Chapter 56 #2
In fact, they actually got stronger and more frequent over the next couple hours.
Still manageable, but sharp enough to take the breath from my lungs for a moment.
Fuck. Maybe I should just call Maverick.
Try and see when he’d be home… He had said to call if I felt anything.
But when I checked my phone, there was no service.
Ugh. Great. Guess they weren’t kiddin’ when they said this would be a nasty storm.
I looked outside. The sky was black and angry, a fierce wind whistling, but it wasn’t pouring. At least not yet.
What was I supposed to do? Were Braxton Hicks contractions supposed to be this strong?
I let out a sigh. I should’ve read at least one of the books Charlie recommended me.
But I don’t know… I’d tried reading them.
There was so much medical jargon in it that I just…
I didn’t care. I imagined my water would break and boom we’d go to the hospital and I deal with all this shit with a medical professional.
I could ask Charlie, but that meant driving through the storm to get to her house. Another wave of pain cramped its way through me, stealing the air from my lungs and forcing me to lean against the countertop. Brandy leaned into my leg as I rode the wave.
As the pain finally ebbed, I glanced down at her. “What’dya say, girl? Wanna go for a drive?”
Adrive down the road may have not been—okay, wasn’t at all—my wisest decision.
I may have underestimated how hard it was raining…
and these fucking cramps. I wouldn’t call them contractions, because if they were contractions…
well then, this meant something else entirely and there was no way I was having this baby without Maverick here.
The thought alone terrified me. He was my rock, my support. He’d read all the books. Watched all the videos. He probably could deliver a baby at this point with how much he’d researched it.
Another wave of pain coursed through me, and I slammed on the brakes hard enough to make the tires lock up and slide through the mud before lurching to a halt. Fuck, fuck, fuck.
They were getting stronger. A lot stronger. And closer together. What had Charlie said… something about 4-2-1… No, that wasn’t it. 4-1…
5-1-1. Five minutes apart. One minute contractions for one hour. Well, they were definitely happening frequently. And the last three felt like they’d go on for fucking ever.
Panic knotted in my chest. I couldn’t be in labor. How? Had my water even broke? Wasn’t it supposed to be like a huge gush? I pulled out my phone to check if I had service, but nothing. Not even a damn bar.
It’s just cramps, Cheyenne. Nothin’ you can’t handle.
Easing off the breaks, I started for the main road again.
Thank fuck I hadn’t gotten it stuck. I needed to get to Charlie’s so I wasn’t alone.
Maybe she had service. But the wind and rain were so strong it took everything in me not to go off the road.
Tree branches littered the ground almost everywhere I looked.
The barn came into view and a familiar maroon truck along with it. The headlights pierced through the fog and rain and a sigh of relief escaped me. Thank God Cash and his dad were back. I parked and hopped out, forcing Brandy to stay in the truck.
“What the hell are you doin’ out here?” Bad shouted, poking his head out of the window of his truck.
My clothes were soaked through by the time I made it close enough for him to hear me.
“We have a fuckin—” Another contraction barreled into me, and I slammed my eyes closed.
Forcing air into my lungs, I breathed through the pain until it finally ebbed once more.
Wiping water uselessly from my face, I focused on Bad.
“What the fuck was that?” Cash asked in the passenger seat.
“Well, fuck,” Bad grumbled. “She’s in labor, dipshit.”
Hearing someone else say it out loud sent a wave of terror through me. I didn’t want this to happen like this. I needed Maverick here.
“My service is shit. I need to get ahold of Mav.”
“Where the hell is he?” Bad asked. “Wait, get in the damn truck. You’re fuckin’ soaked.”
I hopped into the backseat, closing the door behind me. “Him and Ryder are fixin’ some fence out in the back pasture.”
Cash scoffed. “In this fuckin’ weather?”
“They lost a couple cows. They didn’t really have a choice.”
Bad growled out a curse. “I can’t believe Mav ain’t here.”
“I was fine before he left. This started like half an hour after. But I couldn’t get a hold of him because of the storm.”
Cash pulled out his phone, the home screen lighting up. “I gotta couple bars.” Unlocking his home screen, he called Maverick, handing me the phone.
“What the hell do you want, Ca—”
“It’s not, Cash,” I interrupted, some of my nerves easing at the sound of his familiar, deep voice.
“Chey?” Fear rang in his words. “What’s wrong?”
“I… I think it’s time.”
“Fuck. Where…you…comin…” Static and wind chased away his words, before the phone call dropped entirely. Because of course it fucking did. I let out a growl as I clicked on his name again. But it just went straight to voicemail.
“Shit! What the hell do I do?” My hands trembled as I tried to call him again but no answer.
The phone wouldn’t even connect. When I glanced at the screen the two measly little bars were gone.
“What do I do? What do I do? I can’t do this—” The words died on my lips as I gripped the door handle hard enough I thought it might break.
“Fuck,” I growled, drawing the word out in a long breath as I rode through the wave of another contraction.
“Cash, start a fuckin’ timer on your phone. Every time she has a contraction, note it. See how far they are apart.” Bad looked back at me. “We needa get you to the hospital.”
“What about Mav?” I hardly even recognized my voice. It sounded shrill, high-pitched, pained. “I can’t do this without him.”
“Chey, what matters right now is gettin’ you somewhere safe to deliver that baby. Mav will be there.” Bad’s words were calm, sure, but it did little to stop the fear flooding through my veins and trickling down my spine. I couldn’t be in labor.
“Maybe it’s just Braxton Hicks?” I offered, but even Cash had the common sense to shake his head. I sighed in defeat. “I need to tell Charlie. See if she can keep an eye on Brandy for me.”
“I didn’t see her Tacoma in the driveway when we pulled into the ranch,” Cash replied.
“Alright. Well, can we drop Brandy off at the house and I’ll change? Then we can go.”
Bad frowned, almost like he was going to argue, but finally sighed.
It took us another five minutes just to get back down the road. Thunder and lightning had joined the fray, along with hail that pelted down so hard I was surprised the windshield hadn’t broken. I’d had another contraction in that time—the longest so far.
How the fuck was I going to do this? What if Maverick couldn’t get to the hospital in time? What if I had to deliver the baby alone?
I can’t do this.
We got back to the house and I changed as quickly as I could through another two damn contractions before getting Brandy situated and myself back in the truck. We didn’t even make it off the ranch. A huge branch from one of the trees lining the drive had fallen across the road.
“Well, shit,” Bad grumbled.
“We could just off-road it,” Cash replied with a shrug, spitting into his spitter cup.
Bad glared at him. “You can explain to your mother what happened to her truck when we break an axle.”
“What’re we gonna do? I can’t—” Another burst of pain.
Cash’s worried hazel gaze met mine as he noted another contraction. “They’re comin’ quicker,” he said, glancing at his dad.
“Let’s see what we can do,” Bad replied, grabbing a pair of work gloves out of the driver’s side door.
“You stay here,” he called to me as he opened up the truck and got out.
I didn’t even hear the door shut, that's how loud the rain and hail were.
Cash growled out something under his breath and followed suit, leaving me alone and in silence.
I stared ahead, trying and failing to see anything through the windshield.
Just blurry shapes that were darker in some places than others.
I don’t know how much time passed, but the contraction that pulsed through me this time brought tears to my eyes, knocking the air from my lungs so thoroughly I couldn’t even cry out.
I pulled my phone out again, but there wasn’t a single bar.
Bad and Cash climbed back into the truck a few moments later, both soaking wet and cursing up a storm.
“It’s too fuckin’ big,” Bad growled out.
“What?” I sniffled. “What does that mean?”
Cash offered me what I think was meant to be a reassuring grin. “It means we ain’t gettin’ off this ranch.”
My chest squeezed, my heartbeat drowning out the sound of hail and rolling thunder—no small feat. “But…the baby.”
Another hopeful grin from Cash. “We’ve birthed baby calves before…how much harder can it be? Right, Dad?”
Tears rolled down my cheeks, fear and dread coiling around my heart. I couldn’t breathe. I wanted to throw up. I—another. Fucking. Contraction.