When the contraction passed, Rachel gestured for him to join her. “She likes pressure here,” she said, pointing to the small of Becca’s back. “You want to spell me off?”
“Damn straight.” Owen washed his hands, then got into his station before the next contraction.
Becca leaned back against him when that one ended. “Hey, Dad.”
He gave her a half-smile. “This is pretty real, eh?”
She laughed. “Oh yeah.”
“You’re doing great.”
“They say it’s too soon for me to get an epidural,” she whispered. “First timer, I’m going to be here a while.”
“We’re all here for you. Do you want some music?”
They’d been working on a playlist for her labour ever since she found him with his CDs. They both had the list on their phones, but he didn’t see hers anywhere. “I forgot.”
“Where’s your phone?”
That answer had to wait until after the next contraction.
Rachel held up Becca’s bag. “In here?”
Becca nodded. Rachel found it, then plugged it in and set it on the window ledge. A Billie Eilish song was the first one—a Becca pick, without a doubt. That rolled into a Suzanne Vega song Owen had suggested, and then a song from the Lonestar album which Owen had added, but he was pleased and surprised Becca had kept on the final iteration of the list.
The next two hours rocked by with some laughs, and a lot of breathing. They were all relieved when the anesthesiologist showed up, and then Kerry and Jenna switched off so Kerry could go have a nap to be fresh for the night shift.
But even with the epidural, Becca found the contractions intense. As the light started to fade out the window, while Rachel was out in the hall calling her younger kids to say goodnight, Becca started to cry.
“Dad…”
He wrapped his hands around hers and let her squeeze the ever-loving shit out of his fingers as the contraction took over her body. “That’s my girl. You’re so strong.”
“I wish Hayden was here,” she whispered, like a confession.
He didn’t want that to break his heart. He didn’t want to want that for her, too, because he wanted to hate the kid. But he couldn’t, because she was sharing her secret heart’s desire with him. “I’ll give him a call.”
“You don’t have to.”
“No.” He smoothed his hand over her damp forehead. “But I want to. As soon as your mom comes in, okay?”
Becca nodded.
He called his brothers first. Adam wanted to come and hang out in the waiting room. Will promised to corral him and only show up once their niece or nephew had made their debut into the world.
After Owen made the next call, he hoped he’d be kicked out of the birthing room because Becca had too many support people. That would be a gift he’d love to give to his daughter, but at the same time, he wouldn’t be the best of company for anyone while he prowled on the outside looking in.
He didn’t know if Hayden would pick up. He didn’t know if the kid would even recognize his number. It’s not like they were texting buddies. Owen only had the number because Becca had put it on call tree list—almost as if she was pretty sure he would be here.
And she’d been right to worry about that, but if Owen could talk some sense into him…
He hit dial while his heart was in that generous place, and listened to the rings. One, two, three—
“Hello?”
“This is Owen Kincaid.”
“Yes, sir.”
