holding her stomach, Rome at her side. She looks at me and points her finger. “Don’t you dare say a thing. This is Braxton-Hicks.”
I raise my hands.
“There’s a lot of hostility coming your way tonight.” Sedona laughs.
Stella rises from her chair and heads over to us.
“I can’t walk. Rome.” Harley grabs his arm and drags him down to sit with her. They both fall into a chair. Well, Harley falls onto a chair. Rome falls on his ass.
“Hey, Harley, are you okay?” Stella crouches next to her.
“Stella!” Phoebe jumps at Stella.
I snatch up Phoebe and hand her off to an approaching Phoenix for the baby fix she needs.
“Let’s go into the lounge bathroom,” Stella says. “Sedona, can you make sure there are no women in there? Rome, you go and get your truck. I’ll just examine her really quick and see where we’re progressing.”
Grandma Dori must sense something is amiss because suddenly she’s there. “She’s a doctor, everyone. No worries. Oh, this is so great to have a doctor in the family.”
Stella looks at me and I roll my eyes.
After Sedona gives us the all-clear, we move Harley into the bathroom and position her on the couch. Stella washes her hands and situates herself to look under Harley’s dress, removing her underwear.
Stella swallows hard and looks at me, eyes filled with trepidation. “Harley, you’re going to have this baby right here.”
“Excuse me?” Harley tries to sit up on the couch but winces and grabs her stomach.
“It’s okay. I’m a doctor, and we have a great paramedic right here.” Stella motions to me.
Rome walks in, oblivious to the turn of events. “Come on, truck is running.”
“I’m sorry, Rome, but she’s going to have the baby here. Someone call an ambulance to come for transport.”
“On it!” Sedona says and leaves the room.
Harley groans and Rome falls to his knees at her side, taking her hand in his.
“It’s early,” she cries to Stella.
“Just sit tight. I’m going to talk with Kingston for a sec and get some supplies. I’ll be right back.” Stella nods for me to follow her out, so I do, and she leads me into the kitchen. “I need clean anything. Towels, tablecloths, whatever we can find. Do you how many weeks she is?”
I shrug. “I don’t really know.”
“When did she announce that she was pregnant?”
Again I shake my head. “I’m not always around, okay? I think at the baby shower.”
“Okay, let’s just grab what we need, and you can come back and help me.”
Once we’ve quickly gathered everything, we return to the bathroom and Stella positions herself between Harley’s legs.
“You’re sorely mistaken if you think my little brother is gonna see my wife’s pussy.”
“Rome,” Stella says. “Do you want a healthy baby?”
He frowns and points to me. “Eyes closed.” He slides onto the couch to hold his wife’s back to his front.
I leave the room and a screaming Harley to make sure that ambulance is on the way.
Twelve
Stella
Kingston not knowing how far along his sister-in-law is confirms my suspicions that he hasn’t been around Lake Starlight nearly enough. That saddens me since his entire family has found their way back here to start their families.
“Okay, Harley, when was your due date?” I ask.
“I’m, like, four weeks early.”
I nod, really hoping that ambulance is here before the baby comes out. The baby should be fine if he or she is four weeks early, but any labor has risks. Even the easiest delivery can change course quickly with a simple complication. I’d rather she have this baby in a hospital.
“What could go wrong?” She looks at Rome, who looks to me for reassurance.
But I know better than to guess what we’re dealing with here. Many a lawsuit has been filed based on some doctor looking into their crystal ball and trying to predict what may or may not happen.
Kingston comes back into the room, Grandma Dori right behind, dragging Sedona with her.
“Don’t you dare think I’m not coming in, Kingston. Sedona needs to see this to prepare herself,” Grandma Dori says.
“The baby is crowning,” I say.
We get towels situated underneath her and some extras ready. By then, Harley lets out an anguished cry.
Grandma Dori touches Harley’s hair and pats Rome’s shoulder. “How are we doing?”
“Having a baby, G’Ma D,” Rome says, a bitterness to his voice almost none of them ever have with their grandmother.
“I don’t think I want to see this,” Sedona says, standing at the end of the couch with a horrified expression.
“Nonsense. You need to know what you’re