End

Davy shut his eyes slightly and felt the sun on his face. Far off in the distance he could hear Micky calling him, but he wasn't interested. He was too calm and relaxed to care.

"Davy! C'mon!" Micky shouted. "Where are you?" Davy heaved a sigh. He could tell whatever Micky was shouting about was important, so he sat up and headed back to the Pad.

Mike and Micky were already climbing into the car, and Davy ran to catch up with them. Mike put the car in gear and Davy barely had time to shut his door before the car roared out of the driveway.

"What's going on?" he gasped, holding on to seat with both hands as the car swerved around a turn.

"Peter called about a half hour ago from the hospital," Mike informed him as he navigated around a parked car.

"The 'ospital-?"

"Right. Seems she's goin' into labor again," Mike replied.

"Oh boy."

Miraculously, Mike managed to get them to the hospital without actual need of the hospital's services. Davy and Micky uncrossed their fingers and followed him into the hospital, running to keep up.

The waiting room was crammed with people, and the hospital appeared to be in a very hectic state. Babies were crying, children were shouting, and a drunk old man was wailing about the end of the world.

Micky and Davy found empty seats and Mike went to see if he could talk to the desk worker.

"Excuse me, miss -"

Bang. Bang. A man was kicking the side of the soda machine in frustration.

"Miss? I just have a question - "

THUMP. THUMP. "Stupid, machine..." the man grumbled as he began to shake the dispenser violently.

"I'm lookin' for my sister - "

"Sir...you'll have to stop banging the machine. You're disturbing the people."

"-she's havin' a baby-"

"But it stole my quarter!" the man shouted back.

"-and I think there might be a problem -"

"Say - aren't you Davy Jones?" a young woman asked, appearing in front of Davy.

"Who? me?" Davy asked. He looked around. She nodded. "Oh. Yeah, that's me."

"Could I have your autograph?"

"Sir, the hospital will give you your money back."

"Uh - sure," he replied, scribbling his name on the book.

"Certainly...just tell me your sister's name."

"Thanks. I saw you guys in June. You were awesome. "

"It's Nicole-"

"Oh, well, thanks. "

"C'mon Davy, I found her!" Mike called, interrupting the conversation.

"Hey, I gotta go, sorry!"

"Okay. Great to meet you!"

"Sure."

Davy met up with Micky and Mike. "Man, that's a crazy waiting room!" he commented, whistling slightly.

Micky nodded. "I was talking to one of the nurses. Big fire downtown. That's probably why most of these people are here."

Mike nodded. "Musta been some fire!" he commented.

"Um, Mike...where are we going?" Davy asked.

"Maternity emergency," Mike replied. "At least I think that's what it's called. But the nurse gave me directions so I know where I'm going. Just down this hall and up three flights."

"Did she say anything about how she was doing?" Micky asked as they entered the elevator.

Mike shook his head as Davy pressed the button for the fourth floor. "Nope," he replied. "She was really busy with her own stuff so she didn't know what was going on. "

Micky nodded in understanding. The elevator rose quickly up the three floors and stopped. The doors slid open and they stepped aside quickly as 2 doctors rushed through with a gurney.

Davy sat down again in the hard plastic chair. The seat was uncomfortable, but he was tired of standing, so he had no choice but to sit again. He'd been in the waiting room for the past three hours, and was probably going to be there for a long time more.

Nicole was still in labor, and she wasn't very far along. Peter had been with her the whole time, so the only information they knew was what had been told to them by the nurse. And that was that they'd be here for a long time.

Davy heaved a sigh as he looked around the room. Mike was pacing and Micky looked as though he was about to fall asleep. Thomas and Joanne looked tired, too. It was nearly eleven o clock, now, so he wasn't surprised.

"I think I'm gonna get us some food," Micky announced. "I haven't eaten since dinner and that was about," he glanced at his watch, " almost six hours ago!"

Davy chuckled slightly. "I'm gonna get some donuts and coffee from the cafeteria in the basement. You guys want some?" Micky asked.

"Sure," Davy replied. "I'll come with you. We'll get some hot cocoa for the kids, too."

Davy and Micky headed out to get the coffee so that they could attempt to stay awake a little bit longer.

Micky hadn't been able to sleep. He'd drunk a lot of coffee with a lot of sugar in it, and he was still awake - though tired - when morning came.

The kids had fallen asleep shortly after midnight, and Davy had collapsed a little after one. Mike had stayed up to nearly four, but Micky was still awake now, at seven.

The door to the waiting room opened, and a nurse came in. Micky tapped Mike on the shoulder, he awoke with a start.

"Your sister is doing just fine," she informed him. "The babies are very small but they'll be fine with time."

"Can I see her?" Mike asked. The nurse agreed, and he and Micky followed her to a room.

Peter was sitting next to her bed, talking to her. Both looked positively exhausted, but very happy.

"I can't get over how much these little guys have grown in a week!" Micky exclaimed as he looked down at the baby in his arms.

"The doctor said that babies do a lot of growing in the first few months of life. Especially preemies," Nicole replied from the couch, where she sat, feeding the other one.

Davy was looking over Micky's shoulder at the little boy he held in his arms. Micky handed him over in answer to the unspoken question. "What was 'is name again?" he asked.

"Darrin," Mike replied from the kitchen table where he sat with a pile of hand-me-down baby clothes that had once been Thomas and Joanne's. "Darrin Peter."

Davy nodded as he looked down at the baby again. "It fits him," he replied.

"How can you know?" his older sister asked, looking over his shoulder. "He's not even a month old yet!"

Davy shrugged. "Trust me," he told Joanne. "I know."

Thomas took his little sister from his mother's arms. "I wonder if little brothers are less annoying than little sisters," he contemplated. Joanne stuck her tongue out at him.

Peter, who sat next to Nicole, laughed slightly. "Not really," he replied. "Trust me, I had two younger brothers and they were both very annoying. "

"Who says you have to have a brother or a sister?" Mike asked. "Anyone you live with can be annoying."

Davy and Micky both stuck their tongues out at that remark, and Peter threw one of the sofa pillows across the room.

Back to main page

Back to part fourteen

E-mail me and tell me what you think!