Unfinished Ex (Calloway Brothers, #2)(101)

“Somehow I get the idea everyone will meet us there,” Jaxon says. “I wouldn’t be surprised if XTN already had a team there to cover the birth.”

Marty shrugs. “You did announce your water breaking on national TV.”

“Oh, ow, ow…”

“Shit,” Jaxon says. “They’re coming faster. How long until you get here?”

Marty shouts to the driver, then tells Jaxon, “Twenty minutes.”

Something changes inside me. Pressure is building. I grab Marty’s hand. “Oh, god. I feel like I have to push.”

“Drive faster!” Marty yells.

“Hold on, Nicky,” Jaxon begs.

I close my eyes and concentrate. The feeling has subsided for the moment. Please don’t let me have this baby in the car. “Tell me something to distract me.”

“Names,” Jaxon says. “Let’s pick a name.”

He’s been trying to get me to do it for months. I’ve refused. How can I possibly name my child without seeing her? Not to mention I wasn’t about to do anything to jinx this. “Something else.”

Marty shoves his phone in my face. “The storms spared Kansas City; they’ve moved into a largely rural area of Missouri. And they’re dissipating. Looks like you aren’t going to miss the next super outbreak after all.”

“Pictures?”

He scrolls and finds some. He zooms in on a housing development. I take the phone and survey the damage. “See here, there is surface damage to the roofs. A few overturned vehicles and downed trees. Probably an F1. They are weakening.”

“Uh, hello?” Jaxon says. “Are you two being serious right now?”

“Your wife did ask us to distract her,” Marty says. “Well, she’s distracted.”

Another contraction strikes, and with it, immense pressure. I push Marty’s phone away and grip the seat.

“She’s having another,” Marty says. “Driver! How long?”

“Less than five.”

“Marty, I feel really strange. I think the baby is coming now.”

“Nic, hold on, please,” Jaxon cries. “I’m here at the hospital. I’m waiting for you. Hold on.”

“I’m trying,” I say once the contraction has passed. “But I’m not sure your daughter is listening.

She wants to come, Jaxon. I’m not sure I can stop. I have to push.”

I hear Jaxon yelling to someone.

“Almost there!” the driver bellows.

“I see you,” Jaxon shouts. “I see the limo. Hold on, babe!”

I squeeze Marty’s hand. “Marty, it hurts.”

“I know, Nicky. We’re pulling up now. You can do this.”

The limo rolls to a stop. The doors open. Marty gets out and people rush in. Jaxon. A nurse.

And… Hudson McQuaid?

“Where the hell is Dr. Peterman?” Jaxon asks, blocking him.

“Fishing,” Hudson says. “He’s on his way, but by the looks of things, he may not make it.”

“You are not delivering my baby,” Jaxon says. “There has to be someone else.”

I wave a hand. “While you two are arguing, I have a human coming out of me.”

“Get over yourself, Calloway,” Hudson says. “Your wife is having a baby. You’re about to become a father. Now we can sit here and argue, or we can deliver your fucking kid. I’m a trained physician, Jaxon. I got her. I promise.”

Jaxon moves aside and sits next to me.

“Nicky, I need to check you,” Hudson says. The nurse helps me with my underwear and shines a bright light while he examines me between the legs. “No time to transport. She’s crowning. Nicky, go ahead and push.”

“Here?” Jaxon shouts.

“Jaxon, take her hand. Nicole, give me a big push.”

I squeeze Jaxon’s hand and bear down hard. It feels good to push, even though it still hurts.

“Okay, stop. Keep breathing, but don’t push,” Hudson says. He talks to the nurse, something about the umbilical. I feel his hands down there. “Now, push again. Give it all you’ve got. Jaxon, you’ll want to watch.”

I scream and feel like I’m being torn in two, then almost instantly, relief comes. Then I hear my baby cry. Then I hear cheers from what sounds like hundreds of people outside the limo.

“Is she okay?”

“She appears healthy,” Hudson says. “Now let’s get you up to the floor so we can cut the cord and get you both cleaned up and checked out. Mark the time. 4:42 p.m.”

He lays my daughter on my chest, and the nurse covers us with a blanket. “Happy birthday,” I tell the beautiful, perfect tiny human.

Jaxon leans down and kisses her, then me. Then his ring. “I didn’t know I had this much love to give. My god, Nicky, my heart is so incredibly full.”

With a lot of help, I scoot out of the limo, and we’re placed on a gurney. Applause surrounds us, and phone cameras are recording.

Marty comes over and congratulates us. “Why do I have the feeling you’re going to be the leading story on tonight’s news?”

Jaxon thanks Marty, and then we’re whisked to the maternity ward.

Thirty minutes later, after our daughter is examined and bathed, she’s wheeled over to me in a rolling bassinet. Jaxon picks her up and places her in my arms. “Now can we discuss names?”