-Lindsey-
We all settle into the living room after a dinner of awkward conversation and Barbara's lasagna. Even though our whole meal was spent talking about my daughters labor strategy, it was still nice.... Odd, of course, but nice.
It's just good to be back where I've always felt welcome, even if I'm not necessarily a part of this family anymore, they all make me feel right at home- even Stevie.
"Watch! Ready?" Luca stands in the middle of the living room, holding a deck of cards and his mother's top hat.
"Yes, sweetheart." Barbara sits on the couch right next to me, a throw pillow in her lap to steady her cupcake.
Luca holds up his cards, almost like he's become sort of professional magician. He starts mixing them up, while we all watch not too intently. He said he picked up the art of magic at a college dorm party right before he left for the summer, which in turn makes me wonder what kind of education we're actually paying thousands of dollars for.
"Okay, aunt Lori." He walks over to her, holding out his cards. "Pick one."
"Alright," She reaches out, grabbing one from his pile and looking at it for a moment. "It's a king of diamonds." She says as she looks back up at him.
"I don't think you were supposed to tell him." Chris chuckles from across the room, where he's sitting in an accent chair.
"Mom...?" Lydia's voice catches everyone's attention, a sound of fear lingering in her tone, which sends her mother flying off the arm of the couch with me right behind her.
Once we make it into the kitchen, we're met by Lydia, leaning up against the counter. She has one hand on her tummy, while the other holds her up for support.
"What's the matter?" Stevie quickly rushes to our daughters side, both her hands on Lydia's stomach.
"I don't feel right, Mom." Her eyes are filled with tears as her bottom lip starts to quiver.
"What do you mean? Did your water break? Where don't you feel good?" Stevie moves her hands up to Lydia's face, cradling it in hopes she'll calm down.
"I need to go to the hospital!" She shouts as her tears stream down her cheeks.
Stevie flinches lightly and then fear floods her. "Lindsey, grab my purse and my keys." Stevie panics, quickly ushering Lydia through the kitchen.
"Okay. Okay. Okay." A part of me feels like I'm going to hyperventilate, but another part of me really wants to puke.
I run around the kitchen, then the living room, looking for Stevie's stuff. Barbara finds it first and hands it to me, wishing us luck and telling us that they're right behind us.
It's a total nightmare as we head to the hospital, because Los Angeles traffic has never been a beautiful thing and Lydia's cries from the backseat are torturous.
"Honey, take a left. We're going to labor and delivery." Stevie's hand falls on my shoulder as she gives it a gentle rub from the backseat, where she's tending to Lydia.
Honey? She called me honey, and that's something I haven't heard since before she started calling me a jerk. Either she's very, very, very scared or becoming a grandma really does make someone more joyful.
"Got it." I give her a thumbs up as I pull through the parking garage to the birthing center.
Stevie and I find ourselves using a method we haven't in years- team work. She has Lydia's right side and I have her left as we steady her up on our walk through the double doors.
~~~~~
-Stevie-
It doesn't take long for her to get settled into a room, and then we all calm down for a couple minutes as we wait to see a doctor. Lindsey sits in the chair right next to me, helping me fill out her paperwork while she complains about a new back pain.
"Lydia, breathe in and then breathe out." He slowly stands up to walk towards her, taking her small hand in his much larger one. "You got this, baby." He gives her a smile as he gentle kisses the top of her head.
"I'm kinda scared." She admits, throwing her head back into the pillows.
"No reason to be scared, sweetheart. You've read all your books and you know exactly what you're up against." I don't even look up, because I know the look in her eyes will break my heart.
There's a light knock on the door, making us all jump. "Come on in." Lydia's voice sounds small, maybe even a little weak.
"Hi, there." A nurse comes through the door, shutting it as she gives us all a soft smile.
"Hey," Lydia smiles right back as she watches the nurse pull up a small swivel chair.
"So you said you were having some weird pains?" The nurse asks and she just nods. "Okay. So I'm gonna go ahead and give you a quick exam, and maybe see what's causing the pains." She grabs a clean pair of purple gloves, sliding them over her hands. "You're more than welcome to stay or sit out in the hallway, whatever makes you feel better." She tells Lindsey and I.
"I think I'll pop out into the hall, give you some space." Lindsey chuckles as he grabs his bottle of water to head out of the room.
"I'll step outside, too." I smile, following Lindsey back into the hall, where another pregnant woman is being escorted to a room.
He waits for me so we can walk together down to a lobby to wait. Even though we're divorced and I can't stand him most of the time, I feel very comfortable with him in moments like these... moments of uncertainty. He's always been my 'rock,' until that title was no longer proper for a our relationship. After a separation, a new child and then a new bride, him being anything but my enemy is just strange.
"How have you been, Lindsey?" I sit down next to him in the plastic chair.
"I've been alright. How about you?" He doesn't sound too reassuring and it hurts me a little.
"You can talk to me, ya know? Just because we aren't always best friends doesn't mean that I don't love you and I don't care about you." I have never told him that, even though I think about it a lot.
"Steph, I-" he gets ready to say something, but the sound of shoes squeaking down the hallway catches our attention.
A nurse pushes open the double doors, a look of panic written all over her young face. "Lydia is having some internal bleeding, and the baby is in distress." She informs us and I can feel the room start to spin.
