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AJ fidgeted as he watched the crowd of crazy girls outside the baby store. He couldn’t understand how the hell Millie had convinced him that she needed to buy her baby’s first outfit, even worse, for him to come with her. The mob of girls outside was growing by the moment and by the smile on Millie’s face and the width of her eyes as she looked at everything around her, it would be a while before they even decided to leave.

“Would I be a sissy if I told you that I’m scared of that mob of girls outside?” He faked a smile and gave a small wave. The girls went wild.

Millie continued perusing and answered without even looking up at AJ, “Nothing surprises me coming from you. You could tell me you want to join the circus and marry the bearded lady and that wouldn't be a surprise to me.”

“Should I take that as an insult or a compliment?”

She looked up at him and smiled. “It’s a compliment.”

They had been in the store for more than an hour, and he was pretty anxious already. What could a woman shop around for so much? He wasn’t so antsy about waiting around; it was more of getting caught by Howie and being bitched at. The last thing he wanted was his best friend to be mad at him.

Millie couldn’t believe all the things they had for babies. Did they even have enough time to wear or use all of it? Her arms were overflowing with things, and she did realize that they had been there for a longer time than she had expected. But, there was so much to see and her fear of missing out made her want to hang on to the moment for just a little longer.

“Woman, I seriously don’t want to die today. Speed it up!” She heard AJ at the front of the store.

Some help he was at baby shopping. She doubted he’d be in such a hurry if there were men’s clothes in the store. “You are being such a crybaby. You should be over here helping me choose things.”

Reluctantly he walked over to Millie and placed his sunglasses over his head. He let out a frustrated sigh and gave her a smile, “Do you realize that in a month or two you are going to have a baby shower and you’re going to be stuck with two of everything. THEN…you will be forced to either A. Have another baby B. Give any of our wives or girlfriends ideas about having babies. I personally like none of the above.”

“Ok…ouch…” She bent over and held her side.

AJ bent down with her, “Oh hell no!! You are not allowed to have pain while in this store. Ouch…is not a good word.”

Millie giggled and stood back up and let out a deep breath. “I’m fine…” Ok, so getting out of bed and being on her feet wasn’t one of her best ideas, especially, when the doctor had forbidden her to do anything on her feet. “Alright it’s time to go.”

After a lot of AJ’s whining, she ended up leaving half of the things she’d been pushing around. They both stood watching the crowd of girls gathered outside and they wondered how the hell they would get passed them and to the car.

“Any ideas smart guy?” They looked at each other and he nodded.

“Fuck no!”

Millie was trying to fight the feeling of getting anxious about their situation, but just looking at the girls outside going crazy, made her a bit uneasy. There was no way she could go out there into that crowd. Teeny boppers were unknowingly dangerous to the guys and their loved ones, sometimes.

The young cashier came up to the twosome and gave them a reassuring look. "I called for security; they will be here any minute to help you guys to your car." All three stood watching as the girls waved their memorabilia around and screamed. "And here I thought the Backstreet Boys weren't as famous!" The cashier muttered and went back to her register.

Millie tried to hold the laughter in, but the dumbfound look on AJ's face was priceless. "You should see your face! And here you thought everyone drooled over you." She laughed out loud.

"That seriously hurt my feelings, dude." He couldn't help laughing along with her. She hadn't looked this happy in months. Despite all the crap they'd gone through, or better said, that he'd put her through he loved the fact that he had his two closest friends in his life.

Just then the security appeared at the door, there was a big white Nazi looking guy and a huge black guy both suited up in the regular dark blue rent-a-cop uniform. When the young cashier opened the door for them, the screams were blaring, random things were waving around and girls were trying to push and tug their way into the store.

"Take her first. I wanna make sure she's in the car safe and sound." He turned to look at Millie and he could tell that she was in a bit of distress. "Don't panic...just breath...these guys are going to get us safely to our car. Millie..."

She was fighting to stay calm, but she could feel her heart racing and her throat going dry. "No...Yeah...I'm fine."

Without any warning the two men took her by the arm, and she began her trek through the crowd of girls. She could feel them pulling at her bags and clothes. Some screamed out that they loved her and asked for Howie. Others yelled mean things that she wish not to repeat. Before she could take any of their words to the heart one of the security guys announced that they were at the car. She saw the door open and without thinking about it she quickly hopped in."

"Thank you, guys." She smiled and they just nodded and headed back to the store. Some of the fans had decided to try and get her attention, by surrounding the car and looking into the tinted windows, that she was thankful for at the moment. Millie was feeling the pain getting stronger and her heart getting weaker. The more she heard the girls outside, the smacking of hands against the windows and the moving of the truck...the slower her heart rate was getting.

AJ felt like it'd been an eternity before he saw the two men at the door again. He quickly stepped out into the crowd, not worried about his own safety. He just wanted to get to the car and drive Millie home, where hopefully she would calm down and her heart wouldn't act up on her. He was mentally kickin himself in the ass for letting her convince him of such a ridiculous idea. If anything happened to her while he was around, he'd never forgive himself. Even worse, Howie would never forgive him. The security cleared the way for AJ and he swiftly made way towards the truck. He unlocked the door and felt his stomach drop.

"Oh fuck no Millie...not here!" He looked at everyone around his truck. "Someone call 911...NOW!"

Howie couldn’t believe the call he’d received. What the hell were they thinking? AJ should have known better, was all that could come out of his mouth. He was swerving in and out of traffic and occasionally ignoring red lights. He had to get to Millie as soon as possible.

All he could think about was that this baby could kill Millie. What was he to do with a child on his own? He smacked the steering wheel as he waited in line to get into the Emergency parking. Once his turn he zoomed past oncoming traffic and hurriedly parked his car. Quickly he scooted out of the car and began for the emergency doorway.

Anger and relief ran through him when he saw a slightly pale AJ pacing the hallway. “Where is she? Is she ok? What the hell were you guys thinking? I trusted you to watch after her.”

AJ blew out a sigh. “I know you did and I’m sorry about all this. It just seemed that Millie really needed this. She wanted to—”

“Yeah I know what she wanted AJ!! You think I don’t know her…I just wanted to keep her safe.”

A nurse approached the twosome, by the look on her face; they could tell that things weren’t good. “Mr. Dorough…if you can please follow me”

Howie turned back to look at AJ and then turned back around to follow the nurse. His heart was hammering against his chest. He had the slightest idea of Millie’s state. Plus the nurse wasn’t saying anything, and he was too scared to ask. His heart dropped when he entered the room to find her lying on the bed, eyes closed, pale skin, machines everywhere.

“Hi I’m Dr. Bennett, it seems that Millicent is in labor. Unfortunately, it’s a bit too soon for the baby to come. We aren’t even sure that her lungs are fully develop—“

“Did you say her?” Howie didn’t even notice that he’d cut off the doctor.

Dr. Bennett gave him a smile and a pat on the back. “Yes, it’s a girl. We are just waiting on some test results…if everything is ok then we can go ahead and deliver. The only thing we are dealing with is that her doctor is not here and it seems that he knows how to deal with Millicent’s condition. We gave her some medication to stop the labor, but sometimes it doesn’t work.”

Howie let out a sigh of relief, but he was more than sure that the doctor wasn’t done. “So you are saying that she’s fine. That the baby can be delivered and they will both be fine?”

The doctor frowned and shook his head, “Unfortunately, I Mr. Dorough…Millicent keeps going into distress when she has a contraction.”

“Don’t all women?”

“Yes…actually labor can put stress on any woman. But, the difference is that their hearts don’t stop beating. That’s why if the baby’s lungs are fully developed we are going to try everything we can Mr. Dorough to take care of your wife and child. I just…I want you to be aware that things can go very bad and we could lose one or the other…possibly both.”

That was definitely not what he wanted to hear. He felt the tears flood his eyes; there was no way he could live without Millie. He’d choose her over the baby anytime. Sadly it wasn’t his decision to make. “Is she conscious now?”

“Yes! We are monitoring her…I’ll be back in a bit.”

Howie watched the doctor walk out the room and close the door. He walked over to the bed and took Millie’s hand in his. “You have to be strong…I need you to get through this.”

Her eyes opened slowly and she gave him a weak smile. “Howie!! How is the baby? Did they tell you we are having a girl? We need to pick a name…” she tried sitting up, but he gently pushed her back down. “We need to talk about all this…just in case I’m not around to see it. I don’t want you naming our child Apple…or Plum.”

He smiled. “Alright…we can talk about it, just lie down and relax please.”

A whole hour of talking had passed and Howie was happy to know that Millie was looking good and hopefully clear of any harm. “So it’s decided…her name is Evelyn Dorough.”

“Well glad that is settled.”

“Howie you have to promise that you aren’t going to stay mad at AJ. It’s not his fault, I kinda told him if he didn’t take me I would tell you that he hit on me.”

She forced herself to giggle, which made him join her. Millie’s hand reached out to her belly and she let out a groan. “Their back…” she said as her eyes rolled to the back of her head and her body began to convulse.

The monitors began to beep, people and commotion flooded him and before he knew it, he was being pushed out of the room.