GEN IV: Chatper 10

As promised, Brian made plans with Rachel and Jennifer to come over and stay with Johanna when her due date came along. Rachel and Jennifer both were more than happy to go, each of them couldn't wait to see the baby.

Brian borrowed Johanna's nursery to put Logan down to sleep while Rachel and Johanna talked in the living room. Jennifer had brought her little toy with her to be sure she had something to do.

Brian came out to see Rachel listening to Johanna's unborn child and he smiled. Though it wasn't long ago, it felt like it had been forever since he was doing that to Rachel. He missed it, the pregnancies had been fun to go through. True - now that Logan was born he could hold and hear the real thing, but there was something different about not being able to see the babe. A little mystery that made it fun.

Brian offered to make dinner for everyone.

"Oh that's sweet, but you don't need to Brian." Johanna tried to protest but Brian held up his hand to stop her.

"Oh stop, don't worry it won't be much. Just some Mac & Cheese. I've gotten pretty great at making that actually. It's one of Jennifer's favorites."

So he cooked, and they all ate together. Brian finished first and cleared his dish - then he waited for the others so he could wash those bowls.

After everyone finished Jennifer sat on the floor to play with her doll some more and Brian talked to Rachel.

"I know you guys want to see the baby but it's getting pretty late. Jennifer's tired and Logan won't go to sleep. I think he wants his own bed."

Rachel agreed, "I think you're right. It might be too much for the little guy. I'm sure Jenn would be happier at home as well. I'll take them back, but you need to stay here with Jo-Jo. She needs someone, trust me."

Brian informed Johanna that only he would be staying that evening. She was happy to hear it and directed him to her guest bedroom in the back.

"Thanks Jo-Jo. Do you need anything before I get to bed? I'm going soon, I want to be ready to rush you off to the hospital." He asked with a smile.

"Oh thanks I'm fine. I'll be heading in soon myself." She bid him goodnight and went to sit in the living room with a book for a while.

Brian went to the room, changed into his pajamas and turned his phone off.

Only one paragraph in her first contraction hit. Johanna groaned in pain. After that passed she looked down and groaned again at the mess on the floor. Her water had broken.

"Brian? Do you know any good carpet cleaners?" Johanna called toward the back bedroom.

Brian came out, "No why?"

"My water broke, I'm afraid it will stain." She smiled. "Let's get going big brother, the baby's coming."

Brian laughed. The two of them got into his truck and drove in. The nurses were expecting Johanna and got her to the delivery room right away. Everything was smooth sailing, Johanna got an epidural and hardly felt a thing. She pushed when they said to, and didn't when they said stop. She also helped cut the umbilical cord to her new baby girl.

The nurses cleaned up the baby and wrapped her in soft pink blankets. They handed the babe to her mother while taking care of the rest of the mess. As Johanna stared at her beautiful little girl the name "Carla" came to her. She decided that would be the name for her sweetie pie, Carla Fuller. She wasn't going to give the last name of the father since they weren't married.

Pretty soon Brian, Johanna and her daughter were on their way home. A surprise was waiting for them when they arrived back at Johanna's house. The father of her baby.

Johanna took Carla to the nursery to put her in the crib while she said goodbye to Brian, and Ranier too. She was tired and didn't want any company for a while. She also wanted some alone time with Carla to bond.

While Johanna was in the other room, Brian addressed Ranier - Carla's father.

"Hi. You must be Ranier. What's up?"  Brian asked. He wasn't really sure what to say to this guy, but he knew he should be polite.

"I just stopped by to see Johanna. I didn't even know she was pregnant. Who is the father?"

Brian stared at Ranier with at look that read 'are you freaking serious?' but he kept his thoughts to himself.

"I think I'll leave that up to Johanna to share." Brian said. "Well, I'm going to go. Uh, I can tell you from experience - women who have just had a baby don't like to have anyone around."

Ranier's eyes narrowed. "I'll keep that in mind thanks."

The conversation between the two men was very tense.

 Brian waved "See ya I guess."

"Yeah."

As Brian walked out the door he felt eyes boring into his back. He didn't look back though he wanted to escort Ranier out of his sister's house personally. In his mind this guy was a jerk - he hooked up with a girl one night and hasn't bothered to call or anything since then. That was one definition of jerk. Brian knew it wasn't really any of his business, but he couldn't help worry about the welfare of his little sister.

He could already tell that he didn't like Ranier, not a bit.