyes to pop open.

"Emily?" I asked and she laughed, saying hi.

"I'm here to up your dosage and check on the baby. Would you like a cervical exam now or later?" She asked

"Now is fine. Has he come back?" I asked, watching her take a seat on the stool.

"Who? Gabriel? He's in the cafeteria" She said and I shook my head, wincing at the feeling of how tender my cervix was.

"Colby" I replied, closing my eyes, feeling her fingers sweep my membranes.

"Oh um, no" She said and I sighed, feeling disappointed.

He said he wanted to be here? So why wasn't he?

I spent the next hour or so being kicked by my child, having a pain throb in my back and an annoying beeping sound in my ear.

Gabriel came back and helped me do some birthing stretches to try and release some of the tension in my hips and work on my breathing through the apparently small contractions.

If these were small, I was in a world of hurt for the big ones.

It was almost 4pm and I had been texting Sam, Kat, and Stas about how annoyed I was and how things were going here.

I also asked Sam if he had heard from Colby, but he said no and I started to get concerned.

Was he actually not coming back?

I had sharp pain in my back that stretched around to my hips and spread down my thighs and I was only 2 centimeters dilated.

Every time they came in to check, I felt like I was going through all this pain for nothing. It just kept getting worse, and there was little no progress to show for it.

Colby ended up coming back around 7 and helped me walk down the halls whilst Gabriel went to get us food.

"Was it really that bad?" He asked and I scoffed.

"That bad?! Remember doing pregnancy stretches with me! Way worse than that!" I declared and his eyes widened.

"I always said I can't imagine you in labor" He teased and I slapped his arm which only made him laugh louder.

"Ready to help me do some god awful lunges?" I asked, holding onto the side rail on the wall.

Colby held my hand and braced me as I very slowly lunged towards the ground, holding it for a moment.

"Whew" I breathed, closing my eyes as I felt the pain in my hips.

"You're doing amazing sweetie" Colby said and I couldn't tell if he was teasing me, or being sincere, but either way I ignored him and pretended like he didn't just quote a meme to me.

"So are you officially in labor?" Colby asked and I shrugged, pushing myself back up.

"I'm nowhere near the 5 1 1 rule though" I muttered, starting to walk a little bit more, stopping every once in a while to breathe through some pain or to push on where the baby kicked me.

"What's that?" He asked, holding on to my hand as I took another step down the hall, passing a patient's room.

"Contractions every 5 minutes, lasting a minute long, for an hour" I explained, taking a break to breathe.

"You're doing amazing you know" He told me and I smiled softly at him, even though I was feeling pretty gross.

"Thanks, but I'm sweaty as fuck and I feel like I'm walking on nails" I gave a fake smile.

"But you're doing it. By the end of this you're going to have a baby Leighton" He reminded me and I nodded, closing my eyes as I felt my baby move in me, praying to god I didn't need to pee anytime soon.

"So where were you today? I was so bored and you and Aaliyah wouldn't answer my texts!"

"Oh, well I went to the gym to burn off some steam, took a nap and then I had something I needed to get done before coming back here" He explained and I just nodded, not having the energy to pry.

I reached the end of the hall and we turned around, ready to make our way back.

We chatted whilst I very slowly made my way back to my room, thanking god that I could lay down again.

The course of the next few hours included checking on the baby and I, upping my dose of Pitocin, Colby and I playing dumb games whilst Gabriel worked on school, every once in a while joining conversation.

My contractions were slowly getting worse, and I was now 3 centimeters dilated which was annoying.

I swear I was a lot further than that.

"God I'm going to be here forever" I groaned, "I thought the Pitocin was supposed to have me dilate a centimeter an hour" I complained, rolling my head to the side as I breathed through a contraction.

"At least your blood pressure is coming down a bit" Gabe mentioned, giving me his full attention.

"But I need to dilate 7 more centimeters! Isn't that what this stupid drug is supposed to do?!" I asked, getting pissed off very quickly.

"It's working, Leigh. Let it do its job" Gabe said and I glared. "Oh?! Are you pushing our child out of your fucking vagina?! Do you have pain in your back hips and pelvic bones?! Did you have a headache at 3 in the morning?! NO YOU WERE SLEEPING!" I shouted, groaning as a stronger contraction hit me.

"Remember when you said you were going to do it all naturally?" Gabriel laughed and he was very close to being kicked out.

I was stuck in the hospital room with Gabriel since Colby went to go ask a nurse if I could take a shower since I had an IV in my arm.

I asked Gabe about his New York trip and how he's liking the courses so far, trying to pass some time, hoping to God that I dilated more soon.

Colby came back with a nurse and she checked me before giving me the okay to take a warm shower with supervision.

Gabe helped me shower, letting the warm water massage my muscles, giving me some very welcomed pain relief.

"So why is he here?" Gabe asked, helping me slip the dressing gown on.

"What do you mean?"

"There is no reason for him to be here" Gabe said and I felt my heart race a little.

"What? He's been amazing emotional support since I got here. If he wasn't here when you should've been, I would've been alone! I'm only going to say this once, so you better listen closely. He, or anyone for that matter that I choose to be in my hospital room during my delivery of my baby, will not be questioned. Do you understand me? If I'm going to go through a shit load of pain because your pull out game sucks, I'm allowed to have whoever the fuck I want in this room whenever I want. Do not ask me again why he's here, got it?" I glared and he nodded slowly, my pissed off voice bouncing off the very echoey bathroom. "Good. Now please hand me my brush"

~

Dr. Hughes and Emily came in and went through the motions yet again, and all I wanted to do was sleep.

Every time you'd almost fall asleep, someone would barge in to look at something, or have you walk around or do tests.

It was tiring.

On top of that I was fucking starving, and ice chip and popsicles were truly going to be the death of me.

I just wanted to be done.

The highlight of my day was Aaliyah calling me on her lunch break and talking to me for an hour whilst Colby was gone.

We talked about what my hospital stay had been like and how she was excited to learn the baby's name.

We also tried to predict the birth weight and such, trying to focus on the positives of all this pain.

It was about 9:30 on November 24th 2020, and I was currently hunched over the birthing ball, breathing through some pretty intense contractions.

A nurse from the night before came in and told me I was now 75% effaced and almost 5 centimeters dilated, which meant if I wanted to, I could get the epidural.

She reminded me that it takes about 35 minutes for the Epidural to be injected and start working, so If I wanted it soon, to get it now.

All I could think about when I was told I could get the epidural, was two things.

1: I was almost there.. I was going to meet my baby soon...

and

2: I was about to be in a lot worse pain later, than I am now

and I was starting to regret even meeting Gabriel as the contractions ripped through my body, forcing low moans to leave my mouth as Gabriel and Colby helped me do stretches and walk down the hall.

It was almost go time, and the one thing that kept running through my mind every single time a contraction hit was

We're almost done

* * * *

Btw, if you didn't know.. the amount of hours I put into research for her pregnancy is insane.

Last chance to guess the baby gender! ;)

Written on: May 22nd, 25th, 26th, 27th, 28th. 29th 2022

Word Count: 6693

Part Forty One

#colbybrock #samgolbach #samandcolby #writing #wattpad #samandcolbyfanfic #solby #katrinastuart #colby brock fanfic

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Desire (27)

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*Leighton's POV*

I've never felt more dumb in my life than I do right now, sitting in the hotel by myself.

My head just kept replaying everything that happened, from Kat and I joking around, to me yelling at Colby, all the way to the silent car ride back.

No one said a word.

I sat on the hotel bed, scrolling through photos on my phone, trying to drown out the thoughts in my head as I waited for Colby to come back, that is if he ever comes back.

He ended up going to Sam and Kat's room three hours ago, and I haven't seen or heard from him since.

I wanted this room to swallow me whole.

The AC unit was the only sound in the room, and it felt suffocating.

I ended up lulling off to the soft hum of the amenities whilst waiting, only to get the crap scared out of me when Sam and Colby busted through the door, yelling my name.

"WHAT?!" I shouted, gasping as my whole body jolted forward. "Jesus christ" I exhaled, my heart pounding as they stood in front of the bed with their laptop.

"WE CAUGHT GOOD EVIDENCE DURING YOUR FLASHLIGHT CONVERSATION!" Sam exclaimed, making my head pound.

"Great. Good for you. I'm going back to bed" I muttered, slumping back down, tugging the comforter back up and rolling over.

"Don't you want to see?" Sama asked, and I felt pressure on the bed next to me.

"I've had a shit day, I wanna sleep" I replied, my words muffled by the pillow.

"But Leigh-" Sam started, Colby cutting him off.

"Let me talk to her. We can show her in the morning, it's fine. We really should get some sleep" He said, surprising me.

They talked back and forth for a minute before Sam ended up leaving and I felt the bed still, hearing Colby's breathing next to me.

"Are you asleep?" he asked softly and I mentally sighed.

"Trying to be" I muttered back tiredly, wanting to be back in the peaceful environment that was my unconscious.

"I know you're really tired.. but I just want to say sorry again. I have a lot to apologize for, but mainly I'm sorry for making you feel like shit" 

I sighed out loud this time, rolling onto my back, shifting around a bit only to see Colby was also laying on his back, his head turned to look at me.

"You didn't make me feel like shit" I said and he just stared at me. "We both said things we shouldn't have. I'm just as much at fault as you are. I never should've sworn, yelled, or pushed you. I'm incredibly sorry for that" I apologized, Colby's face scrunching up a bit.

"You were upset. I said things I shouldn't have. I deserved that"

I quickly shook my head, now staring at the ceiling, not wanting to look at his eyes anymore. "No one deserves that. If the tables were turned, and it was you doing that to me, a lot of people would consider it domestic abuse. I had no right to yell at you"

"Leighton, you were angry. I understand" 

"Stop brushing my actions under the rug" I grumbled, feeling frustrated by how understanding he always is.

"Leighton-" he started but I shook my head.

"I have to be held accountable Colby! I have a daughter! I can't be yelling and swearing at you and running away all the time! I'm going to be twenty two! I have an almost 7 month old! I need to grow the fuck up! What I did was not okay! It was me who raised their voice, who swore, who ran.... I can't do that anymore. No matter how mad you make me"

The room ran quiet and I sighed, rolling over so I was facing away from him.

I wasn't in that position for too long before I felt his arm wrap over my hip, draping down to rest softly against my covered stomach.

I stilled, unsure of why he was snuggling into me.

Wasn't he mad at me?

I felt him brush my hair off my neck, his warm breath hitting the sensitive skin behind my ear.

"It's okay to have flaws Leigh" He murmured against my ear; shivers going down my spine.

I felt my body physically shake as the goosebumps rose on my arms, Colby chuckling softly against my neck.

"Sorry" he murmured, making me smile. 

"You're not sorry" I laughed, rolling over so I was on my back, our faces inches apart as I turned my neck.

"I am sorry" He corrected me and I grinned, shaking my head.

"You love that you just sent shivers down my spine, don't lie to me. I can see the gleam in your eyes" 

"I mean, I love the way your body reacts to my touch but I am sorry for giving you the shivers"

"Your lips made my spine shiver, I know you're gonna be cheeky about it" 

"The only one being cheeky about it is you" He laughed and I playfully rolled my eyes, moving so I was straddling his thighs. "And I'm the cheeky one?!" He laughed loudly, my eyes widening as I shushed him, a smile on my face as I held my finger to my mouth.

"It's late! Don't wake up the neighbors!" I whisper yelled, my other hand covering his mouth, feeling him smile against me. 

"It's literally almost 7am. The suns coming up" He teased when I removed my hand.

"I know, we need to go to bed but jetlag" I whined, rolling off his thighs, my body plopping against the mattress.

"You were literally just asleep" He snickered and I sighed, covering my face with my hands.

"I know, but then you woke me" I replied, my words muffled through my hands.

"I'm sorry baby, let's go to sleep and we can argue over lunch" He chuckled, myself giggling along with him.

That night Colby and I fell asleep with my back to his chest, his hand draped over my side and when I woke up 6 hours later, I couldn't help but bask in the new position.

I shifted under him, his arm falling down to the mattress, my body freezing in hopes that he wouldn't wake up.

Thankfully he's a pretty deep sleeper, so I carefully rolled out of bed slowly, and carefully tip-toed over to my suitcase, grabbing my pump and my phone before going into the bathroom.

I honestly looked like a mess.

Makeup was smeared all over my face from crying, my hair looked like post sex hair without any of the fun and my boobs and bladder wanted to go go to jail for second degree murder.

The cutest part of this wakeup, was my boobs were in fact leaking and you could see the cute patches on my t-shirt.

I've never felt more attractive.

I tossed my hair up, tugging my shirt off due to how uncomfortable the patches felt on my pretty sensitive nipples.

It was cold, and sticky, and all around gross.

I peed, pumped and showered without Colby waking up, and I'd like to call that a miracle. 

The worst part of pumping away from my daughter is the fact that I have to dump the liquid gold down the sink.

Every single time I get flashbacks to the first time I had to do it, Gabe's face popping up in my head as I watched it pour down the sink, rising out the bottles.

I honestly never thought I'd say this; but I can't wait to go home and breastfeed my daughter.

I truly miss those moments with her. She was the sweetest milk drunk baby ever, and to be honest, I'm going to miss it when she's on solids.

We were currently seven hours ahead of Minnesota, so it was 12 here and almost 7 there, meaning whilst I was doing my hair I got a FaceTime call from Gabe, smiling at my sweet girl on the screen.

She was snuggled into his chest, a blanket tucked under her arm and a bottle in her hands.

They were rocking in the rocking chair, clearly getting ready for bedtime.

I instinctively turned off the bathroom light, a small window being my only source of light so the screen wasn't bright on her face.

I honestly loved seeing her snuggle with her dad. I wanted nothing but the best for her, and it made me feel good seeing that she was doing okay.

She was starting to become pretty clingy and cuddly when I left which I was worried about, but thankfully she seems to be alright.

I gave her my full attention, my heart breaking when her little pouty lip started to quiver, her hands reaching out to the phone.

"I know baby, mommy misses you too" I frowned, her eyes becoming glossy.

Before I knew it, her  little lips kissed the screen making me laugh.

"Thank you baby" I spoke softly, wishing I was there so badly.

After about 15 minutes, Gabe let me go due to having to put her to bed and when the call dropped, I took a deep breath collecting all of my emotions and shoving them deep down.

I needed to focus on Colby right now, and making things right.

I slipped on some comfy jeans, a light sweater and sneakers in hopes of finding a place that would serve breakfast at lunchtime.

I texted Colby's phone that I left and would be back soon, knowing he usually checked his phone first thing in the morning.

I walked past multiple clothing stores and all sorts of different people, my eyes scanning any place that could maybe sell food.

I clicked on my phone and did a quick Google search.

After a few moments, I found a bakery that was a mile away, so I headed in that direction hoping I didn't get lost.

On my way back, carrying two takeout boxes of crepes, I heard my phone ring but my hands were too full to answer.

A nice woman held open the door for me, letting me walk in the hotel lobby.

Sadly, there was no nice lady standing near my hotel room, so I placed the boxes on the ground, sliding the keycard in and pushing the door open, bending over to grab the food only to hear Colby's voice call out "Leigh?" making me mentally groan.

You were supposed to be sleeping.

The door softly closed behind me, the latch sound filling the room as I made my presence known, Colby sitting upright in the unmade bed.

"What's that?" He asked, motioning to the black boxes.

"Breakfast" I replied, carefully setting them down on the dresser.

"You got breakfast?" he asked and I nodded, wishing he liked crepes.

I don't normally see him eat breakfast, so I'm just praying to god right now that I hadn't fucked up again.

It's not like I had a lot of close options.

"You didn't have to get breakfast baby" Colby's voice filled the room.

"It's uh.. an apology breakfast, I hope?" I replied sheepishly.

"Leigh, you have nothing to apologize for"

"We'll agree to disagree, I hope you like crepes? I um, I didn't know what kind you'd like.. so uh.. if you don't like the chocolate and banana one, we can give it to Sam and Kat... I just.. I got the strawberry one.. cus ya know.. I don't like bananas" I rambled nervously, feeling horrible that I had no clue about if he even ate breakfast in the morning.

"I'm sure it'll be good, thank you Leighton" He nodded his head at me, my ears warming up a bit.

Colby and I sat in our messy bed, eating our breakfast and watching the news, except it was in Italian so in reality, Colby was mocking the news anchors whilst I was trying to pay attention in hopes that my rusty French could at least tell me if it was supposed to rain today.

"Sam texted me, asking if we wanted to do anything today before we had to leave tomorrow" Colby said, his phone clutched in his hand, a fork in the other.

"Isn't it kind of late to do anything?" I asked, confused.

I thought we were resting today?

"Well we could do something this evening. Like go walk around a bit. Explore" He noted and I nodded.

"If you guys want to, sure. I don't feel like leaving right now though, so if you want to go hang out with them, I'll stay here" 

"Are you okay?" He asked and I nodded. "You sure?" He asked, and again, I nodded.

Colby set out now empty takeout boxes on the table near the window, crawling back into bed next to me.

"You're awfully quiet"

"Just thinking"

"Penny for your thoughts?"

"I just hate how I handled yesterday" I sighed, the guilt consuming me.

I really wanted to change, and yesterday showed me that maybe I was stuck acting like that forever.

"Leighton, I thought we talked about us going in circles" Colby teased and I sighed, knowing that it is annoying that we talk in circles... but sometimes you need to talk in circles to find what you're looking for.

Clearly it wasn't solved if it's still being brought up.

I sighed again, feeling defeated. "I wish I had my therapy session this week" I confessed, Colby's eyes darting erratically towards me, showing the surprise and confusion he was feeling.

"You think this is a conversation for therapy?" He asked, looking solemn towards me.

"Not exactly. I just... there are things I want to change about myself.. that I think I need a professional to talk to for"

"Like what?" 

"Just ways of reacting and responding..."

"What do you mean?"

I sighed yet again, knowing I can't be that annoyed because I brought it up, it's just... No one likes being vulnerable and talking about their insecurities and concerns to others.

"I want to be better for you, I want to be better for me; but most importantly, I want to be better for Gemma. I have a lot I'm trying to work on.. and just, I really hate how I reacted yesterday"

"Leigh, you can't work on everything at once. Don't overwhelm yourself" Colby chimed in, my eyebrows pulling together as my walls went up.

"I'm not overwhelming myself. I can work on everything at once, in pieces. I didn't say I wanted to have it perfected by tomorrow" I defended, shifting away from him.

I could tell both of us were shriveling up and backing away, becoming more closed off as we physically got further apart.

"I can think about my reactions and responses in the moment. Actively change" I continued, confused and annoyed at how he seemed to not be understanding what I was saying.

"Okay, wait. Let's start over. It's not coming across how I meant. I'm not trying to start a fight, I just don't want you to overwhelm yourself with nitpicking your responses and reactions when you're trying to heal and overcome an addiction"

"I get what you're saying, but I still don't want my instinctive reaction to be to scream at you, and then run away. It's embarrassing and childish. I'm a mother. I can't act like I'm in High School fighting with my parents. I also shouldn't have called you narcissistic. You're not narcissistic and I shouldn't be throwing that around loosely, I'm sorry" I apologized, my lips pursing to the side as I glanced up at him, my back hunched forward on the bed. "Can we try something I was practicing in therapy?" I asked, my nerves tingling at how quiet Colby was.

Colby nodded, sitting criss cross, leaning his jaw on his knuckles.

"Okay so I stated what I think I did wrong, and you can do the same about yourself.... and then we can swap and talk about how we processed the other person's emotions and reactions" I tried to explain, hoping it came across correctly. He stayed quiet, my concern growing. "Okay, so you go now.." I egged on, twisting the anxiety ring with my thumb.

"I say what I think I did wrong?" He asked and I nodded. "Okay... I shouldn't have said you weren't being supportive" He said, my tongue in my cheek, waiting for him to continue.. but he didn't.

"That's all?" I asked and he gave me a weird look, nodding.

I took a deep breath, trying to remember the steps instead of calling him out on his bullshit.

"Why do you think I wasn't being supportive?" I asked, the itch under my skin sitting in the back of my head.

Does he not regret saying I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for him?

"You never want to do them with us" He said and I mentally groaned.

This again.

"It's not something I personally enjoy, Colby. I've said that before"

"Kat goes" he shot back, my back straightening as I shifted position.

"And if she likes doing it, that's good for her. I have better things I could be doing than sitting in some abandoned place at 3am trying to prove spirits exist. I understand it is your passion, and I'm glad you like doing it... but it isn't for me"

"It's that! That right there!" he pointed at me, my chest moving back to give distance. "You're constantly saying it's not your passion, that it isn't for you!"

"Yeah, and?"

"If you have no interest in it, how am I supposed to share this part of my life with you!"

"You're a YouTuber Colby. You chose to go into paranormal, but at the end of the day, you shoot and edit videos for a living"

"You're constantly putting what I do for a living down, like what you do is better! You work in a bakery!" He pointed out, my chest stinging a bit.

"How am I putting it down? And why do you keep throwing that in my face?" I asked, trying so hard to keep it all down and not explode into a fit of rage.

"You never consider it! Is it so bad that I want to share this with you the same way Sam gets to share it with Kat?" 

"You keep saying that. That you want us to be like Sam and Kat... why? Because she willingly will go to another country with you guys to explore the world in an exchange to be in a video? Shit man, she got a good deal!" I tossed my hand out in a dramatic manner, throwing it to the side to prove my point. "I don't want to be Sam and Kat! I want to be Leighton and Colby! I think it's unhealthy you're comparing us to them" I held eye contact, watching his pupils dilate.

"How is that unhealthy? Is it so bad that I want us to be happy? And in love?"

"No, that's not bad, but you wanting us to be them is! I don't want to be put in a box! I'm not Katrina, and I never will be!" 

"I know that Leigh"

"Do you?! I don't want to start a long term relationship with you when what you want is your best friends relationship! I'm a completely different person Colby! I refuse to play a part to fulfill some sort of fantasy you have in your head!"

"I don't want you to be Kat, Leigh"

"Then stop comparing us! I understand why you want to share your experiences with me... and I don't mind going every once in a while to be there for you.. it's just not my thing. I sit in bed with you and watch you edit, let you show me how you do it. I watch cool clips and I feel the excitement you do. It is cool, it's just not my thing. It's not what I'm personally chasing" I explained again, really hoping he would finally get it through his head that this won't be a shared interest for us. "Is this a deal breaker for you?" I asked quietly, feeling my eyes sting at the countless possibilities.

Surely it doesn't mean that much to him?

His silence made my chest vibrate out of anticipation. I could physically feel my throat tighten and my eyes start to water as I gulped, nodding slowly knowing damn well where this was going.

"Well, I uh... I'll leave you to think about that. I uh.. I'm just gonna go take a walk. I'll have my phone on me" I informed quietly, slipping out of the white messy sheets, snatching my phone off the side table and frantically scanning the room for my shoes.

Is this how we end? Over some dumb paranormal video that doesn't mean anything?

How fucking pathetic is that.

* * * * 

For anyone who wants to see Leigh's Face Claim again, here is how I picture her! Her right arm has a sleeve though lol

Is the face exactly how I picture her? No. But it's very close, but the long dark hair and the green eyes and who this girl is also has a similar body type to how I see Leigh.

Written on: October 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th 2022

Published on: October 6th 2022

Word Count: 3.4k

Part Twenty Eight

#colbybrockfanfic #samandcolbyfanfic #samandcolbyfanfiction #colbybrockfanfiction