Your Inescapable Love (The Bennett Family 4)

“I’m at Lenny’s right now with Emilia, eating a burger. I can pass by your house tonight and—” He stops midphrase as his sister speaks quickly again. “Okay, sure, you can join us.”

“Anything wrong?” I ask after he places the phone back in his jacket.

“Nah, she’s just looking for an excuse to move as much as possible. She’s supposed to be due this week and is supposed to stay at home, but….” He leaves his sentence unfinished, shaking his head. Some twenty minutes later, Pippa shows up at our table.

“Emilia,” she exclaims, pulling me into a hug. She smells divine, a mix of jasmine and mint, and she has a warmth that is all hers.

“Not so tight,” I whisper, trying not to squish her belly while returning her hug. “We don’t want to disturb the little ones.”

“Oh, don’t worry.” Letting me go, she says, “Nothing disturbs them. They’re so happy in here they refuse to come out.” She eyes Max pensively, then asks him, “What are the chances of getting rid of you so Emilia and I can catch up? We didn’t get to talk much when you came to my house.”

“You want to talk about me?” Max asks, eyes narrowed.

Pippa rolls her eyes, sitting next to her brother. “You always think everything’s about you.”

“If it’s not about me, then I can stick around,” he says smugly.

“God, you’re stubborn. Fine, stick around. If you two are done eating, can we take a walk? I already ate. I just came by to see Emilia.”

I point to her protruding belly. “Won’t you get tired carrying them around?”

“Oh, trust me, I’m tired. But the doctor said that moving around can help the water break. I swear that I’ll walk these babies off.”

“Let’s walk then,” I say.

The three of us head outside, and Max leads us on a quiet side street, lined with trees offering comfortable shade. A few minutes into our walk, Pippa’s eyes widen, and she stops midstride. “I think my water just broke.”

“Holy shit. What do you mean you think?” Max asks, and his eyes are even wider than Pippa’s. In fact, unless I’m gravely mistaken, Max is in full-blown panic mode, while Pippa is glowing. “I don’t see any water.”

Pippa snorts. “You’ve been watching too many movies, Max. That’s not how it works.”

“How does it work, then?”

Pippa sighs. “If you really want a visual, it’s like peeing yourself a little.”

“So what do we do now?” Max asks, looking from Pippa to me and then back at her.

Pippa rubs her belly, smiling widely. “You won’t have to do anything. I, on the other hand, will go anywhere from zero to twenty hours of hell.”

“You look strangely happy about it,” I remark.

“It’s been a long nine months,” she explains. “Now, I should call my husband to let him know the good news. Can’t wait to have them out.”

“Yeah, but we need to get you to the hospital for them to get out. You can’t give birth here.” He is breathing in and out quickly in an obvious attempt to calm himself.

“Right, Max, can you come here a second?” I pull him by the arm a few feet away from his sister.

“You need to calm down,” I tell him. “You’ll just make her panic.”

“Why isn’t she panicking? Why is she so calm? That can’t be normal.”

“I heard that,” Pippa says loudly.

“I meant for you to hear it,” Max retaliates. This isn’t going to go very well.

Pippa opens her mouth, but instead

of words, a gasp comes out. She touches the side of her belly with one hand, turning the other one into a fist.