Kevin still sat in that small chair in the corner four hours later, as it was coming on 1 AM. Alec hadn't tired of pacing, but was now holding a large Styrofoam cup of black coffee in his in an attempt to keep him on his feet. Kirbo had come in for a short while after parking the car to wait with the men, but he soon got a call from Billy, who had all but passed out at Finnegan's and needed a ride home. Kirbo called from his apartment saying he would come in the morning "once Billy stopped being a drunken dickwad and went to sleep." Kevin had spent the hours writing in his small notebook he constantly carried with him for the Lowman Gazette in an attempt to keep his mind OFF the pressure. He wondered how he could fit this situation into an editorial for Lowman's. No cigar as of yet.

Despite Nurse Willow's promise to keep the pair updated on Leslie's progress, no one had given them any news on anything. This made them both even more nervous as the clock ticked. Kevin noted that Alec was beginning to sweat; he observed that Alec kept wiping his forehead. He didn't blame Alec. Kevin himself was beginning to wish he had a stronger anti-perspirent.

At about 1:25 AM, Wendy rushed into the waiting room. Kevin leapt to greet her. Wendy looked stressed.

"How's Leslie?" she asked, hugging her maroon spring jacket closer to her body.

"We've been here for four damn hours and not a single bit of news. They won't let men into the maternity wing. Alec's going to fucking have a stroke soon," Kevin said, nodding in Alec direction.

"Maybe they'll let me in…" Wendy suggested. "I could inform you of how she's doing!"

"Good idea," said Kevin. "Alec!" he called to Alec. Alec turned around. Truth be told, he was still pissed at Kevin over the Katovitch's Piano Store situation. "Wendy's gonna go in and see how Les is for us," he said. Alec nodded silently. He hadn't heard a single word Kevin said.

"Excuse me, Nurse?" Wendy called out to a brunette nurse as she pushed an empty gurney down the hall. The nurse stopped and smiled at Wendy.

"May I help you?" she asked with a southern accent.

"My friend Leslie Hunter is in labor. I know men aren't allowed down that hall…but may I please go in? I'm worried sick!" Wendy asked.

"I'm not assigned to her, but I can ask…" said the nurse. "I'll be back in a moment," said the nurse. Alec wanted to punch her. She was smiling like such a dope! Like nothing was wrong! No one was in pain!

"Thanks Wendy," said Alec.

"If I know Leslie, she's doing just fine," said Wendy. "You and her are a lot alike, Alec. When you broke up, it surprised me because you two were like a mirror image of each other."

Alec looked at his feet. Wendy didn't know the half of it! "Eh, we had some differences we couldn't overlook anymore…I don't wanna talk about it." Alec hadn't told anyone about his infidelities other than Kevin (and Leslie's suspicion), and no one else had figured out yet what Leslie "had a hunch" about that night at Mr. Kim's house party.

"I already know what happened between you two," said Wendy solemnly. "I didn't butt in because it was none of my business. Honestly, I thought you could pull through that too." Alec looked at Wendy in an odd way.

"Know what?"

"About you and the lingerie salesgirl," said Wendy. "Her name was Edna Johannsen? Six feet tall, wavy blonde hair and green eyes?"

Alec went wide-eyed. "Yes. Exactly," he said, nodded. "Were you there?"

Wendy shook her head. "Edna's my cousin, Alec. She told me all about the handsome brown-haired man named Alec," she confessed, nodding. "That very night she'd called me in a bought of ecstasy."

"How could such a slut be related to you?" asked Alec, shaking his head in disbelief.

"None of us really did like her much. She lost her job after being caught in her gross habit. You weren't the only one, Alec. She modeled for every man who walked into that store," Wendy said.

"I am such an idiot!"

"No, Alec," said Wendy. "You WERE an idiot. You've smartened up since then and I have a feeling that after tonight, you'll finally know where you belong."

"YOU didn't tell Les, did you?" Alec asked accusingly.

"I just told you I stayed out of it…it was none of my business!" Wendy replied. The brunette nurse tapped Wendy on the shoulder as she turned around.

"You are allowed in, and when I told Miss Hunter you were here she begged for you, so come on!" the nurse took Wendy down the corridor and out of sight. Alec was speechless.

So was Kevin.

Another hour went by. Wendy had not come out to deliver any news, and now both Kevin and Alec were pacing. Where the hell was that bitchy Nurse Willow?

At 2:56 AM, Alec and Kevin had walked approximately three miles pacing up and down the length of the waiting room. Suddenly, Nurse Willow appeared in the opening to the maternity wing.

"Mr. Newbury? Mr. Dolenz?" she called. Alec and Kevin went wide-eyed and stopped dead in their tracks.

"Is the baby here?" asked Kevin. Nurse Willow frowned her ugly frown and shook her head.

"No. Miss Hunter's having a difficult time," she started saying. Alec immediately headed for the wing, but Nurse Willow held up a hand.

"What's wrong?" asked Kevin.

"The baby is two weeks premature. Unfortunately the baby is in a breeched position—"

"—English?" asked Kevin.

"It means the baby is positioned feet-first. And that is an extremely hard position to birth in, for both mother and child."

"What about a c-section?" asked Alec.

"No. She's going to birth naturally, but it's extremely risky for the two of them. It's going to be a hard time, but Leslie's made it this far, she'll make it through in the end. It's more the child we need to worry about. Being born feet-first is a hard thing to survive for a newborn," said Nurse Willow. Alec moaned.

"I want to be with her! She needs me!" he yelled.

"SH!" hissed Nurse Willow. "That's against the clinic's policy!" Nurse Willow quickly shut the doors to the ward and walked away. Alec just stared through the thin little window after her. Kevin sneered.

"Willow! What kind of a fucking name is that? Sounds like it should be the name of a Cabbage Patch Kid!" he said in a lame attempt to lighten up Alec. Instead, Alec snorted his nose. Kevin sulked.

They paced for another fifteen minutes. Alec suddenly stopped in his tracks and sighed.

"Kevin, I've been thinking. You and I…we've been friends a long time, right?"

Kevin nodded. "Yeah…"

"I think that all our fighting should end tonight, here and now, don't you think? I mean for good. We really do sound ridiculous sometimes," Alec admitted.

"You almost fucking hurled me to my death from a fire escape three-stories off the ground!" Kevin laughed. Alec didn't laugh, but he nodded.

"Look, it's no longer about us. It's about Leslie," he said. "Fighting will stress her out…no matter what the results of tonight are. And that leads me to another problem."

"What?"

"What about the paternity tests? What will we do when the results come out?"

Kevin nodded and thought.

"I love that baby, man. Unborn or not," he admitted. Alec smiled.

"Me too. I think that no matter who the father of this child ends up being, we should both stick around, you know? We'll both be a sort of father to the kid. Leslie won't be able to do it alone," Alec said. Kevin nodded.

"Yeah. Yeah no doubt. It makes me wonder, you we really need the tests at all?"

"Huh?"

"What if we don't take the tests? Then the stress and tenseness between the three of us is gone, and we'll all be one happy family! You just said we'll play equal roles in the kid's life, of what use will one blood test have?" Kevin suggested.

Alec shook his head. "Eventually the child will want to know…she'll start looking like one of us too before long, I bet. Besides, I think it would mean a lot to Les if we found out," he said.

"Good point."

Alec sighed for a moment and looked at his feet, his hands in his pockets. He finally looked up at Kevin and extended a hand. "So we agree to stop the bitching at each other, and to do the blood test…for Les!"

Without hesitation, Kevin shook Alec's hand with a smile. "For Les!"

Alec smiled and rose an eyebrow. Kevin laughed, then the two men said in unison: (albeit in a whisper) "A-boogida, boogida, boogida, HA HA HA!"

After doing the classic handshake, Alec and Kevin decided to take a seat and endure the long hours giving their feet a rest from all the pacing.