by Mlyn Hurn
His mother had reassured that all was well. The tree would still get trimmed and Laena would be fine.
Here he sat, starting his third hour of drinking moderately while his family engaged in various games of chance. He couldn't say for sure, but he'd bet he was the soberest one of the bunch right about now. Good thing they had all come in Michael's new full-sized sports utility vehicle. And it looked like he would be driving them home.
He was pretty sure he'd been hijacked, and the other men sent away, so the women could have full use of the house for a baby shower. The kids were probably decorating while the ladies had punch, cake and opened all the presents. It bummed him out a little because he would have enjoyed watching as Laena opened the gifts. Each one revealing something interesting, cute and either useful or useless.
Instead, he was here...sharing what Michael had termed "brother bonding brunch".
He had asked where the food was for the brunch part of it.
Tom, Janet's husband and ever the wisecracker, held up the bowls of peanuts and pretzels. "Gourmet, too!"
"Well, fellas, is it going to be another round?" the pretty brunette waitress asked them politely.
"What do you think, guys? One more?" Hank asked, emptying his glass.
Ring!
Brrring...brrrring!
"Let's get it on..."
Tingle ling. Tingle ling.
"When Irish eyes are smiling..."
Jack watched as all five of his tablemates reached for their cell phones. That's when he realized that his was still on the charger.
* * * * *
Laena shifted on the sofa, trying to ease the ache in her lower back. Tiredness seemed to be a never-ending part of life lately, as did sleepless nights. Christmas was tomorrow, so hopefully the babies would come soon after that.
"Over here, David!" Daniel called out, catching her attention.
Turning her head, Laena watched as David tossed one of Ruth's ornaments like a football. Ruth would cringe if she saw them doing that.
"Hey, you two! Stop that!" Janet was already sailing in full tilt across the room in their direction. "Those are heirlooms, even if they are a little time-worn."
Daniel held up the abused ornament.
Even from her seat across the room, Laena could see the chips of missing shiny paint.
"Look at this!" Daniel turned the ornament around, revealing a large hole on the other side.
"Stop impugning my Christmas decorations, Daniel," Ruth admonished her grandson as she entered the front living room. "Now, where were we?" she added, walking over and sitting across from Laena.
"It's time for Aunt Laena to open my present!" All eyes turned to where Kristi stood next to the bowl of candy put out for the baby shower. One hand held an envelope, and the other was in the candy.
"It's from both of us, Auntie Laena," Karen added, sticking her tongue out at her sister, even as she pushed her hand into the candy.
"How can she open it from over there, nits?" Fifteen-year-old Melissa admonished her cousins, grabbing the colorful envelope, and walking it over to Laena. "It's also from me and Mandy."
"Hey!" Daniel cried out his protest. "You guys went foursies on a gift. Grams said the most we could do was two of us."
Melissa huffed at her older cousin, tossed her long dark hair over her shoulder and sat back down on the floor at the coffee table, a few feet in front of Laena. "We aren't cheap. You'll see when you open it."
Laena turned over the bright yellow and pink envelope, carefully opening it. The twins, Karen and Kristi, had obviously assisted in the making of the card and decorating the outside. "I'm sure it will be wonderful," she said, smiling at Melissa and then at two girls still at the candy bowl.
Melissa called out, "Mandy! Get in here! Laena's opening our present!"
Laena pulled out the card, looked at the decorated front of the card then opened it. A small booklet fell out, bounced off her rounded belly and hit the floor. "Sorry," she mumbled.
"I'll get it," Melissa assured her. "Go ahead and read it."
"Aloud!" Karen and Kristi yelled from their position.
"Okay. 'To our newest ant.'" She looked twice and saw a small "u" was written in just above the "n." She smiled and nodded, accepting the other booklet from Melissa. "Let me see, oh yes. 'Use these whenever you need time with Uncle Jack.'"
Janet glanced at the girls by the candy dish and added softly, "Or when you need time away from the kids!"
Laena opened the booklet. "Oh, babysitting coupons! How thoughtful of you girls! Thank you all!"
"Each one is good for one session, not like just for an hour," Melissa pointed out, leaning across the coffee table, indicating the writing on the first coupon. "Mandy and I will both come each time, unless someone-" she paused to turn and look at her one year older cousin, "-has a date with a certain high-school quarterback."
"Hey, snitch!" Mandy called out from the doorway, where she was leaning against the jamb.
Sally grinned. "I knew already, daughter dearest. It was a little hard to miss the way he tripped when he ran past you during the beginning cheer last Friday."
Mandy's cheeks flushed, and she spoke quickly. "If Melissa is busy, then I will bring Karen and Kristi with me to help baby sit."
"And vice versa," Melissa added quickly.
"This is so sweet," Laena could feel her tears rushing up once more. "There must be at least ten coupons in here!"
"Twenty!" Four young female voices added at the same time.
Laena's tears turned to laughter. "Do I get a hug as well?" she asked a moment later.
"Of course!" Melissa leaned over the table and Laena leaned forward, rising up a little. The twins rushed forward, and she had to come a bit further-
"You squeezed her too hard, Karen!" Kristi accused her sister a second later.
"Did not!" Karen protested quickly.
Kristi snapped back. "Did too! You made her pee!"
Laena would not have chosen that way to tell everyone her water had just broken, but it got the job done in a concise way.
Calamitous was too mild to cover what happened after that.
"Oh, Ruth, I'm so sorry about the rug!" Laena said the first thing that popped into her head.
"I don't give two hoots about the rug," Ruth reassured her.
Cindy clapped her hands to get everyone's attention. "Organization is the key here!"
Jean, Patrick's wife, was already shooing people out of her way to reach Laena's side. "Are you having labor pains?"
Laena straightened slowly. "My back has hurt quite a bit today... I thought it was just-"
Sally, a former obstetrical nurse, turned from telling her boys to stay out of the candy. "Are they spaced? How far apart are they?"
"I'm not sure. I kept telling myself to ignore it, especially once the party started." Laena explained.
Ruth, who was still seated on the sofa, spoke up. "Her bag is in the front hall closet."
"Thank you, Mother," Janet replied then turned to yell across the room. "David! Daniel! One of you bring the car round front of the house, while the other grabs her suitcase from the hall closet."
Laena looked over in time to see the two young men totally caught off-guard as they realized she was having the baby, now!
With good intentions, they both ran full speed forward and into one another. They bounced into the tree and down came the half-decorated, tinsel-strewn, nine-foot tree.
Fifteen minutes later, the bright red sports car pulled to a jerking stop outside the emergency room. A discussion had convinced everyone that Laena couldn't climb the distance to the van or the sport utility vehicle, so the jaunty little car was chosen.
Laena refused to get in until a large plastic bag was put over the seat and floor. They were the first car in the tinsel-strewn caravan that started to the hospital.
While the boys, David and Daniel, climbed up and out of the tree, Ruth had crossed to the phone, using the automatic dial feature to ring Jac
k's cellular phone. Two seconds later, they all turned as the phone in its charger on the hallway table screamed its presence. En masse, Laena's five sisters-in-law pulled out their own phones and dialed.
* * * * *
The first car Jack saw as he pulled into the emergency parking lot was his mother's sports car, with the top down. Parking beside it, he saw plastic bags on the passenger seat and tinsel everywhere. Gathering his "bonded" family, he steered them to the top floor, where the obstetrical unit was located.
The waiting room was overflowing with Spencer family members. It didn't look at first glance as if anyone had been left behind. He located his mother and went to her first. "Where's Laena?"
"She's been taken back and they admitted her."
Hank came up, leaning slightly on his wife, Cindy. "So, it isn't false labor?"
"No, dear. Not everyone thinks a burp is labor pain." Cindy told her husband in a short tone. "I think you should sit down."
"I'm not drunk, Cynthia, and I never saw a woman burp as much as you did with our first." Hank protested as his wife turned and steered him to a chair.
"Who do I see, or where do I go?" Jack asked his mother.
Ruth turned, her gaze scanning the room. "Sally will know, dear. Sally, can you help Jack?"
"Of course, I can. Michael waved and headed back already. Laena's obstetrician is already here as well. Come with me, Jack."
Nodding, Jack started to follow Sally. He looked back over the sea of faces in the waiting room. How different this was from the first time he was here. Only his mother and father had been here because Celia's parents were out of state on vacation. They had tried to make arrangements to get back, but the babies arrived before they did.
Jack smiled. Everything was different. He was a little sad that Celia missed seeing their sons grow up, but he knew she watched over them from above. Now, his family was quite large and happy.
Dear God, please bring Laena and our babies through this safely, he prayed silently.
Yes. God willing, his family would increase by two before tomorrow dawned!
Epilogue
The hospital waiting room was a madhouse the night Laena went into labor. She surprised them all by carrying the babies for a little over eight months. But once she got started, she tried to tell Michael that he should change his bet on the time of the first birth.
Michael shook his head, muttering about first babies and women and mothers.
Laena and the nurses had looked at one another and just shrugged.
Of course, when Michael had to come running back upstairs ten minutes later, they all laughed and got to say "I told you so" at least once. Jack held her hand throughout her labor, huffing and puffing right along with her. And he enjoyed seeing his brother proved wrong, in spite of the added stress on him. Her obstetrician let him cut the umbilical cord. Sally finally set her husband in the corner and told him he wasn't the doctor of record and to sit down!
Daniel won the pool with 11:59 p.m. for twin A, and by the time the sibling arrived, he eagerly told everyone that not only did he win the money, but he also got to name the babies. For all of their lives, Keeley and Kelsey Spencer heard how their big brother almost got to call them Fog and Leg! This of course, he pointed out with great glee and relish, was short for Foghorn and Leghorn.
Needless to say, the girls got into a lot of spats with their older brothers, but they all did indeed, live pretty much happily ever after.
--The End--
About The Author:
Mlyn lives in Indiana, USA. She worked as a Registered Nurse for 23 years in Pediatrics. Reading Barbara Cartland and Harlequin romance novels in high school spurred her to start writing. She did technical writing for her employers until she started writing erotica four years ago. She began her own website for people to view her stories. Mlyn is single and lives with her cranky cat Georgia, whom she named after her favorite artist for inspiration, Georgia O'Keeffe.
Mlyn welcomes mail from readers. You can write to her c/o Ellora's Cave Publishing at 1337 Commerce Drive, #13, Stow, OH 44224
.
Also By Mlyn Hurn:
Blood Dreams
Blood Dreams 2: Hunter's Legacy
Burning Desires
Crown Jewels Anthology
Elemental Desires Anthology
Ellora's Cavemen: Tales From The Temple IV Anthology
Family And Promises
Family Secrets
High Seas Desire
His Dance Lessons
Medieval Mischief
Passionate Hearts Anthology
Rebel Slave
Submissive Passion
The Cattleman
Things That Go Bump In The Night 3 Anthology
Discover for yourself why readers can't get enough of the multiple award-winning publisher Ellora's Cave. Whether you prefer e-books or paperbacks, be sure to visit EC on the web at www.ellorascave.com for an erotic reading experience that will leave you breathless.
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