Story Of My Life

SOML 25: Is that blood?

Jeff was sitting in a folding chair off to the left rear of the stage watching final rehearsal when the pink iPhone in his hand vibrated and Sweet Creature played softly. He stood and walked backstage as he tapped in the unlock code.

"Hey, Gemma. He's in rehearsal..." He was unable to finish before Gemma interrupted him.

"Jeff, he needs to get here as soon as possible."

"What's wrong? Is Kassidy okay?"

"Her waters broke. Andy is on his way to get us and take us to King's College. Deb is meeting us there."

"Shit! He can't leave yet! The show starts in an hour and he's top billed. I thought Baby Styles wasn't due for another 2 weeks."

"Jeffrey Azoff! Babies do not come on our schedules, they come when they are ready. Now go get my brother and put him on the phone or I will turn Kassidy loose on you the next time—"

"Hang on," Jeff interrupted her as he began moving rapidly towards the stage. Harry looked over at Jeff and saw the concern on his face and the phone in his hand and stopped singing abruptly. He jogged over to the edge of the stage as the band slowly stopped playing. Handing the phone up to Harry Jeff said "It's Gemma."

Taking the proffered phone Harry asked"Gem! Is she okay?" his concern evident.

"Harry, her waters have broken. We're waiting for Andy to get here," she said calmly.

"Damn it! Let me talk to her."

"She's in the bedroom getting her bag. Hang on... Kassidy? It's Harry."

Harry heard Kacey's voice muffled but growing stronger as she neared the phone.

"Gem, I asked you not to call him yet! He doesn't need this distraction right this... Hi Harry."

"Hi, Beautiful. How are you feeling?"

"I'm okay right now. Just a little achy. And leaky. Are you ready for the show?" her tone a little nervous.

"We're ready but I'm tempted to just skip it and come home straight away."

"No! Oh, Harry, you can't do that. First labors take a while and I'm not having contractions yet, not big ones anyway. This show is so important for you, I don't want you to miss it. But maybe you could leave just after?" her voice becoming smaller.

Harry was silent for a minute, his mind racing."Yes, love. I will do that. As soon as I am finished I will head for the airport. I'm so sorry baby. I should never have agreed to do this when you were so close—"

"Stop. No guilt and blame today Harry. You get out there and give a great performance and then I will see you in time to bring our baby into the world."

"I love you Kassidy. I'll be home soon. Tell Baby Styles to hang on."

"I love you too. Now go give the people what they want. Andy just pulled up. I'll see you when I see you."

Harry stood for a moment, eyes closed, fighting the urge to hurl his phone across the stage. Dammit. It would be at least 15 hours before he could get to Kacey. He had promised her that he would be there for her and now it looked as though he would be breaking that promise. He turned around to look at Jeff who was typing furiously into his phone and said"Already on it, H."

There was nothing left to be done but head to the dressing room to get ready for the show. CBS decided that it wanted to really cash in on the 60th annual Grammy awards as ratings had posted a gain for the first time in almost ten years. To take advantage of the upturn in interest, they put together a concert featuring several of the winners. Though the actual awards show had been held in New York, the concert was to be recorded in LA to keep both coasts happy. Harry had talked to Kacey about it before he agreed to perform. Since winning 6 Grammy's two days ago for 'Harry Styles', including Album of the Year, Song of the year (for Sign of the Times), Best Rock Song (for Kiwi), and Producer of the Year to Jeff Bhasker, Harry felt the pressure to perform at the concert as a thank you to the Academy and the fans. It was January 30 and Kacey wasn't due until February 12 so they thought he would have time. Baby Styles apparently felt otherwise.