ChapterThirty
JOSIE
Kenneth’s profile is sharp, and the muscles on his cheeks are moving from grinding his molars into dust. He’s focused on the road. I can feel his palpable fear for his brother and sister-in-law in the air, and I can’t even imagine what he must be feeling right now.
We reach Alex’s cabin in record time. When I used to see Kenneth driving so slowly around town and obeying rules, I thought he just didn’t know how to drive faster. But seeing him now and how easily he orders a huge truck to go into turns without breaking a sweat tells me how wrong I was. Every movement is precise, every flick of his wrist sends the car into a perfect curve without wasting a second of precious time.
We don’t even come to a full stop when Alex rushes outside, waving his arms. His hair is disheveled from probably constantly running his hands through it. His eyes are crazed and barely human.
“Here. Here!”
We run toward him, and he doesn’t even give me a second glance. I’m dreading going inside, but when we step over the threshold, I let out a sigh of relief—Freya is on her fours on the floor, digging her fingernails into the fluffy rug by the fireplace and yelling at Alex. This is something I’ve seen before. Not in that precise setting, but close enough.
“You are not putting any more babies into me, you fuckin’ huge brute!” she instantly confirms my suspicions. Her voice reminds me of the movies where they exorcise demons from writhing bodies.
Alex is so scared that he rushes to Kenneth and grabs his shoulders, shaking him forcefully. “What do I do? What’s happening?”
Kenneth looks the same way Alex does—petrified. At this moment, he’s Alex’s brother and a future uncle-to-be. He’s not a sheriff. He’s not logical. He’s just a scared member of this family.
Understanding that there won’t be much help from these two, I rush to the kitchen and thoroughly wash my hands and arms up to my elbows, making sure to scrub every single inch with soap. Then I shake them and, without drying them on a towel, I move to Freya.
“When did the water break?” I ask.
She lets out a loud cry before speaking. “About two hours ago.”
“I’m going to check you, alright?”
“Do something, Josie. Please,” she begs, half crying. “I can’t take this pain anymore.”
I go behind her and lift her long night shirt that covers her butt. Then I pull her underwear down her thighs and push my fingers inside of her.
“What are you doing?!” a chorus of voices yells, sounding close to me. Like right behind my back, and one is more terrified than the other.
I turn toward two men with the widest eyes I’ve ever seen (not even Mama’s cows can compare to them, I swear).
“She is about to give birth.” Their absolutely horrified faces are priceless, and I’d love to take a picture right now if the situation weren’t so dire. Because I don’t think I’ll ever again see two of the largest male specimens in the universe nearly biting their nails when the person who should be allowed to complain is on all fours, trying to deliver a baby into this world.
“She can’t!” Alex cries out, pulling on his hair. “She needs to go to a hospital! We havea birthing plan. With a bathtub! And epidural! And… and—” he pulls the hair on his head so hard, I’m afraid he’ll take a chunk out, “and nurses!”
I snicker. “Well, your plan’s gone to shit because she’s nine centimeters dilated and about to give birth to your baby.”
He and Kenneth share scared looks. Alex’s mouth falls open as he tries to come up with something to say. It lasts until the moment Freya lets out another inhuman cry, snapping Kenneth out of it first.
“What do we do?” he asks, gathering himself together. His eyes are quickly clearing from the livid terror.
“Boil water and bring clean towels.”
He nods and starts to run toward the kitchen when he pauses and cocks his head. “How do you know what to do?”
“I helped horses and sheep give birth. It can’t be that much different, right?” I give him an unsure smile, but it drops when I notice Alex’s horrified face.
He advances on me. “You are not touching my wife,” he growls with a threat.
Kenneth suddenly jumps in front of me. “I’ll forgive you for the way you’re talking to her just this time because you’re scared. But speak to her like that one more time, and you’ll be meeting your baby with a black eye.”
“Shut up, Alex!” Freya cries out, sticking her butt in the air even higher. “Sheep and horses are good enough for me.” She can barely finish before she yells and doubles over.
“Water! Towels! Now!” I snap them out of it, and they both run to the sides like roaches. Alex runs toward one of the rooms to get towels while Kenneth runs toward the kitchen for the water.
