Chapter 23
Tally was tossingand turning in bed, like she couldn’t get comfortable. She’d popped a lot last week, and the last ultrasound showed that the baby was starting to turn, so the uncomfortableness was only going to increase. Right now, she basically had a basketball strapped to her front, and that was never going to be the easiest way to sleep.
I nuzzled her cheek. “Baby, are you okay?” Sleep was sitting there at the edge of the darkness, because when Tally couldn’t sleep, none of us could. Jesse and I had been switching out every night, just so one of us was in the land of the living each day.
She sighed. “No. I think I’m having contractions.”
Any drowsiness fled, like she’d just shot adrenaline right into my veins. “You think you’re having contractions?”
Another heavy sigh. “No, I know I’m having contractions. For a couple of hours now.”
I shot out of bed, staring down at her calm face. I was panicking. I’d told myself I wouldn’t panic when this moment came, but fuck that. “We should head to the hospital,” I said softly, when really, I wanted to say why the hell didn’t you tell me earlier?!
She nodded, pulling herself into an upright position. I grabbed my phone and called Jesse, who answered on the third ring. “It’s go time. Call Will and Colin.”
I hung up and started gathering all the things she’d need. Does she need her body pillow? What about that inflatable ball thing?
“The bag is in the corner, Hayes.”
I was supposed to be the calm one. She was the one about to push out a human.
Grabbing the bag she indicated, I picked it up and resisted the urge to pick her up too and sprint to the car. I walked around her in circles as she pulled on her sleep shorts and a hooded sweatshirt.
I looked for her keys, but couldn’t find them. Where would she put the keys? I checked the kitchen bench, the coffee table, and the fridge.
“They’re on the hook by the door,” she said softly. Sure enough, there they were, hanging by the door.
Jesse appeared, and I’d never been so relieved to see anyone in my whole life. “Thank fuck you’re here.”
He gave me a wide-eyed look, then moved toward Tally. “Ready to have a baby?”
She winced, holding her stomach. “No. Can we skip this part?”
Wrapping an arm around her shoulder, he looked over at me. “Go put the bag in the car and take several deep breaths, man. You look like you’re about to pass out.”
I escaped out of there so fast, you could probably smell burning rubber. Well, you could’ve, if I’d been wearing shoes. Fuck.
I loaded her suitcase into the car, then raced back to the front door, pulling on my sneakers without any socks. Jesse led Tally out of the house and over to the car, talking to her quietly about how far apart her contractions were, and all these other things that I knew were important but had escaped my brain.
Jesse held out his hand for the keys, and I gave them over quickly. I didn’t trust myself to push a shopping cart right now, let alone drive Tally to the hospital. I climbed into the back seat with her, holding her close. She had three more contractions on the fifteen-minute drive to the hospital, and every single time, I held my breath through the entire thing.
She was squeezing my fingers so tightly that I was worried they might break, but I’d let her pulverize my entire body if it helped.
She panted as the latest contraction eased. “I’m scared, Hayes. What if I can’t do it?”
I held her tightly to me. “You can do this, sweetheart. You’re Tally fucking Palmer. You’ve conquered every hurdle the world has put in your way. In a few short hours, you’ll have our baby in your arms, and you’ll be the most beautiful mother on the planet.” I lifted her fingers to my lips. “I’m scared too. Petrified. But I know deep down in my gut, you have this.”
We pulled into the emergency department, and I gently helped her out of the car. Jesse kissed her deeply, then rested his forehead against hers. “I’ll park the car and call Will and Colin. I’ll be back soon.”
She nodded and waddled into the reception area, where they sent her straight up to the maternity ward, after getting her a wheelchair. As soon as we stepped from the elevator, it was a flurry of activity. Nurses bustled around, getting her a bed, strapping her to monitors and doing visual checks.
When Jesse appeared with Will and Colin, I could have cried with relief. The nurse raised her eyebrows at so many men in one room.
Will marched over to the bed and kissed Tally’s forehead, speaking to her in low tones. She burst into tears, and Colin looked like he was moments away from following suit. She clutched at her oldest friend’s shirt as he held her close. Their bond was something Jesse and I could only work toward. There was unconditional love there that was beautiful.
It was why I hadn’t protested when Tally had said she wanted Will to be the only one in the delivery room with her. I think Jesse had been a little disappointed, but he’d held it together. We respected her wishes, of course. She joked that it was because we’d only just gotten acquainted with her vagina; she didn’t want us to see a flashback of it stretched around a watermelon every time we went downstairs.
Apparently, it didn’t matter if Will did, since he already thought vaginas were gross.
She wanted us here in the hospital, though. She wanted us beside her as she labored, and that meant something. There would be plenty of time to see her give birth, because I was in it for the long haul. In two, five, ten years, when she was ready to have another baby, I would be there, holding her hand and telling her she was glorious.
When Will straightened, there were tears in his eyes, and that was all that was needed to push Colin over the edge. He burst into tears, and Tally laughed, waving him over so she could hug him too. They were family, those three, and soon, it would double in size. Because they’d be my family too. And given the look of peace on Jesse’s face, they’d be his too.
Will left them cuddling, and I wasn’t sure what Colin was saying to Tally, but it made her gasp and laugh through the next contraction.
Coming to stand beside us, Will dragged in a deep breath. “I’m fucking terrified.”
Jesse slapped him gently on the back. “We all are.”
His eyes flicked between us. “I’m glad she has you two. You’re good for her. I haven’t seen her this happy in so long, and you two play a big part in that.” He let out a shuddering breath. “Thank you for letting me be here too. I know you guys have all gotten closer, but I’m not sure I could have let you do this alone. If she needed me, and I wasn’t here…”
I squeezed his shoulder. “She wanted you, and we understand. The next one is all mine, though, got it?” I teased.
He gave me a tight smile and nodded. “You got it.”
Six hours later, Tally gave birth not to a little boy as expected, but a little girl. The ultrasound tech had said it was a guess, and apparently, she’d guessed wrong. When Will had walked into the waiting room to tell us, his face flushed and coated in tears, I’d been gobsmacked. Colin had cried harder, hugging Will tightly. I’d hugged Jesse, then Will too.
“Everything went perfectly. She’s just delivering the placenta, and they kicked me out for that. Apparently, there are some things I did not need to see. They’re just cleaning her up, then you guys can go and see her.”
What felt like a heartbeat later, we were staring down at the most beautiful baby I’d ever seen. Tally was in an exhausted slumber on the bed, and if I couldn’t see the monitors, I’d have been freaking out.
The baby was squishy and wrinkly, an odd shade between purple and pink, but she was gorgeous. I snapped a photo, then messaged my parents to let them know.
H: Surprise. It’s a girl. And she’s the most beautiful little girl in the whole world. Everything is perfect. Tally is doing well, textbook birth.
My parents were still in Texas, and we hadn’t really told them about the whole polyamory thing. But they knew Tally was my girlfriend, that she was pregnant, and while the baby wasn’t mine biologically, I wanted them to know that I was going to consider myself the baby’s parent in every way that mattered.
I hadn’t doubted that they would accept it easily. They’d talked to Tally on the phone a couple of times, and my mom had answered a bunch of her questions about babies and what to expect. She’d been great. They’d sent care packages, and talked about their grandbaby.
Mom: She absolutely is the most beautiful baby ever. Give Tally all our love and tell her we are so proud of her. Can’t wait to hold my brand-new granddaughter.
Now I was going to cry. Jesse wrapped an arm around my shoulder. “I might be biased, but she’s way cuter than any baby I’ve ever seen,” he whispered.
A nurse appeared and pointed down at her. “Would you like to hold her?” I nodded vigorously. “You’re Dad?”
Jesse couldn’t take his eyes off the baby. “We both are.”
The nurse didn’t even blink. “Well, congrats to the both of you. Come sit over here. Okay, now hold your arms like this.” She angled my arms, then slid the baby into them. She was so light, so tiny.
“Hello, beautiful girl,” I whispered. “I’m going to protect you and give you the world.”
Jesse’s fingers looked huge against her cheeks. “Me too.”
The nurse just grinned. “I have to wake your mama up to make sure she’s okay, pretty girl.” She gently shook Tally from her sleep, checking her temperature and asking about her pain and the stitches.
Stitches? Where would she have stitches?
Tally groggily answered all the nurse’s questions, and once the lady had closed the door, I rose to my feet. Jesse hovered, ready to catch the baby if I so much as looked like I’d drop her. I slowly made my way over and kissed Tally’s forehead and the exhausted lines around her eyes.
“God, you’re amazing. Do you know that?” Leaning forward, I carefully placed the baby into her arms. “Look what you made, sweetheart. She’s perfect.”
She sucked in a deep breath. “Hello, beautiful girl. Hello, Bobbi-June.”
The baby opened her tiny eyes and blinked up at her mama. Everything inside of me shifted and rearranged. Every priority I’d ever had, every dream I’d ever imagined, reformed itself around these two.
Jesse smiled widely. “Perfect. Bobbi-June Palmer. Welcome to the world, angel.”
We sat in silence, just staring at the baby, for an indeterminate amount of time. It could have been minutes or hours.
Colin and Will arrived in the room later, with the biggest bunch of flowers I’d ever seen, and Colin cried some more as he cooed over Tally and the baby.
At that moment, I didn’t think I could ever love two people as much as I loved the woman on that bed, and the tiny baby in her arms.