Chapter Seventeen
Savanna
This closet is muggy and feels like we’re in the middle of a war zone. How Sidney is as calm as she is right now baffles me. Flashlights are exchanging hands every thirty seconds it seems like, and every time we think we have things under control given our current circumstance, we gain a new set of problems.
Momentarily, things feel quiet, so I back myself up against the wall and take some deep breaths to mentally ground myself. In one corner, Stormie, Clara, and Sidney are preparing for the very real possibility that a baby will be born among this madness.
Tess is at the very back left corner behind the water leaking through the ceiling as she holds Carter close to her chest, now attempting to calm him with a bottle. Even though the fear she’s holding inside is now visible through her darkened eyes and not-so-steady hands, her mothering instincts are so natural.
I turn my gaze to Jenalyn who has two babies during this madness, and she visibly looks like she’s going to pull her hair out at any given moment. She’s an amazing mom, and those babies are lucky to call her that, but I can tell she’s worried about more than just what we’re dealing with here and now. I notice her brief but subtle glances at the wall, and I know Justice and his well-being is crawling through her mind.
It’s safe to assume that all of us are worried about our men, and I don’t even want to think about what they’re going through right now considering our service keeps cutting out. If I were a gambler, I’d bet theirs is doing the same. Knowing my brothers and my father though, they’ve probably already handcrafted Noah’s Ark and will arrive shortly.
“I’ve got service!” Jenalyn hollers out. “Vanna, let one of the the other ladies from the site know we’re okay for now, but we need an ambulance. See if they can somehow figure out how to get the message to our men, too!”
I grab her phone and that’s when I realize my own hands are a bit shaky. Stormie, moans out again, drawing my attention to her briefly before Jenalyn shouts at me.
“Now, Vanna, while I have service!”
I was barely able to get my message typed out before we lost signal again.
“Oh! Me!” Tess blurts out. “I’ve got a signal! I’m going to try Ace!”
Her eyes light up, but quickly dull before she ends the shortest conversation in history.
“Well?” we all ask in unison.
“It sounded like it began to ring, but then my signal dropped again,” she says, as her head falls and she begins to cry.
“That’s it, girls. We know we’ve survived this far, and I know it’s only a matter of time before our men get to us. They will find a way! We’ve got our babies, and well, one on its way, and each other. I get that we’re stressed, hot, and tired, but we’ve got to get it under control, otherwise this could very well have us at each other's throats soon. Let’s stay focused on what we have, and helping Stormie as much as we can,” Jenalyn tells us.
“A-fucking-men,” Stormie grumbles from the corner she’s in. “My little guy or gal is almost four weeks early. Clearly as impatient as his or her father. This is certainly not how I’d planned on giving birth, and I really hope they get to us before I deliver in your closet, Jenalyn. Oh, and Vanna, I love you, I really do, but all those pamphlets you gave me on natural childbirth are getting burned if I ever see them again. I need fucking drugs!” Stormie declares before she’s hit with yet another contraction as she clutches her stomach.
“It’s not for everyone, I just like to help keep y’all informed on the possible side effects,” I tell her.
“Yeah, well right now I don’t give a flying fuck if I give birth to a unicorn, because honestly, I actually think I might be!” Stormie answers me back.
Jenalyn rubs my back and I look at her. “Don’t feel bad or take it personally. We all know you meant well. Trust me, right now she’s feeling like she’s on the brink of death, and during this process I’m not sure we’re in control of any of our faculties anymore. We either just want to die, get drugs, or get the baby out,” Jenalyn says, whispering to me.
“I can hear you,” Stormie tells us in an unpleasant exorcist-type voice.
“Now that’s a growl to rival Justice’s any day of the week,” Jenalyn responds and we all giggle.
Jenalyn
We’ve been in here now for nearly two hours. I’ve collected most of Justice’s shirts to help soak up some of the water that is slowly leaking through the ceiling and coming in through the underneath of the door now that the towels are sopping wet. His are plain shirts, and well, if I can salvage any of my clothing I’d like to.
Sidney does another pelvic exam on Stormie, and she’s another centimeter dilated, bringing her to seven now with extremely consistent contractions. I’m definitely beginning to panic inside the further along she gets and we have no way of knowing when help will arrive.
I decide I’m going to hand the kids over to Tess and venture out of my closet at least since the heavy winds have died down. Who knows, maybe I can get a signal outside of this closet? Just as I do, the loud roar and rumble crashes into and throughout my house and it begins to tremor again. Are we having earthquakes, or is this another tornado? I mean we can’t seem to catch a break here, and so help me God when this is all over I’m going to squeeze my man so hard, and then bust his balls big time. Why do we bother having a generator if the fucker doesn’t work?
Tess and I begin to change our boys’ diapers and the unexpected sound of my phone ringing serenades us, as does Tess’. I barely have time to look and see Justice’s name before I accept the call. Placing the phone between my cheek and shoulder while I change Leo, I answer, “Babe! Babe, can you hear me?” My question comes out frantic and relieved before an unexpected amount of tears begin to stream down my face.
“Jen! My fucking God, is everyone okay?” he asks me with a sense of urgency.
“Yes! We’re…” My response is abruptly ended by the interruption to my signal once again.
“Mine dropped before I could make out what Ace was saying,” Tess tells me and the glistening of her own tears shine as they fall down her face.
Defeated, I finish changing Leo and Cami before I slump completely to the ground with my children in my arms. A full-blown breakdown feels imminent, when Stormie’s high-pitched scream causes me to jump.
“The pressure! Fuck! Help me it burns so fucking bad!” Stormie cries out, causing the children to begin crying all over again.
I am useless to them right now because Cami doesn’t want Vanna and apparently neither does Leo. “I’m sorry I can’t help!” I pull my babies in so close trying to protect them from this second round of weather, and the torment coming from Stormie. I’m doing the best I can with two sets of little ears and only having one hand apiece for them. Honestly, at this point, I think it’s safe to say the only one probably not screaming and crying is Sidney. There’s too much noise, it’s hard to decipher whose scream and cry belongs to whom.
“Girls, I need help and I need it now!” Sidney declares.
Clara and Vanna are the obvious choices, and Clara hasn’t left Stormie’s side since this all began.
“Clara, I need you to hold the flashlight steady. Vanna, I need you to get the sutures, thread, and scissors from the first aid kit ready. We’ve got all the towels right here and ready. I’m probably going to have to break her water since it hasn’t broken yet, but hold the flashlight steady, Clara, while I have another look,” Sidney says to them.
“No! No need to break my water,” Stormie begins as she’s shouting and screaming out each word. “It just did, or I pissed myself!”
“Oh!” I think I hear leave Clara’s lips.
“Stormie,” Sidney tries to get her to stop screaming long enough to focus, but fails. “Stormie, dammit!” she shouts and aside from the wind and rain beating down on my house, we all shut up. “Now that I have your attention, I need you to look at me! Focus on me. Can you do that?”
“Yes! It hurts so fucking bad, just get the baby out!” Stormie tells her.
“I know, and your baby’s head is right there! I want you to push when I say push, but do not give it your all. I’m trying to keep you from tearing too badly,” Sidney explains.
“I’m going to be sick,” Stormie declares.
“That’s fine, and completely normal during this stage. Now, on my count of three, I want you to give me a tiny push as I count to five.” Sidney’s ability to sound calm and confident in this moment amazes me, and also reminds me just how much I never want anymore children.
Before Sidney can begin her count, the sound of a pop, followed by an enormous screech from Stormie echoes throughout the closet causing my heart to drop a little. I’m not sure what happened just now exactly, but whatever it was sounded like it nearly killed Stormie. If she survives this one, Joker is a dead man.
A gasp comes from both Clara and Vanna, which cause both Tess and I to sit up anxiously awaiting to hear something.
I can see Sidney hold her hand up toward Clara and Vanna, silently ordering them to hush.
“What? What’s happening?” Stormie’s frantic plea to know has my heart racing and nervous as hell at the brief silence.
“Everything’s fine. The head is out, Stormie. It’s almost over.” There’s a subtle shift in Sidney’s tone that has me worried, and I notice Stormie fall backward to take a break.
The lighting is minimal, but I peek my head a little closer and notice some relief across Stormie’s face. After I glance at her, my pure curiosity gets the best of me, and I glance down and notice what had Sidney’s voice shift after Clara and Vanna gasped. The umbilical cord is wrapped around the baby’s neck.
This can’t be happening.
To be continued in book 3