Mockingbird: a Songbird Sequel

Thirty-One: Lennie

It was an early April night when I awoke with a start. I was about seven and a half months along, and despite being uncomfortable pretty much constantly, I was enjoying every second of being pregnant. The terrible symptoms I had early on dissipated around February and the last few months hadn't been all that terrible.

Maggie, on the other hand, was absolutely miserable. She returned to the Orchard right before Christmas and had spent the last few months at home with me while Beau was at school. The teachers had agreed to let her do her required courses sort of independent study. Every Monday, Beau would bring home her assignments for the week, and every Friday, he would drop off her homework. The only time she actually had to go to school was to take tests, and the teachers allowed her to do that on her own, in the office, after most of the kids were gone. The tension between Beau and Maggie had eased and they seemed to be happy to spend the evenings and weekends together.

Early in the New Year, Maggie's mother decided to leave her father. Apparently, Maggie wasn't the only one being treated like a second-class citizen, but her father's behavior toward their daughter in her predicament, had been the final straw. She moved into an apartment in town and Maggie would be joining her after the baby was born, which would be soon. I just hadn't realized how soon.

It took me a minute to come to and figure out what had woken me up. It was three-thirty in the morning, which wasn't unusual for my waking hours. This baby on my bladder had me up at all hours of the day. But this alarm hadn't come internally as I heard a shout from downstairs.

"DAD!" Beau's voice screamed. "WE GOTTA GO! DAD!"

I groaned and elbowed Colt who was still dozing next to me, his heavy, tattooed arm laying over my collarbone. "Wake up. Your kid is shouting."

"Why?" Colt mumbled.

"I don't freaking know but I was actually sleeping for once so make it stop."

"DAD!"

This shout came with thundering footsteps up the stairs. I jumped a bit as Beau threw open the door, grateful to be covered by a Tshirt as my teenage stepson bounded into the room. "It's happening," Beau panted through rushed breaths. "Her... her water broke... we gotta go."

"What!?" Colt shouted, instantly shooting upright. "She's not due for two more weeks!"

"Apparently baby boy doesn't care," I stated, the only one remotely calm in the moment. Yes, Maggie was having a boy, despite my desire to start my own little girl cult. Colt and I had decided to not find out what the one in my belly was, so my fingers were crossed in hopes I still got one on my side.

I groaned as I turned my legs over the side of the bed. "Let's go, boys."

"Where's the bag?! Where's my keys?!"

"I don't know!" Beau shouted. "What do we do?!"

"Okay, first of all, y'all need to calm the hell down," I stated with a yawn. "Colt, your keys are down on the wall hook just like they always are. Beau, the bag is sitting in the pantry by the back door. Take a breath and pull your shit together, please. Maggie needs you not acting like morons right now."

Colt slipped a Tshirt over his head and eyed me oddly. "How are you so calm?"

"Too tired to be anything but," I answered, stepping into the pair of Colt's sweatpants that were pretty much my wardrobe these days. "Let's go. Move or one of you is going to be delivering a baby in a pickup truck."

Beau darted out the door and I heard Colt chuckle as he came around the bed. "You ready, Momma?" he asked, softly, pulling me to him by the shoulders and planting a kiss on the side of my head.