Chapter Three #3
“She’ll be savage,” Andrew replied. “No mercy for anyone.”
“Not even us,” Kelsey agreed.
Royce looked across the bed at Sawyer, who wore the dreamiest expression on his face.
He knew his husband was picturing their future card game nights with their little family.
Old Maid had been Royce’s favorite as a kid because he’d learned how to read his opponents and use their weaknesses against them to rig the outcome in his favor, skills that still came in handy.
Sawyer was just as analytical when playing cards, but he focused more on probabilities and statistics than human behavior.
None of their prowess mattered because Kelsey trounced them all in four rounds.
Mild, sporadic contractions started around four in the morning, and Kels transitioned into active labor by six.
Trinity and Aggie both came by just before seven to say they were leaving and to introduce the day shift nurses, Megan and Shannon.
The contractions were consistent and looked extremely painful, but Kelsey breathed through them with Sawyer’s help.
Andrew massaged her feet, and Royce talked her through the peaks and valleys.
At times, Royce’s pulse matched the trajectory of each contraction on the graph, spiking at the little mountain peak and slowing as Kelsey’s pain ebbed.
Darla’s precious heartbeat was the soothing soundtrack that kept him sane through it all.
“How are you doing with the pain?” Megan asked.
“Manageable,” Kelsey said with a slight wince as a contraction peaked. “Don’t need meds yet.”
“Let me know if that changes,” Megan told her as she studied her chart.
“On paper, your labor is progressing perfectly. Contractions are increasing on cue as you get closer to the transition phase, but we don’t really know how things are going unless we check your dilation.
Looks like your cervix was fully effaced, and you were dilated to four centimeters when Trinity checked at five thirty.
Dr. Yang will examine you when she comes in for rounds, so I won’t check you now.
It just increases the risk of infection, and no one wants that.
Hit the call button if you need anything at all. ”
“I will,” Kelsey assured her. She closed her eyes and rubbed a hand over her belly. “I don’t need fingers in my cervix to know we’re almost there, Lil Sketti Squash.”
A surge of panic flooded through Royce. He casually leaned closer to the bed. “Are we talking minutes or hours?”
Kelsey giggled and patted his head. “She’ll get here when she gets here.” She opened one eye to look at him. “But I’d say two hours tops.”
Royce glanced at the clock and noted that it was seven thirty.
He kissed the back of Kelsey’s palm and went back to studying the monitor for the next spike.
Holy shit. Was he really just two hours away from meeting their daughter?
Royce glanced over at his husband and found him looking just as shell-shocked.
“Two hours?” Sawyer mouthed.
Royce’s head suddenly felt funny, and someone turned down the volume in the room.
The edges of his vision grew fuzzy, and black dots danced in front of his eyes.
Sawyer’s mouth moved, but Royce couldn’t hear the words for the weird buzzing noise.
Was that a monitor? Was something wrong with Darla?
He tried to claw his way through the fog, but he felt trapped.
The harder he fought, the smaller his world became until his vision narrowed down to two tiny pinpricks.
What the hell was happening to him? A hand landed on his shoulder, the touch warm and comforting.
Sawyer’s lips pressed to his ear, and a whisper of sound traveled through the canal to penetrate his brain.
“Breathe, baby.” Sawyer’s voice was a little louder this time, and it had the same magic effect as always.
As Royce’s vision expanded, the room became brighter, and he noticed his pounding heart and restricted breathing. He sucked in a lungful of air and coughed.
“Easy,” Sawyer cautioned, turning Royce’s stool until they were eye to eye. He took Royce’s hand and placed it over his heart. “Breathe with me. Nice and slow.”
Royce closed his eyes and concentrated on the rise and fall of Sawyer’s chest as he matched his breaths.
Each inhale and exhale brought him back to his body until his awareness fully returned with embarrassment hot on its heels.
He scanned the faces he loved and was relieved that he saw only concern or sympathy.
“I don’t know what just happened to me, but I didn’t like it. ”
Kelsey reached over and patted his hand. “Sweetheart, you’ve realized your entire life is going to change in a few hours, and you had a minor panic attack.”
“Are you sure?” Royce asked. “I’ve never experienced anything like that before.”
“We’re sure,” Sawyer, Kelsey, and Andrew said.
But Royce wasn’t convinced. “I think it was an alien abduction.”
Kelsey snorted. “Drama queen.”
“I recognize a panic attack when I see one,” Sawyer said, using his strong fingers to massage the tension from Royce’s neck.
“The same thing happened to Andrew,” Kelsey said. “You’re never as ready as you think you are.”
“Her nursery is ready,” Royce said. “We bought the best infant car seat on the market. Her clothes are clean and ready to go. We have diapers, butt cream, formula, and all the bottle stuff on hand. We’re ready.”
Andrew chuckled. “There’s physically ready, and then there’s emotionally ready.
Buying all the stuff is the easy part.” He tapped his temple.
“Preparing this is an entirely different beast. About this time, panic sets in because you realize this tiny human will depend on you for their very existence and well-being. And just when you think you know what you’re doing, life will throw you a curveball.
Sleep schedules change, skin develops sensitivity to laundry detergents, and suddenly, they don’t like the baby food they loved just the day before.
You just roll with it, man. I won’t tell you there’s nothing to worry about.
You’re cops. You know there’s everything to fear in this insane world, but you’ll never be alone. ”
Royce turned to Sawyer and smiled. “We’re ready. Not just the clothes and food. We can do this.”
“It’s a damn good thing because she’s coming, ready or not,” Kelsey said.
“Maybe you guys should go down to the cafeteria and grab a bite to eat while you still can,” Andrew suggested. “Enjoy your last few hours as the dynamic duo.”
“Nah,” Royce said. “I wouldn’t feel right about eating when Kelsey can’t.”
“Didn’t stop you from stuffing snacks in your face,” Kels said. “You reeked of powdery fake cheese when you came back to my room.”
“Cheese puffs,” Andrew told her.
“I hate those damn things, but I craved them as soon as I got a whiff of you three.”
“Sorry,” Sawyer said.
Kelsey tensed suddenly and looked down at her stomach. “Oh, I think I’ll get to eat faster than I’d expected.”
“What’s that mean?” Sawyer asked.
Royce turned to the monitor and saw a huge contraction building. The damn thing looked like Mount Everest, and he turned to the bed to help coach Kelsey through the monster.
Kelsey gasped in the middle of Sawyer’s breathing count and said, “I just felt Lil Sketti Squash move into position. Call the nurse.”