Page 152 of Wilde Flame

“Dad, why don’t you come and sit down right here, while we get Mom all settled?”

Caden let one of the nurses guide him over to a sofa.

Dr. Lawrence walked into the room with a wide smile on her face. “Hey there, Lilibeth and Caden. How are things going?”

I nodded as I breathed through the last of the contraction.

“Coming faster now?”

The nurse answered her, while I lay my head back on the pillow. That one was painful.

“We talked about an epidural. Is that still possible?” I asked.

“Let’s take a look and see how far you’re dilated.”

According to the doctor, I was fine to get the epidural, and before I knew it, I was resting comfortably. Caden was now sitting in a chair next to me, watching a movie on the TV.

I had dozed off, but woke when the nurse came in to check on me. She did a quick examination and then popped back up. She smiled and turned to Caden.

“Dad, you good?”

He gave a thumbs-up. “All good here!”

She smiled and slipped out of the room.

The door opened again, and a few people entered the room, including Dr. Lawrence. She sat down and did an exam. When she lifted her head, she grinned. “We’re going to get you to start pushing.”

“What?” Caden asked, jumping up and nearly knocking over his drink that was sitting on the floor. “It’s time? We’re pushing?”

Dr. Lawrence laughed. “You’re not pushing, but Lilibeth will be.

After that, I lost track of time. Very quickly, I was exhausted, thirsty, and so ready for the baby to just get out of me. They’d turned the epidural off so that I could feel when the contractions were coming so that I could push. The pain wasn’t too bad, thank goodness.

After another round of pushing, I fell back against the bed. “I can’t do this anymore! Can you just take her out?”

Caden leaned down and kissed my forehead. “Hey, you’re doing amazing, Lili. So damn good. We’re almost there.”

Turning to glance at him, I felt tears welling up. “I don’t think I can do it.”

He gave me that smile of his. The one that made me weak in the knees…and was the reason I was sitting here in so much pain.

“You can do this, Lilibeth. I know you can. I also know you want to meet our little girl just as much as I do.”

I nodded as he wiped a tear away.

“You’ve got this, Lili. I’m here, I’m right here.”

Dr. Lawrence looked up at me. “We’re so close, Lilibeth. I think we just need one more big push.”

“O-okay,” I said, as I grabbed Caden’s hand, leaned forward, and pushed with everything I had.

“Wow. Umm…ouch. You’re kind of hurting my hand, Lilibeth.”

All eyes went to Caden.

“I mean…she’s stronger than she looks.”

“Keep pushing, Lilibeth. We’re almost there!”