Under the Giant Oak

"Linda, my hand isn't a stress ball. Please, stop squeezing it that hard." I pleaded with her. All I got was a quick fuck you and an even tighter squeeze. "You better drive a little fucking faster!" I yelled to the taxi driver.

Linda was in labor. Yes, labor, as in she was about to give birth to a baby in the back of a taxi cab because she wasn't due for another two weeks, and Oli wasn't home to drive us. That and my hand has been broken in about eighteen places because she won't let the fuck go!

We arrived at the hospital in record time, and I just threw some money at the man before practically carrying Linda in. Vampire births were worse than human births by a lot. There is more pain, more stress. It takes longer, and the friend that is just here to help gets wrapped into it as well.

I held the phone up to my ear as she got wheeled into a room off by herself. Watching where she went, I continued to curse Oli for not having his phone with him at every single second. I gave up on that one, and called the company number I memorized ever since Ronnie got the job.

"Judas Cradle Torture Agency. This is Julie. How can we help you today?" A fertile asked on the other end of the phone.

"Hey, Julie. This is Max Green, and if you don't put Oli on the phone in about twenty seconds, I will have a very pissed off, but very pregnant fertile on my back." I rambled.

"Oli, as in Oliver Sykes?" She asked confused. God, why can't he hire intelligent fertiles?

"Yes, darling," I sighed. "I mean Oliver Sykes, the head honcho, the big kahuna. You need to get him on this phone, like now."

"Um," she said. "Okay, one moment please."

The crappy hold music came on, and I waited as patiently as I could. But, the second I heard Linda scream my name out, I couldn't just wait anymore. I held the phone between my shoulder and my ear as I ran in there, immediately grabbing her hand.

Tears were streaming down her face at this point, and I was quite shocked he held up this long. "Why isn't he here yet?"

"I'm on the phone with him right now. Don't you worry. He'll be here soon." I comforted her. The music continued to ding along on the other end of the phone, and all I could think about was how much I wanted to punch him in the face for not answering the damn phone.

After another six seconds, I hung up, and called the front desk again. Before Julie could say anything, I started to nearly scream at her. "Julie, yes, hi. It's Max again, Max Green. Oli didn't pick up, so you need to call him again, or something. He needs to get on the phone now."

"I'm sorry, sir. He's in a meeting right now-" She was cut off by a pain filled scream from Linda. She ripped her hand out of mine, and grabbed the phone from me.

"Listen here, bitch," Linda panted before she groaned, gripping her swollen stomach. "You get off your fucking ass to his fucking office and tell him that his wife is in labor, and if he ever wants to see his child, he will get his bitchy ass down here yesterday. I don't give two shits if he is meeting with the king of fucking England, if he isn't here soon, you can tell him to pack his bags!"

She threw the phone back at me and screamed again in pain. Doctors kept bustling about, getting ready for the child that was about to pop out of her. I continued to hold the phone just in case Julie decided to tell me something again.

A doctor came up to me. "Are you a relative of Ms. Sykes here?"

I stared at him for a second. Shit, I completely forgot about that stupid rule. "He's my brother." Linda said quickly with a pleading look on her face. I wouldn't leave her even if they made me. She needed someone right now, and since Oli isn't here, I was going to be.

The doctor nodded before leaving the room to do whatever he had to do. I continued to say comforting things to Linda as she cried her poor little eyes out. Honestly, I tried to comfort her for the small time before the baby was actually going to arrive, but there wasn't much I could do without being the actual father of her child.

"Where is he?" She yelled.

"He's on his way, honey. Don't you worry." I told her over and over. He was on his way. He was coming. Don't you worry. He's coming. God, I had no idea where that man was! He could be on the moon, and I would have no idea if he was going to get here! And, we all know Julie was no a fucking help at all.

"Okay, we're going to give you a drug to help the baby come, okay?" One of the doctors said.

Linda's eyes nearly bugged out of her head. "We can't. He's not here yet. We have to wait."

"I’m sorry, miss," the doctor said. "The baby isn't going to wait for him."

Almost as if it was a movie scene, Oli came busting through the door at that exact moment. Linda didn't look relieved though, oh hell no. She looked completely pissed. "Where the fuck have you been?" She screamed at her.

"I'm sorry." He said as an excuse. Of course, she immediately forgave him the second her next contraction hit. Thank fucking god, I wasn't going to be the only one with a broken hand now.

The doctor gave her the drug, and before I knew it, the longest few moments of my life began. My ears started to bleed. My hand was raw. It was purely awful. But, then that little baby came, and the crying was like music to all of our ears.

"You did great, babe." Oli whispered to the most exhausted looking Linda I have ever seen. He pushed the mated hair off of her face and kissed her forehead.

I left after that. They needed a few moments to themselves, understandably. And, honestly I needed a break. I sat on a bench outside of the room, resting my head on the wall behind me. This was almost surreal. It seemed like this wasn't my life anymore. It couldn't be. There was no way I was still the same kid that lived by himself almost a year and a half ago, more than that really. I hadn't seen the club in more than fourteen months. Hell, I hadn't been over to the park with my tree in a year.

It seemed like so long ago, but it wasn't. Yet, I wasn't the same person. There was no doubt in my mind I was different. But, I couldn't' tell if it was for better or worse. I had become co-dependent. I had become sappy, weak almost. This life wasn't what I pictured. I thought I would leave this forsaken city, and just go wherever I wanted that day. I never wanted to stay in one place for long.

"You want to come see?" Oli asked from the doorway.

I nodded my head and followed him into the room. The doctors had left the room, and Linda was sitting there with a small blue bundle in her arms. She had the biggest smile on her face as she stared down at the small baby in the grasp. Oli went to sit next to her, looking at the both of them like it wasn't real.

"You want to hold him?" Linda asked. I nodded my head, and carefully took the small person in my arms. I felt like I was going to drop the poor thing.

"What's his name?" I asked, peering down at the sleeping child. His face already seemed like he belonged to Oli. He had the same nose, but he had cute chubby checks.

"Ashe, Ashe Maxwell Sykes." She said.

I tore my gaze away from Ashe. "Maxwell?" I asked.

She nodded her head. "Yeah, Maxwell."

I could feel the tears fall down my face as I smiled. I didn't picture my life to be like this. I wouldn't have guessed that a baby would be named after me. But, maybe, just maybe, this wasn't so bad. Yeah, I could live like this, for a very long time.