Nightshade: A SimLit | Chapter 94: Difficult Decisions

"Excuse me, miss, I'm looking for a patient that's been admitted today for a caesarean?"

The nurse at the front desk glanced up from her paperwork. "Of course. What's her name?"

"Uh, his name is Alexander," Aurora corrected, "Alexander Wesley."

"Right, sorry. He'll be in our maternity ward. Room seven." 

"Thanks," She started to head in that direction, but paused. "...how is he? And the baby?"

The nurse smiled. "They're both fantastic. He's probably still out of it from the meds, though."

"Okay, thanks again."

Aurora sighed and began to make her way toward the maternity ward. Ever since the fallout between her and Alexander, things had only gotten worse. She tried her best to stay on good terms, but it seemed as though for every step forward they gained, they took another two steps backward. His bitterness toward her only grew stronger by the day, to the point that he didn't even want her to be there for the birth of their son. It was heartbreaking, but there was no point in fighting him about it. What she didn't expect was to receive a text only a little while ago from his number, though the person contacting her claimed to be his sister, with the news that the baby was born -- and an invitation to come to the hospital. She had never met his sister, or any other family for that matter, and she could only assume the things he'd told them about her out of pure spite. The thought of meeting them was nerve-wracking to say the least, and she wasn't even sure if she should go. How would Alexander react once he discovered that she came despite his wishes? How would she react once she met the baby? What if she didn't feel a bond or attachment? There were countless thoughts swirling through her mind, but regardless, she knew she had to go. So now, here she was, quickly approaching the room number with her heart pounding all the way up in her throat.

When she arrived at the door, she hesitated, but only for a moment. With a deep breath, she swung the door open and stepped inside, quiet so as not to disturb the baby if he was asleep.

Immediately, she was face-to-face with Amelia and Onyx, whom she'd heard plenty of good things about from Alexander. Unfortunately, all of those good things seemed to disappear from her memory, and she could only focus on how nervous seeing them made her. "...H-Hi," she quietly said, "I'm Aurora. It's nice to meet you..."

Onyx was silent. Perhaps because he was stressed -- he looked it, at least -- or perhaps because he was silently judging her. Either way, it only made her more nervous.

"So, we finally get the chance to meet," Amelia finally spoke. "I'm Alexander's sister, Amelia. I've, um... heard a lot about you."

Aurora averted her gaze. "Good or bad things?"

"Both," she admitted.

With a slight nod, Aurora turned her attention to Onyx. "You're his brother-in-law, right?"

"Yes," Onyx finally smiled slightly, "unfortunately."

His response elicited a snicker from Amelia, and Aurora couldn't help but smile too. "Unfortunately? Sounds like you know him well."

The three exchanged a laugh and the tense atmosphere diminished, even if only a little.

"Thank you so much for inviting me to come here, by the way," Aurora said, looking over at Amelia. "But... aren't you worried Alexander will be mad at you for this?"

"He'll get over it." Amelia shrugged. "I think it's important that you're here for your son, no matter what."

"And speaking of your son," Onyx chimed in, "I guess we should let you have a little time alone with him before sleeping beauty over there wakes up." He vaguely motioned to Alexander, out cold in the hospital bed behind them. 

"I'd appreciate that," she agreed, "thank you."

As the two left the room, Aurora quietly approached the bassinet in the corner. When she peered down at the baby inside, her heart must have skipped a beat. It was as though she was looking into her own miniature reflection, which gazed quizzically back up at her. "Hey there, little guy," she whispered, cautiously taking one of his tiny hands into her own.

He blinked a few times before squalling loudly.

"H-Hey, wait, don't cry!" She quickly scooped him up into her arms. Admittedly, she didn't have the first clue about how to care for an infant. Sure, there were plenty of them in the children's home on Sixam that she'd grown up in, but the adults took care of what they needed. "What's wrong? Maybe you're hungry..."

He cried louder.

"...or maybe you don't like me..."

The noise was enough to wake Alexander up. Groggily, he turned his head toward the commotion, only to tense up when his vision focused on Aurora standing there with the baby -- his baby, when he didn't even want her here at all. He was exhausted, but not so much that he lacked the ability to be infuriated by the sight. "...Aurora?"

Nearly as soon as he spoke, the baby fell silent, and she placed it back into the bassinet. 

There was hesitance in every step Aurora took toward the hospital bed. "Hey, Alexander. How are you feeling?"

"I'm exhausted and everything hurts," he stated bluntly. "But what's even worse--"

Before he could finish, she placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder and did her best to smile. "I'm sure  you'll feel better soon. If you're in pain, you should probably tell the doctors, okay?"

"--what's even worse," he repeated, ignoring her as he struggled to sit up, "is that you're here when I told you I didn't want you near me or this annoying baby that I'm stuck with, which turned out to be an ugly, stupid alien like you. Just my luck."

Her face fell. The insults were just as painful as always. "You don't really mean that..."

"I do."

"Well, if you want to blame someone for me being here, blame your sister! She's the one who told me to come. At least she has common sense," Aurora snapped. "What do you plan on doing? Keeping me away from our kid for his whole life?"

"I don't care who told you to come, and I don't even know what I'm planning, okay!?" He sounded more distressed than angry at this point. "You have no idea how any of this has made me feel, and I don't think you even care!"

"I don't care how you feel? You're the one that doesn't care about me!" Her voice raised to a louder volume than she intended. "But you know what? You don't have to worry about any of this anymore. All you ever do is go out clubbing and sleeping with... who knows how many different women. How can you raise a child when you're completely plastered half of the time? You're not fit to be a parent, so it's best if I take custody of our son anyway."

"W-What?" Alexander stammered. "You can't do that!"

She narrowed her eyes. "I can, and any court judge in their right mind would gladly help me. You're a wreck, Alexander." 

Tears formed in his eyes as her sharp words sank in. She was right and he knew it. He was a wreck, no matter how much he tried to hide it from the people he loved. There was no way he could raise a child, and anyone would be irresponsible to leave one in his care. 

And deep down, it hurt. The past nine months had been a complete emotional rollercoaster for him. His mental state was frankly worse than it had been before, which was saying something, and it varied from day to day whether he loved or hated the baby. The moment it was actually born, he felt a mixture of both, but now he was feeling nothing short of desperate. "Aurora, please, y-you can't do this to me. Everything good in my life is always taken away from me!" Finally, he broke down into sobs. "Brynn took away my happiness, and now you want to take away my baby! I don't understand...!"

"Brynn took away your happiness? I thought she was your happiness," Aurora looked away from him. "You can't blame her for dying. You're so selfish. Everything is always about you... you'll blame anyone for your problems except yourself."

"How can you call me selfish? You don't know what it's like to lose someone you love so much! For your entire life to be ripped away from you and there's nothing you can do about it!" She couldn't tell if he was sad or angry anymore. "You just don't understand..."

"I've tried to understand, but no matter what I do it isn't good enough." She sighed heavily. "I'm not trying to take the baby away from you. I just think it's best that he lives with me. Y-You can still have him some days, and see him any time you want to... do you really want him to grow up seeing you in this kind of state? Is that the environment he deserves to live in? Maybe in a few years, when he's a little older, things can be different. If you get help... if you try really hard to pull your life together... please, Alexander. Do it for him."

Alexander buried his face into his hands, taking slow, shaky breaths. "...I know you're right," he said quietly. "I know you're doing what's best for him. I-I want him to have a good life, really, I do... but... I don't know if I can come back from this." 

"Of course you can..."

"I can't. I can't stop, no matter how hard I try... I want to get help. I want to be myself again. But I won't ever be."

With hesitance, she put a hand on his shoulder again. "That doesn't have to be true. You can get through this... I truly believe that there's still so much good left in you."

Alexander looked up at her, and for the first time in a long time, there was no hatred in his eyes. To her surprise, he tugged her down to his level and into a tight embrace, but said nothing in response. 

She could hardly believe it, but returned the hug anyway. "By the way," she whispered, hoping to break his silence, "did you think of any names for the baby?" 

"...Artemis," he said quietly. "Like the recent NASA mission. S-Since... you know, space, and he's an alien..."

"Artemis," she repeated. "I like that."