“Thank you.”
Dad hovers awkwardly by the end of the bed. “I’ll give you your privacy and go and wait for Darius.”
My dad has warmed to Darius over the last few months. He says he likes to think he’s a good judge of character and he believes Darius will make a good father. I don’t believe he thinks deeply as to what Darius gets up to while he’s not around, but when he is, he sees that he’s been around when needed.
Once I’m changed and settled on the bed, the nurse begins her exam and I gasp when she checks to see how dilated I am.
“You’re halfway there,” she beams. “Five centimetres. In your notes it says you’d like an epidural. Is that still the case?”
“Yes.”
If the pain I’ve felt so far is only set to get worse, I can’t handle it as well as push out a tiny human.
“I’ll go and get the doctor. We won’t be long.”
I look around the room and it’s nice considering I’m in a hospital. A contraction comes and goes when the door opens slowly, and dad pops his head in.
“It’s safe.” I smile.
The door opens wider, and he walks in, followed by Darius. Every time I see him, he takes my breath away and I curse myself. Damn him and his tight jeans and capturing eyes.
“Hey, is everything okay? I mean, you’re a week early.”
“Everything’s fine. I’m five centimetres dilated. The nurse has gone to get the doctor so I can have the epidural,” I tell him and look to my dad.
“Did we pack the camera?”
His eyes widen. “I knew there was something. I’ll go back and get it. The roads will be empty, it won’t take me long.”
“Thank you.”
He nods to Darius and leaves.
I close my eyes, hoping Darius will get the hint I don’t want to talk. But to my dismay, he says, “You hung up on me because you heard Sasha, didn’t you?”
Soshehas a name.
“I hung up because I told you all I needed to.”
“Bullshit.”
“Look, can we not do this. Fighting with you is the last thing I want to do right now.”
“I don’t want to fight, I was going to tell you, it wasn’t what you thought.”
“It doesn’t matter what I thought, though, does it? What you do in your own time is up to you. Just like what I do is up to me.”
Narrowing his eyes, he moves to stand at the bottom of my bed, bracing his hands on the rail.
“She’s Tariq’s cousin, she’s staying at his until she finds somewhere of her own. She was only offering me a beer.”
Squeezing my eyes closed, I really don’t want to be having this conversation. It makes me feel like a child.
“Why do you feel the need to explain?”
“Because I don’t want you stressing while you’re in labor.”
“How considerate of you,” I smart. “Anyway, it really doesn’t matter. One day you will find someone as will I. It’s not like we…”
