She shook her head. “No! I want a goddamn epidural. I was promised drugs!”
Hatch returned with a box of gloves, and then hightailed it back out of the room and Doc and I washed our hands, then donned the gloves.
“Let’s get you more comfortable,” Doc said. “I’m going to check you and it’s not gonna be fun.”
“Can you wait for the epidural?” she begged.
“You’re too far along for drugs now, Poppy,” Doc said. “I would bet you’re going to have this baby before the ambulance even gets here.”
Devon looked panic stricken, so I suggested he sit behind Poppy and let her use him as an anchor. “She’ll need to press back against you,” I said. “You can keep her locked into position.”
Maisie brought towels and Doc positioned them under Poppy, then grabbed the chair by the window and sat in front of her. “Okay, Poppy, the head’s already crowning, so this baby’s coming.”
“No! He has to go back. I did not approve this!” she snapped.
I bit back a laugh and took one of her legs while Maisie took the other. “Okay, honey, deep breath, let it out slow,” I directed. “That’s good. Now another one. When the next contraction comes, push with all your might, okay?”
“Dev,” she rasped, sounding scared as she grabbed his arms.
“Right here, baby. I got you,” he promised. “You can do it.”
She let out a squeal and then grunted as she pushed through the contraction.
“Great job, Poppy,” Doc encouraged. “His head’s out. Another good push for the shoulders, okay? Push hard, sweetheart.”
And she did. Three more pushes and her little boy came into the world with a feisty bellow and a full head of blond hair. Doc set him on her chest, and I helped clean him up as I stimulated him to keep breathing. Payton had found a snot sucker still in its packaging, so I did my best to clean out his mouth and nose, but he’d need a much more thorough examination at the hospital.
“Bus is here,” Hatch called through the door, and the EMTs walked in with a gurney, loaded Poppy and the baby onto it as Doc filled them in on everything he’d done so far, then they took the little family away.
“We’re right behind you, love,” Maisie promised, falling against her husband as he sniffed back tears. “That was amazing.”
“Our baby just had a baby, Sunshine,” Hatch said, stroking her hair.
Doc and I stepped into the bathroom and cleaned up and then I wrapped my arms around him and squeezed. “You’re kind of amazing. Have I told you that lately?”
“Me? The way you went straight into assist mode was incredible. It was like you knew what I needed before I even asked.”
I chuckled. “I’ve been through a few urgent situations with you, honey. I would hope I’ve picked up a few things by now.”
He kissed me. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
We stepped back into the bedroom to find Payton and Cassidy stripping the bed, and I moved to help but they shooed me away.
“Go have fun,” Payton ordered, pulling me in for a hug. “Jesus, you’ve done more than enough work tonight. Thank you.” She hugged Doc. “Both of you.”
Doc chuckled. “Don’t get to bring new life into the world a whole lot nowadays, so this was a treat.”
We headed back to the party and it was a subdued affair until the happy news arrived that Poppy and baby, Niall Connor, were both healthy. Their son weighed in at seven pounds, six ounces, and he was nineteen inches long, so if he’d made it all the way to the due date, which wasn’t for another two weeks, he would have been a big boy.
The rest of the night turned into much more of a celebratory family night and the majority of the group got different levels of wasted throughout the night.
Because Hatch and Maisie were at the hospital, Flea took us home, then went to join Grace who was already at the hospital with Poppy.
As much as I was missing home, I had to admit, I was going to be sad to leave this side of my ‘family’ in two days.
