Rare: A BBW Romance (The Cass Chronicles Book 4) Read online

  “Oh please, I have ears—no false modesty here.” Jen laughed. “Come on—I’m double parked!”

  Jen drove them to the hospital while Cass forced herself to sit still and not squirm in the passenger seat. Luckily Jen had a nice car with plush seats, so once she had settled in, it wasn't too horrendous. “Are you cold?” Jen asked. “Do we want me to turn on the heater in the seat?”

  Cass wondered if her friend was teasing her, or if it was a coincidence. Her response was a hasty, “No thanks—I’m good.” She tried to conceal her shivering for the rest of the drive and wished she had grabbed a jacket on their way out of the door. “Fucking Lexan” she thought. “I’m going to melt you in the furnace.”

  It was Jen’s turn to raise an eyebrow, “Talking to yourself?” She turned to face Killian in the back seat. “Your wife might have gone crazy.”

  He laughed. “My wife has always been crazy.”

  Jen withdrew the key from the ignition. “True dat,” she said with a laugh.

  “Very funny. Just hush and hurry up,” Cass said.

  The Carbophobic Conman

  Stephen the carbophobic, women hating fuckwit who was most unfortunately the father of Mimi’s baby, was pacing furiously in the hall. He froze when he saw them and Cass had to force herself to keep her feet moving. “Who called you?” she asked. The last time she had seen him he had been berating the very pregnant Mimi in front of a camera man. This hadn't ended well for Stephen as Mimi the busily gestating Taekwondo instructor had handedly kicked his ass.

  “Her mother. They don't hate me.”

  Cass, Killian and Jen exchanged a look suggesting that the only possible explanation was that the soon to be grandparents had not yet met Stephen. Cass had fallen in love with Stephen while she was a still very young chef. She had mistaken his demanding selfishness for dominance. They had gotten engaged, and she had been too naive to realize that his reluctance to set a date was a very bad sign. Their engagement had ended when Stephen admitted to their friends that he was waiting for Cass to lose weight and be “wedding worthy.” The split had been excruciating for the food blogger, but it had worked out in ways she could never have imagined. Things had not gone as well for the mean spirited Stephen.

  He openly loathed Cass and had made a small living for a while as a “men's rights activist” claiming that his life had been ruined by the machinations of a predatory female. The predatory female allegedly being Cass. None of this was true, of course, and it had all become public knowledge in a way that was rather painful for the erstwhile neo masculinist.

  “She has told them not to let me in. They won't let me see her.”

  “Mimi won’t?” Cass asked.

  “Bloody good for her,” Jen said stoutly.

  Stephen glared at Jen and then appeared to see something he liked even less over her shoulder. “Great, and the other one too,” he muttered.

  Jen turned and was delighted to see their friend Sarah approaching. Cass threw her arms around her. Sarah was a new friend who had proven herself to be loyal and clever. She had been one of the chief victims of Stephen’s online “fat shaming campaign.” The women hugged and Stephen stayed as far away from Killian as possible. A nurse came into the foyer and told them that the doctor was with Mimi and someone would come let them know when Mimi could have visitors. “Except you,” she said with a direct glare. “Do I need to call security?” she asked glancing around at the other visitors.

  Stephen was livid. “Don't I have any rights?”

  Jen and Sarah were both very accomplished lawyers and had the habit when speaking to each other to have conversations that left everyone else bewildered.

  “Rights of an alleged father, not married to the mother to be present at bedside against the mother’s wishes?”

  Sarah answered, the Twiddle to her Tweedle, “NO reason to think that the father's presence has any impact on the as of yet unborn child.”

  Jen ran with it, “Assuming the father of the child could be reached if for any reason any medical decisions needed to be made.” She flashed a glare at Stephen conveying how unfortunate she thought such a scenario would be.

  “Even if they were married, and he hadn't posted a dozen of hateful screeds about how stupid and pathetic the woman bearing his child was…” Sarah’s glare was, if possible, worse than Jen’s, “…She would still have the right to privacy.”

  Jen nodded sagely. “Agreed, it’s untenable.”

  Stephen stopped his angry pacing, still carefully avoiding the strong Alaskan man leaning against the wall. “Is that supposed to mean anything?” he demanded.

  Jen turned with obvious delight. “You are flat out of luck doucheface.”

  “Excellent summary, counselor,” Sarah said with mock solemnity.

  “Fuck both of you. I should have known better than to think either of you would be willing to help a man—your oppressor,” he sneered.

  Cass rolled her eyes. “Still on about that? Listen, even if I didn't wish you would go far far away and die as painful a death as I can imagine, and I DO, this situation isn't about you. Get that through your puny head, Roidrage McShrunkencock.”

  The Double X Dilemma

  Stephen took great pride in his nearly perfect physique despite that he hadn't gone far as a bodybuilder. Cass suspected it was because he was both stupid, and greedy. Not qualities much appreciated in the small world of professional bodybuilding. He was clearly about to launch a verbal attack when a man in a white coat entered the room.

  “I am Dr. Wong. I’m taking care of Mimi and the baby.” The group clustered around him anxious to hear what he had to say. “We are concerned about the baby’s heart rate. It is acceptable right now, but we have agreed that should it drop again we will do an immediate C-section.” They all nodded. The news was scary, but it could have been worse. “She would like to see Cass and…” He looked uncomfortable and cleared his voice, “the carbophobic fuckwit.” He turned with the air of someone relieved to have fulfilled his messenger duties, and they followed him into Mimi’s room. Mimi was laying on her left side with her knees drawn up to her chest, or where her chest would be if her rotund belly weren't in the way. She was hooked up to a variety of monitors which seemed discordant on the lithe and healthy yoga instructor. She looked tired, and anxious.

  “Thank you for coming,” she whispered to Cass. “Of course,” Cass kissed her cheek.

  “My parents won't be here for another hour or so. Aislinn has been great, but she’s my boss you know.”

  She looked at Stephen while an angry tear coursed down her cheek. “This isn't my fault. I did not fuck this up.”

  Stephen actually looked chastened, Cass wondered if the Earth had just tilted on its axis. “Of course you didn't. I know that. Are you in pain?”

  Mimi shook her head. “Not really, I had an epidural.”

  “Good,” Stephen whispered.

  Mimi redirected her gaze at Cass. “If something happens to me—shush—don't rush in and say it won’t. I don’t have time for that shit. Here's the deal, if my parents aren't here yet, and something happens to me, I want you to make any decisions.”

  Cass hadn't known a person could actually spasm with grief and anger.

  “What about me? I am right here! I offered to take you to your last doctor’s appointments. You said NO!” shrieked Stephen.

  The door opened and the head of a nurse poked in. “Dear, are you all right?”

  Mimi nodded. “Yes, it's okay.”

  The nurses apparently knew enough about the father to be to despise him. “If you say so. I can always call security.” She addressed the room in general, “No yelling. This is a hospital.”

  Stephen nodded but didn't even look at the angry nurse.

  Mimi continued, “The hospital has a paper I can sign, and I need to know that you will do that if I need it.”

  Cass felt her heart constrict. “Yes, I will.”

  Mimi sighed with relief. “Good, because…” she looked
at Stephen, “you aren't going to want anything to do with this baby.”

  “Don't be ridiculous,” he sputtered. “Wait, is it black or something?”

  It was all Cass could do to not punch him in the throat. Mimi laughed. “Nope—it’s biologically yours. Buts it’s a girl.”

  Stephen went still. He reached for Mimi’s hand, awkwardly curled to protect the IV poked into its back. Stephen’s hand was shaking. “It’s a girl?” he whispered.

  “Yup. So go ahead and leave now and write a post about how I couldn't even be trusted to do that right. There are a lot of people who will love this little girl; she doesn't need you.”

  “I already love this little girl. You know I do. I told you that.””

  “No, you didn't know it was a girl and I know how you feel about the females of our species.”

  “Well, this is my little girl, that’s different. She won't have all the faults caused by our misandrist culture.”

  Cass rolled her eyes, “Oh Jesus Christ! Would you stop with the whole ‘the world hates poor men’ bullshit?” She was relieved to hear him say he loved the baby girl, even if he (of course) managed to fit in an insult against all the other females of the world, couched in pseudo science. There was no reason to believe him; he was an opportunistic weasel. The two women in the room had every reason to doubt him, and yet Cass realized when she caught Mimi’s look at him, that neither of them did.

  “Do you have a name picked out?” Stephen asked gently.

  Mimi shook her head. “No. None of them sounded right. Do you have a favorite?”

  “Something feminine,” he said.

  If Cass rolled her eyes any harder, she might give herself a brain injury. She should have known better, for a split second she had thought he might have morphed into a decent human being. “Yeah, I mean you wouldn't want her to get ideas above her station,” she snapped.

  Mimi held up her hand. “Listen I asked for the chaplain to come baptize the baby if the doctors are worried about her. Okay?” She glared at Stephen. “Do not give me any crap over this.”

  “Of course not.” he said. “All I meant was…”

  The buzz was harsh and insistent and Cass jumped when it sounded. The room was suddenly full of nurses and doctors. Cass and Stephen were kindly but firmly shown out, someone would let them know what was going on when they could.

  Under the glare of the hallway overhead lights they walked slowly back to the waiting room. “It will be okay, “Cass said, because she had to say something. Stephen didn't even nod.

  No sooner had they rejoined their friends when a woman in scrubs briskly walked in, “Your friend is having an unplanned C-section. Try not to worry, she is in very good hands.” She left as suddenly as she had come.

  Cass sought the comfort of Killian's arms, nestling against him. Sarah and Jen had one arm wrapped around the other while they both furiously worked their cell phones. “Stephen,” Sarah said it with great kindness. “This hospital has the best rate of emergency C-sections in the Midwest.”

  Jen continued, “Dr. Wong has never lost a malpractice suit.” That didn't comfort Cass much, but apparently it made everyone else relax.

  Stephen rubbed his hands together between his knees. “It's a girl,” he said to no one in particular.

  Delighted smiles briefly replaced the anxiety on everyone's faces. “His one concern is that the baby gets a feminine name.”

  Stephen actually risked the wrath of Killian to come closer. “That's bullshit. I said I would like her to have a feminine name. I never said that was all I cared about. Where's the crime in that?”

  Sarah laughed. “No crime—we just might define feminine differently than you.”

  Cass had a thought, more of an opportunity to enrage her ex fiancé than a serious one “How about Boudica? The English warrior queen.”

  “Not bad,” mused Jen. “Boudica Germaine. What's Mimi’s last name?”

  Stephen suddenly looked very small despite his abundant muscles. He turned away from all of them. “Oh yeah, she won't have my last name.” You could almost feel sorry for him. Almost. Unless you briefly considered how he had treated every woman in the room over the past few years.

  The Friendly Father

  The door opened, it wasn't like the movies where they bring the baby out wrapped in a pink blanket. A woman in scrubs appeared and said, “Everyone is fine. Mother is fine. Baby is perfectly healthy.” The whooping and the crying would not have been out of place at an Irish wake. Cass looked over Jen’s shoulder as she hugged her and saw Killian hold out his hand to Stephen. “Congratulations.” Stephen pulled him into a bro hug. Cass was going to have to use this to needle her husband later.

  A jovial priest joined them. “I understand that we have joyous news. Usually in cases like this, when everyone is healthy we wait and do a baptism at the church,” he said.

  “I am sure that will be fine,” Stephen answered. Cass was not at all sure that he was in any position to offer such assurances, but it seemed petty in this golden moment to bring it up. The priest was charming and warm. “So will you be coming to mass with Mimi and the baby?”

  “I'm not a good Catholic,” Stephen muttered.

  Father Fenstermaker squeezed his arm. “All the more reason to come.”

  “Could I speak to you alone a minute, Father?”

  Cass raised an eyebrow at Jen. This was a strange development.

  The priest led Stephen out into the hall and they were conversing closely. Cass sidled up to the door and peered through the long narrow window. “Get away from there,” Killian said in a voice that really brooked no argument. She slumped her shoulders in a “well, you can't blame a girl for trying” move and stepped away. Cass looked at Jen and Sarah to see if they might have any reaction to her doing what her husband told her, but they didn't seem to notice. The door was opened by a cleaning person, who moved in backwards, holding the door open with his ample backside, while he swept the doorway. It was a godsend. The priest’s, rich, deep voice carried like a dream. “No, son, I'm afraid you have misunderstood. God doesn't need us to do penance. God is always anxious and delighted to forgive us. Penance is a way we show ourselves that we understand how wrong we have been and that we are committed to being better.”

  “Father F?” a woman's voice called from further down the hall, “would you show the new dad to OR 5?” The old father and the brand new father walked arm and arm to meet God’s newest miracle.

  They loitered in the small room. No one wanted to leave and risk not getting to meet the baby. Killian tried to stretch his legs while on the very small sofa and couldn't really. “I’ll be back in a minute,” he said and loped from the room. The three women chatted amiably and tried to come up with the perfect feminist name that would make Stephen want to throw himself into a burning building. “Gloria Sojourner,” Cass suggested. “Andrea Wollstonecraft.” No they agreed, “Boudica Germaine” was the best they could do. There was a nudge on the door and Cass hastened to open it. Her husband was in the doorway, arms laden with drinks, a gift bag and his phone which he had tucked into an elbow so he could carry so much stuff.

  “Babe, get my phone,” he said. Cass grabbed it in the the nick of time. He had brought a soda for each of them. As he handed them out, she could read the last text he had sent on his phone. Sorry dude—I appreciate the offer of the tickets, but we are too far behind on packing. Thanks, though”

  A shiver of regret slipped under her ribs. He was giving up football tickets to help her pack up, after she had wasted weeks by not getting to it. She blinked back the tears as he handed her her soda. “I got him a water, I mean he probably doesn't drink coke does he?”

  “Who? Oh Stephen, who knows?” He had even been thoughtful of the asshole. Killian reached into the gift bag and withdrew a tiny pink onesie emblazoned with the legend “My Mommy kicks Ass.” They all laughed out loud. Cass leaned her head against her husband's strong shoulders. He was such a good man. He had been perfect
while they were at the hospital. He had allowed her to deal with things, but he was always there, always watching. Come to think of it, it was the first time in awhile that she had seen Stephen that he hadn't called her a cunt even once. Cass knew why. He didn't dare with Killian near by. Her reverie was shortened by the sudden opening of the door. “You folks can head down to room 24A, but just a short visit now.”

  They bustled down the hall. Mimi lay partially propped up in her hospital bed. A pillow propped her arm up and nestled there was a tiny perfect little face, wrapped in a hospital blanket with a tiny pink hat. Stephen stood beside them and he gazed at her rapturously. They all exclaimed over the perfection of the baby, and Stephen displayed the highly unusual good grace to laugh at the “my mommy kicks ass” shirt, since everyone knew exactly whose ass the mommy in question had kicked. Mimi offered up the delicate pink bundle and Cass greedily took it into her arms.

  “Do you have a name?” asked Killian.

  A glance passed between the new parents. They were in agreement. “Victoria Joy,” Stephen said. It was the perfect name.

  Cass handed the baby back, kissed Mimi and turned to face the closest thing to a nemesis that she had ever had. She had planned to get a jibe in. “Don't fuck this up. You don't really deserve it,” was floating in the back of her mind. But her heart was too full and “I’m so happy for you” came out of her with sincerity.

  “Thank you,” he said and leaned forward to press his cheek against hers.

  Jen and Oliver, who had slept in his car seat during the entire event needed to get back home so Sarah dropped Cass and Killian home. Sitting in the back seat looking at her handsome husband's profile, she came to a decision. She kissed Sarah goodbye and took Killian's hand. She stayed as close to him as humanly possible as they took the elevator. No sooner were they in their tiny apartment then she turned on the stereo and took his hand.