The Promise (The 'Burg #5)(110)

My heart thumped hard in my chest and I came right out of my seat.

“Right now?” I asked.

“Yeah!” she cried, then chanted. “Ohmigod, ohmigod, ohmigod.”

“Where are you?”

“At home. Kate is, like, freaking! Joe called. They were out pickin’ up dinner and it just happened. He took her right to the hospital. We gotta get her bag. We gotta get gas ’cause Kate says she’s almost out. And we gotta call everybody.”

“Stop right there,” I interrupted. “Kate’s in a state and she’s drivin’ you?”

“We gotta get going!” she shrieked. “And I got, like, seven million calls to make.”

Hurriedly, I went about turning off my computer. “Do not leave that house, Keirry. I’m comin’ and I’ll take you both.”

“You got a two-seater,” she pointed out.

“We’ll take Vi’s Mustang.”

“Oh, right,” she muttered.

I kept closing down and grabbing shit as I said, “Listen to me. Are you listening to me?”

She sounded like she was hyperventilating when she said, “I’m listening.”

“Get the keys to your mom’s car. Make sure she has everything she needs for her and Angela in her bag. Grab some waters, some pops, and some snacks ’cause we probably got a wait ahead of us. Make your calls. Deep breathe. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

I was rushing through the mostly deserted floor on my way to the elevator when Keira replied, “It’ll take you forever to get here.”

“It takes a while to have a baby, honey. Just try to keep calm. I’ll get there as fast as I can and we’ll get to your mom and Cal.”

“Okay, Frankie.”

“Mawdy’s bag doesn’t have nightgowns!” I heard Kate screech from a distance through Keira’s phone.

I tagged the elevator and smiled.

With Ben in Chicago, and Cal, Violet, and the girls the only friends I had close, I spent time with them. Dinners at their place, dinners at mine, dinners at Frank’s Restaurant in town. They were the only things keeping me sane, being so far from Benny and everything I knew.

Doing it, I’d gotten to know the Winters–Callahan family.

And now I knew that Kate, who was normally level-headed, lost it when her mom was about to give her another sister.

“Well, get her one!” Keira yelled back.

“Keirry, honey?” I called.

“Yeah, Frankie?” she asked.

“Deep breathe. Calm. It’s all gonna be great. It’s gonna be amazing. Something beautiful is happening. Yeah?”

I heard the rush of breath come with her “Yeah.”

“Be there soon,” I promised.

“Okay. See you soon, Frankie.”

“’Bye, honey.”

“’Bye, Frankie.”

I disconnected. The elevator opened. I dashed in, hit the button to the parking garage, and as the doors were closing, I didn’t f**k around with Recents. I just dialed Ben’s number right into the phone.

“Hey, baby,” he greeted.

“Vi’s delivering Angela right now,” I told him.

There was a hesitation before he asked, “Come again?”

“Vi…is…delivering…Angela right now!” I was near on shrieking myself when I finished.

“Jesus, that’s f**kin’ great,” Ben replied.

“Uh…yeah,” I agreed. “I’m off to pick up the girls. They were driving themselves, but they were freaked. I don’t want them behind the wheel.”

There was another hesitation, this one weighty, before he whispered, “My Frankie.”

“I don’t have time for you to be sweet right now, Ben. I only have time for you to tell me you’re coming down as soon as humanly possible.”

There was a smile in his voice when he said, “I’m comin’ down as soon as humanly possible.”

“Awesome,” I whispered as the doors opened.

“Be safe with you and those girls,” he ordered.

“I will.”

“Okay. Love you, baby.”

I stopped dead on my mad dash to my Z.

“’Bye,” he finished.

“Uh…’bye, Benny.”

He disconnected.

I stood there, frozen.

Love you, baby.

Oh my God.

Love you, baby.

Oh my God!

Ben told me he’d never loved a woman.

And now he’d just told me he loved me.

What I did next, I didn’t care that security probably saw me doing it on the monitors and would rightly think I was crazy.

Cal and Vi were having their baby.

And Benny Bianchi loved me.

I did a war whoop and a big feet-thrown-back cheerleader jump. In pumps. Holding my phone, my computer bag, my purse slung over my shoulder. Just like a woman in a commercial who successfully got through her stressful day as an executive and did it without getting underarm stains.

Fortunately, I landed firm on my feet.

Then I ran right to my Z.

* * * * *

I was sitting in the maternity waiting room of Hendricks Regional Health.

Next to me sat Kate, who was wired and fidgety.