Help Wanted by Barbara Valentin

your nose, out through your mouth. Nice deep breaths."
    Nina did as he instructed. When the contraction had passed, she dug her phone out of her purse and texted to Lester to meet them at the hospital.
    Paul texted Jacquie. After she confirmed that she'd get Jonah and hang on to him, he relaxed just a little. That is, until Nina asked him how attached he was to his suit coat.
    He looked down at his favorite black Italian-made tailored jacket. "Why?"
    "I think my water just broke."
    As her next contraction started, she panted, "I'll reimburse you. Just remind Lester. You can write it off. As a work expense."
    Paul didn't know whether she was kidding or delirious. "How about I just give the guy a really good tip instead."
    This made her laugh. At least he thought it was a laugh. Given the way she was crushing his hand though, it was probably wishful thinking on his part.
    "Mr. Crenshaw?" a nurse asked as she wheeled Nina into the emergency room.
    Paul did a double take. "Oh. I'm not her husband."
    "Family member?"
    He shook his head. "Nope."
    Frowning, she asked, "Well, who are you then?"
    Before he could answer, Nina gripped the nurse's arm and said, "He's my Lamaze coach, and I am not having this baby without him."
    Wincing under her grip, the nurse craned her neck and looked back up to Paul. "I'll get you some scrubs."
    By the grace of God and all things holy, Lester arrived before Paul had to see way more of Nina than he would ever have wanted to. That he had his first meeting with the publisher of Griffin Media's premier publication while standing next to the guy's wife as she groaned and had her feet up in stirrups was indeed unfortunate.
    Thankfully, Lester was too preoccupied with the impending arrival to be anything but, in his words, "eternally grateful."
    Rushing home, Paul ditched his suit and was able to pick Marc and Tomas up from practice with ten minutes to spare. After swinging by the Calderon's to pick up Jonah, he made his way to the high school to get Luke. By the time Claire made it home from work, his adventure with Nina was still very fresh in his mind. A wave of relief washed over him when she volunteered to take Jonah to his soccer game. The last thing he wanted was to be surrounded by more screaming females.
     
    *   *   *
     
    In the fading light of Winnemac Park, Claire unfolded her camp chair and draped a stadium blanket over her legs. She watched as Jonah lined up on the field with his teammates and bent over to tap on their shin guards as the referee walked by in a pregame equipment inspection.
    Unlike the older boys' games, during which skill and strategy were both evident, the kindergarten teams were going with the huddle and watch the ball go by routine. As such, she was surprised to hear one mother yell at a referee, "Offsides. That kid was offsides. How could you not see that? What are you, blind?"
    Between the kids' laughter and the other parents' sideline coaching, she didn't hear her name being called until Jacquie Calderon was standing right next to her.
    "I thought that was you."
    Claire looked up at the familiar face.
    "Oh, hey, Jacquie. How are you? Is Danny on the team? I didn't see him out there."
    "No, he's on the Timberwolves. They're playing over on field B." She waved toward the distant end of the park. "The boys played against each other last week."
    "Ah. Gotcha."
    With one eye on Jonah as he plowed down the field, chasing after the soccer ball, she heard Jacquie say, "Listen, I just wanted to stop by and see if you'd like us to bring Luke home from the marathon on the third. No sense in us both going down there. Parking's going to be a bear."
    Claire frowned at her. "The Chicago Marathon? Luke's not running it. I'm pretty sure they wouldn't allow that during the cross-country season."
    Jacquie laughed. "Didn't Paul tell you?"
    A knot clenched in her stomach. If there was one thing she disliked more than being in the dark, it was being clued in by someone who seemed to know