Page 21 of Chelsea’s Knight

“Sweetness, no one is going to ask who was sitting behind the wheel,” he replies, hitting the reception area practically at a dead run. “We need help, we’ve got two pregnant women in the parking lot outside the doors who are in active labor.”

At Canyon’s booming declaration, the somewhat sleepy looking emergency department bursts into action, with a reinvigorated alertness. Four people wearing scrubs come running out with two gurneys and move toward the automatic door with Canyon at the lead.

As I attempt to follow, another person wearing scrubs stops me. “Ma’am, can you give me any information on the two women they’re bringing in? I only ask so we can move forward and get their admittance paperwork started,” she probes.

I look at her name tag, see she’s a nurse as well, so I move toward where she motions and once I sit down at the admissions desk, she sits on the other side facing me and places her hands on the keyboard.

Within a few minutes, I can hear my friends coming in behind me as I’m wrapping up giving her CeeCee’s information, having already provided Lilli’s.

“They’re set to go up to Labor and Delivery,” she calls out to the four people who went to get Lilli and CeeCee. “I’ll page their doctor while you get them up there and settled in. Looks like some more babies are on the way!” Her enthusiasm over the pending births is catching and I find myself growing excited about meeting two more babies once they’ve safely arrived.

“You want to go up and wait with everyone, sweetness?” Canyon asks me, having returned to my side.

“Yeah, we can stick around for a little while, I guess. Should we call anyone?” I question, standing when he holds out his hand for me, then he tucks me into his side, and I end up curling into him as though we’re an extension of one another.

“Momma M and definitely Patsy,” he answers. “I’ll get in touch with Atlas and let him have those honors. C’mon, Chels, let’s go up and settle in because it’s looking like it might be a long, sleepless night.”

* * *

There’s something comforting about being curled against Canyon.

“This is kind of exciting,” I whisper, not wanting to interrupt other expecting families who are also in the waiting room with us waiting on word from their loved ones.

“It is, and it’s definitely going to be a day that all of us brothers remember,” he quips, snickering. “I mean, all of us are capable of handling our alcohol, but the bottom line is, we’re all past the buzzed stage and a few are in the blitzed range.”

“Yeah, except for Glacier and Shark, who are still at the clubhouse, most likely so inebriated that they’re passed out,” I remind him.

“Which is probably totally chaotic by now. I think Orion called Roane to see if she could come watch Alexia, Talia, and Mariah, so that Atlas could come up with Patsy for CeeCee and Loki. Toss in Mary and Shamus on top of them and it’s likely a total zoo.”

“Because she brought Roxie and Rosie and they’re little too,” I muse. “Should we go back to help at least clean up the clubhouse so it’s not all on Roane’s shoulders? I mean, I’m sure Mary is helping too, but their priorities should actually be the kids, not cleaning.”

“We will in a little while. Trust me, when I say Mary likely has Shamus and the guys doing the cleaning, even Glacier and Shark, while she, Roane, and Tessie take care of all the kids. I almost added Gia, but she’s now in with CeeCee and Momma M while poor Trident runs back and forth between two floors, the one he’s working his rotation on, and labor and delivery. Sometimes, I don’t understand why he keeps this job since his supervisor is being a dick and not letting him have time off to be with family. I suspect he’s about to show them allwhyhe earned his road name,” Canyon quietly says.

“How?” I query, my curiosity rising.

“When he really gets pissed off, shit starts happening around him, much like the mythological character. So, each time he’s been ‘called away’ from assisting with keeping Loki and Poseidon from losing their shit, especially Loki since CeeCee’s apparently having some complications of some sort, he files a complaint. Poseidon’s already told him if he needs to quit, we’ll hire him at the daycare once it’s opened so we have a constant nurse on staff. Not that he needs to work.”

“What’s going on with CeeCee?” I whisper, fear racing through my body.

Having just heard earlier in the day that she’s been dealing with gestational diabetes throughout her pregnancy, I’m petrified for my friend and her unborn baby. I don’t know enough about pregnancy or potential complications since actually having a baby of my own has really never been in the cards for me. It’s a dead dream, one I’ve silently mourned a few times since meeting Canyon.

“The swelling y’all noticed earlier was because her blood pressure has shot through the roof. They’re also concerned about the size of the baby but need to get her blood pressure under control before they even consider doing a c-section. Trident’s trying to keep Loki calm since he understands all the medical jargon, but his new boss, the fucking dickhead, keeps paging Trident for bullshit reasons, trying to show Trident who has the authority. The problem is, Trident’s reputation from his former hospital has preceded him and quite honestly, since this is a smaller facility, he’s been allowed to do his thing for the most part, so the boss is pissing up the wrong tree. Poseidon, meanwhile, is trying to do whathedoes best, which is keep everyone calm, cool, and collected, however, his own wife is in labor, so he’s torn.”

Since there’s not much for me to say or do, besides send up a prayer to the universe that both women are safe and the babies are delivered healthy, I circle back to a comment he made earlier. “Daycare? The club’s planning on opening up a daycare center?” I ask, excitement rising within me for a totally different reason now.

“Yeah, sweetness. We’re buying a tract of land that came up for sale which is slightly down the road from our property. While none of us are in the construction field per se, we’ve drawn out blueprints of what we’d like to implement in a daycare, and it’s going to include both a pre-K program and early childhood developmental kindergarten class. Which means you need to finish your classes and obtain your teaching certification, Chels, becauseyouare who we want to oversee the running of the daycare and teaching those classes.”

I’m about to ask a few more questions when Poseidon comes into the waiting area and makes a beeline to us. “How’s Lilli?” I manage to get out as he runs his hands through his hair.

“She’s acting like this is no big thing,” he replies, blowing out a hearty puff of steamed air. “Wanted to let you know they’re taking CeeCee in for an emergency cesarean now, Loki’s going in with her, Atlas and Momma M are trying to calm Patsy down, Trident’s about to quit, and I suspect we’re about to be inundated by the rest of our family shortly.”

“Brother, go deal with your woman, we’ll take care of everything else. I’ll get with Shamus and Brooks, and we’ll get shit organized so we’re ready for everyone to be here food-wise. Tell Lilli we’re rooting for her,” Canyon says, his tone soft but with a commanding presence.

Poseidon does the back-clapping thing I’ve seen them do so many times before he heads back to Lilli. Before I can stand up so Canyon can start making his calls, he cups my face in his hand and gently kisses me.

“Got so much to talk about with you, Chels,” he murmurs against my lips. “Let’s get our family sorted out first, though.”

“Okay,” I whisper, the open-ended promise hanging in the air is thick as we both start focusing on what is needed to help our family.

---