My client chuckles and shakes his head. “You got it.”
Then he heads out the door with a wave over his shoulder.
“He seems nice,” Monroe muses.
When I look over at her, she’s watching the guy walk out. I think he’s a photographer or something, everything is kind of muddled in my brain at the moment now that I know Avery is in labor.
I jolt and shout, “Avery’s in labor. We gotta go.”
“Breathe,” Wyatt barks and gives me a shake.
It’s only after I listen that everyone lets go of me and takes a step back. I eye them and mutter, “That was weird, lets not do it again, okay?”
Travis holds up his hands, his eyes filled with mischief. “No promises.”
Wyatt smirks and shrugs one shoulder like they weren’t just holding me up and holding me together just moments ago. “We’re family and that’s what family does.”
“Here, here,” Knox shouts and fist pumps the air.
I roll my eyes and look at my station, thankful as fuck it was just a consultation. I’d rather burn the entire building down than clean right now.
Wyatt gives me a light shove and snorts a laugh when I stumble a little because I wasn’t at all prepared for it. “Come on. Let’s go get your woman so we can finally meet the newest member of our family.”
I rub the back of my neck. “It might take a while,” I remind him.
Ellis waves his hand, “It doesn’t matter how long it takes, Bridger, we’ll be right behind you.”
I give him a chin lift, thankful for his quiet steadiness. And then I’m rushing out the door and hoping Wyatt is right behind me because I’m not waiting any longer.
When we pull up in front of the house, I try to jump out, but my seatbelt pulls me back and I groan. Unfortunately, Wyatt is already chuckling when I glance his way. I flip him off, undo my seatbelt, and leap from the vehicle.
I don’t even get all the way to the front door before it opens to reveal Avery standing there holding the hospital bag.
While closing the distance between us, I growl, “I told you not to pick up the bag, Sweetheart.”
She huffs out a breath and rolls her eyes like I’m being ridiculous, even though we both know I’m not.
Well, maybe I am a little bit, but this is huge.
After gently taking the bag from her grip, Avery’s hand shoots out and grips my arm, her nails digging in and making me wince. She breathes through the pain slightly bent over while using me to keep her upright.
“Contraction?” I grunt the question, unable to manage more than one word right now.
I hate seeing her in pain. How the fuck am I going to do this? Not only is the pain going to get worse, but we’ve talked about her birth plan and she’s adamant about skipping the epidural and doing this as naturally as possible. I tried to talk her out of it because she has nothing to prove, but she wouldn’t hear it.
She hits a button on her phone as she takes a few long, deep breaths. “Still 15 minutes,” she lets me know.
Not wanting to wait a moment more and unwilling to allow her to walk to the car, I scoop her up into my arms. As if she was expecting it, which she probably was, Avery simply wraps her arms around my shoulders and nuzzles into the crook of my neck.
“I’m okay,” she whispers, “I promise.”
“I should have been here,” I grit the words out through my teeth, still pissed at myself for not trusting my gut.
I knew this appointment was the wrong move, but he was tight for time and Avery encouraged me to keep it since it was just a consultation. As I eye her out of the corner of my eye, I make a mental note to spank her later for her insistence.
“You’re here now,” she tries to sooth me, her fingers playing with the short hairs on the back of my neck, “and that’s what matters. It’s not like I’m crowning in the middle of the living room or anything.
My steps falter and I glare down at her. “That’s not funny, Avery,” my voice is stern.
