The Redo (Winslow Brothers #4) (21)

Oh, hellllllllll!

The pain is so intense, I have to squat and brace myself on the walls of the elevator. And when that’s not enough, I find that my body is running on pure instinct and sets up shop on the damn floor.

Sweat pours off way more than just my brow, and my cream silk blouse’s stainless past is history. I’m a walking swamp rat, except, of course, for the fact that I can no longer walk.

It’s safe to say you’ve been having real contractions all day.

I thought first-time pregnancies were supposed to take a while. Like hours. Sometimes days. But why does it feel like this baby is trying to shoot out of my body like he or she has a six thirty dinner with the president?

Another contraction begins to grip my body, and anyone with a brain would recognize this is not good.

As the specific someone with both a brain and the uterus that’s currently nuking itself to oblivion, I understand this isn’t just not good; it’s bad.

This is really fucking bad.

“Oh my Gawwwd!” I yell, just as the hatch above me pops open, and it startles me so badly, I feel like my bones jump through my muscles. The top of the metal structure creaks above me frighteningly, and all I can do is crane my neck to look up as I continue to puff tight breaths through tense lips.

I close my eyes briefly, wondering if I’ve somehow teleported to the beginning of a Superhero meets Villain movie, but when I open them again, I’m blessed with the stark and undeniable feeling of relief. The hatch is fully open now and the creaking has stopped, and one of the most beautiful faces I’ve ever laid eyes on is looking down at me.

He forms words quicker than I do, but seeing as I’m a little busy feeling like my body is trying to turn itself inside out, I give myself a pass.

“Maria?” he questions, the concern immediately evident in his rich voice.

“Remy? Oh God, oh God.”

With quick movements, he shifts to put his feet in through the hole of the opened hatch and climbs down. He’s shirtless and beautiful, and for the love of everything holy, I wish I could concentrate enough on anything other than the contractions that keep gripping my body like a vise to appreciate it.

He settles onto the floor and immediately kneels beside me. I wish I could say I was presenting myself as something other than a wadded-up ball of desperation, but I’m afraid not.

His smile is gentle and tender and makes me want to cry a thousand tears as he reaches up and wipes some of the sweat-slicked hair away from my face and whispers, “Honestly, Maria, getting stuck inside my building’s elevator is a really strange way to see me again. You could’ve just called.”

This is his building. Go figure.

“Very funny,” I answer through a hard jaw as another contraction rolls through my body like a freight train.

“Seriously, babe. We have to stop meeting like this.”

I nod fervently at that. “I never realized I’m even in elevators this much, for goodness’ sake.”

“Maria, I think it’s safe to say, you’re going to have a baby today.”

I close my eyes and shake my head, full denial the only thing I’m still trying to hold on to. “No. No, I’m not. Maybe tomorrow? Yeah, probably tomorrow.”

“Pretty sure it’s happening now, hun,” he corrects me with a soft but knowing smile. “But it’s going to be okay. You’re doing an amazing job. And just think, the hard part is over.”

“The hard part is over?” I scoff. “Remy, last time I checked, the baby’s still inside. I think there’s a lot of hard shit to go.”

He nods with a smile but reaches down to grab my hand and squeeze. “Yeah. But you don’t have to do it alone anymore. I’m here.”

“Just like having a doctor.” It’s a little rude and unnecessarily snippy, given that he’s literally knight in shining armor-ing for me right now, but I’m in so much pain, I think I’ve earned some testiness. Still, I feel badly enough to wince and apologize. “Sorry, but it hurts.”

“Maria,” he says with a chuckle. “Don’t worry about me. You can curse me up and down if it helps. You worry about you, and you worry about this baby. Let me deal with the rest.”

“Am I really having my sister’s baby today? I just…I need you to pinch me.” Emotion clogs my throat as the gravity of everything in my life that’s changed in the last several months hits me square in the chest. “I can’t believe any of this is real.”

Isabella should be here for this.

Remy strokes the hair at the side of my face again and squeezes my hand. “You can do it, Ri. I promise. I’ve never met a woman I thought could do it more.”

I’m momentarily taken aback by the genuine nature of his compliment. “Really?”

“God yes. You’ve been through more than ninety percent of people I know and, somehow, managed to come out on the other side even stronger. Beautiful. Successful. Kind. You’re going to be the best thing this baby can have with the hand it—she, he? Is it a boy or a girl?”

“I don’t know yet. My sister wanted it to be a surprise.”

“Looks like we’re about to be surprised today, then.”

I nod resolutely then, fully accepting the fact that this is happening, and I can do it. I have to. End of story.