Title - Saying the Words
Author - Nicky
Rating - PG
Category - JMPR
Summary - The BIG DAY has arrived.  How does a pretender deal 
with the reality of an event that just cannot be simmed?
Disclaimer - The characters aren't mine.  I'm just using them for 
my own entertainment purposes.

* * * * * * * * * *
Chapter 31a
* * * * * * * * * *

Jarod checks his watch one last time before looking up on the 
wall.  The flight was late.  Really late.  Almost an hour.  He 
hated leaving his wife alone for any length of time.  She was due 
any day now.  But he promised her he'd go to the airport to pick 
up Celia and Broots, fresh from their honeymoon.  After his 
recovery from the gunshot wound, they quickly discovered how much 
they meant to each other.  And they realized how short life could 
be.  After a world wind courtship of barely a month, they decided 
to marry.  This being a second marriage for both of them, they 
just knew that the time was right.  

The sound over the loud speaker finally announces the arrival of 
the flight and Jarod breathes a sigh of relief.  Lisa and Debbie 
were at the house with Miss Parker, so he really didn't have 
anything to worry about.  But he still did anyway.  He was 
anxious to get back home.

"Jarod!" he hears from behind him.  He turns around and sees a 
slightly sun burned Broots walking towards him, his new wife in 
tow.

"Mr. and Mrs. Broots," Jarod says with a smile.  "Do you mind if 
I kiss the bride?"  He places a small peck on Celia's cheek and 
gives Broots a brief hug.

"Hi Jarod," Celia says shyly, still blushing from the attention 
of being treated like a new bride.  "The girls weren't any 
trouble, were they?"

"You know they weren't any trouble at all, Celia.  If anything, I 
was the one doing all the misbehaving.  All I have to say is good 
luck to you, Broots.  Living with three women is like having 
three moms around," Jarod laughs.  "I was totally outnumbered.  
Good thing junior is a boy."

"I don't mind at all," Broots insists.  "I love my women.  All of 
them."  He leans over and gives Celia a quick, but passionate 
kiss.

"Come on, Romeo," Jarod says, rolling his eyes.  "Let's get to 
the house.  Mara's waiting."

"How is she doing?" Celia asks, keeping one eye on the circling 
luggage to make sure she doesn't miss hers.  It finally comes 
around and Broots hops over to grab it before it goes around 
again.

"Huge!  But don't tell her I said that," he adds quickly.  "I 
think she was ready to give birth a week ago, but the baby's been 
kind of stubborn.  She can't wait to see you, Celia.  She said 
that she wasn't going to have that baby without you."

Broots comes back over with the luggage.  Jarod takes one piece 
and leads them to the car, smiling as Broots finds Celia's hand 
with own.  It's nice to see someone else as happy as he is with 
Miss Parker, not able to be apart for even a minute.  He knew the 
feeling well.  He was feeling it now. 

He impatiently taps the steering wheel while they get in the car, 
wondering silently why he was so anxious.  They finally get in 
and he pulls out carefully into traffic.  The nagging feeling 
doesn't leave, so he decides to call the house just to make sure 
everything's okay.

* * * * * * * * * *

The phone rings several times before Debbie comes running down 
the stairs to get it.  She giggles at the sight of Miss Parker 
trying to reach it.  It was just beyond her fingertips and she 
couldn't reach over her stomach to get it.

"Hello?" she answers, slightly out of breath.

"Debbie?  It's Jarod.  Is Mara there?"

"She's right here.  She couldn't reach the phone, even though it 
was right next to her," the girl laughs.

"Give me that," Miss Parker says taking the phone.  "Everyone's 
always so amused at the big pregnant lady on the couch.  Jarod, 
where are you?" she asks impatiently.

"The flight was running late.  We're on the way now.  Are you 
okay?  You sound kind of . . . cranky," he says cautiously, 
choosing his words very carefully.

"Kind of cranky?  Jarod, your child has his big butt is pressed 
into my lungs so that I can barely breathe.   And I think he's 
break dancing or something in time to the chiming of the clock.  
Must be like music to him," she snaps at him.  She lets out a 
small groan and rubs her tight belly.

"You okay?" he asks her with some concern when her moaning stops.

"Jarod, I think we just covered the answer to that question."

"No, you just moaned.  Is something wrong?"

"It's just break dancing time again," she sighs wearily.  "He's 
early this time.  No chiming clock to get him started."

"And this has been happening how often?" he asks her, an idea 
starting to form in his mind.

"Well, the clock goes off every quarter hour, so . . . "

"Every 15 minutes," Jarod mumbles to himself. He looks down at 
his watch to see the time.  "But he was about 5 minutes early 
with it this time."  He bites his lip for a few moments, running 
all the factors through his head.  "Honey, do me a favor.  Call 
me in ten minutes if he does it again."

"Why?"

"I think you may be in labor," he tells her calmly.  But inside, 
he felt anything but calm.  His heart was beating a mile a minute 
and his palms were starting to sweat.  "I'm still almost an hour 
away from home, so I may end up meeting you at the hospital."

"Jarod, I doubt very seriously I'm in . . . whoa."  He hears a 
thud and assumes she dropped the phone to the floor.

"What?  What happened?" Jarod cuts across three lanes of traffic 
and slams on his brakes once he reaches the shoulder of the road. 
He ignores all of the horns and obscene gestures he gets from the 
passing vehicles.  "Mara.  Mara!"

"Uncle Jarod?" He hears Debbie's shaky voice on the other line.

"Debbie, what's going on?"

"She just kind of exploded or something.  There's . . . stuff . . 
. all over the place," Debbie tells him.  "It looks like she sat 
on a water balloon."

"I'm okay," he hears Miss Parker say in the background.  "Calm 
down, Debbie.  My water just broke.  Go upstairs and get Lisa."  
Jarod hears the phone hit the floor again and then the sounds of 
Debbie's retreating foot steps.

"What is it, Jarod?" Celia asks.  Jarod looks up to see that 
she's standing outside the driver's side door.  He didn't even 
notice that she had gotten out of the car.  She opens his door 
and pulls on his arm until he's standing up.  Without much of a 
fuss, she's able to push him into the backseat while Broots gets 
into the driver's seat. pulling the car back onto the highway. 

"Her w-water broke," he stutters, starting to go in shock a 
little.  "She sent for Lisa."

"Good," Celia says soothingly.  "Lisa will know what to do.  
She's seen me do births before."

"I knew I shouldn't have left her alone," Jarod chastises 
himself.  "I knew this could have happened at any time."

"Jarod, it's okay," Broots says.  He looks in the rearview mirror 
at Celia and they share an amused grin.  They've both had 
experience in this area and chuckled slightly at the other man's 
nervousness.  "She still has plenty of time if the contractions 
are 10 minutes apart.  I know you know that.  You've probably 
simmed every possible scenario of her giving birth."

"I do know that.  And you're right.  I have simmed this.  But for 
some reason, the simulation was a lot less nerve wracking," he 
laughs uneasily.  "I'm just worried.  And I want to be there with 
her."

"I'll get you there," Broots promises.  "Just relax.  You guys 
took Lamaze, right?  Just breathe.  Hee Hee Hee Hoo," he 
demonstrates before disolving into a laughing fit.

"Danny, Honey, stop teasing Jarod," Celia giggles.  "He's going 
to be fine, aren't you?"

"Jarod?  Are you still there?" Jarod lifts the phone to his ear 
when he hears the voice from the other end.

"I'm here.  What's happening?  I heard you telling Debbie your 
water broke."

"I'm fine," she says, trying to calm down his anxious questions.  
But truthfully, she was probably even more nervous than he was.  
"The girls helped me get into something dry and now we're headed 
for the hospital.  Lisa's going to drive.  Debbie called Sydney 
from the cell phone and he's going to meet us there."

"So you're fine?" he repeats.  "Everything's under control."

"Jarod, hang up the phone and meet us to the hospital, okay?" she 
orders him gently, trying hard not to laugh at him.  Even she was 
starting to get amused at his apparent distress.

"Aunt Mara, we should go," Lisa says to her.  "Those contractions 
are going to come quicker and harder now that your water has 
broken."

"She's right," Jarod says through the phone.  "You go.  I'll be 
there shortly.  I love you."

"I love you, too.  See you soon."  

He hears the click on the line and knows that she's hung up the 
phone.  Sitting back, he looks out the window at the passing 
scenery as it raced by.  He tries to tell himself to calm down, 
but it was no use.  He was scared beyond belief.  About what 
would happen in the next few hours.  And about how it was going 
to change the rest of his life.  No amount of pretending can help 
him prepare for what lies ahead.

* * * * * * * * * *

Sydney jumps to his feet when he sees Miss Parker being wheeled 
into the hospital. Actually, he heard her before he actually saw 
her, the independent Parker streak rearing it's ugly head.  He 
laughs as she practically bites the poor orderly's head off.

"I'm FINE," she yells.  "Perfectly capable of walking in here on 
my own."

"I got it," Lisa says with a sympathetic glance at the young man.  
She takes over pushing the wheelchair, leaving Debbie to carry 
the bag.  "Thanks for your help, Sir."

"Sydney," Miss Parker says with a smile, a complete change in 
attitude from just a second before.  "I'm so glad you're here.  
Have you seen Jarod?"

"Not yet," he says.  "But, I ran into your doctor when I got 
here.  She's got everything all set up for you.  Everything you 
need is ready and waiting."

"All I need is Jar - ahhhh," she finishes with a loud groan.  
This was one of the worse contractions yet.  Before, she couldn't 
even tell they were contractions.  But now, there was no doubt in 
her mind that she was in labor. 

"Just breathe through the pain, Aunt Mara," she hears Lisa say, 
trying to calm her down.

"Lisa, Sweetheart, I love you dearly," Miss Parker gasps through 
her gritted teeth.  "But if you don't get your little, cute, thin 
and currently pain free self away from me, you might not be cute 
and pain free for much longer!  Ahhh!!"

"Why don't I get her settled in her room," the nurse behind the 
desk offers, taking over wheelchair duty from a giggling Lisa who 
was trying desperately to hold back her laughs.  Debbie gives 
Sydney the bag and he follows the nurse down the hall.

"Is she going to be okay?" Debbie asks nervously after the others 
disappear around the corner.

"She'll be fine," Lisa assures her, her giggling finally calming 
down.  "That was just the pain talking.  You would not believe 
some of the things I hear women scream when they're having 
babies.  Wait until Uncle Jarod gets here.  She's going to be 
yelling all kinds of stuff at him."

"I hope he gets here soon," Debbie sighs, looking down at her 
watch.  "I'm ready to see Dad and Mo- I mean your mom.  I missed 
them."

"Me too," Lisa smiles.  "You know, Debbie.  It's okay if you want 
her to be your mom too.  I thought it would be weird sharing her, 
but it's not.  I kind of like having a little sister now."

"I miss having a mom," Debbie smiles shyly.  "My own mother was . 
. . let's just say I was glad when she left me with my dad.  We 
were able to take care of each other."

"It was just the two of you for awhile, huh?"

"Yeah.  But I don't mind sharing him with you and Celia.  I kind 
of like having a big sister," she smiles, imitating Lisa's 
earlier statement.

"Oh no, you're copying me already," Lisa says, rolling her eyes 
playfully.  She grabs Debbie's arm and pulls her down the hall.  
"Come on 'Sis'.  Let's go to the cafeteria.  This is going to 
take awhile. We can check on her later."