Carter growled as she tried shoving her dollar into the hospital coffee machine for the seventh time. "Alright, you will go in." The dollar rolled back out and fell onto the floor.
"It might work if you use a dollar that doesn't have a corner taped back onto it with duct tape."
Carter spun around prepared to yell at whomever was making fun of her, but when she was faced to face with Todd, she fell silent.
"Hello." Todd gave her a half smile, afraid she would hit him.
"Todd. Hi."
He reached into his pocket and handed her a dollar. "Here. I know what those caffeine cravings can do to a person. Wait, don't you hate coffee?"
"I've grown quiet attached to it. I haven't slept in like, two weeks. It tastes better after about day three and after that, you can't live without it."
"Good to know. Hey, I was going to go visit Melissa but her door was closed. Figured I'd come find you. I asked the nurses at the desk if they'd seen you. I think they're afraid of you."
Carter giggled maliciously.
"Nice. I'm impressed. How is your sister?"
"She's doing a lot better. They said she might be able to go home next week. I think it would be for the best. She's so bored and homesick. She just wants to go home. How is Abbie?"
"She's ok. I think she's still dealing with this whole thing. I tried to get her to come with me but she said everytime she sees Mel she feels guilty."
"It's not Abbie's fault."
Todd looked surprised. "I thought you'd hate her. Or at least more than you already did."
"I did hate her when it happened. I guess... life is too short and sucks way too much to hold a grudge. It was just me being angry. It wasn't Abbie's fault."
"I'm glad you feel that way."
Carter leaned to the left for a moment and then looked back at Todd. "Hey Todd, there's a small child standing in the doorway looking at you expectantly."
Todd turned around and laughed. "That's my neice." He motioned for the small girl to come over. She had long, curly, blonde hair and dark brown eyes. Her skin was the color of porcelain. "Mike, this is Carter. Carter, this is Mike."
"Mike? She's a girl."
"You're observant. It's short for Michaelina. It's Italian."
"Oh." Carter smiled down at Todd's neice. "Hello. Wait... neice?"
"Bianca's."
"Bianca has a daughter? I was not aware of this. Holy crap. When did she have her? She's like 12."
Todd laughed. "She's 5."
"Sorry. All kids look the same age to me. I'm really bad with kids. I'd suggest you never bring Mike around me again. She's young and impressionable and I'm... not."
"Well, my advice would be to not talk about children as if they aren't in the room."
"Sorry." She looked nervously down at Mike. "What's up?" She shrugged. "She doesn't talk. Why does she not talk?"
Todd laughed at Carter again. "You're going to be a crappy mom. She's shy."
"Oh. Well hey, Melissa's room was just closed because she got sick of the nurses yelling at eachother. So you can go see her."
"Cool." He took his neice's hand and sat her down on a couch outside of the cafeteria. "I'll be back. You stay here with Carter."
"Wait, what? You're leaving her with me?" Carter sat down in on the couch next to Mike. "You just told me I'd be a shitty mom."
"Yes, you will be a crappy mom. But this is just for fifteen minutes. Consider it a test for all the babies you and Taylor will make. And stop swearing. Virgin ears."
"Fine, but if you come back and she has blue hair, nipple piercings, and can't stop saying the "f word"... don't blame me. I'm just naturally a bad influence." She mumbled as she watched Todd walk away. She sighed and leaned back against the couch. "So, what's up little person?"
Mike sat in silence for a few moments before turning to Carter. "What's a nipple piercing?"
Carter bit her lip. "Aw, crap."
Carter tiptoed into Taylor's bedroom. It was two o'clock in the morning and she was sure he'd been asleep for a couple hours already. Melissa had finally convinced her to go home and sleep in her own bed but Carter knew she wouldn't be able to fall asleep without Melissa in her own bed on the other side of the room. Her first instinct was to kick a path through all the crap in his bedroom but for once, it was clean. She sighed knowing that he had a lot of free time with Carter being at the hospital every day.
She crawled into his bed next to him and laid her head down on his extra pillow. She quietly reached for his arm and pulled it over so it was laying over her stomach. Taylor's eyes opened and he squinted at her. "I don't have my glasses on... so I hope to God you're Carter."
"Hey." She smiled and closed her eyes.
"You're not at the hospital." He whispered and wrapped both of his arms around her.
"You're observant."
"Did she finally talk you into going home?"
"Yes."
"But you're not home. You're here, in my bed, with me."
Carter smiled. "This is as much home as anything."
"I'm glad you think that." He closed his eyes.
"Taylor..."
"Yes?"
"I'm going to be a very shitty mom."
Taylor laughed. "This is true."
"I'm serious. I'm going to be a horrible mother."
"Did you corrupt another child?"
Carter yawned. "Bianca's daughter."
"Bianca has a daughter?" He yawned back at her.
"That's what I said."
"Seriously though, don't worry about it. You're the best sister, friend, girlfriend, and daughter in the world. You have this way of making yourself the best at everything. I'm sure when the time comes, you will be the best mom."
Carter grinned and kissed Taylor's arm that was wrapped around her. "I love you."
"I love you, too." He yawned again. "When the hell did Bianca have a daughter?"
Carter didn't answer. She had already fallen asleep. Taylor smiled and closed his eyes. It would be the first time in weeks that either of them had a good night's sleep.