“It’s snowing,” Reggie said. “And I didn’t have time to plow the driveway or road last night. I don’t even know if we’ll be able to get out.”
That brought Ev to a complete stop, and she met Trace’s eyes. “Call Bryce,” she said. She lunged back around the bed. “I’ll call Bryce right now; maybe see if he can come plow you out.”
In the background, Trace heard Kassie say something, but he couldn’t make out what.
“Her water definitely broke,” Reggie said, and Trace remembered this place inside his mind where nothing really seemed to work. Reggie was a smart guy and pro baseball player. He should have no problem getting his wife to the hospital.
“It’s forty-five minutes on a good day,” Reggie said, and he’d clearly gone into panic mode. “She’ll kill me if we have this baby at home.”
Trace almost smiled, but he knew what it was like to be in the position Reggie found himself in, and he would not have wanted to have his baby at home either.
“I’m sure the plows have been out,” he said. “If you can make it to the highway, you can get down to the hospital.”
“I’m calling Luke,” Ev said. “Bryce is on his way.
“Call Morris too,” Trace said. “He’ll have an ATV with a plow on it.” Ev nodded, and Trace turned his attention back to Reggie.
“We’re sending people to help you get out, okay?” he said.
“I’m gonna go start the car and get Kassie in it.”
“All right,” Trace said. “Do you want to stay on the line with me?”
Reggie panted through the line, said something to Kassie that sounded like, “I’m going to go start the car. Wait right here.” Then he said, “Yeah. Could I? Just in case I have any questions?”
“Sure thing,” he said. “Have you guys been timing her contractions?”
“She just woke up in the middle of the night,” Reggie said. “She said she went to the bathroom, and it felt weird. I asked her if her water had broken, and she said she wasn’t sure.”
More panting, and then the roar of a truck engine filled the line. “But the moment she laid down, she had a contraction, and we’re pretty sure it broke. I called you, but I had to call three times before you picked up.”
“Yeah, my phone’s on midnight notice,” Trace said. “Sorry about that. I should have turned it off.”
“Ev said she wouldn’t hear a phone call, and to call you.”
“It’s fine,” Trace said. Reggie and Kassie weren’t due for another week, and Trace was a little surprised that her water had broken already. First babies usually tended to take longer, not come sooner.
“She’s had another contraction,” Reggie said. “But I don’t know how far apart they were.”
“All right, Reg,” Trace said. “I need you to take a deep breath for me.”
“I’m going to get Kassie now.”
“Stop right there,” Trace said. “Wherever you are, you got to listen to me for one minute, okay? Nothing bad’s going to happen to her in one minute.”
“Okay,” Reg said, his voice on the edge of panic.
“She is counting on you to be the rock,” Trace said. “She’s scared and in a lot of pain. You can’t be scared too.”
Reggie blew out his breath. “Well….”
“I know you’re scared,” Trace said. “Of course you are, butshecan’t know that. You want her to think that you know exactly what to do, and that you’re in charge, and thatyouare going to take care of her. I mean, isn’t that what you told her in Seattle when you guys first started dating?”
“Yes,” Reggie said, and he sounded calmer already.
“All right,” Trace said. “So take ten seconds; take a breath; calm yourself down. You know what to do. You’re going to take your wife to the hospital. The plows have surely been out. It started snowing last night, and they didn’t even call a road closure. Bryce will be there to plow you out, and you’ll go.”
“Okay,” Reggie said. “You’re right. Okay.”
