“Becker.” He then dropped back to look at the desk clerks. “She’s in labor.”
“Okay, well they only allow certain people in the room if she’s pushing.” The woman to the left said rather sternly. She looked from me to him.
“He’s the father,” I replied back with a harsh bite. I had no idea how long Whitley had been calling him, or when she started labor. The last update we had was when I answered to tell her we were on our way.
The clerk raised an eyebrow but went to her computer to look up Whitley’s name.
“She’s on the eighth floor. Take the elevator.” She motioned and waved us off. Despite her obvious annoyance, I thanked her and urged Tate to turn and head towards where she had pointed.
We rode in silence up to the labor and delivery floor. It wasn’t awkward though. The air was electric with excitement almost. I was focused on the doors, but when I glanced over at Tate I found him looking at me, smiling softly. I pressed my lips together as my own smile started to form. I still couldn’t believe this was happening.
We were greeted much more warmly on this floor. I explained to the nurse who welcomed us who we were here for and our relation to the patient. She nodded and asked us to sit tight for a moment. She returned with a pair of scrubs for both of us. I tilted my head in confusion when she handed me a pair.
“Oh, I don’t need these. I don’t think she’ll want me in there,” I said rather bashfully. The nurse smiled understandingly and nodded. Tate ripped off his vomit covered shirt and pulled the clean one on. He looked at his pants in disgust.
“There’s a bathroom down the hall if you want to go clean up a bit,” the nurse said to him, not showing any sign of disgust like the ground floor clerk had. He nodded and with his scrub pants in hand took off towards the bathroom.
She turned back to me.
“I’m one of the nurses who has been with Whitley all day. Do you want me to go tell her you two are here?” Her smile was meant to be reassuring, but the thought made my stomach turn nervously.
“I don’t know. The last time we saw each other in person it wasn’t pleasant. Maybe just let her know Tate’s here?”
“Okay, I’ll do that.” She turned away and started off towards Whitley’s room. She paused a moment in her step. I thought she might turn around to say something, but she continued on, turning to the right, into the room.
Tate returned carrying his dirty clothes. I took them and pointed to the room the nurse had gone into.
“You’re not coming?” He frowned. I shook my head.
“No, I don’t want to mess things up for you right at the end. I’ll wait here for you guys. Or, in the family room.” I pointed behind him to an inviting waiting area. “It’s no big deal. I can actually go get anything you need while you’re in there.”
He blinked and then groaned. He wiped his face with his hands and nodded.
“Fuck. Yeah, I actually have a bag ready at the apartment. And a car seat, but that’s already in my car...” he trailed off. Despite looking and smelling a lot better, I could tell he was still fighting the alcohol in his system.
“Alright, well you go see how she’s doing and come back out in a bit with a list. I’ll be in there.” I gave him a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek before moving past him to go wait.
My heart was going crazy as I walked to the family waiting room. I wasn’t sure if I was disappointed or happy to see two other groups inside. Both consisted of a handful of people all excited for their family’s newest addition to be born. I smiled politely at the ones who glanced my way and sat down in an empty corner.
Reaching for my phone I saw I had some texts from Travie asking if everything was alright. I replied briefly that we were here and would update everyone when there was something to tell. As I was pushing send, a text from Cash came in, demanding to know what happened between Ronny and I. I blinked. With all the chaos of getting Tate to the hospital, I had all but forgotten about the fight I had gotten into with Ronny just before.
I had just returned home from spending the day with my brother, shopping for baby things. It was at the boutique that I realized I wanted to be with Tate. I had planned on talking to Ronny as soon as possible, but I was thrown off by him already being in my apartment.
No sooner had I gone through my door was he screaming at me, demanding answers. He had found Tate’s journal with all the things he wrote about me inside. I couldn’t defend it, which only proved to him that I wasn’t over the man I married. Before I could truly sit down and end things with Ronny, he told me we were done and stormed out.
I sent a quick reply to Cash, not including any details.
We broke up.
Barely a moment passed before he replied.
Are you with Tate now? Ronny said you’ve been lying about him for awhile. And Dallas just called me. Is the baby coming? What the hell is going on?
I sighed and closed my eyes a moment. Of course, Ronny would start running his mouth about what happened between us. When he was angry, he didn’t act rationally. I opened my eyes and sent one last message to Cash before shoving the phone back in my bag.
I’m with Tate at the hospital. Yes, baby is coming. I’ll explain everything later. Ronny, Tate, all of it. Got to go.
I forced myself to pull out the book I had stowed away in my bag and try to read it. It was difficult considering I was thinking about a million different things. I started to make a mental list of all the things I needed to do, letting the words on the page blur over.
