☆.｡.:* BABY STEPS.｡.:*☆
act one — the third baby
(💍🕯🏹☁️)

"louis, do you want to go and see auntie flo?" thea bent down to her sons level once she had spotted the oldest norris sister in the living room, the blonde wanting to talk with cisca about some things. once he heard his aunties name and saw her, he ran to her as fast as his little legs could take him.

"auntie flo!" louis excitedly shouted, catching the brunettes attention, a smile gracing her face as she stood up ready to catch him when he was close enough; thea giggling at the sight in front of her, grateful that her son had an amazing connection with both hers and lando's side of the family.

"hi, darling." cisca greeted her daughter in law with a warm hug, one of her hands placed on the side of thea's bump as she rubbed her thumb against it. "is it just you two?"

"yeah, lando said he'll be here in about an hour, he just has some things to do at the centre."

"would you like a cup of tea, or even hot chocolate? i bought some the other day for when you come over."

"oh, that'd be lovely, thank you. do you have any apple juice in?" thea asked on behalf of louis, knowing that he'd appreciate the juice.

"course, it's in the fridge, take a chocolate bar if you'd like." cisca told her, thea quickly jogging to give louis a drink before making her way to the kitchen.

"i'm gonna try and get him to sleep for a bit, but is it alright i get one for later on?"

"of course it is, love, take as many as you want."

"don't say that because i'd eat it all, i've not had any dinner yet." the blonde tried to catch her breath, that was one of the things she hadn't missed about pregnancy; the constant loss of breath, even during simple activities like bending down to pick something up or walking up or down the stairs.

"i can make you some whilst your here if your hungry?" cisca offered, telling thea the options she could make quickly to tide the young blonde over.

"thank you but i'm saving myself for the curry, the baby is making me feel full up a lot quicker, but i will have a crunchie." thea giggled, reaching for the honeycomb treat from the fridge, passing cisca the milk as she did so.

"there will definitely be enough for you to take some home, you know what i'm like."

"if i had to pick my last ever meal, it would have to be your curry, it's stunning." thea began to grow even hungrier at the thought of cisca's chicken curry. "especially with poppadoms."

"you can never go wrong with a few poppadoms." cisca chuckled, both women now sat at the island with the hot beverage in front of them; the older of the pair scanning her eyes over thea's features.  "don't take this the wrong way, love, but you look really worn out. how are you doing?"

"i'm alright, trying my hardest every day but it's still quite difficult." the pregnant woman tried to sound positive but cisca could see right through thea's facade.

"have you ever looked into therapy or any sort of counselling?"

"i'd love to do it but i don't think it's for me." thea shook her head, looking at the mug she was holding in between her hands. "i should be over it by now, i'm just being silly."

"you went through one of the hardest things a person could ever go through, my darling, you're not being silly." cisca sympathetically smiled, rubbing thea's arm as they sat with each other at the kitchen island. "and there is absolutely no time limit on grief. if it takes you two weeks, two months or even two years, then so be it because you can't rush the process, no matter how much it hurts."

"i just feel so much guilt because i couldn't save her, i feel guilty to louis, to my mum and sister, to you all and especially to lando. that's why i can't talk to him, i don't know how to put my feelings into words."

"i understand where you're coming from, i really do, but there's only so much you can keep from him before it all gets too much to handle."

"i know, i think because i've hidden so much about how i feel from him, i don't know where to start."

"start from the beginning, that's always the best option. i'm not saying that you have to tell him as soon as you see him, but try and not leave it too late."

"i think somebody's a little bit tired." flo's voice caught the two women off guard, louis in her arms as he clung to her like a koala to a tree.

"you're honestly a life saviour getting him tired, thank you, lovey." flo giving her nephew back to thea, louis now wrapping around his mums neck. "i think you're ready for a nap now, little man."

"mummy, i'm not tired." the two year old tried to protest against his mothers words but his body betrayed him the next moment, a large yawn leaving his body, making the trio of woman laugh.

"i know you're not but will you try and have a sleep for me?" thea kissed the parts of his face that she could reach, louis snuggling his head further into her neck.

"i can try but i won't."

"if you don't see me in the next fifteen minutes, i've fallen asleep with him."

"don't worry about it, darling, come and get me if you need anything." cisca told her, earning a grateful nod off of the young mum.

after they had made it to lando's old bedroom and got themselves situated in a position where the both of them were comfortable; the blinds shut so it could make the room as dark as possible and the smell of the freshly lit candle creating a sense of peace and relaxation.

"do you want to talk to your brother or sister?" thea spoke gently and quietly to her son, her voice soft so that it would send him to sleep quicker. louis always loved to fall asleep to the sound of his mothers voice, whether that was from a song she'd sing or her telling him about her day or even from the silly noises she made to make him smile.

"what do i say?" louis tiredly raised his head off of thea's chest, his fingers moving from twiddling the ends of her blonde hair to her bump, his little hand rubbing it making thea smile at him.

"you can say anything, tell them about your morning with auntie cass and uncle tommy." the slight indication to what to talk about made the toddler throw his head back on thea's chest, him quietly babbling on about his day so far.

"i can't wait to meet her, mummy." louis murmured, his voice sounding more slurred and tired as the moments went by, so much for saying he wasn't tired.

"do you think the baby is a girl?" she felt louis nod against her before asking her question. "why do you think that, darling?"

"because the other baby was a girl, so this baby is a girl." the boys answer making thea's eyes cloud over with tears, but tears of both sadness and mostly happiness. sadness because this was the second reminder of her daughter in a couple of hours, but there was a big part of happiness because of his innocence and undeveloped knowledge on how baby's work.

"i hope this baby is a girl too." thea whispered to herself, as if she was praying to whoever was listening up above, thea hoping that her daughter could give her and lando the daughter they were never able to meet. "try and get some sleep, angel."

deciding to get some sleep herself, as she knew that would end up staying awake with louis in the night because it was a known fact that he would have another nightmare. however, whilst thea was lay on the bed in lando's room with louis sleeping against her, she was unaware that lando had arrived at his family's home. meaning that she was completely unaware that she was the main topic of their conversation.

"she was fine with me earlier, i don't understand what's wrong." lando huffed to his mum, slumping down on one of the chairs in the kitchen, watching as cisca made them both a cup of tea.

"lando, she's pregnant and her hormones are going to be changing all the time, you know that." stating the obvious to her youngest son as she stirred the hot beverage, her back facing him so far was unable to see the look of defeat on his face.

"i know that, mum, but she normally tells me everything." lando seemed defeated, him only wanting to know what was wrong with his fiancé so that he could try and help her, if she wanted any. "do you know what's wrong with her?"

"i do but it's not my place to talk about her feelings, you need to talk to her yourself."

"how am i meant to do that when she never tells me how she feels?"

"because there may be a reason why she's keeping some things from you. take your time with her, there are some things that she might not feel comfortable talking directly to you about."

"where are they?" the young dad realised that his son nor thea had seen him since he arrived, him looking around to see a sign of them.

"i think they're in your room, louis got tired so thea took him up."

"alright, i'll be back in a second."

once he made it upstairs as quietly as he could, as he didn't want to wake his son up incase he was actually sleeping, knowing how much he needed it after the past few nights, he walked through the hallway to his old bedroom. gently opening the door, he was greeted to a sight for sore eyes and it was an image that he wished could forever be engraved in his mind.

thea and louis were cuddled with each other, their sons hand unconsciously placed on thea's bump, causing lando's heart to melt if it hadn't already. seeing that they weren't covered in a blanket made him go into protective daddy mode, him grabbing the large fluffy blanket off the edge of the bed and placing it on the top of them. once he'd made sure that they were both completely covered by the blanket, he carefully bent over to place a soft kiss on the top of both of their heads; the feeling of his lips making thea smile to herself and cuddle a little closer into louis.

"sleep well, my loves."