Chapter Thirty-Four

 

 

 

 

Nick

 

 

 

 

 

Kelly hadn’t had much sleep. Her tossing and turning was keeping us both awake but I didn’t want her to know that. She would have only felt bad. When she rolled out of bed, I’d been instantly on alert and ready to help her in any way I could. She’d waved me off, but I couldn’t help watching her walk away. Her protruding stomach and perfect shaped ass still took my breath away.

My head fell back against the pillow and I decided that I’d rub her back when she came back. Hopefully it would relax her enough to get her mind off of the discomfort.

I felt myself start to drift back off and jerked awake a moment later when I realized that Kelly hadn’t returned. I heard muffled voices in the living room and wondered if Megan had been awake, too. The clock said it wasn’t even three yet, though, so I forced myself to my feet to check it out.

As I moved through the doorway to the living room, scratching my bare chest, the sight there caused my body to freeze. A woman was standing near the dining room table, facing the kitchen I couldn’t see, and she was holding a gun. She pointed it into the small area where I knew my wife was.

“Please,” I heard Kelly murmur quietly. “Don’t do this.”

I stepped closer, trying to make out the woman in the dark room, and my stomach dropped once I realized who she was. Her long, dark hair looked black and it was sticking up in errant directions, as if she’d stopped caring. Her body was slender, even smaller than Kelly was normally, and the clothes hanging off of her small frame appeared rumpled and dirty. When she spoke, her voice sounded eerily calm.

“You stole him from me. We would be married right now if it wasn’t for you. He’s my whole life. My future.”

“Apolla,” I said, my voice steady and firm. “What are you doing?”

She jumped, looking towards me but still pointing the gun into the kitchen. “Nick. You should go back to bed.”

“I can’t do that. You need to put the gun down.”

“She ruined everything!” Apolla raised her voice and I hated how the gun trembled in her grip. “You were supposed to be back in Greece now or me here. I love you, Nickolas.”

I shook my head and took a few slow steps forward. “Apolla. It’s not her fault. It’s my fault. Everything that’s happened has been my idea. She’s innocent.”

“No.” She straightened up her arm and jerked it towards Kelly’s direction. “She needs to go.”

“Diana,” I heard Kelly say quietly. “I didn’t know. I’m sorry.”

Apolla took a small step forward and rage clouded her face. “Shut up! You don’t deserve him! I’ve hated watching you for months. You have the life I should have and you aren’t worthy.”

“Please. Put the gun down.” My voice was loud but gentle with a calmness I didn’t feel. I was fucking panicking inside. “Come on, Apolla. Put the gun down and we can talk.”

Apolla shook her head quickly and flicked her gaze to me for a second. “I knew that you were with other women, my love. I forgave you for every single one. I knew that you would be faithful once we were married. I’ve waited for months for you to walk away from her like you do the others. When are you going to do that, Nick?”

“Please.” My voice had dropped to a whisper. I had no idea how to respond to her question without pissing her off even more. “Please, just put it down.”

“I waited. You were going to change your mind, I knew you would. Even after your father called mine and told us that the arrangement was off, I knew you would change your mind, so I came over here to wait. But you haven’t. Why not? Don’t you know how much I love you? I’ve watched her and she doesn’t deserve you, Nick.”

“She’s pregnant. That’s my baby. If you hurt her, you’ll hurt a part of me. You don’t want to hurt me, do you?”

“Oh, I know she’s pregnant. That’s all she’s bragged about for months but I can give you another baby, Nick. That’s not a big deal.” She kept her eyes fixed on Kelly and I wanted to vomit. I shook my head rapidly and took another step.

“Apolla.”

My eyes met a new pair as Owens stepped out of the bedroom slowly, behind where Apolla was. She was still focused on Kelly and I gave Owens a pleading look. He just nodded and stepped closer to her.

I wasn’t sure what his plan was, but we forgot to factor in Simba. He appeared behind Owens, suddenly realizing there was an intruder in the house, and his bark startled Apolla, causing the gun to go off. Owens instantly tackled her to the ground and two more gunshots could be heard before he got it knocked out of her grip.

“You good?” I yelled to him as I ran past where he was, not bothering to stop. He said that he was and I skidded into the kitchen to where Kelly was sitting on the floor, her back against the dishwasher. “Kelly. Sweetheart.”

Her face was terrified and her blue eyes wild when they met mine in the dim light. “I’m okay. She hit the microwave.”

“Oh, god.” I fell to my knees and pulled her in my arms, letting out a long sigh as her whole body shook uncontrollably. “You’re okay. I’m so sorry.”

“Where’s Kelly? The police are on their way,” I heard Megan saying to Owens in the dining area. “Is that… Is that blood yours, baby?”

Blood. I pressed a kiss to Kelly and scrambled across the floor to where Owens was holding Apolla down as she screamed, his knee against her shoulder blades. Blood streamed down his arm and he winced as Megan touched his skin.

“It looks like it just grazed it,” she said with a sigh of relief. Her eyes caught mine and they widened. “How is she?”

“She’s okay. Owens, you good?”

I didn’t have a chance to hear his response because Kelly let out a pained whimper. I rushed back to her and saw the wince on her face.

“Kel?”

She looked up at me, clutching her stomach with her hands. “I think my water broke. I’m having contractions. Real ones.”

“Shit. How often?”

“Too often,” she groaned again, slamming her eyes shut. I stood, lifting her into my arms, and looked at Megan frantically.

“Put her in bed,” she instructed as she held a towel as a compress to Owens’ arm. “I’ll be right there. An ambulance should be on the way.”

Kelly sucked in a breath as another contraction hit and I shook my head, pressing my lips to her forehead.

“No holding your breath. You have to breathe, hot stuff.”

“It hurts so bad,” she whimpered as I laid her on the bed. “I changed my mind, Nicky. I want drugs. Lots and lots of drugs.”

I chuckled and grabbed the hem of her soaked shorts before slowly pulling them down. Her water had definitely broken. “I’m going to get you out of your wet clothes, okay?”

My poor wife groaned again as another contraction hit, making them right on top of each other, and I sucked in a breath when I got her underwear down.

“Shit.”

“What?” Kelly asked, her voice frantic. I forced a calm smile to my face and shook my head.

“I’m going to wash my hands, sweetheart.” I leaned over and pressed a kiss to her lips. “Looks like our baby is eager to make an appearance.”

I could hear people in the living room and Megan appeared in the bedroom doorway just as I had just finished washing my hands, her medical bag on her arm.

“He’s going to need stitches but I’ve put a compression bandage on him for now. The police are here and the ambulance is five minutes away. How is she? Did her water actually rupture?”

“She’s, uh… The baby is crowning,” I said simply as I grabbed the stack of receiving blankets that were in the bassinet next to the bed. Megan’s eyebrows shot up and she went to examine her sister, like she didn’t believe me.

“Oh, wow. We’re definitely at station five.” She offered her sister a shaky smile. “You’re having a baby in your bed. You really are a hippy.”

“Don’t make me laugh,” Kelly moaned, a smile pulling at her lips. “I need to push.”

I shook my head quickly. “Not yet, Kel.”

“How many babies have you delivered?” Megan asked me, her voice a whisper, and I swallowed as I gripped my wife’s knee.

“None. You?”

Megan let out a huff of laughter. “One during my clinicals. We can do this. We can wait for the ambulance but they’re going to just deliver her here because she won’t make it to the hospital. I’d rather it be one of us and not some random EMT.”

I nodded my head and looked at my sister-in-law. “I want to do it. Is that okay with you?”

“You’re the father,” she replied with a laugh before pressing a kiss to my cheek. “I think it should be you. I’ll be right here, too. With Simon, we have two paramedics and a nurse. We’ve got this.”

“The police need Kelly’s statement… What is going on?” Owens asked as he walked in, a police officer following behind him. When he took in our positions, his eyes widened. “Well, fuck. Are you delivering in here?”

“Yeah. Come help us.” I looked at the officer and shook my head. “Do you mind waiting in the living room?”

He nodded and backed out of the room quickly. Megan climbed into the bed next to Kelly and took one hand while Owens stood on the other side with her other. Megan helped Kelly position her legs and gave me a nod.

“Okay, hot stuff,” I said as I kneeled on the bed, directly between her legs. It was a position I was extremely familiar with but never dreamed I’d be there in that capacity. The thought of delivering babies always made me feel queasy and I was glad I’d never had to do it. In that moment, however, the top of my baby’s head was visible and I was pretty sure it was the most beautiful and weirdest thing I’d ever seen. “Go ahead and push when you feel like you have to.”

She did as I said and Megan counted her down, letting her rest for a few seconds in between. Kelly shook her head after three pushes.

“I’m so glad I got that Brazilian wax done last week. You weren’t supposed to be watching from that position. Our sex life is never going to be normal again.”

I chuckled and offered her a grin. “You know what the hottest thing in the world is, Kelly? You having my baby.”

It was also the scariest thing in the world but I wouldn’t admit that to her at that moment. I guided my child’s head out and swallowed as I looked up to meet Kelly’s frantic, blue eyes.

“The head is out. I’m so proud of you, sweetheart.”

Megan nodded in agreement and pressed a kiss to her sister’s cheek. “You’d doing such a good job. Push again, Kel. You’re almost there.”

The same police officer came in with EMTs behind him but Owens shooed them out, asking them to wait until we completed the delivery to come in. I shot him a grateful look. For Kelly’s sake, I didn’t want a lot of people around to stress her out even more.

It was eight pushes total when I rotated the baby, directed the shoulders out one-by-one, and pulled my child into my hands. The tiny little human had pale, wrinkly skin, eyes scrunched up in anger, and matted brown hair covered the top of a small, round head. My eyes drank in every feature of the baby, counting all ten fingers, ten toes, and one extra appendage between the legs.

“It’s a boy.” My voice was a whisper and I heard everyone gasp around me.

I stared down at him for a moment as the full weight of what had just happened settled over me. I’d just delivered my son. I was a father. I never would have thought I could love anyone or anything as much as I loved Kelly but I was dead wrong. The small, pale, wrinkly, angry little guy in my arms firmly took his spot in my heart. I held him up so Kelly could see and she fell back to the pillows with a gasp.

“A boy,” she sobbed, tears streaking down her face. “We have a son.”

“He’s so gorgeous,” I said as I placed him onto Kelly’s chest. Megan was instantly there with a bulb syringe and he let out a loud cry when she suctioned out his mouth and nose.

“There he is,” Megan murmured, a smile on her face as she helped Owens wipe him down with the receiving blankets I’d grabbed. “That’s your baby, Kelly. You did it.”

“Oh, god. What just even happened?” Kelly asked as she ran her fingers down his slimy head, her voice slightly hysterical. “Did we seriously just have the baby at home?”

Megan had her stethoscope to the baby’s chest when I leaned forward to kiss Kelly’s face several times. Owens pat me on the shoulder, wincing when he jostled his arm, and I stared down at our son in awe.

“He’s perfect.”

Kelly nodded, tears streaming down her face as she touched him gingerly. “He is.”

A stretcher was pushed into the room moments later when Owens yelled that it was clear and Megan helped Kelly hold the baby to her chest as I lifted her onto it. I looked at the EMT and spoke while I grabbed my t-shirt from the nightstand.

“Twenty-seven-year-old woman, spontaneous vaginal birth. Cord is intact and placenta isn’t delivered yet. I’m riding with you.”

Megan pressed a kiss to her sister’s face and spoke to her quietly. When she pulled away, she wiped a tear and looked at me.

“Baby’s thirty second APGAR was ten. He’s perfect. Let Simon ride with you and I’ll bring your stuff to the hospital.”

Owens shook his head. “I’m fine. We’ll meet you there.”

I let the two of them argue it out as I got into the ambulance with my family.