“Yes, believe it or not, this is not the first time a pregnant woman has puked, and it definitely won’t be the last.”
“I’ll be just down the hall if you need me.”
She nods and I close the door, contemplating sitting in her bedroom so I’m close by, but I decide to give her some privacy and head back to the living room.I clean up the pizza, grab her a glass of lemonade and a box of her favorite crackers, and set them down on the table.It’s pretty late.I should take off and let her get some sleep.
Daisy waddles back from the bathroom, sweaty and breathless.Her brows are pinched together, and she doubles over in the hall, one hand braced against the wall, the other on her belly.“Dais, you don’t look so hot.”
Her eyes meet mine with a terrified expression, and then she turns white as a sheet.“West.I think there’s something wrong.”
I’m up off the couch before she can even get the words out, and I catch her as her legs go out underneath her.
“The baby,” she whispers.“I think he’s coming.”
“But it’s not—”
“Time yet?”she pants and doubles over.“Tell that to the watermelon trying to push its way out of my Bajingo!”
“Okay, do you have a hospital bag packed?”
Daisy shakes her head.“I thought I still had three weeks.He’s too early, West.What if his little lungs aren’t even fully developed yet?”
“It’ll be okay, Dais.We still have some time, right?”
“I thought they were just Braxton Hicks again, but I might’ve been in labor all day.”
“Let’s just get you to the hospital so we can be sure.”
She nods.I slide my arm around her waist and lead her toward the door, grabbing her phone from the coffee table as we go.It takes only a few minutes to get her situated in my truck and on the road.The nearest hospital is over an hour away but thirty minutes outside of Red River Canyon, Daisy’s screams curdle my blood and it’s clear this baby isn’t waiting for medical intervention.I pull over to the shoulder and try to dial 911, but I’ve got zero bars.I grab Daisy’s phone and check the bars.Still nothing.I keep the car running so the heat stays on, climb out, and dash around to the passenger’s side, throwing her door open.
“Oh my god, he’s coming!”
“Dais,” I say rolling up my sleeves.“I need you to lie back on the bench seat, okay?”
“I can’t.I can’t.It hurts too much.”Another blood curdling scream rents the air and Daisy rocks against the seat.
“Come on, darlin’.You got this.Let me help.”
“No.I can’t.I can’t have a baby here, West.I can’t.”
The universe has other plans, because there’s an audible pop, and I’m hit with a gush of amniotic fluid.
“I don’t think your little one is giving us a whole lotta choice; your water just broke.”
“It hurts.It hurts so fucking much.”She cries and shifts back against the seat.
“I know, darlin’, but you are so strong.”I grab the waistband of her soaking tights and yank them off.Holy shit.The baby’s head is almost completely out.Daisy’s abdomen contracts again and she clenches her knees tightly together.“You gotta push, honey.Come on.Breathe, you can do this.”
I push her knees toward her chest.This isn’t the first time I’ve had to help deliver a baby.Mama had Wade in the middle of the barn while she was mucking out the stalls and Daddy and the ranch hands were out on a cattle run.There was just four-year-old me until Colt’s Mama showed up.Working on the ranch my whole life, I’ve seen calves, foals, and kids born, and while animals may not be anatomically exactly the same, the premise is—get the baby out with as little stress to mama and babe as possible.
“I can’t do this, West.I can’t,” Daisy pants, her face pale and dripping sweat.“You need to just drive us to the—argh!”
“Darlin’, this baby is coming out right now whether we’re at the hospital or not.Now, dig deep and bring out that badass who’s been fighting her way through life since the day her mama left her in a box on the firehouse steps.”
Daisy raises her head, leaning up on shaky elbows, but there’s a newfound fire in her gaze.I don’t know if it’s my belief in her or what I said about her mama leaving her, but there’s a level of determination in her that I only remember seeing under those Friday night lights.
“There’s my girl,” I whisper, as I wrap an arm around her thigh and grin.“What do ya say we have a baby?”
Her next contraction hits fast and she pushes hard as she screams, the baby’s head pops out.Daisy collapses back on the seat and catches her breath.“I changed ...my mind.I ...I wanna wait ...for the hospital.”
