“Jesus, Sal, next time cover that shit up,” Bobby whined. I raised my middle finger as I passed by, and smiled when I heard the sound of his laughter. I’d missed Bobby more than he would ever know.
After cleaning the caked on mascara from my face, I brushed my teeth and threw on my fluorescent green onesie. Before facing the firing squad, I fished the bottle of bourbon out from under the sink and gave my coffee a little pick-me-up. Then I made my way back out to the living room. Just the fact that Bobby was in my place didn’t bode well for me.
“You have no food,” he announced as I entered the room.
“Yeah, I kind of haven’t been here in a while.”
“No shit,” he sarcastically replied. “Cas and I have been looking for you.” This was the last thing I expected for him to say.
“Uh, why?”
“Because you took off without a word.”
“I told Isabella. In fact, she was here the day I left.”
“You told Isabella you wanted to explore parts unknown, or some shit like that,” Bobby huffed. “She also said that you were still upset about everything.”
“I was upset. I’m now over it,” I lied.
“Is that why you accused Zane Mitchell’s fiancée of voyeurism last night?” I snorted my coffee through my nose and started coughing.
“I did what?”
“Yeah, you asked if she liked watching you blow her man, and followed with a detailed description of what his cock tasted like.” I dropped my head in my hands and groaned. “I didn’t realize they made salted Jolly Ranchers,” he mused.
“Please tell me you’re kidding?”
“Nope.”
A horrible thought hit and I jerked my eyes to his. “Did Cas or Sarah see me last night, or Dillon and Isabella?” If I was talking trash to Zane’s fiancée, then fuck knows what I said to the people who actually mattered.
“No. I got you out of there before you did serious damage, but Cas is on his way over here right now.”
“Fuck, Bobby, you called Cas?”
“Yep, you’re out of control, Sally.”
“No I’m not. I’m perfectly fine,” I argued.
“Is that why you dumped liquor into your coffee when you went to the bathroom a few minutes ago, because you’re fine?” Dammit, I knew I should have chosen vodka over bourbon, but bourbon tastes better in coffee.
“So what if I like a little bourbon in my coffee?” I challenged.
“Do you remember accosting Zane’s fiancée last night?” I was pleading the fifth on this one. “You don’t do you? You wanna know what’s scary? You were perfectly coherent. If I didn’t know you so well, I would have sworn you were stone cold sober.” He dropped his eyes and silently studied the floor. I, on the other hand tried to think of something to say.
Finally, I gave him something. “I thought I had it under control.”
“The drinking?” He let out a condescending snort.
“No, dumb ass, the situation with Cas’s ex and her douche bag boyfriend. All we were doing was getting a name.”
“You recklessly took Max’s sister into a dangerous situation,” Bobby stated.
“You all treat Sarah as if she was innocent. Did it ever occur to you that I might have told her to stay put, but she refused? How was I supposed to know the guy would show up?” An incredulous look appeared on his face and I held up my hand. “Okay, I agree, I took it too far, but you’re the ones who told me to use my gut. My gut told me that the guy was up to no good and you know what? I was right. I’m sorry I dragged Sarah into it. There’s not a day that goes by that I haven’t regretted my stupid ass decision to take her with me, but you were my teachers, and instead of teaching me, you just cut me loose. Everyone makes rookie mistakes. I’ve heard you all joke about the dumb shit you did when you were first on the job. Did you get fired? No. Did you lose the one thing in the world that was holding your shit together? No. I did. Cas didn’t even give me the chance to explain.”
“You’re right, I didn’t,” Cas said. Bobby and I both jumped. I’d forgotten how good Cas was at breaking and entering. He stood in the kitchen with his hands shoved deep inside the pocket of his jeans. “I was too fucked up to make a professional call, so I took the pussy way out and let others decide for me. It was wrong and I’m sorry.” I didn’t know what to do with this, so I just stared at him. “And by the time I realized I’d fucked up, you were already gone,” he continued. My heart sputtered in my chest. For months I’d fantasized about this moment. Now that it was finally here and I didn’t know what to do. Never, in my whole life, had I wanted anything as much as I’d wanted that job at LASH. When it was taken away, I lost my purpose.
“What exactly are you saying?”
“Yeah, what are you saying?” Bobby asked.
“You have one week to get your shit together. Get rid of the booze and apologize to Isabella and Sarah. Oh, and make amends with Zane and Cat. That shit you pulled last night wasn’t cool.” He’s giving me a second chance.
“Cas, man,” Bobby protested. Cas and I both glared at him, and he held up his hands. “Fine, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
Cas’s phone rang. He glanced at the screen and held up his finger while he answered, “Hey, babe, I told you I’d be home in a few.” After a long pause, he told her he’d meet her there and hung up. “Joss is in labor. I need to go. Have you heard from Tut this morning?” he asked Bobby.
“Not since last night, why?” Bobby responded.
“He hasn’t reported in,” Cas said. I wanted to ask what they were talking about, but something told me it wouldn’t be well received.
“Fuck!” Bobby exclaimed.
“Garrett wants to give it a few more hours,” Cas told him.
“Keep me posted.”
Will do.” Cas’s eyes shifted back to me, and I tried not to squirm. After studying me for a minute, he asked, “Do you have a problem with booze?” Even if I did, I wouldn’t admit it, and certainly not to him.
“I can handle it,” I told him. Bobby coughed, and I kicked him, which earned us both a scowl from Cas.
“One week from tomorrow I expect to see you in the office clean, sober, and ready to work.” He gave Bobby a nod and headed for the door. Before opening it, he glanced back over his shoulder, and said, “That was your one big mistake, Sally. From here on out the shit gets real. I’m not saying you’re not going to make some missteps here and there, because you will, but another colossal fuck up like that and there’s no third chance. Do I make myself clear?” I couldn’t speak through the tennis ball size knot in my throat, so I nodded my head. “Good. See you next week.”
And just like that, I was back to the land of the living.
Chapter Eighteen
Joss and Kurt
‡
Joss
“It all happened so fast. One minute I was sound asleep, and the next I was pissing myself. The doctor told me the moment my water broke or I felt a contraction, I needed to head to the hospital. I thought we’d have more time, but it looks like my girl wanted out.” I smiled down at my precious angel. It was hard to believe that after all this time she was finally in my arms.
“I can’t believe you had her in five hours. Mac took forever and a day,” Ellie grumbled.
“I know, right? I shocked the shit out of the nurses. They kept saying this was not the norm.”
“I think she looks like a perfect mixture of the both of you. You couldn’t have picked a better name than Emma Elizabeth, especially the Elizabeth part,” Ellie said.
“I think Emma Piper sounds better,” Piper muttered, “Gimme,” she held out her hands.
“Stabilize her head,” I instructed as I handed her over to Piper.
“So what happened after your water broke?” Isabella asked. After I made sure Piper had it under control, I recounted my eventful morning.
“Around five this morning, I woke feeling as if I had a boulder sitting on my bladder. When I stood to go to
the bathroom, my water broke. Thank goodness the mess landed on the floor and not in the bed.” Isabella had described my water breaking as a trickle. Bullshit. Try a fucking geyser. “After washing off my legs and placing towels on the floor, I woke Kurt. Thirty minutes later we were headed to the hospital. In the time it took to get admitted and dressed in the awful, backless gown that the nurse demanded I wear, my contractions had gone from a sporadic fifteen minutes apart to a very steady seven minutes. When the doctor finally got around to checking me, I was already dilated to six centimeters. I cried when he told me I wouldn’t be getting the epidural, but in the end my delivery was nothing compared to what the two of you went through,” I directed at Ellie and Isabella.
Isabella stroked her fingers over Emma’s head. “Leo was faster than Amelia, but it was still twelve hours all in.”
“I think I might want one after all,” Piper announced. She was staring down at my daughter with such adoration in her eyes that it almost hurt to watch.
Ellie snorted. “It’s about time you came around. I take it things are better between you and Gage?”
“Things are good,” Piper answered.
“So why do you look like someone just ran over your dog?” I asked.
Piper scrunched up her nose before letting out a long, exasperated sounding sigh. “I kind of promised Gage I’d see my shrink.” Her eyes drifted to Ellie. “You know how much I hate my shrink.”
“You don’t hate her. You just hate that she’s right about most things,” Ellie scolded.
“I hate that she makes me talk about shit.” Piper corrected.
“When is your appointment?” I asked.
“Tomorrow afternoon before work. Speaking of work, did you know that Kurt and Dillon hired Polly and I as co-managers?”
“Kurt mentioned it. Personally, I think it’s a great idea,” I told her.
Ellie held out her hands and Piper reluctantly handed the baby over. “Hi sweet Emma with such a pretty name,” Ellie cooed. Piper stuck her tongue out at Ellie.
“Kurt and I talked about using a family name, but Jurt or Koss sound more like boy’s names.” All eyes turned to me in horror, and I burst into gales of laughter. “If you could see your faces,” I howled.
“I want some of your pain meds,” Sarah muttered. “My head is killing me.”
“I have some Advil in my purse,” I told her. “It’s over by the sink.”
“Oh my gosh, guess who was at the party drunk off her ass last night?” Piper asked. Before anyone could answer, she said. “Sally.”
Isabella straightened in her chair. “Sally’s back?”
“Yep, and she was giving Zane and …what’s his fiancée’s name?”
“Cathryn,” Isabella answered.
“That’s it. She was giving the two of them hell.”
“Do you know what for?” Ellie asked.
“I’m not sure, but I’ve never seen Bobby move so fast. One minute Sally was accosting the couple and the next she was being shoved out the door.
“Cas saw her this morning,” Sarah announced. Everyone paused to look at her, and she shrugged. “He’s on his way here right now. We can ask for details once he arrives.” Sarah’s eyes cut to Isabella. “What was up with you and sleep last night?”
Isabella laughed. Then she explained about her meeting with Ellie’s doctor and how much better she felt after two consecutive nights of sleep.
“After weeks of barely any sleep, I thought I was losing my mind,” she confessed. “Dillon looks like a zombie, but I’m beginning to feel marginally human again.”
“So you don’t think it’s postpartum?” I asked. My doctor had briefly spoken to me about postpartum depression, but I hadn’t really taken it seriously. I definitely would now.
“I’m not sure, but I’ll tell you this, I never realized how important sleep was until I wasn’t getting any.”
“I’m a bitch without sleep,” Piper said.
“You’re a bitch with sleep,” Ellie teased, and they both laughed.
Sarah held out her hands and waited for Ellie to hand over Emma, before asking, “What did you all think about Meltdown?”
“Grant Hardy has the voice of a god,” I said.
“I agree, and did you get a look at the new keyboardist?” Piper asked. “So fucking hot,” she mouthed while fanning herself.
“Grant’s hotter,” Isabella stated.
“I think Nash is better looking, but I wouldn’t mind peeling back the layers of the broody drummer and seeing what lies beneath,” I told them.
“You just gave birth. You can’t say stuff like that,” Sarah chastised.
“Says who? My vagina’s only temporarily broken. Plus, I said peel, not suck.”
“Who’s sucking what?” Kurt asked from the door, and we all froze.
“The baby is trying to suck my finger. I think she needs to eat,” Sarah said as she handed Emma back to me.
“Cas is in the waiting room and Max is ready to go,” Kurt told both Sarah and Ellie.
“What? He promised we’d stay an hour,” Ellie pouted. “Did he say why we had to leave?”
“He said something about a meeting at LASH with Tut.”
Ten minutes later, everyone was gone. Kurt held out his hands and I handed him the baby.
“Way to clear out the room,” I teased.
Smiling down at our daughter, he said, “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
I laughed and just shook my head.
* * *
Kurt
I can’t believe my baby girl is finally here.
When Joss woke me this morning and told me that her water had broken, I didn’t know what to do. I vaguely remembered her discussing the plan with me, but when it was actually time to put it into action, I couldn’t remember shit. The fact that I was hung over didn’t help. It was all a blur once we got to the hospital. As long as I lived, I would never forget the moment the doctor placed my daughter in my arms. Aside from her mother, Emma Elizabeth Greenfield was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen.
“She’s only cried once all day. Do you think something’s wrong?” I glanced over at Joss, who was stretched out on the hospital bed with her eyes glued to an annoying reality television show.
“The nurses say she’s fine. In fact, the doctor came by while you were buying gum and that ridiculously expensive teddy bear. He said if I’m still doing this well when he stops by tomorrow morning, he might release us early.”
“I’m not sure that’s such a good idea,” I muttered.
Joss pulled her eyes away from the television long enough to ask, “Why?”
“I don’t know. I feel like this is way too easy. Are you sure she isn’t sick? Maybe there’s something wrong with her? I remember when Mac was born and how hard it was on Max, and you should see Dillon. He looks like he hasn’t slept in weeks.”
“She’s fine. What can I say? We have the perfect child,” Joss smugly replied. I was beginning to think that maybe she was right.
The nurses offered to take Emma to the nursery so we could get some sleep, but Joss and I both said no. The room was small but comfortable, and we wanted her with us. I wasn’t looking forward to sleeping on the chair-bed, especially after hearing Dillon complain about it for days after Leo was born, however Joss wanted me there and I wasn’t about to let her down. So chair-bed it was. After fifteen minutes of lying on the thing, I was regretting my decision. When one of the nurses wheeled in a twin size trundle bed and asked if I wanted it, I almost kissed her.
Dillon called to check in on us while Joss was nursing Emma. I couldn’t resist bragging about what a perfect angel she was. I also razzed Dillon about the great night’s sleep I was going to have on my trundle bed. Joss scolded me for being a dick when I hung up. Okay, so maybe I was being slightly dickish.
Joss, Emma, and I all piled up in Joss’s hospital bed to watch television before turning in for the night. Once Joss was asleep, I gently placed Emma in he
r little plastic bed, and crawled into my comfy trundle.
I was jerked wide awake by the sound of a howling wolf. It wasn’t until Joss shot up in her bed and said, “Baby,” that I realized the awful noise was Emma crying.
“I got her,” I said. In my scramble to get to the baby, I forgot I was in a twin size bed and nearly fell off the side of the trundle.
“You okay?” Joss asked as she flipped on the bedside light. The minute Emma heard her mother’s voice she started snorting like a rabid pig.
“I’ve got you,” I cooed as I picked her up from her bed. Instead of calming down, she reared back in my hands and I almost dropped her.
“Don’t drop her!” Joss hissed. Emma wailed like a banshee as I carried her over to where Joss was sitting. “Shit, I’m leaking all over the place!” Joss cried out. My eyes immediately dropped to her crotch. “My tits, not my crotch, Kurt!” she harshly whispered. I jerked my eyes to her tits, and sure enough, her shirt was soaked. In three seconds flat, she whipped up her shirt, grabbed her tit, and shoved it in Emma’s squealing mouth. Emma made a num, num, num sound before settling into Joss’s arms. Joss and I both stared at each other, our eyes wide with shock.
“What the fuck just happened?” Joss whispered.
Emma’s eyes shot open and we both froze until they drifted closed again. My pulse was through the roof and I could feel sweat trickling down my back. What the fuck, was right. My precious angel had turned into a demon from hell right before my eyes.
Once Joss finished nursing, she asked if I wanted the honors of burping our princess. Still in shock, I shook my head, no. Emma let out a giant man belch halfway to her shoulder. Joss giggled. However, I failed to see the humor. “Will you please change her?” Joss sweetly asked. The word “no” was on the tip of my tongue, but I felt bad. Joss had done most of the work. The least I could do was change her.
I gently lifted our now sleeping child from Joss’s arms and carried her to the plastic bed. Her eyes opened as I lay her down and my pulse spiked again. She let out a cute gurgling noise, and my heart lurched in my chest. She really was the cutest thing ever. As I pulled up her nightie, my confidence slowly returned. She kicked her baby legs in the air while I wrangled her out of her diaper, wiped down her pertinent parts, and fastened her into a new one.
The Last Call (MMG Book 5) Page 16
