Up Against the Wall

Misty watched as Jessicka muttered curses under her breath. Jessicka shook her head from side to side making her long hair fall out of the twist it was in. Jessica frowned she had spent an hour on that twist. But it didn’t matter Jessicka and Matt were getting married in an hour. Brooklyn and grace were standing perfectly still in their pale pink dresses. Misty and Phoenix were wearing light blue brides maids dresses; Jessica was in a light purple maid of honor dress. Finally it was time. Adam came in to escort his sister down the aisle, since her asshole of a father had decided not to come.

The ceremony went by quickly and before she realized it Jessicka heard the preacher saying. “You may now kiss the bride.” And a smile slowly spread across her face. Needless to say that kiss never happened because Misty went into labor. Everyone went to the hospital except for Jeff and Jessica. They had a quick stop to make first.

When they got to the hospital they passed out the clothes that they had stopped to get and Jessica took Brooklyn and Grace to the bathroom to help them out of their dresses. Jessica has already changed into a pair of shorts and a tank top. Once the girls were changed and everyone else was in more comfortable clothing they were shocked but not by much when Phoenix went into labor. Adam and Phoenix were probably going to get killed by Misty because they weren’t their when the doctor told everyone that they could come in.

“Miss Lawson, we need to know what you are going to name your daughter.” A nurse asked as Jessica, Jeff, Matt, Grace, and Brooklyn walked in.

“Krystina Nickole Lawson” Misty said smiling down at her daughter. A tear slid down Jessica’s face as she pulled Brooklyn close to her. “Where are Adam and Phoenix…and Jessicka?” Misty asked looking up at the group.

“Phoenix went into labor like five minutes before you had your baby. Jessicka and Adam went with her.” Jeff said as Misty handed Jessica Krystina.

---

Three hours later Phoenix was holding a beautiful baby boy. Phoenix looked up into Adams eyes and smiled. They were going to be married in three months and then they were going to be a real family.
Smiling down at her new nephew, Jessicka glanced up at her brother and couldn’t help but smile even wider at the happiness that was evident on his face. Hearing a noise near the door, they all turned and found a young nurse standing there, a sheepish smile on her face and a clip board in hand.

“I’m sorry for interrupting… I just needed to know if ya’ll had picked a name for the baby or not?” She apologized, clicking the end of her pen in what seemed to be a nervous habit. Smiling at the girl, Phoenix shook her head and said,

“It’s not a problem… you’re just doing your job.”

“Well do you have a name or not? I’d like to know what I’m supposed to call my nephew.” Jessicka said, pulling the new parents from the day dreamy state they were currently in. Looking at his sister, Adam just shook his head, mentally chalking her sudden mood changes to hormones, and looked over at his fiancée.

“I think we’ve decided on a name, right?” Nodding Phoenix looked over to the nurse and said,

“His name is Lucas James Copeland.” Nodding her head once, the nurse wrote it down quickly and left the room. After a few moments of silence, Jessicka looked down at the baby in Phoenix’s arms and looked thoughtful before saying,

“Lucas Copeland… I like it.”

“Like you had any say anyway.” Adam said staring at his sister incredulously. Ignoring him, Jessicka leaned down towards the infant and whispered loud enough for everyone in the room to hear her anyway,

“Don’t pay any attention to him he’s just jealous because I’m cooler than he is.”

“It’s hard to believe that you’re actually an adult sometimes…” Adam said, shaking his head as Phoenix watched the exchange between the siblings and tried not to laugh. As much as they bickered back and forth it was almost painfully obvious that they were brother and sister at times. When Jessicka reached out and smacked Adam in the arm, Phoenix couldn’t hold back her laughter and tried to disguise it with a cough.

The light hearted mood in the room quickly changed when Jessicka gripped the railing of Phoenix’s hospital bed, her knuckles going white while mumbling something under her breath. Coming to stand beside her, Adam frowned and looked over at his fiancée before turning back to his sister and asking,

“What was that Jess?”

“I said you have got to be fucking kidding me.” She said, clenching her teeth as her grip on the railing tightening as Phoenix pressed the call button near her bed. Watching as Adam stood there looking dumbfounded, Phoenix resisted the urge to sit up and smack her fiancé and exclaimed just loud enough to get his attention,

“She’s in labor! Go find Matt and tell him to get his ass up here!”

“Right… Go find Matt… I’m on it.” He said before rushing out the door and down the hallway. Rolling her eyes as the a nurse walked in she looked to her soon to be sister-in-law and said,

“Good luck being married to him… you’ll need it.”

“Is everything alright in here?” This time the nurse was middle aged and looked like she’d rather be someplace else at that exact moment. Her tone conveyed the same annoyance that she’d been called in and before she could stop herself (not that she would have anyway) Jessicka’s temper got the best of her and she snapped,

“Oh everything’s just peachy. I’m just you know… in labor!” Ignoring the verbal abuse she was receiving from the pregnant woman, the nurse helped her out of Phoenix’s room and into one a few doors down. Handing her a hospital gown and helping her change into it, the nurse watched as Jessicka got onto the bed and began inserting her IV and hooking her up to all the necessary monitors. About halfway through this process Matt walked through the door with both Grace and Jeff.

“How are you doing?” Matt asked, coming to stand beside his wife and grabbing her hand. With a sigh she looked up at him and answered,

“I’m fine, finding the entire situation a little unbelievable, but other than that I’m okay.”

“Yeah… only you, Misty, and Phoenix could manage to go into labor within hours of each other.” Jeff said with smirk and Jessicka found it a little difficult not to laugh at his statement. With a grin she responded,

“Yeah well, at least now no one has an excuse for forgetting mine and Matt’s anniversary.” Watching as both men in the room shook their heads at her she only shrugged and watched as the nurse walked out of the room, promising to send a doctor in as soon as possible. Making faces at the woman as soon as she was out of sight, Jessicka looked up at Matt and asked,

“How’s Misty?”

“She’s fine and so is the baby.” He answered; smiling a little as Grace crawled up on the hospital bed her mother was in and asked in a soft voice,

“Mommy? Are you okay?”

“I’m fine Gracie. The baby just decided that it was time to be born is all.” When all her daughter did was nod before yawning, she wrapped her arms around her and got settled in. Having done this before she knew that there would be quite a bit of waiting involved, and the only thing she could do is be patient and hope she wasn’t in labor for hours.

---

Almost six hours later a small infant was being placed in Jessicka’s arms, and as exhausted as she was, she couldn’t keep the smile off her face. Looking at the little girl in her arms, she was only snapped out of her trance when the nurse asked her what the baby’s name would be. Looking at her, the smile on her face never once faltering, she replied,

“Delilah Marie Hardy.” With a short nod, the nurse scribbled it down on the sheet of paper attached to the clip board in her hand and left the room, just as Adam, Jessica, and Brooklyn entered. Jeff was right behind them with a very tired looking Grace in his arms. As they all gathered around the hospital bed, staring down at the little girl who was fast on her way to being asleep, nestled safely in her mother’s arms, Adam said softly,

“She’s gorgeous Jess.”

“She is, isn’t she?” Jessicka said, looking around the room at the people standing in it. Rolling his eyes, Jeff shook his head and said with a grin,

“Way to stroke her ego, Copeland.”

“Matt… tell your brother to stop being an ass.” Jessicka said, far more interested in her daughter than she was in verbally sparring with the younger Hardy. Everything was as it should be in that moment, and it felt as if nothing could bring her down. Finally they were happy, and they were a family.