J
Last year I'd let my mother sleep late because she'd been up late sick the night before. I had gotten up and fixed her favorite breakfast, strawberry waffles with whipped cream, and turned on the tree lights. It would be my last Christmas with her and I had known that. I'd made sure everything was perfect.
When she had walked into the living room she had been greeted with a fire in the fireplace, a stocking full of her favorite splurge items, Christmas music playing, and me. She had laughed then cried and hugged me as we sat and ate our breakfast before opening gifts. I had wanted to buy her so much but money had been tight. Using my sparse creative abilities I had made her a scarpbook of Yeri and I growing up. Mom had been buried with it in her hands.
This year I had done everything I could to make my mother proud of me. There were times when her favorite Christmas carol would play and I had to fight the urge to go curl up in the fetal position and weep. But she'd made me promise her something last year. She had known it was her last Christmas too and she'd asked me to do her a favor: that next Christmas I would celebrate enough for both of us. I had tried my hardest.
My eyes had opened before the sunrise this morning and I'd eased out of bed without waking Lisa. I needed some time alone. Time to process things. To remember. I knew that if Mom could see me now she would be so happy for me. I was married to the woman I loved. I was going to be a mother myself and I had forgiven my dad. I held my coffee close to me and pulled my legs up under me as I sat on the sofa facing the colorfully decorated tree. This picture of my life would have been what Mom wanted for me.
I didn't wipe away the tears on my face because they weren't all sad. Some were happy. Some were thankful and some were memories.
I enjoyed the silence and watched the sunrise through the window. Lisa would want me in bed when she woke up. I would need to sneak back in after I finished my coffee and brushed my teeth. This year I wanted Christmas to be perfect for her. It was our first one and this was me setting a precedent for years to come.
"Waking up on Christmas without your favorite present in bed sucks bad." Lisa's sleepy voice startled me and I glanced back to see her walking into the living room. She had pulled on a pair of sweat pants amd sports bra. Her hair was messy from sleep and her eyes were still half closed.
"I'm sorry. I was going to sneak back in bed after I watched the sunrise," I told her as she sank down on the sofa beside me and pulled me over against her side.
"I would have gotten up and watched it with you if you'd asked," she said with her chin resting on the top of my head.
I was almost positive that she would do anything I asked of her. That hadn't been why I'd left her sleeping. "I know," I replied.
Lisa trailed her hand up and down my left arm. "You needed some alone time?" she asked. The understanding in her question told me that she didn't need details. She knew.
"Yeah," I replied.
"You need some more?"
"No," I said, smiling up at her.
"Good 'cause I wasn't going to go away easily,"
I laughed and laid my head back against her chest. "It's a beautiful morning."
"Yeah, it is," she agreed and bent her head down to my ear. "Can I give you one of your presents now?" she asked.
"Does it require us being naked?" I asked teasingly.
"Uh, no... but if you wanna get naked baby, I'm always on board for that," she replied.
Surprised, I turned around in her arms and looked up at her. "You mean you want to open presents now?" I asked. I'd thought we would make love first.
"Not open exactly. I need to show you," she said, standing up and pulling me with her.
This was not what I'd expected. I nodded and let her lead me back through the house and to the stairs. Maybe we were going upstairs to have sex after all?
Lisa stopped at the room I'd once chosen as my own. I hadn't been in there since I had shown it to Tzuyu before the wedding. The door was closed and Lisa stood back and motioned for me to open it. I was really confused now.
I stepped forward to turn the knob and let the door open slowly. The first thing I saw was a massive cherry wood baby bed sitting in the middle of the room and an elaborate mobile with exotic sea animals dangling from it.
Lisa reached inside and flipped a switch. Instead of the overhead light coming on, the mobile lit up and began to play. But it wasn't a lullaby. It was the song Lisa had sung to me on our wedding day. The entire mobile was lit up all the way to the ceiling. All I could do was cover my mouth in complete awe and shock as I stepped further into the room. Lights danced across the walls as the mobile spun slowly playing our song.
A rocking chair sat in the corner with a beautiful handmade blanket thrown over it. A changing table, an armoire, and even a small day bed also decorated the room. The soft blue paint on the walls was perfect considering one wall was mostly windows that overlooked the now blue sky and ocean.
I finally found my voice but all that came out was a small sob before I threw myself in Lisa's arms and cried. This was perfect and she'd done this. She had chosen the perfect room for our son.
"I really hope those are happy tears because I'm gonna be honest. I was worried you'd be pissed. Jisoo mentioned you might want to do this yourself and I hadn't thought about that," she said in a tight whisper.
Jisoo didn't know anything. Maybe Jisoo would want to do this herself but knowing Lisa had taken all the time and thought for the nursery made my heart swell until I thought it was going to burst.
"This is perfect. It's beautiful. It's... oh Lisa, he's going to love it. I love it," I assured her then I grabbed her head and pulled it down to me so I could kiss her. A fabulous magazine worthy nursery makes a pregnant woman horny. Who knew?
Three months later...
I was a southern girl. That much was obvious. While I loved our time in New York I was glad to be back home where I could find sweet iced tea when I wanted it. Lisa had missed Rosemary too. I could tell. We had unpacked and then taken all the clothes and toys we'd bought for the baby, who we still had not named, and put them in the nursery. It had been fun to hang up his clothes in the closet and fold his blankets and line up all his little shoes. We had gone a little overboard with the purchasing of clothing.
V had stopped by to take Lisa away for some time on the golf course shortly after our arrival so I decided to go do some visiting. There was nothing to eat here and I was starving. Going to see if Jimin was at the club working and getting something to eat would kill two birds with one stone. I grabbed my keys and headed outside to my car... or SUV... or whatever it was. I hadn't driven it yet. Lisa had it sitting in the driveway waiting on me when we got home.
All I knew was that it was the Mercedes Benz idea of a utility vehicle. I was just glad she hadn't gotten me a minivan. Apparently, this one was one of the safest cars on the road. She gave me a very long sales pitch on it then told me if I didn't like it I could take it back and get what I wanted.
It was a Mercedes, for crying out loud. I wasn't going to snub my nose at that. Of course I was happy with it. I just needed to figure out how to drive it. I looked down at the key she'd left me. There were directions she'd given me. I was supposed to just stick this thing that was most definitely NOT a key in my purse and carry it with me. When I touched the door handle it would automatically unlock as long as the key was on my body. Then I had to put my foot on the brake and press the "on" button by the steering wheel to crank the car. Everything else should be easy enough. Yeah right.
I did as I was told and climbed into the car which isn't easy when your stomach is enormous. After buckling, I managed to crank the car without the key which was all kinds of weird. I didn't even try to touch the stuff on the dash. It looked like something in an airplane. I understood none of it. I opened my purse and took my gun out then slipped it under my seat. I hadn't been carrying it with me since I was always with Lisa. But now that I had my own car again and I would be out by myself, and soon with my baby, I wanted to know there was some protection hidden somewhere. Once the baby was bigger I was going to have to find some other place to keep it. I didn't want it anywhere he could touch it. That was something I needed to talk to Lisa about.
Getting to the club was easy enough. The car turned off with one push of the button and I locked the doors with the thing Lisa referred to as a key and headed inside.
Just as I was headed to the dining room, Jimin walked out of the kitchen and his eyes met mine. A slow smile spread across his face. "Look at you, hot momma. You can even make a pregnant stomach the size of a beach ball look sexy. Go inside that kitchen and wait on me. I'll be right back," Jimin said with a nod of his head. He was only carrying two glasses of water so he just had a quick delivery.
I opened the kitchen door and stepped inside. Several of the cooks called out greetings and I waved to them and tried to remember as many names as I could.
"Please tell me you're back in Rosemary for good now. No more running around the world. I've missed you," Jimin whined, pulling me into a hug.
"No plans to go anywhere anytime soon," I assured him.
"God, Jennie your stomach is huge. When is this baby coming out?" Jimin asked and started rubbing my stomach. "You can't stay in there forever, little guy. It's time you come on out. Your momma isn't that big; she can't take much more."
The kitchen door swung open and I lifted my eyes to see a new face. She had dark brown hair and excellent bone structure. She was watching Jimin talk to my stomach with a curious smile.
"Hello," I said and her eyes flicked from my stomach to meet my eyes. She had gorgeous eyes as well. Where had Mino found this one and had he hired her because of her looks? Because knowing Mino he had noticed.
"Hello," she replied with a thick southern drawl that surprised me. The girl wasn't from Rosemary.
Jimin stood back up and beamed at the girl. He liked her. That was a good sign. "Glad you're back, girl. Yesterday went to shit without you," he told her then glanced back at me. "Somi, this is Jennie. She's my BFF who ran off and left me for another woman. One I can't blame her for because she is one hot piece of ass. Jennie, this is Somi. She may or may not be boinking the boss."
I couldn't keep the grin off my face. Yep, Mino had noticed her.
"Jimin!" I said when her face turned beet red and realized she'd been scolding him too. I liked this girl. I just might have new friend material here.
"Mino right? That boss?" I asked, grinning because I knew there was no way she was messing around with Mino' dad.
"Of course, Mino. The girl has taste. She ain't gonna boink the old man," Jimin replied with a roll of his eyes.
"Would you stop saying 'boink'?" she asked, still blushing. I needed to ease her embarrassment because Jimin was only making it worse.
"Jimin shouldn't have told me that but since he did, can I say, Mino is a great guy. If you are in fact… um… boinking him then you picked a good one."
"Thanks," she said, biting back a smile. I really hoped Mino had a thing for her. I had a feeling Jisoo would love her too.
"If I don't have this baby this week maybe we can get together and have lunch," I suggested. I would call Jisoo and have her come too. She glanced down at my stomach and I could see that she thought it was highly unlikely that I was going to make it out the door without having this baby, much less until next week. She was probably right.
"Okay. That sounds good," she replied.
I couldn't wait to tell Lisa. Maybe we should invite her and Mino over for dinner one night. That would be fun.
"Jeon Somi." An angry growl broke into my thoughts and I jerked my gaze from her to the police officer standing in the doorway.
"Yes, sir," she replied. I watched as her face went white and I glanced around for any sign of Mino. Where was he when you needed him? He had always been barging in at the wrong time when I worked here. Now would be a good time to barge in.
"You need to come with me, Miss Jeon," the officer barked as he held open the door waiting on Somi to walk out of it. "Miss Jeon, if you don't come willingly I will have to go against Mr. Kerrington's wishes and arrest you right here on the club's grounds."
What did he just say? Arrest? Mr. Kerrington? Mino wouldn't do this. If he had he would have at least shown up and been a part of it. Besides, I was a good people reader and so was Jimin. We both liked Somi. Something was wrong.
"What are you arresting her for? I sure as hell don't believe Mino knows about this," Jimin demanded as he stood in front of Somi as if to protect her. I loved him even more for that. She looked like she was about to faint.
"Mr. Kerrington does know. He is who sent me in here to escort a Jeon Somi out of the building and then arrest her once I had her in the parking lot. However, if she doesn't come willingly I will arrest her and anyone who stands in my way."
Mino didn't know. I didn't believe him. Something was off.
"It's okay, Jimin," she said and stepped around him. I watched helplessly as she walked out the door.
"You gotta find Mino," Jimin said, looking back at me. "I don't believe that. I think there's more to this and I think all fingers point at the old man."
I nodded. I agreed. "I don't have Mino's number in my phone. It bugged Lisa so I took it out," I admitted, looking up at Jimin sheepishly.
Jimin shook his head and grinned then took my phone from my hands and punched in Mino's number. "Call him. If he doesn't answer go hunt him down. I can't help. I now have no help this shift and I gotta get my ass in gear."
I nodded and headed out the door to watch as Somi was put in the cop car with way more force than was necessary.
Mino's phone went straight to voicemail. I tried it again but again just voicemail. Running down the hall, or more like waddling quickly, I went to his office and knocked but nothing. I tried opening it but it was locked tightly. Crap.
I hurried outside as I dialed Lisa's phone. She would know what to do and Mino could very likely be with her. Just as my foot hit the stone walkway I felt a cramp followed by a gush of water between my legs. I froze.
My water had just broken.
L
"You look good for a married girl," V teased as I walked back to the cart to get my putter.
"Of course I do. I'm married to Jennie. I'm the luckiest bastard on the planet," I replied, not taking his bait. He wanted to get me fired up because V thought me getting angry was funny.
"Jennie is smoking hot. Even nine months pregnant," he drawled, leaning back and propping his legs up on the dash of the cart.
"If you are wanting a fucking broken nose then keep it up, bro," I snarled, glaring back at him.
He began laughing and I knew he'd gotten what he wanted. I rolled my eyes. My phone started vibrating and ringing in my pocket. That was Jennie's ring. I dropped my club and reached into my pocket to get the phone. She didn't call me randomly. If she was calling then she needed me. I started walking to the cart waiting on her to answer.
"Hey," I said the moment she answered. She took a deep breath and I threw the cart in reverse and started speeding toward the clubhouse.
"My water just broke," she said trying to sound calm.
"I'm on my way. Stay right there. Don't move. Don't drive. Just wait on me."
"I'm in the clubhouse parking lot. I was coming to find you when it happened," I replied.
"I'm almost there, baby, hang on. Less than a minute, I swear," I assured her.
She made a grunting noise then took a few deep breaths. "Okay," she replied then hung up.
"Shit," I growled and wished to God the stupid cart went faster.
"I'm gathering that she's in labor," V replied from the seat beside me.
"Yeah," I snapped. Not wanting to talk. I just needed to get to her faster.
"I guess that means you don't care that you just left your putter back there," V replied.
"Fuck no, I don't care about the damn putter."
V crossed his arms over his chest. "Okay, just checking."
"I need you to take my phone. Get Abe's number out of it and call him."
V grabbed my phone and did as I asked while I slammed the cart into park and took off running across the grass to the parking lot.
Jennie was standing beside the Mercedes I'd bought her with one hand on the car and one hand on her stomach. She looked more relaxed than I imagined.
"That was quick." She smiled at me when her eyes met mine.
"Are you okay?" I asked, wrapping my arm around her and walking her over to the passenger side.
"I'm okay now. The cramping has eased up. But Lisa, I shouldn't get in this car. It's brand new and I have... well... I'm wet," she said, stumbling over her words.
"I don't give a rat's ass about this car. Get in. I'm taking you to the hospital."
She let me help her in the car although I could see the reluctance on her face. She didn't want to mess up her new car. I pressed a kiss to her forehead. "I swear I'll have it completely detailed inside before you get out of the hospital," I assured her before closing the door.
I ran around the front of the car and V was standing there with a nervous expression. "She okay?"
"She's in labor," I stated the obvious and jerked the driver's door open.
"I called Abe. What else can I do?"
"Call Dean. He'll want to know," I told him before closing the car door. I didn't let myself think about the fact I wouldn't be calling my mom or sister. There was no point. I couldn't trust them around Jennie.
"Do you think maybe you should call your mom? Or do you think she would rather not know?"
I glanced over at her as I pulled out onto the road and sped to Destin where the nearest hospital was located. "I don't want them being a part of this. They don't deserve it," I replied, then reached over and squeezed her hand. "This is our family now. Mine and yours. We decide who we let in it."
Jennie nodded and laid her head back on the headrest. I could tell she was having some pain from the scrunched look on her face even though she was keeping quiet about it.
"How can I help?" I asked, anxious to do something to make this stop.
"Drive," she replied with a tight smile.
She squeezed my hand and let out a deep sigh of relief. "That one's over. They aren't very long or close together so we are good on time," she sounded breathless.
She squeezed down on my hand again. "Lisa!"
I almost swerved off the road. "What baby? Are you okay?" My heart was slamming against my chest.
"I forgot about Somi. You have to call Mino. He needs to know that the cops came and got Somi."
Who the fuck was Somi? Was she hallucinating? "Baby, I don't know a Somi," I replied carefully in case this hallucinating thing could make her crazy. I hadn't read about this in any of those books she'd kept by the bed.
"Somi is who Mino is dating. Jimin thinks they're boinking. She was really sweet and I liked her. She looked so scared. Mino needs to help her."
She had been at the club to visit Jimin. That's why she was there. Not because she had been in labor. This was making sense now. "V has my phone. Where's yours?" If this didn't mean so much to her I wouldn't be worried about Mino's love life and his so-called girlfriend being hauled in by the cops. Because that shit didn't sound promising and I didn't want Jennie around someone dangerous. But she didn't need anymore stress so I'd do whatever I could to make her feel better.
"He isn't answering his phone. It goes straight to voicemail. Who else can we call?" she asked.
I reached for her phone and dialed V.
"I called Dean and he's grabbing the next flight out," was V's greeting.
"Thanks. Listen, Mino isn't answering his phone. Call his dad. Tell him that Somi," I paused and looked at Jennie who nodded that I'd gotten the name right, "Somi was arrested and she needs help."
"FUCK! When was Somi arrested? What the hell happened?" V roared in my ear. Guess he knew who Somi was.
"I don't know. My wife is in labor. Just call his dad. He can find him. I gotta go."
"I'll tell him," V replied and I hung up.
"Mino's Dad will know how to reach him," I assured Jennie. She was frowning.
"I don't know about that but maybe I misunderstood." She stopped talking and squeezed my hand again. Another contraction.
J
I was scared of needles. I'd decided months ago that I wouldn't be getting a long needle stuck down my back. At the moment, I was thinking that might have been a bad decision. Because I felt like my insides were being sliced open.
It didn't help that every time I needed to scream Lisa completely freaked out. She needed to calm the fuck down. I had to scream to deal with this. Never again would I moan over menstrual cramps. Those were a walk in the park compared to this.
Another wave hit me and I grabbed handfuls of the sheets and let out another cry of pain. The last time the nurse checked I was seven centimeters dilated. I needed to get to ten, dammit.
"Do I need to go get the nurse? Can I get you some ice? Do you want to squeeze my hand?" Lisa kept asking me questions. I knew she meant well but at the moment I didn't care. I reached up and grabbed her tee shirt and jerked her face down to mine.
"Be glad I don't have my gun because right now I'm considering the different ways I can get you to shut up. Let me scream and back off," I snapped at her and grabbed my stomach as another contraction hit.
"Time to check you again," the bubbly nurse with bright red hair pulled back in pigtails said as she all but bounced into the room. She needed to be glad I didn't have my gun too. Because she'd be next on my list.
I closed my eyes hoping I didn't have a contraction while she was down there because I might kick her in the face.
"Oh! We're sitting on ten and ready to roll. Let me get the doctor in here. Don't push," she told me yet again. I'd been told not to push for the past hour. All my body wanted to do was push. The doctor needed to hurry his ass up.
Lisa was being abnormally silent. I glanced up at her and her face reminded me of a little girl's at the moment. She looked scared and nervous. I felt bad for yelling at her but the feeling didn't last when another contraction hit me and this time it was worse. I hadn't realized it could get worse.
The balding doctor walked in and beamed at me like this was a good thing. "Time to get that little guy out of there and into the world." He sounded as jolly as my nurse. Bastard.
"You can either come down here and watch, as long as you aren't queasy or you can stay up there with her while she pushes," the doctor told Lisa.
Lisa stepped up to my head and reached down and took my hand in hers. "I'll stay with her," she said and squeezed my hand gently.
The encouragement made me want to cry. She'd been trying so hard to make things easier on me and I had threatened to shoot her. I was an awful wife. I sniffed and she was instantly beside me. "Don't cry. It's okay. You can do this," she said, looking determined and ready to go into battle.
"I was mean. I'm sorry," I choked out.
She grinned and kissed my head. "You're in a helluva lot of pain and if it makes you feel better to hit me I'd let you at me."
I wanted to kiss her but then another contraction hit me.
"Push!" the doctor ordered and I did as I was told.
Several curse words and pushes later I heard the most beautiful sound in the world. A cry. My baby's cry.
L
He was perfect. I counted all ten toes and fingers while Jennie kissed each one. He was also so damn tiny. I hadn't realized babies were so little.
"We have to decide on a name now," Jennie said, looking up at me after she finally managed to get our son to latch on and nurse.
We had thrown around several ideas over the past three months but nothing had seemed right. Jennie had said it was hard to name someone you'd never seen so we agreed to wait until he was born to name him.
"I know. We've seen him now. We need to give him a name. What are you thinking?" I asked her hoping to God she didn't suggest Abraham Dean again. I loved my dad but I wasn't naming my kid after him.
"I think he looks like a Colton," she said, smiling down at him. I wasn't a fan of that name.
"You still against River?" I asked.
She smiled up at me. "I want to put Lisa in his name but if we name him River we can't. River Lisa or Lisa River sounds silly."
I'd forgotten she was trying to use my name too. I wasn't going to argue with her. I liked the idea of my son having my name. "What about Cash? Cash Lisa!" I teased and she bit down on her lip to keep from giggling and scaring him.
"What about Louis we could call him Lou?" she asked. He stopped sucking and let go to look up at her as if she'd called his name. I guess we'd come to a decision.
"Louis L Manoban has a good ring to it," I agreed. And the letter L can be called Love, too.
She beamed up at me happily and bent her head down to kiss his nose. "Hello Lou. Welcome to the world."
I wanted to hold him but he looked like he had decided to go to sleep instead of socializing. Jennie lifted him up and laid him on her shoulder and patted his back softly. I stood there and watched in amazement. This was mine. My family. And they were perfect.
When Jennie was satisfied with her attempt at burping him she wrapped him up tightly in his blanket and looked over at me. "It's your turn, Poopoo. I need to rest. My eyes feel heavy."
I reached for him and took my son from his mother's arms. Holding him up close against my chest I inhaled his sweet baby smell. "Come on little guy. Let's go get comfortable over there and see if we can't find some basketball to watch on television."
Lou slept contentedly in my arms and Jennie had gone to sleep pretty quickly after she handed him over to me. I could stay in this room with these two like this forever. Just having them close to me and knowing they were safe made everything okay.
A soft knock at the door broke into my thoughts. I turned to see the door ease open and several blue balloons enter before I saw Jisoo's head behind them. She'd stayed out as long as she could.
"Okay, Daddy Lisa I realize you're enjoying yourself but you have to share. Both grandfathers are in the waiting room waiting patiently," she whispered after glancing over to see Jennie sleeping.
"I don't want to disturb Jennie. She's exhausted. I'll bring the baby to the nursery window. Have everyone meet me there."
Jisoo looked over at the baby longingly. I knew she wanted to hold him but I wasn't ready yet. I wasn't so sure she wouldn't drop him. I wasn't so sure I could trust anyone to hold him. Snuggling him closer against me I wondered how the hell I was supposed to just let people come to my house and hold my kid.
"The nurse said y'all named him Louis L Manoban. I like it, but I hope the letter L is not an initial for Lisa." she said, smirking.
I smirked back, "It can be Love, too. We're gonna call him Lou."
She shook her head but nodded and then headed back out to tell everyone where to go. I didn't mind showing them Lou through the safety of a window but I wasn't going to let them all breathe on him and touch him. Too many germs. He was too little for that shit. He needed some more meat on him before he had to deal with germs.
I stepped into the nursery and checked in with a nurse. I explained that I was there to show the baby to family members through the glass. When she turned and saw Dean standing at the window her mouth dropped open.
"Ohmygod. The Manoban baby is related to Dean Manoban? Slacker Demon's Dean Manoban?"
I nodded. "Yeah. It's his grandson and I really need to show Lou here to his grandfather."
She hurried to make a path for me and followed me to the window so she could gape at my dad. Dean, however, was completely focused on Lou. He held up his thumb and winked at me. Abe had tears in his eyes and nodded his head. V was right there beside my dad grinning at Lou. Jisoo was was gushing over my boy and Bobby was nodding his head in agreement.
Jimin pushed his way through the crowd to get a look at him and put his hand on his hips and beamed at Lou. Then he looked at me and gave me the nod of approval. This was our extended family. We might not have siblings or mothers here with us but we had people who loved us and who would love Lou.
"Do you think I could get Dean's autograph?" the nurse asked from beside me.
"Go on out there and ask him. You're catching him in a really good mood," I told her before turning and taking Lou back to his momma.
