29. Lachlan
Lachlan
“Lach…” Lainey groaned as her eyes rolled back into her head. My hands were on her hips the next instant, my heart pounding so hard in my chest I thought I might throw up. There was hail raining down on us, and it sounded huge.
“You need to get into the tub.”
“I-I can’t…Not…Now…”
“The storm is getting worse. We can hear the hail. The winds are picking up…The safest spot for you and the baby is the tub.”
Lainey groaned as she rocked back and forth. I knew what I was saying wasn’t registering.
“It’s going to kill my back. I can’t.” Fuck, I could hear the tears in her voice.
“We’ll toss in the pillows. Those blankets, too. That’s a big tub. You’ll still be able to move around, get comfortable. But I don’t like the way this storm is sounding, and I will not let anything bad happen to the two of you.”
She nodded, her face still turned away from mine. A sharp pain shot through my leg as I pushed up, but I wasn’t about to slow down. I moved around her as quickly as I could, shoving the blankets down first before wedging the pillows around the tub’s walls.
As soon as her hand released its death grip on the comb, I knew it was time to move. Time to get her into the tub.
I really needed a mattress. Something to put down on top of her in case a tornado bared directly down on us. Better for her to be under the softness of the mattress than all the sharp and deadly corners of broken wood, metal, and glass.
Shit.
“Lach?”
“Right. Time to get you in there. I’ve got you,” I said as my hand slipped under her arm.
Lainey groaned as I helped her step in, and she twisted, her back now facing me with a grunt.
“Is that good? How’s your back?
“Please.” Her bright, wet eyes met mine over her shoulder as she tried to stretch her hand back out to me. “Please get in here, too.”
“I have to be out here. If the contractions get closer together, if the baby decides to come—”
“You can hop out. But right now, I’m telling you, beyond knowing you’re safe, too, from this storm, I need to be held.
I’m so sorry. I wish I didn’t. I wish I wasn’t so needy.
But I feel like I’m going to throw up and crawl out of my skin, and the only thing tethering me here to Earth is you being here with me. ”
I was never more sure than in that moment that I was so unbelievably fucked when it came to Lainey Calloway, and what I would do to make sure she never had another goddamn tear in her eye.
“Alright. It’s okay. We’ll make it work.”
I groaned as I maneuvered over her body, careful not to step on her as I wedged myself into the far side of the tub. My arm slipped under her neck as she rolled into my chest.
Lainey’s belly pressed into mine, her head resting on my shoulder. And for the first time since that notification popped up on my damn phone, I felt the tightness of worry slip a little from my body.
“Are you okay?” she asked, her big blue eyes looking up at me.
I couldn’t have held in my chuckle even if I wanted to. “Once again, I should be asking you that.”
“This is perfect for me. But if it’s too much for you, if your leg…hurts…”
Her belly started to tighten, pulling away from mine as she groaned right over my heart.
“Okay. I think the only person we need to be thinking about right now is you. Is the comb still helping?”
She raised her hand off my chest and shook it at me, the comb straining under the weight of her grip.
“Just breathe, Lainey. You’ve got this.” My hand ran over her hip, reaching around her to press against her back. It definitely wasn’t an ideal position to be in where I felt like I was helping her at all, but if she needed my body to curl up against, I could do that. “We’ve got this.”
A strong rush of air left her lungs, and then she was back with me, her face tear-stained but smiling.
“What?” I asked, confused how the pain she’d been in suddenly left her wide eyed and on the verge of laughter.
“You called me by my name. My real name,” she whispered.
My brows pulled together, running over what she’d just said. “Don’t I always?”
Lainey’s head shook back and forth. “I’m just Trouble to you.”
My hand moved from her hip to cup her cheek. She’d dropped her eyes away, so I tipped her face back toward mine.
“Look at me.” Her long, dark lashes fluttered as she locked in on my gaze. “You aren’t. You’ve never been. Not to me.”
She bit down on her lip. “I have to tell you something.”
“Okay…”
“You have a really nice ass.” Her chin quivered as my brain processed what she’d said.
“What?” I laughed.
“You have a really nice ass. I looked. At the spring. I’m sorry I said I wouldn’t, but you can’t blame me. It was right there, in all its glory for me to see. Don’t hate me…”
My hand cradled her head, positioning it on my shoulder as I kissed into her hair. “What’s one cheeky sneaky peek between friends?”
“True.” She smiled, her eyes rolling into the back of her head as her hand slid over her belly again. “And I think we’re almost at the point where you’re about to see a whole hell of a lot more of me.”
Christ, these contractions were coming one right after the other.
Lainey wasn’t getting a break anymore, and the conversation we were able to keep going before had long stopped.
The hail had passed without the wind getting worse, and had all together stopped about twenty minutes ago.
Which filled me with relief—the worst of the storm was past us now.
We were still in the tub, but now, Lainey was on all fours, her hips swaying back and forth as we sat in the short lull between the pain. I was sitting on the edge, ready to press down and provide what little relief I could for her.
“I can’t do this anymore. I can’t,” she groaned.
“You can. You’re doing so good. I’m so proud of you. Your body knows what it’s doing. Everything is going to be fine. The storm is slowing down, and I’ll have service soon. We’ll get an ambulance here. You’ll be okay.”
I had no fucking idea if I was telling her the truth, and in all honesty, chanting those words over and over again were more for my own benefit at this point than hers.
I was pretty sure she couldn’t hear me half the time, and my anxiety was climbing with each passing minute where I was convinced that something was going to go wrong, and I’d lose both her and the baby.
Lainey’s eyes rolled back into her head, and she let out a scream. “Ow, my back. My back. God this hurts…”
“Lachlan!” My brother’s voice boomed through the house as I pressed harder on her hips.
“Is that…?” Lainey’s eyes snapped to mine, her breath sharp as she searched my face.
I nodded. “Beau.”
“Lach?!” he called out again.
“We’re in here!” I shouted back, Lainey’s groans receding enough for me to shift so I could get on my good leg and stand.
“Don’t go!” she cried.
“I need to so that Beau can bring Birdie here.”
I held on to the edge of the tub, knowing I was about to be in pain as I stepped out. “I will be right back. I promise.”
As soon as I threw open the bathroom door, Beau was standing there.
“What the fuck? Why aren’t you answering your phone?” he immediately asked.
“No reception. I got the warning about the tornadoes, and then service dropped out completely. That doesn’t matter—” A scream filled the entire house.
“Is that…?” Beau looked over my shoulder and into the bathroom.
“Lainey’s in labor. You need to get Birdie down here.”
Beau shook his head. “No.”
“What the fuck do you mean, no? Lainey’s going to have her baby!”
“I didn’t mean no like I wouldn’t help her. It was crazy getting over here. There are trees down all over the place, and it doesn’t make sense for me to drive back up to the house to bring Birdie and Juniper over here. It’s probably best if I call 911, and we try to get an ambulance out here.”
“LACH!” Lainey’s shout had me nearly jumping out of my skin.
“I’m here, I’m right here, Lainey. You’re doing great.”
“I need my sister. I need Birdie…please!”
I held pressure on her hips as she rocked through another contraction. As soon as I felt the tension leave her body, I was back next to my brother.
“We need to get her into my truck,” he said, slipping his satellite phone back into his pocket.
“What? Why?” I asked.
He pressed past me, placing a hand on Lainey’s shoulder. “Lainey, can you walk out to my truck?”
“I don’t t-think I can stand r-right now,” she panted.
“Okay, I’m going to carry you out.”
“My water broke…” she warned.
“Nothing to worry about. We’re family, I just want to get you and the baby to your sister.”
“She can’t come here?” Lainey’s eyes were rounded with fear as she looked past Beau to me. “What about the ambulance?”
“The ambulance…” Beau paused. “We’re on the list. But things are bad in town and…And I think we need to move. Ready?”
I nodded, and she followed with her own agreement.
Beau leaned over and scooped her up, and a wave of panic nearly bowled me over.
Because she’d almost been stuck with me delivering the baby, and I couldn’t even carry her to safety.
If I’d just checked to see that things had calmed down…
God, it wouldn’t have mattered. Because there was no way I was capable of getting her to my truck and over to Birdie.
“Lach!” Her hand reached out for mine as Beau walked by me. I didn’t take it. She was better off with my brother. Better off without—
Another scream pierced the air, bloodcurdling and filled with fear as Beau adjusted his hold on her.
“Let’s go!” he barked at me.
“I should stay here,” I tried to say, but Lainey’s hand was still reaching out for me as Beau stepped through the front door.
I wasn’t good enough for them. I didn’t deserve them. Being with me wasn’t safe for her. Or the baby. Something bad was going to happen to them because I wasn’t capable of being in charge of their well-being.
SHUT UP!! Shut up, shut up, shut up!!!
God, that unrelenting voice of fear, and doubt, and shame in my head just needed to leave me alone!
I wouldn’t back away from her now. She needed me. She wanted my support. And I was going to give it to her. I scooped up the bag waiting by the door and made my way out to Beau’s truck.