Unbreakable Bond

by Sharon Cummin

  “There are two babies,” I heard Lucy say, as I snapped out of my thoughts. “It's very possible. We need to get her to the hospital. You need to calm down. It's not going to help her if you're freaking out. Go up and get her ready. I'll call someone to come and watch the kids.”

  My woman was so calm. She'd gone through the same hell I had, but it didn't seem to do to her what it did to me.

  “You okay?” she asked, as she looked over at me.

  “You're so,” I began, but she cut me off.

  “Freaking the fuck out,” she said, as she tried to smile. “Just because I'm not saying it doesn't mean I'm not feeling it.”

  She turned around, reached down, and grabbed her phone out of her purse. Then she put it to her ear.

  “Hey, Carrie,” she said. “We think Lauren is in labor, so we need someone to come over to watch the kids. Can one of you do it?”

  I couldn't hear Carrie, so I began moving around, trying to get things ready in case we had to take them with us to the hospital.

  “We're not sure,” Lucy said, before listening to Carrie again. “Great!”

  She hung up the phone and turned to me.

  “Parker was there,” she said. “He's coming to get them. We need to get them ready.”

  Lance Jr. was taking care of Lauren while we got the kids ready with a bag for each of them. Just as he began guiding Lauren down the stairs, the doorbell rang. I hurried up to help Lauren, and Lucy headed for the door. Parker walked in just as Lauren reached the bottom of the stairs.

  “How you doing?” he asked her.

  “Not bad,” she said, with sarcasm in her tone. “Ready for a day at the beach.”

  He shook his head.

  “Go get those babies out of her,” he said, as he leaned in to hug her. “I need my friend back from this grouch.”

  He helped me and Lance Jr. get her to the car. Then he went back in for the kids. As soon as they were safely in his car, we took off toward the hospital. Lucy was on her phone the entire time. Carrie and Scott were on their way with grandma, and Sammie and James were on their way over to Cassie and Parker's with their kids. Cassie was eight and a half months pregnant, so I had no idea how her and Parker were going to take care of eleven kids on their own. It was a good thing she was already pregnant. I'm not sure either of them would even think about that again after what they were about to take on. Just the thought made me laugh. That's what we needed to do, I thought. Stick each couple with all of the kids at once. Maybe then they'd knock their shit off.

  “You okay over there?” Lucy asked, as she looked at me with concern in her eyes.

  “Yeah,” I said, as I turned my attention back to the road. “Just thinking.”

  “Would you like to share?” she asked.

  “Just thinking about Cassie and Parker and eleven kids,” I said.

  “Oh shit!” she said, with a laugh. “I hadn't even thought of that.”

  “Bet they haven't either,” I said.

  As soon as we got to the hospital, I helped Lauren out of the car while Lance Jr. got a wheelchair. Lucy walked them in while I parked the car. By the time I got back, they were already on their way to the one place I was becoming way too familiar with, labor and delivery.

  Lauren's doctor was already there, so she was able to see him right away. She wasn't leaving. He told her the moment he saw her. I felt a little relief seeing that he wasn't concerned but thrilled that she'd been able to hold out as long as she had. She was right, the babies were coming.

  It didn't take them long to get her into a room. They'd learned from the past what our family was like, so they put her in a private room. I sat down and rested my elbows on my legs and my face in my hands. Please let everything be okay, I repeated in my mind over and over and over again.

  Before I knew it, the room was filled with people, family, my family. We were a loud and crazy bunch, but we were loyal, more loyal than any other family I knew, and I was so damn happy to be a part of that.

  Sammie walked over, sat down next to me, and wrapped her arms around me.

  “How you doing over here?” she asked.

  “Just trying to get through this without losing my mind,” I answered.

  “How are you going to fit all these babies in your arms at once?” she asked, with a laugh.

  “I'll figure it out,” I answered.

  After ten hours, Lauren was exhausted, and the rest of us were too. The doctor had just been in to let us know it wouldn't be much longer, so we needed to head to the waiting room. Each of us hugged Lauren and my boy. Just before reaching the door, I stopped and looked back over my shoulder.

  “You sure you don't want someone else in here with you?” I asked. “This is two babies we're talking about. That's double the fingers and toes to count.”

  “No,” both Lauren and Lance Jr. yelled at the same time.

  “Fine,” I said, as I turned back and kept walking.

  Lucy headed for the bathroom, and I followed everyone else to the waiting room. I sat down the same way I had been before, and I let those same words loop through my mind, just like I did every time one of the kids was having a baby. We hadn't been sitting there long when the door flew open. My head shot up, and my eyes connected with my boy's crying eyes. I was on my feet and to him in seconds.

  “What is it?” I asked, feeling as if I was barely able to breathe.

  “Something is wrong, Dad,” he said. “I need you.”

  I was right behind him, as he ran back to Lauren's room.

  “What is it, Lance?” I barked out.

  “I don't know,” he said. “The machine started beeping, and they started running around her. More of them came, and they pushed me out of the room. I'm scared, so fucking scared.”

  As soon as we got to the door, the doctor came out.

  “We're taking her down the hall,” he said. “It's one of the babies. Their heart rate is dropping. We need to get them out now.”

  My son stood next to me, and we both cried. I pulled him into my arms and held him tight. Didn't matter how damn old he was, my boy needed to feel safe, and I was the one giving him that.

  “She has to be okay,” he cried out. “They have to help them. I need them all. I need my babies, and I need my wife, Dad.”

  “I know,” I said, as I looked through the windows in the room.

  They wheeled Lauren down the hall quickly. Then they turned the corner, pushed her through a set of doors, and she was gone. It was the same. Everything felt the same. I held Lance in my arms, as we both slid to the floor. When I felt arms wrap around me, I looked up to see my wife's crying eyes.

  “It's going to be okay,” she said, as calmly as she could, but I could see it, there was doubt in her eyes. “Everything will be fine. Those two babies are going to need us, and so is their mom.”

  “This right here,” I said. “This is exactly how it was. Do you see now? Do you see what you all do to me?”

  “It's okay, Lance,” she said. “We have to be strong.”

  She moved around me to our son, and we both held him as he cried.

  “They have to be okay,” he said. “I need them all.”

  “You'll have them,” she said, as she held him tight.

  I kept my hand over hers as I held him too. There was no way I was breaking my connection from either of them.

  “Excuse me,” I heard a whisper from above us.

  Both Lucy and I looked up to see a nurse standing there.

  “I'm going to have to ask you to move to the waiting room,” she said. “We can't block the hall.”

  “Listen,” I began, but Lucy cut me off.

  “No,” she snapped out. “Our girl and our two babies are in there, and we aren't leaving this spot until the doctor comes out and tells us that all three of them are perfect.”

  The nurse stood there looking down at us with a nervous look on her face. Then, without a word, she turned and walked away.

  “Not bad, firecracker,”
I said, as I looked over at my crying wife. “It's going to be okay.”

  She grabbed my hand and held it tight.

  “It has to be,” she said. “I remember too, Lance. I could never forget how I felt that day.”

  “I know you do,” I said.

  We sat, on the floor in the hallway, and we waited. By the time the door opened, my boy was a mess.

  “Lance,” the doctor said.

  “It's okay,” I said, so Lance would finally lift his head.

  When I saw how red and full of tears his eyes were, I hoped with everything in me that the doctor was about to give us the best news there was.

  “You have two beautiful baby girls,” he said. “They're both doing great.”

  “Lauren,” Lance asked nervously. “She's okay, right?”

  “She is,” the doctor answered. “She's going to be in and out of it until everything wears off that we've given her, but she's going to be fine too.”

  “Can I see them?” Lance asked. “Can I see my baby girls?”

  “You can,” the doctor answered. “We'll bring them all back to your wife's room. You can go wait for them there.”

  My boy hopped to his feet and pulled the doctor into a hug.

  “Thank you,” he said.

  “You're welcome,” the doctor said, before turning around and going back into the room.

  I walked back to Lauren's room with my son, while Lucy went to update our family. When he sat down, his head fell back, and his eyes closed.

  “I'm so damn happy,” he said.

  Everyone came to the room, and we sat there silent for fifteen minutes before his eyes shot open and he looked over at me.

  “What?” I asked.

  “I have five kids,” he said, as he stared at the wall in front of him.

  “You just figured that out?” I asked.

  “Five kids,” he repeated, as everyone laughed.

  They brought Lauren in first. She was still groggy, but she opened her eyes for just a minute. When she looked around, she smiled. Lance Jr. was right there asking if she needed anything or if there was anything he could do. The nurses told him Lauren just needed rest, but that didn't stop him from checking on her every few seconds. When they brought the girls in, the nurse looked over at my boy.

  “Do you want us to take them to the nursery?” one nurse asked him.

  “No way,” he answered. “They're not leaving my side.”

  “They'll be a lot of work, and Lauren will be out for most of the night,” she said.

  “Doesn't matter,” I said. “He has us. We'll be right here to help.”

  “Visiting hours will be over soon,” she said.

  “Doesn't matter,” I said. “I'll be right here with my boy, and so will his mom.”

  “Sir,” she began.

  “Don't bother,” Lance Jr. said. “It's not going to matter.”

  She let out a laugh, as she looked between the two girls.

  “We're here for whatever you need,” she said. “I'll give you some time to meet your babies.”

  She wasn't even out the door before he had one of the girls in his arms. He walked over to Lauren and sat down on the edge of her bed. Then he moved the baby to rest across his right arm.

  “Can you hand me my baby?” he asked me, and I laughed, as I picked her up and placed her across his left arm.

  He looked down at them with so much pride it made my heart ache.

  “I love you two,” he said. “You have two brothers and one sister. See all these people. They're your family. They are going to get on every nerve you have, but they're also going to love you more than you can ever imagine.”

  He looked over toward Lauren as she opened her eyes.

  “These are our babies,” he said. “Aren't they adorable?”

  Then he leaned in closer for her to see them.

  “I love them so much,” she said. “Are you okay?”

  “Am I okay?” he asked. “You're the one I'm worried about. Are you okay?”

  “As long as the girls are good, I'm good,” she said. “They look like you.”

  “What kind of drugs do they have you on?” I asked, as I walked over. “They look nothing like him. Can I hold my babies now?”

  “Lance,” Lucy snapped out.

  “Do not Lance me, Woman,” I snapped back. “After everything they've put me through, I need those girls in my arms.”

  Lance Jr. laughed as he handed me one of the babies and handed Lucy the other. Just as I sat down next to my woman to enjoy our two new grandchildren, Sammie stood up and walked over to the other side of Lauren's bed.

  “I guess this is a good time to tell you Reid got me pregnant again,” she said.

  “Sam,” James snapped out from where he was standing, only a few feet away from me.

  I looked up at her, but I didn't speak.

  “Aren't you going to yell at him?” she asked.

  “I can't,” was all I could say.

  If I didn't know better, I would have thought the kids were placing bets on which one of them was finally going to take me over the edge. We'd just gone through the second scariest day of my life, and she put that out there. If I would have said anything, it wouldn't have been hospital appropriate. I knew why she did it when she did. I was sitting there with a newborn in my arms, and she'd made her way across the room. She knew I wouldn't give the baby up so I could get up and kick her or her husband's ass. What she didn't think about though was the fact that I wouldn't be holding the baby forever. That ass kicking would still be coming her way.

  “Dad,” she said, and I stopped her before she could make one more wisecrack.

  “Not now, Sammie,” I growled out. “I'm about an inch away from losing my shit over here. This is not the time for any more of your shenanigans. Just keep it to yourself.”

  I looked over to see the biggest smile on mom's face, and all I could do was shake my head.

  “I didn't say anything,” she said.

  “You don't have to,” I said. “I can see how happy you are over there.”

  “This is our last one,” Sammie said. “Does that help?”

  “How can you be so sure?” I asked, as I looked at her. “I think you might have said something like that before.”

  “Because James is getting snipped,” she answered.

  “What?” James snapped out. “We have not discussed that.”

  “Lance is getting it done,” she said. “You two can do it together. Like a bro thing.”

  “He is not,” James said, as he looked over at my boy.

  “I am,” Lance Jr. said. “After what we've just been through, I'm running to that doctor. I have a beautiful wife and five amazing kids. I'm done.”

  “Fucker,” James hissed from under his breath.

  “What's it going to be, Reid?” Sammie asked. “You going to get the snip, or are you spending every night with your hand from now on?”

  “Yeah, Reid?” I asked.

  “Leave my boy alone,” Scott said, as he walked over to James. “Give him time to think about it.”

  “He's got about eight months,” Sammie said. “Then he's on his own.”

  “You still got a mouth, Woman,” James said, and I couldn't do it.

  I got up, walked over to mom, and handed her the beautiful bundle in my arms.

  “I need some air before I break his damn nose again. My little girl's mouth is not something you will ever mention in front of me again. You got that, Reid? Not unless you want to lose the only bit of manhood you've got left.”

  I walked toward the door and pulled it open. Then I turned back to look at the room full of people. They were my family, and as much as I wanted to kick all of their asses at one time or another, I loved them all, and I'd do anything and everything for each of them. That counted Cassie and Parker as well, if they made it through the night with all of the kids anyway.

  Chapter 11

  Cassie

  Fifteen days later, the babies we
re finally coming home. Lauren and Lance Jr. had been going back and forth each day. Lucy and Lance were taking care of the kids and going to the hospital as much as they could. The rest of us were helping every chance we got as well. We would cook, clean, or watch the kids, but we stayed away from the hospital. Between the four of them, we figured the nurses were ready to send our family packing, and we didn't want to give them any more stress than they were already getting from Lance.

  Since the babies were coming home, we all headed to Lance Jr. and Lauren's house for dinner. He'd secretly called each of us to tell us his parents needed to go back home. While he'd appreciated every single thing they'd done for him, Lauren, and the kids, he couldn't do it for one more day. He wanted to walk through the house in his boxers or fall asleep on the couch watching a movie, but he couldn't do that, not while they were there. Part of him also wanted his family to himself for just a little while, and we were all supposed to somehow make that happen.

  I was busy cooking with grandma, my mom, and Sammie when I let out a laugh.

  “What's so funny?” my mom asked.

  “I only have three weeks left,” I said. “Parker was here when Lauren had the girls, and I was damn glad he was. I don't know how I would have taken care of so many kids without him. The poor guy had probably never been so happy for an away game as he was then.”

  She opened her mouth to say something, but I cut her off.

  “I'm just hoping he's there for our baby,” I said.

  “He will be,” she said.

  “Don't tell her that,” grandma said, as she walked over, wrapped her arms around me, and laughed. “I can't even get my arms all the way around you anymore. If he's not here, you'll have all of us.”

  “I want him with me,” I said.

  “You should have thought of that before you slept with a ballplayer,” she said.

  “I know,” I replied, as I leaned in close enough to her so I could whisper in her ear. “I want to go watch him play today, but he doesn't want me to come. How about you sneak out and go with me.”