41
TERA
I’m only dilated to six. What the fuck?
I took a quick shower to wash all the goop off my legs. I told them to just toss the clothes in the trash. I don’t want to remember that moment. There were people around, families. The children pointed and laughed saying I peed my pants.
Somehow my filter managed to work, and I kept my mouth closed… or maybe it was Linc’s hand covering my mouth.
This labor thing is brutal, but the epidural is bliss.
Still, what the hell was I thinking?
Truthfully, I wasn’t. Thinking, that is. Who can think when Xander does all the things that brought me to this moment?
Surprise of surprises, I got pregnant in spite of what happened to me all those years ago. They didn’t break me after all.
Burn in hell, fuckers.
42
XANDER
“Lucy said you’ve been nesting all day. You never bake,” Linc tells Tera.
“I just wanted some apple fucking pie,” she bites out.
“Is the epidural helping?” Linc asks.
“Oh yeah, so much better. I still feel pressure, but I don’t feel like the spawn of Satan is trying to claw its way out my abdomen,” Tera jokes.
“You been cheating on me, wife?” I tease.
“You. You don’t get to joke. You’re lucky I don’t give you a vasectomy right here and now,” Tera sneers.
“Baby,” I croon.
She looks at me. “I can’t help it. This is brutal. If you ever complain about a headache or cold again, I’m going to grab you by the balls and show you what pain really is.”
“So harsh,” I tell her, looking and feeling more than a little afraid.
“I’m going to check you again, Tera,” Sandy warns. “You’re at ten!”
“Did I win something? You sound so excited,” Tera tells her, and she snickers.
“You get to push now.”
“Yippee?” Tera questions.
“I’d forgotten what a bear you are when you experience any pain,” Dad says when he walks in. He goes to the sink and washes his hands.
“Oh,” Tera mutters. “I feel like…”
Her face gets red. “I think the epidural is wearing off because I’m felling all kinds of weirdness.”
“Jesus, Tera. Wait for Dad,” I scold.
She glares and I step back.
