Nina
“Push!” I coached Lila because Duke hadn’t made it to the hospital yet. He was on a hunting trip with Artimus, and the baby had come two weeks early.
“I told him it was a bad idea,” Lila said through clenched teeth as her face turned redder. “He’s going to miss the birth—I just know he is.”
She was beside herself about her husband not being there to welcome their second son. I patted her hand to soothe her. “He’ll make it. Ashton is waiting at the airport to hurry him along. Don’t you worry. We take our roles as aunt and uncle very seriously.”
“I know you do.” She smiled at me as the pain ebbed. “You two are a Godsend to us all. I want you to know that, Nina. I don’t know what we would do without you both.”
We did help them out a lot, I had to admit that. “We love spending time with those little ones.”
Julia came waddling in, her hand on her back. “How’s she coming along, Nina?”
Lila snapped, “I’m right here. You can ask me, you know!”
Julia smiled. “I know. But ever since you got pregnant, you’ve been a real bitch, sweetie. I can’t wait for your hormones to return to normal so that you can be Lila again.”
“Carrying this ten-pounder is a bitch, not me, Julia Wolfe,” Lila said with seething anger.
Julia laughed as she took a seat. “I do know a thing or two about carrying around a lot of baby weight. If you will recall, the twins were eleven pounds of combined weight. And I didn’t let it get to me. It’s not the weight; it’s the hormones, trust me.”
“You think you know everything,” Lila hissed, then quickly began to moan as another contraction began revving up. “Shit!”
“Breathe,” I coached as I rubbed her shoulders. “Just breathe, Lila.”
“I am breathing,” she whined. “And it still hurts.”
“You’re talking,” I corrected her. “If you’re talking, you’re not breathing. So be quiet and breathe, Lila.”
She looked at me with glaring eyes. “Fine!”
She was mad at the world, but at least it would be over soon. She had gained a phenomenal amount of weight. She kept saying the baby was huge, but no doctor had said that. It was all her own idea.
I, too, couldn’t wait for her hormones to get back to normal.
Julia was due next week, and she had gained hardly any weight. Her tummy looked like a little basketball with just one little boy inside of her. She was happy as a clam with her pregnancy. “In no time you’ll have this boy of yours out, and then you’ll feel so much better. You’ll see, Lila.”
The contraction ended, and Lila’s body went slack as she lay back on the bed. “He can’t come quick enough.”
A nurse popped in. “Speaking of that, we can get you that epidural now. You’ve probably got another hour or two before he comes, and we can get you comfortable now. If you want to.”
Lila’s eyes nearly popped out of her head. “Yes, I want to have that done very much and very soon—before another contraction hits, preferably.”
With a nod, the nurse left us, and Julia took a long look at Lila. “I would’ve said that you should really think about having this baby all natural, the way I’m planning on having mine. But seeing as you’re already red in the face and extremely agitated, I say the epidural may be completely necessary in this case.”
Lila smirked at Julia. “Ya’ think?” Then she flipped her off just for the hell of it. She’d been flipping people the bird for months now. I would be glad when that would end, too.
“Come on, Lila. Behave yourself. The hard part is almost over. The epidural will take all the pain away, and we can all just enjoy the rest of this delivery,” I urged her as I rubbed her shoulders.
In minutes, the epidural had been done, and Lila was acting like her old self again. “Sorry about that, you guys.”
Julia leaned up to ask, “For the last few hours or the last nine months, dear?”
That earned her another bird from our friend, and I laughed. “Come on, Lila!”
Then I got one, too, and nearly doubled over with laughter. I wasn’t sure what had me feeling so amused. It wasn’t like I’d had an easy morning, dealing with Lila. But there I was, laughing it up.
Julia pointed at a chair. “You should take a seat, Nina. No reason to be standing up all this time. Especially since Lila’s doing so much better and won’t need you to rub her shoulders so much.”
I took a seat and pulled up one foot to massage it. I had been on my feet for quite a few hours after all.
The door flew open, and Duke came in, huffing and puffing like he’d just run all the way from the airport. “Did I miss it?”
Lila smiled. “No.”
Julia laughed. “Just the worst part. It’s all smooth sailing from here on out.”
Ashton and Artimus hustled in behind him, making the small room seem even smaller. “Did we make it in time?” Ashton eying the scene in the room.
“You did.” I got up and went to stand at the foot of Lila’s bed. Rubbing her feet, I smiled at her. “I guess we should let you two enjoy bringing this baby into the world alone then.”
Julia made a gasping sound, and when I turned around, I saw her pointing at the floor right where I was standing. “Her water broke!”
I looked down to see the puddle of water that was right under me. Then looked at Lila. The blanket that covered her wasn’t wet at all. I didn’t understand until Ashton came up behind me.
He wrapped his arms around me, holding my swollen belly. “That’s not her water; it’s yours. You’re in labor, Nina. Haven’t you felt any pains at all?”
Our due date was two weeks away, too. Lila and I had only two days between our projected due dates. “I’ve felt a little off, but I thought that was due to helping Lila out.”
Lila pointed to the door. “Get your ass out there and tell the nurse what’s happened. It seems our sons will share a birthday, Nina. How cool is that?”
“So cool!” I turned and wrapped my arms around Ashton. “We’re going to have our baby, Ashton!”
Julia made a little whine then stood up. “I just had a contraction.” She beamed at me. “I think we’re all going to have our sons on the same day, you guys!”
And with that, our happily ever after had finally come.
The End.
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