N.E Heartbreak

Chapter 32

Chapter 32
Cassandra

1998-99

"She's going into labor." Steph calls me on my cell in the middle of the night three days after Christmas.

"Michelle?" I ask as I sit up quickly, causing Ralph to stir. "I thought she was back in New Orleans?"

"Yes Michelle. And I'll explain later. Get down here please. Jacque is on her way." Steph says before hanging up.

"What's wrong with Michelle?" Ralph asks groggily in that deep, "just woke up" voice that I love.

This is no time for distractions, Lord.

"She's going into labor and Steph wants us there. Stay here with the kids. I'll call once she has Annie." I kiss Ralph who finally opens his eyes to watch me get dressed quickly.

"Be safe, baby." He says as he lays back down and starts snoring again. I shake my head at him before rushing downstairs to get in my car.

After Michelle told us she was pregnant, Steph has been at her side as much as she possibly could. Doctors appointments, clothes shopping, baby shower, everything. Michelle loves the overwhelming support Steph has shown and told us that she would be naming the baby after her. Stephanie Ashely or another Stephan except with the middle name Anthony.

"Is she okay? How many centimeters?" I ask Nicole, Lori, and Jacque as I enter the waiting room where they're sitting.

"Nine, almost ten." Nicole answers. She was three months pregnant with the future Jacqueline, or Lynn.

"Steph is in the room with her. Michelle didn't want to be...alone." Lori says with a frown. Steph's father, George Alexander, died in November of 1998, a month before she was born. It was sad when that didn't change.

None of us ever had a father. Jacque's and my fathers, Jack Terrence and Tyrone Denis, were deadbeats. Jack is still alive somewhere with another family of his own and mine died when I was five, but he was never present in my life. It's just the hands God dealt us. It's sad that the same will be for Annie, Lynn, and Andra.

"I thought Michelle was in New Orleans?" I ask, sitting next to Lori.

"She flew out here two days ago because she didn't want to be alone. We flew out this afternoon because we were scared for her. Flying so late in her pregnancy." Lori answers.

"She isn't having any issues. Her water just broke." Jacque tells me and I nod. Pregnancies and childbirth are something we have a lot of experience with.

We sit for an hour before Steph comes out into the waiting room with a big smile. We all stand up. "Come on. She's here." Steph smiles and leads us to Michelle's room.

"Hey guys," Michelle's smile becomes bigger when she sees me and Jacque walk in with her sisters. "My favorite people are here."

"We wouldn't miss this for anything." Jacque says soothingly.

"Thank you," Michelle smiles then looks down at the baby girl in her arms. "It's a girl so I named her Stephanie Ashely Wallace. I know it must be a little weird having someone with the exact same name but I couldn't give her his last name. That would hurt too much."

"No. It's not weird at all. I love it." Steph smiles.

"We can't call her Steph though. She needs a different nickname." I say and Jacque smiles.