Chapter 11
"Would you call Aramis?" Athos asked on their way to the car. "I'll call Porthos."
They were exiting the apartment building when Porthos answered. Athos could hear Sylvie already talking to Aramis.
"Hey Athos, why are you calling at three in morning?" Porthos' sleepy voice asked.
"Sorry, mon ami, but I thought you'd like to know; Constance is in labor." Athos climbed into driver's side of the car after Sylvie.
"Wha-?" Porthos said.
Athos chuckled quietly. "Sylvie and I are on our way to pick Constance and d'Artagnan up. It seems d'Artagnan is having a meltdown."
A rumble of laughter came through Athos' phone.
"Porthos," Athos mildly scolded while smiling.
"Sorry, mate," Porthos said. "I was just thinking how you're gonna be in a few months."
"I'm leaving," Athos said starting the engine.
Porthos chuckled more. "I'll see you at the hospital."
"Aramis will meet us at the hospital," Sylvie said grinning. "My God, you'd think he was the one having a baby."
Athos shared her amusement. He reached out as he drove finding her round belly. Sylvie rested both of her hands over his.
TM
Athos and Sylvie made it to their friends' apartment. Athos went ahead and used the key he had to the apartment. All of them had keys to each other's homes.
They found Constance standing leaning on the couch taking deep breaths. D'Artagnan was pacing the length of the living room looking as agitated as he sounded on the phone.
"Oh thank God," Constance said. "D'Artagnan, grab my bag," she pointed at the dark blue duffle bag on the floor next to the couch.
"Are you ready to go?" Athos asked.
"Yes," d'Artagnan and Constance said in unison.
TM
They helped Constance into the front passenger seat while d'Artagnan and Sylvie got into the back, each sitting behind their respective partners.
D'Artagnan reached out to the front seat resting his hand on Constance's shoulder. She in turn picked up his hand giving it a kiss.
Athos glanced in the rear view mirror seeing Sylvie smiling gently at the other couple. She looked over suddenly catching Athos' eye and they shared a smile.
TM
They met Aramis and Porthos at the hospital. D'Artagnan had finally pulled himself together and was leading Constance inside the hospital. They were standing at the counter giving Constance's medical information and asking for her obstetrician.
A nurse appeared with a wheelchair helping Constance sit in it. Suddenly they were whisked away, d'Artagnan following closely behind throwing a panicked look towards the others.
The four left behind in the waiting room each took a seat.
TM
It was nearly an hour later when d'Artagnan appeared. He looked exhausted and haggard.
"Mon frer?" Athos stood up first.
"She's fine," d'Artagnan said sounding out of breath. "It looks like it's going to take a little while. In the meantime all of you can come and see her."
"Are you sure that's alright?" Athos asked.
"Yes," d'Artagnan said. "Please come."
D'Artagnan looked a little desperate so they followed him to Constance's room.
Porthos and Aramis were the first to speak to Constance. They leant in from opposite sides of the bed simultaneously pressing a kiss to her cheeks. This brought a giggle out of Constance surprising everyone. Constance was not usually one to giggle.
"How are you feeling, Con?" Athos asked standing next to Aramis next to the bed while Sylvie moved to the other side of the bed next to Porthos.
"Exhausted," she said.
Athos squeezed her hand.
"Anne sends her love," Aramis said. "She would have come, but she had Phillip."
"Elodie sends her love too," Porthos. It went without say his wife stayed home with their daughter Marie-Cessette.
Eventually everyone found a place to settle. Sylvie sat in a less than comfortable chair next to Athos. Her head was leaning over his shoulder.
"Sylvie, are you all right?" Athos asked. "Maybe you should go home and rest."
"No, I'm fine," she said yawning halfway through her sentence.
It was a few more minutes and Sylvie shifted in her chair only to move around again seconds later. She huffed.
"Sylvie," Athos said.
"I'm fine," her voice was low and irritated.
"Sylvie," Constance said from her hospital bed. She was told by her doctor she wasn't dilated enough so they were just playing the waiting game. "Go home and rest for a few hours, I don't think this baby is coming for a while."
Sylvie finally gave in. She let Athos help her stand and walked the few feet over to the bed. "We'll be back soon," she pressed a kiss to Constance's temple before going with Athos.
TM
Sylvie had to admit her bed was very nice. She took off her coat and went to their bedroom climbing into bed. She lay down on her back letting Athos remove her shoes.
"I'll set an alarm," Athos said before joining her in bed.
When the alarm went off three hours later Sylvie groaned pushing herself up into a sitting position.
Luckily it was Saturday, Sylvie's day off, so she didn't need to call into work.
Athos checked his phone. There was a text from Aramis thirty minutes earlier informing them nothing had happened.
"Let's get some breakfast," Athos said.
They sat at their dinner table eating their breakfast quietly. Then Athos decided to break the silence. "So, how are you feeling about all of this?"
"This?" Sylvie raised an eyebrow.
"Constance going through all this," Athos said.
"Has it scared me?" She guessed and he shrugged like he wasn't sure exactly sure what he was trying to say. "It's a little frightening whether I see another person go through the labor process or not. How are you bearing up?"
"I haven't really thought about it until a few minutes ago. I suppose I was focusing on d'Artagnan. He's a bit of a wreck at the moment."
He and Sylvie shared a smile.
Athos' phone buzzed as a new text came in.
'You need to get down here NOW.' The text was from Porthos.
TBC
Uh-Oh. Couldn't resist the cliff-hanger