Emerge Victorious

Chapter 16

“Something’s wrong,” Jamie whispered as they were halfway out the door. She stopped as she doubled over with pain. “I don’t think I can make it to the car,” Jamie sobbed.

Leda gently pushed Jamie up against a wall then ran to get her a chair while pulling out her cell to call 911. Leda gave their address to the dispatcher, begging them to come fast.

“I’m sorry,” Jamie cried.

Leda stopped her panicky running around to squat in front of her partner. “Why are you sorry?” Leda asked softly taking Jamie’s hands into her own.

“Because I should have listened to you and now...” Jamie didn’t want to say what she was thinking.

“No, baby, this is not your fault. I was being overly protective. I think I must have been a caveman in a past life,” Leda said making Jamie chuckle. “It’ll be all right, you’ll see. Wait, I think I hear the ambulance. I’m going outside for a minute to look for them and get your bag. We’ll be at the hospital in no time.”

Jamie sniffled as she nodded her head. She found if she kept still she didn’t hurt as much. “Oooo,” Jamie moaned with another twinge. “Hurry,” she begged.

Leda frantically waved her arms getting the attention of the ambulance driver as she ran out to their car for the ‘go to’ bag. “She’s just inside. She’s pregnant; I think the baby’s coming, it’s too early,” Leda babbled. The experienced ambulance tech was able to piece together what Leda was rambling about.

“Do you have family you can call?” the driver asked Leda as the tech went inside to assess his patient and the situation.

“Um, yeah, I think so, I mean, yes,” Leda shouted then quickly apologized.

The driver brushed it off; she completely understood. “Why don’t you call someone so they can meet you at the hospital,” the driver suggested to Leda.

“Family, yes, good idea,” Leda mumbled as she pulled out her phone again, dialing random numbers.

“Hello?” someone answered.

“Who is this?” Leda shouted in confusion. The driver was bringing a stretcher into the house.

“This is Brian Kinney and you called me,” Brian said curtly.

“Fuck!”

“Leda?”

“Yeah, why are you on the phone. I thought I was calling Lindsay.”

“Ah, yeah, we’re often confused. We’re both so tall,” Brian snarked.

“I...Jamie...baby...too soon...ambulance...family...hospital!”

“Fucking hell! Leda, hang up. I’ll make the calls. You stay with Jamie,” Brian said, clearly hoping to get through to the hysterical woman.

“Okay...Jamie...thanks...who is this?”

“HANG UP!” Brian growled then he began making calls, first to Lindsay to explain the situation. After he hung up with Lindsay Brian called key people in Pittsburgh. Even though Leda wasn’t a true part of his vast extended family, Brian did consider her a friend and part of his Kinnetik family. The women shouldn’t have to deal with this, whatever the outcome, alone.

 

*****
 

“Leda, we’re going to take Jamie into the operating room,” the doctor said.

“But we were going to do this together,” Leda said trying to stay strong and not break down in front of strangers.

“Jamie’s had a bit of a complication. We think the placenta has separated from the uterine wall. We need to take the baby now.”

“But it’s too soon...the baby.”

“Leda, I need you to focus and sign these papers,” the doctor said. A nurse thrust a clipboard into Leda’s hand. There were a bunch of x’s each indicating a place where Leda was to sign. Her vision blurred as she kept on signing. Someone else guided Leda to a special waiting room, then took the clipboard.

Leda realized she was all alone.

 

*****
 

“What the fuck is wrong with you people?” a very loud angry voice cut through Leda’s fog. “Cunningham! Jamie fucking Cunningham! Who the hell do I have to blow to get some answers around here?” Debbie was more than slightly irked at the lack of response she was getting from the unit receptionist. Unfortunately since Debbie was not officially family to either Leda or Jamie, Debbie was not permitted to get any information. Debbie wasn’t having it.

“Honey!” She spied Leda at a vending machine attempting to beat it into submission for a cup of horrid coffee. Debbie quickly took over. “Let me get this, sweetheart.” Deb hit the right buttons for the coffee. Within minutes she and Leda were back in the waiting room with the cup of coffee.

“I don’t know what’s happening,” Leda whispered as she buried her head in Debbie’s ample chest.

“We’ll find out, honey.”

Just then Katerina came into the room. She was one of the calls Brian made. Katerina wisely called Nick who was already in a scrub suit, mask in hand so he could peek into the operating room. Katerina sat next to Leda and Debbie then explained what she was able to find out. In a few moments Lindsay joined them along with many of the girls’ friends and supporters.

Leda would not be alone.

 

*****
 

“Kinney!” Brian snapped when he answered his cell phone hours later.

“It’s me.”

“Linds? What happened?” Brian asked hesitantly, afraid of the answer.

“It’s over. They’re fine. All of them are fine,” Lindsay assured him before giving Brian the details. Brian blew out a long breath.

“What did they have?”

“A little girl; five pounds three ounces.”

“Small.”

“Yes, it happens sometimes. They’ll be staying in the hospital for a while.”

“You okay?” Brian asked. He suspected Lindsay’s hormones and emotions would be all over the place.

“I’m fine.”

“You sure? Breathing in all those baby smells could be hazardous for a woman your age. Might give you strange ideas.”

“What ideas?” Lindsay laughed.

“Like wanting another baby ideas.”

“Brian, you and I are the same age. My baby making days are over.”

“You can always adopt. Or get a surrogate.”

“Enough silly talk, I’m happy just the way things are. Besides, I have two wonderful children, and Candy now. My life is very full.”

“Linds, do you ever regret that you and I didn’t have kids the old fashioned way?”

“Do you?”

“No apologies, no regrets.”

“You're full of shit. And I got over it. I think our lives are just as they should be,” Lindsay said with a confident voice.

“Yeah, you’re right. Can I send something to Leda and Jamie?”

“Like what?” Lindsay asked with a smile. Big bad Brian fucking Kinney had a very generous heart.

“I don’t know. A fruit basket, a nurse, a naked housekeeper. Something!”

Lindsay laughed. “Let things settle down for a few days and I’ll let you know. I’m sure they’re grateful you made the calls that you did.”

“Keep me posted.”

“I will. I love you, Brian.”

“Love you too.”

 

*****
 

Spring flowers were in full bloom. Warm breezes surrounded the homes of Edna’s Treasures with their scent. It was now the month of May. On Friday May the 15th of the year 2020, Brian and Justin would be celebrating ten years of marriage and twenty years of their unconventional, undefined relationship.

The family couldn’t wait!

 

*****
 

“Craig, you know the dinner with the Brenners is Friday night?” Susan asked.

“Yes, I know. Why do you keep harping on it?”

“I want to be sure you intend to go, not come up with some last minute flimsy excuse.”

“Have I ever done that?”

“Yes, many flimsy excuses that I can recall.” Craig shot her a look. “You know it’s true, especially when you know a certain man will be there.”

Craig made a very unbecoming face. “I can’t stand that man.”

“We’re all eminently aware of your feelings about Brian Kinney. No need to repeat them.”

“I don’t understand why he has to be invited,” Craig griped.

“It’s a family gathering and we’re celebrating the twenty years that Justin and Brian have been together. We can hardly have the party without him. Justin is related by marriage to the Brenners, and he comes with Brian Kinney. Live with it,” Susan snapped.

“Don’t I know it, for those twenty years, I’ve had to put up with that…” Craig refused to call it a marriage. It was such a ridiculous sham – marriage between two men. And relationship was far too nice a word for what his son and that man had been doing.

“Longer than we’ve been together,” Susan interrupted Craig’s thoughts. She couldn’t help but remind him of that fact. She wondered how he would react when he found out the real reason he was going to this gathering. He would blow a gasket. She just prayed that Bree would be able to tame the wild beast and keep him in his seat.

Craig made another constipated face. “I still don’t like it.”

“Just make sure you’re there,” Susan said with a sigh.

 

*****
 

“Unca John,” Bree called as she ran out of the school. She skidded to a stop beside the big Navigator. She could see that Patrick was already inside.

“Are you ready for the big weekend?” John asked as he gave her a hug.

“Yep,” she said confidently, as he got her situated in her booster seat.

“You have a really important part at the dinner,” Patrick said knowingly.

“I do?”

“Yes, you have to keep your grampa from leaving.”

“Oh yeah, I know that,” Bree replied as John started the drive back to Edna’s Treasures. “I thought you meant there was something else. I can handle Gampa Craig.”

John chuckled and shook his head. If only the world were as easy as Briana Victoria Kinney-Taylor found it. Maybe it was that easy when you came right down to it.

“And I have to keep it a secret from everybody, right, Unca John?”

“Totally correct, little lady. Are you up for that?”

“Yep. I’m good,” Bree said bobbing her head and making her ponytail swing back and forth.

“Have your fathers said anything about this dinner at Papaganos?” John asked. They had said very little to him and Bobby. They seemed okay with the whole idea of the family getting together for a dinner to celebrate their 20th anniversary. They were apparently oblivious to all the other behind the scenes activities that were being planned.

“Dada said he hopes the food’s good,” Bree replied.

“He would,” John laughed.

“He said that he hopes everybody goes home early so he and daddy can go to the hotel.”

“He would,” John said shaking his head once again.

“He said he’s really looking forward to taking a trip alone with daddy.”

“He would,” John repeated. He knew what Brian’s motivation for saying each of those things was likely to be. Brian’s libido was legendary.

“Doesn’t Dada like to spend time with you and me and Patrick?” Bree asked with a frown. Her father’s words had apparently just sunk in.

“Of course he does, sweetheart,” John told her. “He just means that it’s nice to have time alone. We all like that from time to time.”

“Oh,” Bree said thoughtfully.

“Your dads love you, Bree, but this is a big anniversary,” Patrick informed his cousin.

“I guess so,” Bree conceded. She really wanted to go with her fathers on the trip that her Dada was planning. He wouldn’t tell her where they were going. She didn’t think her daddy knew where they were going either. But she was sure it would be someplace wonderful like England, and she really wanted to go with them. “Do you think they’d take me with them if I asked really nice?”

“Nicely,” John corrected.

“Nicely,” Bree parroted back.

“I think they would,” John replied. “You know how much they love you.”

“So, can I ask them?”

“I can’t stop you from doing that, but I think you should remember that this is a very special time for your fathers. I think you should let them have this time alone,” John advised.

“Oh,” Bree said with a frown. That wasn’t the answer she had been hoping for.

“You get to stay with us,” Patrick said enthusiastically. “My dads have some big plans for us.”

“They do?” Bree asked brightening up.

“We can go to the Farm and go horseback riding. We haven’t done that in a long time. Dad said we might be able to stay with Grandma Claire and sleep in the treehouse. Right, Dad?”

“I believe I did suggest that.”

“Just you and me … in the treehouse?” Bree asked her eyes getting very large.

“Yep, it’ll be lots of fun,” Patrick said with a big smile.

“Cool,” Bree replied.

Patrick and John both laughed.

 

*****
 

“So, is everything in place from your end?” Emmett asked Debbie over the phone.

“Of course it is. I always have things under control,” Debbie informed him.

“Pardonnez-moi, madame, I should never doubt you,” Emmett said in his most ingratiating French accent.

“And don’t you forget it!” Debbie chastised him. “How are things going on your end?”

“Papaganos is all arranged and the menu selected. Cocktails will start at six. Of course, I’m providing the hors d’oeuvres. You know how much his royal heineyness loves my blue cheese and pear puffs.”

“Yeah, never enough,” Debbie retorted.

Emmett chuckled. “The dinner will begin at seven, and our special event will happen at eight-thirty.”

“Do you think we can pull this off, Emmett?” Debbie’s voice suddenly sounded serious and worried.

“Of course we can,” Emmett said confidently.

“But you know how unpredictable Brian can be.”

“I know that only too well, but don’t forget that Justin will be by his side. Brian will do anything for Justin. And as added insurance, Bree will be there to make sure they behave themselves.”

“I hope you’re right,” Debbie said. “My stomach started to get queasy yesterday, when I realized how close to the actual event we’re getting.”

“We’ve been planning this for months,” Emmett tried to reassure her. “We’ve covered every eventuality. It’s going to go off like clockwork.”

“From your lips to God’s ears.”

“As our dear, dear Brian Kinney would say, who needs God? The details are in the planning and we’ve covered all the possible contingencies.”

“That’s blasphemy, you know,” Debbie warned. “I wouldn’t get too cocky if I were you. This is Brian Kinney we’re dealing with.”

“And what about the other asshole?” Emmett asked as the thought struck him. “How goes the Craig Taylor Project?”

“Susan says he’s agreed to come. He thinks it’s a Brenner family get-together with some recognition of Brian and Justin’s anniversary.”

“Well, I guess in a way it is,” Emmett chuckled. “And John has primed Bree to keep him happy?”

“So he says. That little girl has a lot of responsibility on her head.”

“If anyone can handle it, it’s Briana Victoria Kinney-Taylor. Just ask her.”

Debbie chuckled softly. It was a lot to expect Bree to do, but if they wanted Craig Taylor as part of the celebrations, Bree was their best bet. “Just a word of advice,” Debbie cautioned. “I’m going to say a little prayer that this all comes off without a hitch. You should too.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Emmett replied before he cut the connection.

 

*****
 

“Dada,” Bree called as she marched up the circular staircase to her father’s office.

“Yes, Squirt,” Brian replied pulling his eyes away from the computer screen. He had been examining the latest reports from Kinnetik Isles. Things were going very well for that enterprise.

“Am I wearing my new dress to the party?” she asked as she entered her father’s office.

“Party?”

“Um, the dinner at Papaganos,” Bree replied quickly.

“That’s what we bought the dress for,” Brian said studying his daughter. Something didn’t seem quite right. Bree knew that was what her new dress was for.

“Okay, and we’re going with Unca John in his car? And then I’m going to stay with them while you and daddy go away? Right?”

“Yes,” Brian replied. “Why are you so concerned about all the arrangements for the dinner?”

“Um, I don’t like you going away without me,” Bree said hoping that was a good reason for what she had said.

“Don’t you want us to go?” Brian asked.

“I don’t really want you to go, but Patrick says grown ups like time alone,” Bree informed her father.

“Ah, the wisdom of Patrick Morrison-Anderson,” Brian said facetiously.

“Huh?”

“Nothing, Squirt. You’ll be fine without us for a couple of weeks?”

“Sure,” Bree said knowing that she was supposed to encourage her fathers to go away without her. It just didn’t seem right though.

“Come here, Squirt,” Brian said patting his lap. Bree crawled up and sat primly on Brian’s lap. “What are you going to do while we’re gone?”

“I hafta go to school, Dada.”

“I know,” Brian chuckled. “But have you got any other plans?”

“Patrick says we might go to Gamma Claire’s and me and him can stay in the treehouse.”

“Is that right?”

“Yep. You made that treehouse for Gus, didn’t you?”

“Yes I did.”

“Patrick and me will have fun. You and daddy should have fun too.”

“We’ll do our best, Squirt. Our very best.”
 

Return to Emerge Victorious