Inside This House
© 2007 by Linda Crist
Chapter 8
It was almost time to wake up, except Kennedy was already awake. The alarm would go off in thirty minutes, and hopefully the light outside would at least be gray by then. The air felt damp and as she gazed intently at the darkened window for signs of dawn, she heard a familiar pattering of rain on the roof. Ah. Dawn would be a long time coming. And the drive into Austin would be a bitch on wet roads.
She really should get up and get an early start, but she wasn't inclined to move at the moment. Carson was curled up against her, her head on Kennedy's shoulder and one arm wrapped lightly around her waist. Her naked skin felt wonderfully soft, pressed against Kennedy's own. As she ran her hand slowly down Carson's bare back, the smaller woman stirred and shifted, tightening her grip on Kennedy. An unintelligible moan of disapproval escaped her lips, and then Carson settled down, her breathing evening out, indicating she was still asleep.
Kennedy kissed the top of her head and nuzzled her hair, trying really hard to remember what it had been like before she had this -- all those long years of living alone and waking up in a house that was secluded, back from the road and separated from the nearest neighbors by a good half acre. Unless she spoke to the animals, back then, sometimes her morning was void of conversation until she got to the office. It was so quiet out there, practically in the country, and in her single days there were mornings when even turning on the radio seemed too harsh in all that silence.
Not anymore. She smiled into the darkness. Having Carson in her life made the mornings much livelier, both in bed and once they got up. If Carson was in the house, chances are there was music playing, usually something with a beat, and if Carson were in the shower or simply be-bopping around the house getting ready, she was usually singing along with it. Kennedy still preferred her more peaceful Native American flute tunes, folk music, and the light jazz and new age music in her rather large CD collection, but she'd come to enjoy the pop, country, and rock of Carson's collection, which was now co-mingled with hers on the shelf. On the rare occasion she grabbed Carson's iPod on accident, she secretly enjoyed listening to her partner's eclectic and upbeat downloads.
Life was shaping up to be everything she'd always hoped it might be, but never dreamed it could. They really did get along, her own more stoic personality a perfect balance with Carson's more fiery one. It was nice, looking around and seeing their things all mixed up together around the house - Carson's dishes in the kitchen cabinet, her brightly-colored towels stacked on the bathroom shelves among Kennedy's less colorful collection, and Carson's clothing hanging in the large walk-in closet, her shoes on the closet floor, looking impossibly small next to Kennedy's much larger ones.
To hell with the right-wing nut jobs. She was married in every sense of the word, save the piece of paper. It didn't bother her to think of being settled down. Truth be told, she liked the routine they were settling into. Judging from Carson's mostly-peaceful demeanor, being settled agreed with her as well. Being settled didn't mean they lacked for fun and excitement; quite the opposite: Now there was someone to go horseback riding with, water skiing with, and to the gym with. Someone to eat meals with, and on the weekends, someone to go to movies, out to dinner, or to whatever other activities might beckon them.
And Carson made friends everywhere they went. Listening to music at Gaby and Mo's, or perusing Bookwoman bookstore, or having a cup of coffee at Austin Java, Carson managed to strike up conversations with the people nearby, and they had recently begun doing things with other lesbian couples besides just Valerie and Serena. Carson had even tentatively suggested they throw a July fourth barbeque and have several people over to hang out and enjoy the boats and wave runners. She could picture it -- a volleyball net set up out back, and a bucket of homemade ice cream sitting on the back porch. Yeah, they'd have to do that.
Then there were the hot tub and pool catalogues that kept appearing in her mail and Carson's innocent smile as she made sure Kennedy saw them. "There's nothing I wouldn't do for you," she whispered to her sleeping partner. She was fairly certain by summer's end they'd have a pool with a hot tub. That would mean more parties.
So why, exactly, was she running for political office? Other than she obviously had an insane moment. Carson had told her about Roy Sanderson's nephew. It had slipped out in that half-sleepy, peaceful time after love-making, when it was always easier to bare their souls. They talked about so many things during those times -- their future children, their dreams, even those pesky pool catalogues. She hated that politics were making their way into their bed. She even hated that they were in her head during her quiet morning time. It was all wrong to have ugly thoughts when she was holding someone so beautiful in her arms.
No, between Katie being down the hall and her own schedule revolving around a calendar of speaking engagements, life was slowly slipping off track, sliding to a place she wasn't so sure she wanted it to go. Logically, once they got past the election, things would be righted, one way or the other. Either she'd win and begin preparing for her official duties, or she'd lose and go back to being just a lawyer. A very happy lawyer with everything in the world to be happy about. But either way, the ugliness that was a political race would be behind her. She already knew that if she won and ran again, she wouldn't put into a second race what she was putting into this one. Hopefully after this first round, in the future she could run on her record.
"No more politics," she grumbled.
"Amen, sistah," a sleepy voice agreed with her.
"Did I wake you?" Kennedy rubbed Carson's back.
"No, my stomach did." Carson wriggled up until they were almost nose to nose. "Used up all my energy last night." She tilted her head closer, stealing a kiss.
"You want me to drop out of the race?" Kennedy went back to the beginning of the conversation. It had been a while since she'd actually touched base with Carson, as far as how the race was affecting her.
"You want me to tell you I do?" Carson questioned her softly.
"Yes. No." Kennedy sighed. "If you said you wanted me to, I would."
"You're ahead in the polls, honey. What was that headline last week? 'Nocona a Breath of Fresh Air'?" She smoothed Kennedy's hair back.
It felt good, and Kennedy closed her eyes, enjoying the little chills it caused. "Yeah. Something like that. It would be dishonorable to drop out at this point, but damned if I'm pretty tired of eating iceberg lettuce salads at all those banquets and luncheons. You'd think just once Brian and Chip would remember I'm a vegetarian and make sure there's something on the menu besides chicken."
"Ew." Carson wrinkled her nose. "More like chicken jerky. Banquet chicken is usually dry as sawdust, and about as tasty. You aren't missing much."
"Well --" Kennedy eased partway up, gently rolling Carson on her back. "If I don't get up and get in the shower, I'm going to miss my first client this morning. Anytime it rains I can count on at least an extra thirty minutes added to the drive."
"Aw." Carson sat up and scooted out of bed after her. "I thought this was one of your telecommuting days."
"Was supposed to be, but with two political lunches this week, I've been having to scramble to work in all my clients." Kennedy ambled into the bathroom and flipped on the lights.
"Ugh." Carson covered her face for a moment, then slowly removed her hand, blinking at the harsh lights.
"Oh. Sorry." Kennedy hit a dimmer switch.
"S'alright." Carson half-stumbled toward the large shower stall and turned on the water. She liked the master bathroom very much - the shower had no door, but rather a stone wall with an open doorway. It was plenty big enough for two and had four spigots, two up high and two closer to waist-level, all of them set so that no water ever sprayed outside the shower area.
"You joining me this morning?" Kennedy followed behind her, wrapping her arms around Carson's waist, and gently nibbling on her earlobe.
"Keep that up and I'll be joining you in more ways than one," Carson moaned softly.
"Good." Kennedy kept up her assault on sensitive skin, backing them both under the water as she eased one hand slowly down Carson's stomach. She felt Carson's breath catch, her stance automatically widening as Kennedy reached her goal.
"Thought you were in a hurry," Carson choked out breathlessly.
"Mmmm." Kennedy hummed over her shoulder, into Carson's ear. "I am." She quickened her pace, glad they were far enough from Katie's room that the endearing little yelps and squeaks coming from her lover wouldn't be heard. "Guess this'll have to be a quickie." As she spoke, she felt Caron's stomach muscles ripple, as Carson cried out her release.
The shorter woman turned in her arms, wrapping her arms around Kennedy's neck and kissing her soundly. Kennedy felt Carson's leg slip between her own, and she groaned out her appreciation, soon riding her own wave of pleasure.
Afterward, they simply held each other close, belly-to-belly, as the water poured down over them. Slowly, they kissed, trading light touches, then gently washed each other clean. It was one of the most satisfying ways to start the day. As they dried each other off, very little was said, but the glow on Carson's face, the dreamy look in her eyes, said it all. It was an expression Kennedy lived for.
"I think I need to go back to sleep." Carson yawned and shrugged into a soft terry robe.
"You do that." Kennedy helped her back into bed. She turned off the light and leaned over, kissing Carson's forehead. "I'll be home by six."
"Good," Carson mumbled. "Dinner together. Be careful." She opened her eyes, cupping Kennedy' cheek, her thumb stroking her skin.
"I will." Kennedy captured the hand and kissed it. "I love you."
"Love you too."
Kennedy slipped out of the room, closing the door on her already-sleeping partner.
Yeah. Being in love totally rocked.
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The quiet hum of the air conditioning served to soothe Kennedy's frazzled nerves with both peaceful sound and cool, refreshing air. The luncheon shouting match with Brian and Chip had added to her already foul mood. There simply weren't enough hours in the day anymore, and she had two filing deadlines to meet by day's end. She punched a button on her intercom. "Heidi?"
"What's up?" Heidi rasped back through the phone.
"You got a minute?" Kennedy idly rolled her track ball mouse around the screen, pulling up a montage of photos of Carson. She smiled.
"Sure. Be right in." Heidi cut off the connection and almost immediately appeared in the doorway.
"Hey boss lady." She took a seat on the leather couch across the room.
"Hey. How many hours you been putting in?" Kennedy pulled up the Timeslips program and hunted around for Heidi's input. "Yikes. Never mind. Way too many."
"It's okay." Heidi sipped from a can of diet Dr Pepper. "I'd rather be here than go home to an empty apartment. Not like I can go to happy hour."
"I know, but you still need to have a life." They were both stretched to the limit, easily putting in twelve hours a day, if not more. "How many of your clients followed you down here?"
"Mmmm. All but two?" Heidi peered up at the ceiling in thought. "Enough that we created another cost center for all of them?"
"I know." Kennedy smiled. It was a nice problem. They could now add securities law to their list of specialties on the firm website. The problem was that Heidi was so busy working for all the clients who willing followed her down the 200-mile cyber highway from Dallas to Austin, that she had little time to do what she was originally hired for, carry part of Kennedy's usual case load. "I think I need to hire another associate. I was thinking of giving Mikey a call. The government can't be paying him nearly what he's worth. How'd you feel about a smokers and tokers reunion?"
"Hot damn!" Heidi's face lit up. "Install an espresso machine in the kitchen if you plan to hire him. He doesn't smoke or drink anymore, but he guzzles coffee as if it were the nectar of life."
"Luckily I have experience in buying those. I got a cappuccino machine for Carson when she moved here." She rolled the mouse around again, locating the Williams Sonoma website and perusing the various coffee and cappuccino makers, spotting the one that now sat prominently on their kitchen counter.
"Girlfriend, you would have raised the house and re-built it from the ground up, if that's what it would have taken to get her to move in with you." Heidi laughed as Kennedy tried to appear annoyed at her comment, but failed miserably. The glow about her face was a dead giveaway.
"She wouldn't ask that of me," Kennedy finally responded. "However, I did make a few calls to pool installers this morning. They should be breaking ground in a week."
"From hermit to pool party socialite. Damn, Shea." Heidi tisked at her. "Next thing, you'll be building a guest house."
"We have guest bedrooms for that." Kennedy rolled her eyes. "But I may put a little pool house in and it might as well have a bedroom, since it will have a bathroom and kitchenette. Figured if we did any poolside cookouts it would be easier to have a kitchen right there than trotting back and forth up the hill to the house."
"Hot tub? Stereo system? Sauna?" Heidi asked hopefully.
"Yes, yes, and wet and dry, yes. And a workout room." Kennedy tossed a brochure across the room. "I decided as long as we were building it, we should put a couple of lap lanes to the side of the pool, and I figured if we were going to do that, we might as well have weights to make a complete workout of it."
" 'Bout damned time you spent some of that money on yourself." Heidi eyed the brochure like a cat in a fish market.
"I'm spending it on Carson," Kennedy corrected her. "We both like to go to the gym but there are many days we can't get there and we end up running instead."
"In this heat?" Heidi practically yelped. "Y'all are crazy."
"That's why the lap lanes and weight room. If we add heaters, we can swim laps year round, whereas it's really only comfortable to run in April and October. The other ten months are like running in one of several levels of hell, depending on if it's frozen or boiling."
"Kennedy?" Marcus appeared in the office doorway. "Sorry to interrupt, but on the radio they just said the train jumped the track or something at Anderson and MoPac. Big fire and lots of cars on the road involved, too. It was pulling some tanker cars. MoPac is completely shut down and so is Anderson. They're afraid heat from the fires may compromise the bridge there."
"Ouch." Kennedy peered at her computer screen where a breaking news message bot was flashing. "I better call Carson and tell her to avoid coming into the city. God. Getting home will be a nightmare."
"You up for dinner before you go home?" Heidi stood to go back to her office. "There's a new Chinese place near my apartment."
"Might as well." Kennedy hit a speed dial button on her phone. "Even if I take back roads, so will everyone else."
"Alright. I need to finish up some work and then I'll come see if I can take some of your load off."
"Thanks," Kennedy smiled gratefully. "Marcus, be ready to make a courthouse run in a couple of hours."
"Just let me know." Both Marcus and Heidi left her office, and Kennedy listened to the phone ring.
Finally, Carson picked up. "Hey, Honey, what's up?"
"Big fire and train wreck at Anderson and MoPac." She smiled, hearing dance music in the background. "Just thought I'd let you know so you'd avoid any errands in the city this afternoon. Where are you?"
"Thanks. I'm swabbing down the boat deck." The music suddenly went lower. "That better?"
"I was kind of enjoying it." Kennedy could picture her lover, most likely in a tiny swimsuit, soaking up sun. Since Carson had moved in, the boats and boathouse had never been cleaner. And Carson had never been tanner. "Hey, I'm going to go eat Chinese food with Heidi before I come home. Figured the traffic will be pretty bad. You want me to bring you any carry-out?"
"Ooo, Kung Pao Chicken, please." Kennedy could practically hear Carson salivating. "That would be awesome."
"Okay, and I'll pick up some of that cherry garcia frozen yogurt we like, so we can at least have dessert together."
"You rock!" Carson warbled.
"You rock me," Kennedy retorted. "I need to get back to work. Love you, babe."
"Love you, too." Carson hung up and Kennedy reluctantly went back to polishing up an Original Answer for one of her clients. It was going to be a long afternoon.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The evening air was stifling, even for late May in Austin. Carson stood on the front porch, watching the dachshund triplets roll around in the grass, wrestling and nipping at each other, and occasionally chasing one another around the yard in wide circles. Oscar and Felix had been living with the neighbors for a few months, and were over for a play date with sister Daisy, while their new family was away in San Marcos. They'd taken off immediately after school was out to go tubing on the Brazos River and beat the heat. On the covered front porch, under a ceiling fan in the shade, Talia and Cody lay, wisely and sedately conserving their energy. Carson glanced over at them, then took a seat in an Adirondack chair. "I'm with you two." She raised her glass of peach iced tea in a toast.
"Whew." She raised her bangs, allowing the circulating air from the fain to cool the rivulets of sweat on her forehead. There was no other breeze, the air deathly still and the temperature hovering in the upper ninety's. The rain had ended mid-day, leaving in its wake sweltering humidity, but more thunderstorms were in the forecast. The scent of electricity and rain had yet to reach her nostrils, though clouds were starting to build in the western sky. Off to the southeast, though several miles away, the smoke from the train wreck was clearly visible, rising and billowing black against the thin, blue sky. "That must be one heck of a mess," she remarked to the dogs. "Maybe the rain will get here and help put it out."
Something scurried in the hedges down below the elevated porch, and suddenly Spanky shot out of the brush, hot on the tail of something running for its life. With a giant leap and a pounce, he landed on his victim, and Carson heard the shrieks of a dying field mouse. "Ewww." She wrinkled her nose. With land, barns, and horses, mice were a fact of life and admittedly, having three cats and three dogs was probably the only reason they never had to deal with them inside the house. If not for some kind of pest control, chemical or natural, they would be overrun with them, but she still didn't like watching and listening to one meet its final fate.
"Spanky, no!" She jumped up, as the cat trotted right past her, through the pet door that led into the dog trot. "Not in the house!" She gave chase, but too late, she entered the dog trot to see the pet door leading to the bedroom side of the house close behind the tom cat. "Used to be a tom cat," she corrected herself.
Like the other dogs and cats, Spanky had been snipped, reducing his masculine prowess to capturing anything smaller than him that moved. Unfortunately he enjoyed sharing his treasures, often gifting his humans with his conquests, leaving them in places they'd be sure to be found, such as the middle of the bed or the bathroom rug. Carson had already had the misfortune of stepping on a still-warm, but thankfully deceased, horned toad in the middle of the night. After that she never again went in the bathroom without turning on the light first. Not all of Spanky's gifts were completely dead.
She followed the cat into the house, but was unable to find him. There were any number of places he might be hiding to enjoy taunting his prey, and she finally gave up, making mental note to watch where she walked, sat, or lay, until the victim was located. Passing Katie's room, she tapped on the door and entered as Katie answered. "Hey. How are you feeling?"
"More false labor, I think." Katie grimaced.
She'd been to the doctor twice for lower back pain she thought was the beginning of contractions, only to be turned away each time. It was just as well. At seven and a half months she was in a lot less danger than she'd been in March when she moved in. The two months had flown by, really, though Carson suspected they'd dragged for Katie.
"Do we need to take you in to see him tonight?" Carson sat down on the edge of the bed. Katie appeared miserable, her stomach larger than most women at nine months. She had a portable air conditioner running, in addition to the central air of the house, and a large pitcher of lemonade on the night stand, along with a bucket of ice.
"He's on vacation, but I spoke with the hospital. They contacted the on-call doctor and she said if the pains become more frequent or don't dissipate by 8:00 o'clock tonight, to go on into Brackenridge." Katie peered at her sheepishly. "I didn't want to bother you with it, since that's a good two hours away."
"Are the pains regular?" Carson frowned.
"No. Just a twinge very now and then." Katie sighed and sipped from a straw, then held the cold glass against her forehead. "Just like the other two times. I didn't have this with the other kids. Nothing about this pregnancy has been anything like the last three. With the others I felt good most of the time. Hell, Carson, I was on the treadmill 5 days a week almost up until I gave birth with the others." She patted her belly. "Losing the weight from this one is going to be a bitch."
"I bet you'll work it off quick enough, chasing five kids around," Carson tried to comfort her.
"True." Katie managed to laugh. "Ow!" She rubbed her side. "Every time I laugh now, one of them starts kicking me in the ribs."
"Wow." Carson could actually see movement under the thin t-shirt Katie wore. "May I?" She reached across, her hand hovering over Katie's stomach.
"Sure." Katie took her hand and held it against her stomach, just below her ribcage.
"Oh!" Carson jumped a little, as she felt something pushing back against her hand. "Feisty."
"Yeah, and feel over here." Katie moved her hand across her stomach. "Feel that little roundness there?" Carson nodded. "That's a little baby butt."
"Aw." Carson withdrew her hand. "That must be amazing, to have that life inside you like that."
"It is," Katie agreed. "It's funny. Parker and I are pretty liberal, politically, especially on social issues, but ever since I first felt Erin move inside me, I'm pretty much a pro-lifer."
"Really?" Carson was not completely surprised. "You know, a lot of lesbians actually are. I think it's because we have to work so hard to have children, it's sad to think of someone terminating a pregnancy just because they weren't careful. Kennedy always says if you're going to play, you should have to pay."
"Interesting." Katie lay back against the pillows, her face flushed with heat despite the extra air conditioning. "I'd never want to outlaw it. I think in cases of rape, incest, or in cases where the baby has some horrible congenital issues, abortion should be an option. But I tend to agree on it being uses as a form of birth control. With so many people wanting babies, I wish more people would consider adoption."
"Me, too," Carson whole-heartedly agreed. "It's what we plan on doing, eventually, most likely. Adopting, I mean."
"I know." Katie's eyes twinkled. "Shea and I talked about it, that day after she told you about Parker saving some of his swimmers for y'all. Man, you were hotter than a hornet's nest."
"Yeah, I was." Carson could feel her face flush, and not from the heat. "I felt so bad about getting mad at her, after she explained. I'm still not used to having anyone so thoughtful in my life. She's always doing little things, and thinking about ways to insure our future."
"She loves you, Carson. Parker and I were just talking about the two of you the other night, on the phone. Protective streaks run a mile wide in that family. It's killing him to not be with me. But he's just as protective of his sister." She smiled. "He said you were the first girlfriend Shea ever had, that he liked."
"He didn't like Angela?" Carson's brows rose in surprise.
"No," Katie almost growled. "Neither did I. You know, Shea did all that partying in college and law school, but when she got that job in Houston, she was so busy, she had started to get away from all that, but when she met Angie, she fell right back into it. And Angie was a manipulator." Katie shook a finger at her. "This is between you and me, okay? Shea doesn't need to hear what I think about her dead ex-girlfriend, but I'm telling you. I think you need to know."
"Sure." Carson nodded. She had no intention of telling Kennedy that her sister-in-law thought ill of Angela. There was no point. But she sensed she was about to get some new insight into what made her lover tick.
"Angie was always sweet-talking Shea into buying her things -- jewelry, clothes, stuff like that. She was planning to buy that girl a Porsche that matched Shea's for her birthday, and she would have, if Angie hadn't died." Katie shook her head. "Sure, Shea had just come into all that money from her share of that big oil settlement, but that's not the point. The point is that she knew Shea had the money and she constantly expected her to spend it on her. She was a beautiful girl, and she knew it, and she knew how to work it. Parker tried to talk to Shea, but she wouldn't have any of it. If Angie wanted it, Shea bought it for her."
Thinking of all the swimming pool brochures, Carson felt the weight of guilt settle on her shoulders. She thought of the weekly flower delivery, and the diamond tennis bracelet Kennedy had given her for her birthday. Even their engagement rings. She glanced down at the gold band she'd loved wearing so much, and suddenly it wasn't quite so shiny anymore. And only a few days before, Kennedy had suggested the miles were adding up on Carson's Civic, and offered to buy her a new car.*** She started to say something, but when she looked up, Katie's face had gone white. "What's wrong?"
"My water just broke." Katie scooted over, moving away from the wet spot on the bed. "Guess it's time to call that ambulance for Brackenridge." Her hand was shaking, and she reached for the phone.
"I'll call them." Carson handed her the cell phone from the nightstand. "You call Parker."
"Oh, lord." Katie flipped her phone open. "I hope he can get here in time."
"Me, too." Carson picked up the cordless house phone receiver and dialed 911. "Hello, we need an ambulance from Lago Vista to Brackenridge Hospital, please. We have a high-risk pregnant woman here, and her water just broke." She listened for a moment, her heart doing flips, then turned to Katie, who was still talking with Parker. "Katie, we need to talk. Tell him to call when he gets to the airport."
Katie's brows rose in question and she quickly ended the call. "Something's wrong, isn't it?"
"Yeah." Carson sat down again, touching Katie's arm. "There are no ambulances or paramedics to be had. Every unit within a hundred miles was working the train wreck. I'm going to have to drive you there, I think."
"That train wreck is between us and the hospital, isn't it? Didn't they say on the news that MoPac and 183 are shut down?" Katie's eyes clearly reflected her fear as Carson nodded. "Carson." She took Carson's hand and squeezed it. This is my fourth pregnancy and with each one, my labor time was cut in half. If that pattern continues, these babies will be born within three hours. I don't want to risk having them out on the side of the road in ninety-five degree heat with a thunderstorm on the way."
"I could go up through Round Rock and down I-35," Carson hopefully offered., but everyone is using it as an alternate route around the wreck. We'd be lucky to get out of Round Rock within three hours. I'm calling Kennedy."
She pulled her Treo from its clip and hit Kennedy's speed dial number, grateful when she picked up on the first ring. "Hi Honey, how soon can you be home?"
"When we heard how bad traffic is, we decided to skip dinner. I'm on my way now," Kennedy answered, almost sending Carson to her knees in relief. "Had to take Capitol of Texas to 222 to 620, and then cut over to --"
"K, where are you?" Carson anxiously cut her off.
"Just outside Cedar Park. I had to --"
"Just get home, please?" Carson pleaded. "Katie's in labor and there's no ambulances."
"Oh. Alright. Listen to me." Kennedy's tone was no non-sense. Neither of them had experience with childbirth,*** but somehow, just the authority in her voice calmed Carson's rising blood pressure.
"I'm listening," she sat down again, offering Katie a smile of encouragement.
"Call 911 again and tell them the minute a paramedic becomes available, we need them. Then get Brackenridge on the phone and get an ObGyn to stay with you on the phone. Give them my name and credit card number if, and tell them they can charge their time to it, if they need to." Kennedy's voice softened. "I'll be there as soon as I can, sweetheart."
"Okay." Carson took a deep breath. "Be careful, K. We need you."
She heard the call end and turned to Katie, projecting as much confidence into her expression as she possibly could. "She's on her way. Everything is going to be fine."
Katie smiled, apparently desperately wanting to believe her.
*** NOTES: In the published version of Borderline, they did not buy new vehicles and Kennedy did not deliver any babies. Since I'm sticking to that storyline here, that means some things will not be consistent with the online version of Borderline.
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The last five miles seemed to last forever. Kennedy turned off FM 1431, passed the brick wall proclaiming 'Lago Vista' to anyone who could not read the sign on the highway, and onto Lohman's Crossing Road, following the twists and curves carved into the massive hills, until she reached Boggy Ford Road and made yet another turn. "I have got to re-think living a million miles down the most convoluted road in Texas," she muttered to herself.
Her Treo vibrated and she lifted it, careful to keep her eyes on the road. It was a text message from Carson with two words -- 'hurry plz.' "Going as fast as I can, babe." She dared not speed, lest she run right off the hillside and plunge into some tree-hidden valley, never to be seen again, and she certainly dared not try to answer. She knew Carson knew this. The device buzzed again. "Dammit, Carson! I didn't mean that," she quickly added. If she was frantic, Carson must be near panicked, being the one with the woman in labor. Another message appeared on the screen as she glanced at it -- 'scratch that -- plz b careful & beware of the idiots out front.'
"Idiots?" She had little time to wonder as at last she reached the private road that led to their subdivision. Luckily the gate was open, the norm during rush hour, and she sped past it, now safely on a relatively straight, if hilly, stretch of pavement. In front of their electric gate, three news vans were parked, a throng of reporters and cameras pacing back and forth along the obstruction like so many sharks.
"Dammitalltohell! I swear I am going to run over the first person who doesn't get the hell out of my way!" To accentuate her thoughts, she sped up, gunning the engine in the process. As she neared the gate, at last two reporters saw her and, eyes wide, dove for the ditch across the road from the house. "Be afraid," she growled. "Be very afraid." Realizing manslaughter would not look good on her resume, she reluctantly stopped and rolled down the window.
"You want to move the fuck out of the way so I can get to my partner and my sister-in-law?" she yelled at two blank-faced men blocking her access. Apparently realizing who she was, they had the presence of mind to scramble away from the entrance, and also to raise their cameras, snapping several shots as she used her remote to open the gate. Before it closed, at least one car managed to follow her inside. "Did I miss the notice for 'act like a moron day'?" She ignored the car and kept going, pulling up in the half-circle drive in front, rather than waste precious minutes with parking in the garage out back.
As she got out of the truck, two men exited the car and trotted along behind her, one with camera rolling. She stopped and turned, placing her hands on her hips. "Get off my land!"
"We heard about your predicament on police dispatch," the one without the camera stumbled over his words. "You're going to deliver those babies, aren't you?"
"If you'll leave me alone to go inside, yes, I am." She was moving again and they followed her onto the porch. "What part of 'no trespassing' do you not understand?" She turned again, flipping through her key ring for the key to the front door. "Damn." It wasn't there, because she never used the front door. She looked up, trying to decide if she should run around back, or ring the doorbell and force Carson to leave Katie. As she started to exit the porch, the front door opened and Carson's anxious face appeared behind the screen.
Before Kennedy could get back up the steps, the camera man dodged past her, lunging at the door as Carson started to open it.. Just as quickly, Kennedy grabbed him by the back of his collar and with a hard twist and shove, sent him tumbling backward into a garden of prickly pears.
"Aaaaa!" he cried out. "Son of a bitch!"
"Miss Nocona." The other man stood just out of reach, ignoring his cursing partner. "Think how good it would be for your image if we could film you delivering the babies. It would probably make national news."
"Think how good it would be for your health if you get the hell back in your car and leave, now!" She stepped forward, taking a swing and landing a solid punch to his gut. He gasped and doubled over, turning and giving her a perfect target: she raised her leg and planted her dress boot solidly against his backside, sending him head first over the porch railing to join the camera man.
"I'll sue!" the man yelled. "Assault!"
"And I'll sue you and your news station for trespassing and reckless endangerment of my sister in law and her babies." Satisfied they weren't getting up, she turned and entered the house, slamming the door behind her.
Carson dove into her arms. "Thank god you're home." Her arms were as solid as they had ever felt, and Kennedy automatically returned the hug.
"You okay?" She stroked Carson's head.
"I am now." Carson looked up, her eyes full of a hero worship Kennedy hadn't seen since Carson's first run-in with Nick Giovani. "I had to chase one of those guys away already. He must've jumped the fence. Kept banging on the door and wouldn't leave until he heard me cock your shotgun."
"Good girl," Kennedy praised her absently, taking her by the hand and leading her into the kitchen. "Get two of the ginsu knives, babe, and run them through the flame on the stove, then swipe them down with alcohol. We'll need them to cut the cords."
"That's what the doctor on the phone said, too," Carson grabbed two knives from the wooden block on the counter. "I hadn't made it over here yet. Katie's in some awful pain, K. I have some clean towels ready to wrap the babies in. Do we need to boil water?"
"No." Kennedy touched her on the arm. "Not sure why they do that on TV, but no."
"How do you know all this?" Carson turned on the gas stove and began sterilizing the knives.
"Looked it up a while back, just in case." Kennedy located a bottle of alcohol in the half bath right off the kitchen, and set it on the counter with a packet of cotton squares. "Sweetheart, I'm going to go and take care of Katie. As soon as you're done with those, bring them on over. Bring the alcohol, too."
"Alright." Carson looked over her shoulder, her face pinched with worry.
Kennedy smiled. "You're doing good. We can do this, okay?"
"Okay." Carson nodded, a few less lines wrinkling her forehead.
"See you in a minute." Kennedy trotted through the house and across the dogtrot, making a run down the hall as she heard Katie cry out. "Breathe," Kennedy commanded, as she entered Katie's room.
"Easy for you to say." Katie glared at her. "I've been doing controlled breathing for thirty minutes, Shea, trying to make these babies hold off until paramedics might get here."
"You feel like you need to push?" Kennedy moved to her side and grabbed a wet rag from a basin on the nightstand, blotting at Katie's flushed cheeks and forehead.
"God, yes!" Katie groaned, her face contorting as her body worked through another contraction.
"Then push." Kennedy lifted the sheet, covering Katie's body. "Sorry," she apologized at the invasion of privacy.
"Please," Katie gasped. "I wouldn't care right now if the National Guard were gathered round the bed. I just want these babies out."
"Alright." Kennedy gently nudged Katie's bent legs further apart. She had no way of knowing exactly how much Katie was dilated, but it seemed it wasn't going to matter. "I think I already see a head."
"Really?" Katie lifted her own head, trying to see over her large belly. "Little suckers are fast." She laughed nervously and flopped back down, digging her heels into the mattress. "I'm going to owe you a new bed when this is over."
"All you owe me is two healthy nieces." Kennedy reached up, grasping her hand and squeezing it. Katie's return squeeze was surprisingly powerful, making her knuckles pop. "We can do this."
"I wish Parker was here." Katie sounded near tears. "He's going to miss it."
"No he won't." Carson entered the room and set the knives on a clean towel on the nightstand. In her other hand was her video camera. "He's going to have a front row seat." She raised the camera and began filming.
"Thank god you thought of that." Katie smiled and then cried out. "God, that one is coming, Shea."
"Push." Kennedy got partway onto the bed at her feet. "I'll take care of her, soon as she appears."
"Oh, god, I forgot how much this hurts!" Katie bunched up the sheet in her fists and grimaced, her neck muscles bulging with the effort.
"It's a trick of nature to make you forget," Kennedy soothed. "You would've stopped with Erin, otherwise."
"And cut Parker's tallywacker off," Katie added. "Oh, lord, Shea, here she comes!"
Kennedy moved into better position. She felt Carson just to her side. "You got a good angle, babe?"
"Don't worry about me." Carson touched her back. "You just do what you need to do and I'll manage just fine."
"You're the professional." Kennedy glanced over her shoulder, flashing a smile. Truth be told, she was slightly terrified, and grateful Carson was there with her. It was one thing to read about emergency home birth online. The websites made it sound like a walk in the park. It was quite another to face it head on, literally, seeing the blood and fluid on the sheets and watching as the baby crowned and then slipped out, into her waiting hands. She barely heard Katie's final cry as she gave the last, mighty push that propelled the baby into the daylight.
"It's a girl, for sure." Kennedy laughed, her eyes stinging with unshed tears. Before she had time to rub its back or pat its behind, the baby gave a lusty cry, her tiny arms flailing in protest at leaving her dark, warm haven. "You got a couple of towels, Carson?"
"Sure." A towel appeared over her shoulder and Kennedy took it, wiping gently wiping the baby off. A second towel appeared and she wrapped her up, placing her next to Katie.
"Oh." Tears streamed down Katie's face as she cradled the baby against her. "She's so beautiful. Isn't she beautiful?" She glanced first at Kennedy and then at Carson.
"The prettiest baby on earth," Carson agreed.
"Absolutely," Kennedy confirmed. The baby had a cap of bright red hair. "Mama is going to be beside herself when she sees that hair."
"Just like her grandma," Carson chimed in. "And her brother."
"Guess that means her sister will have red hair, too." Katie groaned. "Speaking of --"
"Push if you need to." Kennedy moved back into position, and Carson took up her spot over her shoulder, once again picking up the camera.
"God!" Katie screamed in pain. "Shea!" Her eyes were wild with panic. "Something's not right. It hurts too much."
"Breathe." Kennedy cooed, low and soft. "Relax as much as you can."
"Kennedy --" Carson's panicked voice floated over her shoulder.
Kennedy turned, raising a finger to her lips. 'I know,' she mouthed. What appeared to be the heel of a tiny foot peeked out, and then disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared.
Carson put the camera down and moved to the head of the bed, sitting down next to Katie and taking her hand. "I might not get this one on film."
"What's wrong?" Katie looked wildly from Carson to Kennedy.
"She's breech," Kennedy answered quietly.
"Oh, god, Shea!" Katie sat partway up and practically doubled over. "It feels like she's ripping me apart."
Kennedy scooted forward, ignoring the fresh, bright red blood soaking into the sheets and the pillow under Katie's buttocks. She prayed it was just fluid from the womb, and not something that would need stitching. Or worse. "Listen to me." She placed a hand over Katie's stomach, trying to sort out the baby body parts she could feel. "I need to feel inside, Katie. I'm sorry. I --"
"Do whatever you need to bring this baby into the world, Shea." More tears streamed down Katie's face, her eyes full of fear and sorrow.
"Alright." Kennedy got up and moved to the bathroom, scrubbing her hands and arms with as hot of water as she could stand, liberally lathering up from fingertips to elbows with anti-bacterial soap. She studied her short fingernails, searching for the slightest speck of dirt. She could hear Katie sobbing softly and she steeled herself, returning to the room. "You can do this, Katie." She eased back down onto the mattress."
"It hurts so much," Katie moaned.
"I know." Kennedy scrunched up her face and eased a hand inside Katie, encountering a single foot. "Damn," she hissed low. "Okay, Katie." She looked up, forcing Katie to stay with her through eye contact. "I have to go further up and bring her other leg down. You with me?"
"Yes," Katie gasped. "Just do it."
As Kennedy eased further up the birth canal, Katie moaned continually, her features contorted in pain. She grasped Carson's hand and then her arm, squeezing so hard Kennedy could see her fingernails digging into the tender flesh of Carson's forearm. To Carson's credit, she said not a word, though her jaw was set rigidly hard.
"Come on Katie, hang in there," Carson encouraged her, her voice low and commanding.
At last Kennedy located a buttock and then a thin leg. She took it between her fingers and slowly, carefully, eased it down to join the other leg. She could hear Katie's labored breathing, and feel her leg muscles tense against Kennedy's shoulder. "Alright." She slid partway out. "Push, Katie-did. Give me everything you've got."
"Carson," Katie rolled her head to the side and released Carson's arm. "Please get my baby on film so her daddy can see her birth."
"Okay." Carson bent over and kissed her forehead, then took up her place behind Kennedy again, camera held steady.
"Push, Katie!" Kennedy lightly grasped the baby's ankles and felt it sliding toward her, as Katie cried out, loud and long, her body coming off the pillow as the baby landed on the mattress.
Kennedy picked her up and quickly removed the cord, which was wrapped once around her neck. The baby's tiny face was slightly blue and she wasn't moving. Kennedy heard Carson gasp. "Carson, put the camera down."
The camera landed with a thud on the mattress behind Kennedy, and Carson sat down next to Katie, blocking her view. Kennedy glanced up and could see Carson's shoulders shaking slightly, her voice quivering as she spoke to Katie, "you okay?"
"My baby." Katie held the other baby close. "What's wrong?"
Kennedy laid the baby down on a towel, massaging its little chest with two fingers. She cleaned its face and opened its mouth, gently inserting a finger and swiping out mucus. Slowly, she bent over, covering its mouth and nose with her own mouth, blowing the tiniest puff of air. 'Move! Breathe!' her brain silently cried out.
"Shea?" Katie's anguished voice rolled over her and she blocked it out.
"Come on," she murmured, then blew two more small puffs of air. She felt movement under her fingers and then the baby squirmed, releasing a listless cry. Kennedy lifted her, holding her in her arms and rocking her. Her own heart was pounding, the adrenaline rushing through her system. She watched and listened, no longer holding back the tears, as the baby continued to breathe on its own, bright pink color flushing her face and chasing the blue tinge away.
Glancing over she saw Carson, once more with camera in hand. "You got that?"
"You bet." Carson smiled and set the device aside, handing her two more towels. "Here. Let me --"
Kennedy gratefully handed her niece over to Carson's care, watching mutely as Carson cleaned her and wrapped her, and placed her in Katie's one empty arm. "Here's your other daughter."
Katie was crying silently, her body shaking. "Oh --" Kennedy had presence of mind to remember the afterbirth and placed a towel beneath Katie, just as it slipped out.
"Katie." Kennedy stood on rubbery legs and swallowed, willing her nerves to calm. She held her own hand in front of her, watching to make sure it wouldn't shake. "I need to cut their cords so we can get you cleaned up. You ready?"
"Yes." Katie nodded and Kennedy made quick work of tying off and cutting the numb flesh.
"Done." She deposited the towel and all in a garbage bag. "Carson, can you --"
"I’m on it." Carson took over, sponge bathing Katie, while Kennedy took a seat on the chaise and made a call. She got Parker's voice mail, as expected.
"Hey Bro," she left a message. "Your daughters are safely here, and Katie's fine. Call me when you land and I'll let you know if we're at the hospital or still at home. Oh, I guess now might be a good time to tell you we're still at home. Long story. I'll tell you all about it when you get here but, bottom line, your wife and daughters are just fine." She ended the call and sat down on the edge of the mattress, "Katie, I need to check -- make sure you're not --"
"Whatever," Katie cut her off. "You saved my baby, Shea." She patted Kennedy's arm. "Do whatever you need to do."
Kennedy studied Katie closely. "You may need a few stitches, but not too much blood." She carefully covered Katie with the sheet. They needed to move her to a clean bed, but for the time being, Katie seemed content to just be done with the births, and to be holding her babies.
"I had a couple with Nathan, but not the other two." Katie smiled through a few still-flowing tears. "I'll live. And so will they." She hitched up, guiding the first of the two to her breast. "Come on," she cooed. "I know you're hungry." As if on cue the baby latched onto her nipple and began sucking with some force.
"Well, that sure runs in the family," Carson commented, then blushed bright pink as she realized what she'd said.
Katie laughed and Kennedy just shook her head, covering her eyes with one hand as she felt a matching blush heat her own cheeks. "Ai-yi-yi." She reached across and playfully cuffed Carson on the shoulder.
"Sorry." Carson peered sheepishly at her.
"Come're." Kennedy held out an arm and Carson slid beneath it, pressing against her. "Thanks." She kissed Carson's cheek. "We couldn't have done it without you."
Carson nuzzled her shoulder, then looked over at Katie. "You need some privacy?"
"Just for a few minutes, if y'all don't mind." She smiled. "It happened so fast, I just need a minute alone with my babies and get used to the idea they're here."
"Sure." Kennedy rose and Carson got up with her. They left the room and with unspoken consensus, retired to the office down the hall, where they both sank wearily into matching leather desk chairs. It felt surreal, what she'd just done, and Kennedy closed her eyes, sinking further down into her chair and willing her equilibrium back on track.
"K?" Carson peered anxiously at her. "The babies are kind of small, aren't they?"
"Yeah," she agreed. "I think that's normal for twins, but yeah, I'll be surprised if they're more than six pounds each. We may need to bundle Katie and them up and drive them into Round Rock if we can't get into Austin. I'll feel a lot better once a doctor takes a look at all three of them."
"We'll have to get through that media circus out there," Carson reminded her.
"Or just run over them." Kennedy smiled, feeling some of her energy returning. "You know what?" She laughed.
"What?" Carson smiled at her, her eyes warm with that same damned hero-worship.
"Parker is going to owe me for life after this." It was almost more satisfying than bringing the babies into the world.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Continued in Chapter 9
It was almost time to wake up, except Kennedy was already awake. The alarm would go off in thirty minutes, and hopefully the light outside would at least be gray by then. The air felt damp and as she gazed intently at the darkened window for signs of dawn, she heard a familiar pattering of rain on the roof. Ah. Dawn would be a long time coming. And the drive into Austin would be a bitch on wet roads.
She really should get up and get an early start, but she wasn't inclined to move at the moment. Carson was curled up against her, her head on Kennedy's shoulder and one arm wrapped lightly around her waist. Her naked skin felt wonderfully soft, pressed against Kennedy's own. As she ran her hand slowly down Carson's bare back, the smaller woman stirred and shifted, tightening her grip on Kennedy. An unintelligible moan of disapproval escaped her lips, and then Carson settled down, her breathing evening out, indicating she was still asleep.
Kennedy kissed the top of her head and nuzzled her hair, trying really hard to remember what it had been like before she had this -- all those long years of living alone and waking up in a house that was secluded, back from the road and separated from the nearest neighbors by a good half acre. Unless she spoke to the animals, back then, sometimes her morning was void of conversation until she got to the office. It was so quiet out there, practically in the country, and in her single days there were mornings when even turning on the radio seemed too harsh in all that silence.
Not anymore. She smiled into the darkness. Having Carson in her life made the mornings much livelier, both in bed and once they got up. If Carson was in the house, chances are there was music playing, usually something with a beat, and if Carson were in the shower or simply be-bopping around the house getting ready, she was usually singing along with it. Kennedy still preferred her more peaceful Native American flute tunes, folk music, and the light jazz and new age music in her rather large CD collection, but she'd come to enjoy the pop, country, and rock of Carson's collection, which was now co-mingled with hers on the shelf. On the rare occasion she grabbed Carson's iPod on accident, she secretly enjoyed listening to her partner's eclectic and upbeat downloads.
Life was shaping up to be everything she'd always hoped it might be, but never dreamed it could. They really did get along, her own more stoic personality a perfect balance with Carson's more fiery one. It was nice, looking around and seeing their things all mixed up together around the house - Carson's dishes in the kitchen cabinet, her brightly-colored towels stacked on the bathroom shelves among Kennedy's less colorful collection, and Carson's clothing hanging in the large walk-in closet, her shoes on the closet floor, looking impossibly small next to Kennedy's much larger ones.
To hell with the right-wing nut jobs. She was married in every sense of the word, save the piece of paper. It didn't bother her to think of being settled down. Truth be told, she liked the routine they were settling into. Judging from Carson's mostly-peaceful demeanor, being settled agreed with her as well. Being settled didn't mean they lacked for fun and excitement; quite the opposite: Now there was someone to go horseback riding with, water skiing with, and to the gym with. Someone to eat meals with, and on the weekends, someone to go to movies, out to dinner, or to whatever other activities might beckon them.
And Carson made friends everywhere they went. Listening to music at Gaby and Mo's, or perusing Bookwoman bookstore, or having a cup of coffee at Austin Java, Carson managed to strike up conversations with the people nearby, and they had recently begun doing things with other lesbian couples besides just Valerie and Serena. Carson had even tentatively suggested they throw a July fourth barbeque and have several people over to hang out and enjoy the boats and wave runners. She could picture it -- a volleyball net set up out back, and a bucket of homemade ice cream sitting on the back porch. Yeah, they'd have to do that.
Then there were the hot tub and pool catalogues that kept appearing in her mail and Carson's innocent smile as she made sure Kennedy saw them. "There's nothing I wouldn't do for you," she whispered to her sleeping partner. She was fairly certain by summer's end they'd have a pool with a hot tub. That would mean more parties.
So why, exactly, was she running for political office? Other than she obviously had an insane moment. Carson had told her about Roy Sanderson's nephew. It had slipped out in that half-sleepy, peaceful time after love-making, when it was always easier to bare their souls. They talked about so many things during those times -- their future children, their dreams, even those pesky pool catalogues. She hated that politics were making their way into their bed. She even hated that they were in her head during her quiet morning time. It was all wrong to have ugly thoughts when she was holding someone so beautiful in her arms.
No, between Katie being down the hall and her own schedule revolving around a calendar of speaking engagements, life was slowly slipping off track, sliding to a place she wasn't so sure she wanted it to go. Logically, once they got past the election, things would be righted, one way or the other. Either she'd win and begin preparing for her official duties, or she'd lose and go back to being just a lawyer. A very happy lawyer with everything in the world to be happy about. But either way, the ugliness that was a political race would be behind her. She already knew that if she won and ran again, she wouldn't put into a second race what she was putting into this one. Hopefully after this first round, in the future she could run on her record.
"No more politics," she grumbled.
"Amen, sistah," a sleepy voice agreed with her.
"Did I wake you?" Kennedy rubbed Carson's back.
"No, my stomach did." Carson wriggled up until they were almost nose to nose. "Used up all my energy last night." She tilted her head closer, stealing a kiss.
"You want me to drop out of the race?" Kennedy went back to the beginning of the conversation. It had been a while since she'd actually touched base with Carson, as far as how the race was affecting her.
"You want me to tell you I do?" Carson questioned her softly.
"Yes. No." Kennedy sighed. "If you said you wanted me to, I would."
"You're ahead in the polls, honey. What was that headline last week? 'Nocona a Breath of Fresh Air'?" She smoothed Kennedy's hair back.
It felt good, and Kennedy closed her eyes, enjoying the little chills it caused. "Yeah. Something like that. It would be dishonorable to drop out at this point, but damned if I'm pretty tired of eating iceberg lettuce salads at all those banquets and luncheons. You'd think just once Brian and Chip would remember I'm a vegetarian and make sure there's something on the menu besides chicken."
"Ew." Carson wrinkled her nose. "More like chicken jerky. Banquet chicken is usually dry as sawdust, and about as tasty. You aren't missing much."
"Well --" Kennedy eased partway up, gently rolling Carson on her back. "If I don't get up and get in the shower, I'm going to miss my first client this morning. Anytime it rains I can count on at least an extra thirty minutes added to the drive."
"Aw." Carson sat up and scooted out of bed after her. "I thought this was one of your telecommuting days."
"Was supposed to be, but with two political lunches this week, I've been having to scramble to work in all my clients." Kennedy ambled into the bathroom and flipped on the lights.
"Ugh." Carson covered her face for a moment, then slowly removed her hand, blinking at the harsh lights.
"Oh. Sorry." Kennedy hit a dimmer switch.
"S'alright." Carson half-stumbled toward the large shower stall and turned on the water. She liked the master bathroom very much - the shower had no door, but rather a stone wall with an open doorway. It was plenty big enough for two and had four spigots, two up high and two closer to waist-level, all of them set so that no water ever sprayed outside the shower area.
"You joining me this morning?" Kennedy followed behind her, wrapping her arms around Carson's waist, and gently nibbling on her earlobe.
"Keep that up and I'll be joining you in more ways than one," Carson moaned softly.
"Good." Kennedy kept up her assault on sensitive skin, backing them both under the water as she eased one hand slowly down Carson's stomach. She felt Carson's breath catch, her stance automatically widening as Kennedy reached her goal.
"Thought you were in a hurry," Carson choked out breathlessly.
"Mmmm." Kennedy hummed over her shoulder, into Carson's ear. "I am." She quickened her pace, glad they were far enough from Katie's room that the endearing little yelps and squeaks coming from her lover wouldn't be heard. "Guess this'll have to be a quickie." As she spoke, she felt Caron's stomach muscles ripple, as Carson cried out her release.
The shorter woman turned in her arms, wrapping her arms around Kennedy's neck and kissing her soundly. Kennedy felt Carson's leg slip between her own, and she groaned out her appreciation, soon riding her own wave of pleasure.
Afterward, they simply held each other close, belly-to-belly, as the water poured down over them. Slowly, they kissed, trading light touches, then gently washed each other clean. It was one of the most satisfying ways to start the day. As they dried each other off, very little was said, but the glow on Carson's face, the dreamy look in her eyes, said it all. It was an expression Kennedy lived for.
"I think I need to go back to sleep." Carson yawned and shrugged into a soft terry robe.
"You do that." Kennedy helped her back into bed. She turned off the light and leaned over, kissing Carson's forehead. "I'll be home by six."
"Good," Carson mumbled. "Dinner together. Be careful." She opened her eyes, cupping Kennedy' cheek, her thumb stroking her skin.
"I will." Kennedy captured the hand and kissed it. "I love you."
"Love you too."
Kennedy slipped out of the room, closing the door on her already-sleeping partner.
Yeah. Being in love totally rocked.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The quiet hum of the air conditioning served to soothe Kennedy's frazzled nerves with both peaceful sound and cool, refreshing air. The luncheon shouting match with Brian and Chip had added to her already foul mood. There simply weren't enough hours in the day anymore, and she had two filing deadlines to meet by day's end. She punched a button on her intercom. "Heidi?"
"What's up?" Heidi rasped back through the phone.
"You got a minute?" Kennedy idly rolled her track ball mouse around the screen, pulling up a montage of photos of Carson. She smiled.
"Sure. Be right in." Heidi cut off the connection and almost immediately appeared in the doorway.
"Hey boss lady." She took a seat on the leather couch across the room.
"Hey. How many hours you been putting in?" Kennedy pulled up the Timeslips program and hunted around for Heidi's input. "Yikes. Never mind. Way too many."
"It's okay." Heidi sipped from a can of diet Dr Pepper. "I'd rather be here than go home to an empty apartment. Not like I can go to happy hour."
"I know, but you still need to have a life." They were both stretched to the limit, easily putting in twelve hours a day, if not more. "How many of your clients followed you down here?"
"Mmmm. All but two?" Heidi peered up at the ceiling in thought. "Enough that we created another cost center for all of them?"
"I know." Kennedy smiled. It was a nice problem. They could now add securities law to their list of specialties on the firm website. The problem was that Heidi was so busy working for all the clients who willing followed her down the 200-mile cyber highway from Dallas to Austin, that she had little time to do what she was originally hired for, carry part of Kennedy's usual case load. "I think I need to hire another associate. I was thinking of giving Mikey a call. The government can't be paying him nearly what he's worth. How'd you feel about a smokers and tokers reunion?"
"Hot damn!" Heidi's face lit up. "Install an espresso machine in the kitchen if you plan to hire him. He doesn't smoke or drink anymore, but he guzzles coffee as if it were the nectar of life."
"Luckily I have experience in buying those. I got a cappuccino machine for Carson when she moved here." She rolled the mouse around again, locating the Williams Sonoma website and perusing the various coffee and cappuccino makers, spotting the one that now sat prominently on their kitchen counter.
"Girlfriend, you would have raised the house and re-built it from the ground up, if that's what it would have taken to get her to move in with you." Heidi laughed as Kennedy tried to appear annoyed at her comment, but failed miserably. The glow about her face was a dead giveaway.
"She wouldn't ask that of me," Kennedy finally responded. "However, I did make a few calls to pool installers this morning. They should be breaking ground in a week."
"From hermit to pool party socialite. Damn, Shea." Heidi tisked at her. "Next thing, you'll be building a guest house."
"We have guest bedrooms for that." Kennedy rolled her eyes. "But I may put a little pool house in and it might as well have a bedroom, since it will have a bathroom and kitchenette. Figured if we did any poolside cookouts it would be easier to have a kitchen right there than trotting back and forth up the hill to the house."
"Hot tub? Stereo system? Sauna?" Heidi asked hopefully.
"Yes, yes, and wet and dry, yes. And a workout room." Kennedy tossed a brochure across the room. "I decided as long as we were building it, we should put a couple of lap lanes to the side of the pool, and I figured if we were going to do that, we might as well have weights to make a complete workout of it."
" 'Bout damned time you spent some of that money on yourself." Heidi eyed the brochure like a cat in a fish market.
"I'm spending it on Carson," Kennedy corrected her. "We both like to go to the gym but there are many days we can't get there and we end up running instead."
"In this heat?" Heidi practically yelped. "Y'all are crazy."
"That's why the lap lanes and weight room. If we add heaters, we can swim laps year round, whereas it's really only comfortable to run in April and October. The other ten months are like running in one of several levels of hell, depending on if it's frozen or boiling."
"Kennedy?" Marcus appeared in the office doorway. "Sorry to interrupt, but on the radio they just said the train jumped the track or something at Anderson and MoPac. Big fire and lots of cars on the road involved, too. It was pulling some tanker cars. MoPac is completely shut down and so is Anderson. They're afraid heat from the fires may compromise the bridge there."
"Ouch." Kennedy peered at her computer screen where a breaking news message bot was flashing. "I better call Carson and tell her to avoid coming into the city. God. Getting home will be a nightmare."
"You up for dinner before you go home?" Heidi stood to go back to her office. "There's a new Chinese place near my apartment."
"Might as well." Kennedy hit a speed dial button on her phone. "Even if I take back roads, so will everyone else."
"Alright. I need to finish up some work and then I'll come see if I can take some of your load off."
"Thanks," Kennedy smiled gratefully. "Marcus, be ready to make a courthouse run in a couple of hours."
"Just let me know." Both Marcus and Heidi left her office, and Kennedy listened to the phone ring.
Finally, Carson picked up. "Hey, Honey, what's up?"
"Big fire and train wreck at Anderson and MoPac." She smiled, hearing dance music in the background. "Just thought I'd let you know so you'd avoid any errands in the city this afternoon. Where are you?"
"Thanks. I'm swabbing down the boat deck." The music suddenly went lower. "That better?"
"I was kind of enjoying it." Kennedy could picture her lover, most likely in a tiny swimsuit, soaking up sun. Since Carson had moved in, the boats and boathouse had never been cleaner. And Carson had never been tanner. "Hey, I'm going to go eat Chinese food with Heidi before I come home. Figured the traffic will be pretty bad. You want me to bring you any carry-out?"
"Ooo, Kung Pao Chicken, please." Kennedy could practically hear Carson salivating. "That would be awesome."
"Okay, and I'll pick up some of that cherry garcia frozen yogurt we like, so we can at least have dessert together."
"You rock!" Carson warbled.
"You rock me," Kennedy retorted. "I need to get back to work. Love you, babe."
"Love you, too." Carson hung up and Kennedy reluctantly went back to polishing up an Original Answer for one of her clients. It was going to be a long afternoon.
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The evening air was stifling, even for late May in Austin. Carson stood on the front porch, watching the dachshund triplets roll around in the grass, wrestling and nipping at each other, and occasionally chasing one another around the yard in wide circles. Oscar and Felix had been living with the neighbors for a few months, and were over for a play date with sister Daisy, while their new family was away in San Marcos. They'd taken off immediately after school was out to go tubing on the Brazos River and beat the heat. On the covered front porch, under a ceiling fan in the shade, Talia and Cody lay, wisely and sedately conserving their energy. Carson glanced over at them, then took a seat in an Adirondack chair. "I'm with you two." She raised her glass of peach iced tea in a toast.
"Whew." She raised her bangs, allowing the circulating air from the fain to cool the rivulets of sweat on her forehead. There was no other breeze, the air deathly still and the temperature hovering in the upper ninety's. The rain had ended mid-day, leaving in its wake sweltering humidity, but more thunderstorms were in the forecast. The scent of electricity and rain had yet to reach her nostrils, though clouds were starting to build in the western sky. Off to the southeast, though several miles away, the smoke from the train wreck was clearly visible, rising and billowing black against the thin, blue sky. "That must be one heck of a mess," she remarked to the dogs. "Maybe the rain will get here and help put it out."
Something scurried in the hedges down below the elevated porch, and suddenly Spanky shot out of the brush, hot on the tail of something running for its life. With a giant leap and a pounce, he landed on his victim, and Carson heard the shrieks of a dying field mouse. "Ewww." She wrinkled her nose. With land, barns, and horses, mice were a fact of life and admittedly, having three cats and three dogs was probably the only reason they never had to deal with them inside the house. If not for some kind of pest control, chemical or natural, they would be overrun with them, but she still didn't like watching and listening to one meet its final fate.
"Spanky, no!" She jumped up, as the cat trotted right past her, through the pet door that led into the dog trot. "Not in the house!" She gave chase, but too late, she entered the dog trot to see the pet door leading to the bedroom side of the house close behind the tom cat. "Used to be a tom cat," she corrected herself.
Like the other dogs and cats, Spanky had been snipped, reducing his masculine prowess to capturing anything smaller than him that moved. Unfortunately he enjoyed sharing his treasures, often gifting his humans with his conquests, leaving them in places they'd be sure to be found, such as the middle of the bed or the bathroom rug. Carson had already had the misfortune of stepping on a still-warm, but thankfully deceased, horned toad in the middle of the night. After that she never again went in the bathroom without turning on the light first. Not all of Spanky's gifts were completely dead.
She followed the cat into the house, but was unable to find him. There were any number of places he might be hiding to enjoy taunting his prey, and she finally gave up, making mental note to watch where she walked, sat, or lay, until the victim was located. Passing Katie's room, she tapped on the door and entered as Katie answered. "Hey. How are you feeling?"
"More false labor, I think." Katie grimaced.
She'd been to the doctor twice for lower back pain she thought was the beginning of contractions, only to be turned away each time. It was just as well. At seven and a half months she was in a lot less danger than she'd been in March when she moved in. The two months had flown by, really, though Carson suspected they'd dragged for Katie.
"Do we need to take you in to see him tonight?" Carson sat down on the edge of the bed. Katie appeared miserable, her stomach larger than most women at nine months. She had a portable air conditioner running, in addition to the central air of the house, and a large pitcher of lemonade on the night stand, along with a bucket of ice.
"He's on vacation, but I spoke with the hospital. They contacted the on-call doctor and she said if the pains become more frequent or don't dissipate by 8:00 o'clock tonight, to go on into Brackenridge." Katie peered at her sheepishly. "I didn't want to bother you with it, since that's a good two hours away."
"Are the pains regular?" Carson frowned.
"No. Just a twinge very now and then." Katie sighed and sipped from a straw, then held the cold glass against her forehead. "Just like the other two times. I didn't have this with the other kids. Nothing about this pregnancy has been anything like the last three. With the others I felt good most of the time. Hell, Carson, I was on the treadmill 5 days a week almost up until I gave birth with the others." She patted her belly. "Losing the weight from this one is going to be a bitch."
"I bet you'll work it off quick enough, chasing five kids around," Carson tried to comfort her.
"True." Katie managed to laugh. "Ow!" She rubbed her side. "Every time I laugh now, one of them starts kicking me in the ribs."
"Wow." Carson could actually see movement under the thin t-shirt Katie wore. "May I?" She reached across, her hand hovering over Katie's stomach.
"Sure." Katie took her hand and held it against her stomach, just below her ribcage.
"Oh!" Carson jumped a little, as she felt something pushing back against her hand. "Feisty."
"Yeah, and feel over here." Katie moved her hand across her stomach. "Feel that little roundness there?" Carson nodded. "That's a little baby butt."
"Aw." Carson withdrew her hand. "That must be amazing, to have that life inside you like that."
"It is," Katie agreed. "It's funny. Parker and I are pretty liberal, politically, especially on social issues, but ever since I first felt Erin move inside me, I'm pretty much a pro-lifer."
"Really?" Carson was not completely surprised. "You know, a lot of lesbians actually are. I think it's because we have to work so hard to have children, it's sad to think of someone terminating a pregnancy just because they weren't careful. Kennedy always says if you're going to play, you should have to pay."
"Interesting." Katie lay back against the pillows, her face flushed with heat despite the extra air conditioning. "I'd never want to outlaw it. I think in cases of rape, incest, or in cases where the baby has some horrible congenital issues, abortion should be an option. But I tend to agree on it being uses as a form of birth control. With so many people wanting babies, I wish more people would consider adoption."
"Me, too," Carson whole-heartedly agreed. "It's what we plan on doing, eventually, most likely. Adopting, I mean."
"I know." Katie's eyes twinkled. "Shea and I talked about it, that day after she told you about Parker saving some of his swimmers for y'all. Man, you were hotter than a hornet's nest."
"Yeah, I was." Carson could feel her face flush, and not from the heat. "I felt so bad about getting mad at her, after she explained. I'm still not used to having anyone so thoughtful in my life. She's always doing little things, and thinking about ways to insure our future."
"She loves you, Carson. Parker and I were just talking about the two of you the other night, on the phone. Protective streaks run a mile wide in that family. It's killing him to not be with me. But he's just as protective of his sister." She smiled. "He said you were the first girlfriend Shea ever had, that he liked."
"He didn't like Angela?" Carson's brows rose in surprise.
"No," Katie almost growled. "Neither did I. You know, Shea did all that partying in college and law school, but when she got that job in Houston, she was so busy, she had started to get away from all that, but when she met Angie, she fell right back into it. And Angie was a manipulator." Katie shook a finger at her. "This is between you and me, okay? Shea doesn't need to hear what I think about her dead ex-girlfriend, but I'm telling you. I think you need to know."
"Sure." Carson nodded. She had no intention of telling Kennedy that her sister-in-law thought ill of Angela. There was no point. But she sensed she was about to get some new insight into what made her lover tick.
"Angie was always sweet-talking Shea into buying her things -- jewelry, clothes, stuff like that. She was planning to buy that girl a Porsche that matched Shea's for her birthday, and she would have, if Angie hadn't died." Katie shook her head. "Sure, Shea had just come into all that money from her share of that big oil settlement, but that's not the point. The point is that she knew Shea had the money and she constantly expected her to spend it on her. She was a beautiful girl, and she knew it, and she knew how to work it. Parker tried to talk to Shea, but she wouldn't have any of it. If Angie wanted it, Shea bought it for her."
Thinking of all the swimming pool brochures, Carson felt the weight of guilt settle on her shoulders. She thought of the weekly flower delivery, and the diamond tennis bracelet Kennedy had given her for her birthday. Even their engagement rings. She glanced down at the gold band she'd loved wearing so much, and suddenly it wasn't quite so shiny anymore. And only a few days before, Kennedy had suggested the miles were adding up on Carson's Civic, and offered to buy her a new car.*** She started to say something, but when she looked up, Katie's face had gone white. "What's wrong?"
"My water just broke." Katie scooted over, moving away from the wet spot on the bed. "Guess it's time to call that ambulance for Brackenridge." Her hand was shaking, and she reached for the phone.
"I'll call them." Carson handed her the cell phone from the nightstand. "You call Parker."
"Oh, lord." Katie flipped her phone open. "I hope he can get here in time."
"Me, too." Carson picked up the cordless house phone receiver and dialed 911. "Hello, we need an ambulance from Lago Vista to Brackenridge Hospital, please. We have a high-risk pregnant woman here, and her water just broke." She listened for a moment, her heart doing flips, then turned to Katie, who was still talking with Parker. "Katie, we need to talk. Tell him to call when he gets to the airport."
Katie's brows rose in question and she quickly ended the call. "Something's wrong, isn't it?"
"Yeah." Carson sat down again, touching Katie's arm. "There are no ambulances or paramedics to be had. Every unit within a hundred miles was working the train wreck. I'm going to have to drive you there, I think."
"That train wreck is between us and the hospital, isn't it? Didn't they say on the news that MoPac and 183 are shut down?" Katie's eyes clearly reflected her fear as Carson nodded. "Carson." She took Carson's hand and squeezed it. This is my fourth pregnancy and with each one, my labor time was cut in half. If that pattern continues, these babies will be born within three hours. I don't want to risk having them out on the side of the road in ninety-five degree heat with a thunderstorm on the way."
"I could go up through Round Rock and down I-35," Carson hopefully offered., but everyone is using it as an alternate route around the wreck. We'd be lucky to get out of Round Rock within three hours. I'm calling Kennedy."
She pulled her Treo from its clip and hit Kennedy's speed dial number, grateful when she picked up on the first ring. "Hi Honey, how soon can you be home?"
"When we heard how bad traffic is, we decided to skip dinner. I'm on my way now," Kennedy answered, almost sending Carson to her knees in relief. "Had to take Capitol of Texas to 222 to 620, and then cut over to --"
"K, where are you?" Carson anxiously cut her off.
"Just outside Cedar Park. I had to --"
"Just get home, please?" Carson pleaded. "Katie's in labor and there's no ambulances."
"Oh. Alright. Listen to me." Kennedy's tone was no non-sense. Neither of them had experience with childbirth,*** but somehow, just the authority in her voice calmed Carson's rising blood pressure.
"I'm listening," she sat down again, offering Katie a smile of encouragement.
"Call 911 again and tell them the minute a paramedic becomes available, we need them. Then get Brackenridge on the phone and get an ObGyn to stay with you on the phone. Give them my name and credit card number if, and tell them they can charge their time to it, if they need to." Kennedy's voice softened. "I'll be there as soon as I can, sweetheart."
"Okay." Carson took a deep breath. "Be careful, K. We need you."
She heard the call end and turned to Katie, projecting as much confidence into her expression as she possibly could. "She's on her way. Everything is going to be fine."
Katie smiled, apparently desperately wanting to believe her.
*** NOTES: In the published version of Borderline, they did not buy new vehicles and Kennedy did not deliver any babies. Since I'm sticking to that storyline here, that means some things will not be consistent with the online version of Borderline.
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The last five miles seemed to last forever. Kennedy turned off FM 1431, passed the brick wall proclaiming 'Lago Vista' to anyone who could not read the sign on the highway, and onto Lohman's Crossing Road, following the twists and curves carved into the massive hills, until she reached Boggy Ford Road and made yet another turn. "I have got to re-think living a million miles down the most convoluted road in Texas," she muttered to herself.
Her Treo vibrated and she lifted it, careful to keep her eyes on the road. It was a text message from Carson with two words -- 'hurry plz.' "Going as fast as I can, babe." She dared not speed, lest she run right off the hillside and plunge into some tree-hidden valley, never to be seen again, and she certainly dared not try to answer. She knew Carson knew this. The device buzzed again. "Dammit, Carson! I didn't mean that," she quickly added. If she was frantic, Carson must be near panicked, being the one with the woman in labor. Another message appeared on the screen as she glanced at it -- 'scratch that -- plz b careful & beware of the idiots out front.'
"Idiots?" She had little time to wonder as at last she reached the private road that led to their subdivision. Luckily the gate was open, the norm during rush hour, and she sped past it, now safely on a relatively straight, if hilly, stretch of pavement. In front of their electric gate, three news vans were parked, a throng of reporters and cameras pacing back and forth along the obstruction like so many sharks.
"Dammitalltohell! I swear I am going to run over the first person who doesn't get the hell out of my way!" To accentuate her thoughts, she sped up, gunning the engine in the process. As she neared the gate, at last two reporters saw her and, eyes wide, dove for the ditch across the road from the house. "Be afraid," she growled. "Be very afraid." Realizing manslaughter would not look good on her resume, she reluctantly stopped and rolled down the window.
"You want to move the fuck out of the way so I can get to my partner and my sister-in-law?" she yelled at two blank-faced men blocking her access. Apparently realizing who she was, they had the presence of mind to scramble away from the entrance, and also to raise their cameras, snapping several shots as she used her remote to open the gate. Before it closed, at least one car managed to follow her inside. "Did I miss the notice for 'act like a moron day'?" She ignored the car and kept going, pulling up in the half-circle drive in front, rather than waste precious minutes with parking in the garage out back.
As she got out of the truck, two men exited the car and trotted along behind her, one with camera rolling. She stopped and turned, placing her hands on her hips. "Get off my land!"
"We heard about your predicament on police dispatch," the one without the camera stumbled over his words. "You're going to deliver those babies, aren't you?"
"If you'll leave me alone to go inside, yes, I am." She was moving again and they followed her onto the porch. "What part of 'no trespassing' do you not understand?" She turned again, flipping through her key ring for the key to the front door. "Damn." It wasn't there, because she never used the front door. She looked up, trying to decide if she should run around back, or ring the doorbell and force Carson to leave Katie. As she started to exit the porch, the front door opened and Carson's anxious face appeared behind the screen.
Before Kennedy could get back up the steps, the camera man dodged past her, lunging at the door as Carson started to open it.. Just as quickly, Kennedy grabbed him by the back of his collar and with a hard twist and shove, sent him tumbling backward into a garden of prickly pears.
"Aaaaa!" he cried out. "Son of a bitch!"
"Miss Nocona." The other man stood just out of reach, ignoring his cursing partner. "Think how good it would be for your image if we could film you delivering the babies. It would probably make national news."
"Think how good it would be for your health if you get the hell back in your car and leave, now!" She stepped forward, taking a swing and landing a solid punch to his gut. He gasped and doubled over, turning and giving her a perfect target: she raised her leg and planted her dress boot solidly against his backside, sending him head first over the porch railing to join the camera man.
"I'll sue!" the man yelled. "Assault!"
"And I'll sue you and your news station for trespassing and reckless endangerment of my sister in law and her babies." Satisfied they weren't getting up, she turned and entered the house, slamming the door behind her.
Carson dove into her arms. "Thank god you're home." Her arms were as solid as they had ever felt, and Kennedy automatically returned the hug.
"You okay?" She stroked Carson's head.
"I am now." Carson looked up, her eyes full of a hero worship Kennedy hadn't seen since Carson's first run-in with Nick Giovani. "I had to chase one of those guys away already. He must've jumped the fence. Kept banging on the door and wouldn't leave until he heard me cock your shotgun."
"Good girl," Kennedy praised her absently, taking her by the hand and leading her into the kitchen. "Get two of the ginsu knives, babe, and run them through the flame on the stove, then swipe them down with alcohol. We'll need them to cut the cords."
"That's what the doctor on the phone said, too," Carson grabbed two knives from the wooden block on the counter. "I hadn't made it over here yet. Katie's in some awful pain, K. I have some clean towels ready to wrap the babies in. Do we need to boil water?"
"No." Kennedy touched her on the arm. "Not sure why they do that on TV, but no."
"How do you know all this?" Carson turned on the gas stove and began sterilizing the knives.
"Looked it up a while back, just in case." Kennedy located a bottle of alcohol in the half bath right off the kitchen, and set it on the counter with a packet of cotton squares. "Sweetheart, I'm going to go and take care of Katie. As soon as you're done with those, bring them on over. Bring the alcohol, too."
"Alright." Carson looked over her shoulder, her face pinched with worry.
Kennedy smiled. "You're doing good. We can do this, okay?"
"Okay." Carson nodded, a few less lines wrinkling her forehead.
"See you in a minute." Kennedy trotted through the house and across the dogtrot, making a run down the hall as she heard Katie cry out. "Breathe," Kennedy commanded, as she entered Katie's room.
"Easy for you to say." Katie glared at her. "I've been doing controlled breathing for thirty minutes, Shea, trying to make these babies hold off until paramedics might get here."
"You feel like you need to push?" Kennedy moved to her side and grabbed a wet rag from a basin on the nightstand, blotting at Katie's flushed cheeks and forehead.
"God, yes!" Katie groaned, her face contorting as her body worked through another contraction.
"Then push." Kennedy lifted the sheet, covering Katie's body. "Sorry," she apologized at the invasion of privacy.
"Please," Katie gasped. "I wouldn't care right now if the National Guard were gathered round the bed. I just want these babies out."
"Alright." Kennedy gently nudged Katie's bent legs further apart. She had no way of knowing exactly how much Katie was dilated, but it seemed it wasn't going to matter. "I think I already see a head."
"Really?" Katie lifted her own head, trying to see over her large belly. "Little suckers are fast." She laughed nervously and flopped back down, digging her heels into the mattress. "I'm going to owe you a new bed when this is over."
"All you owe me is two healthy nieces." Kennedy reached up, grasping her hand and squeezing it. Katie's return squeeze was surprisingly powerful, making her knuckles pop. "We can do this."
"I wish Parker was here." Katie sounded near tears. "He's going to miss it."
"No he won't." Carson entered the room and set the knives on a clean towel on the nightstand. In her other hand was her video camera. "He's going to have a front row seat." She raised the camera and began filming.
"Thank god you thought of that." Katie smiled and then cried out. "God, that one is coming, Shea."
"Push." Kennedy got partway onto the bed at her feet. "I'll take care of her, soon as she appears."
"Oh, god, I forgot how much this hurts!" Katie bunched up the sheet in her fists and grimaced, her neck muscles bulging with the effort.
"It's a trick of nature to make you forget," Kennedy soothed. "You would've stopped with Erin, otherwise."
"And cut Parker's tallywacker off," Katie added. "Oh, lord, Shea, here she comes!"
Kennedy moved into better position. She felt Carson just to her side. "You got a good angle, babe?"
"Don't worry about me." Carson touched her back. "You just do what you need to do and I'll manage just fine."
"You're the professional." Kennedy glanced over her shoulder, flashing a smile. Truth be told, she was slightly terrified, and grateful Carson was there with her. It was one thing to read about emergency home birth online. The websites made it sound like a walk in the park. It was quite another to face it head on, literally, seeing the blood and fluid on the sheets and watching as the baby crowned and then slipped out, into her waiting hands. She barely heard Katie's final cry as she gave the last, mighty push that propelled the baby into the daylight.
"It's a girl, for sure." Kennedy laughed, her eyes stinging with unshed tears. Before she had time to rub its back or pat its behind, the baby gave a lusty cry, her tiny arms flailing in protest at leaving her dark, warm haven. "You got a couple of towels, Carson?"
"Sure." A towel appeared over her shoulder and Kennedy took it, wiping gently wiping the baby off. A second towel appeared and she wrapped her up, placing her next to Katie.
"Oh." Tears streamed down Katie's face as she cradled the baby against her. "She's so beautiful. Isn't she beautiful?" She glanced first at Kennedy and then at Carson.
"The prettiest baby on earth," Carson agreed.
"Absolutely," Kennedy confirmed. The baby had a cap of bright red hair. "Mama is going to be beside herself when she sees that hair."
"Just like her grandma," Carson chimed in. "And her brother."
"Guess that means her sister will have red hair, too." Katie groaned. "Speaking of --"
"Push if you need to." Kennedy moved back into position, and Carson took up her spot over her shoulder, once again picking up the camera.
"God!" Katie screamed in pain. "Shea!" Her eyes were wild with panic. "Something's not right. It hurts too much."
"Breathe." Kennedy cooed, low and soft. "Relax as much as you can."
"Kennedy --" Carson's panicked voice floated over her shoulder.
Kennedy turned, raising a finger to her lips. 'I know,' she mouthed. What appeared to be the heel of a tiny foot peeked out, and then disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared.
Carson put the camera down and moved to the head of the bed, sitting down next to Katie and taking her hand. "I might not get this one on film."
"What's wrong?" Katie looked wildly from Carson to Kennedy.
"She's breech," Kennedy answered quietly.
"Oh, god, Shea!" Katie sat partway up and practically doubled over. "It feels like she's ripping me apart."
Kennedy scooted forward, ignoring the fresh, bright red blood soaking into the sheets and the pillow under Katie's buttocks. She prayed it was just fluid from the womb, and not something that would need stitching. Or worse. "Listen to me." She placed a hand over Katie's stomach, trying to sort out the baby body parts she could feel. "I need to feel inside, Katie. I'm sorry. I --"
"Do whatever you need to bring this baby into the world, Shea." More tears streamed down Katie's face, her eyes full of fear and sorrow.
"Alright." Kennedy got up and moved to the bathroom, scrubbing her hands and arms with as hot of water as she could stand, liberally lathering up from fingertips to elbows with anti-bacterial soap. She studied her short fingernails, searching for the slightest speck of dirt. She could hear Katie sobbing softly and she steeled herself, returning to the room. "You can do this, Katie." She eased back down onto the mattress."
"It hurts so much," Katie moaned.
"I know." Kennedy scrunched up her face and eased a hand inside Katie, encountering a single foot. "Damn," she hissed low. "Okay, Katie." She looked up, forcing Katie to stay with her through eye contact. "I have to go further up and bring her other leg down. You with me?"
"Yes," Katie gasped. "Just do it."
As Kennedy eased further up the birth canal, Katie moaned continually, her features contorted in pain. She grasped Carson's hand and then her arm, squeezing so hard Kennedy could see her fingernails digging into the tender flesh of Carson's forearm. To Carson's credit, she said not a word, though her jaw was set rigidly hard.
"Come on Katie, hang in there," Carson encouraged her, her voice low and commanding.
At last Kennedy located a buttock and then a thin leg. She took it between her fingers and slowly, carefully, eased it down to join the other leg. She could hear Katie's labored breathing, and feel her leg muscles tense against Kennedy's shoulder. "Alright." She slid partway out. "Push, Katie-did. Give me everything you've got."
"Carson," Katie rolled her head to the side and released Carson's arm. "Please get my baby on film so her daddy can see her birth."
"Okay." Carson bent over and kissed her forehead, then took up her place behind Kennedy again, camera held steady.
"Push, Katie!" Kennedy lightly grasped the baby's ankles and felt it sliding toward her, as Katie cried out, loud and long, her body coming off the pillow as the baby landed on the mattress.
Kennedy picked her up and quickly removed the cord, which was wrapped once around her neck. The baby's tiny face was slightly blue and she wasn't moving. Kennedy heard Carson gasp. "Carson, put the camera down."
The camera landed with a thud on the mattress behind Kennedy, and Carson sat down next to Katie, blocking her view. Kennedy glanced up and could see Carson's shoulders shaking slightly, her voice quivering as she spoke to Katie, "you okay?"
"My baby." Katie held the other baby close. "What's wrong?"
Kennedy laid the baby down on a towel, massaging its little chest with two fingers. She cleaned its face and opened its mouth, gently inserting a finger and swiping out mucus. Slowly, she bent over, covering its mouth and nose with her own mouth, blowing the tiniest puff of air. 'Move! Breathe!' her brain silently cried out.
"Shea?" Katie's anguished voice rolled over her and she blocked it out.
"Come on," she murmured, then blew two more small puffs of air. She felt movement under her fingers and then the baby squirmed, releasing a listless cry. Kennedy lifted her, holding her in her arms and rocking her. Her own heart was pounding, the adrenaline rushing through her system. She watched and listened, no longer holding back the tears, as the baby continued to breathe on its own, bright pink color flushing her face and chasing the blue tinge away.
Glancing over she saw Carson, once more with camera in hand. "You got that?"
"You bet." Carson smiled and set the device aside, handing her two more towels. "Here. Let me --"
Kennedy gratefully handed her niece over to Carson's care, watching mutely as Carson cleaned her and wrapped her, and placed her in Katie's one empty arm. "Here's your other daughter."
Katie was crying silently, her body shaking. "Oh --" Kennedy had presence of mind to remember the afterbirth and placed a towel beneath Katie, just as it slipped out.
"Katie." Kennedy stood on rubbery legs and swallowed, willing her nerves to calm. She held her own hand in front of her, watching to make sure it wouldn't shake. "I need to cut their cords so we can get you cleaned up. You ready?"
"Yes." Katie nodded and Kennedy made quick work of tying off and cutting the numb flesh.
"Done." She deposited the towel and all in a garbage bag. "Carson, can you --"
"I’m on it." Carson took over, sponge bathing Katie, while Kennedy took a seat on the chaise and made a call. She got Parker's voice mail, as expected.
"Hey Bro," she left a message. "Your daughters are safely here, and Katie's fine. Call me when you land and I'll let you know if we're at the hospital or still at home. Oh, I guess now might be a good time to tell you we're still at home. Long story. I'll tell you all about it when you get here but, bottom line, your wife and daughters are just fine." She ended the call and sat down on the edge of the mattress, "Katie, I need to check -- make sure you're not --"
"Whatever," Katie cut her off. "You saved my baby, Shea." She patted Kennedy's arm. "Do whatever you need to do."
Kennedy studied Katie closely. "You may need a few stitches, but not too much blood." She carefully covered Katie with the sheet. They needed to move her to a clean bed, but for the time being, Katie seemed content to just be done with the births, and to be holding her babies.
"I had a couple with Nathan, but not the other two." Katie smiled through a few still-flowing tears. "I'll live. And so will they." She hitched up, guiding the first of the two to her breast. "Come on," she cooed. "I know you're hungry." As if on cue the baby latched onto her nipple and began sucking with some force.
"Well, that sure runs in the family," Carson commented, then blushed bright pink as she realized what she'd said.
Katie laughed and Kennedy just shook her head, covering her eyes with one hand as she felt a matching blush heat her own cheeks. "Ai-yi-yi." She reached across and playfully cuffed Carson on the shoulder.
"Sorry." Carson peered sheepishly at her.
"Come're." Kennedy held out an arm and Carson slid beneath it, pressing against her. "Thanks." She kissed Carson's cheek. "We couldn't have done it without you."
Carson nuzzled her shoulder, then looked over at Katie. "You need some privacy?"
"Just for a few minutes, if y'all don't mind." She smiled. "It happened so fast, I just need a minute alone with my babies and get used to the idea they're here."
"Sure." Kennedy rose and Carson got up with her. They left the room and with unspoken consensus, retired to the office down the hall, where they both sank wearily into matching leather desk chairs. It felt surreal, what she'd just done, and Kennedy closed her eyes, sinking further down into her chair and willing her equilibrium back on track.
"K?" Carson peered anxiously at her. "The babies are kind of small, aren't they?"
"Yeah," she agreed. "I think that's normal for twins, but yeah, I'll be surprised if they're more than six pounds each. We may need to bundle Katie and them up and drive them into Round Rock if we can't get into Austin. I'll feel a lot better once a doctor takes a look at all three of them."
"We'll have to get through that media circus out there," Carson reminded her.
"Or just run over them." Kennedy smiled, feeling some of her energy returning. "You know what?" She laughed.
"What?" Carson smiled at her, her eyes warm with that same damned hero-worship.
"Parker is going to owe me for life after this." It was almost more satisfying than bringing the babies into the world.
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Continued in Chapter 9
