Welcome Jenny Rebecca

Much to Gus's delight, Melanie's ride to the hospital had escalated to what could only be described as a high velocity amusement park ride as Tony's skilled driver bullied his way through traffic at breakneck speed. "Can't this thing go any faster?" Tony called out.

"Yeah, go faster!" Gus bounced around in the back seat.

"Linz, here comes another one." Melanie hailed another contraction.

"Come on sweetheart, you can do it. Take Short quick breaths." Lindsey panted along with her partner. "Gus will you please sit down!"

"Aww mom!"

"Listen to your mother Gus." Tony grabbed Brian's precocious cub, and placed him on his lap.

"We're almost there Mr. Massey, I can see Mercy Hospital from here." Tony's driver announced.

"That's the wrong one." Melanie said between breaths.

"WRONG ONE, what the fuck do you mean WRONG ONE?" Tony's eyes widened.

"Oooh mom, he cursed!" Gus pointed out.

"We're going to Magee Women's Hospital." Lindsey said.

"That's way on the other side of town!" Tony panicked.

"That's where Mel's doctor is, and that's where they're waiting on her. Don't worry Mr. Massey, this is Mel's first baby we have plenty of time." Lindsey assured him.

Tony looked down at Melanie's soaked gown, and the body fluids pooling on the back seat of his limo. "Plenty of time my ass. A hospital is a hospital, and you're going to Mercy." he decided.

"Oooh you cursed again." Gus continued to point the finger.

"Linz, don't let him take me to Mercy." Melanie pleaded. "My doctor isn't there, I can't have this baby with a strange doctor. What if something goes wrong. They won't know me, or what to do. What if something happens to the baby……?

"SHIT, Take her to Magee!" Tony called out to his driver.

"Oooh mommy he cursed again!"

"SHUT UP GUS!" All four adults yelled at him in unison.

Michael laid sprawled out on the backseat of Brian's jeep with his head resting in Debbie's lap. "Everything is going to be just fine sweetheart. Take deep breaths." She rubbed her son's forehead.

"What the fuck are you doing? Melanie's the one having the baby, not you!" Brian yelled from the driver's seat.

"Leave him alone. Haven't you ever heard of sympathy pains?" Debbie snapped.

"Yeah, I'm feeling a sympathy pain in my ass right now!" Brian growled.

"Watch out Brian!" Justin pointed.

"YOU STUPID SON-OF-A-BITCH, GET THE FUCK OUT OF THE WAY!" Brian yelled out of the driver's window at a toddling motorist.

"Oooooh." Michael groaned.

"Make a right at the next light. That will take you to the expressway." Justin directed.

"Leave it to a woman to pick a hospital way on the other side of town." Brian grumbled.

"She didn't pick the hospital, she had to go to the hospital where her doctor is on staff." Debbie came to Melanie's defense.

"Then she should have chosen another doctor!" Brian argued.

"You don't understand. A woman wants a doctor that she's comfortable with." Debbie attempted to explain.

"How comfortable can she be with her legs up in stirrups, and her ass in the air? Hummm, that sounds hot, make a note of that." Brian turned to Justin, and smiled..

"Will do." Justin grinned.

"Stop being vulgar you two. Have you no respect for the sanctity of motherhood?" Debbie frowned.

"Ooooh." Michael moaned again.

As directed, Brian made a right-hand turn at the next light only to find traffic on the expressway backed up for what seemed like miles. "Everybody hold on!" He warned his passengers before proceeding onto the emergency ramp. Brian ignored Debbie's screams, and the virtual parking lot of honking cars. He was about to clear the congested bottleneck when he noticed a flashing red light in his rearview mirror.

"Slow down Brian, it's the police." Justin warned.

Shit. Brian reluctantly stopped the car, and waited for the two uniformed policemen to pull up behind him. He watched as the driver got out of the prowler, and unsnapped the safety on his gun before approaching the jeep. "Oh look, it's Barney Fife. I could have outran these Keystone pigs." Brian growled.

"Shhhh!" Justin squeezed his incorrigible lover's arm.

"In a hurry tonight ladies?" The officer bent down, and looked inside the jeep.

"Yeah, we heard there was a fabulous shoe sale over at Saks Fifth Avenue." Brian said sarcastically.

"Is that right? Let's see some identification! Fucking faggots." The officer mumbled under his breath.

"Officer we're on our way to the hospital." Debbie called out from the back seat.

"What's wrong with him?" The officer looked at Michael.

"He's having a baby." Brian sneered.

"Who's the father, you?" The officer chuckled.

"No, your dad is." Brian hissed.

"Officer please!" Debbie intervened. "My boyfriend is detective Carl Horvath. He works out of the 13th district. If you give him a call, he can vouch for who we are, and why we're driving on the safety ramp. We're on our way to Magee Women's Hospital. My first grandchild is being born, and I don't want to miss it."

"The plates check out." The second officer walked up to the jeep to say.

"We've got a problem. It seems we've got a smart ass little bitch here." The first officer motioned toward Brian.

"We're on our way to Magee Women's Hospital. My first grandchild is being born, and I don't want to miss it." Debbie pleaded her case again.

The second officer looked at Brian, then over at Justin, and finally at Michael who was still laying on the back seat. "Let's give these good people an escort to the hospital." The officer suggested.

"What, you can't be serious." The first officer objected.

"Come on, have a heart. How would you feel if you missed the birth of your first grandchild?" The second officer placed his arm around his partner's shoulder, and walked him back to the prowler.

"Whew!" Debbie breathed a sigh of relief. "Brian, do you have to be an arrogant asshole all the time? You almost got us all arrested. If it wasn't for me we would be headed to jail now instead of getting a police escort to the hospital. See what a little human kindness can accomplish?"

Brian, and Justin watched the prowler maneuver it's way in front of the jeep, and turn on it emergency lights. "That second officer sure looked familiar." Justin vaguely recalled. "Did we fuck him?"

"Yep." Brian grinned.

Tony placed a dollar in the vending machine. "What kind of ice cream do you want." He turned to Gus.

"That one." Gus pointed to the ice cream bar in the picture.

Tony pressed the button, and waited for the ice cream bar to fall. "There you go." He handed the cold treat to Gus.

The two then took a seat over in the vending machines lounge area. Tony watched as Gus tore off the wrapper, and bit down into the chocolate covered vanilla. "Don't you want one." Gus asked.

"No." Tony said.

"You can have a bite of mine." Gus extended the offer.

"No thank you, you eat it all." Tony smiled, and rested his head against the wall behind him. It had been a long, exhausting day. By now he had planned to be on the plane, on route to Atlanta for tomorrows opening of the new Plaza Atlanta. So much for best laid plans. There was no way he was going to make his flight now. By the time his driver got the limo cleaned out, and made it back to pick him up it would be too late, especially with all of the new airport security. Tony looked at his watch. Perhaps he should call his assistant, and have her rebook him on a redeye later on that night. If he could make it to Atlanta early tomorrow morning there would still be time to do a last minute inspection before the ribbon cutting ceremony.

"How long does it take to have a baby?" Gus looked up at Tony.

Tony looked down at Gus. "I'm not sure." he said.

"Why can't I go back there with mom, and mommy Mel?" Gus asked.

"Having babies is girl stuff. We men don't belong there." Tony said.

Gus took bite of his ice cream. "Are you sleepy?" he asked.

"Not really." Tony said.

"You look sleepy. Your eyes are red, and you're yawning." Gus pointed out. "Mom says that means you're tired. She makes me take a nap when I'm tired."

"I don't have time for a nap." Tony said.

"That's what my dad says. Do you know my dad?" Gus asked.

"No." Tony lied.

"Are you gay?"

"What?" That one caught Tony by surprise.

"It's ok if you are." Gus assured him. "My dad is gay, and so are my moms."

"Why do you ask?" Tony wanted to know.

"Because you look gay. My dad says all handsome men are gay."

"Thank you for the compliment." Tony nervously shifted in his seat.

"So are you? Don't worry, I won't tell anybody. I can keep a secret." Gus insisted.

"Yes, I am." Tony admitted, and prayed that the conversation was now over.

"Humm." Gus bit another chunk from his ice cream bar. "Do you have a boyfriend?"

Tony starred at the inquisitive moppet. "No, I don't have a boyfriend." he said.

"My dad use to have a boyfriend named Justin, but they broke up. Would you like to meet my dad?" Gus offered.

"I don't think that would be such a good idea." Tony said.

"Why not? He's really handsome, and I think he'd like you." Gus was sure.

"Finish your ice cream Gus." Tony attempted to change the conversation.

"My dad makes a lot of money, and he'll buy you things." Gus continued his pitch. "He use to buy Justin a lot of things. I like Justin. Do you know Justin?"

"No." Tony lied.

"I like Justin, but he made my dad cry."

"I'm sure Justin didn't mean to." Tony said.

"That's what my mom says, but my dad still cries. I think he needs a new boyfriend." Gus decided.

"Let's go see if the baby is here." Tony stood up to say.

Much like on the night that Gus was born, Brian, Justin, and Michael dashed through the doors of Magee Women's Hospital, this time with Debbie bring up a respectable rear. Michael nearly fell into the receptionist's desk. "My name is Michael Novotny, I'm here for Melanie Marcus, I'm the baby's father." He said in one breath.

"She's already in the delivery room, you'd better suit up quick!" The intake nurse informed him, and hurried him through the double glass sliding doors.

Brian, Justin, and Debbie breathed a sigh of relief, and took a seat in the waiting area. "It won't be long now. I thought I'd never see this day. I'm going to be a grandmother." Debbie began to cry.

"Jesus Christ." Brian rolled his eyes, and placed his arm around the weeping woman's shoulder.

Justin smiled, and intertwined his fingers with Brian's free hand. "Wait a minute, if Deb is here, who has Gus?" It suddenly occurred to him.

At that moment Tony, and Gus rounded the corner. From the end of the long corridor they could see the waiting room area. "There's my dad!" Gus looked up at Tony, and smiled. However the youngster's smile quickly faded when he noticed Justin sitting hand in hand next to his father. Gus turned back to Tony. "I guess Justin is dad's boyfriend again. I don't think he needs another one now." he said sadly.

Tony knelt down to eyelevel with the disappointed young cupid. "That's ok. I really don't need a boyfriend." he said.

But Gus wasn't fooled. He had seen that same look in his fathers eyes the night Brian had tried so hard to hold back his tears in front of his son. "Maybe my dad could have two boyfriends." Gus suggested.

"Can I have a hug?" Tony forced a smile. "It was nice meeting you Gus. You be a good big brother to your new baby. Goodbye."

Gus hugged his new friend goodbye, then watched as Tony turned, and walked the other way toward the main hospital entrance.

"Gus?….Gus!" Brian spotted his son at the end of the hall.

"Hi pop, hey Justin!" Gus scurried down the corridor to his reunited family. "Mommy Mel is inside having the baby." he said.

"I know, but who's here with you?" Brian looked around.

"I'm here with Tony." Gus said.

"Tony?" Justin's eyes zoomed down the crowded corridor. "Where is he?"

"He's gone."

"Gone? Which way did he go?" Brian's eyes inadvertently joined Justin's in the search.

"He went that way." Gus pointed.

"Are you the Marcus family?" A nurse entered the waiting room to ask.

"Yes, that's us!" Debbie sprang to her feet.

"Come, and see your little lady." The nurse beckoned for them.

Brian, Justin, Debbie, and Gus followed the nurse to the family viewing area where they found Michael looking exhausted, yet elated standing behind the glass partition. "Look Jenny Rebecca, there's your uncle Brian, and your big brother Gus, that's Grandma, and that's Justin. Say hello." The proud poppa introduced his daughter. Michael walked over to the window, and leaned over to give the others a better view.

Debbie picked up Gus. "See your little sister. Isn't she beautiful?" She tapped on the window.

Brian, and Justin looked on, and waved ceremoniously at the newest Novotny. "Welcome Jenny Rebecca." They said, but their hearts were a hundred feet away at the hospital's main entrance. Where was Tony?

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NEXT WEEK: Even Now

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