Surrender to Love

27

Everyone was there by the time they reached the waiting room of the maternity ward. Considering they had all been pulled from their beds for the event, it was amazing how wide-awake everyone appeared. Then again, the coffee maker bubbling away and the half-dozen paper cups littering the rectangular table could have been reason enough for that.

“Hey,” Patti greeted them as she and Jon entered the room.

“Hey, you.” Jules rose from her chair in the corner and enveloped her in a hug. Lynn and Sheila followed suit, and Poppy, the newest member of their group, approached her hesitantly.

Patti opened her arms. “It’s okay, I don’t bite,” she encouraged her. Smiling shyly, Poppy gave her a brief but affectionate hug.

“Man, am I glad you’re here,” Felix was saying to Jon. They performed some male handshake thing that Patti had never understood.

When Jon stepped back, he was grinning, albeit somewhat tired looking. He took up Patti’s hand in his and laced their fingers together. “Any news yet?”

Felix shook his head. “Not for the last half hour, but Tate is going out of his mind. Frankly,” he said, darting a look over his shoulder, “so am I.”

Tom joined them. “Save me,” he said in a hushed voice, and then glanced down at Patti, just then realizing she was standing there. His face turned red and he looked away, sheepish. “Hey, Patti.”

“Tom,” Patti said, restraining an amused smile. “What do you need saving from exactly?”

Sheila popped up behind him, curling her hand around his bicep, and resting the side of her face against his arm. “What needs to be saved?”

“It’s nothing, hon,” Tom told her, kissing her hair. Lifting his arm, he nestled her into his side. Patti watched, happy that her two friends had gotten over whatever the problem was that had Sheila practically falling down drunk little more than a month ago.

Sheila released a contented sigh and looked up at him through bleary eyes. “This coffee isn’t doing anything for me. What do you say we take a walk, maybe stop by the nursery for a bit?”

Patti chewed her lip in amusement as Tom passed a look to Felix and Jon. The men clapped him on the back as the couple left the room. The moment they were gone, Patti gave Jon’s side a pinch.

“Hey,” he complained, rubbing the tender spot just below his ribcage. “What was that for?” Patti caught the quirk at the corner of his mouth and knew full well that he knew what it was for…

“Don’t play innocent with me, Mister,” she said, moving to pinch him again. This time he anticipated the move and dodged out of her way. He guided them to a bank of empty chairs and Patti curled up against his side, resting her head on his shoulder. “You guys are acting like a bunch of babies.”

“Felix seems to think that just being here is going to result in pregnancy,” Poppy scoffed good-naturedly. “As if it’s a contagious disease or something.”

“I never said that,” Felix argued. “All I said was, being in a place like this, with women popping out kids left and right, is bound to give you ideas.”

Poppy shot him an annoyed look. “Would that be a problem if I did? It’s not like I’m getting any younger here.”

Felix’s head dropped back against the wall with a dull thud. He closed his eyes, looking tired. Patti suspected that they’d had this conversation before. She lowered her eyes to the floor, trying to remain as unobtrusive as possible.

“Poppy, seriously, just drop it, okay? This isn’t the time or the place for this conversation.”

Poppy snatched up her purse and stood. “There’s never a time or place for this conversation,” she snapped, then fled the room.

Patti wasn’t sure what to do. She wasn’t exactly friends with the woman, but it wasn’t as if they didn’t know each other, in a strangers having just met kind of way. “Should I go see if she’s okay?” she asked Jon.

He shrugged. “Up to you, babe.” He glanced over at Felix. “Trouble in paradise?”

“You could say that,” Felix groaned, leaning forward with his elbows propped on his knees and his face buried in his hands. “Ever since I asked her to move in with me everything seems to set her off. She doesn’t want to give up her house because of Bo, her dog,” he clarified. “I get that. So we don’t sell the house. I suggested that maybe I move in with her, and that seemed all right, but now she hates the hours I keep. I have to work, don’t I?” He threw his hands up in the air, looking lost.

“I told her, if we live in the boonies, there’s going to be a commute. There’s no getting around that. Then it’s the kid thing, and the marriage deal, and shit, man, I don’t even know if I’m coming or going anymore. Nothing is like it used to be.”

Patti felt like an intruder more than ever. She patted Jon’s hand and whispered, “I’m going to go find Poppy and give you two some time alone to talk.”

“Okay, babe. Hey,” Jon said, grasping her hand and pulling so that she had to lean down. He slipped his tongue into her mouth and gave her a bone melting kiss that had her instantly wet. “Don’t be gone long.”

Patti licked her lips and smiled. “Be back before you know it.”

She found Poppy in the ladies bathroom touching up her make-up in the mirror. “I’m sorry you had to be there for that,” she said, wiping a wadded up piece of toilet paper under her eyes.

“It’s no problem,” Patti assured her, coming over and turning on the water and washing her hands just to give herself something to do.

Poppy sighed deeply. “We just can’t seem to find a common ground lately. It’s probably my fault. Lately I just feel like we both want different things. I see everyone around me either getting married or having kids, plotting a future, you know?” She looked at her with pain in her eyes. “Some days I just look at myself in the mirror and I see a thirty year old unmarried, childless woman staring back at me. It’s as if I’m at a standstill. I’m in love with a wonderful man, and he loves me, but I have to wonder, is it going anywhere?”

Patti dried her hands and popped her butt up on the counter. She had a feeling this was going to take a while. “Have you told him how you feel?”

Poppy busied herself zipping up her make-up bag and stowing it away in her purse. “I shouldn’t have to spell it out for him. I mean, come on! All of our friends are moving forward with their lives, and what are we doing…We get up each morning, go to work, come home, walk the dog, spend a little time together watching a movie or something, and then bed. It’s Groundhog’s Day every day.”

Patti felt uncomfortable talking about all of this with Poppy, considering they hardly knew each other, but since she was willing to spill her guts so readily, she decided the best thing she could do was listen and offer advice the best she knew how. “I’ll tell you what my dad used to tell me. Don’t assume that because a guy’s mouth is moving that he heard anything you said. You might have to shake the shit out of him to get him to listen.” Patti shrugged. “I think because we’re women and we are inherently the smarter, more intuitive sex, we just assume that men will be the same, but they really do need things spelled out for them.”

Poppy blew out a breath and rubbed the spot between her eyes. “Yeah, I know. I just wish…” She laughed. “I don’t know what I wish. Thanks for listening, and for the pep talk,” she said, giving Patti a grateful smile.

“Anytime,” Patti said honestly, as she dropped her feet to the floor. “I’ll see you in the waiting room?”

“Right behind you.”

Together they made their way back to their men and settled in for a long, tension-filled wait.

Six hours, forty-three minutes, five cups of coffee and a dozen trips to the bathroom later, and they were all gathered into the cramped hospital room surrounding a worn out and exhausted Piper, who couldn’t stop smiling.

“She’s gorgeous,” Patricia said, gazing down in profound adoration at the little bundle nestled protectively in her arms.

Jon couldn’t stop staring at her. She looked absolutely beautiful like that, and he was suddenly struck with a vision of what Patti would look like, lying in a hospital bed, having just birthed their son or daughter. A wave of emotion slammed into him, nearly buckling his knees. He couldn’t wait for that day to come.

“You’re turn, Uncle Jon,” she said, turning to him and offering up the baby.

He held up his hands to ward it off. “No, I can’t. I’ll drop it,” he warned her, but she was already placing the baby in his arms.

“No, you won’t,” she said with so much confidence that he almost believed her. “See, you’ve got her.” She leaned in to stroke her finger across the baby’s chubby cheek. “Isn’t she the most precious thing you have ever seen?”

Jon took in the scrunched face, button nose, pursed lips, stubborn chin and tiny fingers grasping the edge of the soft pink blanket, and then he looked at Patricia. “Not even close.”

“Aw, that’s so sweet,” Piper gushed. Jon looked up to realize that they had a ready audience. “Tate, did you hear what he said?”

Tate affected a stern look that wasn’t even close to passable as he left his wife’s side to retrieve his daughter. “Hell, yeah, I heard what the bastard said.” Gently, he dug the baby from the cradle of Jon’s arms and clutched her close to his heart. “How dare you call my daughter anything less than the most beautiful creature you have ever seen on this planet. Aside from this woman,” he amended, placing the sleeping baby on her mother’s chest and leaning down to place a tender kiss to her lips.

“Language,” Piper murmured, smiling softly up at Tate when he drew away.

“Shit, I forgot. I mean, damn.” He sucked in a breath and grimaced. “Sorry.”

Everyone laughed softly at his expense. They only stayed a short while longer before leaving to give the new parents some time to get to know their daughter and catch some much-needed rest.

“Well, I could use a drink,” Felix announced as they exited the lobby. “You guys want to hit up a sports bar or something, grab some lunch and a beer?”

“Yeah, man, sounds good,” Tom agreed.

Jon didn’t even have to look down to know that he and Patricia were on the same page. They loved their friends, but the last thing they wanted to do was go out when they could be in bed, wrapped in each other’s arms. “Maybe another time,” he told him, already guiding Patricia toward the truck.

“Are you sure?” Felix called after him. “My treat.”

Jon just held up his hand and continued walking.

“Are you sure you wouldn’t rather hang out for a while?” Patricia asked him once they were buckled into their seats.

He started the engine and waited until they cleared the parking lot before responding. Taking her hand, he brought it to his mouth and pressed a kiss to her knuckles. “I have you all to myself for the next eight and a half months,” he said, glancing over at her, “and I don’t want to squander a single second of it. I hope you enjoy take-out.” The smile that spread across his face was nothing less than devilish.

The way Patricia looked at him, her blue eyes soft and full of love reserved only for him, filled him with more pleasure than he knew what to do with. Her hand fell to his thigh and she smoothed her palm from knee to hip, sending bolts of pulsing heat between his legs.

“Then you’d better step on it,” she purred, scooting closer. “Because I have a wicked craving for something hot.” She kissed the underside of his jaw. “And hard.” Then ran her tongue down the side of his neck. “And wet.” Her palm covered the hard ridge pressing against the fly of his pants, and pressed down.

Jon groaned and his foot pressed down on the gas pedal. “Did I ever tell you how dangerous you are?”

“Baby, you ain’t seen nothing yet.”