Page 64 of Blue

All three of us watched them bicker.

Bullet supervised as Jazzy and Romeo continued to fill boxes. Dozer, Blade, and I stacked them in thechapel, and as soon as Torch arrived we carried them to the bed of the truck.

“Did you play Tetris?” I asked Dozer. He and Torch had boxes fitting together like a puzzle.

Torch jumped from the bed of the truck.

Jazzy hollered for Dozer from the entrance. We rushed into the bedroom. Romeo paced the floor, his phone to his ear, tears streaming down his cheeks.

Jazzy steepled her hands beneath her chin.

“What’s wrong?” Dozer asked.

“It’s Levi,” Bullet said.

Dozer ran his hands over his shaved head. “The baby?”

Jazzy nodded.

Romeo held up his hand as a warning to be quiet. “How long?” He paced and raked his long hair from his face. “Are you okay?” His voice lowered. “I love you, baby.” Tears slipped onto his cheeks. “Yeah, me, too.”

My gut clenched. I wouldn’t profess to knowing what being a father felt like, or knowing the woman you loved was hurting. Levi was tiny, and her belly was holding a Heller.

But I understood being worried about someone you cared about.

Romeo’s eyes closed, and he nodded as he listened. Swallowing hard, his Adam’s apple bobbed.

Dozer rested a hand on Romeo’s shoulder.

“I’ll be there in ten minutes.” A soft laugh slipped from his lips. “Nah, I won’t need to run any red lights. Okay, fifteen minutes.”

He disconnected. None of us spoke as Romeo lowered his phone, and a smile twisted his lips. “We’re having a baby.” He clamped an elastic between histeeth, raked his fingers through his hair, gathered it, and then slipped it into a ponytail.

“You’re going to be a daddy.” Dozer pulled Romeo into a hug.

Romeo laughed, his face growing red from the excitement. “They said all the peeing she’s being doing today was actually her water breaking. She started having contractions in the doctor’s office.”

“What do you need from us?” Jazzy asked.

Romeo spun in a circle. “Fuck.”

The room was chaos. Boxes covered the bed. More were stacked on the floor.

“We need to get the boxes out to the truck.”

“We got the boxes,” Dozer said. “You need to get to the hospital. Can you ride, or do you want one of us to drive you over there?”

“I can ride.” Tears leaked from the corner of his eyes. “Fuck, dude. I’m going to be a dad.” Romeo hit a button on his cell and left it on speaker.

“Hi, sweetheart.” Shannon, Rogue’s sister, and Romeo’s mom, answered.

“Mom—” Romeo choked on the word.

“Micheal, what’s wrong?”

“Can you head up to the hospital? Looks like today is going to be the little bean’s birthday.”

She squealed. “Are you with Levi?”

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