Second Heartbeat

Matt and Sydney along with Aubrey and Zacky as well as Tera, Jimmy and Johnny too all received formal invitations to Stormy’s ballet recital. It was her way of offering peace among the house. Brian still had his reservations about the way some of them treated her, but for her sake he went along with it.

Johnny’s invitation was addressed to him +1.

He knocked on Riley’s door and when she answered he stood there with his hands in his pocket trying to muster up some courage.

“Hi, is Jonnie ok?” she asked

“Yeah, she’s fine. I’m here on a personal matter” he said seriously.

“Oh, did I do something wrong?” she asked

“No, it’s nothing like that. It’s just, I have this invitation to Stormy’s formal ballet recital and it says plus one and I figured since you and her are friends, maybe you wouldn’t mind being my plus one.”

He lowered his gaze to the ground and fidgeted with some loose change in his pocket waiting for the big let down.

“Um, it sounds like fun. Sure, I’d love to be your plus one”

He looked back up at her confused. “You said sure. Um ok, I guess I’ll remind you closer to the night of the recital.”

“ok” she nodded.

He walked away half excited half in disbelief that she actually said yes.

--
4 months later, the night of the recital

Stormy left early to get to the studio and Brian had told her he would be there on time and right in the front row. Jimmy and Tera got a baby sitter for Legend and Jonnie and agreed to share a car with Johnny and Riley. Aubrey and Zacky had decided to make a night of it and went out to dinner first.

Jimmy and Johnny were waiting down in the foyer for the girls to come down. Tera came first and Jimmy looked at her as if he had seen her for the first time. No one ever had to question how he felt about his wife; you only had to look at him looking at her to know.

When Riley came down the stairs Johnny did a double take. When Tera noticed how he was looking at her, she whispered in his ear. “I told you, you are going to marry that girl”

Riley took the last step and walked over to Johnny in a red floor length fitted gown.

“Sorry, I kept you waiting. Jonnie grabbed a handful of my hair when I said goodbye and wouldn’t let go”

“It’s ok” he smiled and extended his arm for her to take.

“Ok lets get this show on the road” Jimmy said and they all went out to the car.

Meanwhile Matt and Sydney were getting ready to go. Matt was helping her put her shoes on as she could no longer see her feet.

“Matt, would you mind going ahead without me?”

“Sydney you know how important this is to Stormy” he said

“I know, I want to go to the florist and get her some flowers.”

“I can stop at a florist.”

“No, one of us needs to get there with everyone else to be supportive. Please? I’ll be right behind you and Johnny can take my car home.”

“Ok, but only because I have never been able to say no to you”

He put on his jacket and kissed her just before he left.

Sydney stood and nearly fell back down when the sharp pain in her stomach started. It was the second time today that she felt it. She walked down to the car slowly and drove to the florist.

Brian was running late, which was rare. He had a surprise for Stormy and wanted to make sure it was perfect for when she came home.

--

At the ballet studio everyone had gone up to the auditorium to find their seats. Stormy would peek out from the stage now and then to see if Brian had got there yet.

When he finally got there he walked up to the elevator and stood side by side with Sydney. Over the last four months they were able to speak to each other, but it was obvious that their friendship was shattered.

“hi” she said with a slight smile.

“hi” he nodded. When the elevator came they both stepped inside. Each one had flowers for Stormy, the same bouquet of white lilies, which were Stormy’s favorite.

“I guess we went to the same florist” she said making small talk

“Yeah” he nodded.

“Brian?” she said “water”

“No, they should be fine without water til we get home.”

“No, my water…my water broke” she said.

“WHAT??”

The elevator stopped, but the door didn’t open. “What’s wrong, why wont the door open?” she cried.

“Calm down, it’s probably stuck, it will open”

“BRIAN!” she screamed. “IT HURTS”

“Sydney calm down. Oh god what the fuck do I do?” he said out loud. He started pounding on the door.

Meanwhile, everyone else was standing in the auditorium waiting for Brian and Sydney before taking their seats.

“What the hell is taking them so long?” Jimmy asked.

And as soon as he finished his sentence, the lights went out.

“Shit, must be a black out from the storm that’s coming.” Matt said.

“I think it’s safe to say the storm is here” Johnny noted.

Harper stood on the stage with a flashlight in her hand. “Everyone please exit the auditorium and wait in the hall, the ushers will assist you with flash lights.

“Fuck, Sydney is driving alone” Matt said.

“She’ll be fine.” Jimmy said.

When they got to the hall Stormy came running up with a flash light in her hand.

“Has anyone seen Brian?” she asked.

“No, and Sydney isn’t here yet either.” Matt said.

They all turned to the elevator when they heard Brian banging.

“Hello?” Jimmy yelled “Is someone in there?”

“JIMMY IT’S BRIAN!”

“Brian, there is a power outage, we’ll get you out as soon as we can” Jimmy yelled back.

“Jimmy, Sydney is here. She’s in labor, you have to get help now!!”

Matt walked over to Jimmy with panic written all over his face. “Did he just say Sydney was in labor?”

Jimmy nodded and turned to Johnny. “Call 911”

“Syd, can you hear me?” Matt yelled.

“Matt, The babies are coming” she cried.

“Oh my god this isn’t happening” he said.

“Calm down, you’ll be no good to her if you panic” Stormy said.

Sydney sat down on the floor of the elevator holding her stomach. Brian tried prying the doors open with his hands, but it was no use.

“I called 911 and help is on the way.” Johnny said.

“Help is on the way, Syd, hold tight ok?” Jimmy yelled.

“OK” she cried.

She leaned her head back against the wall of the elevator. “Brian, hold my hand…please” she cried.

He walked over and sat down beside her and she grabbed his hand, when the pain came she squeezed it hard. “Oh fuck!” Brian said.

“I’m sorry”

“It’s ok, squeeze as hard as you have to” he said

“I …I need to push” she said through quickening breath.

“no..no..you don’t” he said

“Yes, the babies are coming. You have to help me,” she pleaded.

“Tell me what to do” he said.

“You have to get in front of me”

He moved around in front of her and knelt down on one knee. After pushing for about five minutes Brian was able to see the first baby’s head. “Ok, Syd one more push, make it a big one, you are doing great ok” She pushed and he slipped his hand under the baby’s head, a few seconds later he was holding a baby boy. “Meet your son” he smiled and handed the baby to Sydney as she cried.

“Come on, we can do this one more time” he said.

She pushed and pushed, but the little girl just like her mother, was stubborn.

When the paramedics and police arrived 15 minutes later, they were able to get the doors open. Matt stood there anxious the through the whole process. When the doors finally opened, what they all saw was Sydney holding a baby boy and Brian holding a baby girl.

The paramedics wouldn’t let him inside the elevator until they checked the babies. Both appeared to be healthy. Sydney was put on a stretcher and taken to the hospital with the babies while Matt rode along in the ambulance.

When Brian walked out of the elevator everyone else was waiting for him.

“I …I just delivered two babies” he said nearly in tears.

“You sure did” Stormy smiled

“I had flowers for you, but I ..I”

“It’s ok” she said rubbing his back.

“We should get to the hospital, Jimmy said.

They all got into their cars and drove down to the hospital and when they got there 15 minutes later, Jimmy, Johnny, Zacky, Aubrey, Tera and Riley went to the info desk to find out Sydney’s room number. When they were given the info they headed up to her room.

Stormy took Brian into the bathroom so he could clean up and calm himself down. She then got him a cup of coffee from the vending machine, but his hands wouldn’t stop shaking.

When they finally joined everyone else in Sydney’s room, Matt was sitting on the bed holding their son and Syd was holding their daughter.

“Well, now that the whole family is here, we would like you all to meet our son, his name is Lyric Elwin and this little bundle is our daughter, now if you haven’t noticed there is an “s” theme among the girls in my family so in keeping with that, this is Seven Storm” Sydney said.

Stormy put her hand over her mouth and walked over to her sister. “Can I hold her?” she asked.

“Yeah, you can” she smiled and handed the baby to her sister.

Matt got up and walked over to Brian. “I think this little guy would like to meet his Uncle Brian” Matt laid Lyric in Brian’s arms and stood beside his friend as they both looked down at the baby boy.

“Can I interrupt this amazing moment for a second?” Zacky said

“What’s up Zacky?” Sydney asked.

“Aubry and I are going to be parents” he beamed.

“What?” Tera said.

“The agency found a mother who is willing to sign over all her rights. We were going to tell you all after the recital, but the baby was delivered tonight through c-section”

“Are you kidding?” Sydney asked.

“No, I assure you, he is telling the truth. We were going to invite you all to the hospital after the recital, but fate stepped in and brought you here anyway.”

“That’s great news Zacky.” Jimmy said.

Brian walked over to where Stormy stood holding her niece in her arms. “Don’t drink the water apparently this shit is contagious” He said and the whole room filled with laughter.

--

Down at the end of the hall Harley sat in her bed in tears after having just said goodbye to her son.