Room for Just a Little Bit More(36)

Wait.

That was a lot of pee. I clenched my muscles together to make it stop, but it didn’t work. Holy crap, that wasn’t pee—my water just broke!

“Fred!” I panicked, my eyes flashing to his.

“Do you need help to the bathroom?” He stuttered, reaching for some paper towels.

“My water just broke!” I yelled, waving my hands around like a completely insane first-time mom, not the calm and cool nurse I was supposed to be.

Fred’s face turned red as he rubbed the back of his neck, staring at the puddle underneath me. “Uhhh… I don’t know what that means.”

I rubbed my eyes with my hands, praying this was all a dream and that I’d wake up and be sleeping on the couch. “It means that my water just broke and the baby is coming today.”

Fred started running in circles from the island to the kitchen table, back to the island, back to the table.

“Fred!” I didn’t want to move and slip and hurt myself or the baby. “Grab the phone and call my mom.”

He took his phone out of his pocket, but before he could dial, the front door opened.

“Soph!” Fred called out, still staring at the puddle on the floor like he was afraid it was going to get up and start running after him.

“What’s all the yelling about—” Mom froze when she walked around the corner. “Did you pee?”

“No. My water broke.”

She gasped. “Holy shit!”

My mom never swore. I wanted to laugh, but I was afraid the pressure on my belly would force poor Little Murphy to slide out and land in the puddle on the kitchen floor.

“Here’s what we have to do: Mom, you grab a towel and lay it on the seat of your car. Then we’re going to drive to my house and grab the bag in the closet by the front door, and you’re gonna drive me to the hospital. Fred, I know he’s practicing before his game, but can you try and get a hold of Brody?”

“Sure thing. Do we know where he is?” Fred asked.

I sighed. “Chicago.” All I could do was pray that the stars would align and he’d be able to get back in time.

Everyone started moving all at once. Mom grabbed a wad of paper towels and cleaned up the floor so that I could walk to the front door safely. Fred helped me down the steps and into the car while mom ignored my plan and instead sprinted along the trail through the woods to my house and grabbed the bag. She sprinted back, threw it in the car, and we were off.





“Well look at you.” Dr. Newman grinned at me as she came into the room and grabbed a set of latex gloves out of the box on the wall.

“Hi.” I sighed. Using my arms, I tried to adjust myself to sit up in the bed.

“Relax, relax.” She touched my shoulder, stopping me from getting up. “What’s wrong? I thought you were ready to get this baby out of you.”

“I am, but Brody’s out of town. We can’t get a hold of him.”

Mom, who was sitting in a chair next to my bed, reached out and squeezed my hand. “Fred has left a few messages and we’re gonna keep trying.”

“Relax back. I’m just gonna check you real quick.”

Dr. Newman’s hand slipped under the blanket on my lap. A quick pinch as she was pulling her glove off, frowning slightly.

“What?” I asked, panic swelling up in my chest.

“How long ago did you say your water broke?”

“Uh…” I looked at my mom and then at the clock on the wall. “About six hours ago?”

“And you had your epidural three hours ago?”

I nodded.

“Okay, because you’re at nine centimeters. This baby will probably be here in about an hour, maybe less. We’re gonna start prepping the room.”

My heart sank. “Okay.”

My mom stood up and draped her arm over my shoulders, leaning her head against mine. “Oh, honey, I know you’re sad, but I’ll be here and we’ll see if we can keep trying to get a hold of him. Maybe he can come home earlier and at least be here tonight sometime.”

Everything from that point on moved very quickly. They had the room prepped in no time, my legs in stirrups, and Dr. Newman was in her gown with her clear face guard on, sitting at the end of the bed.

Taylor, one of my coworkers and good friends, stood next to me, watching the monitor and holding my hand.

“All right, Kacie. As soon as you feel the next contraction, go ahead and start pushing.”

Tears streamed down my face, but I felt no pain. I didn’t want to push. I wanted to keep this baby in until Brody got here and could see it. I wanted him to hold my hand and kiss my forehead. I wanted him to be the first one to hold his baby.

My stomach tightened up as a contraction started. I squeezed my mom’s and Taylor’s hands and closed my eyes tight, pushing as hard as I could as Taylor counted down for me, “Five… four… three… two… one. Relax.”

My head fell back against the bed and more tears fell.

Taylor gasped above me.

I looked up at her, but she was looking somewhere past me, over my shoulder. I followed her eyes and my breath caught too.



Brody.



A sob escaped me as he whipped his coat off and threw it on the chair in the far corner of the room, still wearing his practice jersey.