Chapter 38
Trill-Land, Jungle Estate
Weeks later…
It was past midnight and a strong pull in my stomach woke me from my sleep.
At first, I just laid here, blinking up at the ceiling while I tried to figure out if it was just another one of those random pains I’d been feelin’ these last couple days.
But when it came again, harder this time and sitting low in my stomach, I slowly pushed myself up against the headboard and rested my hand over my belly.
“Okay…” I whispered to myself, rubbing soft circles over it while I tried to breathe through it.
I wasn’t new to this. This wasn’t my first time giving birth, so I knew what contractions felt like, and even though every pregnancy was different, my body was telling me something right now.
I glanced over at Pressure. He was still laid out beside me, knocked out and for a second, I just watched him. His chest was rising slow, his face relaxed, and I couldn’t help but smile a little.
I didn’t wanna wake him yet, until I knew for sure I was in labor.
I stayed quiet and sat here, rubbing my stomach through my silk gown while I counted in my head, waiting to see how long it took before the next contraction hit.
When it came again, tighter this time and harder to ignore, I pressed my lips together and exhaled slow through my nose, nodding to myself.
“Okay… yeah…”
I eased myself out the bed carefully, moving slow so I wouldn’t disturb Pressure, and made my way into the bathroom. I flicked the light on low before I closed the door halfway. The tile was cool under my feet, and for a second, I stood here, holding my stomach while another wave rolled through me.
It wasn’t unbearable, but it was strong enough to let me know this wasn’t a false alarm.
I moved over to the tub and started running the water, keeping it warm while I braced my hands against the edge and let another contraction pass through me.
Once it eased up, I straightened and reached for the things I had already set aside weeks ago, moving slower this time and paying attention to my body instead of rushing. Everything was right where I needed it, just like Auntie Treasure had shown me, and that alone kept me calm.
I laid the towels out where I could reach them easy, then leaned against the counter for a second when another contraction hit, pressing my hand deeper into my belly while I closed my eyes and let it pass.
“Alright…” I whispered once it eased up. “We good.”
I picked my phone up and called Auntie Treasure.
She answered on the second ring, her voice soft and calm like she already knew I wouldn’t be calling her this late for nothin’.
“Hey, sweetie. Is everything okay?”
I smiled a little at that, even though I was still breathing through the pressure in my stomach.
“I think… I think it’s time,” I told her, keeping my voice low so it wouldn’t carry into the bedroom.
She didn’t rush me or start talking fast. She just asked me questions, really gentle. She asked me how far apart the contractions were, how they felt, if I could still talk through them, and when I answered her, I could hear the shift in her tone.
“I’m on my way,” she said. “You stay calm, alright? I’ll be there soon.”
“Okay,” I replied softly.
After we hung up, I stood there for a second, looking at myself in the mirror while my hand stayed on my stomach.
This was really happening again…
I took a breath, then turned the water down a little before I made my way back into the bedroom.
Pressure still hadn’t moved.
I climbed back into bed beside him and slid close, my body instinctively finding his warmth, and I reached up to his face, running my fingers over his beard slowly.
“Pressure, baby…” I whispered, but he didn’t move.
I smiled and leaned down, pressing a soft kiss to his lips. They were warm, just like I knew they would be.
“Baby…” I tried again, my voice a little more firm this time.
I took his arm and pulled it up against my chest, holding it while I pressed a kiss to the back of his hand, and right then, another contraction hit me. It was stronger than the last.
I squeezed his hand without thinking, and that’s what made him shift. He moved a little, letting out a low sound, and I rubbed my hand over his face again.
“Pressure… baby… I think it’s time.”
His eyes opened slow, but were still heavy with sleep. For a second he just looked at me like he was trying to catch up, but when I grabbed his hand and pressed it against my belly, it clicked.
Right on time, another contraction rolled through me, and I inhaled slow while his hand stayed on me.
He sat up quick then, and was all the way awake now. His palm spread across my stomach while he looked at me.
“You serious?” he asked, his voice still rough from sleep but already focused.
I nodded. “Yes, baby… I think so.”
He leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to my stomach like he always did, and I could see it in his face. He was ready.
He got out the bed quick and moved toward the bathroom. “I’m finna get everything ready,” he said.
“I already did it,” I told him, watching him from the bed.
He paused for a second and looked back at me, nodding slow, and I could see that little look of pride on his face before he disappeared into the bathroom anyway.
He came back out a minute later and climbed back into bed with me, grabbing his phone to check the time before he looked back at my stomach again.
“Why our babies always pick the middle of the night to turn up?” he muttered, leaning down to kiss it again.
I laughed softly and ran my fingers through his beard. “I don’t know… they just like being difficult.”
He smirked a little and kept rubbing my belly while I watched him, my hand resting on top of his head while my other one stayed on my stomach.
After a second, he looked up at me. “Baby, you ready to find out what we havin’?”
I held his gaze for a moment, then nodded slow.
“I am,” I told him, then smiled a little. “I’m just praying it ain’t another boy.”
He laughed low and shook his head, then kissed my stomach again.
I leaned back against the headboard with one hand still in his beard while the other moved over my belly, feeling the life inside me that was finally ready to come into this world.
As another contraction started to build, I looked down at my stomach and whispered softly,
“Please be a girl…”
Hours had passed and I was still in the tub with Pressure behind me. My back was pressed against his chest while the warm water moved around my body in soft waves.
At first, the water had helped, and it took the edge off enough for me to breathe through things, but now it felt like my body was doing something different. The pressure was heavier, and it sat low in a way that made it hard for me to get comfortable no matter how I shifted.
Pressure kept his hands on me the whole time, rubbing slow circles over my stomach before scooping water up in his palms and letting it run back down over my belly.
Every now and then, he would lean forward and press a kiss against my shoulder, then my neck, like he was trying to calm me without saying too much.
I leaned my head back against him when another contraction came, my fingers gripping the edge of the tub while I tried to breathe through it the way Auntie Treasure had been coaching me.
“In through your nose… out through your mouth,” I whispered to myself, trying to stay calm even though my body felt like it was tightening from the inside out.
Pressure’s hand slid up my chest, brushing my hair back from my shoulder before he leaned in close to my ear.
“You doin’ good, baby,” he murmured. Then he kissed the side of my neck again before speaking against my skin.
“After this… we takin’ a break for a minute.
I ain’t puttin’ you through this again no time soon. ”
I bit down on my bottom lip when the pain peaked, my eyes squeezing shut while I let it move through me instead of fighting it. Once it eased up just enough for me to catch my breath, I turned my head slightly toward him.
“A minute?” I asked softly, my voice strained but still carrying a hint of a smile because even through everything I was feeling, I heard the love in what he was saying.
He kissed my shoulder again, slower this time. “Yeah, baby,” he said, his hand moving back over my stomach. “I mean that. I love you.”
Something about the way he said it made my heart feel full in the middle of everything else I was going through.
“I love you too,” I whispered back, letting my hand rest over his.
Time kept moving, but it felt different now, like everything was slowing down and speeding up at the same time. The contractions were closer together, and each one carried more weight than the last, pressing down in a way that made it hard for me to stay still.
Then the pressure shifted. It wasn’t just in my stomach anymore. It dropped lower, pressing deep into my body, and it made me straighten up a little without even thinking.
“Pressure…” I said lowly, my voice tighter now.
He leaned forward right away. “What’s wrong?”
“I feel… a lot of pressure,” I told him, my brows pulling together as I tried to explain it. “Down low. Like… like I need to push or something.”
Before he could respond, the bathroom door opened and Auntie Treasure stepped back in, her presence calm but focused as her eyes went straight to me.
“What are you feeling, sweetie?” she asked gently, already moving closer.
I looked at her, trying to steady my breathing. “It feels like the baby is coming,” I said honestly. “It’s a lot of pressure… like it’s pushing down.”
Auntie Treasure nodded when I told her what I was feeling, and instead of rushing me or asking me to move around, she stepped closer to the tub and watched me carefully, paying attention to how my body was responding more than anything I was trying to explain.