Part 198
With four shows back to back, the gang hadn’t had much time together so when they pulled out of Kansas City headed to Houston, it was decided to ride together on one bus, Howie and Sarah’s bus. This way, Jesse had all her stuff to keep her occupied and Sarah and Becca could work on Becca’s breathing for Lamaze.
"Ten … nine … eight … come on, Bec, breathe through it, six … five … four … couple more, two … one."
"Good job!" Nick squeezed her hand and smiled as Becca panted.
"Nope, stop panting before you pass out," Sarah reminded her. "Deep cleansing breath … great!"
Becca lay back against the mattress in the back of the bus and closed her eyes.
"Daddy," Jesse asked, "why is Auntie Becca breathing funny?"
Howie smothered a smile, picking up the dice to roll for his turn. They'd been playing Chutes and Ladders for the past hour, all killing time on one bus while Becca and Sarah practiced her Lamaze exercises. He was about to explain when Brian spoke up.
"They're practicing, Jesse. Mommy is helping Becca practice for when she has her baby." Brian smiled at Jesse as she frowned, thinking about what he'd said.
"Having a baby is hard work," she pronounced.
"Yes princess, it is," Howie agreed. "But when it's all over Auntie Becca and Uncle Nicky will have a beautiful new baby to love."
"I don’t get it." Jesse moved her playing piece around the game board, still obviously puzzled about something.
"What don't you get, Jesse?" Brian asked.
"I know there's baby inside Auntie Becca, but …"
"What sweetheart?" Howie prodded.
"How does it get OUT?"
They all howled with laughter as Jesse stared back at them, an insulted look on her face.
"Um, I think you need to ask mommy about that, princess," Howie said laughing.
"Why? Don't you know either?" she asked innocently.
"She's got you there, D," Brian grinned.
"After she explains that, get Uncle Nicky to explain how it got there in the first place," AJ smirked.
"Bite your tongue, Alex!" Sarah glared at him. "Nicky is NOT teaching my baby about the facts of life."
AJ snorted. "Wouldn't be the FIRST time blondie taught the facts of life to someone underage."
"Hey!" Nick yelled. "Not nice at all. Which one of you clowns decided he could join the group again?" He looked from one to the other, suddenly realizing that Kevin was videotaping the entire conversation. "Yo, man, turn that thing off!"
"Not a chance!" he laughed. "Besides, you can use this for the baby book, Nick."
Becca and Sarah were laughing at the exchange, enjoying life being back to normal.
Normal. That was a laugh in and of itself. Seven adults and a four year old crammed onto a bus, traveling the country. Two of the seven were pregnant, and they were having impromptu childbirth classes. Yes, this was normal.
"Kev-" AJ called, "if Nick and Bec don’t want the video, you can post it to the online fan club."
"Good idea, Bone. We can all log into the chat room, announce that it's there and watch as the servers crash."
"You're so bad," Becca laughed. "It's mean to tease the fans. All they want is-"
"Never mind what they want, Bec," Sarah retorted. "YOU were a fan, so I'm sure you know what they really want."
Becca blushed, but held her ground. "Yes, I was a fan and I GOT what I wanted." She looked lovingly at Nick, remembering how last winter she'd confessed to wanting his babies.
Nick grinned and sighed, leaning over to kiss her as the others rolled their eyes.
"Daddy, I'm hungry," Jesse piped up.
"Me too, daddy!" Brian added.
"Daddy! Daddy! I want to stop!" AJ cackled.
"Enough! You guys are awful." Howie shook his head at their antics, putting away the game board. "I'll ask the driver to find a place to stop for lunch. We can all get out and stretch our legs."
"McDonald's!" Jesse and AJ chorused.
"God, what have I started?" Howie mumbled, smiling as he made his way to the front of the bus.
By some pure stroke of luck, they found a McDonald's that was virtually deserted. They ate outside, watching as Jesse played in the bounce house. Nick and AJ tried to climb in with her, but she stood her ground and reminded them that they had to fit under Hamburgler's arm if they wanted to come in. Finally it was time to board the bus again, and like any four-year-old, she protested. She eluded capture for five more minutes before making a fatal mistake. She came down the slide.
"Aha!" Nick was waiting to catch her, and he scooped her up in his arms, tossing her tiny body over his shoulder. "Age, hold the door!" Jesse squealed with delight as the three raced for the bus.
Becca gathered up the remnants of their lunch, shaking her head and laughing. "Kids, what are you gonna do with them?"
"Are you talking about Jesse?" Sarah asked.
"Hell no, I meant Nick and Alex," she giggled. "They're far worse than Jesse could EVER be."
The women stared after the three, watching as Nick and Alex played tag with Jesse, who was delighted when they let her catch them.
Sarah smiled at her daughter and glanced over at Becca. "Just think, Bec, another year and Nicky'll be chasing after YOUR little one."
Becca's eyes were suddenly full as the images played in her mind, and as the tears spilled over she hastily wiped them away.
"Bec, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to make you cry!"
Becca laughed. "Don't worry about it, Sarah, these days everything makes me cry."
"Hormones?" Sarah laughed.
"God yes, this is awful! Poor Nick, he's constantly apologizing to me for things he didn't even do."
"Bec, LET him! It probably more than makes up for the stuff he did and NEVER apologized for."
Snagging the last of the trash and Jesse's Happy Meal toy, they giggled.
"Let's go, ladies," Billy said, pointing to his watch.
"In a hurry?" Becca asked sweetly as Sarah grinned.
"Yes, we have boys to get to a venue, remember? So let's move it."
"Yes, daddy," Becca said, looking up at him and batting her eyes.
Billy rolled his eyes as Sarah snorted, pulling Becca toward the bus.
"One of these days you're going to go too far with him," she whispered to Becca.
"Not a chance, we have an understanding." Looking over her shoulder, she winked at Billy, who grinned and winked back at her before resuming his standard stern look.
They boarded the bus, looking around for Jesse.
"Jesse?" Sarah called.
"That way," AJ pointed toward the back of the bus.
Still not finding her, they heard sounds coming from the bathroom. Looking through the open door, they stopped short and just watched. Nick had Jesse balanced on his knee as he helped her wash her hands, and they were singing.
" … 'now I know my ABC's, next time won't you sing with me'. There you go munchkin, all clean." He reached for a towel and dried her tiny hands.
"Uncle Nicky?"
"What, Jesse?"
"How come you sing when you wash your hands?"
Nick laughed. "*I* don't sing when I wash my hands, I just did it to help you."
Jesse sighed. "I already know my a-b-c's, Uncle Nicky."
"I know that, but if you scrub your hands the whole time you sing, then you know they're really clean. It's a trick I learned a long time ago."
"Oh," she said. "Cool!"
Sarah and Becca heard the entire exchange, and as Sarah looked at Becca she saw tears streaming down her face. "Oh good god, Becca, suck it up!" She laughed, hugging her.
Jesse bounded past them, Nick close behind. When he saw Becca's tears he stopped. "Bec?"
"I can't help it," she sobbed, as Sarah handed her a tissue.
"Here, Nick, DO something with her." Sarah moved out of the way and pushed Becca into Nick's arms.
"Fine, y’all go over to another bus and I WILL." He grinned at Sarah and wagged his eyebrows.
"You're both mean to me," Becca pouted, pushing Nick away and blowing her nose loudly.
"Auntie Becca?" Jesse had pushed her way in between all of the grownups and was patting Becca's tummy.
Looking down, Becca smiled. "What sweetie?"
"Read me a story?"
"Sure Jesse, come on." They made their way to the back of the bus and stretched out together on the bed. Becca took the storybook Jesse handed her and began to read. As she read, Jesse laid her head on Becca's breast and began to rub her tummy.
"There's a real baby in there?" she asked quietly.
"There sure is," Becca laughed softly. "Pretty soon it will be all finished growing and then it will be time for it to be born."
"I love babies," Jesse sighed.
"Me too, sweetheart," Becca said holding her close.
"I used to be a baby."
"I know you did, I've seen the pictures your mommy has."
"I missed her, Auntie Becca."
Becca closed her eyes and prayed for strength. "She missed you too, Jesse. I know she prayed for you the whole time you were away." Please, don't let me cry now, she begged silently.
Jesse yawned and snuggled closer, her eyes drifting closed. "Mommy doesn’t have a baby anymore since I'm a big girl," she whispered. "Can we play with yours when it's borned?"
Becca smiled through her tears. "Any time, sweetheart, any time."
Jesse and Becca both drifted off to sleep as Sarah, Howie and Nick watched and listened. All three had tears on their faces at the scene they had witnessed.
"God," Nick said quietly.
"She's going to be a great mother, Nick, " Howie said.
"D, we have to tell Jesse about the babies," Sarah said wiping her eyes.
"Angel, are you sure? It might be too soon."
"No, it's the perfect time. I want to share this with her, D, she'll be so happy."
"Look," Nick said, "when they wake up we'll all head back to our own buses and you guys can talk."
Sarah looked up at Howie. "Okay?"
"Okay," he smiled, holding her close.