Rain
I was so ready to have this baby. I’d always thought it was odd when people were in a rush for that baby to come out. Of course, you’d want them to stay inside as long as they could to get healthy and strong. Early babies had complications. Why rush it? But, now that I was in this position, I got it. Oh, did I get it.
I’d spent the last month training Layla’s son, Archie, on how to keep my business afloat while I spent time with our new baby. A lot of things would just be on hold, but answering emails and keeping the communication open with my clients? He could handle that, and it would take work off my mind. I’d set up an office in our old house for him. I say I, but all I did was tell Lux what I wanted to do, and he obeyed.
He was amazing all through this pregnancy. He’d cook me random, weird concoctions in the middle of the night, rub my smelly feet after a long day, and be there for every one of my midwife appointments. And my favorite thing of all…he talked to our baby every night before bed.
Now that Archie’s training was done, there was nothing left hanging over my head. The nursery was not only set up and adorable, but all the clothes were washed and put away. All the diapers and wipes were where they needed to be. The rocking chair was in the corner. We were ready to go, if only our little one would get the memo.
I was huge. There was no denying it. I couldn’t even fit in the booth at the diner anymore; my belly made that impossible. I still went there far too often. Even with having internet at home and at my office, there was something comforting about eating there. Maybe it was the fact that we always saw the same people,or the way they seemed to always know what we needed, or how Gary was always trying new desserts. But now I did it from a table, and I felt a little defeated about that. There was nothing inherently wrong with the table; it was the fact that I couldn’t be in the booth that bugged me.
I felt so gross and wanted to hide at home all the time. My mate disagreed with my assessment. He was constantly talking to my belly, telling me how cute I looked, how sexy. But he wasn’t just a man of words. Oh, no. He was hungry, and, up until the past week, I was too. We couldn’t keep our hands off each other. But now, I didn’t even want the waistband of my pants touching me, much less another person. Everything hurt. My hair hurt. My back hurt. My knees hurt. If this was what it was like being old, no, thank you.
I spent the day walking the perimeter of our property. Only, unlike when my mate did it, I wasn’t pissing along the way, although the last time around, I came close. Our little one was sitting squarely on my bladder. “You are going to have to move a little bit.” They didn’t listen. “Fine. If you’re not going to come out with a walk, we’re going to go get some spicy food.”
That was so much easier said than done in this town, I quickly realized. The spiciest that the diner had was a bottle of sauce with a questionable best-by date. And Fred’s Fried Chicken? Nothing about that place was spicy. Seasoned, yes, but not hot.
Which is how I found myself in the general store, walking the aisles looking for anything that might have heat. I ended up with a cart full of spices, chicken, broccoli, and a loaf of rye bread. I’d been obsessed with rye bread the past few weeks. I could not get enough of it—dark rye, light rye, Jewish rye—if it was rye, I was eating it. Toast, sandwiches… I even tried French toast with it. That was a fail. But everything else? Delicious.
On my way home, I stopped at the Mates Motel. Bennett had said I had a delivery there, and, for a while, my mail was all dropped of there, so it made sense. Only when I got there, I quickly realized I’d been tricked. The entire staff was in the front office waiting, and there was a huge present with a bow on it and a cake that said, “Congratulations.”
“I wanted us to scream ‘Surprise!’ when you came in, but somebody”—Bennett side-eyed Geoff—“thought it wasn’t the best plan.”
“As much as I hate to say this, I’m siding with Geoff on this.” Getting startled when my center of gravity was questionable at best sounded like a quick way to need a doctor.
We cut the cake, and between the five of us, we devoured it. Then came the time for the present. I ripped off the tape and felt a searing pain. “I’m getting old if tearing a package open hurts my back.”
“You ever stop to think you might be in labor?” Geoff asked.
A quick google for back labor had me wondering if Geoff had been a midwife in his past life because he was officially two for two now.
“I’m sure the present is amazing, wonderful even, the best gift ever. But would you mind helping me put it in the car so I can get home? Because somebody had to go and be right about the back labor.”
Partway home, I discovered how right they were. It was definitely go time. Had I been any farther away, I’d have pulled over and had my mate come get me, but I reached the house safely.
I then called Lux and told him to swing on by if he wanted to be there when the town’s newest kid was born. What my mate heard was something different than what I intended. He thought I meant the baby was already here and came rushing into thehouse a few minutes later, asking where they were. He was so relieved to know that he hadn’t missed anything.
Oops.
We called the midwife, who promised to be there shortly.
My mate brought me to the shower and let the steam-filled air and warm water soothe me. Not too hot, though. We didn’t have water that could be too hot anymore. After the midwife told us what temperature a baby could safely be immersed in, we set our water heater to that. We didn’t want to risk getting it too warm.
I figured it would be too cold to be enjoyable, but the first time I took a bath proved me wrong. Being a little furnace while pregnant helped a lot. My mate disagreed with me and thought it was cold. I was like the middle bear in “Goldilocks”…the water was just right.
From there, everything was a whirlwind. I got out of the shower just as the midwife showed up. She was very curious about how I’d managed to be so far dilated before knowing to call.
“It’s push time,” she said only five minutes after arriving. And as my mate held my hand and I cried out a list of words that would have my grandmother climbing out of her grave to come over and scold me, our beautiful baby was born.
“Hey, Olivia. How are you?” I brought her up to my chest for our first feed. “We’ve been wanting to meet you.”
She latched on like a pro.
My mate climbed in bed beside me, and we sat there in awe, watching our beautiful baby girl for the very first time.
Epilogue
Lux
