One Man Band System

An hour ticked by. Eric stood silently in waiting, keeping his eyes shut and his arms crossed over his chest, but Emma, Chloe, Monica, Priya, and Laura were starting to get restless, while Heidi was busy checking with a nurse. Jade, Ruby, and Martin also looked on edge, leaving Mike as the only calm one, simply leaning against the wall with his arms folded across his chest.

"Why is it taking so long? Are C-sections really supposed to take this much time?" Priya asked.

"Usually... it doesn’t take this long. I wonder what’s going on," Jade answered, knowing her stuff as she turned to stare at the operating room.

"Alright... let’s just wait... but this is definitely nerve-wracking," Chloe said.

While they were worrying, the light above the operating room suddenly turned green. Everyone bolted to their feet and locked their eyes on the operating room doors, including Eric, who had stayed dead quiet the whole time and Mike, who stopped leaning against the wall. The operating room doors swung open, and several nurses stepped out alongside the doctor. Naturally, everyone rushed over to the medical team.

"How is she, Doctor?" Jade asked.

"A baby girl, and both mother and child are healthy. She’s currently in observation for an hour, after which she’ll be moved to a recovery room. Her husband is inside with her and she is conscious," the doctor said.

"Thank goodness for that," Jade replied in relief.

"Can we go inside, Doctor?" Eric asked.

The doctor paused for a second, but his eyes caught Heidi dropping a subtle nod in his direction. Turning back to look at Eric, the doctor didn’t give a verbal answer, but simply nodded. Naturally, they all marched straight into the operating room,a place normally off-limits, except for Martin and Mike, who stayed behind to wait outside. Inside, they spotted two nurses tending to the room, Avery lying in bed semi-conscious as the anesthesia was still wearing off, and Caleb holding his newborn daughter, tears streaming down his face as he wore a massive grin under the watchful eyes of the two nurses.

One of the nurses stepped over to intercept them.

"Excuse me, but none of you are allowed inside the operating room. Once the patient is moved to a recovery room for rest, you may all visit then," the nurse said.

"Ahem," Heidi cleared her throat.

The nurse turned to look at Heidi, and the color instantly drained from her face. She immediately stepped aside so Eric and the others could walk over to Caleb, whose face looked like a complete mess from crying so hard.

"Congratulations, bro," Eric said.

"Th... thanks, man," Caleb replied, his voice trembling.

"Aww... babe... don’t cry like that... you look like a clown and a giant baby, hahaha," Avery teased, slurring her words in a loopy, anesthetic haze.

"What’s her name... aww, she’s so cute... can I hold her?" Jade asked.

Caleb handed the baby over to Jade, who immediately gazed down at her with a tender look and a wide smile. Meanwhile, the nurses behind them looked ready to burst, wanting to stop her since brand-new infants weren’t supposed to be held by just anyone, but they were powerless to do anything with Heidi standing right there. Ruby stepped forward to get a look at the baby.

"Wow... she looks like Caleb... and Avery... a perfect blend of both, even if you can’t quite tell yet," Ruby said with a smile.

"What are you even talking about? She’s a newborn baby, of course you can’t tell who she looks like yet," Jade replied.

"Aww, but she’s so cute and squishy," Emma said.

"Yeah... totally, so adorable," Priya added.

"I want to hold her... but I’ll wait till later," Chloe added, raising her hands before pulling them back down.

"Uh... I’m scared of babies. What if I hold her too tight or something?" Monica said, actually taking a step back.

"Wait... then what are you gonna do when you have your own kid later?" Laura asked, puzzled.

"Oh boy... don’t tell me you girls are all catching baby fever now," Heidi said.

Without realizing it, Emma, Chloe, Monica, Priya, Laura, and Heidi all turned to lock their eyes right on Eric. Naturally, Eric caught all six of them staring.

"What?" Eric asked.

"Nothing," all six answered in unison.

"Babe... where are you, babe... I wanna go home... I’m bored of the hospital... I work at a hospital, you know... babe..."

Everyone turned to see Avery babbling away to herself in bed. Caleb immediately wrapped both of his hands around Avery’s and sat down right beside her mattress. Then Eric noticed how anxious the two nurses behind him were looking.

"Hey... let’s head outside for now. Once she’s moved to a proper room, we can come back and visit," Eric said.

"Uh... okay," Ruby replied, still holding the baby.

Then Ruby handed the baby back to the nurse, and they all said their goodbyes to Caleb, who was still frantically trying to wipe away his endless stream of tears. Once they stepped outside, they went back to waiting in the front hallway. Martin and Mike, who hadn’t gone inside, walked over to meet them.

"How’s the baby?" Martin asked.

"Healthy and cute," Eric answered, giving a thumbs-up.

"Oh, thank goodness for that," Martin replied.

"Avery is healthy too, she’s just semi-conscious right now. Looks like the process took so long earlier because they were waiting for Avery to wake up first," Jade explained.

"Ah, I see. That makes sense," Mike replied.

"So when are you guys having a baby?" Ruby asked Emma, Chloe, Monica, Priya, Heidi, and Laura.

"Huh... what are you talking about? We haven’t even graduated high school yet and you’re asking about having babies," Emma answered.

"Yeah... we want to graduate first, build our careers first, and then have babies," Priya added.

"It’s still a long way off. We have plans, but it’s way down the road," Monica added.

"Huh... you already have plans? Since when?" Heidi asked, puzzled.

"Just now," Monica replied.

"Ah... actually, I wouldn’t mind having a baby right after graduating," Laura said casually.

Emma, Priya, Monica, Heidi, and Chloe turned to look at Laura, who appeared totally relaxed and didn’t give a damn about what anyone thought.

"What?" Laura asked.

"You really just say whatever comes to your mind, don’t you?" Emma replied.

"I’m being serious though. After graduating high school I have no idea what to do anyway. If I go to college I don’t know what major to pick, if I get a job I don’t know what work to do, so wouldn’t it be better to just sleep and have a baby?" Laura said simply.

"Good grief, talk about a bleak future," Monica teased.

"Whatever. Better than chasing after some future, failing to reach it, and ending up crushed and broken—might as well take it easy," Laura replied.

While they were talking, Caleb walked out of the operating room to join them. His tears had finally stopped, though his eyes were still puffy.

"So how is it?" Eric asked.

"Avery’s taking a rest now and Abigail is sleeping right next to her. They’ll be moved to a recovery room later, so I’m gonna go handle the paperwork real quick," Caleb answered.

"Huh... Abigail?" Emma, Chloe, Priya, Monica, Heidi, and Laura asked.

"Who?" Jade asked, while Ruby and Mike stared blankly at Caleb, waiting for an explanation.

"Oh... that’s the name Avery and I picked for our kid. Abigail, but we’ll call her Abby," Caleb replied.

"Ah, got it," everyone replied in unison.

"You had that planned already, huh?" Eric asked.

"Yeah... for a while now, ever since we found out we were having a baby girl," Caleb answered.

"Alright... come on, I’ll walk you over to the admin desk," Eric said, putting his arm around Caleb’s shoulders.

Caleb turned to look at Eric, scanning him up and down, then up again, until Eric glanced over at him.

"What now?" Eric asked.

"You’re not planning to meddle in this, are you?" Caleb asked dead seriously.

"Hell no. I’m just coming along to keep you company," Eric answered.

"Hmm... okay then, let’s go," Caleb replied.

"Got it... relax, bro," Eric replied.

The two of them strolled down the hallway to head over to administration and get all the paperwork sorted out. Meanwhile, Emma and the rest of the girls stared after Eric as his figure got farther and farther away. Spotting the way they were watching him, Ruby chimed in.

"So... out of the six of you, who’s gonna end up pregnant first?" Ruby asked jokingly.

"Huh!" all six of them gasped in shock at Ruby’s question.

"Relax, I’m just asking, hehehe," Ruby said teasingly.

All six of their faces instantly flushed red. Meanwhile, Jade shot a side-eye at Mike, who pretended to look off in another direction to avoid making eye contact with her. As for Martin, he simply sat there, shaking his head with a smile. "Ah, youth," he thought in his head.

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