Chapter
7
Over the next few months, AJ’s life drastically changed. The guys went to Europe for a few weeks to
record their new album. When that was
finished, they all came back the States for some down time. It was then that AJ started spending lots of
time with Tara.
After a few weeks of hanging out together, AJ and
Tara got to know each other fairly well, and AJ discovered that he really liked
Tara. She was a sweet girl, very smart,
with a great sense of humor. Not to
mention he thought she was very beautiful.
He decided that living with Tara and raising a child with her wouldn’t
be so bad. As the time passed, AJ began
to look forward to the birth of his first child. The baby was not due until December 16th,
but there was a lot of planning that had to be done in order to be ready for
it.
Tara moved into AJ’s house in October. It was strange at first, since they had only
known each other a few months. But after
awhile, Tara and AJ got used to living with each other and relaxed a bit. However, they did not feel comfortable
sleeping together, so they had separate bedrooms.
In November, they started preparing for the baby
to be born. Together, Tara and AJ
converted one of the bedrooms of their house into a nursery. Since they had decided they wanted to gender
of the baby to be a surprise, they didn’t yet know if it was going to be a boy
or a girl. Because of that, they decided
to decorate the nursery in pale yellow, since it was a color for boys or girls. By December, the baby’s room was all
ready. It was a beautiful nursery,
bright and cheery looking, with lots of yellow and white trim.
The Boys had decided not to start their European
tour until spring, knowing that AJ would want to spend plenty of time with his
new son or daughter. As the due date
came nearer, AJ’s excitement grew more intense.
He could not wait for his baby to be born.
***
One night, AJ awoke to a loud knock on his bedroom
door. He leapt out of bed, startled, and
opened the door. Tara stood there in a
pair of flannel pajamas, looking excited and scared at the same time.
“Aje, I think it’s time,” she said,
breathlessly.
“Oh my God,” AJ said. He scrambled around for some clothes and
quickly threw them on. Tara went back to
her room and grabbed her robe. She
wrapped it around herself, tying the sash loosely around her bulging
stomach. She was fairly calm, but AJ was
panicky and hyper.
“Calm down, AJ,” Tara finally said, chuckling, as
she watched AJ put his shoes on the wrong feet.
AJ grinned up at her sheepishly.
“Sorry,” he said.
“I’m just anxious to get to the hospital.”
“It’s okay,” Tara assured him. “These things take time. I could be in labor for hours.”
AJ nodded and took her hand. “Okay, let’s go,” he said, trying to stay
under control. Once they were in the
car, AJ hurried out of the driveway and sped down the road.
“AJ!” Tara cried.
“Slow down! Take your time, this
isn’t an emergency.”
AJ looked at her doubtfully, but he slowed down
and drove them safely to the Emergency Room of the hospital. He screeched to a stop in front of the
entrance and climbed out of the car. A
group of doctors and nurses came out to meet him, pushing a wheelchair.
“My girlfriend is in labor!” AJ told them breathlessly. Tara looked at him oddly.
Since
when am I his girlfriend? she wondered, but said nothing. The nurses helped Tara into the wheelchair
and pushed her inside, AJ tagging along at their heels.
***
