He starts spinning in a circle. “Okay. Okay. Shoes. Hospital bag. Where’s your phone? Why is the cat circling the puddle?! Melody,no!”
That’s when the nursery door bursts open and Lucas appears with a roll of bubble wrap. “Why is everyone yelling? Did someone drop the—OH MY GOD.”
DeShawn’s head pops around the corner. “Is the baby crowning?”
“NO, IT’S NOT CROWNING!” I snap. My voice sounds feral. I might be foaming at the mouth. Unclear.
Annie ambles in like we’re prepping for a barbecue, holding a pizza slice in one hand and a wrench in the other. “I could drive.”
“No,” Lucas says immediately, already thumbing open a rideshare app. “You once reversed into a streetlamp while trying to park at Taco Bell.”
“Looked fine from my angle.”
“Cab,” Lucas insists.
And that’s how, ten frantic minutes later, I find myself riding shotgun in a yellow taxi, doing the kind of deep breathing I’d previously only seen in prenatal yoga videos. The guys and Annie are packed in the back like high-strung luggage, and the driver—poor soul—looks like he’s two heartbeats away from quitting his job.
“I-Is this your wife?” he asks Max, eyes darting between us in the mirror.
“Yes,” Max says without hesitation.
“And them?”
“Support group,” Annie says, deadly serious.
“Emotional sponsors,” DeShawn chimes in, nodding sagely.
Lucas leans forward like he’s giving life-or-death instructions. “Drive like the wind, sir. But gently. Like a… like a meadow breeze. You are the breeze.”
The driver nods like he’s been handed the nuclear codes.
“Don’t push yet!” Annie calls helpfully from the back. “I watched three YouTube videos and none of them included taxis!”
I grip the door handle and hiss, “I am not pushing! But if any of you so much asbreathetoo loudly again, I will rain destruction upon you.”
The taxi veers slightly.
DeShawn is rummaging through the glove box.
“There’s a first aid kit in here,” he announces. “And gum. Do we need gum?”
Lucas grabs Max’s shoulder. “Max. If you pass out, I will slap you awake.”
“I’m not going to pass out.”
“Youalmostpassed out when Melody got vaccinated.”
“That was a deeply emotional day!”
The taxi screeches to a stop outside the hospital.
Max launches himself out and yanks my door open like he’s auditioning for a medical drama. I swing my legs out slowly, groaning through a contraction.
“There better be a wheelchair,” I mutter.
Lucas whistles as he hops out. “Band’s biggest gig yet.”
Annie dabs her eyes. “They grow up so fast.”
