Chapter 3
Chapter Three
The idea of getting the frozen maternity jeans and wet undies off my body sounded like heaven, but I knew there wasn’t a chance in hell I could get that done on my own in this cramped space.
“Besides the sleeping bag for you to lie down on, I’ve got this blanket for you to lie under. All the comforts of home, don’t you think?”
I looked down at the Spider-Man sleeping bag and couldn’t help but shake my head. “My nephew Zephyr has this exact same sleeping bag.”
“See, this will be practically a home birth.” He held up the wool blanket and handed it to me. “I can hold this up while you slip out of your jeans. Which way will be easiest? While you’re sitting up or lying down?”
Hell, maybe I was wrong. If Adam was this confident, maybe I could peel myself out of the wet denim. “Sitting up,” I answered.
He held up the blanket, and I hoisted up my parka so I could grip the elastic band of my jeans and the panties at the same time. I got a firm grip then yanked.
Nothing.
I wiggled my hips. They didn’t wiggle much, but I did it again and yanked at the same time.
The denim inched down just a little bit.
Not much, but a little. I tried some more, and again, until I finally had my panties and jeans pulled down under the swell of my belly, but they were stuck on my hips and butt. They wouldn’t budge.
I looked up at Adam over the blanket.
“Not going so well, huh?”
I could feel the gathering pain starting to grab at my lower back. I bit my bottom lip.
Dammit!
“Nope, I’m having trouble.”
“Yep, wet denim is a bitch,” Adam agreed.
The pain rounded around my front and gripped my abdomen in a vice, and I gasped.
“Fuck!” It was a bad one. I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to ride out the contraction.
“You’ve got this, Zoe. In and out. Slow breaths. You’ve got this.”
I zeroed in on Adam’s voice. Concentrating on it like it was the only thing in the universe that could blank out the pain monster that was trying to eat me alive.
I breathed in and out, just like he told me to do. When it was finally over, I slumped back against the backseat, trembling.
“You did good.”
I snorted. “Yeah, sure.”
“When you yelled, ‘fuck,’ my kid couldn’t hear it over the movie. That’s a win in my book.”
This time, instead of a snort, I laughed.
“Adam?”
“Yeah?”
“You’re going to have to peel me out of my jeans.”
“Not a problem, Zoe. All part of the roadside delivery service.”
“You work for Triple A?”
“Triple B. Birthing, Babies and Beyond. Dealing with stubborn denim goes under the beyond category.”
I did a double-take. The man was quick. I liked that. Add in the blue eyes, and the nice-looking hands that I could now see since he had taken off his gloves, there was a lot to like.
Down, girl. You have no chance with a man who has to be up-close to your female bits under duress on a first date. So no getting all impressed.
“Yeah, well, the denim is beyond my capabilities, so I’ll appreciate any help you can give me.”
Adam settled the blanket around my hips.
“Let’s start with the boots.”
“Shit, I should have thought of that to begin with,” I muttered.
“You’ve got a lot on your mind.” He knelt down on the floor. It was a tight fit, but he managed to get down on one knee and untie my boots and take them off. “I’m going to put them in the back. The more stuff we can clear out of the way, the better off we’ll be.”
He reached over my head and dropped the muddy boots behind the backseats.
“Your socks are dry, that’s a good thing.”
“Let’s keep score. Dry socks. Headphones for the kid. Two things in the good column.”
“How about a pregnant woman who can keep calm? I’d say that’s at least worth five points.” His blue eyes sparkled up at me in the dim light of the cab’s interior. “You ready for my help with your jeans now?”
I nodded.
He reached under the blanket and found the waistband of my jeans and panties, then competently tugged them down and off my body. I blushed, and then because I was so mortified that I was blushing, I blushed even more. Thank God it was dark in here.
“When I was going through my stash of things that I had in the truck’s storage, I found some after-workout clothes.
When you’re done bringing your little bundle into the world, I’ve got some sweatpants you can wear.
In the meantime, these wet jeans and panties are relegated to the back along with the boots. ”
I nodded. I still couldn’t seem to stop blushing, which was pretty damn stupid, considering my parka covered my butt, and I was covered with a blanket.
But I still couldn’t stop thinking about the fact that I was bare-assed naked under the blanket.
Then another contraction started, and I couldn’t have cared less if I was wearing a parka or not.
“Here, hold my hand.” Adam thrust out his hand for me to grip it. I clutched it and squeezed. And squeezed. And squeezed.
The pain seemed to go on forever.
By the time it was done I was wiped out, and my teeth hurt from having ground them together.
“The contractions are now two minutes and twenty seconds apart from one another.”
“Is that good or bad?” I asked.
“I can’t remember what that meant in terms of how much time until Marie delivered James. They seemed to focus on how much she was dilated.”
“You got a measuring tape somewhere in that first aid kit of yours?” The last thing I really wanted was him up in my business figuring out just how far I was dilated, but needs must and all that shit.
“No, I don’t. I think I’ll be good eye-balling the situation when the time comes. But how does it feel from your perspective?”
“Like a bowling ball is pressing down on my vajayjay, and it wants to escape.”
I looked at him and saw nothing but patience and concern. Exactly what I would see from my brother Drake or any of my brothers-in-law. It broke just a little piece of me. It allowed me to be just a tiny bit vulnerable.
“I’m just not sure what’s happening, Adam.
It’s pissing me off. I wanted to be in control of all of this.
I like being in control. I wanted to be with my doctor in Knoxville, with my sisters around me, and an epidural, eating ice chips and not have to worry about scaring a little boy with my swearing. ”
“And you’re maybe just a little bit scared?”
“It’s only because I’m currently being tortured that I’m willing to admit to a little bit of scarededness.”
“Good word.”
“Thanks. It seemed appropriate.”
"A little bit scared," Adam repeated, his voice quiet and even. "I'd say that's about the most reasonable thing I've heard all evening."
"Don't tell anyone." I exhaled slowly as another wave of pressure built at my lower back. "I have a reputation to maintain."
"Your secret's safe with me."
"Dad!" James's head appeared over the back of the front seat like a prairie dog checking for predators. His headphones were around his neck and his blue eyes, identical to his father's, were enormous. "Dad, is the baby going to come out of her belly button?"
I choked on what might have been a laugh or a sob. Honestly, at this point, I couldn't tell the difference.
Adam's expression did something complicated. "James. Headphones."
"But I have to know. It’s important."
Adam was caught between laughter and horror.
“Why is it important?” I asked.
“Cause, I want to ‘splain it all to Kylie at school tomorrow. She always asks lots of questions and so I hafta have answers.”
“Jesus,” Adam muttered. “I’ll explain later,” he said louder. “Watch your movie.”
“Fine,” the kid huffed, then disappeared back into the front seat. Adam turned back to me, his jaw working.
"I'm sorry," he said.
"Don't be." I was still smiling despite everything. "He's great."
"He's a menace."
"Those aren't mutually exclusive."
Adam reached under the seat and came back with a flashlight, which he propped against the headrest. It filled the cab, then he changed the setting, so it was more of a soft glow.
He sat back and looked at me with that same steady, assessing expression he'd had since he'd first knocked on my window out there in the snow.
"So," he said. "You want to tell me about the baby?"
I opened my mouth to deflect. I had three different jokes lined up. Then another contraction started its slow climb and every single one of them evaporated.
I breathed through it the way the videos had shown me. In and out. Slow. Adam watched my face and didn't say a word, which I appreciated more than I could have expressed.
When it ebbed, I slumped back against the pillows and stared at the ceiling of his truck.
"My sister can't carry a baby," I said. "Chloe. She's my twin."
"Okay." No questions, he just made room for me to keep talking.
"There was scar tissue. Her body treats pregnancy like a threat instead of something it can hold." I paused. "Her eggs are fine. Her uterus just doesn't cooperate."
"So, you volunteered."
"I didn't exactly volunteer." I turned my head to look at him.
"I researched it. Got the screening done.
Then I told her I was doing it, and of course she said no.
I told her I wasn't asking." I shrugged, which was harder than usual given that I was mostly horizontal on a Spider-Man sleeping bag in the back of a Ford 150. "She eventually came around."
Something shifted in Adam's expression. It took me a moment to place it. It wasn’t the normal admiration that pissed me off, instead it was recognition. He got it.
"And her partner?" he asked.
"Zarek." Just saying his name made me feel steadier somehow. "He was our best friend growing up in Jasper Creek. Then as we got older, he was Chloe’s best friend. It wasn’t until she was in trouble in her twenties that it became something more than friendship.”
“Sounds nice.”
“He can be a total pain in the ass, just like a normal brother. But not nearly as bad as my real brother. He has approximately four hundred opinions about everything I eat."
"Sounds like a reasonable man."
"Don't let him hear you say that, his head can barely fit through a door as is.
" Another contraction was gathering at the edges, and I breathed into it.
"They're good together. Chloe and Zarek.
The kind of good that you don't mess with.
The kind that took a long time and cost them both a lot to get to. "
I closed my eyes and rode the wave. When I opened them, Adam was holding his hand out, palm up, the same way he had before. Waiting. Not insisting.
I took it.
I didn't break any bones this time, but I didn't exactly go easy on him either.
"Okay," I panted when it passed. "Those are getting meaner."
"You're doing great."
"You're contractually obligated to say that."
"No contract." His thumb moved slightly against the back of my hand. Just once. "I mean it."
I looked out the window. The snow was still coming down. It was relentless.
"My whole family is going to lose their minds when they find out about this," I said. "I have five sisters and a brother. Every single one of them is going to be pissed as hell that I allowed myself to be caught in a snowstorm. Then I’m going to have to deal with all of their feelings about the fact that I ended up doing this without them.”
"Now that’s complete bullshit. If they love you, they should just be concerned about your feelings, you shouldn’t have to be worried about managing theirs.”
I winced. “I said that wrong. My family is fucking awesome. They’ll be wrapping me in cotton wool for the rest of my life. But, this will mess with them. It’s my job to make sure it doesn’t.”
“Hmmm.”
“What about you? It must be tough as hell to be a single parent,” I fished. “Or are you?”
“Going on three years,” he whispered. “It never even crossed my mind that this could be my life.”
“I’m really sorry for your loss, Adam. I know that’s trite. But it’s sincere.”
This time he squeezed my hand. “I appreciate it, Zoe.”
"For what it's worth, you're very good at this."
"At what?"
"At the single parent thing.”
“The night’s not over. James is going to have a lot more questions, and the movie is going to be over a lot sooner than I want.”
“Do you have more downloaded?”
He raised an eyebrow. “I have apple juice, orange wedges, apple slices and many movies downloaded on a fully charged iPad. I’m worried about you and his need for potty breaks.”
“Aw hell, I never thought of that.”
“Dad?” This time James didn’t pop up, he just called over. “Can I have my apple juice?”
“Just a little, Buddy. It’s going to be awhile before we can do a potty break.”
“Was he listening?” I whispered.
“No. He and I are on this weird common wavelength that I’ve just come to expect.”
“I thought you were going to teach me to write my name in the snow.”
I barked out a laugh.
“Not while it’s snowing, James. And not when there’s a lady around.”
James head popped up. “Is the baby here?”
“Not yet,” Adam and I said simultaneously.
“Okay. Zoe, do you want some apple juice?”
“No thank you.”
“Go back to watching your movie, James.”
“Okey-doke.”
He slid back down to the front seat and went silent. I was right, Adam was good at the whole father gig.
“Aw shit, here comes another one.” My jaw clenched. It was going to be a doozy. I was really getting sick of this shit.
Adam hadn’t stopped holding my hand, and I squeezed. I stared at his face. The man didn’t even wince.
When it was done, I put my free hand on my belly. The baby pushed back, firm and insistent, the way she'd been doing all evening.
"Hey," I told her quietly. "Everything is okay. We’re going to come through this with flying colors and the best damn story in our family’s history. I know your last name is going to be Post, but you’re half Avery, so winning in the story stakes is a big deal.”
Adam was watching me with a soft smile.
“And what’s more, Olivia, you’re going to be so loved. Not just by me, but by your mommy and daddy and the million aunts and uncles and cousins that you already have. Just wait ‘til you meet your cousin Bella. She’s been chomping at the bit for a girl cousin.”
My voice only wobbled a little at the end.
The contraction that followed was the longest one yet.