Junior looked at the backseat through her rearview mirror, and sighed. She didn't feel right about this, any of this. As Larry had said only hours before, their plan definitely wasn't pretty. And, as the first steps began to unfold, she realized how truly risky this was turning out to be. Any misstep would most likely lead to someone – Jake or the baby—losing their life.
As she glided into the lowest level of the parking garage, the dusky amber lights flooding the interior of her car, she checked the dashboard. It read 5:58. With two minutes to spare before meeting Quentin, she thought only of every single way this could go wrong. Did she show up too early? Was there a fleet of security guards waiting to whisk her away? She knew that Quentin was the sleeziest, most deceitful man she had come across in her adult life, but a deal was a deal, right?
All of these thoughts were swimming in her head as she turned the corner of the garage, following arrows on the pavement leading to the loading dock. Although the lights ahead were dim, Junior saw Quentin pacing around a car parked only a few yards from one of the docks. It was one of those white delivery vans that didn't have a middle or back seat and was closed off from the driver. Junior thought to herself: So he's just going to toss Jake in there like a bundle of laundry? She never ceased to feel disgusted with this man. From what she could tell, there was no one else in sight.
She looked in the rearview mirror once more and said, "I promise I'll handle it. He won't take you away from me."
She parked the car, steadied her breathing, and got out.
"Before you take him, let's get a few things straight. First—"
"How far apart are his contractions? Is he stable?" Quentin immediately sputtered out, interrupting her. Junior took a nice, long look at him. Quentin's eyes were desperate, hungry, and bloodshot. His hair looked like it had been pulled at incessantly for the past three hours. The man she saw in front of her was a pathetic sight, and she couldn't help but relish in this juxtaposition of power.
"Yes, he's stable. The contractions are irregular," she began, and he shook his head.
"I figured as much. That'll need to be tweaked in the preliminary stages of research. There were so many things wrong with the drug I gave him, but you have to start somewhere, right?" he said this quickly, mostly to himself, still pacing around. This only added to Junior's worry, but she continued.
"Listen to me. I need to know where you're taking him. I will be waiting outside the delivery room, and expect you to hold up your end of the bargain," she said firmly, her body positioned in front of the car door.
"A few people have a room at the private practice on Bosworth and 45th. If Jake or the baby died, that certainly wouldn't be lucrative. I promise we'll give the baby to you, but we're only beginning the research on our dear friend Jake," he sneered, then charged up to her. "Now I expect you to hold up your end of our deal here."
"I did," Junior declared. "You got my picture, right?"
"Yes," Quentin said. "I still can't believe how fat he got."
"Well, now you can finally see it in person," she replied, and turned her back to Quentin. She opened the car door slowly, and peered her head inside. "Hey, it's time to get out now. I promise Quentin won't hurt you."
She backed away from the car. Slowly, a tall, imposing figure stepped out of the car, their astronomically-sized belly leading the way. As this person gained their full height and their footing, with their Herculean arms crossed over their stomach, Quentin's eyes began to bulge, his lips quivering.
"I-I-," he stammered.
"You're right, Junior, Quentin won't hurt me," Dr. Alexander Hesse proclaimed, his mouth twisting into a thin smile. He removed the overstuffed pintuck pillow from underneath his shirt. When they were sifting through Jake's clothes to create her father's disguise, they couldn't find anything that would match the gargantuan shape of Jake's belly, but that pillow would have to do. Even in this frantic moment, Junior couldn't help but marvel at her father's dedication, and the fact that she was able to see a glimpse of what her father looked like when he was pregnant with her. It was endearing, to say the least.
Quentin was still paralyzed in fear, unable to process how unfortunate his situation had become. Like clockwork, a second car pulled up next to Junior's. The driver's window rolled down, and Diana's face peeked through, motioning her to get in the car.
"Junior," her father said coolly, "go find Jake. I'll take care of this."
She nodded, and just as Junior was about get into the car, a shrill voice called out, "Wait just a minute!"
It took several minutes, actually, but once Jules emerged from the vehicle, she genuinely was a menacing sight. Bracing the underside of her belly, she waddled up to Quentin with such conviction, her finger pointed straight at him
"You are so lucky that you're dealing with my father instead of me," she huffed, jamming her finger into his chest. "I've got 30 pounds and a whole mess of pregnancy hormones on you. You'd have your ass whooped by not one but two pregnant people today."
Junior stared at her sister, in awe of how much rage she was emitting. She pulled her back, gently, saying, "C'mon, Jules. We need to go." They were about to head into the car, but she turned around.
"Hold on," Jules said, and marched up once more to Quentin. "Hell hath no fury like a pregnant woman two weeks overdue." Once she delivered this line, she took her knee and rammed it straight to his crotch. She savored in the sight of him doubled over, moaning in pain, and then turned to her sister. "Let's go find Jake."
Dr. Alexander Hesse watched as his family zoomed out of the parking garage to begin the next step of the plan. Then he returned his gaze to Quentin, and unveiled his truly frightening stance.
"You're done, Quentin," he said softly.
"Dr. Hesse, I can explain," Quentin stuttered. "We can work something out."
"No, we can't," Dr. Hesse replied, taking a measured step towards the cowering boy-like figure in front of him, cracking his knuckles. "This is a family matter."
"I'll leave you all alone, I promise. I promise I won't—" he protested, but was silenced once more by this powerful man. Sure, his age was showing, but it was undeniable that Dr. Hesse looked like he was made of steel.
"Save your words, Quentin," Dr. Hesse's voice maintained that eerily calm tone. "I have records to prove your history of unethical research. I can assure you they'll be given to the research heads at Boston University. Your name will be forever tarnished in the medical field. But, something tells me that isn't enough of a punishment for you."
He took one more step towards Quentin, which made him flinch.
"It is! It is, Dr. Hesse," Quentin cried out. By now, he was begging. "Listen, you're an impressive guy. This isn't a fair match up. Your body is practically all muscle. You can make the right choice here."
"You're right, Quentin. But here's the thing," Dr. Hesse replied. With this, his stoic face transformed into a satisfied grin. "My body, my choice."
Before Quentin had any more time to protest, Dr. Hesse delivered the first of a series of expertly placed punches that would surely silence this menace for the foreseeable future.
…
It was after they had searched through the entire food court when Junior started to lose hope. She and Jules had already looked through the dressing rooms at over a dozen stores as well as the bathrooms at the East entrance. Absolutely no trace of Jake.
"You doing okay, Junior? We gotta keep going," Jules urged her sister, who had just finished looking underneath the last dressing room in a kid's boutique. The carpet had a whimsical geometric pattern on it, and the air was nauseatingly sweet, as if someone was tasked with the responsibility of spraying the store with a red-fruit body perfume every thirty minutes. The brain-rotting teen pop music blared through speakers, and Junior could barely concentrate.
"I should be asking you the same question," Junior replied, leaning her back against the wall, studying her sister.
Once again, Junior made the mistake of trying to tell her younger sister what to do. She insisted that, because of her delicate condition, she should stay in the car, and be ready to serve as their getaway driver when –or if—they found Jake, while Junior and their mother began their search mission. But Jules was adamant about being there.
"I need to be there for Jake," she pushed. "I promise I won't slow you down."
And she certainly hadn't. As they entered each store, she purposely waddled right up to the cash register, and asked if they had seen a "pretty attractive guy with a pretty unattractive beer belly" walk into their establishment. She was relentless. And now, Jules was the one motivating her sister to keep their hope alive, even as things became more desolate.
"We need a better plan," Junior admitted. "We're losing time, and we've only covered about 20% of the mall. And I hate that I keep forcing you to run around while you're nine months pregnant. I mean, look at you, no offense."
Jules was wearing a short floral smock dress with grey biker shorts, and scuffed Birkenstocks on her feet. With her due date out the window, it seemed like her normally couture style choices were as well.
She scoffed at her sister, and smoothed out her dress, but remained petulant. "One, ouch. Two, please stop worrying about me. And three, you're right. We need to be strategic," she said, and slowly lowered her body into a chair next to Junior. Jules placed a hand on her sister's shoulder, and leaned closer to her.
"Now tell me, what are familiar places Jake would go to around here?"
"That's the thing, we don't really go to Grand Orchard," Junior replied. "It's way out of our price range, that's why—"
As Junior said this out loud, a memory from several months prior unfolded in her mind.
She and Jake were fully a couple at that point, still going on frivolous dates. They had seen a movie at the theatre attached to the mall, and were strolling mindlessly through the department store at the West entrance. She jokingly held up a sad pair of mocha-colored granny panties and coyly asked him, "Would you still date me if I wore these?" She was pretty sure he immediately kissed her, right then, in the midst of senior citizen undergarment mannequins.
She imagined he was probably six months pregnant at that point, though she obviously didn't know. Jake's belly was large, but in a cute "Santa Claus at the mall" kind of way. Junior wanted to tell Jake that she loved him, but was afraid it was too soon. What was so striking about that memory, however, was when he excused himself to go to the bathroom. She decided she might as well go too, since it was a long walk back to their car. As they meandered over to the bathrooms, they couldn't help but notice their opulence.
"Damn, these really are tucked away. They're like fantasy suites," he grinned, winking at her. "We could get away with doing a few things in one of these rooms, Junior."
"Jules," Junior gasped, after gathering that recollection. "I think I know where he might be."
She glanced at Jules, who looked more than content to be sitting down after an unexpectedly active afternoon. She raised her eyebrows at Junior, waiting.
"How would you feel about walking all the way to the opposite end of the mall?" she asked, recognizing how difficult that would be for her.
"If you can act like a forklift and get me out of this chair, then I'm game," Jules said plainly, and offered her hands to her sister. As Junior hoisted her off of the chair, Jules grimaced.
"Oof," she said through clenched teeth.
"Jules," Junior asked, alarmed. "Are you okay?"
"Don't worry about me," her sister replied, tenderly massaging the side of her belly. "We need to focus on Jake right now."
"No," Junior looked sternly at your sister. "Didn't you have a doctor's appointment today? What's going on?"
"If you ask me that one more time, I'm going to body slam right into you, and you know how badly that will hurt," Jules warned, and grabbed her sister's hand. "Let's go."
Together, they walked through the mall. The crowds had thankfully thinned out by then, and most people began flocking towards the restaurants. Every now and then, Junior would ask Jules if she needed a moment to rest, but she just gave her overprotective older sister the side eye. It wasn't until they got inside the elevator of the East Entrance department store when Jules placed her hand on the railing, lowered her head, and moaned.
"Junior," she said, her voice small, as if she were a child admitting to breaking a picture frame. "Please don't be mad."
Junior quickly rushed to her sister, put an arm around her, and leaned in. "Jules, is it time?"
"I was too afraid to tell you," Jules said, her words sounding like a whimper. "I went to the doctor to see if I was anywhere close to going into labor. Turns out, I was already four centimeters dilated."
"Oh my gosh, Jules!" Junior gasped, and began rubbing her sister's back. "And they let you leave the hospital?"
"Not exactly," Jules breathed. "I kind of made it non-negotiable?"
"Jules," Junior hissed. "We need to get you to the hospital. Now. We can have Mom drive you. Dad will swing by and help me if we find Jake."
Despite the frustration she felt towards her sister's obstinance, she also felt a great surge of admiration. Jules was always the dainty sibling, the one who cried real tears when her designer shoes got wet, the sister who cared more about getting a text from the hot guy in her physics class than going on an evening stroll with their parents. And now, she was currently in the early stages of labor and standing firmly by Junior's side.
"I can't do that!" Jules cried out. "I won't! I can't leave you, and I can't leave Jake. I love that baby, Junior, almost as much as you do. I'm going to be okay. Labor takes hours to progress, anyway. I'm going to be okay for a long time. It's Jake we need to worry about."
"Once we find Jake," Junior said, still uncertain about this new predicament, "we're going to make sure you have a safe delivery, too."
The elevator dinged, letting them know they arrived on the designated floor. Even though Jules straightened her back, Jules still kept an arm around her sister, steadying her.
"Lead the way, Junior," Jules said, and they followed the signs leading to the restrooms.
The scenery instantly became familiar to Junior, and her heartbeat quickened. What if he's not here? she thought silently to herself, worrying that if she said these words out loud, they would come true.
Jules began loudly knocking on each of the individual doors, calling out, "Jake!" multiple times. Junior followed suit, but either the door immediately whipped open, or an angry person yelled that the bathroom was occupied.
"He's not here! He's not here, Jules!" Junior cried, feeling the same desolate doom she experienced when she first got the phone call from Jake. Jules turned to Junior after checking the last bathroom (empty), and kept a strong expression on her face.
"Junior, hey. Calm down. Look at me," Jules said, trying her best to reassure her sister. She took another look around the bathrooms. "Did you check the nursing room?" Jules asked, pointing to the closed door at the end of the hallway, with a plaque reading the same name.
In a half-gallop, half-sprint, Junior made her way to the nursing room. She turned the knob, but it was locked.
"Jake! Jake are you in there?" Junior frantically pounded against the door, tugged at the knob so hard it almost fell off. "Hello?"
She leaned her ear against the door, but the schmaltzy jazz music playing in the overhead speakers made it impossible to hear anything. She wondered if this part of the bathroom was off-limits, but hope swelled inside of her. She felt Jules come up behind her, and quickly moved aside.
"You clearly don't remember my late nights all throughout high school. The number of liquor closets I broke into prepared me for this," Jules whispered, and pulled a bobby pin from her hair. A few twists and turns, and the sisters heard the door unlock.
Without thinking, Junior pushed the door open, and gasped.