Something was wrong with her sister and best friend, and she was helpless. All she could do was wait and pray.
“Jennifer?”
She spun around so fast it made her dizzy. “Declan?” She forced herself not to run as she moved swiftly toward him, aware of all the attention that had suddenly focused on the strange man who knew her name.
Her mother’s voice was weak with worry. “Honey? Is everything all right?”
“Yes, Mama,” she answered, still in shock. “Declan is a…friend from school.”
“How nice that he came to check on you.” Ellen turned to Shawn again. “Let me go find a doctor.”
“Can I talk to you outside?” Jennifer took his arm and he followed her out of the sliding doors and down the walk until the bushes concealed them from view. “What are you doing here?”
He cupped her shoulders and studied her face, his own etched with concern. “When we got your text, Trick had already been called out for some job or else he’d be here too. Have you heard anything yet? Has a nurse or a doctor come to give you an update on their status?”
Suddenly overwhelmed, Jen collapsed into his embrace and started to cry. He put his arms around her without hesitation, rocking her as he kissed her forehead. “It’s okay, baby. She’s going to be okay.”
“She was fine,” Jen sobbed. “Teasing me and joking and then she just— She’s healthy. Every checkup, the doctor says she’s healthy.”
“That’s a good thing,” he soothed. “From everything you and Trick have told me, Tasha is a strong woman. They’ll find out what’s wrong and she’ll be fine.”
She looked up at him, her tears blinding her. “She’s over thirty-five and this is her—Declan, what if—”
“Don’t even say it, Jen. Don’t even think it.” He kissed her damp cheeks, lingering on her lips for one tender moment before lifting his head again. “She’ll be fine.”
Jen heard Seamus snarl and stiffened in Declan’s arms. “Step away now and I won’t hurt you.”
She turned toward the parking lot, ready to explain who she was kissing when she saw three men shadowing Seamus. Two of them had cameras.
“Can you confirm that the Senator’s wife has gone into labor three months early?”
“Seamus,” another man called. “Was it the stress of the wedding? I heard the senator’s been receiving threats about his brother’s upcoming marriage to his same-sex partner, Jeremy Porter.”
Reporters. Jen grimaced, her fists clenching. Luckily most of them had enough respect to give the family space before descending like vultures. All but three apparently.
Seamus was doing his best to ignore them, but worry was shortening his temper. He wasn’t used to it the way Stephen was. “No comment. I won’t repeat myself.”
Declan stepped forward as the four men reached them. Ignoring Seamus, he stared down the others in a way that made them pause and shift uncomfortably. Jen had only seen that expression once, when an offensive student was kicked out of class. She knew what it could do. “The Finn family has no information to give at this time. No amount of questioning will change that. So you gentlemen have a choice to make. You can turn around and wait patiently in your cars because it’s a free country. Or you can leave and wait for a statement from the senator’s office like everyone else seems to have enough sense and respect to do.”
“Who are you?” One reporter asked belligerently, looking around Declan at Seamus. “Is there gonna be a double wedding now? That’d make headlines.”
Seamus stepped forward “You know what would make headlines? I can give your friend an exclusive about a reporter who conveniently broke his arm in the parking lot of the hospital.”
The reporter backed up. “Fine. Fine. I’ll wait in my car.”
His friend followed his lead, leaving the third man standing awkwardly on the curb. He was short and balding, holding a disposable camera in his hands. He didn’t look threatening at all. “I’m not a reporter,” he offered, his face pale.
Jen moved closer as Declan and Seamus towered over him. “Then why are you here?” Declan asked.
“I know Natasha.” He swallowed anxiously and, seeing Jen, moved closer with a relieved smile. “You’re Little Finn, right? Maybe you could help me.”
Jen’s stomach knotted. The man was giving off some seriously squicky vibes. Tasha knew him? “What do you want?”
He held up the camera. “When they allow visitors, maybe you could take a picture for me? I don’t think she’d mind. It’s for the website.”
“The Baby Bump Brigade?” Jen growled, clenching her fists.
“You know it?”
“You’re the ones who follow her around and takes pictures of her every move.”
He scowled. “It’s a free country and a senator’s wife belongs to the people. If she’s going to die or lose the babies, we have a right to know. When we saw the ambulance, everyone was very worr—”