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"Christ on a crutch, Harper! I thought I was going to startle you"
"What? What?" His eyes were dazzled as he dragged off his headset "What?"
"I didn&039;t think you could hear me"
"I - " He hadn&039;t He&039;d suess I do I need to say I&039; down your throat every time you opened your mouth the last couple of weeks I&039;ve been an awful bitch"
"No Well, yeah It&039;s okay"
She laughed and edged closer to try to see what he was doing It justlooked like he had a bunch of ste to do, how aly all the tily"
&039;That&039;s awful nice of you But being pregnant doesn&039;t affect ht, and I knohat I see in the mirror every damn day"
"Then you know you&039;re beautiful"
Her eyes sparkled when she smiled "I ed to flirt with a pregnant woot a bad disposition"
"I&039;m not - I wouldn&039;t" He wanted to, at the very least "Anyway, I guess you&039;re feeling better"
"Sosorry for ine your, too But then we had the best time Who knew a baby shower could rock?" She pressed both hands to her belly and laughed "You ever met Stella&039;s step-mama?"
"No"
"She&039;s just a hoot and a half I laughed till I thought I&039;d shoot the baby right out then and there And Mrs Haggerty - "
"Mrs Haggerty? Our Mrs Haggerty was there?"
"Not only, but she won the song title ga titles with &039;baby&039; in it You&039;ll never guess one she wrote down"
"Okay I give"
"&039;Baby Got Back&039;"
Now he grinned "Get out Mrs Haggerty wrote down a rap song?"
"Then rapped it"
"Now you&039;re lying"
"She did Or at least a couple lines I nearly peedwhy I&039; to help with the best surprise I ever had, and I was bitching and whining Crawling up your ass, just like you said I&039; I have a friend whose wife had a baby a fewout of her mouth toward the end And I think her eyes turned red a couple tiain, pressed a hand to her side "I hope I don&039;t get that bad before "
She broke off, a puzzled expression covering her face as she felt a little snap inside Heard it, she realized Like a soft, echoing ping
Then water pooled down between her legs
Harper made a sound of his own, like that of a led off so as Hayley stared down at the floor
"Uh-oh," she said
"Urn, that&039;s okay, that&039;s all right Maybe I should maybe you should "
"Oh, for heaven&039;s sake, Harper, I didn&039;t just pee on the floor My water broke"
"What water?" He blinked, then went pale as a corpse "That water Oh, God Oh, Jesus Oh, shit Sit Sit, or I&039;ll get - "
An ambulance, the marines
"My o with you We&039;re a little early" She forced a suess the baby&039;s iet out and see what all the fuss is about Give me a hand, okay? Oh, Jesus, Harper, I&039;m scared to death"
"It&039;s fine" His ar anywhere?"
"No Not yet"
Inside he was still pale, and half sick But his arm stayed steady around her, and when he turned his head, his sently, he touched her belly "Happy birthday, baby"
"Oh, my God" Her face simply illuminated as they stepped outside "This is awesome"
She couldn&039;t actually have the baby, but Stella figured she could do nearly everything else - or delegate it done Hayley hadn&039;t put a hospital bag together, but Stella had a list A call to David got that ball rolling even as she drove Hayley to the hospital She called the doctor to let him know the status of Hayley&039;s labor, left a voice e on his hoe for her own children, and coached Hayley through her breathing as the first contractions began
"If I ever get married, or buy a house, or start a war, I hope you&039;ll be in charge of the details"
Stella glanced over as Hayley rubbed her belly "I&039; okay?"
"Yeah I&039; a baby!"
"You&039;re going to have a fabulous baby"
"The books say things can get pretty tricky during transition, so if I yell at you or call you names - "
"Been there I won&039;t take it personally"
By the ti room The television was on - an old Friends episode Beneath it on the counter was an arrange, she had no doubt
"How&039;s Ma fast" Flushed and bright-eyed, Hayley reached out a hand for Roz&039;s "And everything&039;s just fine The contractions are coether, but they don&039;t hurt all that much"
"She doesn&039;t want the epidural," Stella told her
"Ah" Roz gave Hayley&039;s hand a pat "That&039;ll be up to you You can change your ets to be too much"
"Maybe it&039;s silly, and maybe I&039;ll be sorry, but I want to feel it Wow! I feel that"
Stella hed out the last breath, closed her eyes just as David strode in
"This here the party roo, and a vase of yellow daisies before he leaned over the bed to kiss Hayley&039;s cheek "You&039;re not going to kick me out &039;cause I&039;hted color bloomed on Hayley&039;s cheeks "Really?"
"Are you kidding?" Froital carapher"
"Oh" Biting her lip, Hayley rubbed a hand over her belly "I don&039;t know as pictures are such a good idea"
"Don&039;t you worry, sugar, I won&039;t take anything that&039;s not G-rated Givesmile"
He took a couple of shots, directed Roz and Stella to stand beside the bed and took a couplethe boys back to his place after school"
"What?"
"Your parents are at so to come back, but I told them not to worry, I&039;d take care of the kids Then apparently Logan ca by shortly"
"Logan?" Hayley asked "He&039;s co kid duty He said he&039;d take them over to his place, put them to work, and not to worry We&039;re supposed to keep hiress"
"I don&039;t know if - " But Stella broke off as another contraction started
Her job as labor coach kept her busy, but part of herherd on her boys What did he mean, &039;put theot into a fight - which, of course, they would at some point How could he watch them properly if he toolt them to a job site? They could fall into a ditch, or out of a tree, or cut off an appendage, for God&039;s sake, with some sharp tool
When the doctor caress, she dashed out to call Logan&039;s cell phone
"Kitridge"
"It&039;s Stella My boys - "
"Yeah, they&039;re fine Got theht here Hey, Gavin, don&039;t chase your brother with that chain saw" At Stella&039;s horrified squeak, Logan&039;s laughter rolled over the phone "Just kidding I&039;ve got thes in ot a baby yet?"
"No, they&039;re checking her now Last check she was at eight centimeters dilated and seventy percent effaced"
"I have no idea what that "
"It&039;s very good She&039;s breezing through it You&039;d think she had a baby once a week Are you sure the kids are all right?"
"Listen"
She assules and her boys&039; voices raised in excited argument over just what they could bury in the hole An elephant A brontosaurus Fat Mr Kelso frorocery store
"They shouldn&039;t call Mr Kelso fat"
"We have no tiot a baby"
He hung up, leaving her scowling at the phone Then she turned and nearly rammed into Harper Or into the forest of red lilies he balanced in both hands
"Harper? Are you in there?"
"She okay? What&039;s going on? Am I too late?"
"She&039;s fine The doctor&039;s just checking on her And you&039;re in plenty of tiht lilies because they&039;re exotic, and she likes red I think she likes red"
"They&039;re extreuide you in"
"Maybe I shouldn&039;t Maybe you should just take theular party going on She&039;s a sociable girl, and having people with her is taking her mind off the pain When I left, David had the Red Hot Chili Peppers on a CD player and a bottle of cha down in the bathroom sink
She steered him in It was still the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and David turned his ca nervously through a wonder of red lilies
"Oh! Oh! Those are the s I&039;ve ever seen!" A little pale, but bealed to sit up in bed
"They&039;ll reat focal point, too" Stella helped Harper set the contractions"
"The doctor says I&039; soon"
He stepped up to the bedside "You okay?"
"A little tired It&039;s a lot of work, but not as bad as I thought" Abruptly, her hand clamped down on his "Oh-oh Stella"
Roz stood at the foot of the bed She looked at her son&039;s hand holding Hayley&039;s, looked at his face She felt sohed and began to rub Hayley&039;s feet as Stella ement
The pain increased Stella watched the arc of contractions on the irl was ht She was pale now, and her skin sheathed in sweat There were tiripped Stella&039;s hand so hard she was surprised her fingers didn&039;t snap But Hayley stayed focused and rode the contractions out
An hour passed into another, with the contractions coh the breathing like a train Stella offered ice chips and cool cloths while Roz gave the laboring e
"Harper!" General Rothchild snapped out orders "Rub her belly"
He goggled at her as if she&039;d asked him to personally deliver the baby "Do what?"
"Gently, in circles It helps David, the music - "
"No, I like the music" Hayley reached for Stella&039;s hand as she felt the next co Oh, oh, fuck! I want to push I want to push it the hell out, now!"
"Not yet Not yet Focus, Hayley, you&039;re doing great Roz, maybe we need the doctor"
"Already on it," she said on her way out the door
When it was tis, Stella noted that both ave Hayley one end of a towel, and took the other, to help her bear dohile she counted to ten
"Harper! You get behind her, support her back"
"I" He was already edging for the door, but his mother blocked him
"You don&039;t want to be soe forward
"You&039;re doing great," Stella told her "You&039;re a" She nodded when the doctor called for Hayley to push again "Ready now Deep breath Hold it, and push!"
"God alhty" Even with the babble of voices, David&039;s sas audible "I&039;ve never seen the like I&039;ve gotta call otta send her a truckload of flowers"
"Jesus!" Harper sucked in a breath along with Hayley "There&039;s a head"
Hayley began to laugh, with tears strea down her face "Look at all that hair! Oh, God, oh, Lord, can&039;t we get him the rest of the way out?"
"Shoulders next, honey, then that&039;s it Another good push, okay? Listen! He&039;s already crying Hayley, that&039;s your baby crying" And Stella was crying herself as with a last desperate push, life rushed into the rooirl," Roz said softly as she wiped the dahter, Hayley And she&039;s beautiful"
"A girl A little girl" Hayley&039;s ar When they laid her on her belly so Roz could cut the cord, she kept laughing even as she stroked the baby from head to foot "Oh, just look at you Look at you No, don&039;t take her"
"They&039;re just going to clean her up Two seconds" Stella bent down to kiss the top of Hayley&039;s head "Congratulations, Moripped Stella&039;s hand, then Harper&039;s "She even sounds beautiful"
"Six pounds, eight ounces," the nurse announced and carried the wrapped bundle to the bed "Eighteen inches And a full ten on the Apgar"
"Hear that?" Hayley cradled the baby in her arms, kissed her forehead, her cheeks, her tiny mouth
"You aced your first test She&039;s looking at lad to see you"
"Smile!" David snapped another picture "What name did you decide on?"
"I picked a new one when I was pushing She&039;s Lily, because I could see the lilies, and I could s born So she&039;s Lily Rose Star Rose for Rosalind, Star for Stella"