Chapter Thirty-Five

~James~

I couldn’t believe it.

I could not believe it. I was standing in the middle of Nicole’s room like a complete and utter dingus because she was about to give birth right in front of me.

Okay, maybe not about to, the doctor hadn’t even announced how dilated she was yet, but it certainly had to be coming soon. Judging by how close her contractions were, the baby could be anywhere from an hour to a half-day away.

I was never going to forget that scene when I nearly slid into the bathroom of her apartment. She was standing there, face red, hair askew and a look of such undiluted terror on her face that for a moment I had been afraid she was having a heart attack. But then the reality of the situation clicked when I saw the puddle of water at her feet and suddenly I was thrown into the plans that we had written up, but thought weren’t going to be used for another month or two.

She was only six months and two weeks along! That hardly seemed like enough. After all, she was growing a whole baby in there! An entire mini-human being was inside of her and there was no way that thirty-eight weeks was a sufficient amount of time!

But that didn’t seem to matter to the baby, because they were eager to arrive. We didn’t even know their gender yet! While I had been ordering things online, we still had so much more to get. And I hadn’t baby proofed the house yet.

We weren’t ready!

Another groan sounded from Nicole and I told myself to get it together. I could panic later, on my own time. Right now, the whole world needed to be about her and the baby.

“So, it looks like we’re on good track for dilution, but I’d like to keep track of it, okay.” The doctor said, shaking me from my reverie. I had zoned out so hard that I almost didn’t comprehend how only thirty seconds had passed, but I rolled with it.

“I’m going to get to have a natural birth?” Nicole asked, sounding happy for the first time since I had found her in the bathroom.

“I don’t want to promise because life can sometimes be a little unpredictable, but if everything goes as it’s supposed to, then yes, a natural birth should be in your future.”

She let out a long breath and collapsed back while the doctor took off his gloves and tossed them in the trash.

“I want a check on her every half hour, and if this persists beyond three hours, then every fifteen minutes after that.”

“Yes, doctor.”

The man turned to me, gave a short nod, then exited, no doubt to help some other pregnant woman who was going to hopefully have one of the most magical days of her life.

Would I even be a good father? Sure, I liked to think so, after all, my parents were amazing and fully supportive, but that didn’t mean I was guaranteed to be. What if I screwed this kid up? What if they turned out to be a bully or a sociopath or a drug addict? Why hadn’t I prepared more for this?

“Did you hear that?” Nicole asked. “We’re going to be able to do this naturally.”

I startled, once again getting lost in my own thoughts. I needed to stop doing that. I wanted to be present for the birth of my son, not off in lala land.

“We are,” I said, rushing to her side and grabbing her hand in mind. She was covered in sweat and her hair was plastered down to her head, but to me she couldn’t look any more beautiful. “All you have to do is breathe through it.”

“Easy for you to say, you’re not the one pushing them out.”

I laughed at that, but it was a much more frantic sound than I had hoped. “That’s true. But I’m here for you, whatever you need.”

“Any chance you could give me a better drug resistance, so I wouldn’t have to go without for this whole very painful process?”

Another dry chuckle from me. I knew from our planning stage after her first trip in the hospital that Nicole was extremely susceptible to any sort of narcotic. Even half doses would leave her unconscious and confused for hours. It was unfortunate, but she didn’t want to risk being remotely dopey for when her baby came into the world.

Our baby.

It was so insane to think that. Soon, I was going to have a child in the world. Me. The billionaire bachelor who had one-night stands in Vegas and got drunkenly married at some speed chapel. Unless something went horribly wrong, but I wasn’t going to allow myself to entertain those kinds of thoughts.

“Sorry, I don’t have that either.”

“I know,” she sighed, sinking back onto her pillows. I guessed that her most recent round of contractions was over, and she was going to get a few minutes to rest. I couldn’t imagine what it would be like once she went into active labor instead of the pre-labor she was in now. “And you know what?”

“No, what?” I said, using my free hand to give her water again.

“Although I’m in a lot of pain, and that pain is probably going to get worse. And even though I’m covered in sweat and about to have my vagina mangled by an interloper that’s half your DNA, I’m happy I met you.”

Wow, I couldn’t think of a kinder thing that she could have said. “I’m glad I met you too,” I said, pressing a single kiss to her damp forehead. “I wouldn’t give it up for anything.”

“Really?” she asked skeptically. “Even with the running away, disappearing for three months, pawning your ring, and needing you to foot the bill just for me to get a place?”

“Yes, even with all of that.”

“Man,” she said, poking my nose. “You need better friends.”

“Maybe I do. But I’ve got you now, don’t I?”

“Yeah, you do. You’re officially the best ex-husband anyone could ask for.”

“Future ex-husband,” I corrected.

“Right, future ex-husband.” She looked like she was going to say something, but a wave of pain cut her off.

“Again already?” I asked.

She nodded, breathing hard. I knew from the past two that she her ability to talk waned as the contractions went on, so she wasn’t going to be much conversation for a bit.

So, I just held on, helping her ride through the pain however she could, whether that be with damp cloths to the forehead or swigs of water, or even just rubbing her shoulders and hands. It was tense, but we made it through that one. And the next one. And the next.

It didn’t escape me that they were coming closer and closer together. I couldn’t remember how claustrophobic they had to be before it was considered show time, but I was guessing we were there yet.

The nurses came in as they should, and the first two times Nicole and I would ask them if there had been any progress, but they told us that she hadn’t dilated much more so after that we stopped inquiring. We figured if there was news, they would tell us. For the time we were just along for the ride.

“James, can you help me sit up?” Nicole asked after two full hours of sweating, panting and generally being in terrible pain.

“Of course,” I answered, standing up and trying to stack pillows behind her. But as much as I piled them up, they seemed to slide to the side or fall off the bed. After a good ten minutes of struggle, I finally gave up.

Kicking my shoes off, I slid into bed behind her, pulling her back to rest against my chest. Her entire hospital grown was soaked through with sweat and I worried about her leaking out all of her electrolytes.

Oh right, she had the IV in her arm. Of course, the hospital was going to take care of her needs. That’s why we were here after all.

But as the contractions grew worse and worse and worse, it was easy to feel like we were all alone. Just the two of us in a very scary sea where our boat was going to capsize at any moment.

The nurses came in again, bending down to check on how Nicole was doing. This time we both could tell by her expression that something was different.

“It’s time?” Nicole asked, her head perking up from my chest.

“It’s time,” she said, nodding excitedly. “You get ready, I’ll go call the doctor!”

“Yeah, I’ll get ready,” Nicole countered. “As soon as you tell me what that entails.”

But she was already gone, leaving the two of us with the revelation that soon everything we had been preparing for would be coming to a head.

Literally.