“Hey Lance! Where’s Kelly?” I asked as we collapsed in the dressing room after soundcheck.
Lance looked at his watch. “She should be here anytime.”
JC sat next to Lance on the couch, opening a bottle of water. “So Scoop, how’s the pregnancy going?”
A mischievous light danced in Lance’s eyes. He patted his stomach. “Pretty good. Don’t know how much longer I can take it though.”
JC punched Lance on the shoulder. “Okay smart alleck. You know what I meant.”
Lance smiled. “Kelly’s good. A week overdue, but we’re hangin’ in there. We’re lucky this is our last concert for awhile, ‘cause the doctor says she could go into labor anytime. And, Kelly says the worst part is not being able to wear any Tommy or Calvin.”
JC laughed. “Figures Kelly would say that.” Lance just shrugged and put his feet up on the coffee table.
“Hey, you guys need to sign these cd sleeves,” Joey said, tossing a sharpie down next to a mountain of cds.
“Already done,” Lance and I said together as JC and Chris got up to sign them.
There was a light rapping on the dressing room door. “Everyone decent?” A female voice called out.
“Yeah! Come on in Kel,” I yelled. Lance immediately jumped up as Kelly opened the door and walked in. He quickly filled the distance between himself and Kelly.
“How are you doing?” Lance asked her, gently resting a hand on her bulging stomach.
“Energetic! And very hyper!” Kelly said. “Whoa! You feel that?”
“Yeah,” Lance said, with a small smile. “We have got to get this kid enrolled in karate or something! What a kick!”
Kelly softly laughed and made her way to the couch. She sank down into the cushions and propped her feet up. “Hey Kelly- when you gonna get rid of that?” I asked, pointing to her stomach. “You look like your going to pop!”
“Thanks Justin. Your just the kinda person I need around for support when I do finally get this thing outta me,” she wearily answered. I just shrugged. “By the way... when do we eat?”
JC laughed. “We can right now.”
“Then what are we waiting for?” Kelly exclaimed, getting up as fast as she possibly could.
“Whoa girl!” Lance laughed. “Take it easy! We’ll get there.”
“Well, come on! The kid is hungry! Why do you think I keep getting kicked?”
“Alright, come on.” Lance began to lead Kelly out the door. “You guys coming?”
“I’ll be there soon,” I answered, getting my calling card out, just as Joey got up and followed them out the door.
After they left, I picked up the phone and dialed the appropriate numbers. “Hello, is Alex there?” I asked when someone picked up.
“No. She’s on a choir trip. She should be home really soon.”
“Okay. Will you tell her Justin called? She can call me on my cell phone as soon as she gets home.”
“Will do.”
“Okay, thanks.” I hung up the phone. It was slowly becoming more difficult to speak to Alex. She’s a senior this year. In about three weeks, myself, the rest of the guys in the group, Kelly, and Briley were all going to Texas for her graduation. “I’m going to go eat. You guys coming?” I asked JC and Chris.
“Yeah!” JC exclaimed.
“I’m hungry!” Chris hollered.
“So, how many seats sold for tonight’s show?” I curiously asked.
“I think we sold out again, but I’m not really sure,” JC answered. At that second, a little boy ran down the hall and jumped into my arms. Well, little to me. He was actually nine years old.
“Jon! My bud!” I exclaimed, hugging him.
“I missed you Justin,” My little brother, Jonathan said, fiercely hugging my neck.
“I missed you to,” I told him before setting him down on the ground.
“Guess what Justin,” Jon said.
“What?”
“Yesterday at recess, Mallory kissed me!”
“Who’s Mallory?” Chris asked in curiosity.
“My girlfriend,” Jon said shyly.
“He roped her in with a rose on Valentine’s Day,” I explained.
“Go Jon!” JC proudly encouraged.
“Is mom here?” I asked.
“Yeah, she’s out front. She said she would meet you where the food is,” Jon replied.
“Are you hungry?” I asked him.
“Yeah!” I held the door open for Jon, JC, and Chris. Jon ran over to the table and stood next to Kelly. “Can I feel the baby?” he asked.
She smiled. “Sure.” Kelly turned sideways in her chair away from the table. “Here you go.” She took one of Jon’s little hands an placed it on her stomach.
“I can’t feel anything!” Jon whined.
“Just be patient,” Kelly told him. Seconds later, Jon’s hand jumped.
“I felt it kick!” Jon exclaimed. Lance and Kelly glanced at each other and smiled, more over the joy in Jon’s face. “Is the baby a boy or a girl?”
“We don’t know. We want it to be a surprise,” Kelly answered Jon gently placed his arms around Kelly’s abdomen, hugging her. As he ran off to get a piece of chocolate cake, I sat down with my meal next to her. “He is such a sweetheart,” She mumbled.
“You do know he has a crush on you, right?” I asked.
“He does?” She said in surprise.
“Yeah. He was really upset when you and Lance got married. That’s why he wouldn’t talk to you at the wedding."
“That is so sweet!” She gushed, eyeing the table of food. Without another word, she got up to get more to eat.
“Geez!” Lance exclaimed.
“What?” I asked as JC, Chris, and Joey sat across from us.
“She eats so much now!” Lance explained.
“Is that bad?” Joey asked.
“Not that that would be new to you,” I sarcastically replied.
“What I mean is that up until six months ago, she at very little. Now, she eats everything in sight!” We laughed as Kelly returned to the table with a huge piece of cherry cheesecake.
The door to the room shut just then and I turned to see my mom. “Mom!” I exclaimed, running over to hug her.
“Hi Justin! How’s my baby boy doing?”
“Great mom.”
My mom crossed the room to Kelly and set a hand on her shoulder. “Hey Kelly. How are you feeling?”
“Pretty good. Really energetic.”
“Better watch out...” She mumbled.
“I know, I know,” Kelly laughed. “But, my doctor told me that I still have another week at the most. I think I only have a day or two left.”
“Take it easy, okay?” My mom told Kelly, going to find something to eat. We sat around and talked for a little while. All of the sudden, Kelly stopped talking and put an arm across her lower abdomen. As if on cue, the rest of us sat up straighter and at attention, ready to be of some assistance.
She looked around the table and smiled. “I’m okay. I swear. I’m fine.” Lance let out the breath he’d been holding.
“Are you sure?” I asked.
She nodded. “Kid probably didn’t like the cheesecake.” We laughed.
JC looked at his watch. “Well, guys... we better go get ready. Opening act goes on in...” He paused. “Twenty minutes.”
We cleaned up the table. “Aren’t your parents supposed to be here?” Kelly asked Lance as we walked down the hall towards the dressing room.
“Yeah. They should be out there.... leftside... about six or seven rows back,” Lance answered.
“I’m gonna go find them, say hi, and be back before you guys go on,” she said, giving Lance a quick peck on the lips as we reached the dressing room.
“Be careful! Those girls out there can get dangerous!” Lance warned her. She smiled, nodded, opened a door, and all of us got hit with the sound of thousands of females screaming.
“Here we go again,” I muttered.
We walked into the dressing room and got our clothes ready. First were what we often called our ‘velvet pajamas.’ We changed, played our normal round of hacky sack, and had the customary hugs. We were backstage when Kelly suddenly reappeared from the darkness.
“They there?” Lance asked. She nodded.
Five minutes to showtime, JC sighed. “Okay guys, let’s get this going.” He led the group in our regular prayer and we got in position to go onstage. Kelly hopped up onto a big box that we carry electrical equipment in to watch the concert. She sat back, got comfortable, and began drinking a bottle of Evian.
Throughout the course of the concert, I watched Kelly. I noticed that every once in a while, she would flinch in pain. After ‘Here We Go’, we ran back out onstage in our own clothing choice and entertained, doing a rendition of ‘The Lion Sleeps Tonight’ and ‘Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It.’ Chris, Lance, and I ran off the left side of the stage to get our sunglasses for ‘Giddy Up’ while Joey and JC went off on the other side.
The hip-hop sounding intro began. We got ready to walk out onstage, but I grabbed Lance’s shirt to hold him back, because Joey and JC weren’t ready. In fact, they were just gathered around Kelly. The music intro continued. I saw Joey nod and he ran across the stage, running into Chris. The girl’s screamed for him.
“What’s the problem?” I asked.
He tried to catch his breath. “Kelly’s... water... broke...” The four of us ran across stage, Lance in the lead, to find JC helping her down. Lance ended up at her side first.
“I’m here honey,” He told her.
“Are you sure your in labor?” I asked.
“I think I would know... duh! My water broke! That’s a pretty good indication!”
“Sorry!” I mumbled. We sent Joey out to the stage to explain that there was a small technical problem, and the concert had to be delayed.
“Let’s get you to the hospital,” JC said.
Kelly shook her head. “There’s no time. I’d have the kid in the floor of the car.”
“Let’s get her to the dressing room then,” I said. Her contractions were about five minutes apart, so we got her to the dressing room before another ‘fit.’
JC got on a cell phone. “Yeah, we got a woman in labor here...” he paused. “No, there’s no time. She’s an obstetrician herself. I think she knows... okay....” He covered the mouthpiece. “Chris! Go get a blanket, string, scissors, water, plastic bag, and towels.” Chris ran out of the room and Joey ran in. “Yes, the Father’s here....” JC turned to Lance. “You coach... same for you Joey.” He listened. “Her best friend is here too." His mouth dropped open and his eyes got wide.
“What do I do?” I asked anxiously.
JC listened to the instructions he was receiving. “Justin? Um... you have to deliver the baby.”
