Chapter 14
CHAPTER
FOURTEEN
ADELINE
“We can go a little faster, Damon.” Despite my contractions, I wish I’d gotten in the driver’s seat.
“I don’t want to hurt you.” He glances at me.
His sweatpants are still bulging from the fact he never got the relief I did. I can’t believe we crossed that line, but damn, did I need that orgasm. The afterglow was the best I’ve felt in months.
“You know what’s gonna hurt me? Your baby’s head bearing down on my cervix, so press the gas, big guy.” I grab my stomach as another contraction hits me, though it’s not vicious, it’s just very uncomfortable.
“Big guy, huh?” He smirks at me.
“Eyes on the road. And believe me, I’m already scared of how big this baby’s head is going to be if it comes out with the same size ego you have.”
“My mom never complained about my head.” He stops at the red light.
“Good to know, but then again, you walk on water with her. Why are you stopped at the light? I’m in labor.”
He looks both ways and accelerates. “You’re very demanding.”
“I thought for sure you’d be the kind of guy driving like you’re an F1 driver, not an elderly man who can’t see through his thick glasses.”
“I’m just trying to be cautious. There could be drunk people on the road or teenagers speeding. I’m watching out for you and the baby.” His voice is so sincere, I regret being hard on him.
“I’m sorry, thank you. I do appreciate it. But I want you to visualize pushing a human out of your nostril. You do not want to deliver our baby.” He opens his mouth, but I continue. “I’m sure you’re about to say something cocky, but really think about that for a moment.”
He nods and presses on the gas again, weaving between cars. So, we’re either one extreme or the other. At least this will get me to the hospital.
Pulling up to the emergency room when we reach the hospital, he gets out without putting his vehicle in park. Alarms go off as it starts to roll down the drive.
“Shit!” He runs back and catches the door before sliding in and pressing on the brake, then looks at me with an expression as though he thinks it’s funny. “Sorry.”
He puts his vehicle in park and exits again, helping me out of the passenger seat. I waddle behind him while he rushes into the hospital screaming, “My baby… woman having a baby!” over and over until an orderly comes out with a wheelchair.
“Hey, Damon Siska, right?”
Damon touches his head. No hat, which means even if he could get by without being recognized, there’s no chance of that happening now.
“Yeah, man.” He shakes the orderly’s hand.
The orderly looks in my direction. “I heard something about this. This is your girl?”
I don’t wait for him to answer before I sit in the wheelchair. “I’m just the baby mama.”
Damon shakes his head at me with a grin because, though I don’t know what exactly we are, we both know we’re more than that to each other. I just let the man eat me while full term. That’s not baby mama territory.
The orderly wheels me down the hallway while asking Damon questions about the upcoming season. “Think Rice’s arm can handle another year? And what about Cavanaugh? Now that he’s engaged, rumors are he’s lost his appetite for the win.”
“They’ll both do great,” Damon says.
“Adeline Morgan,” I say when we reach the nurses’ station.
A nurse walks around the counter. “Contractions?”
“Not terrible yet, and not really close together,” I say.
“Has your water broken?”
“Oh, yeah,” Damon answers for me, and we both laugh.
I wonder what these people must think.
The nurse looks at the orderly. “Let’s get her up to labor and delivery. I’ll call to let them know you’re on your way.”
“Thank you.”
We move to wheel away, but she pushes a piece of paper and pen toward Damon. “Oh, Mr. Siska, could I bother you?”
I huff.
“Not at all.” He scribbles his signature. “Have a great night.”
“Good luck. Thank you.”
Can’t anyone see I’m having a baby here?
The nurse pats my arm. “You’re beautiful, don’t listen to those trolls online.” She winks, and her gaze shifts to the orderly’s. “Take her up, Jacob.”
“Oh, she’s so sweet,” I say when we’re in the elevator.
Damon steps in with us. “Really? Because when she asked for my autograph, you looked like you wanted to scratch her eyes out.”
Labor and delivery is where it’s at. The only downside is that they’ll only let me eat ice chips.
“Bet you’re wondering right now whether you should have gone for the pizza instead of the orgasm.
” Damon sits in a chair with a magazine that the orderly bought him from the gift shop.
Of course Damon paid him back, but I wanted to ask: how about the woman with the baby inside her trying to get out?
“The orgasm was worth it, and if it spurred this little one to come out, it’s all worth it.”
“You make it sound like it was a sacrifice?” He lifts his gaze from the magazine. “Did I disappoint?”
I shake my head, my cheeks feeling hot again. “Of course not. I just meant letting you see me like that.” I look around. “Naked,” I whisper.
“I’ve seen you naked before,” he whispers back.
“Not nine months pregnant,” I whisper.
He shrugs. “It was sexy. You should own it. But if I’m going to be presentable, I need to think of something else.” He stares between his legs.
“You’re an ego inflator, thank you. And I’m sorry you didn’t get yours.” I bite my lip.
“I’m not just inflating your ego, I’m speaking the truth. And it’s okay, you’ll have time to pay me back.” He closes the magazine. “Actually, it appears we have some time now. This is going pretty slow.” He stands, grabbing the hem of his shirt. “My bare chest gets you all hot, right?”
“Damon,” I say with zero fight in my voice.
“What?” He gives me wide, innocent eyes.
I don’t know what this is, but I’m enjoying flirting with him.
He comes over to my bedside, takes my hand that isn’t hooked to anything, and slides it under his T-shirt. God, his body is so impressive, so ripped, so strong. Leaning over me, he’s millimeters from my lips, and my teeth bite harder on my lip.
“Set that lip free before I do it for you,” he whispers.
My bottom lip pops out.
“There you are!” My mom walks in, and Damon slides back, turning around—trying to adjust himself, I think. “The orderly gave me the third degree. Accused me of being a reporter to get the juice on Damon.”
“He’s got a fan club here,” I say, glancing at him.
Damon turns around. “You made good time.” He sits back down, placing the magazine on his lap.
I chuckle to myself.
“I don’t live far. What is with you two? You’re acting odd.”
“Nothing, Mom, it’s just been hurry up and wait. We’re bored and tired and hungry.”
“Speaking of, why don’t you go get some food for yourself, Damon? Call your parents.” My mom takes off her coat and puts it and her purse on the chair next to him. “I’ll take this shift.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” Damon says.
“She’s not having this baby anytime soon. Is she crying in pain?” My mom puts her hand out to say look at her.
“One of us should eat. You go.” I motion toward the door.
He stands and grabs his sweatshirt. “You sure?”
“We’ll call you if anything happens.”
“All right.” He comes over to the side of the bed, leaning down as if he’s going to kiss me, but quickly turns and leaves.
As soon as he’s out the door and we can no longer hear his footsteps, my mom says, “Did you sleep together?”
“No.” I try to sound as though it’s stupid of her to ask, but my mom knows me way too well.
“Liar. I warned you. If you two are going to be successful in this endeavor, you need to keep the physical stuff out of it.”
“You make it sound like we’re going on some space mission. And it was only to spur on labor. And if you want to get technical, there was no actual sex.”
She crosses her arms and raises her eyebrows at me.
“You’re my mom, and I do not want to talk to you about this.”
She blows out a breath. “Just watch yourself. Sometimes babies make men grow up, but other times they don’t.
I have no reason to believe Damon is going to leave you high and dry at some point, but it’s also not football season.
I just don’t want to see you get hurt because your expectations don’t meet reality. ”
I hate the fact my mom is making me doubt him and what we did.
Surely him going down on me earlier isn’t going to affect our co-parenting.
It’s not as if I’m going to tell him how much I want to do it again after the doctor clears me for sex.
The man knows his way around a woman, and he made me feel special and cared for tonight.
It’s the opposite of how I felt last August—wanton and liberated—but no less satisfying.
There’s absolutely no reason I can’t compartmentalize this.
I hope.
My mom sits in the chair Damon just left.
“Where’s Dad anyway?”
“In the waiting room. Said he’s not taking any chances on seeing anything he’s not supposed to.” She picks up the magazine Damon left behind.
A doctor who is not Dr. Griffin walks into the room with the nurse who’s been helping me. He scans the room before his attention lands on me. I want to point at myself and say, “Me, I’m the patient.”
“I’m Dr. Porter, the doctor on call. You called Dr. Griffin and told her you were here, correct?”
I nod. “Yes.”
“I’m sure she’s en route then. I’m just going to do a quick exam to see if you’re dilated.” He glances at the machines I’m hooked up to. “Everything on the monitors looks good. How are the contractions?”
While I answer, he goes over to the sink and washes his hands.
Putting on gloves, he looks around the room again, as if maybe he’s missed Damon Siska, the Grizzlies wide receiver, being in here.
Does he think Damon’s hiding behind the curtain?
As though he’s going to pop out and yell surprise? Seriously, I’m getting annoyed.
The nurse puts my legs in the stirrups and glances between my legs. Maybe if I told him Damon Siska’s tongue was just on my vagina, it’d make this doctor more eager to pay attention to me.
He takes a seat on the stool at the end of the bed, does his exam, and slides away, taking off his gloves. “You’re a couple of centimeters dilated, so you have some time. I expect contractions to start getting worse. Did you want an epidural?”
What I want is Dr. Griffin. Not this man, who seems more worried about seeing my baby daddy than taking care of our actual baby.
“I think I want the epidural.” Damon and I discussed it, and he agreed that it’s ultimately my decision what route I want to go. I’d like to have the bragging point of being able to say I did it without the drugs, but I know my limits.
“Good choice. Especially if…” He looks around the room once again.
“Damon’s not here, okay? He’s in the building, and you’ll probably see him at some point, but he’s not hiding from you,” my mom says.
“And I can tell you one thing, he wouldn’t be happy you’re giving my daughter half your attention when it’s his baby she’s giving birth to.
” My mom crosses her arms and stares at the doctor.
I bite my cheek to keep from laughing. Guess I wasn’t the only one who noticed.
“My apologies, it’s just rare that… anyway, you are right.” His cheeks are a little red now with embarrassment. Good. “I’m one hundred percent focused on you until Dr. Griffin gets here.”
“The cafeteria sucks.” Damon walks back into the room. “So, you’re not missing anything.” He’s busy staring at his phone.
The doctor’s jaw slowly opens, and his head falls back to look up at Damon since he probably has him by a foot.
“Damon, meet Dr. Porter. He’s the interim until Dr. Griffin gets here,” I say.
Damon looks up and stuffs his phone in his pocket. “Good to meet you. Everything is okay?” He looks at me instead of the doctor.
I give him a small smile and nod.
“Good, and our privacy is protected under HIPAA, right? I don’t need you to sign an NDA?”
My head falls back on the pillow. Damon and his legal stuff.
“Of course, HIPPA protects you,” Dr. Porter stutters, because now he seems seriously starstruck. Must be a big football fan, I guess.
“Good.” Damon sits in the chair beside my mom.
And then the worst pain of my life contracts my uterus, and I shout in pain. Yup, I will definitely be getting that epidural.