Keegan shook his head, holding his phone out to both of us. “Nik just sent this. I don’t think so. Maybe we should do a little shopping first? Pops won’t mind getting Kieran all to himself for a few more hours.” The crib was still in the same number of pieces as it had been when I had left the house.
“Walking sounds good,” I nodded. “At my appointment two days ago, Doc Timmons said there was absolutely no sign of me going into labor anytime soon. Which, considering my due date is tomorrow, was not what I wanted to hear. Maybe walking will get this little one in gear.”
We finished our lunch and stood to get our coats on. Because even mid-September in the village meant cold temps and snow.
Mom watched me zip my coat. “You look like you’ve dropped though since last week when I saw you.”
“I feel like this baby is sitting on my bladder all the time.” I moaned, feeling a cramp tighten my stomach. “I have to pee a thousand times–oh!”
My body popped, and warm liquid gushed out of me, wetting my pants all the way down the legs.
“Your pants is wet, Uncle K,” Kacey informed me, pointing.
“Are,” I automatically corrected her grammar. Glancing down at myself, not that I could see much, thanks to my large puffer coat, I cried, “I think my water just broke!”
“I think so too,” Keegan told me calmly, gathering up Kacey’s things and zipping her coat for her.
Pain suddenly radiated across my stomach, and I gasped, holding on to the table tightly. “Owwwww.”
“Breathe,” Mom instructed me quietly, her hand on my cheek, as I tried to breathe through an alarmingly uncomfortable contraction.
“I guess when this baby decides to do something, they aren’t messing around,” I panted.
“Let’s get you to the clinic,” Mom’s voice was so calm, like nothing out of the ordinary was happening, as she shuffled me out of the restaurant. “Can you make it that far?”
“Damn village with no cars,” I mumbled, one hand planted on the gigantic red and white striped candy cane that flanked either side of the restaurant’s doors.
“I called Bal,” Keegan told me, holding tightly to Kacey’s hand. “He’s on his way.”
Then he was there. Striding towards me, his long hair blowing behind him, wearing no coat and grinning like a loon.
“I’m in labor,” I gasped.
“So your brother said.” He picked me up into his arms, like I weighed nothing.
“My pants are wet.”
He started towards the clinic that sat on the edge of the village. I’d been very thankful to learn there was an actual clinic, and a place I could give birth. Keegan might like home deliveries, but they weren’t for me.
“I don’t think you’re going to need them,” Bal told me with a wink, and I laughed, holding onto him tightly.
“Probably not.” The contraction had ended, and I felt relatively normal again. Except for wet pants, and the crowd that seemed to be gathering on the sidewalks as Bal carried me through town like some hero in a romance movie.
The next few hours passed in a blur of contractions and waiting. While labor had come on with a bang, this baby decided to still take their own sweet time. Seven hours later, I was panting, exhausted, and pretty sure the epidural was wearing off.
Doc Timmons grinned at me, after checking my progression, patting my arm. “Looks like you’re ready to push.”
“Thank fuck!” I cried, shoving up on my elbows, ready to get this baby out. Bal’s strong arms supported me, and Hazel, the nurse, counted as the next contraction hit, and I pushed with all my might.
Balfour
I had a son.
I stared down at the tiny, sleeping baby in my arms, marveling that he was actually here. He was real. With his adorable button nose, tiny pointed ears, and thick shock of bright red hair.
Evan was quite simply the most beautiful baby ever created.
Yes, I was slightly biased. No, I didn’t care.
