Chapter 16

Carmen was stuffed. There was no other word for it. She had long surpassed tired and exhausted so now she had nothing to be except stuffed. Win stroked her hand.

"Honey! You're awake. You passed out after she was born."

Carmen only heard the word 'she' in that sentence.

"She. As in….girl?" Carmen asked her heart racing.

Win nodded and before Carmen could say anything she was handed a bundle of pink blankets.

"What are we going to call her?" Win asked gently.

Carmen knew the name she loved. She took a deep breath and said "Jennifer."

Win smiled, "That's my mothers middle name."

"Jennifer Grace." Carmen said decisively.

Win opened his mouth as if to say something but before he could even get a word out Carmen's best friends entered the room. Lena was holding Alex, Aetos trailing behind with Daemon. Bridget and Eric had Dianna with them and Tibby was shyly holding the hand of Brian. In her, other hand she was holding an important looking folder. It was navy blue and had a gold embossed symbol on it. Carmen began to ask Tibby about it but Bridget rushed in and hugged Carmen. After she moved away, Lena took over Bee's spot. Tibby simply let the three moms' do their hugging thing. Finally, Tibby walked over to Carmen, kissed her on the head, and handed a fluffy pink teddy to her. Then Jennifer was passed around the girls and their husbands and fiancés. They cooed over the beautiful baby girl with dark hair and skin. She had her fathers nose but it looked even cuter on a tiny baby face. Jennifer would cry when she didn't like the person holding her and she would kick and thrash when she wanted her mother. She was the complete opposite to Alexandra. Finally, about an hour later, Jennifer's cry reached its limits and the midwife chivvied the guests out.

Lena was back in Carmen's room. It was only two hours since they had been asked to leave but Bee and Lena had returned without their babies this time. They talked about what Alex did compared to Jennifer and Dianna. They talked about the different cries and that kind of motherly thing. They then watched something on cable and before they knew it, it was nigh time and they had to get back to their rooms for supper. Lena was happily eating away at her food when Tibby sidled into the room.

"Tibs!" Lena cried, "What are you doing here?"

Tibby looked a little embarrassed, it was 11pm after all.

"Well I just wanted to show you something." She said

"Yeah OK but how did you get in her?" Lena asked impatiently

"Oh! That.. Well I used the visiting stand-by. I told the nurse I was with my sister."

"OK…." Lena said in a surprised voice, "Well what did you want to tell me?"

"Lena, look at this!" Tibby thrust the blue folder Lena had seen before at her.

Slowly Lena opened it. A picture was the first thing that caught Lena's eye. It showed a tiny baby with no hair and blue eyes. Lena smiled. She was kinda cute.

"Is this one yours?" Lena asked Tibby gently.

Tibby nodded shyly, "Her name's Chantelle."

"She beautiful." Lena said.

Then Daemon decided he wasn't getting enough attention so he chose that moment to scream as loudly as possible. Tibby slipped out Lena's door and hurried down the corridor. Lena still saw the picture of Chantelle in her head. It was just the right thing for Tibby.

It was 10am and Tibby was doing a hard thing. She was filling out her resignation form. If someone had told Tibby that she was going to quit her dream job three weeks ago, Tibby would have told them to get outta town. But as she sat in the quiet kitchen, she knew that Chantelle would be her knew life. Today after lunch, Tibby and Brian would be the official parents of Chantelle. She was such as sweet natured baby. She barley cried or made any noise for that matter. Tibby felt for the real mother, she was sixteen and her parents didn't want her to throw away her life on a small child so Tibby got Chantelle. Tibby drew herself out of her thoughts and added her signature to the letter. She fumbled the letter into the envelope and shoved it in the mailbox before she could change her mind. She sat back down. That was the end of her career as a camerawoman. She was now just a mother. The key sounded in the lock and Brian let himself in. He dropped a bunch of Wallmans bags on the kitchen bench.

"Ok," he declared, "Nappies, Formula, A DIY cot, three bottles, a dummy, ummmm, one of these things."

He held up a box, "The woman at the store told me I'd need one." He said in a sheepish voice.

Tibby laughed, as smart as Brian was he could be clueless sometimes. Brian started to say something but the chiming of the clock drowned his words out. It was striking twelve. Tibby stood up and Brian grasped her hand. They walked to Brian's brand new, gold, Odyssey. It was time to bring Chantelle home.

Bridget was simply watching Dianna breath. Then the real Diana walked in. She was tall and slender, incredibly brown and her hair was plaited down her back. She had a new hot boyfriend who she called Romeo but wouldn't tell anyone his real name. She loved baby Diana and Bee now wanted to ask her something.

"Hey Diana?"

"Yes…" she said wearily.

Bridget took a deep breath, "Now that you've moved closer to Bethesda, would you like to be my little girl's godmother?"

Diana's face lit up. "Well sure! I would love to! But… I don't have to give her.. Like you know… religious guidance or anything right?"

Bee nodded, "Just teach her to play soccer like a pro."

Diana smiled. Just then, Bridget's cell rang.

"Hi Tibs… What's up? Oohh, Congratulations! Ok… Bye Bye." And she hung up.

"Tibby's on her way over!"

NOTE: This story is almost at its end. It has about five chapters left. But I am thinking of doing a sequel. I promise to update soon.