28
The end of Jamie's school year was completed with a praise filled meeting with his pre-school teacher and an introductory meeting with his new kindergarten teacher. His moms seemed pleased with his new teacher's enthusiasm for reading and seemed like she would be encouraging of each child on their individual skill level. She handed them a summer reading list of books that would foster his abilities for the upcoming year. They embraced the summer and grew less concerned over the irregular contractions that accommodated this whole pregnancy as Piper hit her 37 week mark. They were reassured that the baby was fully mature and that those irregular contractions were insignificant even more so now than they were before. Piper felt like a veteran, she recalled how she stalked her due date, the first time around, how disheartened she felt as she watched the date come and go. This time she just regarded the date as any other date and welcomed the phenomenon, not necessarily without the occasional grumble regarding her common discomforts, and had faith that Banana would come in his or her own time.
They return to their apartment, Alex packs an overnight bag for Philly after Piper confirms for the zillionth time that she doesn't want to go. Finn didn't start camp for a week and she and Pete agreed to swap babysitting duty for the week, while Polly started training a temp to fill in for Piper. She remembered Piper's difficulty leaving Jamie when she needed to return to work; she knew it would be even worse if her friend knew she could stay home at with him and Banana for the summer, but was required to be at work, so they collectively decided to start interviewing candidates to work for the duration of the summer with the potential to stay on per diem once Piper returned.
"Wanna go for a walk?," Alex asks standing by the open window in their apartment, 'its a gorgeous day."
"Or boiling day, I think the thermostat just surrendered," Piper says from behind her before shutting the window and turning on the A.C. She melts into the couch.
"Ooook nevermind."
"Sorry I'm just really hot, I'm always hot," she says frustrated. "It's fine, we can just stay in."
"Can we just wait til the sun starts going down?," she asks, "I wouldn't mind the walk, I just cant take the heat."
"Sure," the brunette confirms, "I can wait for the sake of preserving my skin and preventing you from over cooking Banana into a maduro," she says with a Spanish accent.
Pipers eyes widen, "maduros! Oh my God! Yes! We can go to the empanada place," she said excitedly referring to one of their favorite spots where she first took Alex on a date years ago.
"Pipes that place doesn't have A.C.," she reminds her and watches her sparkly blue eyes sadden.
"But... but we can take it go!," she says trying to redeem her words that disappointed her often now volatile wife.
"And we can take it to the park!," the blonde says. It was the little things right now that made the day more bearable for the blonde.
They took a long walk through Strawberry Fields and along the lake, finally settling down on a patch of grass near the Shakespeare Garden. It wasn't long before Jamie was begging to run up the stairs to the Belvedere Caste. He darted up quickly, while Piper and Alex slowly followed behind him. Piper pulled Alex back by her hand, causing the brunette to spin and look down at her wife a step below her, "d'you remember?"
Alex looked over her shoulder to see if he was paying attention before she raised her crossed wrists over her head, "hello?," she cackled, "still one of the best weekends ever," she looks at Piper lovingly. "You were such a prude," she chortles.
Piper's mouth drops at her wife's distorted memory, "I was not!," she contends, trying to earn herself credit for how unnaturally adventurous she was sexually with the brunette while they dated. "You were just overly kinky!"
"Was?," she raised her brow as she squeezes the bottom of Piper's butt.
Piper turns her back away from Alex, leaning slightly against the stones, "are," she corrects herself.
"Damn straight. You've hung in there pretty solidly."
"Little ears," she said nudging her chin forward to their small child galloping down the stairs, "precious, innocent, little ears."
"Myyy precioussss," Alex hisses wickedly imitating Gollum as she crawls her hands toward him.
"Noooo don't," he stops and leans back, "I don't like that voice."
"So mean!," Piper scolds her knowing how much he hates when she teases him with that voice.
Her face immediately goes soft and offers to let him sit up on her shoulders as they slowly walk up the rest of the staircase. He looks out toward the Delacourte, while she and Piper reminisce with pride at how far they've come.
Pete drops Finn off early in the morning, and catches up with Piper for a few moments before heading out to work for the day. Throughout the morning Piper hangs out with Finn, and let him fill her in on his excitement about going to Australia for a week to visit with Pete's family. She offers him every possible snack they have in the house, while throwing in how nauseous he makes her as he is just an inch short of hitting her arm when she extends it out. She mentions it again when she no longer has to bend down to engulf him in his twelfth hug.
He loves their apartment he confesses to her, "I was always able to do whatever I wanted here."
She takes a sip of her tea and chuckles, "how far back can you remember?"
"Pretty far, mostly little things, dressing up with towel capes and jumping off the table, dyeing the floor blue making play-doh."
"Do you remember drawing on me?"
"Yes," he looks embarassed, "sorry about that."
She laughs and squeezes him, "I'm not! It was sweet. I love that picture. Al," she shouts with urgency.
Alex comes quickly, "what? What's up?," her eyes dart wildly looking for the reason behind the urgency.
"Can you grab that album?," she asks squinting slightly and points to the bottom shelf of their bookcase, "the grey one."
They brunette's eye bore into those of the idle blonde at their table, who's sitting a few mere feet from the object she desires. She then looks at Finn,
"I didn't know what she wanted!," his voice raises slightly, timidly, in defense of himself. Jamie comes stomping toward the table. "Finny!," he says excitedly and stands next to Finn's chair.
Alex rolls her eyes while she crouches down and pulls the album Piper wants from their shelf. She sets it on the table and slides it across to the blonde who starts quickly flipping through the pages before she locates the photo of Finn's artwork, "here it is," she says with her index finger pressed to the plastic, "you were so little!"
"I wanna see!," Jamie says raising up onto his toes. Finn pulls him up onto his lap and Piper angles the book so he can see.
He looks confused as he looks at a younger version of Finn with his mom, who looks about the same as she does now minus the Crayola tribute.
"That's Banana?," he asks Piper. "No that's you."
"That's not me, that's Finn."
"Not the boy, you were here," she points to the photographic evidence of herself around 36 weeks pregnant with Jamie. "Finn drew a picture of you, that's how you were laying that day, all curled up."
"I was that big?," he asks with wonder.
"No you were small. I was that big," she says while stroking herself now suddenly feeling like her own planet. "That's where you grew, just like Banana." He nods slowly in understanding, "As you grew, I grew. As Banana grows, I grow," she says with her hand still pressed along the left side of her abdomen.
He narrows his eyebrows, "so why is your butt big?"
"Jamie!," Alex gasps as she hears Piper let out a self-conscious whimper, and watches the blonde slump against her arm on the table.
Finn face-palms and shakes his head.
"Babe your butt is not big, its adorable," Alex comforts her.
"Guys...," Finn whines and makes a disgusted face at his aunt's admiration of his other aunt's bottom.
Alex chuckles, "sorry kid. Really babe," she drops her tone slighty,"you have a great booty."
"La, la, la, la...," Finn scoots Jamie off his lap, while covering his ears and walks away, Jamie runs after him.
"What're you gonna have for lunch?," she asks the blonde who's face is still smushed against her forearm.
"A salad," she grunts, "with diet air."
"Babe stop. I'm getting sandwiches, what kind do you want?"
"The carbless kind."
"Piper Chapman!," she scolds, "you're almost done," she says trying to keep the blonde focused that the end is within reach. "She just measured you a few days ago and you were 37, exactly where you should be," she says and places a hand on Banana. Piper nods in agreement, almost done.
Alex gathers the boys to go downstairs while Piper checks in with Polly who tells her that the store is busy but reassures her that the temp was picking up quickly. Along the sidewalk Alex and Finn walk quickly towards the corner deli.
"Jamie you don't tell anyone that their butt is big, especially not a lady," she tells him. "Yeah little dude, not good," Finn adds as Jamie jogs to keep up with the two of them. Alex halts at the flower stand before the deli, "pick some out," she tells Jamie.
"Why?"
"Because you hurt mommy's feelings!"
"I hurt her feelings?," he looks at her concerned.
"Yeah, Banana makes her body change. She doesn't like that her butt is bigger, you're not supposed to tell her," she says with obviousness in her tone.
"Oh, I made a mistake," he says guiltily as the side of his mouth dips down. He walks up and down the length of the flower stand eyeing his options diligently and picks out a bouquet of large pink peonies; he clutches them to his chest as they walk a little further down the street to the deli. When they get upstairs he goes right up to Piper and hands her the flowers. She takes them with a small smile,
"thank you."
He hugs her around her thighs and presses his chin against her lower belly, looking up at her, "sorry Banana made your butt big."
"Thanks," she laughs with sarcasm, "its enough already right?"
He presses his mouth into her shirt and deepens his voice, "yeah Banana, its enough."
"Thanks for the flowers," she tells Alex as the brunette sets the bag of sandwiches on their table.
"Are you alright?," Alex asks her, pulling the sandwiches out of the bag.
"Yeah."
Finn unwraps all their sandwiches, and then re-wraps Alex's when she says "alright lemme get going." He brushes his hands together, to get rid of the crumbs.
"Finn," Piper gestures her hands down to the table. He looks at Alex, is she serious?
Alex widens her eyes and makes a sweeping motion with her hand telling him to clean it up before Piper goes off.
Alex slings the duffel over her head by the table, kisses Jamie goodbye and gives Finn a strong squeeze on his shoulder. He slaps her five before she turns to leave, Piper walks her out to lock up.
"Please finish your sandwich," she tells her concernedly while she pulls open their door.
"Mmmm."
"I'm serious," she says and pecks her gently on the mouth.
"Just do your thing you so you can get back to us, and be careful when you're driving. Let me know when you get there."
"I will, I will. Call me with anything," she tells her sternly.
Piper presses her foot on Alex's knee and slowly extends her leg, literally kicking her out the door. "We'll be fine, go."
A little over three hours later Alex calls to let her know she arrived. She texts Finn a moment later confirming that Piper actually ate her whole lunch, knows the blonde's mind could be focused so easily on something so insignificant.
"Shit," Piper mutters roughly an hour later.
"What's the matter?," he asks slightly surprised as he's hardly heard her use the word in front of him.
"Nothing I just have some pain over here," she says moving her hand over her low back toward the front of her body, "it happens sometimes."
Finn's eyes widen, "what kind of pain? No..,. wait, I don't wanna know."
Piper breathes hard and winces for a moment until it resolves, "it's gone it's nothing."
"Was that like a baby pain?," he asks standing up.
"Yeah but it's gone. Why are you looking at me like that?"
He draws his lips in for a moment thinking if he should say anything before he speaks, "aunt Alex said that I should call her if you had any baby related stuff happen."
"Oh my God, did she like breathe her fear into you before she left?" He doesn't answer, he just stares at her.
"Are you sure you're okay?"
"Yes Finn," her voice deepens, "do not call her."
He eyeballs his phone that's on the counter beside her.
"Finn!," she says genuinely surprised at his thought of defiance.
"But she said to!"
"Well I'm saying not to! I don't want her to freak out over nothing, this happens all the time." He looks conflicted.
"What?," she asks him.
"She's going to be really mad."
She tilts her head slightly to the side, "are you afraid of her?"
"With this?," he raises both his hands in her direction, "uh, yes."
"You should be afraid of me, I'll kill you."
He laughs, "I'm pretty sure I can out run you right now."
"I wouldn't test it."
He grabs her a bottle of water from the refrigerator, opens it and give it to her. She takes a sip of water and laughs, almost spitting it out.
"What are you contemplating different ways to kill me?"
"Nice word," she acknowledges his growing vocabulary, "no, just Alex and her ability to scare the crap out of everyone."
He relaxes some as she seems very calm now and asks her, "why don't you guys ever find out the gender?"
She gulps and swallows another sip of water, "so much of this is guided for Alex and I, planning and calculations, and...," she stops talking, not wanting to get into a conversation with him about the birds and the bees.
"I know how it works," he says sensing her awkward position change.
Piper wrinkles her eyebrows, "mom explained it to me, well how it's different for you guys."
She smirks slightly and is grateful for Polly's openness, "well in any case, when so much of it is medicalized, it's nice for us to keep a piece of it mysterious, kind of like a surprise."
He nods his head.
"Is that a good enough answer? Did that make sense?"
"Yeah, definitely."
Throughout the hour, he noticed her looking uncomfortable again and asked her again if she was okay. She told him again she was fine and asked him to keep an eye on Jamie while she took a shower. She hung onto the wall as she made her way back to the boys,
"Finn," her voice trembled. She motioned her hand for him to come closer out of Jamie's earshot, "can you just call Alex and ask her fast she could get here if I needed her later?"
"She's already on her way back."
"You called her?," she asked slightly irritated, but if she was going to be honest, she was thankful for his disobedience.
"Yeah before," he looked at her, "she said she's in traffic but near Newark airport?"
"Okay great," she said breathing hard, "can you call your mom?"
"I tried, she didn't answer. I left her a message."
"Shit," she said again in front of him, causing him tuck his lips under again, "okay, what about your dad?"
"You want my dad?," he asked surprised.
"I need someone to watch you guys, I need to go," she said holding back tears.
Jamie came over to them, "why are you crying?,"
"C'mon Jamie, let's go over here," he tries to pull him back to the couch while he calls his father.
"Mommy's hurting?," he asks Finn but looks at Piper. "Mommy?"
"Just a second baby," she says hanging on to the back of the chair and rocks into it.
"He's not answering either," he says hesitantly, moving his phone in his hand nervously.
The distress on her face makes him so uneasy, he gives her the bottle of water not knowing what else to do. "Should I call aunt Alex again?"
She nods quickly, and he hands her the phone once Alex answers. She listens to Alex speak, "no, it's really bad, really really bad."
Jamie tucks up against Finn, "you might get your brother or sister today James," he tells him knowing already this is happening today.
Piper swears through her teeth with Alex still on the line. She reassures her she'll be there, not knowing if she'll actually make it. She tells her she'll call Nicky and call her right back.
"You need medicine mommy?," Jamie asked her with worried eyes.
She grits her teeth and shakes her head, trying to keep her breathing in a rhythm, this cannot be happening.
Finn's phone rings again and Alex tells her Nicky is on her way, she should be there in twenty minutes. Piper hangs up the phone and calls a cab, there's no way she can wait twenty minutes for Nicky to get here to watch the kids. She throws random things around her room in a bag to bring to the hospital, while Alex hits her steering wheel repeatedly from the other side of the bridge. The boys get on their shoes, Finn puts on his backpack and takes Piper's bag and locks her door, he tells Jamie, who's also scared to stay next to him.
The cab is waiting for them in front of the apartment when the fluff of crazy hair catches her eye. She throws her arm around Nicky's shoulder, and tells her she doesn't want to go alone to the hospital. They all get in the cab and take the shortest ride a few blocks away. The cab driver tells her, "good luck, no charge."
They get up to the labor and delivery floor, it feels like yesterday that she was here with Jamie. She's admitted at 7 centimeters and brought down to a room. Nicky tells her she'll be right back and makes sure the boys have a seat by the water cooler. She calls Alex and curses her out for leaving this late in Piper's pregnancy, more out of fear that she doesn't know what the hell she's doing.
"She's on the GWB Pipes, she'll get here," Nicky says dipping her head next to Piper who's on her hands and knees rocking on the bed. Nicky's hands move rapidly while she talks to Piper reassuring her that she's doing awesome and that she's going to kick Alex's ass so hard for the both of them. Piper presses back and keeps her body still, as a contraction takes over her body.
"Shit, sorry," Nicky stops talking and moving. Piper grabs her wrist and passively moves her hand back for forth, her eyes focus on the motion.
"Really?," Nicky asks her as she moves her own hand for Piper to concentrate on. Piper nods and breathes moving her head in rhythm with Nicky's hand.
"Thanks," Piper pants as her body relaxes some. Her arms drape over the back of the bed, her cheek presses into the sheet.
"Whatever works. Want some ice?"
"No, don't leave."
"Not goin anywhere. Are you supposed to be in this horse position?," she asks waving her hand over Piper.
She doesn't answer her, "the boys are okay?"
"They're fine," she says as Piper's body stills again, until she grunts down and starts pushing. The grunts are relayed from the nurse to her midwife, who asks her not to push down until she checks her to make sure her cervix is gone, but she cant help it. "Ah c'mon Chapman, keep it in a little longer," she pleads with her knowing Piper wants Alex there more than she does, but she's desperate.
Piper shoots her a glare and hisses as the midwife checks her and says she's fully dilated and she's free to push when she needs to. Nicky remembers Alex talking about the panic that coursed through her body when they set up the table for delivery. She felt her own heart pound as the sterile instruments were dropped onto the table.
"You're good in this position?," the midwife asked Piper. Nicky saw her neck go up and down.
"Fuck," she swore under her breath, as Piper pushed down hard, yelping in between. Nicky rubbed her neck and her shoulders.
"Can you see the head?," she asked Nicky after 3 more sets of pushes.
"Ehh..,you want me to look?," she asked already knowing full well that she did.
Nicky leans back as she pushes down again and see's something white bulging at Piper's opening. She looks at the midwife who's coaching Piper, not knowing what she's looking at and doesn't want to stare.
"Water bag," the midwife whispers.
She never answers Piper, and Piper doesn't ask again. She waves her hand in front of the blonde's eyes as that's the only thing Piper says is helping. Nicky thinks of all the methods of cruel and unusual punishment that she's going to inflict on Alex, when her ears perk up at the sound of Alex's voice who's arguing with someone, probably a security guard who keeps calling her ma'am.
"Chapman," she hears the brunette say frantically from the hallway, asking the nurses what room her wife is in.
"Vause," she says abandoning Piper's side and sticks her head out of room #4. "Hurry up!," she hisses. The nurses at the station wave her on.
"Pipes, I'm here, I'm here," she says throwing her stuff on the floor and leans in next to her, "I'm so sorry, fucking Jersey traffic!"
Piper leans into her and kisses her, "I hate you."
Alex pumps some rubbing alcohol from the wall into her hand and rubs them back and forth.
Alex pulls Nicky in close and kisses her on the cheek, "thank you so so much."
"Watch," the midwife nudges Alex over slightly, and grabs an amni-hook and breaks Piper's water in between contractions.
"Oh you waited for me to get here again?," Alex says sarcastically. "Babe, are you okay like this?," she asks as her wife doesn't look very comfortable.
"It freaking hurts Alex," she says annoyed as if changing into an alternate position would matter right now. Alex keeps her hand on the small of her back and rubs.
She pushes down again and is met with the burn all too familiar from the last time she did this and backs off slightly. She shakes her head back and forth not wanting to feel the burn increase. She looks under her arm at Alex, who's pulled her hair up and off her face that's almost as sweaty as Piper's from the stress and heat. The brunette bends down some and tries to make eye contact with Piper.
"I'm not doing this again," she shakes her head, "no I'm not, never, ever, again."
Alex can't help but laugh a little, she hates to hear Piper pained but the timing is just on point." "We're done," she reassures her, "never again."
She grasps Alex's hand and squeezes it as she pushes again, as the midwife tells her, "slow, slow, slow, small push and pant." Alex watches her busily move her hand around Piper and tells her, "okay, one more good one, go, a little more, a little moreeeee." Alex leans back and sees more and more of this blonde peach fuzz take over the midwifes hands and the rest of the little pink body tumble out after. Alex hears Piper release her breath in relief, her back slumps lower after being curved upward while she pushed, the midwife holds the baby snug against her body and uses the suction bulb to clear it's airway. The sound of newborn cries fill the room, the midwife beckons Alex behind Piper who's still on her knees and places a wet baby into her shaking her hands.
"Oh my God, she's so warm," she says with shaking hands.
"She?," Piper asks looking under her arm In every which way to see her baby while the midwife helps Alex pass their baby girl through Piper's legs. The blonde gasps as she looks down toward the bed and faces her new baby. She leans down and gently lifts her, and nestles her in the crook of her arm before leaning back onto her feet. She turns over onto her back, and let's her body go slack into the bed as she starts admiring their newest addition as Alex is handed a blanket to help dry her off. Nicky is slumped in the rocker, emotionally exhausted and bawls.
Piper's silent tears roll down her cheeks as she strokes the tiny limbs of her baby girl, "you came so fast," she tells her, as she rocks her gently. She's wide eyed and quiet, she blinks very slowly.
"Yeah, second babies don't mess around, the path has been plowed before," the midwife says cleverly.
Alex leans into Piper, "she's so pretty," she says touching the tiny lips making them open, "and tiny, like Jamie," she gasped, "where's Jamie?," she shot a look of concern.
"He's out with Finn near the waiting area," Nicky speaks up.
"Can I get him?," Alex asks whoever is willing to answer her first.
"Just let me get her cleaned up."
Nicky takes a few pictures for them before Alex steps out to look for the boys. She find's them squashed into one chair, Finn is holding a tablet, while Jamie, who's legs are stretched out straight, too short to bend, is swiping his finger across the screen.
She bends down slowly, "wanna meet your baby?," she asks quietly so as not to startle him. His face is expressionless but he nods quickly, and gets off the chair.
"Mama..." he says softly after all of the drama at home and on the way here, he hugs her legs. She lifts him up, he was abnormally quiet.
"C'mon Finn!," she says to him.
"It's okay, I'll stay here."
She crouches down some and rubs Finn's head, "she's all covered Finn, don't worry."
"I'm good, thanks," he says and keeps his eyes on his tablet.
"Alright, I'll be back for you." She wants to tell him to stay right there but it seems ridiculous to give him instructions of any kind at this point.
She walks off with Jamie on her hip, almost at a skip, and passes the nurses station, and knocks lightly on Piper's door.
"We have a visitor...," she says walking in. He sees Piper in the bed, "you're not hurting?"
"Not anymore," she says smiling widely, "come!," she pats the bed next to her.
"Baby's here," he realizes seeing the baby against Piper's chest as Alex sets him down on his knees onto the bed. He crawls over a little and takes a closer peek, "this is Harper," she looks over at Nicky, "Harper Nicole, your sister."