Room for Just a Little Bit More
Page 26

The next morning, Lucy, Piper, and I sadly kissed Brody good-bye, and I switched from begging Little Murphy to come out to begging it to stay in. Brody would be home in three days. I could keep my legs together until then.
The first two days were a breeze. Lucy and Piper went to school during the day and I lay on the couch over at my mom’s, keeping her company while they finished their own construction. With the money from the land she’d sold to Brody, she’d slowly redone all of the guest rooms and completely gutted the bathrooms on the guest wing of the inn. Now, she was working on her and Fred’s end. She knocked down a few walls and reconfigured the apartment, downsizing from three to two bedrooms by combining two of the rooms into a large master suite. She was elated that construction was almost done and she’d soon have her apartment back. She was keeping the smaller bedroom as a playroom/guest room for Lucy and Piper, and eventually Little Murphy, to come and play at Gigi’s house.
The third day was a little tougher. Braxton Hicks contractions were kicking my butt, making everything sore. Mom took the girls to school for me while I once again parked it on her couch.
Zach would be picking Lucy and Piper up from school and taking them to his house for the weekend, but he was on notification that if Little Murphy decided to come out, we wanted the girls to come to the hospital.
“How ya feeling?” Fred asked, bringing me a blueberry bagel with plain cream cheese—my favorite.
I sighed. “Like I have an eight-pound bowling ball trying to drop out of me every second.”
“Wow.” Fred shook the image from his head and disappeared back into the kitchen.
After scarfing my bagel down like I was in a race with somebody, I decided that maybe a shower would be a good idea. I carried my plate to the kitchen. “All right, Fred. I’m gonna head home and shower.”
He turned around from the sink and pulled his brows in tight, peeking at me over his glasses. “Want me to walk you?”
“Nah, I’m okay.” I turned to leave and felt a big sneeze coming. Leaning against the island, I crossed my legs at my ankles and squeezed tight, prepping for the sneeze in advance. “Ah-choo!”
“Bless you.”
“Thanks.” I started walking out of the kitchen and exactly what I didn’t want to happen, happened. Pee started dripping down my leg like an upside down fountain.
“Uh…” Fred froze as he walked around the corner to inspect the splat noise he was hearing on his kitchen floor.
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.”