“Yes, born and bred. But there’s nothing there for me now.”
He wanted to ask about the baby’s father but there was such sadness in her voice that he didn’t think it appropriate. She didn’t have parents? Siblings?
She turned in his arms, resting her head on his shoulder and sighed. “Is this okay?”
“Yeah, sure.” He wasn’t sure what to do with his hands now that she was facing away but she solved that problem by taking them in hers and resting them on her belly. Well, now it was getting weird. Weird, but…nice. He’d never touched a pregnant belly before. It was really quite amazing, to think that a tiny human was in there and soon it would be out. Okay, it might be best not to give that too much thought. He felt her belly tighten, harden as she gasped, gripping his hands tight. He gripped back, giving her something to hold on to.
When the contraction was over, she said, “Is it too weird if I ask you to rub my belly?”
Ah yes, a bit. “No, it’s fine.” He moved his hands gently over her bump. It really was miraculous. She started swaying again and he moved with her. Honestly, whatever she needed, she was going to get at this point.
“I like the moon. It makes me feel calm.”
He glanced up. The moon was peaking above the treetops now, spilling into the clearing. A bright white halo had formed around it. It looked amazing.
“It’s a special one tonight. Maybe it’s a sign, a good night to have a baby.”
“I’m sure it is.” Not that he ever went for that sort of thing, but she seemed totally the type and again, whatever she needed to get her through, she was going to get.
The moment dragged out, just gentle belly rubs and slow swaying. It was mesmerizing, until another contraction hit. Once it passed, she resumed swaying, so he resumed the belly rubs. She was quiet, taking deep, controlled breaths and gazing at the moon. A few more contractions came and went but then the next one was really bad. It seemed to drag on longer than the others and William felt another stab of fear.
“Fuck, that hurt.”
“Sir?”
He jolted. He had completely forgotten about the lady on the phone, in his pocket.
“Yes?”
“The ambulance is about twelve minutes away. Everything okay there?”
“I don’t know. The contractions seem worse.”
“They are coming a bit faster now, about three minutes apart. Hold tight, help’s not far away.”
“Thanks.”
He was grateful that someone was across the situation enough to time them; he’d seen enough movies to know that was probably important. He felt Juniper take a deep breath, then another. He’d seen that in movies too, it seemed like the right thing to do. Maybe this was all going to be okay. It wasn’t long before another contraction hit her and it was definitely worse than the previous ones, lasting longer and leaving her breathless.
“What do you need?” He asked when it had passed.
“I don’t know. Maybe some drugs.” She laughed breathlessly when she realized how that must have sounded. “You know, like the happy gas or something.”
“You can’t imagine how much I wish I could give you that right now.” That was the honest truth.
She laughed again. “Unfortunately, it’s not the sentiment that counts in this situation.”
“Fair enough.”
“I think I need to sit down.”
“Okay.” William tightened his grip on her as her knees seemed to give way and carefully lowered her to the ground, narrowly avoiding a large tree root curling out of the ground. With nowhere else for him to go, he sat behind her, putting a leg on either side of her hips. “Is this okay?”
“Yes, this is good.”
She rested her head back on his shoulder, drawing in more deep,steadying breaths. Then he heard her breath catch and braced himself for another contraction.
“I hope the baby’s okay.” She said it so softly he almost didn’t hear her, then he realized she was crying and his heart almost broke. She was doing an amazing job of covering up her fear, but this really was the worst situation to be having a baby in. Too many weeks early, miles from proper medical care.
