Stealing the Show (PolyAm Fam #3)

Chapter 28

twenty-eight

ten days later

raine

I was jolted awake by my phone buzzing, and since I was in the middle of my lovers, I had to climb over Maggie to answer. In a husky, half-asleep voice, I managed, “Hello?”

I was worried it was someone from the IU theater’s costume department with a costume emergency. I was in charge of such things now, you know. It didn’t even register that it was Noah calling.

“Hey, Danielle’s in labor,” he rushed out.

“What? Again?”

“Yeah, but they’re not stopping it this time. She’s thirty-six weeks, and they’ve given the baby steroids to develop the lungs.” He slipped out of professional mode and back into anxious expectant father mode, “So can you come?”

“Yeah, of course.” I swung my legs off the bed, hitting the fluffy rug on the hardwood floor with a soft thud.

“What’s going on?” Leo bolted upright in the bed. “Where’s my gun?”

“Hold it there, cowboy!” Maggie said, groggily stretching. “Did you say Danielle is in labor?”

“I didn’t, but Noah did.” How did she figure out what was going on so fast?

“I’m going to the hospital,” I announced to both my lovers and Noah, who was still waiting to wrap up this conversation so he could get back to the mommy-to-be.

“We’re in room 115,” he announced. “See you soon.”

As I pulled on some jeans and a cute top that might make it look like I was more than half-awake when I made my wardrobe choices, I remembered that I had planned to take my first pregnancy test today. It had been ten days since our monthly fuckfest began. But I had already peed, and I was in a rush. I tucked a test in my purse.

I’d take it at the hospital. I probably had a lot of waiting around to look forward to.

* * *

Danielle’s room was practically a party, with music and dancing and plenty of guests. I was surprised to find my former roommate in good spirits, with a smile on her face.

“Epidural,” she explained when she saw my questioning look.

I greeted Cynda and Jason. Apparently, Darth wasn’t interested in getting up in the middle of the night to witness the joyous event. Bonnie was there too. I rushed over to give her a hug.

“Well, the gang’s all here,” Aris said, rubbing his hands together. “Now we just need a baby.”

Noah was pacing back and forth, slaying his role as nervous expectant father. He kept glancing over at her monitors. “Oh, you’re having a big contraction. Look at that peak! They’re coming faster, babe.” He went over and took the mommy-to-be’s hand. “I’m so glad you’re not feeling this.”

“Me too!” She crunched on some ice chips and glanced around the room. “I really appreciate you guys being here, but once it’s time to push, y’all are moving your fine asses to the waiting room, got it?”

We all laughed and nodded. And it wasn’t too long after that statement that the obstetrician and a nurse arrived to check Danielle’s progress. We were also sent out of the room for that, but just to the hallway, where we tried to be quiet since it was only four in the morning and patients were either sleeping or trying to expel watermelons through a hole the size of a grapefruit.

Ouch! I cringed just thinking of it.

And you wanna do this too, ya dumb ass , my inner monologue was running. Bonnie squeezed my hand as if she knew what I was thinking. I held my purse to my side. I’d go take the test that might change my life as soon as Danielle started to push.

It was only a few minutes later that Aris poked his head out the door and grinned. “This is it! To the waiting room with you!”

We shuffled down the hall, but I grabbed Bonnie’s arm and whispered, “I’m gonna go pee first.”

“Okay. When you get back, we’re gonna see if the cafeteria is open yet.” She waggled her eyebrows.

Coffee. Coffee was what was missing in my life.

I found the ladies’ room at the end of the hall and pushed the door open. My fingers trembled as I took the test out of its packaging and held it in place.

Well, this is it!

maggie

“Hey, I want to stop by the hospital with some flowers and a gift for Danielle,” I told Leo when he got out of the shower.

“Okay…have fun.” He gave me a kiss on the cheek and then moved toward his closet to grab some clothes.

“You’re not working this morning, right?”

He turned around to face me, bare-chested, only a towel wrapped around his waist and a polo shirt in each hand. “No, I’m going to the range this evening for a night shoot, remember?”

“You wanna come with me? Maybe Raine would like to get breakfast. She probably hasn’t had anything except cafeteria food.”

“Hey, the hospital cafeteria isn’t actually that bad,” Leo corrected me. “Been stuck in the hospital many a time with…um…clients, you know.”

“Fine, well, do you want to come with me? I can drop you back at home before I go to work,” I offered.

“I guess so. Since I won’t see you guys at dinner. Speaking of which, we still haven’t had a chance to go out and celebrate Raine’s new job as IU theater’s costume designer. We’ve been so busy fucking and all.” He held up two polo shirts.

“We’ll get to it soon, maybe this weekend. The black shirt,” I said. “And leave the scruff. You don’t have to shave for your shoot, do you?”

He shrugged. “I guess not. What kind of gift did you get? They don’t know if it’s going to be a boy or girl, do they?”

I shook my head. “It’s not for the baby. It’s for Danielle. It’s like a new mom spa basket. So she can enjoy some self-care while the daddies spend time with the little one.”

“You are so thoughtful.” My husband wrapped his arms around me, still a little damp from his shower, and nuzzled my neck. “You are gonna make such a great mom.”

I grinned. “C’mon. I want to leave in twenty minutes.”

He made a whip-cracking sound. “Yes, ma’am. You’re sure gonna keep our kid in line too, aren’t you?”

“Hell yes I am!” I tapped my foot in feigned impatience and pretended to look at my watch. “Let’s get a move on.”

I really hoped I’d get a chance to keep our kid in line. And either way, I’d be keeping him and Raine in line for sure. After all, our “law and order” household needed plenty of the “order” part.

Raine was in charge of making us all look good, of course.

leo

When we arrived at the hospital, there was a buzz of activity in the waiting room as Aris made an appearance. “She’s here!” He grinned, and we joined in the applause already started by Raine, Cynda, Jason and Bonnie.

“Oh my god, it’s a girl, I knew it!” Bonnie shrieked. “When can we see her?”

“Give us a few minutes, then you can come back. They’re just getting the baby cleaned up.” He was beaming ear to ear.

“Does she have a name yet?” Maggie asked.

“Hannah Grace,” Aris announced. “Hannah after Noah’s mother.”

“Aww, that’s so sweet!” Bonnie cooed.

“Hannah is a healthy five pounds, twelve ounces,” the proud daddy continued. “She’s tiny but strong! You shoulda heard her exercising her lungs for the first time. She’s gonna have her momma’s pipes!”

“Oh, I can’t wait to see her!” Maggie cheered. “Go be with her. Just text us when we can come back. I have some gifts for her.”

Raine walked over to us. “I didn’t know if you guys would want to stop by now or wait until she was home.”

“I don’t know if I could wait,” Maggie admitted. “This is so exciting. I’m so happy for them. You haven’t seen Noah yet, have you?”

“No, not yet. But I’m sure he’s over the moon. He was pacing the room, so nervous, when we were back there with her before. Obsessed with the monitor and asking the doctor all kinds of questions that were way over my head.” I laughed at the memory of him in expectant dad mode.

It wasn’t long before Noah texted Maggie to say our entourage could come visit the new mom and baby. We walked down the hall, me in the middle of Raine and Maggie, holding both of their hands.

When we entered the room, which had soft classical music playing, Raine dropped her purse on a chair and ran over to give her friend a hug. The purse didn’t quite land squarely, however, and the contents dumped out all over the floor.

“Ooops, sorry!” she called over her shoulder as she admired the little pink bundle in Danielle’s arms.

“We got it.” Maggie and I crouched down, scooping the items back into the purse.

Then Maggie froze, holding a plastic stick up. As soon as I saw it, I froze too.

Raine moved away so Bonnie could have a look at the baby and immediately caught our dropped-open jaws.

“Is this what I think it is?” Maggie barely choked the words out as she waved the test stick in the air.

Raine’s face exploded with color as her hands shot to cover her embarrassment. “Oh my god! I was going to wait to tell you. I didn’t want to steal the show.” She gestured back to Danielle and the baby.

“Steal what show?” Danielle was quick to question as Bonnie moved back to the line of well-wishers. Cynda was next to see the baby.

“I’m pregnant!” Raine announced, but before she could get the words out, we were already right there, embracing her in our three-way hug as tears streamed down our faces.

“Oh my god, I knew it!” Maggie cried, pressing a kiss to Raine’s lips.

Then it was my turn. I grasped her face between my hands and claimed her lips with my own. “I’m so goddamn happy right now, I can’t stand it!”

Raine smiled through her tears. “I love you both so much.”

“I love you,” Maggie said, squeezing my hand, “and I love you.” She pressed another kiss to Raine’s cheek. Then she laid a hand on her stomach. “And I love this little one, whoever you are.”

“And I love you and you.” I kissed one beautiful lady’s cheek and then the other. Then I dropped to my knees in front of Raine and pressed a kiss to her lower abdomen. “And I love you too.”