Down The Aisle

Chapter 2

Caleb's P.O.V

I sat there, in the girl’s room.

Just thinking, holding Bailey in my arms.

She was so cute, daddy’s little girl

I looked down at her cute little button nose, her soft rosy cheeks, her tiny little lips.

She was so wise, so knowing, she glowed, and so did I

I was a proud father

Sofia walked in with Paige on her hip.

"Hello my lovely" she said

Paige wobbled her head around, slowly drifting of, then jerking awake again.

"I'm gonna put this one down for a nap" she said

I watched my lovely Sofia walk over and place our daughter in the crib.

The girls were almost 5 months old now, getting bigger every day.

I slowly rocked Bailey back and forth.

"Bailey is almost settled, then I'll put her down to" I said grinning up at her.

"I'll wait for you in the other room" she said

She walked through to the other room, her dark hair bouncing behind her.

Bailey was so almost asleep, she was just flickering her eyes open and shut.

I slowly rocked her back and forth, stroking the soft tufts of hair on her head.

I felt a hard lump, on the back of her head, and I went over it again Bailey started to whimper.

"Sofia" I shouted

She ran through sticking her head round the door

"What? your waking the girls" she said

Then she looked over at me, our eyes making contact, and she could tell.

"Hospital" she said

"Yeah, Lump" I said

...........................................

Sofia's P.O.V

we arrived at the hospital a short while later

Paige was asleep in Caleb’s arms and I was carrying a whimpering Bailey

I walked up to the reception desk while Caleb called Nikki

"hello" I said frantically "my daughter has a hard lump on the back of her head, and it seems as though it is quite painful for her."

"I need a name and date of birth" said the receptionist

"30th of July 2012, Bailey Rose Finn" I said

"okay" said the receptionist typing "please go wait in the yellow waiting room on the second floor, children’s ward, the doctor will be with you as soon as possible" she smiled at me

"thank you" I said

we walked up the stairs to the second floor, to the yellow waiting room

"I called Nikki, she says that we made the right decision bringing her here, and that she can come pick up Paige if we need to stay here longer." said Caleb

'okay' I said rocking back and forth, breathing fast

"Sofia, calm down, getting stressed won't help" said Caleb

"I know, but what if I did something wrong, what if it’s my fault, and its serious?" I said

"it won’t be your fault Darling, you’re a great mother!" said Caleb

"but I'm so young, and unexperienced, I might have done something by accident" I panicked

Caleb didn’t have time to answer as the doctor appeared at the same time.

"are you the parents of Bailey Finn?" he asked

"yeah, we are" I said

"if you'd like to come with me" he inclined his head towards a door with "doctor Jones, paediatrician" on the door

I walked over into the doctor’s room, Caleb walking behind me.

we sat down, and the doctor looked at us, contemplating over what to say to some very obviously nervous parents.

"is this Bailey's twin? “questioned the doctor, inclining his head towards Paige

"yes, but Bailey was born first" I said

"and what’s wrong with little Bailey today?" asked Doctor Jones

Caleb spoke “I was just putting her to bed when I felt a hard lump on her head, she whimpered and fussed when I touched it"

"okay" said the doctor "have you noticed this lump before?" asked the doctor

"no, its new" said Caleb

"okay, do you mind if I have a feel about?" asked the doctor

reluctantly I nodded

he kneeled down next to Bailey and started to move his hands over her head

she started to whimper and I flinched slightly.

"Miss Parker, do you mind if we get some x-rays of Bailey, I think this might be a bone growth formality"

"okay" I nodded starting to shake

"I promise you, she will be fine, and one of you can come with us to hold her if she gets upset during the x-ray" said the doctor

I nodded and Caleb looked over at me, I jerked my head at Him

he placed Paige in my arms and headed off down the hall with Doctor Jones and Bailey.

Caleb knew I didn't like hospitals, and that I was pretty distressed anyways.

...............................................

"It’s called HME, or Hereditary Multiple Exotosis, it’s a skeletal dysplasia that effects nine in one million" the doctor said

"It’s very rare in Girls, and Bailey will probably be affected until she stops growing, so around 17"

"HME is an autosomal dominant hereditary disorder. This means that a patient with HME has a 50% chance of transmitting this disorder to his or her children. Most individuals with HME have a parent who also has the condition, however, approximately 10% -20% of individuals with HME have the condition as a result of a spontaneous mutation and are thus the first person in their family to be affected, Bailey of course is in this percentage"

After hearing this, I broke down

I cuddled into Caleb side, sobbing

"Shhhhh" he rocked me slowly back and forth

Paige had gone home with Nikki because they wanted to do further tests on Bailey

"Depending on the size and location of the exostoses, they may cause one or more of the following effects:

compression of peripheral nerves, Brain damage

irritation of overlying muscles and tendons, leading to pain, compression of blood vessels and restriction of joint motion" the doctor said

"Also, Exostoses of pelvic bones may cause a problem in pregnancy and childbirth. There is a slightly higher chance of a Caesarean section for delivery in mothers with HME."

"The growth of the exostoses begins in early childhood. The average age of diagnosis is 3 years. Nearly all people with HME are diagnosed before 12 years of age." He said

"but Bailey is being diagnosed early, which will increase her changes" said Doctor jones

" the Growth of the exostoses slows down in adolescence and there are no new exostoses in adulthood But Most people with HME lead active and healthy lives." He said

"Bailey can still live a normal and extremely for-filling life, it just may be a bit harder for her to do certain things." he smiled

it was true, Bailey could still be active and healthy and have a great life, but still I couldn't be positive about it, I just couldn’t.

"I want to have routine Check-ups with Bailey, and she may need to have multiple operations in the future, but for now, she is fine" said the doctor

"I will see you in hopefully in one month" said the doctor "and if you have any questions, just ask or email me" he smiled

I nodded and got up, Caleb shook the doctors hand.

we walked out the hospital together, Bailey on my hip, Caleb's fingers laced with mine.

"Sofia, I know this is hard for you" said Caleb

"but we need to stay strong for Baileys sake, okay, we will fight this illness, as a family." he smiled at me

I gently nodded, Blinking back my tears.