Love in a Cup

Chapter Eighteen

Sawyer

May

I was pacing again. I'd been doing this off and on for what felt like years. It wasn't years, though. It had only been half an hour. I think.

"Do you think they decided not to get married?" Kelly whispered.

I shrugged, confused. "Surely not. We just helped her into her wedding dress this morning!"

We'd been waiting for the cue to walk down the aisle for over thirty minutes. No one had come for us, though.

"I called Lexi, but she didn't answer," Kelly said, tossing her phone down on the couch. Right then, my husband burst through the door with a panic-stricken face. "Her water broke!" He exclaimed. "It got all over her dress and everything!"

My mouth dropped open, mirroring everyone in and out of the room. I ran for my phone when I heard the text alert.

Lexi: Bring the pastor!

I started laughing. "Well, people, looks like the wedding is still on. We're just moving venues. Kelly, you grab the flowers. Parker, you grab the pastor. We're headed to the hospital."

Trying to obey traffic laws and get to the hospital as quickly as possible was difficult, especially when there was a pastor in the backseat. While I may have pushed the speed limit a little if I'd been alone, I felt a little more guilty with Pastor Robert watching the speedometer.

I said as much, causing him to chuckle.

We pulled up to the hospital and watched Lexi's sister run from the parking lot to the doors. 'Run' wasn't the right word, but I'd never admit to her face that she waddled. Something about the baby and the hips made women walk like ducks. I didn't pay a whole lot of attention to the hundreds of science lessons Lexi had given me over the months because, well, gross.

I loved her, I loved babies, women were awesome because we could grow humans, but seriously, I was at a DNTK(don't need to know) point in my life. Who knew if I'd ever want to have a kid or not. All I knew at that moment was that I loved Parker and our lives together. If we chose to have a kid or two later, that was okay, but I didn't have this scary voice inside me screaming at me to have a baby. I mean, I was only twenty-two!

We met Lexi's sister, Banks, in the lobby. She looked excited and worried. "Have you talked to her?" I asked.

"They're checking with them to see if they want visitors. I just told the nurse that they were the ones that called us!" She practically yelled. A few of the nurses behind the desk gave her a dirty look and I hid my smile behind my hand.

"Okay." A man stepped up beside banks and put his arm around her shoulders. "Let's be nice to all the nurses that may very well be the nurses that deliver our baby," he said. Banks scoffed and rubbed her belly.

The man, who I now knew was her husband, looked at us and smiled. "She was never this angry with the girls, so I think it's a boy," he explained, shrugging. Banks walked with him to the chairs and slowly lowered herself into one. Her husband picked up her hand and placed a kiss on her palm. It was adorable.

"For Lexi?" A nurse asked from the doorway of the waiting area. We all looked at her expectantly. Her eyes widened. "All of you?"

"They were about to get married," I explained.

"The couple would like to exchange their vows in front of their family here, if that wouldn't be a problem," Pastor Robert explained. He looked to be around seventy, with thick white hair and smile lines that told me he was truly a happy man.

"Luckily, we don't have a whole lot of moms on the floor today, but if that changes, I'll have to ask most of you to leave the room to come back here if you choose to stay," she warned. We all nodded and assured her we wouldn't be any trouble, so she led us down the hall and knocked on a door. It opened from the inside and Robby glanced out at all of us.

Me and Parker stood the farthest away, allowing Robby's parents and Lexi's sister in first. Kelly and Talon followed, and then I entered the room with Parker's hand at my waist.

"Hey, guys," Lexi said and we all laughed.

"You look so beautiful, sweetheart," Robby's mom said, pulling her into a hug. "Let's get this going to so you don't have the baby during the vows."

Everyone lined the room as the pastor stood beside the monitor that would eventually show the baby's heartbeat. Parker left my side and stood beside Lexi and when Pastor Robert asked who was there to give the bride, Parker said, "Her family and I." I got choked up and had to look at my feet to stop myself from making a weird sobbing noise out loud. Parker had been surprised when Lexi asked him to give her away. She said he was the closest she had to a brother, and since her dad wasn't going to show up, she didn't have anyone else.

The pastor spoke about love and life and we all held out breath with Lexi when a contraction hit. It didn't last very long, but, thanks again to the science lessons, I knew that would be changing very soon.

"It is with great pleasure I pronounce you husband and wife, Robby, you may kiss your bride." Pastor Robert hardly uttered the last word before Robby pounced on his new wife. She giggled and he laughed.

A nurse stepped into the room, drawing everyone's attention. "Unfortunately, I'll need everyone except Mom and Dad to head over to the waiting room. You can leave and come back later, or hang out here, it's up to you, but we can only allow two visitors at a time from here on out."

We all quickly hugged the newlywed couple and left for the waiting room. There was no way I was leaving before I held that sweet baby; even if I had to wait all night.