Chapter 25
Chapter Twenty-Five
Abby’s labor began at three forty in the morning with a pain strong enough to pull her out of sleep. She opened her eyes in the dark and waited, one hand resting on the side of her stomach, while the pressure moved from her back and tightened across her abdomen.
Evan slept beside her with one arm beneath the pillow. He had begun staying every night after Abby reached thirty-seven weeks, though his packed hospital bag remained beside the front door in recognition that he might spend most of the delivery outside the room.
The pain released after nearly a minute. Abby looked at the clock, reached for her phone, and opened the contraction timer Sadie had insisted she download.
She was still watching the screen when another contraction began nine minutes later. The movement woke Evan before Abby could decide whether to touch him.
“Is it happening?” he asked as he pushed himself upright. “How far apart are they?”
“Nine minutes, assuming the first one counted.” Abby breathed through the tightening and gripped the edge of the sheet. “The instructor said not to leave until they’re closer unless my water breaks.”
Evan reached for his glasses and put them on. “Do you want me to call the hospital?”
“Not yet.” Abby exhaled slowly as the contraction eased. “If this stops in an hour, I don’t want Sadie arriving with three bags and a professional camera.”
“She’s bringing a camera?” Evan switched on the bedside lamp and looked toward Abby. “You didn’t mention that.”
“She isn’t allowed to use it until the baby is clean.” Abby shifted to sit against the pillows. “I made her sign the birth plan.”
Evan picked up the printed copy from the bedside table. “I thought her signature was a joke.”
“It was legally meaningless but emotionally necessary.” Abby closed her eyes as pressure returned. “Start the timer.”
For the next two hours, they moved quietly through the apartment. Evan made toast Abby could not eat, filled her water bottle, and timed contractions without announcing each interval unless she asked.
At six fifteen, the pain began arriving every five minutes. Abby called the hospital, answered a series of questions, and was told to come in for evaluation.
Sadie answered on the first ring. Her voice sounded fully awake, as if she had been waiting beside the phone for weeks.
“We’re leaving now,” Abby said as Evan carried the bags into the hallway. “Please don’t drive as if the baby will arrive before we reach the hospital.”
“I’ll meet you there.” Sadie opened what sounded like a cabinet. “Have you called Julia?”
“Not yet.” Abby stopped near the door when another contraction tightened through her back. “I’ll call from the car.”
Evan set the bags down and stood in front of her. Abby placed both hands on his shoulders and leaned into him until the pain passed.
“We have time,” he said near her ear. “Nobody is rushing you.”
Abby nodded, though she could not speak yet. When she straightened, Evan helped her into her coat and waited while she checked the apartment twice despite knowing there was nothing they could have forgotten that the hospital would not provide.
Julia cried when Abby called. She recovered quickly, promised to meet them at the maternity entrance, and did not ask whether Hudson had been notified.
The drive took twenty-two minutes. Evan kept both hands on the steering wheel and remained silent during contractions, following Abby’s request from the childbirth class.
At the hospital entrance, a nurse helped Abby into a wheelchair while Evan parked. Sadie arrived before he returned, carrying a canvas tote, a pillow, and the forbidden camera zipped inside its case.
“You look too calm,” Abby said as Sadie pushed her toward the elevators. “I expected more panic.”
“I panicked in the car.” Sadie adjusted the tote on her shoulder. “I’m finished now.”
The evaluation room was small and overheated. A nurse attached monitors to Abby’s stomach, checked her progress, and explained that she was four centimeters dilated.
“We’re admitting you,” the nurse said as she adjusted the monitor strap. “Your doctor is on the way, and we’ll move you upstairs as soon as a room is ready.”
Evan stood beside Abby’s bed with relief and fear competing across his face. He reached for her hand only after she extended it.
“You can stay until they move me,” Abby said as she tightened her fingers around his. “Then Sadie and Julia will come into the room.”
“I remember.” Evan lifted her hand and pressed his mouth to her knuckles. “I’ll be in the waiting area unless you change your mind.”
“You aren’t hurt?” Abby asked as another contraction began low in her back. “You can tell me if you are.”
“I wish I could be with you.” Evan moved closer as she gripped his hand. “I also understand why you want women you trust during the delivery. Both things can be true.”
Abby breathed until the tightness receded. “I want you to meet her after I’ve had a few minutes to understand that she’s real.”
“Then that’s what we’ll do.” Evan brushed damp hair from her temple. “I’ll wait as long as you need.”
Julia entered a few minutes later wearing a long coat over clothes she appeared to have pulled on in the dark. She set her purse down, kissed Abby’s forehead, and hugged Evan before taking the chair on the other side of the bed.
“Thank you for asking me to be here,” Julia said as she held Abby’s free hand. “I know this day is complicated.”
“You’ve never made it more complicated.” Abby looked between Julia and Evan. “I wanted people who would listen when I told them what I needed.”
Julia’s eyes filled, but she nodded without making Abby comfort her. When the nurse came to move Abby upstairs, Evan walked beside the bed until they reached the secured maternity doors.
He bent and kissed Abby slowly. “I love you,” he said as his hand rested against her cheek. “I’ll be right outside.”
“I love you too.” Abby held his wrist for another second before releasing him. “Keep your phone on.”
Labor moved slowly for the next six hours. Abby walked the hallway between contractions, leaned against Sadie when the pain became too strong, and accepted Julia’s quiet reminders to drink water.
By early afternoon, exhaustion made every instruction feel unreasonable. Abby had progressed only two more centimeters, and the doctor recommended breaking her water to help labor continue.
Abby asked questions until she understood the risks and benefits. Then she agreed, and the contractions intensified with a speed that left her shaking.
Sadie stood in front of her while Julia pressed a warm pack against her lower back. Neither woman told Abby to relax or assured her that the pain would soon be forgotten.
“Look at me,” Sadie said as Abby gripped her forearms. “Breathe out longer than you breathe in.”
“I can’t do this for hours.” Abby heard panic in her voice and no longer cared whether it frightened anyone. “I need the anesthesiologist.”
Julia reached for the call button. “Then we’ll ask for one.”
The epidural brought enough relief for Abby to sleep for forty minutes. She woke disoriented, with Sadie curled in the reclining chair and Julia reading beside the window.
“What time is it?” Abby asked as she reached for the cup of ice chips. “Has Evan called?”
“It’s three twenty.” Julia closed the book over one finger. “He has checked in twice, but he didn’t want us to wake you.”
Sadie opened her eyes and sat upright. “He brought food for both of us and made a list of every nurse’s name.”
“Why?” Abby asked as she chewed a piece of ice. “Is he evaluating the hospital?”
“He wants to remember who helped you.” Sadie stretched and looked toward the monitor. “He also walked to the pharmacy because Julia forgot her blood pressure medication at home.”
Julia gave Sadie a look. “That detail was unnecessary.”
“It explains why he left the hospital.” Sadie stood and adjusted the blanket over Abby’s legs. “Otherwise, Abby might think we sent him on an errand to stay occupied.”
The door opened before Julia could answer. A nurse stepped inside and looked toward Julia with concern.
“There’s a man at the maternity desk asking for Ms. Kendrik,” she said as she kept her voice low. “He identifies himself as the baby’s father.”
Abby’s body tensed despite the medication. “Hudson isn’t permitted in this room.”
“He won’t be allowed through the secured doors.” The nurse moved closer to the bed. “Security is with him, but he says he has a pending paternity case and a right to attend the birth.”
“He doesn’t.” Abby looked toward Julia. “How did he know I was here?”
Julia had gone pale. “He called me this morning, and I didn’t answer. We still share a family location account because Robert and I never removed the children after they left college.”
“He followed your phone.” Sadie’s expression hardened. “Can you turn it off now?”
“I will.” Julia reached into her purse, then looked at Abby. “I’m sorry. I should have thought of it.”
“You didn’t tell him.” Abby pressed her palm against the mattress as another contraction gathered beneath the epidural’s pressure. “That’s what I needed to know.”
The nurse waited until the contraction passed. “Would you like security to remove him from the hospital?”
“Yes.” Abby swallowed against a wave of nausea. “Please tell Evan not to engage with him.”
“I’ll speak to Hudson.” Julia rose from the chair and buttoned her coat with unsteady fingers. “He may listen to me.”
Abby looked at the woman who had loved Hudson before Abby knew him and who now stood between her son and the harm he continued to cause. “You don’t have to fix this.”
“I’m not going to fix him.” Julia put her phone into her purse after disabling the location service. “I’m going to tell him to leave you alone.”
Sadie went with her as far as the secured doors but returned to Abby’s room. Julia continued into the public waiting area, where Hudson’s raised voice became audible whenever someone entered or left the maternity ward.