Ethan looks at me for confirmation. I nod.
"Okay," he says reluctantly.
Mom takes his hand, then looks at me. "Take care of your sister. And Jackson?" She glances toward where Maya disappeared with Emma. "Take care of Maya, too. She looks like she needs it."
Then she's gone, taking Ethan with her, and I'm left standing in the hallway, wondering how my mother always knows more than she should.
We're ushered into a delivery room. Emma's already hooked up to monitors, belly strapped with bands tracking contractions and the baby's heartbeat.
"Seven centimeters still," a doctor says, checking Emma. "This baby's coming today."
"Today? But I thought… I thought premature labor was slower..."
"Not always. Sometimes it goes faster than full-term, we're prepping for delivery now."
Chase looks like he might pass out. I grab a chair and force him to sit before he hits the floor.
"You need to breathe too, man."
"I can't, what if something's wrong? What if the baby..."
"The baby will be fine." Maya's voice is steady, certain. "You're far enough along to have excellent survival rates, over ninety-five percent. She'll need NICU time, but she'll be fine."
Emma's crying through contractions, the pain written all over her face.
"I need drugs. Epidural. Something. Please."
"Too late," the doctor says. "You're progressing too fast; we need you to be able to push."
"Fuck." Emma grips Chase's hand. "This wasn't the plan. None of this was the plan."
Another contraction, stronger this time. Emma screams.
"Do you want me to leave?" I ask, suddenly feeling like I'm intruding on something intensely private. "I can wait outside..."
"No. Stay. Please." Emma looks at me through tears. "I need you. I need all of you."
A different nurse appears. "Only the father can be in the room during delivery. Hospital policy."
"I don't care about hospital policy." Emma's voice goes hard despite the pain. "My brother stays, Maya stays. They're my family, and they're staying."
"Ma'am..."
"Did I stutter? They stay, or I'm walking out of this hospital right now and having this baby in the car park."
The nurse looks at the doctor. He shrugs.
"Fine. But stay out of the way."
Maya positions herself next to the monitors, reading thedata like she's fluent in a language I don't understand. Chase is at Emma's side, holding her hand, whispering things I can't hear. I'm near the window, feeling useless.
"Nine centimeters," the doctor says after another check. "One more and we push."
Emma's sobbing louder now. "It hurts. It hurts so much."
"I know." Maya wipes Emma's forehead with a damp cloth. "But you're almost there, you're doing so well."
"The baby's too small. What if she can't breathe? What if..."
