“Oops,” she giggles, “too soon I guess.”
She shrugs, not at all affected by the way I’m looking at her. I revise my earlier thought; she’s earned more than one spanking.
“That’s two,” I grunt.
My woman, my sweet woman who has been a fucking champion while growing our daughter, doesn’t even bat an eye. She simply giggles.
I shake my head and put her in the backseat of Wyatt’s SUV along with her bag before I slide in next to her. There’s no way in hell I’ll be able to sit up front, not now.
She’s lucky I want her to be safe or else she’d be sitting on my lap right. That’s how much I need her close to me.
“Okay,” Wyatt’s voice is far too cheery, “this won’t be some dramatic ‘I need a police escort’ kind of drive, but I will get you to the hospital as quickly as I can.” When he meets my eyes in the rearview mirror, I glare at him, imagining all the ways I can kill him. Tenley will understand. The man just chuckles and adds, “And, of course, safely.”
“Thank you, Wyatt,” my woman thanks him sweetly.
I reach over and rub my hand over my woman’s baby bump because it’s the only thing I can think of to keep me grounded.
Soon. We’ll be meeting our daughter soon.
Getting checked in is a breeze since we did all the preregistration paperwork when we came for a tour a while ago, but I’m barely paying attention to anything. The only thing I can focus on is Avery and every contraction she has.
I’ve always known my woman is strong, but the feeling of her squeezing my hand through the pain of her contractions bring a whole new meaning to her strength for me. As we settle into the room and she’s been checked and told she has more dilating to go, it feels like I can relax. To a point.
We keep the conversation light between us, not talking about names anymore since we already have a short list and have decided that meeting our daughter will help us make the decision. Honestly, it’s all up to my woman. She’s grown our daughter and kept her safe for more than 40 weeks. She can name her whatever the hell she wants.
After about an hour and a half, one of the nurses comes bustling back into the room and looks at the machinemonitoring Avery’s contractions. When she makes a clicking sound with her tongue, I narrow my eyes at the woman who is old enough to be my mom. She kind of gives off the same vibe which has me instantly on alert.
Thinking of moms, Avery’s mom reached out once since the take down of Page and Prescott, but my woman put her in her place. I was amazed at the way Avery told her to fuck off without actually using those words. The woman is on her own now and even though guilt tried to worm its way into Avery’s heart, she’s made her peace with it. Her mom doesn’t deserve help or support, considering she never found it important to provide the same for her daughter.
I’m so damn proud of my woman I could burst.
“I saw that you’re not planning to get an epidural,” the nurse’s voice is filled with condescending judgement, and it pulls me out of my thoughts and makes me focus completely on the woman. Her lip is pulled back slightly, and she looks at Avery patronizingly.
“Yes,” Avery begins and then sucks in a sharp breath and presses her hand to her belly.
I brush hair away from her sweaty forehead before leaning over and pressing a kiss there. She’s so damn brave. I didn’t realize I could fall deeper in love with her, but here I am.
The woman tsks and shakes her head like Avery is being ridiculous. “There’s no shame in getting an epidural,” the nurse points out.
Avery’s eyes narrow, but she doesn’t say anything because she’s too busy breathing through the contraction. They’re much closer together now and I can tell by the way she’s breathing that they’re getting stronger.
Excitement and fear are battling it out in my chest. I can’t wait to meet our daughter, but I don’t want Avery to be in pain.
That sure as fuck doesn’t mean I’m going to suggest something which goes against her birth plan. We’ve already had those conversations. The fierce look on her face as she told me, “I want to try it natural. If I can’t do it, I’ll tell you, but if I need you to advocate for me about the epidural, then I need you to step up and have my back. Can you do that?”
I promised her I could, and I will. I won’t let my woman down, not while her body is preparing to deliver our daughter after all these weeks.
Even with my hand clutched in Avery’s like it’s her lifeline, I stand up and glare at the nurse. She notices but just rolls her eyes.
Then she proves to not be very bright when she motions toward Avery, “You should talk to her. This baby is going to be born with an epidural or not. She’s not winning any awards for doing it without the drugs.”
Fuck me, am I going to have to make a call and get this nurse fired?
It’s very tempting and I know how much SO has donated to this hospital.
“Back off,” I bark and the smug expression on her face, like she’s the end all and be all of labor and delivery, evaporates. “My woman is going to deliver this baby without an epidural because it is what she wants to do. She is more than capable of doing it because she’s the strongest and bravest woman I know. You say there’s no award for her doing it without the drugs? Well, I think that’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. The award is her being completely present for the birth of our daughter and feeling itall, every glorious, and painful second. Because that is what love and sacrifice is all about. You can’t have the good without the bad, you can’t have the bliss without the pain. Avery knows that and she’s putting it into practice for our little heart.”
“Well,” the woman sputters and I shake my head.
