14. Emzee
EMZEECHAPTER 14
I was woken from a deep sleep to my phone buzzing relentlessly on my nightstand.
My first instinct was to roll over and ignore it, but then I realized that it was the middle of the night—and if someone was calling me, it was probably an emergency.
Adrenaline rushing, I grabbed my phone and squinted at the glowing screen.
It was Stefan.
“Hello?”
“Tori’s in labor,” he said, sounding terrified and excited at the same time.
“Ohmigod!” I said, the shock of the news jolting me fully awake.
“I’m coming home! I have to be there!”
“I’ll send the jet,” he said.
“There’s no time for that,” I told him, stumbling out of bed and flailing for the light switch.
“I’ll take the next available flight out of LaGuardia. Just text me the hospital address. I’m on my way!”
I hung up and hopped into a pair of jeans, frantically throwing clothes into a carry-on bag, and that’s when I realized there was a wrinkle in my plans.
A wrinkle that was sitting in his dog bed, looking very confused as to why we were both awake in the middle of the night.
Munchkin.
Usually I’d take him with me, but I’d be going straight from the airport to the hospital and dogs were definitely not allowed there.
I couldn’t just leave him here alone.
I knew what I had to do.
I didn’t want to do it, but I had no other choice.
This was my most logical option and I needed someone I trusted to take care of my fur baby.
Ford answered on the first ring.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“Nothing’s wrong,” I assured him.
“But Tori went into labor, which means I need to fly home for the baby. Can you watch Munchkin for a few days?”
“No way,” Ford said, and my heart sank.
“Okay,” I said, trying to remember if the doggie daycare I dropped Munch at sometimes offered longer term boarding options.
“I’m coming with you,” Ford said.
“I’ll get the building manager to take care of him instead. It’ll be fine.”
Welp.
That wasn’t the way I’d thought that would go.
But I didn’t have time to worry about it.
It was fine. Ford could do what he wanted.
I wasn’t traveling with him, though.
I hung up to let him contact the building manager, Louie, while I used a travel app to book a flight.
A single ticket, for myself.
It was the last open seat on a nonstop leaving in a few hours, at six a.m., so I’d have just enough time to Uber to the airport and get through security before they started boarding.
Then I called Andrew.
After apologizing for the late hour, I told him I wouldn’t be in that day and explained why.
He was incredibly gracious about the whole thing.
With my weekender packed, I threw together a bag of dog food, toys, bowls, and Munchkin’s harness, and then walked him up to Ford’s apartment.
The door swung open before I was even done knocking.
“Are you ready?” he asked.
“I’ll just drop Munch off with Louie. He’s down the hall.”
“I’m ready,” I said.
“I’ll head down to the lobby while you take care of that.”
Ford took Munchkin and his supplies from me and I booked an Uber in the elevator on my way downstairs.
But instead of waiting for Ford, I immediately walked out the door and after about two minutes, I got into the Uber and asked the driver to get me to LaGuardia as quickly as possible.
I knew ghosting Ford wasn’t exactly fair, but I didn’t feel guilty.
Okay, I felt a little guilty.
But it was all for the best.
Ford wasn’t my family.
He didn’t need to come with me to Chicago.
Despite my excitement, I managed to conk out for most of the flight, waking up just in time for our descent into O’Hare.
All I could think about was what Tori must be going through.
And Stefan, who was probably freaking out.
Their lives were about to change forever.
It was a thirty minute drive from the airport to Northwestern Memorial, so by the time I got a cab and rushed into the hospital it was almost ten a.m.
“Labor and delivery, please!” I practically yelled at the receptionist, out of breath from running across the parking lot.
“Do you need a wheelchair?” she asked, looking a bit flustered.
“Sorry, no, it’s my sister. Victoria Zoric.”
I got Tori’s room number and rushed up to her floor, scanning the halls for my family.
And there they all were!
Brooklyn and Luka were in a waiting room around the corner from Tori, along with Tori’s stepmother Michelle.
Paper cups of coffee and vending machine snack wrappers littered the table, and Brooklyn had a copy of Vogue open on her lap.
Before I could even say hello, I was engulfed in a hug from Brooklyn, whose own pregnant belly was even bigger than the last time I’d seen her.
It was a reminder of how much time had passed, and how much I had missed them.
And also why I was putting myself through this torture of divorcing Ford.
I was doing it to save all of us from the Russian mob.
“You’re here!” Brooklyn was saying, rocking me from side to side.
I had to extricate myself before my own morning sickness was activated prematurely.
“How is she? Where’s Stefan? What are the doctors saying? Did it happen yet?”
“Slow down, Em,” Luka said.
“She already had the baby,” Michelle said in her southern drawl, grinning.
“She had the baby!” I yelled, punching the air.
“I’m an auntie! This is incredible!”
Luka laughed.
“Yes you are. Stefan’s with them right now.”
Michelle added, “And don’t worry about Tori. It was a pretty easy labor, the doctor said.”
“I hope I get that lucky,” Brooklyn murmured, stroking her belly.
“The nurses have been taking us into the room to visit in shifts. Tori’s tired, but she can’t wait to see you.”
“And the baby?” I asked, looking between them.
“She’s…all good? Healthy?”
“She’s perfect,” Luka said.
His voice was awed and reverent, as if the baby was his own.
I’d never seen him look so tender.
“She’s got the Zoric hair, and Tori’s blue eyes.”
“She really is a beautiful baby,” Michelle said.
“I still can’t believe I have a granddaughter.”
“The tiniest little thing you’ve ever seen, but with these sweet chubby cheeks,” Brooklyn added.
“I swear she smiled right at me.”
I was already blinking back tears, and I hadn’t even met her yet.
When it was finally my turn to be brought back, I practically tiptoed into the room.
Stefan looked almost as exhausted as Tori, but both of them were glowing.
My brother was sitting on the bed next to Tori, smiling down at a little pink bundle in his arms.
“Is she sleeping?” I whispered.
“Yes,” Stefan said quietly.
“Come and see.”
As I crossed the room, the look that Tori was giving him—so full of love and affection—was almost more than my heart could stand.
“Ohmigod,” I said, leaning over Stefan to peek at my niece.
Brooklyn was right about the chubby cheeks, and the baby had quite the head full of dark hair, and the sweetest rosebud lips.
She looked like a doll.
“She’s a wonder.”
It was amazing how tiny this little life was.
How small and how precious.
“Isn’t she perfect?” Tori asked.
“She is,” I agreed easily.
“Look at those little fists. She’s a fighter.”
Just then, the baby yawned, and then her eyes opened.
The second we made eye contact, a wave of emotions washed over me.
“Hi there,” I whispered to her.
It was totally overwhelming, having her gaze up at me.
I was thrilled and excited and weepy too, my eyes filling with tears.
It wasn’t just the baby, though.
It was the fact that I was going to be a mother too, in less than a year.
The whole thing seemed so surreal and just as Stefan gently placed the baby in my arms, the door opened and Ford walked in.
What the hell?
I shouldn’t have been surprised.
He was resourceful, relentless, and rich, and he’d already proven that when he wanted to find me, there was nothing that could stop him.
But it was impossible to be truly angry at him with my brand-new niece cradled in my arms.
As I looked at the father of the baby inside of me, and he looked back at me like I was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen, I suddenly felt like I was going to fall apart.
Because I loved him so much, and because I knew our happily ever after could never happen.
There was no point in lying to myself—I wasn’t even close to moving on.
I was still completely in love with Ford, and learning the truth of what he had done to me in high school hadn’t shaken that.
Yes, he’d made mistakes, and yes, I was upset with him.
But we’d been best friends for seven years.
He was still the first person I called when I needed help.
The first person I thought about when I woke up in the morning, the last person I thought about before I went to sleep.
He’d told me that he couldn’t imagine a life without me in it, and even though I couldn’t admit it to him, I felt the same way about Ford.
I always had.
What was I going to do?
Tears slipped down my face, and I smiled down at the baby through them.
At least I could pretend I was simply crying out of joy over this perfect little life in my arms, and not the utter mess that I’d made of my own.