Feed the Fire

The warm sunshine filled the black SUV with its rays of light. The three women chit chatted as they drove over the bridge to San Francisco for a day of baby shopping. Adie, Beth and Sabrina laughed as they wasted the time of the drive to some of the interesting boutiques that were scattered throughout the City by the Bay.

Adie was talking the lead in the shopping expedition; getting caught up in the excitement of a baby making its appearance. "You know Sabrina, it would have made things easier shopping wise to know if you're having a boy or a girl," she said looking into the rearview mirror at the pregnant woman sitting in the back seat.

"Well if Tre would have bothered to go to an appointment, I would've found out. It just didn't feel right finding something like that out without him there."

That elicited a snort from the younger woman sitting in the shot gun seat. "I tell you, he gets more spineless as the days go by. Hell what am I saying... we all know Jill wears the pants in that relationship; Tre is like a little lap dog around her."

"Beth," Adie warned from behind the wheel.

"It's okay Adie... she's right. I mean I'm just hoping he'll keep his word and drive me to the hospital. I have my c-section scheduled for 5pm on June 4th. I have to be at the hospital for check in and what not by 11am; he supposed to pick me up by 10:30 that morning."

The conversation was cut short as Adie pulled up to park in front of the first destination. The women piled out of the SUV and walked into the little store 'ooohing' and 'ahhing' at all the baby things on display in front of them. The women each went separate ways to view all the different items.

Adie went to the clothes sections and was drawn to the cute fluffy little girl dresses. She picked up the first dress closest to her and gazed at its satiny frills. The woman smiled as she though of a little girl version of Billie or a mini me of herself filling out the little dress; toddling around the room taking her very first baby steps. She brushed a stray tear that escaped from the corner of her left eye. Grief filled her as she realized that she might never have the chance for a little girl; although she didn't begrudge her two beautiful boys for one moment. Blinking back another tear she placed the dress back on the rack and moved on to some gender neutral clothing.

Beth wandered through the shelves of baby toys and her gaze was caught by a picture frame. She went in for a closer inspection, picking up the silver rectangular frame from the shelf. The 'fake' family picture on display in the frame was what caught her eye. A tall man with short dark hair playing catch with a little toe headed boy of about 5 years of age. Something drew her to that picture as her mind wandered from the present to some point in the future. 'I wonder if our son would look like that?' she thought to herself. Suddenly the younger woman stopped. She realized it was the first time that she actually had thought about a real future with the bass player and she couldn't decide if it was a good or bad thing. She quickly replaced the frame to its spot and continued checking out the toys.

Sabrina went around to the store with the boutique owner following right behind with a scanner gun. As the almost 9 month pregnant woman pointed out things she wanted a sudden sadness came over her. 'I wish Tre was here,' she thought to herself frowning at the thought of picking out nursery items without him. She sighed and pushed the thought to the back of her mind determined not to let it ruin her day with her friends. As she and the owner rounded the corner a crib came into view which took her breath away.

The woman walked over to the round shaped crib and gently touched it smooth black surface. The whole crib reminded her of a castle with its four towers rising towards the sky. Sabrina was entranced by the crib and didn't notice the others coming up behind her. "I can see that with red and black bedding," Adie whispered to Beth, who nodded her agreement.

"Can Adeline make that Adie? Something black with the red stars and whatnot?" Sabrina said not tearing her gaze away from the object in front of her.

"We will now," Adie replied with the determined sound of a woman on a mission. "I've always thought about expanding the line to infants."

After what seemed like buying out the whole store and securing a delivery time of the next day; the women finally left after putting a considerable dent into Sabrina's plastic along with the two other women buying some items without Sabrina's knowledge. They piled back into the SUV and went off in search of food before finally heading back over the bridge to Oakland.

The morning of June 4th began with Sabrina up before dawn. She was nervous at what was going to happen later that Monday afternoon and she just couldn't sleep. She sat at the breakfast table sipping a cup of tea trying to soothe her nerves as she watched the sun come up. After the sun rose and her tea went cold, the woman went up to take a final look at the nursery that Adie and Beth had designed.

The black crib with its custom made Adeline Street sat in a corner of the room facing the windows. She smiled at the black iron changing table Beth had found with horses heads and stars decorating the top. A black and red dresser and tables finished out the room. A spot was saved for the rocking chair Tre's mom and dad were bringing down with them. The chair was made by Tre's dad they wanted her to have it. They had never given it to either Tre or his sister for their already grown children so Sabrina knew it meant something for her to have it. She glanced at her watch and realized that they would be leaving in a little bit to travel down state for the impending birth.

Another glance at her watch brought a quickening of her breath as it was getting closer to 10:30 and Tre hadn't shown up yet. She left the room and did a final check for what she was bringing to the hospital with her. Her readied suitcase was already in the car; that along with the infant car seat were placed in her SUV last night by Billie Joe and Mike while Adie and Beth placed the finishing touch on the nursery.

After pacing for a bit she checked her watch yet again and let out a sigh. It was almost 10:45 and Tre still wasn't here. Somehow she knew deep in her heart that he wasn't going to show up. She knew that Jill somehow did something to prevent him from showing just like she did last night when they both were invited over to visit and help out.

She bit her lip as she thought about what to do. She did some quick time calculations and numbly figured out that she couldn't call anybody to come take her for then she would be late and might not be able to have her c-section on time. Looking down at her belly she decided to drive herself. Grabbing her jacket and car keys she walked out the kitchen door into the garage and after making sure her stuff was in the SUV; she pushed back the seat and climbed in. With a last look at the kitchen door she turned the key and started the engine and backed the SUV out of the garage and into the driveway; turning around and heading out of her gate and down the road; going the opposite direction of Tre's house.

When she got to a stop light she quickly grabbed out her cell phone hitting a speed dial number and speaker phone before placing the phone on the seat next to her. She listened to the ringing, crossing her fingers that the person would pick up. Suddenly a sleep filled voice broke through the silence of the vehicle. "Hello?"

"Michael?"

"Hey Sab, what are you doing calling... are you okay?"

"Yea, I'm fine. I'm just on my way to the hospital."

"Oh... Hey Tre," the bass player called out.

Sabrina frowned at what she was going to have to say to her friend. "No Michael, Tre isn't here. He never showed up. I had to drive myself."

"What the ... " the voice disappeared as Sabrina heard him speaking to Beth who must have been next to him.

"MICHAEL," she shouted trying to get his attention back to her for a moment longer.

"Dammit Sab, why didn't... "

"Michael, you couldn't have gotten around to pick in up in and get me to the hospital on time. Besides that wasn't why I called. Is Beth right there?"

"Yea, you wanna talk to her?"

"Kinda... can you put me on speaker phone so I can talk to both of you?"

"Yea, hold on." She heard the sound of him fumbling with the phone and suddenly heard Beth's voice pipe up.

"Sab you should have called us," she said echoing Mike's earlier thought.

"I have a favor to ask of you two... It's really important okay?"

"Go ahead," Mike said sounding concerned over Sabrina's sudden serious tone of voice.

"I don't trust Tre anymore... Jill is just too much for him and he can't stand up to her... If anything hap... I mean I want to know that my child will be safe."

"Okay," Beth said sounding confused at what Sabrina was getting to.

"Would the two of your consider becoming my child's Godparents?"

There was silence on the other end for a minute or so causing Sabrina to ask if they heard her. "Yea, we heard you... Sab are you sure about this?" Beth asked of the woman.

"Uh huh. I trust you two to make sure Tre tows the mark and I know that neither of you would have any problem taking over if it was needed. I just don't trust Jill... " she said trailing off.

"Sab... I don't know... " Beth said sounding very unsure of herself. The younger woman had thoughts racing through her mind at mach 500. She was thinking about how she never thought that she would become a mother to anyone again.

Mike watched as the different emotions played over her face. He knew why she was hesitant but didn't know what he could do to help reassure her. He caught her face with his hands and gently kissed her lips. "You would make an excellent mother Beth," he murmured to her.

Beth blinked back the tears that his tenderness caused and looked back to the cell phone sitting on the bed between them. Swallowing back the lump in her throat she found her voice, "Okay Sab... I would be honored."

"So would I Sabrina," Mike said adding his sentiment to Beth's.

Sabrina sighed in relief as the hospital came into view. "Thanks guys. You have no idea how much this sets me at ease. I just want to make sure everything is in order. Thank you, both of you. I'll see you later tonight okay? I'm here and I have to get inside."

"We'll see you later Sab to welcome your newborn to the world," Mike said with a smile and he wrapped an arm around Beth.

"Bye Sab."

"Bye guys." Sabrina clicked off the phone and turned it off, placing it in her bag. She climbed out of the car and grabbed her suitcase and locked up the SUV. She figured someone could come down for the car seat when it was time to take the baby home.

She placed a hand on her belly as said baby kicked. "Just a few more hours before you make your entrance little one," she intoned to her belly as she walked towards the entrance ready to start the new chapter of her life.