Inferno Pt. 02

"So, no, Daddy, if that's what 'going black' is like, count me out. Eric's just about as big as Cecil where it counts, but Eric just loves me like here no tomorrow, you know?" Ann said.

Suddenly, Ann hoisted herself to her feet.

"Be right back; I swear, I can't hold anything; my bladder's about to pop!" she explained and waddled quickly down the hall.

Kenneth sat, sipping his cup of coffee. Suddenly, he heard a groan.

"Oh God!" Ann cried out.

"Ann, Honey?" Kenneth asked, getting to his feet. "You okay?"

"Oh, God, no!" Ann cried. Aw, damn!"

"What's wrong," Kenneth asked from the other side of the bathroom door.

"Water broke," Ann half groaned, half giggled. "Looks like Evie's in a hurry to get here!"

"All right, I'm coming in there," Kenneth warned.

"Hurry!" Ann groaned.

----

"Sheriff," Dick Davis said when his cell phone rang.

"Hi Sheriff; this is Kenneth Kay; Eric's father in law," Kenneth said cheerfully as he stomped on the accelerator of his pick up truck. "Tell Officer Greene get his butt down to Women and Children in Lafayette; he's about to be a Daddy."

"Will do," Dick agreed.

"Good; tried his cell phone and he doesn't answer," Kenneth said as he swung out onto I-10 heading west.

"Daddy?" Ann said as she clutched her belly.

"Yeah, Baby?" Kenneth asked as he navigated the truck in and out of traffic.

"I love you," Ann called out, voice gripped with fear.

"Love you too," Kenneth said and punched the number 1 on his cell phone.

"Hi Daddy," Jacy answered. Ann come see you?"

"Yep, sure did, and then left a mess in the bathroom for me to clean up," Kenneth said cheerfully.

"Sorry about that," Ann groaned.

"Aw damn it, she couldn't hold it?" Jacy asked.

"Nope, sure couldn't," Kenneth agreed.

"Well, I'll get to it when I get home," Jacy sighed.

"Oh, don't bother with any of that," Kenneth said. "But, think you could swing by St. Richard's and get Sammy and Robbie? Their baby sister's about to come."

"She is?" Jacy gasped. "But not for another..."

"Nope, Evie says she's coming right now," Kenneth said and had to hang up as traffic bottled up.

"Oh, God!" Ann cried out as a painful contraction tore through her.

"Uh huh, hang on," Kenneth said and drove onto the shoulder of the road. "I don't know what all these boys and girls are doing, but they're in my way."

Evie Ann Greene avoided being born in a pick up truck by twenty two minutes. Eric Greene came in to see mother and daughter; he was twelve minutes late.

"Better late than never," Kenneth smiled and accepted the thanks of his son-in-law.

"Ew, you stink," Ann complained when her husband hugged her.

"Sorry, Baby, I was at a fire when Sheriff called me," Eric said, losing his happy smile.

"Aw, what kind of fire?" Ann asked, concerned.

"One at Twelve fifty one Cort," Eric said, faces tight.

"Twelve... Our house? What?" Ann screamed.

"Shh, Eric said.

"Eric, are you serious?" Ann cried.

"Baby, afraid so," Eric said.

----

Cecil hadn't gotten any answer from Jadia; she'd hung up on him the last two times he'd called, and she wasn't answering the door when he knocked.

"fucking bitch, I got rights," Cecil yelled.

Cecil opened the gate to the back yard and tried to enter through the sliding glass door. Then he saw the tool shed.

Opening it, he saw the two cans of gasoline and smiled.

He decided to take a page right from Kenneth Kay's book. He carried the gas cans to the glass door, shattered one of the doors by throwing a cast iron planter through it, then entered and poured gasoline all over everything in sight.

Cecil forgot one crucial step to the Kenneth Kay plan; he didn't go outside before striking the match.

Unable to locate an exit in the sudden, overwhelming inferno, Cecil was burned alive.

----

"Okay, while y'all are here, any of y'all about to go into labor?" Kenneth asked as Jennifer and Jacy crowded into the room to see Ann and Evie.

"Shut up,"Jacy giggled and made sure her mother saw as she gave Kenneth an affectionate kiss.

Then Jacy put an arm around Kenneth's waist and glared at Jennifer, daring her mother to come near her man.

Michael, Jennifer's husband, was entranced by the little blonde haired, blue eyed baby girl that nursed greedily from her mother's breast.

"Oh, my God, you think Mary's going to look like that?" he whispered to his wife.

"Maybe, or, Heaven help her, she might look like you," Jennifer joked.

"Mary?" Ann asked, frowning.

"Yeah, she wanted to name our daughter Star Apple Greene," Michael said. "And I told her 'Hell no, you're not giving my kid a stripper name!' so we agreed on Mary Michelle Greene."

"Mary?" Ann said again. "I had to go through life with Jadia and this kid's getting a normal name? Thanks a lot, Mom!"

"Eric, see you for a minute?" Kenneth motioned with his head toward the door.

Outside in the hall, Kenneth asked about the damage to his home.

"It's a total loss," Eric said. "What didn't get burned up with have to be torn down anyway."

"So, you're going to need a place to stay," Kenneth said and dug into his pocket.

He pulled out his keys and separated two keys from the tag.

"Front door and back door," he said.

"Thanks, Kenneth," Eric said and the two men hugged.

Jacy and Kenneth agreed that Eric could use Jacy's car; Eric's had been in the garage when the house burned and Ann's was still at Jacy and Kenneth's house. Jacy complained good-naturedly about riding in the truck; Daddy had to help her climb up into the cab.

"But of course Robbie and Sammy can stay with us," Jacy agreed as Kenneth drove down Ambassador Caffery toward I-10. "Where else would they...oh!"

"Problem?" Kenneth asked.

"No, no, just a little kick," Jacy said, pale face even more pale.

"Uh huh," Kenneth said and put on his turn signal.

"What are you doing?" Jacy asked.

"Turning around," Kenneth said.

"But Daddy, I told you, it's...oh!" Jacy argued.

"Sounds like something to me," Kenneth said and floored the accelerator and whipped around a slow moving taxi.

"Wonder what's, oh!" Eric said as he watched his father in law do a U-Turn on the broad street.

----

Fourteen hours after bringing Ann to the hospital, Kenneth Kay held Kenneth Kay JR. for the first time. The boy had his mother's deep brown eyes and thick curls of brown hair.

Jennifer gave birth to Mary Michelle Greene forty one hours after the birth of Evie Ann Greene. True to her prediction, Mary was perfect in every way, even down to the thick head of blonde hair.

"Boy, what some people will do to get out of work, huh?" Grace said as she and Mindy entered the small private room.

"Yeah, got to give her points for creativity; I'd have never thought of it," Mindy said.

THE END

**Author's Note: I write these stories for my enjoyment; I post them here for your enjoyment.

Constructive critiques are always welcomed and appreciated. Any and all notes and e-mails from 'Anonymous' will be deleted. If you do not have the courage and conviction to put your name to your words, I do not have the time to read your opinions.

And yet, even after posting this message on 'Inferno' I was deluged by 'Anonymous' spouting off their nonsensical, pointless, and quite often erroneous opinions.