Gray Area (sequel to White Noise)

Ch 11 - We're Having A Baby

The next month passed before I knew it. The boys were spending literally every free minute at the studio trying to get all the finishing touches to the album perfected before the baby was born. Poor Tori was absolutely miserable those last days of her pregnancy. She was going to the doctor weekly to check her progress, and she kept telling me that if the baby didn't come soon, she was forcing me to do a C-section on her kitchen table. I felt bad that I couldn't be there for her as much as I would have liked due to work, but Calum's mother and sister had flown in the previous week, so at least she wasn't completely alone. I actually wondered how Tori hadn't gone totally crazy with that many people in her house.

I laughed to myself as I sat at my desk at work, thinking about what chaos it must be for her. I made a mental note to plan a day soon where I would pick up Ashton, Michael, and Luke and keep them occupied. That would at least give her a little bit of peace. Soon, a soft knock on my office door snapped me out of my thoughts.

"Come in!"

The door opened slightly before my co-worker, Melissa, peeked her head in. "You better get going soon, Lex. It's starting to get bad out there."

I turned in my chair to take a look out the window. Sure enough, it was raining buckets. I knew there were storms in the forecast, but I don't think anyone expected it to get this bad.

"There are power outages all across the city, and the hospital's already on generator power," Melissa continued. "You better get out while you can."

"You're probably right," I agreed, standing from my chair. "Thanks, Mel."

"No problem. Be careful driving home."

I assured her I would and started gathering my things, but I was quickly interrupted by the ringing of my phone. I glanced down to see that it was Tori calling.

"Hello?"

"Hey. What are you doing?"

"Getting my shit together to leave work. What's up?"

"I was wondering if you could come over." Something in her tone struck me as weird. She never really asked me to come over like that. She always just called and told me to bring my ass to her house.

"Sure," I answered a little warily. "Everything okay?"

"Oh, yeah. Everything's fine. It's just that our power went out, and I think I'm going into labor, and these ignoramuses in my house are freaking the hell out."

I nearly dropped my phone. "What?! Are you serious?"

I heard her sigh on the other end. "Yes, Alexis, I'm serious. The boys are all running around bumping into each other and spazzing out. Joy and Mali left earlier to pick some things up from the store. I just called them, and they're stuck because there's a wreck in front of them, so they're just going to meet us at the hospital. But I can't get any of these fools to calm down enough to actually get in the car."

"Holy shit, Tori. I'm on my way. Just stay put. I'll be there as soon as I can."

"Stay put, huh?" she snorted. "Don't think that's gonna be a problem. Drive safe, okay? This storm's turning into a real bitch."

I didn't even tell her goodbye. I just hung up the phone, tossed it into my purse, and literally ran out the door. I drove like a bat out of hell and made it to Tori's house in record time. I didn't even bother with an umbrella, and I was soaking wet when I entered the house.

Tori was right. It was a mad house. Calum was running around like a crazy person with Ashton following every step he made trying to calm him down. Michael was having a full blown panic attack, and Luke looked like he was about to cry. Meanwhile, Tori was just sitting calmly on the couch with her arms crossed watching them. When she saw me walk in, she stood up and sighed with relief.

"Thank God you're here."

I went straight to her, grabbing her hand. "Are you okay? Did your water break?"

"Not yet," she answered. "My contractions are about four minutes apart, though, so we should probably get to the hospital soon."

"Oh, shit. Okay." I looked around the room, taking a quick survey of the chaos. "It seems like Ashton is the most calm of this bunch. We need to get you and Calum loaded into the car, then Ash can drive you guys to the hospital. I'll follow behind with Luke and Michael."

Tori nodded her head and slowly approached Calum. "Cal? Honey? We need to go to the hospital. Can you follow me to the car?"

He looked at her like she had two heads. "We're having a baby. Oh, fuck. We're having a baby."

"Yes, sweetheart. We're having a baby. And unless you want me to deliver in the middle of our living room, we need to get in the car. Can you do that for me?"

It was like a light bulb went off in his head. "Oh, shit. We need to get to the hospital!" He put his arms around Tori like she was made of glass and began leading her out to the garage. Ashton must have heard our plans because he grabbed Tori's car keys off the kitchen counter and took off after them without a word.

It took me a little longer to get the other two calmed down enough to move. Once I finally loaded them into the car, I raced us back to the hospital. I'm pretty sure my driving scared them even more, especially considering the raging storm that was going on, but I didn't care. My friend was having a freaking baby!

We made our way to the waiting room to find Calum's mother and sister already there. We shared pleasantries and excited chatter before we all settled in for the long wait.

Fourteen hours. We stayed in that waiting room for fourteen long hours, none of us moving a muscle unless it was to eat or pee. Calum came out periodically to give us updates, but it was still the longest wait of my whole life. But finally, after fourteen painful hours, the doors to the room opened once again, and Calum entered, tears streaming down his face.

He immediately went to his mom and sister, and they enveloped him into a hug as he sobbed. He then made his way around the room, stopping to give each of us a tight squeeze. We were all crying at this point, even the other boys. I couldn't even bring myself to make fun of them for it later, because it was just so damn sweet. Finally, after Calum had made his way around the room, he stepped back and addressed us all with the biggest smile I had ever seen.

"It's a girl!"

———————-

A little girl!! Awwwww. Can you even imagine Cal with a baby? It would be the death of us all for sure.

Credit whoever made that photo. I LMAO everytime. - A