"Are you sure you're okay, Anna?"
Squishing an M&M between her fingers, she frowned. "No, actually." Tilting her head to examine her bowl of snacks, she complained, "All of the chocolate shifted to the bottom of the bowl."
Giving her a not-amused expression, I pointed to her back. "I meant physically. Everything all right?"
Anna waved away my concern. "It's just a backache. It happens when you're carrying around a hundred pound bowling ball. It will go away if I keep my feet up." To emphasize her point, she wriggled her toes, which were stretched out on a chair in front of her.
"I don't know, Anna, maybe you should see a doctor. When was the last time you saw one?" Anna hadn't exactly been keeping up on her checkups since leaving Seattle. I wasn't sure what they did at all of those doctor's appointments, but they probably had advice on backaches.
Anna rolled her eyes at me. "For a backache? What are they going to do at a hospital? Have me sit down, that's what. And I'm doing that, so . . . I'm following my doctor's orders before even receiving them." She smiled at me. "Because I'm that good."
I was about to answer her sarcastic comment when she whimpered and hissed in a sharp breath. The bowl of popcorn rolled off her stomach and crashed to the floor, scattering everywhere. Both of her hands clamped onto her back, frantically massaging the muscles around her hips. Seeing the pain on her face, I turned her and moved behind her. Pressing my thumbs deep into her lower back, I watched my sister lean forward and struggle to breathe calmly without groaning in pain. My heart began to race as I quickly started realizing that this was so much more than a backache. This was my nephew knocking, and he wanted out.
"Anna, you have to go to a hospital. You're in labor."
She shook her head. Voice strained, she reiterated, "It's just a backache, Kiera. I'm not due until next week."
I wanted to smack my sister over the head like Kellan sometimes smacked Griffin, but I couldn't bring myself to stop massaging her while she was in so much pain. "Hardly anybody actually gives birth on their due date, Anna."
Groaning, she muttered, "Then why the hell is it called a due date? It should be called an estimated date of delivery."
Controlling my smile, I told her, "Well, no matter what it's called, the baby decides when to arrive, and regardless of what you have to say on the matter, it looks like Maximus wants to be born today."
Anna simpered and pointed at the colorful sea of M&Ms resting at the edge of the toppled bowl. "But my chocolate . . ."
Massaging her with one hand, I grabbed my bag and rooted around for my phone. "Your snack will just have to wait, Anna."
I found my phone once again hiding inside the book I was only halfway through. Yanking it free of the pages, I scrolled through my numbers and dialed Kellan. He didn't pick up. I tried Griffin next. He didn't pick up either. Not expecting anything different, I tried Evan and Matt, then Kellan again. Nobody picked up. I wasn't too surprised. Tory had a strict no-cell policy when it was time to meet with fans. Deacon had answered his once during a greeting, and Tory had ripped him a new one once all the fans had left. She may place rock stars higher on the priority list than the general public, but she understood just who it was who bought the CDs.
"Damn, I'm going to have to go get them." Which also meant I was going to have to barge into a room full of Kell-Sex supporters. I really didn't have a choice, though.
Anna nodded, a groan escaping her. "Get Griffin . . . I want Griffin." She sounded like a little girl, lost and afraid.
I patted her back, then stood up to go find her husband. Her voice made me pause at the door. "Kiera!" she shrieked.
When I turned back to her, she was looking at me with panic clear on her face. "I think I just peed my pants."
I shot back over to her. Her black stretchy pants were soaked, and the chair beneath her was wet. My mouth dropped open. "No, I think your water just broke."
My sister officially started to freak out. "No, no, no! I am not giving birth backstage at a rock concert. I need to be in a hospital, pumped full of every drug that they can legally give me!"
I was so shocked, my only response was, "Well, he was conceived backstage at a concert, so it's sort of fitting for him to be born at one."
Anna smacked my arm, and not gently. I was going to be bruised tomorrow. "Get me to a f**king hospital, Kiera!"
Not wanting to endanger myself any further, I turned and fled the room. For the first time since this tour began, I couldn't find a single person. Not a damn roadie in sight. There were usually people running around, doing something, but nobody was backstage. It was like a ghost town. Cursing my bad luck, I ran to the one spot I knew held people . . . lots of people. It was where I needed to go anyway, since Griffin was in that room.
I could hear squeaks and squeals as I approached the room, and figured the parade past the rock stars had just begun. The doors were wide open when I got there, and a few excited fans were just starting to trickle out. Some had red cheeks, like they'd been crying. Needing to get to Griffin, I breezed past them. One gasped and exclaimed, "Is that Kellan's whore?" Another replied, "Yeah, I think it is. I can't believe her nerve. What is she doing here?"
I gritted my jaw and ignored them. I had much more important things on my plate right now than gossip. When I burst into the room, my eyes instantly locked on Kellan. His went wide when he saw me. Alarm spread over his features as clear as day. He knew I wouldn't come in here unless it was absolutely necessary. I knew the fans would take his alarm as panic-Oh no, my mistress is in the same room as my girlfriend-but I knew that Kellan sensed something was wrong, very wrong.
Standing beside Sienna, he tried to step forward to get to me, but the crowd of fans wasn't letting him move. He wasn't who I needed to see, though.
Ignoring him, I cut through the twisting lines of fans to get to Griffin. That got me a lot of unwanted attention. A silence fell around me that quickly turned into harsh whispers. I made out a lot of "It's her! She's here! What a bitch!" As people started realizing who I was, people started reacting. At first, they just wouldn't let me get through them. I asked politely, I nudged, but it was like the wall of fans had suddenly turned to stone; they all had questions, and they weren't moving until they got some answers. Panic set in. My sister was going to have a baby. She needed her husband. I needed to get through. That's all I could think about. In my haste, I started shoving through them. None too thrilled with me, they shoved right back. While the area around me started turning into a mosh pit, I did start making some progress . . . especially when they started shoving me from behind. Hey, whatever it took to get me to Griffin.
Just as I was almost to him, I was shoved up against some tough-looking girl sporting a bright pink fauxhawk. She also was wearing a Kell-Sex shirt. I wanted to sigh when the recognition flashed in her eyes. She didn't even give me a chance to politely excuse myself so I could move around her. No, much to the delight of everyone around her, she full on slapped me. I'd never been slapped before, and I had a newfound appreciation for how much it sucked. I vowed to never hit a human being again, even if they deserved it.
My left ear was ringing, but I clearly heard Kellan shout, "Hey!" There was commotion behind me, but I took the fans' moment of distraction to finally make my way to Griffin. His eyes were just as wide as Kellan's had been. "Holy shit, she actually hit you. You okay?"
Anger clouded Griffin's face as he glared at the fauxhawked fan. Not needing him to defend my honor right now, I grabbed his hand. "Anna's in labor. Her water broke. We have to get her to a hospital . . . now!"
His mouth dropped. "She's . . ." His eyes flashed to the door blocked by hundreds of fans no longer waiting patiently in organized lines. I could hear Tory trying to calm them down, and I could hear Kellan calling my name. I ignored it all as I focused on Griffin. His eyes came back to mine, concerned. "She okay?"
I shook my head and pulled on his arm. "No . . . she's freaking out, and I had to leave her alone to come find you."
Griffin nodded, then started shoving his way forward. He wasn't as nice or as polite as I'd been. "Get the f**k out of my way!" Still holding my hand, he pulled me through the sea of startled fans. Matt and Evan tried to follow, but they were swallowed up by the crowd closing in behind our wake. When I passed by Kellan, I yelled over the din, "Anna! Hospital!"
Kellan understood immediately and turned to Sienna. The poor, frazzled fans in the room had absolutely no clue what was going on, but they took the chaos I'd created as an opportunity to bypass social politeness and swarm their beloved stars. Kellan was crushed back into the wall by eager people wanting his attention. The fans not close enough to love on him hated on me. I was cursed at, tripped, and I'm pretty sure someone spat in my hair. Griffin pulled me through the mayhem and out into the relative safety of the hallway. Things 1 and 2 rushed into the room after we left. I hoped they took the time to free Kellan as well as Sienna. I quickly prayed his fans wouldn't hurt him, then rushed after Griffin toward my sister.
Anna was pacing the room when we got there, rubbing her back and exhaling loudly. Sweat beaded her brow as she glanced at the door. The pain in her face eased to relief when she saw Griffin. "Griff? This is starting to really f**king hurt."
Griffin ran his hands back through his hair. "Okay, no problem. We'll get you to a hospital, and they'll knock you out." He rushed over to her and supported her arm as he helped her from the room.
I didn't want to burst Anna's bubble that it was probably too late for drugs, but I did feel like I should mention one tiny little detail that they both seemed to be forgetting about. "What about tonight's show?"
Griffin immediately remembered where he was. "Fuck!" His eyes bored into mine. "You know our songs. You play for me."
"I can barely strum a guitar!"
Griffin patted me on the back as he walked past me. "You'll do fine. Good luck!"
I watched him walk away, wondering if I'd really just become the replacement bassist for the D-Bags. Shaking my head, I ran after Griffin. "No, I'm coming to the hospital with you guys. I'd probably get egged on stage anyway."
Griffin was beyond caring about his band's fate as he rubbed Anna's back. "Matt will handle it. He handles everything." I silently prayed Matt didn't have an aneurism tonight.
As we opened the rear exit, I wondered if I should call a cab or an ambulance. But it turned out that I didn't need to call either. A car from the label pulled up as Anna huffed and puffed her way down the stairs. The young driver looked startled at the sight before him, but swiftly opened the door for Anna and Griffin. As I climbed in, I remembered Kellan turning to talk to Sienna before they were mobbed. He must have asked for her to get a car here. I made a mental note to thank Sienna later.
As the driver hurried us along the streets of Philadelphia, the phone still clutched in my hand rang. It was Kellan. Grateful that he hadn't been crushed to death, I answered, "Hey, you're okay."
Kellan let out a long exhale. "I was going to say the same thing. I can't believe that bitch hit you."
"I'm fine." My cheek was still warm from the slap, and it wouldn't surprise me if I had finger marks on my skin, but I was doing considerably better than my sister. She was breathing hard, tears pricking the corners of her eyes as she clenched her jaw and struggled to contain the pain.
"How's Anna?" Kellan asked while I watched her from the front seat.
"She's . . . okay." Anna closed her eyes as a pained noise escaped her. More tenderly than I ever would have thought possible, Griffin held her in his arms and whispered words of encouragement in her ear. They were a heartwarming sight, and suddenly the idea of Griffin beside my family on Christmas morning didn't sound quite so odd.
In my ear, Kellan told me, "I wish I could be there with you, but Matt's freaking out about the show. David is going to fill in for Griffin, and we're having an emergency practice session to get him up to speed. But I'll tell Sienna I'm skipping the encore tonight and come after our set. I'm sure she'll understand."