Chapter Eleven: 38 Weeks

After Beth's conversation in the park while their ki- while Harry and Marcus were playing and after accepting the business partnership offer from Rio, Beth knew that she just needed to take the bull by the horns (Annie) and finally introduce her sister and best friend to Rio. Their relationship was too serious for her to keep him all to herself, and it was only a matter of time, for she had already put in her two weeks notice, before her family found out about her career change. Beth didn't want that information coming from anyone else and clouding how Annie and Ruby saw the move. Instead, Beth wanted to explain it herself in the hopes that her sister and best friend would understand and even support her decision.

Before Rio came into her life, she never would have doubted Annie and Ruby's unwavering encouragement and defense. They were her biggest and most vocal champions, often believing in Beth more than she believed in herself. But their dismissal of the idea that she might have something special with Rio way back during that first confessional brunch had stung, and that hurt had stayed with her. For the first time in her life and their friendship, respectively, it felt like Annie and Ruby didn't trust Beth's judgment. All of a sudden, it was Rio in her corner, not Annie and Ruby.

So, there was also a little part of Beth who not only wanted to introduce Rio to her family… or at least the portion of it that was willing to meet him and now, almost three months later, give him a chance, but that also wanted to show them just how wrong they had been. Yes, she wanted Annie and Ruby to like Rio. It would make her relationship with Rio so much easier moving forward if she wasn't constantly defending him to her sister and best friend, especially in light of Kensley's reaction to Beth dating. But it would be nice for them to recognize just how

good of a couple they were, too. Beth didn't need or even want them to verbally acknowledge her relationship's success, because she already knew just how great she and Rio were together, but she wanted everyone else, especially people like Annie and Ruby who had only seen her alone or, even worse, in the dumpster fire of a relationship that was her marriage to her ex-husband to know it as well.

Admittedly, that was a lot to ask for from an initial meeting, and Beth debated where it should happen. If Annie wasn't so blunt and Ruby wasn't so protective, then she might have thrown a small dinner party - the whole good food, good friends idea. Although Beth knew that Rio could take whatever attitude and interrogation her sister and best friend dished out, he shouldn't have to, especially not in such a forced environment. Plus, Beth really didn't relish the idea of scrubbing spilled wine and smashed chocolate cake off of her floors, because when Annie was there, Beth could never rule out a food fight.

Another playdate at the park - this time, with Rio in attendance as well - wasn't an option either, because Annie didn't have any children, and she said she always felt like a weirdo, sitting on a park bench watching children that weren't hers. Beth then ruled out any activity that was educational - like a museum trip - or physical - like engaging in a sport, because she wanted Annie to enjoy herself and be in the best possible mindframe for meeting Rio and hearing Beth's news. With every idea she thought of and then proceeded to dismiss, Beth knew what she had to do, where she had to hold the introductions.

Lucky's.

She just… needed to do so in a way that her sister couldn't somehow end up taking advantage of Rio in the future, so that meant making sure that Annie didn't find out that Rio… and now really Beth, too… owned the bar.

As they slid into Rio's designated booth - Beth didn't think about it; she just automatically moved towards the always open and reserved table, Annie asked, "since when do you drink at hipster bars?"

Beth glanced around her, denying, "it's not a hipster bar."

"Uh… yeah it is," Annie insisted. Then her sister started listing off the reasons why she felt that way. "Vintage decor? Check. Mood lighting? Check. Impractically displayed booze for visual effect? Check. Music that no one has ever heard of and that's why people like it? Check. And look at who else is here. You and Ruby are the only non-twenty-somethings in this place.""Well, besides you." And, really, that felt like all the comeback Beth needed. Judging by the pout on Annie's face, she was pretty sure her jab had hit its mark, too. Beth would always be older than her sister, but Annie was the one who was sensitive about her age now that she was in her thirties.

When their server approached, Beth's smirk of victory turned into a genuine smile. "Hi, Tommy."

"You know his name? How often do you come here," Annie wanted to know."He's wearing a nametag," Beth dismissed. That wasn't why she knew who Tommy was. One of the first things Beth did after she and Rio… agreed on the terms of their deal was learn the names of everyone they employed, but her sister couldn't know that, because then she would realize that the bar was a part of that portfolio. Turning back to the young waiter, she held out the credit card she had ready in her hands. "Can we start a tab, please?"

Tommy looked at her confused, "But Mr. Garza doesn't pay…"

"Wait," Annie cut him off, "who's Mr. Garza?"

Sighing and worried that she would never get through this exchange, Beth quickly told her sister, "that's Rio's last name."

"You can't tell me that your boi wears a nametag around here, too, so how does Tommy know him and why the mad respect?"

It was Tommy who answered Annie. "Of course, I know Mr. Garza. He owns..."

"... a lot of businesses in the area," Beth finished for the younger man. He looked at her askance, and she tried to beg him with her eyes alone to just go along with her. "Rio's kind of a prominent figure around here.""And the area has seen the two of you together enough to automatically associate you with him," Annie wanted to know, suddenly sounding hurt.

It was Ruby who responded. "Well, to be fair, I'm sure Tommy didn't try to discourage Beth from dating Rio, basically telling her that they were doomed from the start."

"That's not what we said," Annie insisted."Close enough," Ruby countered."Anyway," Beth was still holding out her credit card which Tommy refused to take. Maybe if they ordered…? "My sister and best friend will take a glass of the house red, and I want a…""Bourbon, top shelf, neat," Tommy supplied for her, smiling shyly. "Don't worry, Boss. I remember.""Boss?!," Annie practically shrieked."It's… a nickname," Beth hastily explained, "that Rio calls me sometimes. The staff here is good at their jobs. They pay attention.""Plus, I mean, it is your bar," Tommy added.

Beth didn't even allow Annie the opportunity to ask about that. "Because this is where we come when we want a drink, and we've had several date nights here, too."

"Well, I mean, yeah," Tommy started to protest… only for Beth to practically snap at him."Tommy!" She all but forced him to take her card from her. "The tab. Our drinks.""Okay?" The poor server was just completely thrown by her and how she was acting, what she was and was not saying. Beth realized that she should have called or come in beforehand to work out a cover with Tommy and the other staff members."And Rio will be getting here soon. He'll be joining us.""It is his table, so that makes sense," Tommy responded slowly, obviously trying to puzzle his way through the messy quagmire Beth had created that night.

Annie demanded to know, "he comes here so often that he has a designated table?!"

"It's a… VIP thing," Ruby offered.

Lowering her voice and leaning forward over the table, Annie questioned, "does he, like, have a drinking problem or something? Is this an intervention?"

Beth had so many responses to her sister's ridiculous inquiry - for example, why would anyone hold an intervention at a bar, and why would Annie and Ruby, practical strangers, be invited to Rio's? - that she frankly didn't know where to begin. But she didn't have to, because in that moment, Tommy, after hanging her out to dry for the past ten minutes, saved her. "Hey, don't I know you," he said to Annie, narrowing his gaze and looking at her closely.

Her sister started to squirm, started to look anywhere but at Tommy, Beth, or Ruby. "No. Of course not. I mean, why would you know me? How could you know me?"

"No, I do," Tommy insisted. And with every word he said, his tone became more confident. He became more sure of himself. "You came in here with two guys. They were both younger than you. One tried to sell me on running a fake ID business out of Lucky's, and the other was dressed like some mall rent-a-cop. And you? You were loud and obnoxious, kept going on about something or someone called Boomer. And I remember all of this, because you drank and dashed!""Yeah, Little Marks has a habit of skipping out on her responsibilities," Rio commented as he slid into the booth next to Beth and immediately set his dark, unwavering gaze on Annie. "Let me know whoever took the hit that night on their bill, I'll pay 'em back," he informed Tommy. "But she and her friends ain't allowed to drink in here again unless Elizabeth's with 'em, yeah?"

With a brisk nod, Tommy handed Beth's credit card back to Rio and then left to fill their drink orders. With a curious quirk of his brow, Rio flipped the piece of plastic back and forth between his fingers. "What's this now, Mama? You forget that we own this place?"

Annie gasped. Snagging the card from him and lifting her hips enough to slide it into her back pocket, Beth said, "no. But I was trying to prevent… that," she finished by gesturing towards her giddy looking sister.

"Nah, we ain't coddlin' her just to make sure she don't take advantage of you. She'll only get free drinks when she's with us, and I'm not gonna share you often enough for that to become a regular thing.""Wait, I knew that Rio owned a bar," Ruby spoke up, staring at both Beth and Rio."Ugh, traitor!," Annie cried in accusation.

Undaunted, Ruby didn't even spare Annie a glance. "But Tommy called Beth 'Boss,' and you just now said we. What's going on?"

"Oh my god," Annie exclaimed. "Oh my god, Beth!"

Unsure of what had her sister so worked up, she cluelessly asked, "what…?"

"Look, I get that we might not have been… the best pep squad when this," Annie waved between Rio and Beth, "first started, but to run off and elope with the guy before we've even met him? That's dry ice level cold, Sis."

Beth held up her left hand, free of any rings. "We're not married."

Annie's gaze flickered towards Rio's jewelry adorned hands and wrists. "Hey, I always wear these. And you'd know that for yourself if you'd stuck around long enough to help clean up after Elizabeth's kid's wedding."

"Dude, that's the second time you've busted my balls about that tonight. It was weeks and weeks ago, so get over it already.""Nah, I don't think so," Rio argued with Annie. "Because you're supposed to be her people, which means you have her back, always."

Annie smirked. "Isn't that your pleasure now?" Frankly, Beth was surprised it took her sister that long to reference Beth's sex life. "Besides, it seemed to work out pretty well for you, didn't it?"

"You think, if you and Ruby had stayed to help her clean up, I still wouldn't've gone back for seconds?""Don't you mean thirds," Annie corrected him."Maybe for her but not for me," Rio refused to back down… which was a good thing, because Annie would never respect him if he did. He needed to hold his own against Beth's sister… not that Beth had any doubt that he'd be able to. While he and Annie engaged in a staring contest - neither willing to give in, Rio wrapped his right arm around Beth's shoulders, pulling her in closer to his side."We should have stayed that night," Ruby acknowledged Rio's charges against herself and Annie. "It's not an excuse, just an explanation, but Beth has always been so… competent. She's never needed anyone, but that doesn't mean that she shouldn't have had our help anyway."

Rio held his hands up and out to signal that he would relent. "That's all I wanted to hear."

For a loaded moment, Ruby watched Rio with an appraising, approving eye. The look on her best friend's face was all Beth needed to see to know that it was one down, one to go. Ruby was on board with their relationship. Now, she and Rio just needed to convince Annie.

"If you really didn't elope…?""We're not married," Beth stated emphatically for her sister."... then what's up with you being all large," Annie gestured towards Beth's chest, "and in charge?""You ain't doin' that," Rio warned Annie."And you don't get to go all territorial over Beth's boobs just because you're motorboating them on the regular. They were mine first," Annie contended."What is wrong with you," Beth hissed at her sister. "Would you please be serious for once in your life?" Annie rolled her eyes, but she didn't argue further. Taking that as the opening it was, Beth explained, "I'm leaving Wayne State. I want to do something else, something more, and Rio recognized that about me. He offered me a partnership, and I accepted. I'm cashing in my 401k and buying into his businesses, which we'll be expanding to include catering and party planning services, and we're buying some food trucks, too.""Oh my god, congratulations, Honey Bee!," Ruby enthusiastically cheered, holding her hands out across the table for Beth to squeeze. As she did, Ruby praised, "you're going to be so amazing at this! And you'll finally be using your degree for more than just making some old white dude look good at his job. I'm proud of you!""Thanks, Ruby. I'm pretty proud of myself, too.""Beth, Beth, Beth," Annie practically sang her name. "Did I not teach you anything, son?! You don't buy the cow when you would've legally gotten half of the meat for the cost of a marriage license if you had just waited a few more months."

Exasperated, Ruby spun on Annie and called her out, "bitch, that is not how that expression's supposed to be used!"

"But, I mean, it still works," Annie defended."First, of all, it's about milk, not meat," Ruby continued on, unfazed and still riled up."You can get both things from a cow, and I changed it up, because only girl cows give you milk… unless you're talking about the other white juice, which, frankly, I don't want to think about in relation to my older sister's latin lover, thank you very much!""But the idiom is about sex," Ruby argued, tossing her hands up in frustration. "Not assets.""Well, aren't they kind of the same thing?""They're really not," Ruby settled back down in her seat with a huff.

Her best friend wasn't wrong for taking issue with Annie's… reprimand, but the part of it that bothered Beth the most was the presumptiveness on her sister's part. "Ten weeks ago, you didn't even think I should see Rio again, and now you're essentially telling me I should have married him for his portfolio?"

"Not for his portfolio," Annie clarified. "But if you're going to end up down the aisle with him anyway, why spend your entire life savings on something that inevitably would have ended up half yours?"

Beth still couldn't wrap her mind around Annie's leap from 'not your type' to 'hello, my future brother-in-law.' "But you don't even want us to be together?"

"Oh no, I'm fine with the two of you being a couple. In fact, I think it's great. I don't appreciate you holding out on me about dating someone who owns a freaking bar - there are so many double dates in your future, I'm just warning you - and I've missed hanging out with my sister for these last few months, because someone," Annie glared at Rio, "is a Beth hog, but this," she waved back and forth between them, "is obviously working for you. I mean, Rubes told me all about your park conversation…""Ruby," Beth whisper-yelled at her best friend."I'm sorry," Ruby immediately apologized. "But I had to tell someone! It was too good not to, and Stan, as wonderful as that man is, wouldn't get it, because he's still a man. That left Annie.""Hey!," Annie protested.

She went ignored. "Plus, I thought it might help the eventual meet and greet that you promised me if she knew that you lov…," Ruby's eyes went huge in apology as she corrected herself, "really liked him. Rio. You," Ruby finished, nodding towards Rio in recognition.

Rio must have realized - and, really, it wasn't that difficult - what Ruby had almost said, because he grinned mischievously before saying, "I lov… really like Elizabeth, too." Then, turning to Annie while softly running his calloused fingers back and forth over the bare skin of Beth's left arm, he advised, "and think of it more as your sister investin' in her future rather than spendin' her retirement."

"Alright, I can get behind that," Annie agreed. "But I hope the rest of your businesses are run better than this one. I mean, do we have to wait for the booze to age before we can get our drinks or what?""Nah, Tommy's just been waitin' for my signal that it was safe to approach. You ladies traumatized him enough already, yeah?""Weak," Annie fake coughed.

Rio lifted a brow to question if she was finished yet, and Annie held her hands up in surrender, prompting him to nod towards their server.

Of course, Annie waited until Tommy was just stepping up to their booth, a tray with their drinks at the ready, when she queried, "so, besides free booze, lunch at your food trucks, and as many wedding receptions as I want, what else am I getting out of this new partnership of yours?"

Perhaps, Beth mused to herself, their next investment should be a funeral home instead, because she was going to murder her sister.

!

Her phone vibrating against the bedside table woke Beth from a deep sleep. On her side with Rio wrapped around her, she was as comfortable as a woman thirty-eight weeks pregnant could possibly be, and the last thing she wanted to do was move. So, instead, she just sort of… slapped her hand around until she located the buzzing cell. There was no doubt that she would answer it, because only four people would call her that late at night, one of them was beside her, and the other three wouldn't wake her unless they needed to be bailed out of jail (Annie), had a sick child and needed her help (Ruby), or….

"What's wrong," Beth whispered in lieu of a greeting.

"Hi, Beth," her son-in-law responded instead of Kensley who was the last person on her very short list of people allowed to call her at any time, day or night. "I'm sorry for waking you, but Kensley was just admitted. She's in labor again, and they don't think they'll be able to stop it this time. Her water broke, and she's already dilated a few centimeters."

"Aaron, you had me at my daughter was admitted to the hospital," she told him, "though I appreciate the details. I'll be there as soon as I can, okay?"

"Thanks, Beth." She expected him to hang up, but when he didn't and there was an awkward pause, she knew nothing he was about to say was going to be good. "So, uh, Dean's already here. We didn't call him first, though!"

"If Kensley wants her father there and he can help her get through this, I really don't care."

"It's just, Judith has been staying with us… as you know, so when the contractions woke us up, she called Dean and told him to meet us at the hospital."

"None of that matters, Aaron," Beth emphasized. "Now, take care of our girl until I can get there, alright?"

"Yeah, okay. I can do that," a shaky Aaron agreed before hanging up.

With her free hand, Beth linked her fingers with Rio's, squeezing him. She wanted to ease him awake instead of startling him, not wanting him to think that she was the one in labor rather than Kensley. But then he returned the squeeze and nuzzled into the back of her neck, kissing her. "You ready to meet your grandson, Mama?"

Turning around in his arms… with more than a little assistance from Rio as well, Beth confessed, "no, not really. With her belly between them now, both of their touches gravitated towards the stretched, taut skin. "I thought we'd be meeting our baby first. Even after Kensley's first preterm labor scare, once they stopped her contractions, I still thought I'd go first."

"Maybe it's better this way," he suggested. "Not that Kensley's early but that you can be there for her. If you'd just had a kid yourself, you'd be in no shape to help."

"I mean, let's be honest. She's probably not going to want me in the delivery room with her anyway."

"So, you'll sit out in the waitin' room with her pushover husband while Deansie's in there, cuttin' the cord and handin' out blue cigars," Rio teased.

"That's not funny," Beth chastised him through her quiet laughter.

When she laboriously sat up - again with his help, Rio followed suit. "What are you doing? Go back to bed."

"If you think I'm about to make my very pregnant wife do this alone, you outta your fuckin' mind, Elizabeth."

"But…," she sputtered, unsure of how she wanted to protest but knowing that she needed to. "If I'm unwanted there, then you're downright unwelcome!"

"Look," Rio smoothed her long, unruly hair back from her face. "It's not only late, but it's a stressful situation. If somethin' goes wrong…"

"Don't even say it," Beth warned him, reaching up to cover his mouth with her right hand.

But he plucked her hand out of midair, cradling it in both of his own. "I'm not wishin' for it to happen, Sweetheart. I'm just tryin' to be realistic. Kensley's only thirty-four weeks, and she's had a difficult pregnancy. No matter what, you gonna need someone there to support you. And if shit goes sideways, who's gonna comfort you? No one in that pit of vipers."

"I could call Ruby or Annie. As Kensley's Aunts…"

"Nah, Baby, we talkin' about you now, not your daughter. I know your girls would be there for you if you asked, but you don't have to. As your husband, let me do this for you, yeah?"

It wasn't that Beth didn't want Rio there with her, always. She just hated the reality of the situation. Because Dean, Judith, and Kensley wouldn't allow him to just be by her side, supporting her; they'd attack him, mock him, ridicule him. The Bolands weren't her family, but Kensley was, and the contrast between how Rio's family had so warmly welcomed her compared to the vitriol he had been subjected to by her daughter ate away at Beth. Just as Rio wanted to keep her and the baby safe, she wanted to protect him, too… even if it was just from her ex-husband calling him names.

And then there was the Marcus of it all. He was just eight years old and the sweetest little boy ever, yet Dean and Judith considered him fair game as well. It was disgusting. Gesturing towards the little room across the loft where her stepson slept, Beth offered up one last objection. "What about Marcus? I know your Grandmother would stay with him for us, but I don't want to wake Marcus up to take him to Rosa's, and I can't really wait for her to get here before leaving."

Rio shrugged like the answer was obvious. "We'll take him with us."

"I really don't think that's a good idea."

"Why not," he argued, standing from the bed and holding his hands out to pull Beth up after him. While doing so, Rio pressed, "it's what any good Tío would do."

Unlike Kensley who was horrified by the idea of becoming a mother within weeks of also becoming a big sister, Marcus was endlessly amused and pleased by becoming an uncle and a big brother. Somehow, he was still completely oblivious to Kensley's absolute refusal to have anything to do with him, and he firmly saw himself as Tío Marcus to Beth's first grandchild. It was adorable and unbelievably sad at the same time, and it infuriated Beth that she had raised such a selfish daughter - to deny Marcus the relationships he was so keen to have but to also deny her own son from having as many people possible who loved him.

"You know the Bolands won't hold their tongue just because Marcus is with us! They'll say horrible things to and about you, things that will confuse Marcus." As Rio tugged Beth into the closet to change and get ready, she continued, "hell, they'll probably say horrible things to and about him as well!"

"Pop's tough. He can handle anythin' that jackass and his crypt keeper of a mother can dish out."

Even though it was late January, Beth was carrying around an extra twenty-five pounds… oh, and another human as well, so she tended to run hot and slept in as little as possible when Marcus was with them and absolutely nothing when he wasn't. As she slipped off her maternity nightgown which was made to also allow for easy nursing once she gave birth, Beth contended, "but he's just a child, Rio. He shouldn't have to put up with Dean and Judith's racist insults."

"If it ain't those assholes, it'll just be the next," he pointed out while pulling on a pair of track pants. Then, as he came up behind her - still shirtless but knowing that she always appreciated it when he helped her fasten her bra, he added, "besides, it's 3:00 AM. Pop'll either be halfway asleep or outright passed out. If Dean's really that pathetic - "

"He is," Beth interrupted and emphasized.

" - that he bitches about us the whole time instead of worryin' about his kid, it won't matter, 'cause we ain't gonna be listenin' to him anyway."

Through the fabric of her shirt as she tugged it on, Beth asked, "and if he insults me instead?"

"Well, then, you'll have two, if not three," Rio rubbed her belly, "Garza men defendin' your honor, Mami."

Patting his chest over the t-shirt and zip up hoodie he now wore, Beth assured Rio, "my honor and I are just fine. Please do not engage with Dean on my behalf. I divorced the man and married you." Sure, there was more than a twenty year gap between both events, but who was counting? "I believe that says it all about what I think of his opinion of me and your gallantry, Sir Garza."

Taking her pants with her - if she put them on in front of Rio, he would insist upon holding them for her and having Beth balance on his shoulders, and that almost always ended up with the two of them stripping off all of the clothes they had managed to put on rather than finishing getting dressed, Beth went to leave the closet, heading towards the bathroom, when Rio called out behind her, "Sir Garza, huh? I don't hate it. But I'd bet it'd sound even sweeter comin' off those lips if they were wrapped around my…"

Blushing to the roots of her hair, Beth cut him off. "Go wake up our son and get him in his coat and boots. We're leaving in five minutes."

"You bein' all bossy ain't a deterrent to my thoughts on the subject, Darlin'."

Turning around to playfully glare at him, she offered, "how's this for a deterrent: do you really want to walk into that hospital with a hardon for the crypt keeper to see?"

Scowling, Rio complained, "message received, Ma. Damn."

True to her word, five minutes later, Beth held the door open for Rio as he carried Marcus downstairs and towards where the Mercedes was parked. At eight - almost nine now… as he reminded them daily, Marcus was perfectly capable of buckling himself into the car, but Rio knew their son well, and Marcus had already fallen back asleep - his little mouth puckered into a pout. Every few moments, he'd let out a snuffle of a snore that made Beth tempted to crawl into the backseat - if such a feat was even possible for her, which it was not at the moment - so she could cuddle up with him.

"You know, if you really find snorin' that cute, I could sleep with my mouth open, too."

"Don't worry, Honey," she patted the arm next to her. "You already snore."

Rio scoffed. "Do not!"

"No, if you sleep on your back, you definitely do."

"Well, then, I guess I'll just have to keep you pregnant and sleepin' on your side all the time, so I can wrap myself around you instead."

"Hmm," Beth hummed in response, too distracted and too worried to really banter with him.

Rio linked his right hand with her left, clutching her fingers tightly. "In a few hours, I'll take Pop, and we'll head over to Dutch Girl Donuts, pick up some breakfast and non-hospital coffee and green tea for everyone." Beth had no doubt that he'd also return with some source of protein and some fruit for her as well. "And any errands you or Kensley need, just let me know, yeah?" All she could do was nod to show her acceptance, her appreciation. "I'll call your girls, too - let 'em know what's goin' on. Grandma's gonna wanna know as well. You cool with me tellin' her?"

"Of course," Beth reassured. "It means a lot to me that Rosa cares about Kensley and the baby simply because I love them."

"That's what family does, Ma."

The door to the maternity floor waiting room hadn't even closed behind them - Rio to Beth's side carrying a sleeping Marcus who was wound around his father like a spider monkey - when Aaron was bursting into the room - out of breath, wide eyed, and looking on the verge of tears. "Oh, thank god you're here!"

It was Dean who reacted first, though he ignored his son-in-law's desperation in favor of complaining. "Are you kidding me with this, Bethie? Kens is about to have my grandson! The last thing I need right now is you flaunting your cartel boyfriend in my face!"

Surprisingly, it was Judith who reprimanded him. "Not now, Dean." But then not so surprisingly, she, too, insulted not just Rio but Beth as well. "It's obvious that Beth's too big to fit behind the steering wheel, so he drove her here. Let the man do one of the things he's actually qualified for!"

"Both of you shut up," Aaron snapped. "I just can't with either of you right now!" And he didn't have to, because Kensley wasn't there, and chances were that too much would happen in the interim, and Dean and Judith would long forget Aaron's one moment of standing up to them. Addressing Beth specifically, he explained, "they're taking Kensley into emergency surgery. She and the baby are both in distress, and they need to take him via c-section. I don't… she… you…" Swallowing roughly, Aaron seemed to summon his last ounce of strength to inform Beth, "she needs her Mom right now."

"Then I'll go scrub in."

!

"So, word on the maternity floor is that congratulations are in order, Grandma," Dr. Smythe greeted Beth and Rio at their next appointment.

"Actually, Kensley has decided that her son will call me Nana. Judith, my ex-mother-in-law, will retain her Grandmother title."

The physician looked at her closely. "Shouldn't the kid get to decide what he calls you… once he's old enough to talk, of course?"

"Frankly, I'm kind of afraid to even think what that might be," Beth confessed, "considering what he'll probably hear said about me by the rest of his family. Nana is fine."

Smirking, Dr. Smythe turned to Rio. "Does that make you Papa, then?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure Kensley'd put her own kid up for adoption before she let him call me anything but 'the Mexican unfortunately married to Nana.'"

"I feel like a two year old might struggle to pronounce that," the OB-GYN joked.

"Well, it ain't gonna be worse than what his Grandpa Deansie calls me."

"Let me get this straight," Dr. Smythe prefaced, looking a little disturbed… but also gleeful. It was a strange combination. "His great-grandmother and grandfather… who also happen to be mother and son… are Grandma and Grandpa, while you, his grandparents who are actually married to each other and not rocking an Oedipal complex, are Nana and 'insert your favorite racist slur against Hispanics here?'"

"Yeah, that pretty much covers it," Beth confirmed the doctor's conclusion.

"I mean, after that, getting weighed at thirty-eight weeks pregnant will be a treat." Patting the scale, Dr. Smythe told her, "hop on."

"You know, I prefer it when Rio tells me that."

"And here's a spoiler for you," Rio continued where Beth left off. "I ain't askin' her to sit on no damn scale."

"That's fair and deserved for my earlier enjoyment of your family dynamics. It's just," the physician paused in adjusting the weights, "in my defense, Dr. Park has told me enough about the Bolands to know that… they're kind of awful."

"You think they're bad, wait until you hear what they named the kid," Rio warned her. "Kensley just sentenced him to eighteen years of wedgies and havin' his lunch money stolen."

"You're at 26 pounds gained, Beth. That's fantastic." Stepping off the scale with a glare at her OB-GYN, she waited for the inevitable follow up question to the… colorful picture Rio had painted of her grandson's future. "And it can't be that bad. I deliver babies for a living. I've heard it all: the weird, the boring, the mildly offensive, and even the occasionally admirable baby name."

"Way to make me not want to tell you what we pick for our child so as to avoid your judgment," Beth grumbled.

Dr. Smythe frowned. "The two of you are mocking your own grandson's name. You do not have the understanding, open-minded highground right now."

Climbing up onto the exam table… with Rio's help of course, Beth primly stated, "I have not said anything negative about Keane's name."

"Is that even a real name," Dr. Smythe wanted to know.

"Apparently, it is, and they're spelling it with an extra 'e' at the end, so Judith can tell her country club friends that it's Old English rather than Irish."

While affixing the blood pressure cuff to Beth's left arm, the physician asked, "well, what does it mean then?"

Biting her bottom lip to stem the smirk that wanted to take over her mouth, Beth answered, "it means fighter; sharp, keen wit or eye."

"Let's hope the name can give him somethin' besides swirlies, 'cause he ain't gettin' those traits from his genes," Rio pronounced.

"I'm sorry, but I just can't get past the fact that your daughter named her son after herself and her father!" Normalling her tone, the OB-GYN read, "your blood pressure is at 105 over 68, Beth. You're ridiculous."

"Kensley actually claims that she named the baby after Dean and his father, Kenneth."

"Whom Kensley is named for herself," Dr. Smythe continued to object, moving on to measuring the baby's heartbeat and its fundal height.

Beth didn't need for the physician to tell her there were no changes, though; she could feel that her son or daughter was still in the exact same place. The baby hadn't dropped at all, and she was no closer to giving birth than she had been the week before at her check-up. "Look, after Kensley's delivery, I wouldn't have cared if she named him Dean Jr. It was… terrifying."

"Yeah, Dr. Park told me a little about it. As your OB-GYN, I kind of wish you hadn't been in the room while weeks… if not days… shy of going into labor yourself."

"That's not what I meant when I said it was scary. I know that my baby is in the proper position, and I know that my hips are perfectly adequate for delivering a child. Plus, I'm already four weeks further along than Kensley was. It's just… to see your daughter in that kind of pain, to see her that frightened but incapable of doing anything more than hold her hand while near strangers cut her open to pull her baby out of her? And then the umbilical cord was wrapped around his little neck, and he was blue." Beth had to pause, swallowing down her tears, because she had promised herself that she was done crying. To comfort her, Rio started to run one of his large, warm hands up and down her back. "They think it happened when they were trying to get him turned, but then he got stuck in the birth canal, and Kensley received too much anesthesia, so she was too numb to push."

"That… does not sound like Dr. Park," Beth's own physician commented, surprised and confused.

"Because it wasn't. There was a male doctor on duty that night, and Judith convinced Kensley to let him deliver the baby instead. Dr. Park wasn't paged until after Kensley and the baby were in distress."

"Oh my god, I had no idea. She didn't say anything," Dr. Smythe told them.

"Nah, she wouldn't," Rio let the OB-GYN know that they didn't require assurances about her coworker, "'cause she's a professional. The Bolands just fuck up everythin' they touch."

"See, this is why you need a birth plan," Dr. Smythe taunted Beth, earning herself a dirty look for the trouble. "Besides, Hyejin did tell me that mother and baby were well enough to be released from the hospital yesterday."

"Yeah," Beth confirmed, grinning despite the fact that, as soon as she and Keane received a clean bill of health, Kensley no longer wanted her Mother around again. Realistically, Beth couldn't have stayed with her, given that she herself was rapidly approaching her due date, but Kensley and Aaron wouldn't have asked for her help anyway. Instead, Judith would be extending her stay with them while Kensley recovered from her c-section. "Amazingly, there were no lasting effects to the cord being wrapped around Keane's neck. He was a little jaundiced and underweight - that's why they stayed in the hospital for four days, but for being six weeks early, he had no developmental issues. The corticosteroid treatments Dr. Park gave Kensley definitely helped, I think."

Rolling away from the exam table to make her notes, Dr. Smythe stated, "well, your baby will certainly not be a preemie. That little nugget hasn't budged an inch, and even with a grandson having just been born, if you were showing any physical signs of labor - dripping or the breaking of your waters, contractions, losing your mucus plug, dilating at all, I'm pretty sure you would have led the appointment with that. I'd rather not give you a cervical exam unless it's necessary, and I'm not seeing anything right now that makes me think it is."

"Nah, I can reassure you that there ain't no changes up in there."

Snarkily, the OB-GYN taunted, "thank you, Dr. Garza, for your expert consultation, but I think I'd actually prefer to hear from Beth herself on this one."

Shrugging and hiding her grin, Beth replied, "well, if anyone is intimately familiar with my cervix, it's Rio."

Standing, Dr. Smythe announced, "I hate you both. If you were my kid's Nana and Abuelito, I wouldn't name him after you either." As she walked out of the exam room, the physician finished with, "I'll see you next week. Tell Marcus, the only person in your entire family whom I like, hello from me. Oh, and Tía Gloria. I still want to try some of those tamales."