BROOKSCrystal is going to hang out with Kenzlee today so I asked Jonah to come help me at the shop and then to come to the house and hang out with me. His girlfriend is out of town this week with her parents for fall break and he was annoying mom. When she dropped him off at the shop, I looked out the window to see him helping Ryder get her diaper bag that had fallen on the ground. I rolled my eyes at the fact she was here again but I decided to hold my tongue because of her kids. Jonah held the door for her and then walked in after her. I could see my little brother checking her ass out and I cleared my throat to get his attention. Ryder's little boy Colton came running up to me with a huge smile on his face. "Mr. Brooks, I did it!" "What did you do buddy?" "I beat my friend Jaxson in a dual. I played like you showed me to play and I won." "That's awesome, Colton! I'm proud of you buddy!" "Thank you for teaching me how to dual. Mommy said since I have been good for her and help
CRYSTAL After I got back from shopping with Kenz, I hid the bags in mine and Brooks's closet. I couldn't leave them out for Jonah to see the stuff I got for the gender reveal. Kenz wasn't even allowed to see what all I bought. While the two of us were out and about, I asked how things were going between her and Brent since they moved in together and she told me that it was not going as well as she hoped it would. She explained that he has been going out with his friends and not coming home until 1 in the morning and it's causing them to fight. I had to remind her that he is still young and wants to have his freedom. She asked me how things were with living with Brooks and I honestly felt bad for my answer. I told her living with him has been amazing. He helps me with everything I do on a day-to-day basis to make things less stressful for me. She told me she was happy for me and wished Brent would help her out more around the house but she knew he wouldn't. After Jonah and Brooks fin
BROOKS Getting to spend time with Jonah was good for all 3 of us. I know Crystal missed him and I am happy they spent the day together last week. Jonah promised to try and spend more time with her before we took him home. Crystal and I are getting last-minute things done before the gender reveal at the end of the week. It has been so hard to keep the fact we are having a boy a secret. I keep slipping and saying he and then having to go back and say he or she to cover my slip-up. My mom is driving me crazy asking about buying girl stuff or boy stuff and I have to keep reminding her that she has to wait like everyone else and that if she wants to keep buying stuff to get gender neutral for now. Viola has been holding back from asking but I can see she is dying to know. We are supposed to go to their house tonight for dinner. Crystal finished up the sign she was making and we got ready to go to Marvin and Viola's. When we got there Marvin was outback tending to the steaks and Viola was
CRYSTAL I woke up in pain and it was hard to open my eyes. I yelled out for Brooks and he answered asking what was wrong. I told him I couldn't see and he told me to hold on. I heard the water running and then felt a warm cloth against my face. He wiped my eyes and explained my eyes were a little crusty due to crying last night. "Why was I crying and why do I hurt so bad?" "You don't remember?" "Remember what, Brooks?" When he stopped wiping my face I was able to open my eyes and saw I was in the hospital. I freaked out and slung the cover off me and checked my stomach. Brooks told me to relax and said the baby was fine. "What do you remember about last night, Crystal?" "I remember going to Dad's and eating dinner. I was feeling sick and we left to go home. It was raining when we left and… oh my god, Brooks! Is the other driver ok?" "He is fine baby. He had a few scratches but nothing serious. I am fine too. I have a concussion and that's it. You have a broken arm a
BROOKS Crystal has been in the hospital for 4 days now and I decided that I wasn't going to wait any longer to make her my wife. The accident made me realize that I could have lost 2 of the things that mean the world to me and I wasn't going to take the chance that something else could go wrong and I lose her. I called Seth and asked him if his dad would be willing to come down to the hospital and do the honor of marrying us since his dad was a pastor. He told me he would ask him and he'd give his dad my number. After we hung up, I sat back in my chair and watched my soon-to-be wife sleep. She looked beautiful laying there with no makeup on and her hair in a messy bun. Even though she hasn't been able to bathe since the accident, I ensured she didn't smell. I have been giving her a good wipe-down with a washcloth, a pan the nurse gave me for water, and some soap. Her dad and Viola have been taking turns coming up here to watch over her and give me a couple of hours to sleep. The doc
CRYSTAL After the Obgyn doctor examined me, he said that Marvin was looking good and I was clear to leave but needed to try and avoid stressful situations. Brooks got all my things together and took them down to the car while I waited on the nurse to bring my discharge papers. 20 minutes later the nurse came in and went over everything with me and explained that I will need to attend physical therapy sessions starting 2 weeks from today. I thanked the nurse and waited for Brooks to bring the car around. The orderly wheeled me down to the front door and then wheeled me to the car. Brooks helped me into the car and we headed home. When we pulled into the driveway Jonah came out of the house and got my bag from the trunk. Brooks helped me into the house and helped me get into the bed. Jonah came into the bedroom and asked if I was hungry and I told him I was fine. “Baby, you need to eat. You and I haven’t had anything today.” “I don’t want Jonah to have to cook for me.” “He isn’
BROOKS Crystal has been home for 4 days now and she is getting restless not being able to get up and help around the house. I called her doctor and asked if she was able to sit outside for a little while and he said she should be ok doing it just to make sure she didn't try to walk. After I made Crystal's breakfast, I cleaned up our dishes and went into the room and picked her up off the bed. "Brooks, what are you doing?" "I'm taking you outside to sit in the sun for a little while." "I don't think I am supposed to be outside, Brooks." "I called the doctor and asked. You can sit outside but you can't get up and try to walk." "This sucks!" "I'm sorry, baby. I wish I could heal your leg for you." I sat her on the back porch and decided to go ahead and clean the yard up. Crystal thinks I am just giving her time outside but little does she know that my reason for cleaning the yard is because Pastor Lay will be coming in 2 days to marry us. I have already talked to mom, Vi
CRYSTAL I woke up to someone knocking at the door. I looked over to see it was 8:45. I nudged Brooks to wake him up and told him to go see who was at the door. When he came back to the bedroom, He put a shirt on. "Who was at the door, Brooks?" "It's my mom, Viola, and Kinz." "Why in the world are all three of them here?" "They wanted to come see you, beautiful." Brooks left the room and Ashley, Viola, and Kinz came into the room. All three of them had bags in their hands. "Um, Ashley, what are all those bags for?" "Well darling, we brought some clothes over for you to try on. We figured since you were stuck in this room, you might like to have a dress-up day with us." "I can't stand up to get dressed." "We know that silly girl. We are going to show you the stuff we brought and you get to pick which items you like and once we have gone through all of them, Kinzlee can help you try them on and narrow down which you like the best." "Ok. I guess we could do that."
BROOKS It's been 4 months since Marvin entered this world and things are going more smoothly for Crystal and I, than when we first brought him home. He is such a good baby and barely cries now. He loves going to visit with both sets of grandparents and he absolutely loves his uncle Jonah. Jonah is a great uncle. He tries to kick me and Crystal out of the house every Friday so he can babysit. Mine and Jonah's relationship has gotten so much better over the past couple of months and he has been busting his butt at the shop. I started paying him for his hard work even though he refused to let me pay him in the beginning. I've been talking to Crystal about possibly making his assistant manager even though he is only 15. I know he is mature and will take his job seriously. Crystal thinks it may be a little too much on him though with school, being a teenager, and wanting to spend what little free time he has with Marvin. I planned on talking to my mom and Ray about it later on when I
Crystal Our first night home with Marvin has been an experience for sure. He has barely slept and so have we. Brooks has been amazing with getting up and helping me with him. He had me pump so I could get sleep in between Marvin waking up. Marvin finally went to sleep around 5 A.M and Brooks crawled into the bed. He kissed me and laid his head on the pillow. It wasn't long before he was out like a light. I wanted Brooks to get some sleep so I gently slid out of the bed and went into the living room with the baby monitor. I crawled up on the couch and pulled the blanket we keep on the back of the couch over me and turned the TV on. I flipped through the channels but couldn't find anything to watch. I decided to just binge-watch Teen Wolf. I lay there with the baby monitor by my head and eventually dozed off. I woke up to Marvin fussing and I got up to check on him. He needed to be fed and I changed his diaper. I sat in the rocker and rocked him back to sleep. After he was out like a
BROOKS As I lay back on the pull-out couch in the hospital room, I looked around at my world. I have the love of my life and wife. I have a son. I have my family and now Crystal's. I have my store which is still doing good. I have the house. I have everything I truly wanted in life. I am complete. No more missing pieces. Marvin began to cry. I got up and picked him up out of his bassinet. I walked around the room with him and calmed him down. Today is the day we get to take Marvin home and start our journey as parents without having people in and out of the room to help us. I am scared sh*tless but excited at the same time. I know Crystal and I can do this ourselves. My mom offered to come stay a few nights until we get settled but I don't think we are going to need her to. The nurse came in to check on Crystal and to let her know she will have to use the bathroom before they will discharge her. The nurse gave her something to help her go, and then she checked on Marvin. Once the nu
CRYSTAL After our family left, I was able to get about 2 hours of sleep before the nurse brought Marvin back into the room for a feeding. I slowly sat up and the nurse helped me undo my gown. She placed Marvin on my chest and explained how to get him to latch onto my breast. It took a few times but he got the hang of it and I was able to feed him. Brooks slept through the feeding and the diaper change but woke up a few minutes after the nurse left the room. He sat up and asked if I was ok. I told him I was fine and told him about how Marvin's first feeding went. He said he felt bad for sleeping through it and I told him to hush. Marvin was fast asleep in his little bassinet and Brooks asked if he could lay with me for a little while. I slid over and patted the bed. He crawled up next to me and went to put his arm over my stomach but stopped. I asked why he did that and he said he didn't want to hurt me. I grabbed his arm and placed it over my stomach and told him he wasn't going to
BROOKS The doctor hands me a pair of medical scissors and shows me where to cut. My hands are shaking and I am terrified. I cut the cord and as soon as I did, I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. His cries fill the room mixed with the cries from his mother as he is placed on her chest. My whole world is right before my eyes laying on that hospital bed. A world I didn't think I'd ever have. My wife and my son. As soon as the nurses stepped away from Crystal I walked over to the edge of the bed and leaned down. I told her I was so proud of her and I thanked her for giving me this piece of the puzzle to complete my life. I broke down and cried as I stood there staring down at her with our son in her arms. My phone went off and I checked it to see my mom was texting me to see what was going on. I texted her and told her I would be out in the waiting room soon to update them. I asked Crystal if I could get a picture of her and Marvin to show everyone in the waiting room and sh
CRYSTAL I have been here for an hour now and the nurse who just came in to check me said I was only dilated to 4cm. The doctor asked if I wanted something for the pain but I told her no. I decided after our accident that I didn't want anything for the pain. I barely took my medicine when I had the broken wrist and leg and I managed through the pain then so I didn't feel like I would need it for giving birth. After another hour of laying there, the doctor came in and checked me. She told me that I had dilated to 6cm and things would probably progress pretty quickly now. I pray they do because these contractions hurt like hell! I was able to find a comfortable position to lay in for a while before the pain hit again. I looked up at the clock and saw that I had been here for almost 3 hours and still no baby boy. Another nurse came in and said she was going to check my progression and the look on her face as she took her glove off told me I must not have dilated much. She told us that
BROOKS After I got off the phone with Seth, I checked on Crystal. I told her I was going to make us salads for dinner. I headed into the kitchen and began to make them. I put 2 different kinds of dressing on the tray because I wasn't sure which one Crystal would want to use tonight. I grabbed the tray and headed back into the bedroom. I placed the tray on the bed and sat down. We began eating while watching TV. I noticed Crystal was taking her time eating and I asked if she was ok. "Oh, yeah I'm fine baby." "Crystal, I can tell something is either bothering you or you are hurting and not wanting to tell me." "I'm fine, Brooks. I'm trying to deal with the contractions, that's all." "If you are contracting more, you need to let me know." "I promise I'm fine, Brooks." "Ok, but promise me if it gets any worse you will let me know." "I promise, Brooks." After we finished eating I cleaned the dishes and called my mom to see if Jonah could cover for me at work tomorrow.
CRYSTAL The pains are still pretty intense but they are still 4 minutes apart. I don't want to go to the hospital until they are 3 minutes apart like the doctor said. It's 7:30 a.m. and I've been up since 4:45 a.m. I'm starting to get sleepy but I've been trying to stay awake with Brooks. "Hey beautiful, why don't you try to get a nap? I can see your eyes are getting heavy." "I'm okay, Brooks." "Crystal, please try and get a nap in. I want you to get as much rest as you can." "Ok, Brooks. I will try to take a nap." I laid back and closed my eyes. When I woke up, Brooks was sitting next to me. "How was your nap?" "It wasn't long but it was good." "You've been asleep for the past 3 hours, beautiful." "It was not 3 hours." "It's 10:45 beautiful. Are the pains still bad?" "Honestly, no. I don't think I've felt any pain since I fell asleep." "I've been right here since you fell asleep and I haven't heard a peep out of you nor have I seen you hold your stomach." "Why would the
BROOKS It's been 3 weeks since Crystal and I got married and her doctor has given her the okay to get up and move around more with help. We decided not to have a honeymoon until after Marvin is born and is old enough for us to leave him with one of the sets of grandparents. Crystal has been having some pains in her stomach so we have an appointment in an hour with her OBGYN. Once Crystal was ready to go we headed to the doctor's office. There was a little wait but it wasn't too bad. As soon as Crystal was called back the nurse asked me to help her change into a gown so she could be examined. When the doctor came in she started the exam but it didn't take long for her to figure out what was going on. She told Crystal and I that the pains she felt were contractions. She said she was going into early labor and she was 2cm dilated but with how far along Crystal is, that Marvin wouldn't be in any danger of being delivered this early. I asked her what we needed to do and she told me that