"So you're the one that's been kicking me," Valentina whispered, running a lone finger down the side of baby Evan’s face as he lay peacefully in his incubator. The nurse had told her she was more than welcome to visit the baby in the nursery at any time. 

In her gut, Valentina knew Evan had recognized her voice when his eyes had shifted and settled on her face. A smile instantly graced her lips. She felt a joy that she couldn’t explained. Patiently, and sometimes not so patiently, she’d been waiting for his arrival. It’d taken her a bit to accept her pregnancy and for her excitement to build, but she’d embraced it. 

Oh man, when she’d found out she was expecting, she’d been scared. So scared to tell her friends, her family, and her boyfriend – baby’s father. Now that she thought about it, she had been more scared of letting people know than of actually being pregnant. But, now, well now she was a mother. And, she had a son. 

She blinked away the mist from her eyes as she focused on her son’s face. She wanted to memorize his features, recognizing some as her very own. Evan had a full head of curling light brown hair, and from what she could tell, his roots were a blonde color. His skin, still pink and flushed from the birth, she was unsure of the color, but she could almost bet that he’d be a combination of her ivory skin and his father’s naturally tanned complexion. 

From the small glimpses at his eyes, they stood bright and hazel. Pink lips set in a permanent pout would occasionally twitch as if he wanted to smile. She longed to able to actually trace his every feature, skin to skin. The doctor had been by again this morning and informed her that Evan was looking strong and healthy. With God’s grace, he’d be out of the incubator in possibly less than two days. 

“Ms. Arayo…” a nursery nurse interrupted her thoughts. Turning away from Evan, Valentina looked towards the nursery’s entrance. 

“Call me Val,” Valentina smiled. 

“Alright then, Val, you have some visitors in your room,” the nurse informed her before walking towards the other incubators. 

“Oh ok, thank you,” Valentina replied. Allowing herself one last look at Evan, she gathered her strength, stood, and began her trek back to her hospital room. She was sure that it would be Lynn visiting her, but she hadn’t expected her to come by so early. Finally pushing her way into the room, she was greeted by not only Lynn but also by Ms. Sadie and Ms. Sandy.

"Good morning sunshine! How are you feeling?" Sandy exclaimed as Valentina stepped into the room, still dressed in her hospital gown. Stepping to her, Sandy gave her a hug, a kiss on the cheek, and ran a motherly hand over her messy hair. 

“I’m doing alright, I presume. I’m a bit sore, but that’s normal, right?” Valentina replied, hugging Lynn and Sadie. 

“Oh child, you’ll be sore for a good number of days,” Sadie commented, taking a seat at the foot of the bed. 

“How’s baby Evan?” Lynn asked as Valentina took a seat on the bed. 

“He’s doing well. I was just over there with him. The doctor said he looks strong and healthy, and hopefully he’ll be out the incubator by tomorrow night or the next morning,” Valentina replied, a large smile illustrating her joy. 

“Well, look at you! Been a momma for a couple of hours and you’ve got more joy in your pinky toe than I’ve seen some ladies have after years of mothering!” Sadie commented, reaching out and patting the mattress. 

“Valentina, honey, I didn’t want to dig through your bag, so I got some clothes from my niece, Rachel. They should fit you good. I think a nice shower would help rejuvenate you,” Lynn said, pulling out a small tote bag off the ground, where it’d lay by her feet. 

“Oh bless you, Ms. Lynn! I wanted to call you and ask you if you could bring it to me at some point, but lordy, I didn’t have your number!” Valentina exclaimed, her eyes joyful at the prospect of finally bathing. 

#### 

Knock, Knock 

“Come in,” a soft voice called from behind the door. 

“Evenin’ sunshine…” Justin pleasantly greeted as he walked into the hospital room. Pulling herself up into a sitting position, Val smiled. It was the day after, and she hadn’t seen him since he’d coached her through labor. Lynn, yesterday, had said that he’d be wrapped up with some work all day. 

“Hey Superstar, how are you?” she replied, wrapping her arms around his neck as he bent over to offer a hug. Pulling away, she placed a kiss on his cheek. 

“Well, now I’m all blushing and stuff,” he kidded, as a slight pink tint rose to his cheeks. Chuckling, she swatted at his arm and made room for him to take a seat at the bed’s edge. 

“No, I’m joking. I’m doing good all things considered. I still got my eyesight, so that means you didn’t blind me. I still have feeling in my hands, so you didn’t break them,” he joked, wiggling his fingers to demonstrate his point. 

“Oh hush, you’re too much! I wasn’t that bad,” Val retorted, but gave up seeing the look that Justin gave her. “Ok, maybe I was worse. I’m sorry about that. But, thank you for everything, really.” 

“Hey, if ever I decide to have a child and my girlfriend, wife, one-night-stand, whichever is away from home and goes into labor, I hope someone helps her out if I can’t be there,” he replied, making her laugh even more. 

“More than likely, it’ll be a one-night-stand,” she declared with a definite nod. He laughed loudly before patting her leg in comfort. 

“Mama would skin me alive, so that’s a no. Let’s not talk about scary things. How’s baby Evan?” Justin asked, causing Val to laugh some more. 

“We go from scary things to scarier things,” she retorted. A simple ‘oh-whatever’ look was Justin’s reply. 

“Oh alright, he’s great. They took him out of the incubator this morning, and they’re supposed to let me know soon if we can both go home tonight,” Val beamed, a sigh of comfort escaping her lips as she leaned back onto the pillow. 

“Well that’s great. I passed by the nursery and I didn’t see any babies in incubators so I assumed but I wasn’t sure. And how are you doing? Mama told me they wanted to keep you until today,” he asked, concern taking over his features. 

“Yeah, I was supposed to be released this morning but my blood levels were still a bit too low for them. I tore a bit and I bled a good bit, but overall, I’m good. Tired, sore, the norm,” she explained. 

“And here I thought all the blood was normal,” Justin sighed with a shrug. Val wrinkled her nose at his comment before chuckling slightly. “What’s that face for?” 

“Its weird for you, Justin Timberlake – pop star extraordinaire – to say things like that about me. I mean, you coached me through birth. And then, you sick-o, you wanted to look!” Val swatted at his thigh that rested comfortably next to her stretched legs. 

“Oh, it’s not that serious! I didn’t see much!” Justin guffawed. His shoulders shook as he laughed, and Valentina joined him, covering her face in embarrassment. After a while of laughing, they settled into a comfortable silence. 

“Just ask me already…” Val declared, pulling her legs up to her chest and looking at Justin. He raised his eyes to meet hers, and he swallowed nervously. 

“Where is he?” Justin didn’t need to identify the ‘he’ in the question. Somehow, they were communicating with minimal words. 

“California, he’s gonna be a big star,” she replied, with a sad shrug. At that moment, a nurse knocked and peeked around the door. 

“Hey hun, Dr. Rogers just did his rounds and he cleared little Evan. We’re going to get things together for the both of you. You should be ready to go home in a little while. Do you need to call someone to come get you?” the nurse smiled from the doorway. 

“No, ma’am. I’m here to take her home,” Justin spoke up from his place. 

“Thank you, Nancy,” Val smiled. 

“You have any questions?” 

“Yeah, do I get a car seat from here or do I need to have my own?” Val asked, remembering quickly that she had all her baby stuff in Franklin. 

“I have one in my car. Mama bought it for you earlier today,” Justin spoke up before the nurse could answer the question. 

“Well, there you go then. Anything else?” she asked again, and this time Val declined. Making her way back out of the room, the nurse closed the door behind her. 

“Your mama didn’t have to do that,” Val said softly. 

“No, she didn’t. But, my mama never goes by the rules,” Justin joked. 

“So, are you gonna continue?” Val pressed, knowing what was on his mind. It was on everybody’s mind. 

“Does he know?” 

“Oh yeah, he was the first person I told. I was scared shitless. I was so scared that people would disown me, and he just validated my fear. He’s a bit older than me, almost 8 years. And, he told me that I needed to get rid of it because I wasn’t fit to be a mom. It was never about him. Like this was all on my shoulders. After that, he told me that he’d gotten an audition in LA and he was leaving that night. So, really, I never mattered,” Val replied, blinking away a few stray tears. 

“Well, this will all be his lost,” he replied, patting her hand gently. 

“It’s been his lost the entire time, and I’m ok with that. Because all my baby needs is me,” Val smiled. 

“What about family?” Justin asked, timidly treading on unknown waters. 

“Well, I never knew my daddy. It was always just me and momma. She remarried when I left for school, and I have a little brother and a little sister. When she found out that I was pregnant, she yelled at me until she went blue in the face. And that’s the last that I’ve heard of her. Leoni is like my sister and that’s all I’ve had for a while,” she explained. 

“Now, you know, that you have us folks over here now. And let me tell you, Millington has already adopted you. You’ve got a whole family here with us,” Justin reassured her, smiling and pulling her into a hug. 

“Thank you. I don’t know what else I can say besides that,” she laughed, wiping away tears that streamed down her face now. 

“Well, don’t thank me now. Let’s get you out of here and safely to mama’s home without the media catching wind. If not, you’ll be my ‘secret’ baby momma,” he kidded, then quickly regretted it. “Oh gosh, that’s not even something to joke about.” 

Val just laughed more, and he joined in. Justin called his mom to let him know that both Val and Evan would be discharged soon, and Lynn insisted on being there to make sure they buckled the baby right. 

“I think she’s just too excited to have a baby in her life,” Justin joked watching as Lynn showed Val how to swaddle the baby – again. Val laughed, but she truly was thankful for Lynn’s presence. 

“Lynn, I really do appreciate this all,” Val gave in as Lynn demanded that she stay at her house for at least a week until she deemed her fit to return to Franklin. 

“Child, hush up,” Lynn chided. Choosing to follow the elder’s demands, Valentina laughed lightly and silenced.  

“Everyone is just so eager to have you home. They all want to meet the baby,” Lynn announced, watching Valentina sign discharge papers at the nurses’ desk. 

“Everyone?” Valentina asked, her eyes snapping back to Lynn from where she’d been signing paperwork. 

“Yeah, Paul, Trace, Fred, Rachel, Josh…” Lynn began to name, using her fingers to make sure she wasn’t forgetting anyone. Butterflies fluttered in her stomach. 

“Lynn, I don’t know these people,” her fearful voice interrupted Lynn’s ramblings. Justin had gone down to the parking lot to pull his car up to the exit. Sometimes Lynn’s ramblings frightened and overwhelmed her, and Justin was usually a good buffer. But, not right now. 

“Oh that’s not an issue honey, but they all want to meet the Gen Store mama,” Ms. Sandy, who’d accompanied Lynn, exclaimed, wrapping her arm around Valentina in comfort and continuing to name people along with Lynn. Sighing, Valentina knew she had no choice but to go along with it.  

Gen Store mama, she somberly thought. Suddenly, she was beginning to feel like the Walmart Mother, like Natalie Portman’s character in Where the Heart Is. Riding the elevator in silence, Valentina cradled Evan closer to her chest. She followed the two women towards the same black SUV that she’d remembered seeing at the General Store the previous day. 

“Do I get a sash with that?” Val bitterly joked as they walked out into the warm evening, to where Justin stood next to the opened backseat door. 

“With what?” he asked, taking the complimentary baby bag that the hospital had given Val from Lynn. 

“Guess I’m the General Store Mom,” Val sadly shrugged, and Justin couldn’t help his laughter. 

“Like the Walmart Baby?” he questioned. 

“Exactly like the Walmart Baby,” she deadpanned. Justin continued to laugh as he watched Val strap the baby into the car seat and settle next to him. Rounding the car, he climbed into the driver’s seat and pulled away.