The next day Leo left and I was stuck back in a house with two women, one of them pregnant with a girl. Pretty soon I'll be in a house with three women. Leo and I aren't exactly the most macho of men but it was good to have someone else around who could pee standing up.
My album came out on Tuesday and I didn't hear anything about it. It was mentioned in the news, along with the other new releases, and that was the end of it. It was what I expected. I wouldn't find out until the weekend what kind of sales it had. I was sitting in the living room with the TV on when Kris came bouncing in, a large smile on her face. She had a newspaper in her hands.
"Hi sweetheart," I said. She gave me a kiss. "What are you so happy about?" She pulled out Billboard Magazine and showed it to me.
"This."
"What?" She pointed to the pop charts. I looked at it and at the very top, in the number one spot, was my album. "Oh my God!"
"You're number one!"
"Oh my God!"
"I know!" I kissed her. Ginger came slowly walking into the room, a hand on her stomach.
"Jesus, leave me in the car, by myself�and I don't want to see that!" Kris sat up, a big smile on her face. "What's going on that you had to run out of the car like that?"
"My album's number one, that's what," I said, holding up the magazine. Ginger's eyes grew and her mouth dropped.
"Oh my God, that's wonderful! You come over here and give me a hug." I got up and hugged her. "Congratulations! Did you have any idea?"
"No!" I said, letting her go. "I had no idea. You would think somebody would call me about this, you know, 'Hey, guess what? That album you thought would go nowhere? Yeah, it's debuting at number one.' "
"That's so great! I'd celebrate but I'm exhausted. I'm taking a nap."
"Okay." She left the room. I turned to Kris.
"She's been running around all day," Kris explained. "I'm surprised she didn't fall asleep during the video in class today."
"Wasn't today the last one?"
"Yeah�she's all ready for the baby now." I sat down next to Kris and put my arm around her.
"How are you doing, honey?" I asked. "It all seems to be about Ginger lately, we hardly have any time for us."
"I'm just wonderful, sweetie," she told me. "Just you wait until Jenny gets here. Then we'll have even less time for ourselves." I agreed. Once Jenny got here it would be all about her. As much as I was looking forward to my niece's birth, I wanted some time alone with my girlfriend.
"True," I said. "We should go away for the weekend."
"As much as I would love that, baby," Kris said, putting her head against my chest, "Ginger's getting closer to her due date and I don't want to risk being away when she goes into labor. We'll see what we can do after Jenny's born." I knew that after Jenny was born we'd end up taking care of her with Ginger for quite a while, so there was no chance of an intimate weekend with my girlfriend any time soon.
"I should probably call my brother," I said. "He'll want to know it's number one, if he doesn't already know."
"If you didn't know, I don't think he does either." I shrugged and got up. I grabbed the phone and called my brother. I hadn't spoken to him since I asked him if he wanted to release the album. That conversation ended in a fight. I hoped this one wouldn't. The phone continued to ring. He either wasn't home or he didn't want to talk to me. With him, it could be either one. His answering machine picked up.
"Hey Ike, it's Taylor. Um, I don't know where you are or if you know or not, but our album is number one this week. Yay. Thought you'd like to know." I hung up the phone.
"That was the least enthusiastic yay I've ever heard in my life," Kris said, smiling. I shrugged, dialing my mother's number.
"I try." I put the phone back to my ear. I was still excited, and I didn't know who knew or not so I decided to call everyone. While I waited for someone to pick up I kissed Kris's temple and she smiled. It felt good to hold her without Ginger around.
"Hello?"
"Hey Avery," I said. "Is Mom around?"
"Yeah. I have to find her first. When are you coming home?" I paused.
"I don't know."
"You're not coming for Christmas?"
"No," I said. "No, not this time around."
"Oh. Okay. Well here's Mom." I could hear the disappointment in Avery's voice. I wanted to go home for Christmas. I missed my family. But I didn't want to go anywhere without Kris, and Ginger was too pregnant to be left alone and too pregnant to travel. I was stuck here at least until the baby was born. Maybe I could go back home for my birthday. I didn't see that happening, though.
"Hi honey, what's up?" my mother asked.
"I just thought you should know that the album's debuting at number one this week," I said casually. Kris laughed.
"Oh my God! That's wonderful! Maybe people really do like your music." I snorted.
"I doubt that. However, I have no idea why it's doing this well," I said. "Um, Mom, could you possibly call Zac and tell him? I don't know if he knows or not�"
"Sure, honey," she said. "You know, I really wish the two of you would patch things up. He doesn't want to come by because he's afraid you'll be there�it's just awkward. I don't like my sons fighting because then I never get to see them!" I sighed.
"I know, Ma, but I can only get hit in the face so many times before I give up."
"I know, sweetie. Are you coming home for Christmas?"
"No, I can't," I said. "I can't leave Ginger here by herself."
"Why not?" I paused.
"Oh, it�it just wouldn't be right. I gotta go." I hung up the phone quickly and let out a deep breath. "Oh man I almost told her."
"Yeah, you almost did," Kris said. "Thank God you covered it up so well that she has absolutely no idea that something's up." I gave her a look. "I'll go make sure Ginger got to sleep okay."
"She's eighteen, Kris. I think she knows how to get to sleep by now."
"But she's an eighteen-year-old pregnant girl. She doesn't sleep well." I sighed as Kris got up and walked out of the room.
It was a week and a half later when I got the numbers from the first week sales and we'd already sold over a million copies. That was quite a feat. This album was turning out to be our most successful. It was just really upsetting that this was the last one.
"Bill, bill, junk, junk�" I said, sorting through the stack of mail after walking into the house. "Ginger, here's your paycheck�" I handed her the letter and sat down next to her. I came across my name and paused. I never get anything in the mail. Putting the rest of the mail on the table for Kris to take care of, I opened it up and looked at it. A smile crossed my face.
"What'd you get, baby?"
"Paid." She raised an eyebrow. "I got paid�I got paid�"
"Oh my God," Ginger said.
"Well I did!"
"No!" Ginger said. "I�I think my water broke."
"Ew!" I moved away from her.
"Okay, okay�somebody help me up! We have to go to the hospital!" Ginger said. I stood and helped her up. "Oh my God� Oh my God I'm going to have a baby!"
"Calm down," I said. "We'll just get you to the car." Kris and I walked her to the car, where Kris put her in the front seat and I drove to the hospital. "Are you okay?" I asked on the way, looking over at Ginger who was nearly doubled over in pain. She shook her head.
"No�"
"We'll be there in a minute, just hold on." I drove faster and Ginger was still rocking back and forth when we got there. Kris got out and took Ginger inside while I parked. I ran back inside and met Kris. "Where is she?"
"She's in the delivery room," Kris said.
"Already?" I asked. "We just got here!"
"I know! She was already crowning. Come on." Kris took my hand and we ran to the delivery room. When we got inside Ginger barely had time to get in the bed and get a gown own when the doctors were asking her to push. Kris ran to her side and took her hand while I stood back and sort of watched.
"That's it, Ginger, you're doing great, give me another big push," the doctor said. I couldn't see what was going on down there and frankly I didn't want to. Ginger was crying and looked to be in absolute pain (I couldn't even imagine the kind of pain she was in) and took a deep breath before she pushed. "Great�here she is!" Jenny started crying and Ginger relaxed, sitting back and still crying.
"Where are they taking her?" Ginger asked as the doctor took the baby across the room.
"They're just cleaning her up, honey," Kris said, pushing Ginger's hair out of the way. "You did really good." In a moment the doctor brought Jenny over and put her in Ginger's arms. Ginger smiled as she looked at her daughter and Kris beckoned me over. I walked over and stood on the other side of Ginger. She looked up at me.
"I'm going to kill your brother," she said, and then looked back down at Jenny. "I want him to be here�" She shook her head. I looked down at Jenny. She looked just like Ginger. It was scary. "Hey you," Ginger whispered. "I'm your Mom."
"I think we should give Mom some time with her baby," the doctor said, looking at Kris and me. We nodded and left. It was awhile before we saw Jenny again; she was in the nursery with the rest of the newborn babies.
"That has to be the fastest delivery in the history of the world," I said to Kris as we walked to the nursery, my hand in hers. She nodded.
"Well Ginger said she was having pain earlier in the day, she just didn't think it was serious labor pains." We stepped up to the window. "Where is she?"
"I don't know�" I scanned the rows of babies for Jenny. "Oh, wait, there she is. The second row all the way to the right."
"I see her," Kris said. "Ohh she's so adorable, Taylor! I want a baby." I felt her grip on my hand tighten and I smiled.
"You'll get yours," I said, giving her a smile. "We kind of have to get married first, you know, if we want a legitimate child." Kris looked up at me, a smile on her face. "What?"
"You think we'll get married?"
"Honey, I know we'll get married. Not today or anything�but we will." She kissed me a moment before looking back at Jenny. "Whoa, wait a sec."
"What?"
"Look at Jenny's name." I looked back at Jenny.
"Hey, she's Jennifer Kristina, not Jennifer Anna."
"No�not that. She's Jennifer Kristina Hanson."
"Oh my God, she is." Kris smiled.
"She's Kristina!" she said. "That is so sweet�I think I'm going to cry." I put my arm around Kris and she took a few breaths but did eventually start to cry. I put my arms around her and she cried into her hands.
"Sweetie, stop crying�"
"I just wasn't expecting her to do that!" She let go of me and wiped her eyes. When she had completely calmed down, I spoke again.
"I'm going to talk to Ginger," I said. "You coming?"
"No, I want to stay here a little longer."
"Okay." I kissed her before I turned and left. I found my way back to Ginger's room and went inside. She looked exhausted. "Hey," I said. She looked over.
"Hey Taylor," she said. "How's Jenny doing in there?"
"She's sleeping," I said. "How're you doing?" She shrugged.
"I'm tired. I should be sleeping too."
"Um�" I said, sitting down next to the bed, "Kris and I couldn't help but notice Jenny's name."
"Is this about her being Jennifer Kristina instead of Jennifer Anna?"
"No," I said. "Although Kris cried her eyes out because she was so surprised." Ginger smiled. "But that wasn't it. Her name is Hanson?" Ginger nodded. "Why is it Hanson? Your name is Stevens."
"Why shouldn't it be Hanson?" Ginger asked. "Think about it, Taylor. Jenny doesn't know her father and she probably never will. That name is all she has of him. If she doesn't know her father personally I at least want her to know his name."
"There's nothing stopping you from telling Zac."
"Everything is stopping me from telling him! I can't just call him up right now. 'Oh, Zac, hi! I know you never wanted to speak to me again, but I'd just like to let you know you have a daughter!' Yeah, that's a good icebreaker."
"Ginger�"
"We've talked about this before, Taylor. I stand by my decision."
"That's why an hour ago you said you wanted him here."
"I was emotional," she said. "I was in a lot of pain and I just held my baby for the first time. I wasn't thinking clearly. Now that I am, I don't want him here. I don't think he deserves to hear anything or know anything. You didn't call him, did you?"
"No."
"Good. Don't."
"All right," I said. "It's your decision." She nodded. "How do you feel?"
"Better. It doesn't hurt anymore," she said. "I don't have something inside of me yearning to be free�I'm still tired, though."
"I'll let you get to sleep," I said. "Goodnight, Mom." She smiled. I gave her a kiss on the cheek before I left the room.