Chapter 31 #2
The drive to the hospital was quick thanks to their police escort.
Keeneston was let off the bus first and Knox didn’t miss the way Agent Warner, a little buzzed, was trying to kiss Detective Braxton’s neck from his view out the bus window.
Detective Braxton was trying hard to be serious, but the smile on her face as she moved them off the bus told Quinn she was one happy detective.
Agent Warner couldn’t stop touching her and kissing her, much the way Knox couldn’t stop touching Q when they were together.
As if Quinn heard him thinking of her, she turned and looked at the bus.
Knox blew her a kiss and she winked at him before heading to the second floor.
An SUV bearing the Keeneston Fire Department badge on the side lightbar flashing pulled into the parking spot.
Flint jumped out in his navy-blue fire station uniform.
He reached into the backseat of the SUV and pulled out two giant duffel bags that looked big enough to be carrying bodies in.
“Okay, Jace says they’re almost here. Let’s move,” Trey called out.
The team filed off the bus. On each side of the bus door stood a person holding a giant tub of yellow roses.
Each player grabbed a rose and followed the nurse who had been assigned to them.
They went through the lobby and to the freight elevators.
They took them to the top floor before getting off and jogging across the hospital.
“This is the ramp from the helicopter pad. There’s the elevator she’ll go in then I can take half of you to the second floor. You have thirty seconds to decide where you want to go,” the nurse ordered and the players went into motion.
Knox took the spot at the top of the ramp and waited. The sound of helicopter blades could be heard and then a nurse with a wheelchair went running by them all staring in confusion at the players and staff lined up holding roses.
“We’re with the Keeneston woman about to come in,” Knox explained.
“Ah, that explains the full waiting room. I hope they have some cookies.”
The door opened a moment later with Kate being pushed through the door and Landon holding her hand.
“What the—?” Kate asked, clearly the labor having progressed as she panted.
Knox held out the rose. “So you know the whole team has your back in there, Coach.”
Kate took the rose and bit her lip, trying hard not to cry in front of her team. “Thank you.” Then another contraction hit and she cursed enough to make Austin blush.
“We have to go or the team will be delivering your baby,” Jace told her.
The players all handed Landon the roses as Kate was wheeled by.
“Good luck, Coach!”
“You got this, Coach!”
“Through pain is always gain!”
These words of encouragement were all shouted out by the team. As soon as Kate was in the elevator, the guys filled the freight elevator once again and rode down to the second floor.
The lobby was filling rapidly, but Knox saw Flint unzipping the duffel bags and handing out baked goodies to the Rose sisters and Marcy, who in turn handed them out to the nurses and everyone else in the lobby.
Bette found him just as he slid his arm around Quinn and kissed her temple. “Okay, who is that tall, dark, and handsome firefighter over there?” Bette asked in a hushed whisper as he looked at Flint.
Flint was tall, about Knox’s height. And his hair was almost black. Plus, he worked out a lot as both a firefighter and their EMT. He was calm, cool, and collected. “That’s my friend, Flint Adler. One of Keeneston’s firemen and an EMT,” Knox told her.
“Will he be at your wedding?” Bette asked, all but biting her lower lip when Flint bent over to get more baked goods for the Rose sisters to hand out.
“Yes, he will,” Quinn answered.
One of the nurses pulled out a small speaker and music was turned on. Baked goods were handed out as the lobby turned into a party. They’d rented out a place downtown, but the team wasn’t interested in leaving until Kate had her baby.
The news played silently on the television and Knox caught an image of him, with his team lined up, handing Kate the flower. The headline read “Championship baby! Team chooses to support their coach, the first woman at this level in pro football, over partying.”
“We’re still partying!” Jaylen yelled as he saw it.
Social media was going to be flooded with videos of them partying in labor and delivery.
Every mom in labor who came onto the floor was greeted with a cheer from the team, a picture of them all together with the parents to be, and then a baked treat.
The team’s social media department was getting enough material to make them America’s favorite team.
Knox nuzzled Quinn’s neck as they talked to their friends. “I can’t wait to marry you,” he whispered to her. He loved the way Quinn’s cheeks blushed and she turned to smile at him.
“The baby is here!” a nurse yelled as she ran through the double doors. She was rewarded with a pie.
About thirty minutes later, the doors opened and it was Landon pushing Kate in a wheelchair.
She held a little bundle wrapped in yellow in her arms. Kate never tried to be something she wasn’t.
She wasn’t wearing makeup. Her hair was in a messy bun on the top of her head, and she was in a hospital gown.
However, she wore Landon’s oversized Thoroughbreds sweatshirt as she looked up at the full lobby.
“Thank you all for being here. Especially when you should be celebrating.”
“We are celebrating, Coach!” someone called out, causing Kate to smile even more.
“Well, as soon as I’m finished here, I order you to go out and celebrate the win.”
The baby cooed and every man there went, “aww.”
“Well, tell us,” Jaylen called out. “Are we uncs to a nephew or a niece?”
Marcy Davies slipped Jaylen a pie.
Kate looked so serene as she pulled the blanket away to reveal a pink Thoroughbreds onesie. “Meet your uncles, Merritt.”
Grown men cried. The offensive linemen about lost it. The bigger they were, the harder they fell. Each player walked by Kate and kissed her cheek, gave Merritt a promise to look after her, and shook Landon’s hand.
Kate was in tears by the end, but had a brilliant smile on her face. “Now that you've met Merritt, get out of here and celebrate that you’re the champions of the entire league!”
The crowd, the town, and the hospital staff cheered. Kate blew everyone a kiss before Landon turned her and headed back with Cade and Annie, the grandparents, for a quieter moment with their granddaughter.
“Well, guys. The buses await. Come on, Keeneston. Join us!” Knox called out.
Knox put his arm around Quinn and kissed her. Today could only be better if they got married. But soon. Soon he’d have all this. A wife, a family, and his very own happily ever after.