Chapter 58: Timing
This morning, they were in a hurry. 20-Squad had a big catch planned and Jim and Chris were not so early. They rushed to the car. Chris handed the keys to Jim. Her belly was so big now she had troubles to sit between the wheel and the seat. She sighed and pouted.
"One month and a half and it'll be finished." Jim answered as he took the keys from her hand.
She got on the car, somehow. He heard her being grumpy. He gave her a faint smile.
"What?"
"Nothing." She rolled her eyes.
"Really?" He giggled and turned the engine on. He loved that she was so natural.
"Just love when you mumble from early morning." He thought she would grumble more, instead she burst into laughing. Giving the rhythm of the day.
At SWAT HQ, they changed quickly and joined the control room. Hicks and Hondo explained the mission. 20-Squad had to catch drug dealers. Big fish who had ties with Mexico. The team nodded as soon as they knew their assignments and ran to Black Betty. Before leaving the room, Jim waved discreetly at Chris who gave him a faint smile. Just before focusing again on their mission.
Things got fast. 20-Squad arrived on site. They enter the building and got into action. Looking for the criminals hiding in the area. Lynch, Hicks and Chris kept their eyes on the screen. Looking every move until they were interrupted by a scream. Chris's scream.
"Alonso, you're ok?" Hicks asked right away.
"Yes. Yeeeees." She answered half bent on herself. "I'm okaaaaaay…" She eventually gave up on talking to make a face. A painful face. She was not at her best right now.
"Alonso, you're in labor?" Lynch was worried.
"Don't ever say a word to 20-Squad, even less to Jim. And the boys are not planned for another 5 weeks. It must be Braxton Hicks. No need to worry all of them with this." She threatened them with her black look.
"Ok, we promise. But at least, let us call an ambulance to get you to the hospital, just in case." Lynch tried to negotiate while Chris was feeling a huge, new contraction arriving from nowhere.
"Ok, but let me continue the mission while they arrive."
"Think we have a deal then!" Lynch nodded to Hicks who took his phone and went to the corridor to call for first responders. "But just in case you remain seated."
Chris nodded, focusing on the screen in front of her to forget about the pain. "On the right, three men coming from the right."
"20-Squad, pay attention to your right. Three possible armed and dangerous men coming in your way."
Time for Lynch to end her sentence and she could see 20-Squad approaching the men. Hicks entered the room again.
"EMT will be there in 7 minutes. Is it ok, Alonso?"
"Gone through worse, Commander." She answered, trying to hide her face of pain. "Let's focus on the mission. It seems like there's some moves in the house. Look at the thermic camera from fiiiiiiirst floor."
Hicks and Lynch shared a look. Probably another contraction. At this point, they were sure it was not Braxton Hicks. Contractions were way too close now.
"Look another move on the right! Cars in the faraway!" Chris yelled from her chair.
"20 Squad, do you copy?" Lynch asked in a hurry.
"20-David to Command, what's up?" Hicks started to worry, not having an answer.
"Two cars in the faraway, black SUV coming in your direction. Probably back up." Hicks turned to look at Chris who restrained a scream and writhe with pain on the chair. But he turned back to the screen before she could see what he was doing.
On their side, 20-Squad took down the two men Chris had noticed. "26-David to Command, Code 4, suspects in custody! 20, 22 and 30-David are in pursuit of the car."
"25-David, for back up!"
"27-David on my way too."
"26-David, stay here to secure the suspects. Waiting for LAPD to get them!"
"Well heard, 26-David! 20- Squad, what's the update?" Hicks looked closely to the images of the camera.
For a while, there was no noise except the noise of the steps of the officers running on the asphalt. It was the moments the EMT guys chose to appear in the room.
"You've called us?"
"Guess it's my ride." Chris told, standing up from the chair with difficulty. The EMT guys came closer to her with a stretcher. "No way I'm lying on thiiiiiiiis." She gritted the teeth to keep the scream inside her. 20-Squad must remain focused on the mission.
"20-David to Command. Suspects down!"
"Well done, 20-David. Time to come back to HQ!"
"Copy that!" Hicks cut the micro and turned to Chris.
"And now Alonso, you go to the hospital and you don't say another word. Street and the rest of 20-Squad will you meet there. That's an order!"
"Understood, Commander! But I'm still not lying on this. I'm pregnant, not ill."
Hicks and Lynch looked at Chris, walking and hopping in the hall, the two EMT guys, supporting her on each side till they all vanished in the corridor leading to the yard.
[…]
20- Squad came to HQ one hour later after they secured the area of the arrest and spread all the info to LAPD after the intervention. Hicks and Lynch were waiting for them in the hall as they walked through the entrance.
"Good job, 20- Squad!" Lynch congratulated them. "Just a short debriefing and after I set you free!"
"Street!" Hicks called him maybe a little too loud because he saw the young man jumped at the sound of his name.
"Yes, Sir, what's happening?" Street asked, a little worried.
"Pack your stuff immediately. You need to go to Cedar Sinai right away." Street's look darkened.
"Anything's right? Is this about Chris?" He started to scrutinize the whereabouts only to notice her absence. "Is she ok?" He was more and more panicked, not seeing his wife around.
"She's ok, don't worry." Hicks tapped his shoulder. "At least, she was when she left with the EMT guys after having contractions in the control room during the mission. She was yelling at them, guess it's a good sign!" Hicks let out a laugh.
"But the kids are due till 5 weeks…" Street seemed lost. Hicks came closer and put his arm over his shoulders.
"I guess they've decided to play a trick on their parents and coming earlier. Pretty sure it was not Braxton Hicks despite what Chris was trying to convince herself. Go and get prepared kid, you're about to meet your boys!"
Street, still a little astounded by the news, finally nodded to Hicks, grinning and ran to the locker room to get his stuff while the rest of the team was already debriefing the mission with Lynch. Hicks soon joined them. He will tell them the good news as soon as the debrief will be over.
[…]
Jim ran from the moment he got the news. First step, the locker room. He changed in a hurry, grabbed his back pack and got on the car to drive till the hospital. He zigzagged across the cars and trucks and finally escaped from the big LA jam to find a quicker road. "If Chris saw me, she'd kill me" He thought. She hated that he drove like this, afraid he could be hit and run once again. But good for him, she will never know. He parked the car next to the entrance and ran to the reception office.
"Excuse me… I'm looking for my wife, Chris, Chris Alonso, an EMT brought her maybe 30 minutes or an hour ago. She had… has contractions. My boss told me to come here a soon as I could…"
"Thin, brunette, reprimanding the EMT guys?"
"Sounds like her." He smiled thinking about the situation.
"She's in obstetrics. Let me call my colleague here." She took the phone and dialed a number. She hung off quickly. "She's waiting for you. Second floor, right. Her name is Nancy."
"Thanks!" Jim hurried till the stair case and reached the second floor in a few seconds. As he turned on the right, he saw a short woman smiling at him.
"You must be Chris Alonso's husband? Nice to meet you, I'm Nancy. Your wife is with the doctor right now, would you like to see her?"
Jim nodded, still astounded by how the things were getting fast. He followed Nancy till a small room where Chris was lying on a bed, making a face while talking with the doc.
"Sorry to bother you, Miss Alonso and Dr. Becker but Mr…."
Nancy turned to Street with a quizzical look. "Mr. Street."
"Yes, Mr. Street is here."
"How did you…" Chris asked surprised to see him here so quickly.
"Hicks told me and I drove till here. You don't want to know more, trust me."
She rolled her eyes, before making a face again as a new contraction irrupted. Dr. Becker enjoyed the moment to keep explaining the situation.
"As I was telling Chris, the babies are on their way. No Braxton Hicks here, but real contractions."
"Still really sure of this, Doctor? Boys are only due in five weeks. We haven't finished to end their bedrooms and we still have some shopping to do and…"
"And you'll do this after they are here, because they will definitively not wait for you. Just relax, I'm coming back to administer you the epidural."
Chris faked a smile to hide she was in pain. She grabbed the sheet in both of her hands and squeezed it as strong as she could make the pain go away like this.
"You, ok?" Street asked, shyly.
"In your opinion?" She answered in a harsh tone.
"Sorry, I can't do more for you… I wish I could do more, really."
"Think that at the moment you did enough! Oh damn, where are these things coming from?! Come on!" She was being grumpy, it helped her to let out the suffering. Anger was her best ally right now. And poor Street was gonna be the victim of it.
Next to her, Jim didn't know what to do to help her to get better. He brought one, two pillows and placed them behind her back to make her feel more comfortable. He heard her grumble and mumble. He preferred to ignore her and to focus on bringing all the help he could, as ridiculous as it could seem.
Dr. Becker came with the syringe and administered the dose, which will soon release some bliss in Chris's body. She did some checks before raising her head, looking at Chris and Street.
"Guess it's time to change room and go where the show starts! Jim, you can let your stuff here and join us!"
Dr. Becker was overjoyed. Chris, on the contrary, was complaining about how everything was really going too fast. Street simply nodded and followed the rolling bed till the delivery room. As the medical staff prepared everything, Street remained close to Chris, grabbing her hand.
"I know you hate me with all your heart now, but just know I love you and you can press and crush my hand as hard as you need to ease the pain."
"Hating you in an euphemism right now… At least, Doctor Becker brought the medication."
She pressed his hand, making him whining of surprise. "Thought I could squeeze hard?" She teased him before focusing on the new contraction, which crush her body. But this time, it seemed less strong.
"Guess, now it's the real time. Chris, you'll push when I say it and stop when I tell it. Ok for you?"
"Ok. May this thing end the fastest possible. I just want to see my boys."
"So now push." Chris did it, with all her strength, squeezing Jim's hand each time. She kept doing then, fifty maybe thousands of time. As often as Dr. Becker asked her to do. She was just focused on her goal. Pain was bearable now. And her boys were closer than ever.
"One last push, and boy number one is here!" Chris and Street shared a look, both marveled and scared. It was real, it was there, it was now, they were about to become parents. As she pushed one last time harder, they heard a little scream and some cries. He was here. Dr. Becker took him in her hands and put him on Chris's chest.
"Meet your boy!"
Chris was so impressed, she had done this. Jim and she had created this. It seemed so unreal. She didn't dare to touch her son. "Her son" resonated in her head. It was so surreal. After a few seconds, she put her hands on this little human being who was moving over her breasts.
"Hey you." As only answer, the boy screamed harder.
Jim was frozen next to her. "He looks like you… At any level." He finally told, grinning at Chris.
"As he should! My baby boy…" Chris kept looking at him in admiration till the nurse came to hand Jim the scissors.
"Would you like to cut the umbilical cord?" She offered to Jim, who seized them and did as she told him to do it.
"And now, I see baby 2 coming! Be prepared to push, Chris, I'm counting on you!" Dr. Becker remembered Chris she was not done yet. The nurse took Baby 1 and brought him in the service to take care of him.
Jim came closer and grabbed Chris's hand again. She nodded, she was ready, she wanted this to end and finally meet her second son. Once again, she listened to Dr. Becker's advice and pushed when she was told to.
"Once more and Baby 2 is here!"
Chris pressed Jim's hand and pushed with the strength she had left till she heard a little cry. Their second baby was here. It was not a supposition anymore. They had twins. They were parents. They had two sons. Two little, tiny babies. Once again, Dr. Becker put the baby over Chris's chest and let her meet her son. This time, she was more lively and touched her son quickly. The baby remained silent, trying to suck his thumb. She looked up at Jim.
"Seems like Baby 2 is more like you." She giggled.
"Each a baby." Jim concluded, completely in awe of the scene happening under his eyes. He was a dad. Chris was a mom. Together, they had created two little humans. They were a family. The one he had always dreamed of without telling it.