We Are Here and Now

Sidney walked through the French doors that led into the kitchen and stopped when he saw CiCi leaning across the island, her perfectly rounded butt on full display for him. He felt a pull in his groin, but he suppressed a smile and the want to feel her up when he realized she was intently eavesdropping on her best friend and distraught former fiancée in the other room.

"What are you doing?" Sid asked as he brushed up against her anyway. She jumped slightly as though she hadn't heard him enter the kitchen.

"Shh, I'm listening. She is adamant about not going back. He has been a blubbering mess since she said so."

Sid saw a bowl of fresh fruit and swiped it out from under CiCi. He picked out a chunk of pineapple and noshed in quiet contemplation. He never stopped watching his wife listening to her friends discuss their future. "She is going to stay here, right?"

"Of course she is! Listen, I thought about what you said to me last night when we went to sleep. You're right. I was making the entire situation about me. But I'm right in feeling how I did too."

"I know you are. What you had to do sucked. I can't imagine having to call a hundred and fifty guests to tell them there won't be a wedding. I'm sure they wanted to ask questions and you didn't have answers for them."

CiCi nodded, thinking about the countless questions she dodged because she didn't know how to answer them. "Then why did you get so mad at me when I was ranting about it?"

"I was just annoyed that you weren't being as compassionate towards Care as I would expect you to be. Regardless of who called it off, she is still hurting."

"I know! You're right, I know! I need to talk to her about it too."

"Wait, what did you do all morning? Avoid her?"

"Maybe."

"Ci," Sid said in a sort of condescending manner.

"What? I'm allowed to be upset! Give me a break."

"Yeah, okay." Sid started to walk out of the kitchen when shouting from the living room startled both he and CiCi to move towards the distraught pair. CiCi was in front of Sidney, but it was he who stepped around her and got between Tom and Caroline as Tom tried to go after his ex.

"You need to go," Sid said calmly and pointed at the door.

"You need to stay out of this superstar," Tom fired back.

"Thomas!" Caroline shouted at him.

"What? I blame this asshole for our entire relationship going to shit!"

"Get out of my house before I call the cops," Sidney stated a little more firmly. Tom advanced towards Sidney as if he was going to try to punch him when CiCi pulled on Tom's arm.

"Come on," CiCi dragged Tom away and escorted him to his car.

"You need to relax. This may end up being a good thing for you. You've been with only one person. Try something else. Experience life. It's not all about work and maintaining your house in the suburbs."

"She's changed so much. And I mean it when I say since Sid came around. It's like she wanted me to be like him. Make millions of dollars, spoil her senseless, build a house and travel the world. It doesn't work that way for everyone."

"No it doesn't."

"She is so envious of you I don't know how you put up with her. I'd watch out with her living here and being around Sidney."

"I've done it my entire life. I'll deal. And I really don't think I have anything to worry about there. I'll come over later to collect some clothes. Please make yourself scarce while I'm there. She may want to come along."

"I'll do what I want," he said and then grew quiet, "I would never hurt her. I don't know what came over me in there. I want you to know I wasn't going to hit her."

"I know. Your emotions are running wild. Maybe coming over today wasn't the greatest idea."

"Maybe. See you later Ci," Tom climbed into the driver's seat of his SUV and started it up. CiCi watched as he pulled out of the driveway and turned onto the quiet Sewickley street. She could no longer see his car as their house was surrounded by enormous trees and a gate to keep wandering eyes out of their private lives.

****
"And then he started to lunge at me, like he was going to physically attack me! I've never seen him that way before. So full of rage and want to harm me," Caroline wailed into Sid's shoulder. He sighed and let Care cry. He didn't know what else to say. He wasn't exactly close to Tom, but from what little interaction they have had he never pegged the guy as being violent. He felt bad for Caroline.

They were sitting on the couch when CiCi bounded through the hallway into the room. "We can go over this evening to get your things. You can stay here with us."

"What did he say to you out there?" Caroline asked, as she appeared all cozied up to Sidney.

"That he didn't know what came over him, he wasn't going to hurt you."

"That's it?"

"That's pretty much all I care to remember." She turned away and walked into her studio. Tom's words of warning and seeing Caroline falling all over Sid just now made her heart rate escalate and her skin feel prickly. She blinked back tears and hiccuped when the tears wouldn't stay at bay. She crumpled onto the lounge chair and silently prayed that she was being irrational.

She didn't realize she had fallen asleep until Sidney found her an hour later. He had showered and changed into khaki shorts and a t-shirt, his hair still wet from the shower. "Hey," he spoke softly as he brushed his fingers along her cheek, tucking a stray hair behind her ear.

"I fell asleep," she stated the obvious.

"I can see that. I thought you were working on your next masterpiece." Sid smiled down at Ci.

"I intended to, that Baron wants it before the opening night for the orchestra's new season." CiCi sat up and tried to avert her eyes.

"You were crying, why?" Sid prodded gently. He took her hands in his and moved to actually meet her gaze.

"It's crazy. I'm being irrational." Leave it to him to know when she had been in tears.

"Please tell me," he begged.

"It's silly. Something Tom said."

"What, babe?"

"He implied that Caroline wants you and that I need to watch out. And then I came in and saw how she was curled up next to you and my emotions got the best of me."

"I'm going to stop you right there. Who am I married to?"

"Me."

"And who do I love so much that I would give the world to make her happy?"

"Your mom?"

"Ci!" Sid laughed and pulled her close, "I love you, you infuriatingly stubborn woman. If I had been attracted to Caroline that very first night, things would be completely different. It's you and me. You're my partner in crime."

"I love you too."

"Ci!" Caroline shouted from upstairs. CiCi chose to ignore the shout, instead curled in closer and sniffed Sidney's aftershave.

All of a sudden the door swung open and CiCi and Sidney were separating from their short lived embrace. "Ci! Jules is picking me up to go get my things. Do you want to come along?"

"So soon?" CiCi asked, somewhat relieved that Caroline would be out of the house. At least for a little while.

"Yeah, may as well get it over with. I might stay with her in her hotel room until she leaves Monday. I'll have my car so I won't need to rely on rides."

"Oh, okay."

"Sid, will you come along? In case Tom is there." The tone in her voice shifted to almost a sugary sweet beg.

Sidney glanced at CiCi and right then he sensed what she was feeling. He couldn't deny that his wife's best friend was being overly friendly with him. "Uh, yeah. Ci and I will come along."

"Thank you, Sid. That means a lot to me! Is it okay that I borrow a pair of sandals, Ci?"

"You're wearing everything else, what's one more thing?"

"Ci," Sid warned softly. CiCi looked at him quickly and immediately averted her eyes. The door bell rang at that point, interrupting the conversation.

"It's Julia," Caroline stated and opened the door letting their friend into the foyer.

"You're looking a lot like CiCi today, all decked out in Penguins gear," Julia cracked with a drip of sarcasm in her voice.

"Ready to go? I want to just get my stuff and be done with this."

"It's not going to be that easy," Julia started and CiCi felt relieved that her friend was also sounding a bit annoyed with Caroline. "Let's go. You two coming along?"

CiCi and Sid nodded. "We will follow you," Sid commented. Caroline was out the front door without another word and Julia quickly turned back around to catch Sid and CiCi before they left too.

"This is not going to end well. Both sets of parents are at the house, Maria and Derrick are there to help. They want to make sure Caroline doesn't leave."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean they are preparing to have an intervention and not let these two give up."

CiCi sighed as Julia shrugged and turned to close the door behind her. CiCi quickly locked the door and turned to Sid.

"You have some fucked up friends."

"You're telling me."

"I'm all of a sudden being thrown into some sort of soap opera. Can we just not go? Or feign ignorance about all of this?"

"I'd love to not go, but you promised we would be there."

"What the hell was I thinking?"

"No clue."

"You should just be friends with the wags. They aren't this dramatic."

"Vero and Catherine are two of my closest friends now. You know that. But I grew up with these girls. I can't just drop them like this."

"I do have a sick curiosity building on how this afternoon at the doomed couple's house is going to go."

"Come on." CiCi tugged on Sid's t-shirt and dragged him to the garage where they climbed into his SUV to follow Julia to the south hills.

*****
"Thanks for driving slow," CiCi said softly as Sid pulled up to the curb on the quiet, tree lined street. She smiled appreciatively at him and leaned across the console to give him a brief kiss.

No sooner that it started, it ended much to Sid's disappointment. "Can I just say I am happy that we are just innocent bystanders in this drama, even if the disgruntled groom is trying to pin some of this on me."

"Oh, babe. I concur," CiCi agreed. She sighed heavily, unbuckled her seatbelt and climbed out of the car. Sid was quick to follow and the pair walked up to the front door slowly. When they got to the door, they could already hear loud voices.

"Ugh," Sidney said as they entered the house and followed the sound of the voices to dining room. CiCi sidled up next to Julia and leaned close to ask what was happening.

"So far just the two arguing their points."

"And I never said that I wanted exactly what CiCi has, don't you dare try to twist my unhappiness around to put blame on someone else. You caused this Tom! Not Sidney. Not CiCi. Not any of our friends," Caroline ranted.

"I thought this was supposed to be an intervention?" Sid whispered between CiCi and Julia. Both girls shrugged their shoulders and continued watching.

"Clearly us trying to get some resolution amongst you two isn't going to happen," Caroline's father interjected while there was a slight pause in the argument. Sidney looked next to CiCi and saw Maria taking some deep breaths.

"Where's Derrick?" He whispered to Julia.

"He has a huge case going to trial next week so he is downtown working right now. Mo came with me. She didn't want to waddle out of the car earlier," Julia explained without looking at Sid or over at their very pregnant friend. Sid glanced over again then stepped behind her to check on her.

"You okay?" Sid whispered to Mo.

"Brackston-Hicks contractions. I've been having them a lot in this heat," Maria explained.

"Are you sure? We can bail. I don't feel comfortable here as it is," Sid said.

"You'll be my escape route." Maria forced a pained smile at Sidney and turned back to the conversation occurring. Not even five minutes into Tom's mother reasoning with the pair did Maria groan and grab onto CiCi's arm. Silence fell upon the group in the room.

"Oh my God!" CiCi reacted when she turned and helped support a hunched over Maria.

"My water just broke!" Maria cried as a contraction hit.

"I knew it, let's get out of here! I'll drive! Jules, call Derrick. We are going to St. Clair," Sid said as he came around to Maria's other side. With the support of him and CiCi, the pair led Maria out of the house and away from the toxicity that was inside.

"How long after your water breaking will the baby come?" Sid asked which resulted in a scream from Maria and a death glare from CiCi. "I just wanted to make sure we made it to the hospital before the baby comes!"

"Just drive!" Maria screamed startling CiCi and making Sidney speed through the residential neighborhood.

Sidney was surprised that he didn't get pulled over on the fifteen minute journey from Mt. Lebanon to the hospital in Upper St. Clair. CiCi hopped out, ran into the emergency room and explained that they called on the way and have a woman in labor in the car. A nurse followed CiCi outside with a wheelchair and met up with Sidney who was helping Maria out of the car.

"Nice driving babe," CiCi commented, "I didn't know you knew how to get here."

"Fluery had Estelle here." Sidney helped ease Maria into the wheelchair and let the nurse take her into the hospital. They were informed on where to go as the nurse took Maria to the birthing room set up for her.

"I'll go park. I'll meet you inside, okay?" Sid said as he brushed a kiss across CiCi's temple.

"Okay," CiCi hurried and managed to catch up with Maria. "Derrick is on his way." She let Maria grip her arm so tightly that she knew she would have bruises in the shape of Maria's fingers. They made it to the birthing floor, settled Maria in her bed and stood back as Maria got hooked up to a variety of monitors.

When the doctor came in not even ten minutes later to check on the progress, she asked Maria how she was doing. "I'm in labor four weeks early. This isn't good."

"No, but you were measuring at thirty eight weeks two days ago. The baby is nearly nine pounds. I'm certain that even though you are going early everything will be fine. This is moving faster than we anticipated," Dr. Link said, "You are about ready to push."

"What?" Maria cringed as another contraction hit.

"Derrick is on his way. Can you like, hold it in? Wait until he is here. He knows how to help!" CiCi looked more panicked that Maria.

"We will get things prepped. If you'll step outside, the nurse will come get you in a couple minutes." CiCi looked at Maria and back at the doctor. She didn't know what to do, but thought it would be best if she listened to the doctor.

"I'll be right back," CiCi said as she let go of Maria's hand and backed out of the room. She found Sidney pacing the hallway near the elevators and explained to him what was happening.

"Derrick is stuck in traffic with the tunnel closure and construction on 376," Sid said, "You gotta be there for her."

"I know, I know. This is just crazy how fast this is happening," CiCi looped her arms around Sid's waist and nuzzled his chest.

"CiCi? You and your husband are welcome to come in the room," the nurse that helped them into the hospital said.

"Oh, I don't think that I need to be in there," Sid started, but CiCi pulled him along with her.

"Derrick is missing this. You need to film it or take pictures," CiCi explained.

"How about you film and I hold Maria's hand?" He was inwardly repulsed by the thought of watching a child being birthed and frankly didn't want to see that much of his wife's friend.

"Fine!" They were both instructed to cover up with paper robes and took positions around Maria.

"Derrick is on his way," Sid explained as he gripped Maria's hand. Maria just nodded, cringed in pain and tried her best to push when instructed.

And within twenty minutes a crying, little red faced boy made his first appearance, prompting CiCi and Sid awestruck and Maria bursting in tears. His lungs were strong as he cried, but as soon as he was cleaned, bundled up and placed in his mother's arms for the first time he calmed, yawned and appeared to fall asleep.

"He's perfect," CiCi whispered in complete amazement. Sid leaned down to eye the precious baby.

"You did fantastic Mom," the nurse said with a smile.

"Maria, he's beautiful," Sid said reverently.

"Thank you! Thank you two for being here too. I couldn't have done it without you two being here," Maria said.

"I'm looking for my wife, Maria!" The trio could hear from the partially closed door. Sid walked to the door, peaked out and saw Derrick.

"In here, man," Sid said.

"Did I miss it?"

"Filmed every minute of it. Doc didn't expect her to go so quickly," Sid explained as Derrick rushed through the room. He stopped dead in his tracks when he caught a glimpse of his wife and child. CiCi quickly moved away to allow Derrick a chance to embrace Maria and their son. She wandered over to Sid, who was grinning from ear to ear.

"We'll be on the lookout for grandparents," Sid said as he led CiCi out of the birthing room into the hallway. He pulled CiCi in front of him and threw his arms around her. "That was incredible."

"I want a baby," CiCi proclaimed as they continued to hug.

"We are on the maternity ward. We can find out which babies may need a new home," Sid joked.

"I'm serious! I want us to have a baby."

"It's not going to be that easy for us, you know."

"We've got fifteen viable embryos. That gives us three tries. Why can't we try now?"

"We have to find a surrogate."

"Okay, then let's find a surrogate."

Sid studied CiCi's face, and could see that she was ready for this next adventure. "Alright, let's find a surrogate."

A chorus of "Did we miss it?", "Is everything okay?", and "Did Derrick make it?" interrupted their tender moment and they quickly pulled apart to see Julia, Caroline, and Tom standing in front of them.

"Hey! Mom, dad and baby boy are doing great! Derrick just missed it so we stepped out so he could have some private time with Maria and the baby," CiCi said as she kept her arm around Sid's waist.

"A little boy? That's so wonderful! What's his name?" Caroline asked.

"No idea," CiCi shrugged her shoulders.

"His name is Christopher Allen," Derrick said as he popped his head out the door. "You guys can come in, you know, before the grandparents descend on this place and chances of holding him are out the window."

The girls squealed and hurried into the room to coo over the newborn and their friend, while the three guys hung back to watch. "So, should I ask?" Derrick whispered to the two guys.

"It's over, but we talked and we understand it would have been toxic getting married. We are better off this way," Tom explained.

"Sorry, man," Sid said and thumped Tom on the shoulder.

"It's fine. All I ever want for Care is for her to be happy. If being married to me isn't going to make her happy then I can let her go. It's not like we don't run around in the same social circles, I'll still see her."

"True," Derrick said.

"Congrats, Derr, he's awesome," Tom commented in the hope to change the subject.

"Thanks, this is by far my greatest accomplishment. And superstar over here got to see the entire birth," Derrick and Tom chuckled.

"First, I didn't watch anything. I stayed by Maria's head and let her squeeze the shit out of my hand. And second, you two are sticking with the superstar nickname? Really?" Sid looked at them sideways and cracked a grin.

"Hey, about this morning, I'm sorry. I just couldn't wrap my head around everything that has happened in the last twenty four hours. I didn't mean to accuse you of anything." Tom glanced down at his sneakers in an attempt to come across as remorseful.

"It's cool. We all can be a little hot headed at times. I get it." Sid wasn't entirely convinced that Tom was being sincere, but the events of late had made the entire group forget all about the torments of the once betrothed couple. Sid caught CiCi's eyes and gave her a warm smile. He could look past everything if it meant that they could be parents.

Notes

Happy summer everyone! I'm loving the new scruffy Sid that we get to see now! I hope he keeps it and I hope you are still enjoying this story!