Gray Area (sequel to White Noise)

Ch 4 - It's Inside Me

It was storytelling time at the Hood house. (Tori was basically already a Hood, okay?) I was entertaining everyone with my latest nursing story. "So, anyway, once they got him back in the bed, Christy, the night shift house supervisor, went into the nursing administration office, which is across the hall from said patient's room. As soon as she walked in, she slipped and fell in a pile of shit!"

"No fucking way!! He took a dump in the floor?!" Michael couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"I swear to God. I'm not even shitting you. No pun intended." We erupted into another fit of laughter.

I finished my story, explaining, "He apparently walked across the hall, thinking the office was a restroom, took a shit, and then proceeded to wander down the hall, stark naked, to the nurse's station."

"Oh my God. Poor Christy. Is she okay?" Tori asked.

"She's fine. I think her pride may be a little hurt though." I still couldn't stop laughing about the whole thing. I must admit, that was one of the craziest stories I'd heard. And I was thankful I wasn't involved in it, for once.

But storytelling time had to come to an end. I announced, "Sorry to be a party pooper, guys, but if I'm going to make it to work in the morning, I have to go home and get some sleep." Of course there was more laughter at yet another poop reference.

Calum asked, "You'll be around tomorrow evening though, right?"

"Yeah, why?"

"I thought you could keep Tori company while Michael and I go see that new movie. You know, that war movie that you girls don't want to see. And maybe you two can talk about wedding plans. Tori's been a slacker in that department."

The look on Tori's face told me she was not amused. Calum noticed, too. "Sorry, babe. It's okay, though, because you have an excuse," he quickly covered his slip up, rubbing her abdomen. He jumped when he felt the baby move. "Did you feel that?!" he practically squealed.

"Yes, you fool. It's inside me," Tori giggled at Calum.

"I wanna feel!" Michael said, placing a hand on Tori's expanding belly, without permission. I held my breath, waiting for Michael to be smacked, shoved, yelled at, something. But Tori just smiled at him as he waited for the baby to move again. I'll just tell you, it makes my ovaries scream to see a grown man interacting with a baby; even if it's still inside it's mama. God bless.

When Michael felt the little Hood baby squirm, he covered his mouth as though he were trying to prevent a scream from escaping, and his eyes got huge. It was the single most adorable thing I'd ever seen him do.

I hated to be a buzzkill, but since Michael had destroyed my ovaries and made me feel things I didn't want to, it was time to go. "Yeah, I'll come over after work... IF you have some food waiting on me."

"Consider it done."

Believe it or not, Calum was quite the cook. I often invited myself over when I knew he was cooking. I have no shame.

As I got settled in the bed, I calculated the time in Sydney. It would be 5:00 p.m. there, so it was safe to call Luke.

"Hey, Lex. What's up?"

"Hey, Lukey. Not much, because I'm getting ready to go to sleep. But I have something for you to think about."

"Oh? What exactly would that be?" he asked cautiously.

I chuckled a little, knowing he was going to think I was insane. "First, just promise that you'll do it. Say yes."

"Oh, God. I know whatever it is, you're not going to let me say no," he sighed, knowing it was useless to put up a fight. "So, fine, I'll do it. Now, what am I agreeing to?"

"Well, apparently part of being a best friend to a pregnant woman means that I'm responsible for making sure she receives a proper baby shower."

"Okay. And?" I could imagine the confused look on his face.

"And... I'm gonna need your help." I replied matter of factly, as though it was the most natural thing in the world to ask a famous male band member to help you plan a baby shower.

"Why me? I don't know anything about baby showers!"

"But, Luke. I'm willing to bet Liz can tell us everything we need to know. Besides, I have no one else. You're the closest thing to a female friend that I have, besides Tori."

"Gee. I don't know whether to take that as a compliment or what."

"It's most definitely a compliment. So you'll do it, right? It has to be you, because I want it to be a surprise. And there's no way Ashton and Michael would keep it a secret. Ashton would just be too excited. And Michael, well, he's Michael. So, yes?"

Luke grumbled a few seconds before giving in. "Sure. Why not? I'll talk to Mum and see what all we need to do."

We chit chatted for a few minutes, when Luke suddenly became excited. "Speaking of babies, guess what?!"

"You're pregnant?"

He laughed sarcastically. "Haha. No. I saw Penny yesterday!"

"Penny? Who the fuck is Penny?" I was confused.

"Oh my God. How can you forget Penny?! Penny, the baby penguin from the zoo a few months ago? Duh."

"Oh, yeah. How is your little bird baby doing? And is it really a girl?" I envisioned the sweetness of Luke cuddling that precious fuzzy creature under his shirt. One of my favorite Luke moments ever.

"Yes! I told you I knew it was a girl. And guess what?"

He wasn't going to continue his story until I asked. "I don't know. What?"

"They officially named her Penny. There's a plaque hanging up explaining how she got her name and everything." I could hear the smugness in his voice. Luke was rarely one to be smug, but I must admit, when he was, it was damn attractive.

I had to listen to a few more minutes of Luke rambling on about Penny before saying goodbye. I swear, you would have thought he had birthed that penguin himself. It was adorable, though.

I tossed and turned for a bit. I had a hard time shutting off my brain recently. There was so much happening all at once. Everything seemed to have sneaked up on us, and there was a shit load of things left to plan. I wasn't even the soon-to-be mother or bride, yet I was overwhelmed.

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Fun fact: That poop story really happened right before I came in to work one morning. As a nurse, you never know what you're walking into. Literally. LOL -A