Resume Of Romance

Chapter 40

Chapter 40

Rylie lay against Chace's chest quietly in the car. His lips are pressed against her forehead his arms wrapped protectively around her. Their fingers are clasped together he plays with the huge costumed ring on her middle finger both of them engrossed in their own thoughts.

The guilt Rylie has over not answering the phone when Monique called is no longer as much of a concern to her as what happens to her sister after the baby is born. What does happen in a situation like this, Rylie still has no idea? Leland, Chace and even Emilio seemed confounded by her questions. She could tell it's not anything good or what they expected to hear from her by the way Chace and Leland looked to Emilio as the legal person in the room when she asked.

How do you deliver a baby if you're handcuffed to a hospital bed, not literally just with the thought roaming around in your head that the moment that child pops out of the birth canal the handcuffs go on because you're under arrest. It doesn't matter that maybe you didn't commit the crime you're accused of, all of that might be determined later. You lose those precious moments most women take for granted immediately after the baby is born and given to you for bonding. Will Monique get that chance to spend time with her baby, will they allow Rylie as her only relative in the room when the baby is born if they can get there on time. Your mind goes to the strangest places when things you take for granted become threatened.

Chace can't erase the look on his brother's face. He and Margo arrived at the party united together. Jayson seemed protective of her and she seemed in awe of him. They looked like they did when they first told him they were in love and wanted to get married.

Jayson now reminds him of the teenage boy he was when they escaped from the burning car they were in with his mother at ages fourteen and eighteen. He remembers the look on Jayson's face when they pulled her from the torn up wreckage as he tried CPR on her. She didn't wake up, she never woke up and came back to them. They both need her now more than ever but it's not meant to be. They are on their own, only having each other and their father who is sitting in the car with a sullen face.

Jayson is wearing that same look on his face he had that night when the ramifications of his actions hit him and he realized things would never be the same. He looked to Chace for answers, he looked to Chace to make his world right, he needed his big brother's help then like he needs him now.

They arrive at the hospital, Emilio does all the talking for everyone to the nurses and doctors. Everyone else is to shaken up to speak about what is finally happening, about what they all dreaded. No one really focused on how this would all play out. They were so caught up in trying to find Monique, in blaming Monique, in thinking that Monique was playing them all. Surely she had escaped and had a plan to deal with the birth of her baby. None of them stopped to think, has she seen a doctor, was the baby okay.

No one knew that such a tiny little thing like the birth of a baby can cause this  much madness, such anxiousness and frustration. No one has made any plans for the baby. They haven't thought what if it's a boy or a girl. Not one item of clothing has been bought, there is no crib or decorated room.

What happens now? They all have that same thought as they ride up in the elevator to the floor they've been told to go to. When the elevator doors open they all get off dressed in their evening gowns and tuxedos getting apologetic smiles from the night crew at the nurse's station. The birth of a baby is usually such a momentous happy event no matter whatever else you were celebrating. This time it's confusing and full of tension. All are anxious for the birth, but it's the aftermath that is of major concern.