“Holy shit!” She groans. Bailey jumps up and goes to her.
While Bass leans over her and rubs his hand up and down her back. “Are you okay, baby?”
It takes her a few seconds to answer as she inhales deeply several times. She finally stands and looks at him. “I think I’m in labor.”I knew it.Bailey claps in excitement and Ansley stands from Lincoln’s lap.
“Are you sure?” Bass asks. They had a false alarm a few weeks ago, but it’s been fairly obvious all day something is going on.
Caroline scowls at him. I roll my lips between my teeth to stop myself from laughing. “I’ve been having these cramps all day,but I thought they were just Braxton Hicks. They’ve gradually gotten worse, and that one was powerful.” She pinches her lips again.
“Okay.” There’s a slight panic in Bass’ eyes as he looks at everyone. “I’m going to take her to the hospital. I can call after we get there.”
“Hell no. We’re going,” Bailey says. She motions to Julian to get up.
Bec stands too. “We’re all going.”
I glance around the table and think about everything in the kitchen. “We’re leaving a mess.” My skin feels itchy thinking about leaving all this here.
“Connor and I will clean it up later. It’s fine,” Bec says. Bass guides Caroline out of the house and everyone stands to leave.
I open my mouth to argue, but Victor leans over and runs his lips along the shell of my ear, surprising me. Noone is paying attention to us though. “It will be fine, treasure.” His voice is calming, but after having to talk about Donovan, watching Bass and Caroline, learning about Bec and Connor, and now having to leave this mess, I don’t know how much more I can take.
Sometimes it’s the smallest things that can tip someone over the edge, and apparently mine is a dirty house that isn’t even mine. Victor must realize I’m on my last thread and it’s about to break. He wraps his hand around my hair and pulls until my head tilts back so I can look up at him. The slight sting of pain helps me shift my focus.
“We’re going to the hospital now, treasure.” His voice leaves no room for argument.
“Yes, Sir.”
Chapter fifty-three
Victor
Ihave watched Olivia closely this entire time and I’m not sure if she’s trying to avoid going to the hospital or if the idea of leaving behind a mess really bothers her. That’s an issue for her, so it could be. But she’s also struggling watching Caroline. After I escort her to the car, I text Leo and Lane to let them know what’s going on. We follow behind everyone and even though Leo and Lane are following behind us, I still keep an eye out for Donovan.
I keep a possessive hand on Olivia’s thigh. She’s wearing what she calls a T-shirt dress today, and I love it because I can touch her skin whenever I want. I was careful today with how often I touched her, but it was difficult, especially seeing how affectionate all the other couples are.
“How are you doing?” I ask her, glancing over at her. She’s gazing out her window.
Olivia shrugs one shoulder. “I’m emotionally exhausted,” she answers, keeping her head turned away.
I look back at the road; this is the part I hate about driving. I’m unable to study her like I would if Leo or Lane was driving. She’s answering honestly. She is emotionally exhausted, but there’s still something she’s not saying.
“Are you excited about Caroline and Bass’ baby?” I try to dig further.
She finally looks at me. “Of course I am. I don’t have any brothers or sisters, so this is the closest I’ll get to being an aunt.” She’s being genuine, but there's sadness in her eyes. I don’t push because we’re pulling into the hospital parking lot. We don’t rush because there’s no telling how long we’ll be here.
Everyone parks in different areas, grabbing parking spots that are available and going in. Ansley stops and looks like she’s waiting for us as we get out of our car.
“You can go on,” Olivia tells her. “We’ll be up in just a little while.”
Ansley glances between the two of us. “You’re sure?”
“Of course.”
Olivia smiles. Ansley nods and turns toward the hospital. Lincoln intertwines their hands, and she smiles up at him as they walk in. As soon as everyone is inside, Leo’s car pulls up behind ours.
“We’ll be here for a while, probably,” I tell him. “Call Arden and tell him to come here. Lane, you go stay at Olivia’s house. Leo, you go back home.”
“This is definitely Arden’s type of place. Plenty of blood.” Leo says the last part in a Dracula voice. I roll my eyes, but Olivia laughs. Leo winks at her and I smirk down at her. She needed that.
