The Cradle Will Rock [[NUW && TEMPY]]

To say that she was ready to pop would have been the understatement of the year. Her feet were swollen all the time, her back hurt, sleeping was nearly impossible. Amorina couldn’t remember the last time she had a restful sleep. She had bought two body pillows, four more regular pillows (to go with the two she already had), some kind of awkward sleep wedge, and two comforters, one thick, the other thin. Her bed looked absolutely ridiculous, and yet she still was not able to get comfortable. Thankfully, she was much too pregnant to go to the school, so she napped on and off in her pillow-infested bed.

The clouds were scarce in the sky, rarely blocking the sun. It was chilly still, barely out of winter, but the wind chill really brought it out. Amy was snuggled up in her thin comforter, her legs propped up to alleviate the swelling in her ankles. Her hair was up in a large bun; she had absolutely no patience lately, and little baby hairs were not exempt from the list. She had been on bed rest for the past few weeks, simply waiting for her baby to come. She tried to stay off her feet as much as she could, but she hated feeling so helpless. If Emilio were there… Well, he wasn’t, so there was no use crying about something she could never change. She was, and always would be, grateful for Caroline and Jaime, but… It just wasn’t the same.

A glass of water sat on the bedside table, next to a picture of Emilio taken the day they went to the beach. It was her favorite photo of him, posing on the horse like some super hero ready to save the day. Remembering that day always brought a smile to her face. He had been such a wonderful man; if only he had been able to live long enough to be the wonderful father she knew he would have been.

She had given Caroline and Jaime spare keys to her apartment, in case of an emergency. Most of the time she kept her door unlocked. It was easier than trying to rush to open it. There was no rushing for her anymore. If you couldn’t wait, you were just going to have to suck it up. She found that doing anything made her so exhausted that she kept moving to a minimum; there was a small bowl of fried pickles and mayo next to her that she would occasionally snack from, not bothered that they were cold.

Beside her, on the bed, lay a large photo album, filled with pictures she had taken of and with Emilio during their time together. She lacked a television, but it didn’t bother her. She had more time to read, and had decided it might be a good idea to keep a journal or diary after Rosalie arrived. It would be healthy to get all her emotions out. There was a diary beside the pickles, with a pen stuck in between some pages, but she hadn’t written in it in a good six months. She just couldn’t think of the right words to express herself at the moment.

Cold air turned the water vapor in his breath to clouds and bit through his black peacoat and red-and-white flannel shirt. Jaime was wearing thin. His citizenship was solid, it turned out, but everything else wasn't lining up so well. The school had been relatively peaceful since his brother's death, but there were currents of discord beneath this facade and some events that would have been merely unnerving and coincidental on their own. Most disturbing were the rumors circulating around the disappearances of the townies.

Several had disappeared. Many were those society had forgotten; their names were mentioned briefly in the blurbs in the middle of the paper, in the crime beats section. However, there were a few folks who had been taken who had families, who had been missed right away and continued to show up on the front page. The Cuban did not share his brother's precognition, but he had an extremely bad feeling about these circumstances all the same. Jaime made sure that Caroline always had a tazer or some mace on her person when she went anywhere in town, and he was going to suggest that Amy do likewise.

On his way home, he had stopped by a small grocer and a bakery. His motivations were twofold: get food and get informed. The pleasant aromas emerging from the grocery bags in his arms made his stomach growl. As he wandered over to Amy's apartment, he had to do some rearranging in order to be able to fish a key out of one of the pockets of his jeans. However, it became clear that this maneuvering had been completely unnecessary as the door was completely unlocked. Jaime's mouth tightened slightly and his stomach fluttered in semi-alarm.

Once he was inside, he could see that there didn't seem to be anything awry. If miscreants had broken into Amy's apartment, there would be signs. He refrained from calling to announce his entrance- he didn't wish to wake Amy if she were napping. He set the groceries down on a counter and continued on through the apartment. He paused in front of Amy's bedroom and rapped lightly on the door. If she didn't answer, he would assume that she didn't want to be disturbed.

When he'd been accepted into the clinic, he had gotten into the habit of keeping his jaw clean-shaven. However, he had been so preoccupied as of late that he now sported a relatively thick layer of stubble.

Her hand lay atop the now closed photo album, her head resting on a large pillow. She was hoping sleep would take her soon, if only to pass the time. Each day was a new struggle for joy, and being immobile did not help that struggle. She wiggled her toes for her own amusement, feeling them stretch and strain at the end of her feet. The fried pickles had disappeared from the bowl, and yet it remained. She planned on waiting to take it to the kitchen until the hunger in her stomach flourished to the point of subtle pain, or until the child in her gave her another wonderfully delicious concoction to try.

The sound of the door to her apartment opening caught her attention, and she looked up expectantly. Though she hadn’t truly expected anyone specifically, the sound made her hopeful. Though she was used to frequent visitors (consisting of Emilio’s brother and sister), she hadn’t really been expecting anybody. Hopefully whoever would be there would be a distraction for her. Being around people had a tendency to raise her spirits.

Amy had begun pushing herself up when she heard a lap knocking on her door. “Hold on, I’m coming,” she said, hoping whoever it was could hear her through the door. She wasn’t afraid that it was just any random person coming in; they’d had the courtesy to knock. She didn’t hear any babies, so she had a good idea of who it might be. A quick glance in the mirror and she cringed; baggy sweatpants, a large shirt and her hair pulled up. Not the best look, but it’d have to do for now.

She grabbed the bowl as she got up and wobbled to the door. Opening it, she felt her a sharp, sudden pain in her heart. He looked so much like Emilio... It had to have been the facial hair. She caught herself quick, and gave Jaime the biggest grin she could muster, before anything seemed amiss. “Jaime! How are you today?” He looked distracted, as if something was weighing on him. She knew his schedule had gained more than he could muster as of late; with helping with Caroline’s new babies, being the only one working at the clinic, and checking in on Amy, she was surprised she saw him as often as she did.

Catching a glimpse of the groceries, she shot him a look. “You shouldn’t have. I would’ve gone sometime this week.” She felt a sharp kick to the ribs and let out a little yelp, putting a hand on the doorframe to balance her. “But thank you.” She walked into the kitchen and began washing the few dishes in the sink (two cups, some utensils and the bowl) and glanced back at the groceries. Something smelled wonderful and she felt her stomach give a soft growl. "How much do I owe you?" she asked, focusing her attention on washing the dishes. She knew he would put up a fight on the groceries, but she was perfectly able to buy them; walking them home was the issue.

Her answer made him breathe easier and he rocked back on his heels. Jaime took a step back, taken aback by the flash of sadness that had crossed Amy's face when she opened the door. Within a moment, he felt that he finally discerned the source- he would have to shave before he saw her again. He knew that he favored his older brother, especially on his scruffier days. The last thing he wanted was to reopen those wounds. "I am well," he said, his voice slightly rougher around the edges than usual. "How are you today?"

He had no real reply to her assertion that he should not have gotten her groceries, but she yelped and he went right into protective mode. His ineffective utterance and slight twitch forward marked his concern; Amy was on the move before he could do much more than that.

As she washed the dishes, he took it upon himself to unpack and stow the groceries. Some of it was standard: milk, eggs, sandwich fixings, and certain other things he'd noticed a deficiency of during his previous visit. There were a couple things that he'd picked up out of habit (rice, black beans, plantain chips), and dinner. The bakery bag's contents only smelled better as he pulled them out. Two loaves of bread (one soft, one crusty), a couple containers of soups, a salad.

When she asked what she owed him for the groceries he jumped at the chance. "All I ask is that you lock your door," he said, trying to sound more off-hand in his concern than grim. "Groceries are a fair trade for your safety." He went for napkins, pausing to try to catch her eyes- he hoped that he could secure a promise from Amy that she would do as he asked.


||Excuse the shortness- I'm getting back into the swing of things.||

The groceries made her stomach growl, and produced another kick from Rosalie. Thinking back, she realized the only thing she had eaten all day had been the fried pickles. It had to be mid-afternoon, at least. She looked down at herself and cringed again. She needed to start paying attention to time. She really needed to start paying attention in general, but she’d just blame it on “pregnancy brain”. That’s what most women did, right?

“A bit lazy, if we’re being honest,” she laughed, shrugging. Amy dried her hands off on some paper towels, chucked them into the wastebasket and turned to help with the groceries. Of course, they had all been taken care of. Her hands found her hips and she scrunched her face into what she hoped was a somewhat menacing look.

“Jaime, stop moving around so fast! Okay, since you put all the groceries away, I get to make lunch.” The sentence was out of her mouth before she saw he had already picked up dinner. Amorina rolled her eyes, mainly at herself, and chuckled. “Is it really that late in the day?” she asked rhetorically. The days were slipping into one another; she had been wearing the same clothes since yesterday.

Her mind was slipping from the moment, but was jerked back at Jaime’s voice. He was asking her to keep her door locked, in exchange for picking up groceries. She was tempted to make a joke, to fight him a little on the issue, but his voice caught her. There was something more than worry in it, but she couldn’t pick up on exactly what it was. “You and Caroline still have your keys, right?” she asked, leaning against the counter. “From now on, I’ll make sure to double check, make sure I don’t forget to lock it.” She tried her best to sound reassuring.

Looking around, she huffed. “Well, since the day is almost over, I’m going to jump in the shower before I forget. Make yourself at home, Jaime. I won’t be long, scout’s honor. Wouldn’t want dinner to get cold.”

She didn’t wait for his response; she shuffled for the bedroom, where she had a nice separate bathroom for herself. When she first found out she was pregnant, she had tried bringing up the idea of moving into a bigger place to Emilio. He had been hesitant, and she had taken it for cold feet, that perhaps he wasn’t keen on the idea of them living together. It wasn’t until after the accident that she realized he had known he wouldn’t be around much longer. The one bedroom was big enough for her and another person, and would be a good size for her and Rosalie. Leave it up to Emilio to be watching out for them even when he wasn’t there.

The shower, warm and steamy, felt as if it were taking the day’s stresses away. She would have loved to take a bath, but knew she would never be able to get back up and out on her own. The shower was glorious enough on its own, washing the dirt and grime from her. It didn’t last as long as she’d prefer, but she didn’t want to keep Jaime waiting. Clothes had become a bit of a hassle lately, so she chose one of her more comfortable pair of jeans and threw on a tank top and cardigan. Amy had almost decided to just let her hair dry on its own, but there was just so much of it. It would just be easier to blowdry it, so she did, doing her best to keep the natural wave of her hair intact. Amy kept her make up minimal, with just a flourish of mascara. She had already taken twenty minutes; she rumbling in her stomach only grew louder with every passing minute. The pangs of hunger were beginning to seep into her joints, and she felt sluggish. Hopefully a bit of food would be able to remedy that.

Amorina emerged from the bathroom with a smile, one hand on her stomach and one gently massaging her lower back. “Alright, who’s ready to eat!”

Jaime smiled, a touch apologetically, at her chastisement of his speed in putting the groceries away. She could offer to do things, but he knew already that he would subvert her efforts to exert herself any more than necessary. The fact that she had lost time was somewhat worrying, but he vaguely remembered that Caroline had had days like that too. Hell, things around the school were busy enough that he was losing time.

He glanced at her when she asked if he and Caroline still had their keys. A moment and he nodded. Caroline was too responsible to misplace a friend's key (even if she misplaced her own on a regular basis), and he was too jumpy these days to leave anything around that could become a security threat. His shoulders relaxed slightly when Amy assured him that she would make sure that her doors were locked. "Thank you."

The Latino did not make a noise when she decided to go shower. It was her place, her prerogative. Furthermore, he considered their family-ship to have reached a point where such casual attitudes were accepted and welcomed. Standing on ceremony would not make any sense.

While she was away, he put the bread and soup in the oven to keep them warm and set the table. That didn't take long, so he took a few moments to check in on Caroline. She assured him that everything was fine, and that she would try to stop by when she got off work. The Spanish between them was rapid and to the point, but Caroline was evasive. She answered his questions about the state of the library, but would not explain what had happened. Her hedging answers and hesitation made him edgy again and he had half a mind to run out to Foresta just to check on her.

He trashed the idea when Amy emerged, looking like some kind of movie star. She didn't need to do anything to improve her appearance, but the little she had done only served to intensify her natural beauty. He grinned at her and went to go retrieve the food from the oven. "Estoy listo. Please, have a seat. I hope this is okay." He placed the soup and bread on the table. The mixture of scents made his mouth water, but he wanted to wait for Amy.

She walked from one wonderful smell right into another; the scent of her bathroom disappeared as the smell of bread and soup hit her. It warmed her, giving her a feeling that this is what a family should be like. Before Emilio’s death, she hadn’t been very close to his siblings, and had been worried that they might not approve of the relationship. Emilio had been about ten years her senior, not that he ever showed it. Her own parents hadn’t been too thrilled about it, but there with the announcement of a baby on the way, they had done their best to open up to the idea of having Emilio in their lives. And then... Well, it worked itself out for them, didn’t it?

The table was already set, and Jaime was bustling around, grabbing the food from the oven. “ He’s almost as bad as my mother,” she thought, keeping the laughter off her face. Amy knew her parents would be there within the month. They had given her strict orders to call them when she went into labor, and they would catch the next flight to the island. It couldn’t be much longer now; only one more week before her due date.

Rosalie had become restless, always kicking and moving, especially whenever they were around Emilio’s siblings. More so with Jaime, though Amy had an uncomfortable feeling it was because he reminded her of Emilio. It was selfish of her to keep him around, but would he even listen if she tried to shoo him away? No, and she knew it. Jaime really had been taking care of her these last few weeks, and she was grateful for it. She knew she would have never been able to carry on without the support of Caroline and Jaime, but Jaime had been the one to be there almost every day for her. She understood that Caroline had the babies; she didn't expect anything more from her. Amy really didn't expect anything more from Jaime, but had come to expect it. She wasn't sure how she'd feel when he finally found himself a girlfriend. She shook the ideas away; no use worrying about that all now. She had enough on her plate.

Waving her hand, she smiled at him. “Go ahead and start, before it gets cold. Can I get you something to drink?” She had made her way to the refrigerator and began sifting around, seeing what all she had. Milk, thanks to Jaime, sodas, tea, even a jug of water. Her fingers grasped the jug of tea and pulled it out, setting it on the counter so she could reach into her cabinet for two glasses. Thankfully, she was tall enough to where she didn’t have to reach much.

Amy carried the glasses to the table, setting them down before seating herself. She waited for him to take as much food as he wanted before serving herself; there were still some things she could do on her own. Taking a sip of the soup, she felt the warm broth travel through her body and had to stop herself from sighing. It was so nice to have a good meal and good company.

Clearing her throat, she gently leaned back in her chair. “So, what’s new? How’s the school and all? Nothing crazy going on, right?” She had meant for it to be a joke, but she felt herself cringe at the words. It had been too long since she had been able to casually joke with people. Getting over Emilio’s death was not easy, but she felt that she was almost there. Once she was able to think about him without wanting to burst into tears, she would feel accomplished. As for now, she was getting there. She struggled with the memories, but they were becoming less painful and more wonderful.

Jaime smiled at her and began ladling soup into a bowl. He deftly sawed off a piece of the crusty loaf, answering her absentmindedly, "I'll have what you're having." When this turned out to be tea, he thanked Amy by raising his glass and taking a generous sip of the beverage. He asked, "Is this decaf?" If not, he'd have to limit how much he drank- an early start in the morning meant that he should not spend the night pinging off the walls.

Despite a promise to himself when he'd dropped the bad-boy routine, he was already relying on a couple cups of coffee in the morning to get up and going. Lately, he wondered how Amy had done the nursing job for so long with no help. Students were constantly getting into scrapes and needing help in one way or another. Just in the past week, he'd had to take out his drum twice.

Jaime smiled at her joking question. It was Foresta. When wasn't it crazy? The students had to deal with being teenagers and with having supernatural abilities at the same time. Honestly, he was not quite sure why the school did not have a larger staff with more therapists. He was not oblivious to Amy's cringe, so he didn't dive right into the stuff that would make her upset.

Instead, between bites of bread and spoonfuls of soup, he related a story of how one of the students had rushed into the clinic to tell him that the castle was haunted. While that was entirely possible, it turned out that the ghost was just another student with the power to go invisible knocking things off shelves and slamming doors. He had a couple other stories of the same ilk- generally lighthearted anecdotes of student shenanigans.

Jaime wasn't a huge fan of gossip, so he didn't share what he'd glimpsed between Nikolai and Martina in the battle arena. He had his own theories about those two, but it was impossible to make any sort of conclusion just yet.

The business with his sister weighed down on him, though, and he added, "Caroline's upset. Somebody wrecked the library. She wasn't telling me everything." He put his spoon down. "I think that somebody got hurt. That's the only reason I can think of that might keep her... ahh... so quiet about this." He took a deep breath and shrugged, then realized that he'd just dumped all of this on the last person who needed to know. Stiffly, he said, "Not that you should worry about this. Ayyyy, I should have kept it to myself. You've got enough to deal with right now."

He leaned back in his chair and attempted to change the subject. "What's on your plate tomorrow?"

Taking a sip of her tea, Jaime’s question took her a little by surprise. “Uhm,” she stalled, trying to think. “I don’t think so? It was sweet tea so whatever’s in regular sweet tea, I guess. Sorry, I could grab you some water or green tea, unless that has caffeine in it too.” She was honestly surprised she knew anything about the tea, considering she hadn’t bought groceries in the past few weeks. Amy had always loved the taste of good, sugary sweet tea; it reminded her of her grandparent’s house back in the states.

She dipped her bread into the soup, nibbling on it while Jaime told her about the invisible student, giggling at the pranks he told her about. These were the things she missed; the lightheartedness of the kids, the everyday jokes she’d remember for April Fool’s day. She had a feeling the invisible kid might have an advantage when it came to pranks.

The pangs in her stomach only intensified the more she ate. Amy had to readjust herself, leaning forward a little, and then tried readjusting Rosalie, so her little feet weren’t in Amy’s ribcage. Had it really been that long since she ate? She hadn’t thought so but with the constant soreness, it must have been. She took another slice of bread, trying to fill herself up some.

News of somebody getting hurt made her frown, but the way Jaime was trying to hide it made her frown deepen. She knew he meant well, knew that he was trying to protect her feelings, but she would never get better if they kept babying her. Amy ripped off a corner of her bread and threw it at Jaime’s chest.

“Jaime, I’m not a china doll who’s going to fall apart at the first strong wind. Bad things are always going to happen. The whole world doesn’t stop just because I’d like it to. I’ve done my mourning, and, while it hasn’t gotten any easier, it’s gotten manageable.”

By the end of her little speech, Amy felt as if a weight had been lifted off of her. She knew she had brought this on herself; all her days of crying had made everyone treat her like a child. She needed people to start treating her like Amy. It had been much too long since she had truly laughed, since she had really felt like herself.

Tomorrow? What did she have planned? She had to think about it before answering. “Probably nothing,” she answered honestly. “I’ve got about one week left until the due date, so I’ve thought about maybe going for short walks, since I’ve heard that helps get labor going. Why, you have anything fun in mind?”

Jaime shrugged. Sweet tea often did have caffeine, but he was already prepared to limit his consumption of the beverage. He took another sip from his glass and tried to decide whether it was something he enjoyed. After a moment, he decided that he could take or leave it. Sweet tea wasn't something he'd grown up with, nor was it something he'd tried until he defected to the US. His parents always favored the strong black coffee that he so associated with his youth. Emilio had enjoyed that same drink, he recalled with a sudden pang of loss.

He wasn't blind to her fidgeting. A crease appeared in his brow, but he was flinching away from flying pieces of bread before he could ask Amy if she was all right. He exclaimed, "Hey!" As he picked crumbs off his shirt, he glanced up at Amy. There was some merit to her words, but his motivations for trying to keep the brunt of bad news to himself did not just include their recent tragedy. He sighed and leaned back in his chair. "Ay, querida. I never meant to treat you like a china doll. I know you're strong. Mi hermano... he knew too."

He pushed his chair back and stood up. Taking his plate and bowl back to the kitchen, he explained, "I hope you understand. We just want to make things easier for you and our niece." He didn't want to go into the other reasons. The reason he wanted her to keep her door locked, the rising tides of violence. If she watched the news, she probably got enough of that sort of thing. The talk around town was getting more and more paranoid. Normal people now mistrusted Gifteds more than ever, and Gifteds were having a difficult time trying to stay assimilated.

Jaime rinsed his cutlery and smiled at the change of subject. Any more thoughts about the world's current darkness would make him want to light up a cigarette. He answered her with a shrug. "I wanted to know if you cared to walk out to the docks with me about noon. Caroline's parents are coming in. Er.... Emilio's mother probably wants to meet you." The two in question had finally gotten around to visiting. They would have come as soon as Caroline had given birth, but David had been in physical therapy at the time. When had things gotten so complicated? "If you don't want to see her, I would understand."

Amy finished her soup, and sat nibbling on a piece of bread, listening to Jaime. She knew that this, like everything else they did, was for her own good. And she was grateful for it. Sometimes she just missed the way things had been before the accident, when people didn’t have to worry about her. Life had thrown her one hell of a curveball, but she wasn’t about to strike out just yet.

Turning, she saw his back was to her. She hoped he wasn’t trying to wash his dishes; that was one of the few things she could manage to do on her own still.

“Of course I understand, and I honestly don’t know how I would have made it without you two helping me. But things are always gonna be a little bit harder for us.” “Without Emilio,” she left out. Jaime and Caroline had been wonderful to her, and she never wanted to offend them in any way. The fact was, though, that Amy didn’t want to rely on them the same way she had relied on him. She had trusted him with her life. Could she trust them with Rosalie’s life too?

The news of Emilio’s parents coming to visit surprised her. She remembered something about them visiting when the twins were born, but hadn’t heard anything about it afterward. Amy couldn’t even be sure they had visited. How funny it was; here she was, ready to pop, and she still had yet to meet the people she had once hoped to be her in-laws. Better late than never.

“I’d love to meet them,” she said, trying not to gush. His last sentence made her pause. “W-why wouldn’t I want to see her? Does she already not like me..?” Worry spread over her like a fire. What would life be like around a woman who already disliked her before they even met? Amy would never keep Rosalie from her grandmother; she wasn’t that kind of person. Rosalie wouldn’t get much culture from Amy’s side. She would need her father’s family for that.

She grabbed her bowl and stood up, ready to help Jaime with the dishes, when a sudden sharp pain resonated through her. She let out a gasp, shocked at the pain. She knew she hadn’t been feeling well, but that kind of pain hadn’t hit her through the whole pregnancy. It felt like Rosalie was trying to get out. One hand went to the chair, the other to her stomach; she didn’t realize she’d dropped the plate until the sounding breaking glass made her jump.

He wanted to backpedal furiously, to try to alleviate Amy's worries about Gloria (who was a lovely woman, if a bit intimidating from a professional standpoint), but things had already changed. He turned just to see her drop a plate. The sound of it breaking punctuated the wordless understanding he came to. "Ay, Dios mio," he muttered, then put down what had been in his hands to rush to Amy's side.

"This.. this is it, right? Rosalie is coming?" He had been through this before, in a way. His sister had been with Tobias when she went into labor- he had been on the ready, though, and had dropped everything to get to the hospital. This time, he was the one to assist. His heart raced and he asked, "I can go get my car and pull it around front? Do you need me to carry you?" Normally, he was so calm and collected. This weird panic was completely out of the ordinary for him.


{{Bleh, short}}

Amy shook her head, holding her breath as the next contraction hit. Letting out a small breath, she shook her head again. “No, no no.” She licked her lips, thinking. “She’s not due until next week, on uh… Wednesday, the doctor said Wednesday.” She knew she hadn’t lost those many days; she still had at least a full week before her due date.

Her contractions were taking a break for the moment, allowing her to think. Jaime had said something about carrying her. It made her laugh, and then wince from another wave of pain. “No, I think I’ll be okay to walk. In my room, there’s a hospital bag with an overnight pair of clothes and toiletries and stuff. Could you grab it for me before getting the car? I’m afraid I might not be able to bend over enough to grab it.”

One week early, Amy thought. That’s not so bad, right? Fear reflected in her eyes. Nobody would be there to welcome Rosalie into the world, nobody to cut her cord or, if something went wrong in during the delivery, she’d be an orphan, completely alone. Her heart raced at the new terrible thoughts seeping into her mind. And what if Rosalie was lost? Her little flower… Amorina wouldn’t be able to live through that.

Tears sprang to her eyes. All she wanted was to be happy. This was the one time she had an actual reason to feel something other than pain and misery, but that’s all she could feel. Had she lost herself that completely? No. She refused to believe it. In a few hours, she would be holding her daughter, and everything would be alright. It had to be. It just had to be.

Jaime nodded and raced to her room. At first, he couldn't find her bag (he was feeling slightly panicked and this made him overlook its obvious location), but on the fourth look-over he spotted it. His panic was replaced by an overwhelming feeling of foolishness. In light of this, he told himself to calm down. Amorina was going into labor, not dying. This was something he could deal with.

He loped back into the other room. As he moved around the woman, a crease formed in his brow. "No te preocupes," he told Amy. "It will be okay. We will go to the hospital to welcome Rosalie to the world. I will stay by your side as long as you need me to be here." The Cuban made an apologetic face. "Except for right now... when I go get the car. I will be back shortly." Without thinking, he leaned in and kissed her forehead.

He ran with her bag to where he'd parked his truck. While he turned it on, he dialed Caroline's number. His sister did not pick up, so he left a brief message and slipped the phone back into his pocket. He hopped out of the idling truck when it was situated in front of the building, opening the passenger door in preparation to get Amy to the hospital as soon as possible.

Gosh, what was taking him so long? Her breathing quickened and halted with another contraction, bringing a small wimper from her. She knew the bag hadn’t been in any obscure location. She had put it in an obvious place, just in case she had needed it in a hurry. She’d need the deodorant soon, with how much she was sweating. The thought of looking in a mirror almost gave her a panic attack; she’d only just showered maybe an hour ago and was ruining everything. The phrase “hot mess” would be a compliment to her right now.

Jaime told her he’d be going to get the car, and then he kissed her forehead. Fresh tears sprung to her eyes, but not from sadness or fear. She was grateful, so very grateful, for Jaime. It wasn’t until that moment that she realized how important he had become to her. If Caroline and Tobias and the babies weren’t able to be there for her delivery, she would understand. But the idea of Jaime not being there made her feel sick (not including the labor pains). She licked her lips and mumbled a soft, “Thank you, Jaime,” not sure if he heard her.

While he was out getting the car, Amy slowly began her descent. She pushed herself out of the chair, grabbed her purse, and shuffled to the door, slowly, wincing at every move. The unlocked door slammed behind her and she pushed away from it, trying to will herself to move faster. The stairs proved harder, and she had to take them one at a time. Thank God I don’t live on the top floor. When she first moved in to her apartment on the second level, she had romanticized the upper levels and had convinced herself they had a better view. After one trip to the upper level, she decided she liked her view better.

After what felt like half an hour, she finally made it down the stairs and saw Jaime’s truck, the passenger door open and ready for her. She smiled, a large, unbridled smile, feeling, for the first time in a long time, that everything was going to be okay.

Amorina waddled towards the truck, trying to move as fast as she could. “Alright, let’s hurry up and get to the hospital, this little lady is dead set on making today her birthday.”