The Journey Collection

by Lisa Bilbrey

  “Word, Dad.” Max balanced two casserole dishes in his hands and headed into the house.

  Travis grabbed three pies and followed, passing Russ who said he would grab the rest. Nadine was bustling around the kitchen, placing the casseroles into the oven.

  “Need any help?” he asked.

  “Oh, no thank you, sweetie,” she chirped, giving him a sincere smile. “You look tired.”

  Travis laughed and leaned against the counter. “I am tired. Penelope’s been having trouble sleeping, so I’ve been staying up with her.”

  “That’s noble of you, Travis, but you need your rest, too.”

  “I know I do, but I figure it’s good practice for when the baby comes, right?”

  Nadine shrugged her shoulders. “I guess. I was never blessed with that particular experience.”

  “Why didn’t you have children?” Travis asked, regretting the words the moment they were out of his mouth. It wasn’t any of his business.

  “Donald and I tried for several years, but it never happened for us. I suppose at some point we just gave up the idea of having our own family,” she explained, turning to face him. “Then I got my job at the high school, and well, let’s just say that dealing with you little punks everyday helped ease the yearning for one of my own.”

  Travis chuckled. “Yeah, I suppose we weren’t the easiest kids to handle.”

  “You were a good group of kids. Well, most of you were. In a lot of ways, I always kind of thought you were one of mine.” A flush of red filled her cheeks. “Silly, I know.”

  “No it’s not,” he murmured. “You know, I hated disappointing you. I could handle the grief from any of my teachers, but all you had to do was give me that look and I’d feel like shit for letting you down.”

  “I’m not sure how to feel about that,” Nadine laughed. “You never disappointed me, Travis.”

  “Not even when I left and never came back?”

  “No, not even then. You had to follow your dreams in order to be the man who made the decision to come home, who made the choice to accept Penelope and Max with an open heart.”

  Travis shook his head. “Accepting them — loving them — was the easiest decision I ever made, Nadine. From the start, they owned me.”

  She smiled and fiddled with her wedding rings. “Yeah, I know the feeling.”

  Pushing away from the counter, he walked over to her, and pulled her into his arms, causing Nadine to gasp. “I haven’t told you this enough, but thank you for loving my father. He’d been alone for a long time and seeing him happy, knowing that there is someone there for him every day, well, it feels good.”

  “Loving him was easy, sweetheart,” she whispered.

  “Is everything okay in here?” At the sound of Russ’s voice, Travis released Nadine and dragged a hand over his face and through his hair.

  Turning to his father, he nodded. “Yep. Anything else in the car?”

  “No, I got it,” he said with caution. “Sure everything is okay? You’re acting kind of weird. Well, more than normal anyway.”

  “I’m fine, Dad.” Travis smiled. “I’m gonna go check on Penelope.”

  “We have about ten minutes before lunch will be ready,” Nadine told him.

  “Okay.”

  Travis left the two of them in the kitchen and walked down the hallway to his bedroom. Penelope was laying on her right side, a pillow shoved between her knees, and another one hugged up against her chest. She hadn’t bothered to get dressed this morning, staying in a pair of orange, black, and white plaid pajama pants and one of Travis’s old T-shirts from the University of Texas. He’d always loved the way she looked in his clothes, but with her tummy stretching out the material, causing it to hug her curves, had him craving to touch her.

  “Hey,” he murmured, crossing the room and climbing onto the bed next to her. Reaching out, he placed his hand on her hip. “You okay?”

  “Yeah,” she whispered. “Just tired and my back still hurts a little. I can’t seem to find a comfortable position.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  Penelope laughed. “Don’t be sorry. It’s not your fault.”

  “Isn’t it?” He smirked. “I did get you pregnant. Twice now.”

  “True. I guess I can blame you then,” she snickered, sliding her fingers across his cheek.

  Travis moaned, allowing his eyes to flutter closed.

  “You should have slept last night,” she grumbled.

  He could hear the guilt in her voice, and opened his eyes. “No, I was where I should have been. You needed me, baby.”

  “I’ll always need you,” she whimpered, and he saw the tears filling her dark brown eyes.

  “Oh, honey. I’ll always need you, too. Forever.”

  Pulling out the pillow from in front of her, he tossed it onto the floor and scooted closer, drawing her into his arms and holding her while she wept. He knew she wasn’t upset about anything in particular; she was hormonal and had a dozen different emotions flooding her senses.

  “T — Travis?” she sputtered through her tears a few minutes later.

  “Yeah, baby?” he asked.

  Tilting her head up, she looked embarrassed before she spoke. “I’m hungry. Is the food ready?”

  He struggled to keep his laughter at bay, but she looked so sweet and innocent. “Yeah. Nadine said it would be about ten minutes when I came in here, and that was five minutes ago. Why don’t we head on out there?”

  “Okay,” she replied, amused at herself.

  Travis climbed off the bed before helping Penelope stand. Closing her eyes for a moment, she appeared to stretch. The grimace that filled her face concerned him. “You all right?”

  “Yeah,” she breathed. “Just the usual aches and pains. I’ll be fine once I get moving around.”

  “If you’re sure,” he said. Even though he wasn’t convinced, he opted not to push her.

  Russ, Nadine, and Max were sitting in the living room when they walked in.

  Penelope waved at them before saying, “Hey, everyone. Sorry about the mess.”

  “What mess?” Russ scoffed, looking around. “This place is spotless.”

  “Oh, please,” she snarked. “There’s dust everywhere and the carpets need to be cleaned. I’ll do them tomorrow.”

  “No you won’t,” Travis declared. When she looked at him with a raised eyebrow, he added, “I’ll do them, but you are not pushing the carpet cleaner all over the house.”

  Penelope rolled her eyes. “I’m more than capable of cleaning them.”

  “Never said you weren’t, but I’m still not letting you do it,” Travis argued.

  She huffed, but didn’t offer a rebuttal.

  “Well, perhaps we should eat. Don’t want the food to get cold,” Nadine proposed.

  “Yes, please,” Penelope moaned. “I’m so hungry I could eat horse.”

  “Sorry, sweetheart, but I didn’t cook any horse today. I do have a delicious turkey, and the broccoli, cheese, and rice casserole that you wanted.”

  “Yummy,” she cheered, clapping.

  Travis laughed and helped her stand up. Leaning in, he brushed his lips across her cheek and noticed a blush creeping over her skin. He loved how her body always responded to him. They followed Russ, Nadine, and Max into the dining room. His parents told them to sit while they grabbed dinner. Travis wasn’t about to argue with either of them, and pulled her chair out.

  However, instead of sitting down, she sighed. “I need to piss.”

  “Mom!” Max exclaimed, throwing his hands up. “TMI!”

  Penelope shrugged. “Not like I said I needed to crap. Now, that would have been too much information.”

  Max made a gagging noise as she turned and waddled toward the bathroom. “If I’d said that, she would have beaten my butt.”

  “Yeah, she would have,” Travis agreed, sitting down. “But then, she is pregnant so maybe we can cut her some slack.”

  “Yeah, I guess,” he groused.r />
  “Um, Travis.” Looking over, he saw Penelope standing in the doorway to the dining room, one hand pressed against the wooden frame and the other cradling her belly. “I didn’t need to pee.”

  “Okay,” he said, slowly. “Come sit down, then.”

  “No, I think we’d better get in the truck,” she murmured. “My water broke.”

  ***

  Chapter Ten

  A New Life Emerges

  Travis stared at Penelope, unsure he’d understood the words that she’d just spoken. Her water had broken. The baby was coming. Taking a deep, ragged breath, he scrambled to his feet, causing his chair to slam back against the wall.

  “Oh, my God!” he yelled, almost catapulting over the dining table in an effort to get to his wife. Wrapping one arm around her waist, and placing the other hand on her belly, he cradled her against him. “Are you okay?”

  “For now,” she replied with a weak smile. “But we should call Dr. Chan and head to the hospital. You know, since the baby will definitely be coming now.”

  Travis nodded and dug his cell phone out of his back pocket. Keeping his arm wrapped around Penelope, he flipped the phone open and scrolled through his contacts until he found Dr. Chan’s number. Since it was Thanksgiving, he debated whether or not he should call his office and try to get to him through his answering service, or if he should use the man’s cell number. After the accident, Dr. Chan had told him to call his cell if needed, but Travis wasn’t sure if he was just being polite or if he meant it. How many doctors give their patients their cell number?

  With a subtle shake of his head, Travis made his decision and hit send. The phone rang three times before he heard a click, followed by a muffled “Hello?”

  “Um, hello,” Travis muttered. “This is Travis. I mean Travis McCoy. Penelope’s water broke.”

  “How long ago?” Dr. Chan asked.

  “Five minutes,” he replied. “Maybe seven. I don’t know. I mean, it hasn’t been very long.”

  “Travis, stay calm. Everything is going to be all right,” Dr. Chan said. “I’ll meet you at the hospital, okay?”

  “Yeah, okay.” He hung up the phone, a feeling of foolishness washing over him for rambling on like a lunatic. “He’s going to meet us at the hospital, so we’d better get going.”

  “We’ll follow you,” Nadine told him, draping her arms around Max and giving Travis a look.

  “Thank you.” Turning to Penelope, Travis smiled. “Are you ready?”

  “As ready as I will ever be,” she mumbled, fear lacing each word.

  Travis knew nothing he said right now would help, so he let it drop. Keeping his arm wrapped around her, he led her out of the house and out to the truck, sweeping her off of her feet and placing her in the passenger seat. Once he made sure she had her seatbelt buckled, he closed the door and rushed around and climbed in behind the wheel.

  Reaching over, he grabbed Penelope’s hand and brought it to his lips. “Let’s go have a baby.”

  “I love you,” she whimpered as a few tears trickled down her face.

  “I love you, too.”

  Releasing her hand, Travis put on his seatbelt, started the truck, and reversed out of the driveway. A few minutes later, they were on their way to the hospital.

  ~*~*~*~

  By the time Travis pulled up in front of Baptist St. Anthony Hospital, Penelope had had four contractions. When she had the first one, Travis panicked and had started to pull over to the side of the road. One glare from Penelope, however, and he kept going. Once she had breathed through the pain, she explained that the best thing he could do for her right now is get her to the hospital. And that’s exactly what he did.

  Shifting into park, Travis looked over at Penelope. “I’ll be right back, okay?”

  “Hurry,” she replied, taking a deep breath.

  He threw the door open and attempted to climb out, but when the seatbelt cut into his neck, Travis cursed and slung it off. Travis shook off his humiliation and rushed inside, grabbed a wheelchair and pushed it outside where he’d parked. He had just helped Penelope out when Russ, Nadine, and Max ran up to them.

  “You take her on up,” Russ told him. “I’ll park the truck and meet you up there.”

  “Thanks, Dad,” Travis muttered, grabbing the back of the wheelchair and pushing her inside.

  They had been instructed to head straight up to the labor and delivery floor when the time came, so Travis led them to the elevator. Once the doors slid open, he pushed Penelope inside and tried to calm his racing heart. He could feel the excitement radiating off of Max and Nadine, and knew it rivaled his own. This was the moment that he’d been looking forward to since Penelope whispered in his ear that they were having a baby together. Today, he would get to meet his daughter at last.

  “Can I help you?” one of the nurses asked, looking up from the chart she’d been writing in.

  “My wife is in labor,” Travis blurted out.

  The nurse smiled and looked from him down to Penelope. “Name?”

  “Penelope McCoy,” she replied, reaching back and grabbing Travis’ hand. “And here comes another contraction.”

  “Breathe, baby,” he said, automatically.

  Penelope scoffed but didn’t say anything as she took several deep, calming breaths. Less than a minute later, she released her hold on Travis’ hand. “It’s over.”

  “How many have you had?” the nurse asked, picking up a clipboard and coming over to them.

  “That was my fifth in an hour.”

  “Her water broke, too,” Travis added, feeling his ears redden when the nurse and Penelope looked over at him.

  “Okay, well, let’s get you in a room,” she chuckled.

  Travis insisted on pushing the wheelchair down to Penelope’s room. Once they were inside, the nurse told them her name was Clara and instructed Penelope to put on the gown she laid out on the bed and stepped outside, giving them a little bit of privacy.

  “Wow, all of a sudden this got real,” Penelope murmured, standing up and reaching for the gown.

  “Has it not been real for the last thirty-seven weeks?” Travis asked, sliding his hands down the sides of her large stomach and grabbing the hem of her shirt. “Lift your arms.”

  She did as she was told and Travis slipped her top off. Laying it on the bed, he noted that she hadn’t bothered to put on a bra this morning.

  “I can’t explain it, I guess. I’ve gotten so used to feeling her moving around inside of me. It’s going to be weird to hold her in my arms,” she described.

  “I can’t wait,” Travis murmured, helping her take off her pants and panties. Putting them on the bed, he grabbed the pink and white checkered gown and held it up to her. “It feels like I’m dreaming. I want to hold her and kiss her cheeks, tell her how much I love her. Does that make me sound like a wuss?”

  Penelope shook her head, dislodging the tears that had been swimming in her eyes. “No. I denied you that chance with Max. I wish I could give you those ten years back, but I can’t. What I can give you is our daughter and a lifetime of love. Is that enough?”

  “More than enough,” Travis whispered before he leaned down and kissed her. “You’re amazing.”

  “You’re pretty amazing, too.”

  Travis helped to button the snaps on Penelope’s gown and then helped her into the bed. A few minutes later, Clara came back inside. She placed two hospital bracelets on Penelope’s wrist and hooked her up to an IV, a fetal heart monitor, and another monitor that would watch her contractions. Travis had never been this nervous — not even when he left Clarendon to go to college at the University of Texas, or when he had been drafted by the Sharks.

  “Dr. Chan called and said he should be here in a few minutes,” Clara explained, flittering around the room and getting everything set up. Stopping at the end of her bed, she smiled. “Need anything right now?”

  “No,” Penelope replied, rubbing the top of her stomach. “I think we’re all set. Jus
t make sure you have the number ready when it’s time for an epidural.”

  “Will do.” Clara laughed and left.

  For the next few hours, Penelope continued to labor. Travis settled on the side of her bed, keeping her hands in his and doing his best to keep her calm. Russ, Nadine, and Max had trickled into the room, but had kept themselves busy by making mindless conversation amongst themselves. Travis was grateful. While he loved his family, right now his wife needed his undivided attention.

  Dr. Chan had shown up fifteen minutes after Clara left and performed the first of many examinations to see how close she was to being able to push. At the time, she had been dilated to four centimeters. As the afternoon progressed, he had come in three more times and checked her. The last time, he declared her to be seven centimeters and ready for an epidural, which made Penelope ecstatic.

  Just before five, Dr. Chan came back in to check on Penelope. She winced and tightened her grip on Travis’s hand.

  “Well, it looks like we’re ready to have a baby,” Dr. Chan announced, smiling at them. “You’re at ten centimeters and fully effaced. It’s time.”

  Penelope released a deep breath and nodded, her sweat-soaked hair falling into her face. “Okay.”

  Dr. Chan hit the call button, instructing Clara that they were ready to push. She came in with a couple of other nurses and they started getting Penelope’s room ready for the birth of her daughter.

  Once they had the bed ready, Dr. Chan instructed Penelope to push with her next contraction. A few moments later, she tightened her grip on Travis’s hands and began to push, low grunts slipping from between her lips. After he counted to ten for her, she fell back against the bed, panting.

  “Have I mentioned that I love you?” Travis asked, brushing her hair out of her face.

  “A few times,” she murmured, giving him a weak smile. “Have I told you that I love you, too?”

  “A million times,” he whispered, “but I never get tired of hearing it.”

  “I’ll never —” Penelope stopped speaking in mid-thought, lurching up in the bed and grabbing at Travis’s hands once again. “Oh, fuck!”

  “It’s okay, baby, I’ve got you,” Travis said, trying to encourage her to keep pushing.