by Lisa Bilbrey
“Sure, who doesn’t?” she replied.
“I’ve been in love with Sadie since I was sixteen years old. She’s …” Elle paused, her tears threatening to fall. “We’ve been through a lot together. Our parents, ex-boyfriends. Some who weren’t very nice. I never thought I’d love anyone the way I love her. But then we met Derek and Callum, and I found myself falling for them. And I was confused because Sadie was my world, you know?”
“I do,” Dr. Kemp said, softly.
Elle placed her hand on her thigh, over the scars that had haunted her for the last eight months. “I’ve been so angry, just so fucking angry, because instead of getting to be there for Sadie when she dealing with morning sickness and holding her hair back, I was stuck in the hospital.”
“Have you told them?” Dr. Kemp asked, and when Elle shook her head, she asked, “Why not?”
“Because everything in our relationship has been about me,” Elle cried. “I fought against our relationship from the beginning, and just when I had let go of all my fears, someone tried to kill me.”
“That’s not your fault, Elle,” she said, grabbing a few tissues out of the box and handing them to her.
“No, I know.” She wiped her face clean. “But instead of being the partner they needed, I was fighting for my life, fighting for my sanity. They’ve been so patient with me, so incredibly patient.”
Dr. Kemp smiled and leaned against the counter behind her. “I’ve been practicing for almost ten years, and in all my years, I’ve never seen anyone love the way the four of you do.”
“I don’t doubt their love for me,” Elle insisted.
“Then why aren’t they here for you right now?” she asked, leaning forward.
Elle smiled. “Because Sadie’s having a baby, and I won’t take the attention off her.”
Dr. Kemp grinned and opened Elle’s file, but before she could say anything else, the phone in the examination room rang. Sighing, she reached over and pressed the number one.
“Yes?” Dr. Kemp’s eyes widened as she looked at Elle. “Okay, how far apart are they? … Mmhmm … And you’re sure her water’s broken?” Dr. Kemp laughed. “Okay, okay, I’d say that’s sure. Get her to UCSF Medical Center. I’ll meet you there as soon as I can.”
Dr. Kemp hung up the phone and looked over at Elle. “That was Derek. Sadie’s on her way to the hospital.”
Elle’s eyes flew open as she scooted off the table and limped behind the curtain to change. “Is she okay?”
“She’s hanging in there. Are you okay to drive yourself? Or do you need to wait for me?”
Elle stuck her head out of the curtain and smiled. “I’m fine. We’re having a baby today.”
Dr. Kemp grinned. “You are. I’ll be about an hour. Gotta get everything settled here. Are you going to tell them you’re pregnant?”
“Not today. Today’s about Sadie.”
Nodding, Dr. Kemp walked over to the door and gripped the door knob. “I’ll have them reschedule today’s appointment for a few weeks from now. Congratulations, Elle, on both your babies.”
“Thank you,” she whimpered, and ducked back behind the curtain. As she stripped off the paper gown, she couldn’t keep the smile off her face. Today, they’d meet their daughter.
—FA—
It took Elle almost forty-five minutes to get to the hospital, and when she did, she had trouble finding a parking space. Aggravated, she ended up using the valet service the hospital offered and rushed inside.
A little old lady, with tightly curled grey hair, was seated behind the information desk. She had a pair of bifocals perched on the tip of her nose and she was studying the daily crossword.
Elle cleared her throat, pulling her attention away from the newspaper.
“Oh, I’m sorry, dear,” the woman pratted. “I didn’t see you. How can I help you?”
“I, um, I’m looking for a patient’s room. Sadie Will … I mean Davis. Sadie Davis,” Elle rambled.
The woman smiled and turned her attention to the computer, pecking on the keyboard. “Oh, labor and delivery, eh? Friend or family?”
“Family,” Elle told her with a smile. “My wife, actually.”
“Oh, I see,” she mused. “And now you’re having a new baby. How sweet. She’s on the fifth floor, room five-o-six.”
“Thank you.”
Elle pushed away from the counter and rushed to the elevator. As the doors opened and she stepped on, she spotted Lydia and Samuel running into the building. Elle held the door open and waved at them, drawing their attention away from the woman behind the desk.
“Oh, sweetheart,” Lydia cheered, throwing her arms around Elle. “Isn’t this exciting?”
“It is,” she agreed with a laugh and reached around the woman to press the button for the fifth floor. “But I can’t really breathe, and I’d like to be there when my daughter is born.”
“Sorry,” Lydia muttered and took a step back.
“It’s fine,” she said, softly. “Just anxious to be with them.”
“Why aren’t you already up there?” Samuel asked, checking his watch. “Callum called almost an hour ago.”
“Um.” Elle paused. “I had a meeting.”
“New client?” Samuel asked.
“Now is not the time to discuss business,” Lydia groused, swatting her husband on the arm.
“Oh, yeah, sorry,” Samuel mumbled, but winked at Elle.
“No, it wasn’t a new client,” she told him, knowing that he’d be wondering all day. “It was personal.”
“Ah, okay.”
When Samuel, Lydia, and Elle walked into Sadie’s hospital room, they found her lying in her bed. She had on a pink hospital gown and two bands were wrapped around her stomach: one monitoring her contracts and the other the baby’s heartbeat. Derek sat on one side of the bed, and Callum was on the other, both men clutching her hands and chanting, “Breathe, breathe, breathe.”
“Stop!” Sadie grimaced and laid back against the mattress, and turning her attention to the door. “Elle, you’re finally here!”
“I’m so sorry,” Elle fretted as she hobbled over and sat on the side of Sadie’s bed, leaning her cane between her knees. “Are you okay? Is the pain bad?”
“Eh, it’s all right,” she lied.
“How were your errands?” Callum asked, leaning across the bed and kissing Elle’s cheek. “Did you get everything taken care of?”
Elle nodded. “I did.”
Before she could say anything more, the door to the room opened once more and they looked back to see Dr. Kemp enter.
“Hello, Moms and Dads,” she greeted, smiling as she looked from each one of them, stopping on Sadie. “So, I hear today is your daughter’s birthday.”
“It would seem so.” Sadie cried out as her back arched off the bed. “Fuck, these are really starting to hurt, Doc.”
“Let’s do a quick exam and see how far a long you are, and then we can talk about an epidural,” Dr. Kemp suggested.
“How about we do more than talk?” Sadie snarled, falling back against the bed. “My vagina feels like it’s being ripped apart.”
“And that’s my cue to leave,” Samuel muttered, grabbing Lydia’s hand and dragging his wife out of the room.
“Men,” Dr. Kemp snorted, shifting her eyes to Derek and Callum. “No offense.”
“Offense taken,” they said together, but Elle could tell that neither of them were actually offended.
“Oh, fuck, fuck, fuck,” Sadie cried, her entire body tensing as another contraction struck her. “I need drugs!”
Dr. Kemp didn’t say anything as she put on a pair of latex gloves and sat on the bottom of Sadie’s bed. She gently pushed her legs apart and slipped her hand beneath the blanket.
“Get your fucking hand out of me!” Sadie wailed.
“Wow, you’re, um, you’re ready to push,” Dr. Kemp stated, standing up and pressing the nurses’ call button. “There’s no time for an epidural.”
“What? No, I just started laboring, for fuck sake,” Sadie snarled. “I need an epidural.”
“May I help you?” a nurse’s voice trickled out of the plastic speaker on the bed railing.
“Mrs. Davis is ready to push,” Dr. Kemp said as she began to break down the bottom of Sadie’s bed.
“Yes, Doctor,” the nurse stated.
“No, no, I’m not!” Sadie wailed, her eyes widening as Dr. Kemp began to hook the stir-ups to the bed. “I’m not ready.”
Dr. Kemp sighed and placed her hands on Sadie’s feet. “Ready or not, your daughter is about to be born. You have three amazing people ready to get you through this. Let them.”
Sadie began to weep, so Elle tossed her cane across the room and looked at Derek. “Help me up on the bed.”
“Huh?” he asked, but swept her off her feet anyway.
“I’m going to sit behind her. I can prop her up, while you and Callum hold her hands. Together, we’re going to help her have our daughter,” Elle explained.
Derek kissed the side of her head before helping her get settled behind Sadie, who flopped against her in hysterics. She screamed as another contraction rocketed through her, grabbing Derek’s hand.
“It’s okay, lover,” Elle murmured, brushing her hair out of her face. “We’ve got you.”
Two nurses rushed into the room and started pulling sterile gowns and drapes out. While Dr. Kemp put on one of the gowns and new gloves, the nurses covered Sadie’s stomach in the drapes.
“Okay, Sadie,” Dr. Kemp said, sitting on the small, rolling stool. “With the next contraction, I want you to push.”
“I … I’ll try,” Sadie whimpered, tightening her hold on Derek and Callum’s hands. “Shit, shit, shit, here it comes!”
“That’s it,” Dr. Kemp said, calmly ignoring the four letter words spewing out of Sadie’s mouth. “Oh, she’s in a hurry. She’s coming, don’t stop pushing.”
“This is insane,” Sadie growled, panting as she tried to catch her breath. “Labor is supposed to take hours!”
“Not always,” Dr. Kemp told her. “Stop pushing.”
“Stop? I can’t stop,” Sadie snarled. “It burns.”
“I know, I need to get her shoulders out.”
“Shoulders?” Derek asked. “Her head is out?”
Dr. Kemp laughed. “Yep. Do you want to look?”
“No!” Derek cringed.
“Callum?” Dr. Kemp asked.
“I’m good, thanks,” he replied dryly.
Laughing again, Dr. Kemp looked back at Sadie. “One more big push, Sadie.”
“Okay,” Sadie wept, lurching forward. “Arggghh.”
“That’s it,” Dr. Kemp cooed. “Who’s cutting the cord?”
“You’re the doctor,” Callum quipped.
“You do it,” Derek added.
Dr. Kemp clamped the baby’s cord before snipping it. She swept her finger inside the baby’s mouth, and a moment later, the sound of their daughter crying filled the air.
“Meet your daughter,” Dr. Kemp said as she laid the baby on Sadie’s chest.
“Oh, my God,” Sadie cried, holding her tight. Elle immediately wrapped her arms around both of them, unable to keep her tears from falling. “She’s beautiful.”
“Like you,” Callum said, placing one hand over Elle’s. “I’m so proud of you, sweetheart.”
“I can’t believe she’s actually here,” Derek whispered, his tone thick and emotional. He placed his hand over Callum’s.
“Okay, Moms and Dads, time to take baby down to the nursery and get her check out,” Dr. Kemp said, settling back on her stool.
“No, but …” Sadie trailed off as one of the nurses lifted their daughter off her chest.
“She’ll be back in your arms soon, I promise,” the nurse said. “Dads, are you coming?”
“Yes.” Derek and Callum scrambled after the nurse as she carried their daughter out of the room.
After half an hour, Dr. Kemp left Sadie and Elle alone, congratulation them on their newest addition. Elle settled on the side of Sadie’s bed, draping her arm over her legs.
“You okay?” she asked.
“No,” Sadie said, drowsily. “And yes. I hurt, Elle. I hurt so much. Feels like a truck has slammed into me, but you’ll find out soon enough.”
“I will?” Elle asked.
Sadie smiled. “Sweetie, I know your body better than you do. You’re what? Three day late?”
Elle pressed her lips together and nodded.
“Told you,” she laughed, then winced. “That wasn’t smart.”
“Oh, I’m sorry, honey,” Elle soothed, placing her hand on Sadie’s cheek.
“It’s fine,” she said, waving her off. “So, you are pregnant, aren’t you?”
Elle bit the inside of her lip as she nodded again. “Dr. Kemp confirmed what two over-the-counter tests had already told me. I’m pregnant. Around five weeks.”
“Oh, Elle!” Sadie whimpered. “When were you going to tell us?”
“I don’t know.” She shrugged her shoulders. “Soon.”
“Hmm,” Sadie hummed, but didn’t say anything else as the door to her room opened and Derek and Callum walked in with the baby in their arms. “Oh, give her to me!”
Derek laughed as he placed the tiny baby in her arms, keeping one hand on the baby while wrapping his other arm around Elle.
“Everyone’s waiting out in hall. I wasn’t sure if you were up to seeing them yet.”
“Not yet,” Sadie murmured, gazing at their daughter. “I want a few minutes alone with her before they play a game of pass-the-baby. She’s healthy, right?”
“Perfect. Apgar scores of seven and nine. She weighs six pounds, eight ounces, and she’s nineteen inches long.” Callum rattled off her stats as he placed is hand on Derek’s back. “She didn’t even cry when they gave her a bath.”
“Because she’s a brave girl,” Sadie murmured, pressing her lips against the top of the baby’s head. She shifted her eyes to Elle. “Someone has news to share.”
“So much for waiting,” Elle groused, pushing herself off the side of the bed and holding on to the railing to keep from falling. “Um, okay, here’s the thing. I went to see Dr. Kemp this morning. I’m five weeks pregnant.”
As Derek and Callum stood on the other side of Sadie’s bed, staring at her with their mouths wide open, Elle worried that they’d be upset. After all, two babies in less than a year was a lot, even when you had four parents.
But then Callum blew out a thick breath, his lips trembled as he asked, “We’re having another baby?”
“Yeah,” she murmured. “I know we weren’t planning —”
Derek rushed around the bed and silenced her with a searing kiss, and then leaned his forehead against hers. “You don’t plan family, beautiful, and we will always welcome a new baby into our lives.”
“Yeah,” Sadie said smiling as she looked down at the baby. “Did you here that, Flora Hope? You’re going to be a big sister.”
Nineteen
“Ow, ow, ow,” Sadie whimpered, climbing out of bed and scurrying into the bathroom.
“You okay, honey?” Elle mumbled, and when Sadie didn’t reply, she propped herself up on the side of the bed and reached for the edge of the cradle. Flora was sound asleep, wrapped in a pink blanket with butterflies. She had a matching hat on the top of her head and her bottom lip was poking out in an adorable little pout.
“Is she still asleep?” Callum murmured, wrapping his arm around Elle’s waist, flattening his palm over her abdomen.
“Yeah,” Elle whispered. “But Sadie rushed off into the bathroom. Will you check on her?”
Callum leaned up and kissed the back of her neck before saying, “Of course.”
As he climbed off the bed and walked into the bathroom, Elle dropped her hand to her thigh, trying to work out the sore muscle.
“What’s your pain level?” Derek mumbled from the other side of the bed.
�
�Four. Maybe a five,” she said, quietly.
The bed shifted as Derek rolled so that he was curled up against her. His hand slipped between her arm and body, gripping her thigh. He began to massage the muscle. “Better?”
“Not really.” Elle covered his hand with hers. “But thanks for trying.”
Derek leaned up on his elbow and pressed his lips against her shoulder. “You’re welcome. How are you feeling?”
“Tired,” she admitted, looking down at Flora, who was now three days old. Sadie had spent one day in the hospital before she and Flora were discharged. Two more days had passed, and they were settling in as parents. Or trying, too, at least.
“Any morning sickness?” he asked, sliding his fingers along the scar on her leg.
“Not really,” she said, shifting so she faced him. “Can I ask you something?”
“Anything,” he told her.
“You know how we’re supposed to get the results of the paternity test today, right?”
Derek nodded. “Because we agreed that while it doesn’t matter if I’m her biological father, or if Callum is, it’s important that we know for medical reasons.”
“Yeah,” Elle said. “Are you scared that you won’t be her biological father?”
“Scared? No, not scared,” he replied, vaguely. “Anxious might be a better word.”
Pausing, Derek pushed himself up on the bed, sitting with his back against the headboard. “You know how much my dad values family?” he stated.
“I do.”
“I never really understood what he meant until I met you and Sadie, until I admitted my feeling for Callum, until Sadie told us she was pregnant.” Derek reached for Elle’s hand, which she eagerly gave. His fingers wrapped around hers. “Knowing I was going to be a dad, I’d never felt so … so fucking happy, Elle.”
Derek blew out a shaky breath, eyes glistening with tears. “Damn, I didn’t think I’d get so emotional.”
“I think it’s sexy that you let your feeling show,” Elle confessed.
He grinned. “Yeah?”
She nodded. “My dad never showed much emotion. Well, except for disappointment in me. I wish just once he would have cried or yelled, or anything other than keeping everything bottled up inside. At least then I would have known where I stood.”