The Significant Other (The Relationship Quo Series Book 4)

by Nicole Strycharz

  Shit! It’s Liam!

  “Trixie?” he looked me over and brightened. “Hey! Where did you go after meeting up?”

  I tried to come up with a good lie. “I um,” I couldn’t. “I don’t know.”

  He read through that and after an awkward pause, “I met Giada a couple months after everything and she…basically finished what you started. She made me happy. I wish I had time to tell you that before she came to our table. I wanted to tell you.”

  I twisted up inside hearing this. “That’s good.”

  “I did care about you.” He confessed, “And it’s my fault nothing happened with us. I was still feeling sorry for myself and all I saw when I looked at you was someone who deserved so much more.”

  I nodded even though it all sounded like crap to my mangled heart. Then I saw his cart and realized where he was. “What are you doing here?”

  He turned bright red, “Giada found out a few weeks before we saw you that she was pregnant.”

  I went still as stone, “Oh,” was all I could say. “Wow.”

  “Her brother might want to kill me.” He laughed then shrugged, “We are here getting a few books on her wish list about pregnancy. Also, a family member of hers has a shower coming up. I don’t know how we’ll do this, I just finished being homeless and we haven’t dated that long but… let’s face it, living means change. We aren’t supposed to stay still and when we do for too long I guess life gives us the push we need to get moving. Like New York. Gotta keep moving.”

  I tried keeping the sadness at bay but it was poking my defenses. I liked him and I have spent months thinking about him for what? All those special moments we had, were to bring him closer to Giada. All the years I spent with Adam, only brought him to Chance. I’m just the fill in girl. Even for Jolee and this baby. I’m filling the gap until she can be a mother or find a family.

  “Congratulations, Liam. Tell Giada I said good luck. My cousin, the midwife says birth is really special. I hope it is for you guys too.” I backed my cart up. “Bye.”

  “Wait,” he followed a little, “Are we okay? You are responsible for all of what I have; you need to know I’ll always care about you, Trix.”

  I nodded but it was to quiet him, “Sure, I know, thanks. You’re a good guy. I have to go, though. My sis is pregnant and-.”

  “Trixie!” Jolee shouted from the other aisle.

  “What?” I yelled.

  Jolee came around, ignoring Liam, “I have cramps, and my feet hurt and I’m hungry.” She complained.

  “What do you mean cramps? What kind of cramps?”

  “I don’t know!” she whined, “but they suck. They come and go. I’m good now, let’s eat.”

  I frowned, “You need to sit down if you’re cramping-.”

  “Wait,” she winced and leaned on my cart, “Here’s one now, ughhhhhhh. Fuck me.” She groaned.

  I looked up at Liam and he quirked a brow at me before asking, “Is she…?”

  “I don’t know,” I waited until she seemed okay again, “Jolee, are you in labor?”

  “How the hell am I supposed to know, not like I did this before,” she snipped.

  I got us to the checkout and she had another one, “That’s a contraction, Sis, not a cramp,” I told her. Jenzy schooled me on what to look for. I tried calling the guys in the store but their phones weren’t going through. “I need you to page my friend’s,” I told the half asleep clerk.

  “What?” Asked the clerk. Even the word took years to come out of her mouth.

  “I need,” I saw the pager and climbed over the counter. She just frowned at me as I held the button down, “I need all the band members of Riders of Beat and Knox’s bitchy girlfriend at the front in ten seconds! We have a twin in labor.” I announced.

  I looked to the pissed off clerk, “I’m really sorry I said the B word in a kid’s store.” I told her.

  The guys all came rushing up and we had them hold our things while Blaze caught us a cab. Here we go…

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  ADAM

  We reached the hospital about twenty minutes after Trixie’s call and went past the band to Jolee’s delivery room. Trixie looked near tears with excitement but Jolee was unraveled. She was in pain and her temperament was between full body sobs and angry outbursts.

  Except when she saw Chance and I, “Guys,” she cried, “don’t leave, okay? Please?” she begged. “I’m scared, I can’t.” she whimpered.

  I’m not fond of Jolee but I went to stand by her. “We’re here, so calm down,” I couldn’t help but see Trixie. They look alike and how many times did I think of going through this with her? I imagined having babies with Trix because even if I wasn’t that happy, I wanted kids. So seeing Jolee makes my heart pinch a little.

  Chance went to where Trix was and she curled into his side under his arm, “You okay?” he asked her.

  She nodded, “I’ve never seen a baby born before…” she admitted.

  He smiled and rubbed her shoulder.

  As the labor went on to ten hours Jolee rode the contraction’s better but she was terrified. She bounced between clinging to Trix, holding my hand or being rubbed by Chance.

  I didn’t understand at first why she would want us in here. We both don’t exactly like her but then I realized despite that we were the one’s protecting her over and over. I guess she felt safe.

  In the midst of pushing the doctors told her to stop and we all waited and watched as they deliberated.

  “The cord is wrapped around the baby, Jolee,” one doctor explained, “The monitor shows the baby is stressed and you’re both at risk if we don’t do an emergency C-section.” She went on.

  I felt a cold shiver go down my spine at the thought. Trix can’t handle losing her twin.

  “Will they be okay?” Trix asked.

  “We need to act,” said the doctor.

  Jolee gave them the okay and in no time at all, they were wheeling her out. “But wait,” she grabbed Chance’s jacket as she went by and they stopped. “No, I need the guys and Trix.” She panicked.

  “I’m sorry honey,” The one nurse petted her arm, “Only one person.”

  “No,” She pulled Chance and he held her hand.

  Trixie held her other hand, “I’ll be there the whole time, I promise, they even gave me scrubs to put on.” She assured her.

  “But please!” Jolee cried real tears.

  I made a fast choice, “Can’t she have her twin and Chance?” I asked the nurse. “Come on, she’s scared. It’s just one more person.”

  The nurse looked really uncertain, “Okay, but you have to stay at her head and don’t get in the way, this is a very-.”

  “I understand,” Chance cut her off and she waved them on to roll Jolee out.

  While Trix and Chance were suiting up, Jolee was being prepped by the Anesthesiologist. Once Jolee was ready they ushered my boyfriend and my ex into the room and shut the doors. I breathed deep then went to where the guys waited. Bianca left Knox to sit by me and massaged my shoulders. I smiled but then rubbed my face.

  I can’t stand Jolee but she’s still part of us. Now I’m afraid. Now I feel like this surgery is taking hours.

  My gaze dropped to a clipboard just then where patients fill out their information.

  One of the first things I caught was the part about family members.

  “Funny isn’t it?” I said out loud. “They give all these options under relationships… then there’s ‘significant other’. What does that even mean? All the options are significant. All love… is… significant.”

  TRIXIE

  I was so caught up in the rush. Jenzy told me hospital births can seem a little more chaotic at times but wow. It’s all a blur. Chance and I were shoved and forced to a safe spot at Jolee’s head and at seeing her I only saw the sister I grew up with, not the person she is now.

  I bent so I could press my cheek to hers and whispered in her ear, “Hey,” I said tearfully. “It’s going to
be okay. You’re stronger than you think. “I’m so proud of you for coming this far. You’re going to make a good mom, alright? Even if it’s for a short time. I’m going to help you. This is my baby too. I promise!”

  Chance touched me and I cried a little more. I know she’s sleeping from the stuff they gave her but it’s creepy in a hospital.

  It was what felt like forever.

  We waited on the other side of a screen, unable to see what was going on. Then in the midst of monitor sounds and doctor whispers a baby’s cry pierced the room.

  I looked up with wet eyes and waited as I heard them working on the baby. Jolee woke slowly and cried.

  “I’m right here,” I told her.

  “Don’t leave,” she moaned.

  “I’m not,” I kissed her forehead, her hair was back in a cap they gave her but I stroked her anyway. “Your baby is here. Be jealous because Auntie Trix gets to hold baby first.” I teased her.

  She wept and shook her head, “No, Trix just stay with me.”

  “I’m not leaving.”

  “Don’t hold it, just stay with me,” she cried.

  My disappointment was hard to swallow. I want to see my newest family member and hold a newborn but I guess there’s time for that.

  A nurse came around holding the baby as is fussed and writhed and my breath hitched, “Oh, Jolee, look!” I couldn’t blink fast enough.

  “Here, is your baby girl, mama,” said the nurse. She brought the baby close to Jolee’s cheek and she started to settle. Her gentle hiccups of breath slowed to catch the scent of her mother and I cried harder.

  Then Jolee broke my heart. Turning her face away Jolee withdrew from the infant and grimaced. “Don’t,” she rasped again.

  I was so shocked I just watched. “Jolee,” I searched for words, “That’s your baby.”

  “I don’t want it right now, I’m too tired,” she argued.

  “She needs you, Jenzy says skin to skin is important, even if you can’t hold her-.”

  “God! Not now! Doesn’t anyone care how I feel? I don’t want it right now! She’s going to be stuck with me for a long time, she can wait!” she cried.

  I watched the nurse start to walk away, “Wait!” I stayed near Jolee, “Where is she going?”

  The nurse looked pretty turned off by my sister, as was I, “The nursery,” she said.

  I looked up at Chance, “Chance, I know this isn’t your job but babies need to be held. Jenzy said it’s important.” My niece started to cry again and I pleaded with my eyes, “Chance, please? She doesn’t need to feel that unwanted.”

  He didn’t look like he really needed convincing but I feel hysterical. I’m mad with Jolee and disgusted but I love her and I wanted to hold the baby.

  Chance reached out and the nurse gently handed her over. It was a slow exchange and Chance learned how to support her. His arms made her look to be the size of an apple. I turned my attention to Jolee but she was slipping into sleep again.

  I looked back and watched Chance smile at the infant. I can’t see her from here but her crying is slowing down to nothing. I mouthed, ‘thank you’ to him but he only smiled before giving her undivided attention as he swayed on his feet.

  ADAM

  I went into Jolee’s recovery room to find her out like a light with Trix curled up near her on the bed. She was careful not to lie near the many cords attached but she was out cold.

  In the corner, in a rather uncomfortable armchair was Chance. He was sitting up with what I assumed was the baby but from here all you can see is pink blanket.

  I came further in and he finally gave me eye contact. “Hey,” he whispered.

  I sat next to him on the arm of the chair and loomed to see, “So this is her?” I grinned.

  “Yeah,” Chance pulled the blanket down from under her chin so I could see.

  She’s a stunning baby. She almost looks more like a baby doll. Her skin is a caramel shade of brown and her hair is dark but shades to auburn in light. Her cheeks are round to frame pouty lips that purse in her sleep. Her nose is small and her brow relaxed as she snoozes in my boyfriend’s arms.

  “Wow,” I reached to touch her but he shifted.

  “Don’t, you’ll wake her up.” He growled.

  I smiled and settled for looming. “How’s Jolee?”

  He carefully crossed his ankle over his knee and settled her. “She hasn’t seen the baby yet.” He told me. “Or fed her. Even when she was crying.”

  I frowned, “Who did then?”

  “Me.”

  I fought my annoyance, “What’s her name?”

  Chance gave me a flat look, “Jolee won’t name her.”

  I boiled under the skin. “She’s going to dump this baby with, Trix. This is going to ruin everything for her.”

  Chance shook his head, “Babies don’t ruin things, adults do.”

  “Trix can’t do this herself. She’s already going broke. What about her career?”

  “We help her,” he answered simply. He’s back to being fixed on the baby.

  “We have the club, the band, and my jingle work, we don’t have time to help that much.”

  He angled the baby closer, “We make time.”

  And that’s what we did. Three days after release from the hospital, upon coming into Trixie’s place we found Jolee sleeping upstairs and the baby crying herself into bodily shakes. Her voice was so hoarse from crying for God, knows how long that I considered hitting a woman for the first time in my life.

  There was a thin blanket in the crib with her, something we told Jolee never to do. Now it was tangled around the baby’s limbs and laying over her face while she cried since she was unable to remove it.

  Chance went to the crib in the living room and had the baby in his arms within a second.

  I went up to confront Jolee, “What are you doing?” I blew. “Jolee! Wake up! Your baby is screaming!”

  She opened her eyes and rubbed her head, “It’s always screaming. Nothing works,” she said sleepily.

  I felt my head explode, “Did you try feeding her because I have a sure feeling you fed yourself and she’s not an it! She’s a baby! Give her a damn name!”

  “I’m tired, Adam!” She sat up and threw a pillow at me, “The baby is a lot to handle and I’m by myself! Up all night long!”

  “Trixie is up all night long! She tells me everything, remember? You sleep the whole night through! Your sister is the one doing it all and she’s working two jobs!”

  She just started to cry. Her answer for everything is hormones. We fought a few more minutes after that.

  I went back down the steps to find Chance standing in the kitchen feeding the baby a bottle. He’s a pro now. He knows exactly what to do, how to warm it.

  “How is she?” I asked over his shoulder.

  “Eating too fast,” he kept trying to slow her down, but she was sucking at sixty miles per hour, “She’s going to get sick. When is the last time she fed her?”

  I shook my head, “I don’t know.”

  She coughed on the formula and sputtered, answering our question.

  “This isn’t working,” Chance demanded.

  “I know.”

  “No,” he pulled the Alpha tone, “You don’t know. You don’t know what actual starvation and hunger feels like. I do. This is fucked up.” He breathed through his nose.

  I crossed my arms, “Just because I had a good life, doesn’t mean I don’t get anything that goes on around me. I don’t like this either.”

  He sat at the island and focused on the baby. “Jolee isn’t becoming a mother like we all thought. She’s becoming my mother. Something bad is going to happen if we don’t do something,” he concluded.

  “Trixie is doing what she can.”

  “It’s not enough,” he barked.

  I started to piece together where this was going. The more I observe him even in this moment, I’m seeing it clearly now. “No, Chance, we can’t. Don’t go there in your head.”
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  “Don’t tell me where to go.” He started trying to feed her again.

  “We don’t know how to do this! We would be no better than Jolee! We’ve been together for like nine months, that’s not enough time to just start babysitting around the clock.”

  He was silent a while and I dropped it. It’s his protective side talking. I let him finish feeding her and then change her as well. He set her down in the crib then started grabbing things and shoving them into a diaper bag.

  “What are you doing?” I asked.

  “She’s not staying here.”

  I bugged my eyes, “Chance!”

  “Got a problem?” he stopped to give me ice through his eyes, “Then move the fuck out.”

  I was so stunned I couldn’t move. He grabbed all the important things before putting her in her car seat and loading her stroller.

  Trixie appeared in the doorway, blocking our way. “What are you doing?” She asked.

  Chance told her, what we came back to at the apartment. “She’s going with us,” he informed her.

  “She’s my family, you can’t just decide that,” Trix said in a high pitch.

  “I know you’re trying,” he told her, “and I know you love this baby but you can’t do it all and she’s suffering. Get your sister straight, then I’ll bring her back.”

  He pushed past her and Trix stared at me. I literally don’t know where to turn.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  ADAM

  It’s been a week since that day and as I carefully turn the key to the lock in our apartment above the club, I wince. I don’t want to wake the baby if Chance has her down.

  I came in and found everything quiet. In the corner near our bedroom is the crib and I can see through the slats that the little one is out in a deep sleep. Her lips are parted and her eyes are closed as her soft breathing comes and goes.

  I observed her a second and the cranked the woodland creatures mobile above her. It sang a soft lullaby and spun in slow circles.