When the Walls Come Crashing Down

A week after Joe had told Dave that he would take the assignment he sat in his office waiting for Charlotte to show up. With Faith’s due date only two days before he and Charlotte were supposed to leave for the tour he was a little bit stressed. Hopefully, they would get lucky and the baby would be born sooner rather than later so he could be there to find out if he was the father or Nick was. A knock on his door startled him and he cleared his throat.

“Come in,” Joe said.

“Do you have a minute?” Charlotte asked, hovering in the doorway, not quite stepping into the office.

“Oh yeah, come on in,” Joe said, pointing to one of the vacant chairs. “What’s up?”

“I just figured we should talk since we basically have to live together for three months starting in two weeks. I don’t want things to be awkward, Joe,” she said, looking down at her hands resting in her lap.

“Neither do I,” Joe admitted with a sigh, resting against the back of his chair.

“The past six months have been… great but… I was missing my best friend,” she said, lifting her eyes to look at Joe.

“So was I. There was so much I wanted to talk to you about but after William’s funeral and what happened I didn’t think we could,” Joe said, and she nodded her head slightly.

“We could have,” she said, bringing her chin to her shoulder and biting her lip. Joe smiled and let silence settle for a moment.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Sure,” she said, sitting up a little straighter, slightly more comfortable now that she hadn’t gotten through that.

“How did it make you feel when Nick said he’d never stopped loving Faith? Weren’t you upset?”

“No,” she said automatically and Joe’s eyes widened. “I knew he was still in love with her but he liked being in a relationship with me and hoped we’d fall in love. And we did,” she said, a smile coming up on her face. “I love your brother, Joe. And he loves me. But I know there will always be a part of him that loves Faith, too.”

“You’re really happy with him,” Joe observed.

“Yeah. I am,” she said, her eyes shining with happiness.

“It’s good to talk to you again.”

“Tell me about it,” Charlotte said, letting out a laugh. Their reconciliation was broken by Joe’s cell phone ringing.

“Hello?” he asked.

“Faith’s in labor!” Lizzy exclaimed.

“What? Already? But she’s not due for two weeks!” he said excitedly and Charlotte’s eyes widened.

“I know but she called Dr. Greene and she said that it’s normal and we should go to the hospital right away.”

“Are you there now?” Joe asked, gathering his things as he balanced the phone between his ear and his shoulder.

“No we’re just leaving the house now. Meet us there, okay?” she said and Joe could hear the car engine start.

“Okay!” he said, reaching up to grab the phone.

“Oh and listen,” Lizzy said, catching Joe’s attention. “Could you call Nick? I have to call Kev and Dani as well as your parents.”

“Will do. See you soon!” he said, hanging up the phone.

“What is going on?” Charlotte asked, standing up to pull the door open for Joe.

“Faith’s in labor! I have to go to the hospital! And call Nick,” he said, fishing for his car keys in his pocket while trying to dial Nick’s number.

“You just worry about getting to the hospital. I’ll call Nick,” Charlotte said, a bit of excitement in her voice.

“Thanks Char!” Joe called over his shoulder as he sprinted down the hallway. All that mattered to him now was getting to the hospital to see Faith before she had the baby. The baby he couldn’t wait a second longer to see. The baby that he hoped to God was his.

****

Joe made it to the hospital in record time. It was a miracle he didn’t get a speeding ticket. Yet it seemed he was invincible and no one else was on the road as he was driving. He parked the car, if it was even in a legal spot he didn’t care, and ran into the front doors of the hospital.

“I’m looking for Faith Jonas,” he said breathlessly as he skidded to a stop in front of the nurse’s station. “She’s in labor.”

“Are you family?” the nurse asked in a monotone voice, not even looking up from the computer.

“I’m her boyfriend,” he said.

“She’s up on the third floor. Room 326,” she said.

“Thanks,” Joe said quickly before running over to the elevators. He jabbed the up button about twenty times as if that would make the elevator arrive faster. After impatiently waiting the doors opened and the passengers stepped out. Joe stepped into the elevator and hit the three.

“Hold the elevator!” someone shouted as the doors were closing. Joe quickly reached out and hit the door open button as the person slid into the elevator.

“Nick?” Joe asked surprised, getting a good look at the person who stepped in.

“Joe. Hi,” Nick said, trying to catch his breath as he leaned up against the side of the elevator. “How’d you get here so fast?”

“I have no clue. I should be asking you the same thing,” he said as the doors opened and they stepped into the hallway.

“I was already on the road heading out when Charlotte called me. What room is she in?” he asked as they turned the corner.

“326.”

“Hey, Joe?”

“Yeah?” Joe asked, slowing down and turning to look at Nick where he had stopped walking.

“Are you nervous?” Nick asked, running a hand through his curls.

“Extremely,” Joe said nodding his head and letting out a nervous laugh.

“Good,” Nick said, continuing to walk again. They turned another corner and saw the rest of their family.

“There you are!” Dani said, walking over to them. “She’s been asking for you.”

“Me?” Joe asked, pointing to himself.

“Both of you, actually,” she said, looking between Nick and Joe. Joe nodded his head and started walking down the hallway towards Faith’s room, Nick behind him.

“Knock, knock,” Joe said, rapping his knuckles against the doorway of Faith’s room. She, Meg, and Lizzy looked over at them and Faith smiled.

“You made it!” she said excitedly. Joe walked over and grabbed her hand, bending down to kiss her.

“Of course we did,” Nick said giving half a smile and standing by the doorway, his hands shoved in his pockets.

“Dani said you were asking for us,” Joe said, nodding over his shoulder to Nick.

“I just wanted to say something before I have the baby,” Faith said, sitting up straighter in the bed.

“We’re listening,” Nick said, stepping closer.

“No matter who the father is… I know this baby will be the happiest kid in the whole world because he o she will have two men that will always love him or her. And I know… eventually… things will be right again between the three of us. You both mean so much to me and to each other and I don’t want that to stay like this forever,” she said, sadness in her eyes as she looked at both of them.

“It won’t,” Nick said.

“Never,” Joe agreed, looking out of the corner of his eye at Nick.

“Okay,” she said, smiling at them. She reached out with her other hand to grab Nick’s and she squeezed their hands. “Now, no offense but get out.”

“I love you,” Joe whispered, bending down to kiss her again. He looked over at Meg and Lizzy who were sitting silently in the corner. “Take care of her.”

“We will,” Meg said, smiling at Joe.

“Love you too,” Faith said, giving his hand one last squeeze before he and Nick walked back into the hallway.

“I can’t believe this is really happening,” Joe said, running a hand through his hair and looking at his feet as they walked. It wasn’t until this moment that he started to feel nauseous.

“Neither can I,” Nick said, letting out a deep breath. Joe looked up at Nick and put a hand on his shoulder.

“Are you alright? You look like you’re gonna be sick.”

“I think I just need to sit down,” Nick said, taking a seat next to Frankie. He looked up at Joe and scrunched his eyebrows together. “I could say the same thing to you by the way.”

“I think I just need some water,” Joe said, sitting next to Dani.

“Here you go,” she said, pulling a bottle of water out of her purse and handing it to Joe. “I came prepared.”

“Thanks Dani,” Joe said, shaking his head and smiling as he opened the bottle.

The family sat in complete silence, unsure of what to say about the exciting yet awkward situation. Seconds turned to minutes and minutes turned to hours. Occasionally one or tow of them would go see how Faith was doing and walk around a bit before sitting back down. Finally after about seven hours of waiting, Joe spotted Dr. Greene walking towards them, a smile on her face.

“It’s a boy!” she said, looking at the anxious faces that broke into smiles.

“A boy?” Joe asked, a tear dripping down his face.

“I have a son?” Nick whispered behind Joe. Joe felt his stomach do a flip. He could hear the rest of his family celebrating and thought that maybe he was the only one who had heard Nick.

“When will we find out who the father is?” Joe asked and his family became silent, their faces turning to Dr. Greene. She nodded her head and looked solely at Nick and Joe.

“We have the DNA swabs from the baby and Faith already. So, the three of us could go to the nurse’s station and I can take your swabs now or you can see the baby and Faith first. It will only take thirty seconds for the swabs.”

“We’ll do the swabs now,” Nick said, stepping forward.

“You still didn’t answer my question though,” Joe said, staying where he was.

“Depending on how much the lab already has to do before your swabs go in it could take anywhere from three days to two weeks,” she said and Joe felt some sort of sense of relief. Hopefully, if things were to go right, he’d find out if he was the father before he and Charlotte had to leave.

“Alright,” he said, nodding his head. “Let’s do the swabs.”

****

“You go in first,” Nick said, stopping outside Faith’s door. Joe turned to look at Nick.

“Are you sure?” Joe asked. “We could both go in together.”

“No,” Nick said, shaking his head. “We both know that Faith wants you to be the father and I feel like it’s just right for you to go in first. Go see your baby, Joe.”

“Thanks,” Joe whispered. He pretended not to notice the way Nick’s voice broke when he said your baby. He pretended not to notice the tears that feel down Nick’s face that Nick tried to hide by bowing his head. But he couldn’t. He took a deep breath and walked into the room and the first thing he saw was Faith.

“Hi,” she said, barely above a whisper but to him it was crystal clear. She looked down the bed towards where Kevin was holding the baby and he walked over there.
Kevin looked up and smiled, handing him the baby. With shaking hands Joe put his arms into position and when he felt the weight of this new human in his arms he couldn’t help but smile. He bent down and kissed the baby’s forehead, taking in that new baby smell. Joe pulled his hat back a little and saw some dark hair.

“Hi Bryson,” Joe whispered, stroking Bryson’s cheek with his finger. “I’m your Daddy.”

As if on queue Bryson opened his mouth wide and yawned, stretching his tiny arms over his head. Joe smiled and put his finger in Bryson’s open palm. His heart skipped as the tiny hand squeezed his finger tightly. Bryson’s eyes opened and they were the most beautiful brown Joe had seen.

“At least… I hope I am,” he whispered, low enough so only Bryson could hear.