Dante and Lulu walked back over to Maxie's room and were about to rejoin her when they saw something shocking through the open shades of the room.
Spinelli was not only still with Maxie, but they were in bed together. That was it; they had had enough of this crazy situation. They stormed into the room, obviously catching the strange bedmates off guard.
"What the hell is going on here?!" Lulu more or less flipped out.
Both Maxie and Spinelli looked like a deer in headlights. They couldn't answer her question, mainly because they didn't know what was going on themselves. All they knew in that moment was that the lives of the 4, soon to be 5, people in the room were about to blow up and crumble, and there was nothing they could do to stop it.
"What happened to the conversation you were supposed to have?" Dante was just as upset. "You know, the one where you explained to Maxie that this baby wasn't hers."
Spinelli looked at the furious couple and then back at Maxie. He looked into her eyes, seeing what she saw; a future with their daughter…years of firsts, years of memories, and years of regret if this lie didn't end. It was that look in her eyes that gave him the strength to pull the trigger.
"I cannot keep up this lie any longer."
"What lie? What the hell is going on?" Lulu was getting angrier by the second.
"Can somebody explain what the hell Spinelli is talking about?" Dante asked, also getting frustrated.
"Maxie was telling the truth." Spinelli said bluntly, not taking his eyes off the mother of his child. He was afraid to look back, not wanting to see the pain on his friends' faces, knowing exactly how they were feeling.
"What the hell Spinelli?" Dante was beyond shocked.
"Seriously?!" Lulu argued. "Spinelli you can't believe her. All the drugs are making her delusional!"
"She speaks the truth. This beautiful little creature is in fact my own. Ellie can confirm everything if you believe me to be as delusional as Fair Maximista."
"Ellie? Seriously how many more people are going to be in on this?" Lulu couldn't take anymore. "I'm going to get Dr. Lee. Maybe a professional can explain the simple concept of surrogacy to you since neither of you can seem to get it through your heads."
Lulu left the room in a huff, not wanting to deal with anyone anymore. Her husband quickly followed, feeling like this wasn't the last of this conversation.
As the door slammed, Spinelli was finally able to turn around. For a brief moment there was silence. Normally silence was cherished, but in Spinelli's world, silence was never a good sign. It was the calm before the storm. Silence always meant disaster was right around the corner.
"Well that went well." Maxie said sarcastically, breaking the dreaded silence.
"That certainly could've gone better, yes." Spinelli added.
"What are we going to do now?" Maxie asked, hoping her hero had all the answers.
In that moment, Spinelli did all he knew how to do. He resumed his place lying next to his fairest Maximista, placing his hand on her stomach, hoping to meet his daughter soon, just to find some joy in this tragedy.
"I don't know, Fair Maximista. I don't know."
Before long, the quietness of the room was replaced by an all too familiar sound. Machines started beeping and screens starting flashing. Spinelli held Maxie tighter, not knowing what else to do.
It wasn't long before Lulu and Dante ran back in with Dr. Lee. All three were in shock when they saw all the commotion. Dr. Lee ran right over to check on the baby.
"Looks like I have perfect timing." Dr. Lee smiled, trying to hide her concern. "This baby is ready to be born."
"We'll be meeting our daughter soon!" Lulu couldn't contain her excitement.
"You mean our daughter." Maxie tried to argue through another contraction.
"Maximista you need to save your strength." Spinelli sat vigilant by Maxie's bedside.
"He's right Maxie, this may be a difficult delivery." Dr. Lee said.
"Delivery?" Spinelli questioned. "Does that mean that the common surgical procedure named after the Roman Consulate won't be necessary?"
"What about the cord being wrapped around her neck?" Lulu asked, hoping for a good outcome.
"No, Spinelli; looks like we got lucky this time. As the baby progressed through the birth canal the cord loosened up, allowing me to remove it before delivering her fully." Dr. Lee explained.
Everyone in the room breathed a sigh of relief. They had gotten over one of the major hurdles of the day; now to face the rest of them.
A few nurses entered the room as Dr. Lee prepared for delivery.
"You ready to meet our little girl?" Spinelli whispered to Maxie, hoping no one else heard him. He didn't want the same argument they've been having all day to ruin this beautiful moment.
Maxie nodded, gritting her teeth through the pain.
Dr. Lee looked around the room and smiled. "Well Maxie, it looks like you've got plenty of coaches here, so what do you say we get started."
"Anything to make the pain stop!" Maxie cringed.
Dante and Lulu stood anxiously by Maxie's bed. One of them would've been coaching her, but someone had already taken that spot.
"Alright Maxie, at the next contraction I want you to push." Dr. Lee instructed.
Gripping Spinelli's hand, Maxie gave it everything she had. Being the best coach he could, Spinelli wrapped his arm around her, supporting her as he watched a miracle occur right before his eyes.
"You're doing great Maxie. Another good push like that and I'll be able to unwrap the cord."
Maxie took a deep breath and pushed again. Her body was killing her and with every second she felt like giving up. How much more torture could one girl take? As if Spinelli could read her mind, he wrapped his arms around her tighter and squeezed her hand with every ounce of love he had. It was that love that gave her the strength to fight on.
"Maxie you're doing fantastic!" Lulu squealed, still in joy overload.
"She's right. You're a real trooper." Dante added.
Maxie smiled. Dante and Lulu thought it was for them, but that couldn't be farther from the truth.
Spinelli knew that smile. She was thinking about something; most likely the same thing as him…their daughter. The rest of the world seemed to disappear, as if the only thing that mattered was their little girl.
The world came back into focus soon enough. The first thing they noticed was that ear shattering, high pitch, cry. Their daughter was here. None of them could believe it; this bloody, wrinkly, gooey thing was finally out in the world.
"Congratulations you guys." Dr. Lee smiled, putting the towel containing the new life on Maxie's chest.
As the four stared at the little girl, no one made a sound; no arguing, no yelling…nothing. For once in Spinelli's life, silence became the best sound in the world.