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“She’s right there, see.” He pointed to where Pip was now standing with Mandy. She waved, and Gracie waved back. Mandy, he noticed, was talking slowly and had an arm around Piper’s waist now.
She didn’t look worried. In fact, she looked in complete control, unlike Ted, who felt sick at the thought that any minute now a baby could be born in Phil’s.
“So, Gracie, you want a brother or a sister?”
“Sister. Macy Leigh has a brother and he breaks her dolls.”
The little girl was shooting looks at her mother, but seemed happy enough to be munching on her fries. He watched Mandy mouth something to him, then make a wiping motion.
Ted noticed the floor was wet then and was sure he’d lost all the color in his face.
“Be back in a second, Grace, don’t eat all my fries,” Ted said, moving behind the counter to where Rona, one of the staff members, stood.
“Piper’s waters have broken.”
“Really?” The woman turned, excitement written all over her face. Unlike Ted, she seemed happy about what was going down.
“Thankfully it’s quiet today.” She hurried to the door and flipped the sign to Closed. She then hugged Piper before disappearing out the back of the cafe. Returning with some towels, she thrust them at Ted.
“Me? I thought you’d take them over there.”
“I need to call around and get someone in to cover Piper for the next few days. Then I’ll gently urge the few customers left in here, to hurry up and leave. Mind you, none of them seem to have noticed they’re in danger of witnessing a birth.”
“What?”
“You just went white, Ted. I’m just messing with you. What she’s got is not catching, and first births usually take forever, so go on and hand them the towels.” Rona laughed as she hurried to speak with the diners.
“Okay,” he said, taking them. “I can do this.”
He approached Piper as if she was a boa constrictor.
“Thanks, Ted.” Mandy gave him a smile that didn’t show any strain at all. He was sweating; how come she was so cool? What if the baby arrived now, while he was here?
“You okay, Piper? Anything I can do?”
“Have this baby?” she gritted out. Both her hands were in Mandy’s now, gripping them hard enough that the ends of her fingers were white.
“Anything but that.”
The door burst open, and in ran Dylan with Joe on his heels.
“Piper, Jesus.” Dylan made it to his wife’s side in seconds. “Are you okay?”
“Of course I’m not okay, I’m having a—” She shot a look at Gracie, who was watching, and whispered something to Dylan that Ted thought started withfand ended with king. “—baby!”
“Hey there, my favorite niece.” Joe picked up Grace and twirled her around. “You want to come home and play with Nana and Aunty Bailey? You can probably feed Benjamin too if you want, and then he’ll spit up all over you.”
The little girl giggled.
“Give Mom and Dad a kiss.” Ted watched Joe carry Grace to her parents for kisses and cuddles. Mandy got a cuddle too.
“Teddy Bear!” she cried as she reached the door. “I need to kiss him.”
A small, warm knot formed inside his chest as she put her little arms around his neck and kissed him.Was he now one of her people? The thought was a pretty special one.
“Bye, Gracie, you have fun with your uncle.”
When they were gone, he went to Mandy, who was now standing slightly back from the couple.
