Chapter 35
GABI
“Gabi?”
I open my eyes, even though I wasn’t really sleeping, as Shelby taps me on my arm.
“Maddox?” I ask but instead of him walking into the hospital room, she hands me my phone.
“Hey gorgeous.”
I let out the biggest breath and for the first time in a full day, I’m a little more relaxed. “Hey you.”
I’ve talked to Maddox plenty of times tonight. He’s kept me updated during every step of his disastrous travel day. But seeing him in a car, which means he’s in Tennessee, makes me feel so much better.
“Where are you?”
“We left the airport about twenty minutes ago,” he says. “We’re going… fast.”
“You know you don’t do me any good if you get into a car accident.”
“We’re fine!” I hear the voice of I’m assuming Simon before Maddox turns the camera. “Hi Gabi. I’m Simon. Nice to meet you. Don’t worry, we’re going to get him there by four thirty safe and sound.”
I look at the clock and double check the time. “But Memphis is more than three hours away. How are you doing that?”
“No one’s on the road and I’m an excellent driver.”
“Are you factoring in the time you’ll need when you get pulled over?”
He waves a hand at me. “I won’t get a ticket.”
“How?”
“I know a guy. It’ll be fine. Ask Ainsley. There’s nothing to worry about.”
“Clearly you haven’t met me.”
“Listen, all I need you to worry about is being comfortable. How far are you dilated? If you tell me beyond a six I’ll take it up to ninety-five miles per hour.”
“She should be,” I hear Maddox say before he begins to tell him every update I’ve given him over the past however many hours. I look up to Shelby, mouthing a “what the fuck is happening” as my boyfriend and a friend’s brother talk about my cervix.
That wasn’t on my delivery bingo card.
“Am I needed for this conversation?” I ask.
“Oh sorry. I’m here.”
I can’t help but laugh at this ridiculous, yet amazing, man. “It’s okay. You have fun on your road trip. I’ll be here preparing to birth your child.”
“I love you,” he says, all playfulness gone from his voice. “I love you so fucking much.”
“I love you too. Get here safely, okay?”
“I promise.”
3:20 a.m. CT
Maddox
Updates?
Gabi
Eight centimeters. Things are moving.
GPS says we’re getting there around 4:50.
Please don’t die.
We won’t. Oh! Did I tell you that Simon has the same stroller we bought? We’re stroller buddies!
Love that for you.
You aren’t as excited as I am, are you?
I am. You just can’t tell because I haven’t slept in twenty-four hours and I’ve decided we’re never having sex again.
That’s fair.
I’m going to go have a contraction now.
I wish I was holding your hand.
You say that now. Shelby might have to go to rehab after what I’ve done to her.
I’ll pay for it myself.
Get here safe.
Love you.
Love you kind of.
4:28 a.m. CT
“Fuck… fuck… fuck!”
This is the oddest feeling. I should be in pain, but I’m not. Not really. But the pressure. Oh God the pressure…
“Breathe Gab, I got you,” Shelby coaches out, doing her best to be here for me without ever taking a single class or reading one word of a book on childbirth. But like with most things Shelby does in life, she’s killing it.
I do the best I can as I let the contraction pass through me. Once it does, I fall back against the bed, spent and tired from now officially more than twenty-four hours of pain.
“Did I hear a big one?” my doctor says as she walks in my birthing suite with Ainsley.
“They can’t get worse, right?” I ask hopefully. “Like that was the max?”
“Sure,” the doctor says in a tone that’s anything but sure. “Let’s have a look at you.”
The doctor does her thing and I close my eyes for a second, taking advantage of the few minutes of silence.
“All right, nine centimeters, but ten is almost here,” she says. “It’s almost baby time.”
“No!” I shout. “Maddox. He’s almost here. He’s less than an hour away.”
The doctor looks at the clock before looking back at me. “I’ll wait as long as I can. But we’re checking on you frequently. This baby is coming soon, and as much as I want Maddox to be here for this, and for you, I’m not going to put you or the baby at risk.”
“I understand,” I say, but her words have sent my anxiety through the roof.
“Everything will be okay,” Ainsley says as she wipes my forehead with a washcloth. “He’ll get here. I know Simon. He won’t fail. Especially for something like this.”
She gives my hand a squeeze before leaving the suite.
“Shelby? I’m scared.” It’s the first time I’ve said those words out loud, but I can’t keep them in anymore. “I know he’s on his way. But I feel like things are coming fast now and he’s not here yet and I already feel another one coming on and…”
“Hey,” she says, leaning down and tapping her forehead to mine.
“No matter what, you’re going to do this.
Whether it’s me or Maddox standing next to you, you’re going to do this.
Hard things are petrified to see you coming.
No matter the obstacle, you’ve always overcome it.
And what you’ve done this past year? Starting your life over?
Divorcing the douche bag? Running the bakery?
Finding love again? Some people can’t do that in a lifetime.
But here you are, adding giving fucking birth to that list. I know it’s hard.
I know you’re tired, but if anyone can do this, it’s you Gabi Devereaux. ”
I feel the tears on my cheeks, but don’t have the energy to wipe them away. “Thank you. For everything.”
“What are best friends for? Though I would’ve liked to have known when we became friends that one day I’d have a front row seat to you pushing a human out of your vagina.”
“Would you not have been my friend if you knew that?”
She shrugs. “I would’ve had to consider it more.”
I’d throw a pillow at her if I had any energy. “I love you.”
“Love you too,” she says as she picks up her cell phone.
“What are you doing?”
“Messaging your baby daddy,” she says. “I’m here for you. But now that I think about it, I really don’t need to see my nephew being born.”