by Joz Maxel
She's so panicked she can't speak, but she shakes her head, allowing the tears to flow faster down her terrified face. "Sweetie, I gotta go back to the kitchen and grab the phone to call 911."
Her eyes grow in size and she starts to panic. "No, please, don't leave me! This isn't happening! Grant isn't here!"
"Brenda, I have to go get the phone in the kitchen. I'll only be gone a few seconds."
Dane stops short of the bathroom and hears the panic in Brenda's voice. "Nova, what's going on?"
I look at Bren and reassure her that everything will be fine. "I need you to concentrate on your breathing. Can you do that for me?"
She nods her head and starts to take shaky, but deep breaths. I walk to the door and see the guys standing in the hallway, ready to help. "Bren's water broke. Rourke, honey, I need you to call 911 and keep your sisters away from here." He takes his phone out of his pocket and starts to dial as he walks away.
"What do you want me to do?"
I stand a little closer to him so Bren doesn't overhear me. "She's way too early for this. We need to get her to the hospital immediately."
"When do the guys get back?"
I look over my shoulder and see Bren has her hands on both knees to brace herself for what's to come. I look back at Dane and sigh. "Not until tomorrow night."
"I think I'm having a contraction! I need Grant!" She balls up her hands into fists and squeezes her eyes as her contraction hits. I kneel in front of her and rub her thighs to keep her attention on anything but the pain. "Brenda look at me." Her knuckles are turning white, and I notice she's holding her breath. "Bren, look at me!" She pops her eyes open and takes a second to regain her focus. "Don't hold your breath. Breathe with me." I'm taking exaggerated deep breaths until Bren starts following my lead and rides out her contraction.
Rourke comes in the bathroom holding the phone to his ear. "I keep getting 'all operators are busy, please stay on the line' message. Should I keep calling back?"
Dane crouches down beside me. "I can get her to the hospital a lot faster than waiting here for an ambulance. You said yourself, she needs to go."
"Nova, I need to push! I need to push right now!" I grab her under the arm to move her to the floor, and see a baby starting to crown.
"Rourke, get me blankets! Dane, I need your help. The babies are already coming."
Dane quickly situates himself behind Nova and places her head on his lap, holding her hands. Rourke runs back in and places the blankets beside me on the floor.
"Take a deep breath, and on three, you need to push, okay?" Brenda looks at me with desperation in her eyes, and I can see what she's thinking; it's written all over her face. "You can do this, Brenda. I'll be right here every step of the way. You ready?"
Corey
MGM Grand
As I'm standing at the sink washing my hands, three girls follow one male into the handicap stall. Fight night brings out the best in people. I go to reach for a paper towel and take in the tall brunette standing next to me, dressed in a thin stretch of fabric, leaving nothing to the imagination and heels I've only seen strippers wear. Her red lips part to show her overly bleached teeth as she runs her tongue over them.
"Love the tats." She hands me another paper towel. " I was wondering how long it would take for you to notice me."
I take the paper towel I already had and toss it into the garbage. "This is the guy's washroom, right?"
Just as she starts to giggle, I feel my phone vibrating in my pocket. I keep my eyes on the girl while I answer, not taking in who it is calling.
"Yeah."
"Corey! Where...fuck....been?"
"Nova? What's going on?"
"We're... route...the hospi..."
"Babe, you're cutting out!" I close my hand over my other ear to hear her. "Nova?"
"I'm Dane's.... Brenda...she...babies...house..."
I walk out of the bathroom to see if I can get better reception, and spot Grant, Bill, and Darcy in line for beer.
"Baby, you still there?"
"Corey!"
"I'm here! What's going on?"
"Brenda went into labour! She had the babies at our house. Dane's driving us to the hospital."
"Oh, fuck. Is she okay? Are the babies..." I start running my hand through my hair.
"Tell Grant. I gotta go, we're at the hospital."
I tell her I love her before the line goes dead. I run over to where the guys are and pull Grant out of the line, the guys not far behind.
"What the fuck?" He notices my panicked look and visibly swallows. "What happened?"
"Nova just got to the hospital with Brenda. She had the babies at our house, man." No sooner do I finish my sentence, Grant is stumbling backward into Darcy and Bill. "What?" He grabs his hair and starts to pull at it, hard.
"We gotta get our shit and get the next plane out of here. Do you hear me?"
All he can do is nod. Grant is starting to lose colour. "It's too early, Corey."
"Come on." Grabbing him by the arm, I pull him to the nearest exit. As we start weaving our way through the overcrowded concourse, I hear Bill talking to someone about plane tickets, and Darcy is a few steps in front of us, parting people as we pass. We get to our suite a few minutes later and start throwing whatever we can find into our bags. Grant is sitting on the bed, trying to call Brenda's cell, but it keeps going straight to voicemail.
"We got seats out, but it doesn't leave for an hour," Bill informs us as he flips his phone in his hand. I clap him on his back and give him a nod.
"That's good. Thanks, man."
The twenty-minute drive to the airport feels like hours. Grant hasn't said a word to any of us, he just keeps rubbing his phone like Brenda will finally call him and let him know everything's okay. I wait until we're past security to give Nova's cell a try. It's picked up on the first ring, but it's not who I expected to answer the phone.
"Corey?"
"Yeah, it's me. Where's Nova?"
"She's with Brenda. I brought them in; the roads are shit. The ambulance wasn't coming fast enough."
"How's Brenda?"
"She's okay, I think. The babies are in the NICU. I'm standing outside the babies' room right now, just making sure."
"How are they doing?"
"They're really small, man. Hooked up to a bunch of machines...so small."
I can hear the emotion in his voice, which doesn't help me any. Grant's like a brother to me, and I'm not sure how to tell him this information.
I clear my throat before I speak. "Dane?"
He takes a few moments to regroup. "You on the way?"
"Yeah, we're leaving in a few minutes. What did she have?"
"Two girls. Two beautiful girls."
I look over my shoulder and see Grant making his way to me. "Thanks for being there, Dane. See you soon." I hang up as Grant stands right in front of me. "Was that Nova?"
"No, she's taking care of Bren. Dane brought them to the hospital. I guess the ambulance wasn't coming fast enough."
He nods, then starts to rub his chest. "Did they make it?"
"Your daughters are alive and fighting."
Grant's breath hitches as he falls to his knees and starts to cry. I crouch down in front of him and hold on to him, rubbing his back in comfort.
Before Grant went to sit with Brenda, he asked me to go check on his daughters. As I make my way down the hall, I see Dane leaning up against a glass wall, looking intently at the precious gifts the room holds. I'm standing right beside him before he takes notice of me, gives me a nod, then returns his focus into the room. The lights in the room are dimmed to a soft glow. There are four incubators, each with their own heart monitor, feeding, and breathing machine. The girls are in the front two incubators with only diapers on, patches over their eyes, tubes up their noses, and monitors attached to their feet.
"How long have you been standing here?"
"Since they were brought in here. Nova's been busy with Brenda, so I thought I'
d give them peace of mind until you guys showed up."
"Rourke with the girls?"
"Yeah, I just talked to him. I can go check on them if you want. No use staying here anymore."
"Yeah, I'll stay with Nova until she's ready to go."
"Sure."
Dane doesn't make any effort to move from his post, and I have no reason for him to leave. Minutes go by as nurses go in the room and check on the machines before they stick their hands through the incubator holes and caress the fragile little bodies of the occupants.
Nova
"Corey."
He turns his body away from the glass wall, just in time to catch me in his arms. Seeing and smelling him is all I needed to let my emotions take over, and I become a sobbing mess. I know he's trying to talk to me, but I just need this release so I can get my shit together for my best friend and her girls.
"I'll go hang out with your kids until you guys get back." Dane claps Corey on the back and starts to walk toward the elevators.
"Dane." I pull away from Corey and walk over to him. I hug him tight. He hesitates a few seconds, then I feel his arms circle around my waist. "Thank you, for everything." He buries his head in my neck, then lets me go. He gives me a smile and he walks away, gets in the waiting elevator, then he's gone. I walk over to where Corey is still standing and look at the miracles before us. All odds are stacked against them, but if they're anything like their mom, they won't give up easily.
"How long are they gonna be here?" Corey puts his hand on the back of my neck and starts to rub the tension away.
"A couple months at least." I lean into his side and put my arms around his waist. He kisses me on top of my head and pulls me closer.
"They're pretty cute. Look like their mom, thank God." I know he's trying to make me laugh, but all I have to offer is a smile. "You did good, baby."
"Thank you." I tip my head back to look at him, just as he leans down to softly kiss my lips. "I love you so much."
Rubbing my shoulder, he says, "I love you, too," and gives me another lingering kiss.
I hear the faint sound of the elevator doors opening, then slow, heavy footsteps approaching. I look over to my right to see a devastated Grant, who looks like he's aged ten years, come to stand beside us. When he sees his girls, his face instantly lights up the entire hallway. He leans his forehead on the glass, tears streaming down his cheeks.
"They're so beautiful."
I wrap my arms around Grant's waist, resting my head on his arm. "Spoken like a father." He looks down at me and brings his arm around my shoulder, kissing me on top of the head.
The nurse in the room, Carrie, notices me and comes outside. "Hey, Nova, one of these yours?" She gives me a smirk.
"No, but two of them belong to this man." He lets go of me and runs his hands through his hair.
"Can I...I mean, is it okay—" Carrie cuts him off before he finds the words.
"Come with me, and I'll get you some skin to skin time with them."
He nods his head, wiping the tears with the back of his hands. He looks back at us, too emotional to say anything, and follows Carrie.
Corey stands behind me, putting his arms around my shoulders, resting his chin on my head. We watch Grant settle into the rocking chair as Carrie places his daughters, one by one, on his bare chest. His tension visibly disappears as he snuggles in with his two girls, who are as calm as can be.
Corey
With Nova's already crazy work schedule, and Brenda and the girls still in the hospital, I've been cutting back on my appointments at the shop and doing more on the home front, one being a taxi driver to the girls' extracurricular activities. Today's event? Ballet. God, help me.
I'm sitting on a bench that is built for, well, four-year-olds, and cell phone absorbed dance moms dressed in Lulu Lemon. They look like they just came from the gym, but they're done up like they're going out for the night. I never understood that; thank fuck my wife is simple. When she goes to the gym, her hair is a mess and her face is all flushed. But when we go out, she's the sexiest fucking woman I've ever laid my eyes on. Anyway, I digress.
"Okay, ladies. Let's put our feet in first position and practice our pliés. Samantha, you need to stop touching Maddy."
I lean my head against the wall and close my eyes. I love my daughter to no end but I'm in pink hell.
"Are you Lola's father?"
I open my eyes to see a woman, tall in stature, wearing white pants and a gold blouse. Her auburn hair is swept over to one side, and she's carrying a suitcase size purse in the hand that showcases her skating rink size diamond ring. And her make-up, I'm pretty sure took her hours upon hours to apply. Thank you for my simple wife. Folding my arms over my chest, I offer her my panty-melting smile.
"I am."
"Hello." She offers me her hand. I'm not sure whether I should shake it or kiss her ring. "I'm Monica Templeston, Presley and Emmalee's mom. I'm president of the Little Dancer's Executive Committee, and Nova hasn't signed up for her volunteer hours yet."
I look over to the mom sitting on my right, who's snickering at me. I look back to Monica and shake her hand. "Nova's pretty busy."
"Well then, we'll have to pull Lola from classes. We try to get all parents involved in their child's dancing aspirations, and it would be a shame to have Lola pulled when she can be the shining star she has the potential to be, just like my Emmalee." She turns around to proudly beam at her child, who is trying to show her nipples to one of the little boys. "Emma! Stop that!" I lean to the side to look at my girl, who is trying to follow what the instructor is doing, but sees me looking at her and starts waving.
"So, Mr. Spencer, will Nova be bringing Lola to class next week? She doesn't have much to choose from, and the deadline is next Friday. Or I could just assign—"
"Where's the sheet?"
"Excuse me?"
"Where's the sign-up sheet for your volunteer hours?"
"It's on the counter by the front door." She points to the illustrious list. "Will it be you or your wife completing the hours? I like to make sure I'm on a first name basis with all our volunteers. It's so important to support our children's developmental years."
"Right. I'll make sure I sign up before I leave."
"Great! And your name is?" She leans down to make sure she hears me.
"Corey."
"Perfect! You really are doing a wonderful thing for Lola." She winks at me, then moves on to her next prey. I turn to the mother, still snickering at my expense. "What was that?"
She breaks out into a full belly laugh. "That is the definition of dance mom. Don't piss her off or she'll take it out on your child. Believe me, it ain't pretty."
"Just out of curiosity, does she steal your soul if the hours aren't done?"
She looks around to make sure Monica isn't within hearing distance, and leans toward me. "I think after she does, she dances around a fire pit, naked." She slaps her knees and laughs until she starts coughing.
I better be getting a blow job for this.
Half an hour later, I'm in the comfort of my kitchen, helping Lola with her ABC's when Rourke and Leni walk in. Rourke gets a Gatorade from the fridge and leans up against the counter. Leni sits at the table beside me with her head down. I look from Rourke to Leni, then to Lola, who's itching to watch TV.
"Put your books in your room, Lo, and then you can watch TV."
"Finally!" Lola gathers her books and skips out of the kitchen.
"Okay, you two, what's up?" I turn to Rourke first. "What's wrong with your sister?"
He takes a drink and shrugs his shoulders. "Ask her. She's been pissy since I picked her up from volleyball."
I put my chin in my hand, elbow resting on the table, and tap my lips with my finger. "Len, everything okay?"
No response.
"Mayberry, did something happen at school?"
In a muted tone, without lifting her head, she says, "Don't call me that."
I gather her hair away from her f
ace and try to get her to look at me. "Maybelene, you can tell me anything, you know that."
In a volume level just above a whisper, she says, "I got my period."
I turn to Rourke to see if he heard her. He shakes his head and sits down on the other side of me. "Leni, can you say it again? I didn't hear you."
At the same level as before, she repeats, "I got my period."
"Oh God." Rourke puts his head in his hands when I look at him for confirmation of what I think I may have just heard.
"Ah. Did you just..." I start rubbing the back of my neck. Is it hot in here?
She finally looks up, and with a look of utter defeat, she shouts, "I.GOT.MY.PERIOD!"
"I gotta go!" Rourke stands up and takes one step away from the table, but I pull him back down on his chair. If I'm going down in flames, I'm bringing him with me.
"So, ummm..." So many things to say to her, and I come out with, "How do you know?"
She looks at me like I've just killed Santa Claus, and Rourke is trying to loosen the grip I have on his wrist so he can escape. This is not going well.
"Seriously, Corey? You ask her that?" He takes another drink so as not to laugh at my expense.
"Daddy, please don't make me tell you that. When is Mom home?"
"Not soon enough." I see the tears starting to form in Leni's eyes, so absentmindedly, I remove my hand from Rourke and he bolts out of the room. "I'm sorry, that was an asshole thing to say. Your mom isn't home until late."
"I don't have any...things."
I look at her, dumbfounded. Things? Leni must see I'm trying to figure out what she's talking about. "Tampons." She hangs her head again and starts to cry. I put my hand on her back to try and comfort her, while I try Nova's cell with my other hand. "Hi! You've reached Nova. I can't come to the phone right now..." Fuck!
"Do you need me to take you somewhere?"
She lifts her head and looks at me. My daughter is experiencing a life-altering change, and her mother is unavailable. I'm all she has right now, and the way I'm acting will probably cost me thousands of dollars in therapy bills for her. I'm man enough to do this for her...yeah,totally.