“I guess the baby has other plans.”
“Damn,” she said. “I hope they’re okay.”
Katie came in to check on them. “How’s it going in here?”
“The contractions are four minutes apart,” Dan told her.
She put on gloves. “Let’s see where we are.”
Kara grimaced her way through the internal exam and then moaned as another contraction descended upon her.
Dan held her hand and tried to help her breathe through the pain, but the breathing exercises hadn’t done much to help her, and they made him feel like he was hyperventilating. She’d wanted to have the baby on the island, while he’d advocated for the mainland in what had turned out to be one of the more intense disagreements they’d ever had. He was hoping he wouldn’t regret ceding to her wishes.
If anything happened to her or the baby…
He couldn’t bear to think about any outcome other than a healthy mom and baby at the end of this ordeal. And people said childbirth was the most natural thing in the world. Like hell it was.
“Why are you spinning?” Kara asked when the contraction had passed, and Katie declared them getting closer to ten centimeters dilated, at which time things would get real. Katie said she’d be back to check on them again shortly.
“I’m not.”
“Don’t lie to the person who knows you best.”
“I’m having trouble with anticipating worst-case scenarios, which is usually my job.”
“Don’t do that. We’re fine. This is normal, even if it seems anything but.”
“You promise?”
“Yes, I promise. It’s all good and will be over soon enough.”
“Not soon enough for me.”
She gave him a withering look. “Because it’s all about you.”
“It’s so nice of you to realize that.”
Kara laughed. “Only you could make me laugh when I’m in labor.”
“That’s what I’m here for. Comic relief.”
As she curled her hand around his, he was thankful she still wanted him around when he’d gotten her into this situation in the first place.
“Did you text your family?” she asked.
“Not yet. I’d rather tell them when our peanut has arrived than have them stressed for hours.”
“But you talked to Bertha, right?” Kara asked. “You told her Slim is on standby to bring her over?”
“I did, and she was packing her bags as we spoke.”
“I can’t believe she’s going to take a day off from lobstering for me.”
“Really? You can’t believe that? She adores you, and she can’t wait to meet her new great-grandbaby. I bet she stays a week.”
“No way. She’ll be twitching after twenty-four hours.”
“Want to make a bet? I say seven full days.”
