by L. A. Casey
“Us,” Ryder corrected.
I wiped my eyes. “Of course, lads. It’s really okay, I just overreacted and—”
“You have a phobia of spiders,” Damien cut me off, turning to face me. “You didn’t overreact.”
“But Damien—”
“You. Did. Not. Overreact.”
My heart thrummed in my chest.
“Okay,” I said softly. “Okay.”
He stepped closer to me, switching his eyes to his niece, and they softened almost instantly.
“How’s my girl doing?” he asked her, touching his hand to her side, tickling her.
Her little body spasmed in my arms, so I turned her away, laughing.
“Don’t tickle ’er,” I warned. “She’s like me; she can’t handle it.”
“I’ll be the judge of what you can handle.”
No one missed the innuendo in what Damien said.
“Shut up.”
The lads snorted.
“You’re on a whole other level of pretty when you’re embarrassed, freckles.”
I ducked my head, and Damien laughed as he put his arms around me and hugged me to him. Georgie wasted no time as she gripped his arm with her little hands, and pinched him, which had him pulling away with a yelp.
“Ow!” He frowned, and waddled his finger at her. “No. You don’t pinch. No, not nice.”
The child glared at him.
“She loves Alannah,” Bronagh said. “She clearly doesn’t like you touchin’ ’er.”
“Well.” Damien stared back at his niece. “You’ll have to get used to it, kid.”
Georgie continued to eye Damien, and it made me chuckle.
“She’s fire,” I said. “Good luck to you when she’s a teen, Nico.”
“Jesus, I know.”
We all laughed, and Georgie laughed too because of that, which we only found funnier. I handed her off to her mother, and Damien slipped his arm around my shoulder, tugging me to his side. Ryder stepped outside to take a call when his phone rang, so I focused on Damien and said, “How come you’re home from work?”
“I get off work at three thirty on Tuesday.”
“Oh.” I nodded. “I’ll have to learn your roster.”
Damien leaned his head down, and I knew his intention was to kiss me, but he paused and looked up suddenly. I followed his eyes and froze.
“What?” Damien said, his eyes flicking from Nico to Bronagh, who were staring at us. “Why’re you both looking at us like that?”
“Because we’ve waited for fuckin’ years to see it,” Bronagh answered, a beaming smile stretching across her lips. “That’s why, bro.”
Nico smiled down at her when she called Damien bro.
“Are you all goin’ to be weird about this?” I quizzed. “’Cause I never stare at any of you.”
“None of us have been sniffing around one another as long as you and Dame have,” Nico said.
“You’re both me OTP.”
I blinked at Bronagh. “What does OTP mean?”
“One true pair,” she replied. “Duh.”
I rolled my eyes. “You’re not allowed on Tumblr anymore, you’re turnin’ into one of those crazy people.”
“Back off Tumblr, Lana.”
I playfully raised my hands, and grinned before I dropped my hands to the arms around me when Damien hugged my body tightly to his.
“It’s crazy for us to see you guys together.” Nico said with a smile. “A good crazy.”
“You’ll get used to it,” Damien answered. “You all will.”
God, I hoped so.
I smiled up at him, but my attention was pulled to the doorway when Ryder slid into the room, his eyes wild, and his forehead shining with sweat.
“What is it?”
“Branna,” he said, panicked. “Her water broke!”
“How did Ry get Bran to the hospital so fast?” I asked Bronagh as we jogged from the car park towards the Coombe Women & Infants University Hospital after passing by Ryder’s car that was parked at a sharp angle. “We live forty minutes from ’ere, and we left at the same bleedin’ time as ’im!”
“God couldn’t stop that man from gettin’ ’ere as fast as he could with Branna and those babies.”
I could do nothing but agree with her as we jogged towards the entrance of the hospital, a stitch already forming in my side from the activity.
“I hate runnin’,” I replied breathlessly.
“Since Georgie got more active and started crawlin’, runnin’ is all I’m good for nowadays.”
I laughed, then took a much-needed breather when we slowed down upon nearing the reception desk in the lobby. I thought Bronagh was going to ask where the labour and delivery ward was situated, but when she turned left and headed towards a giant stairwell, I blindly followed her. It wasn’t until we cleared the first floor that I realised Bronagh knew exactly where she was going, she had delivered a baby in the same hospital after all.
“Isn’t the labour ward off limits to visitors?”
“Normally, yeah,” Bronagh answered. “But since Branna works ’ere, and she’s the patient, that means we get special privileges.”
“We?” I slowed my steps. “You just said we … as in you and me?”
Bronagh paused, then turned to face me.
“I hear the fear in your voice,” she commented. “Push it away, ’cause we gotta focus on Branna.”
My lips parted.
“But … but … I thought I was gonna wait in the waitin’ area,” I said, grasping at straws. “I can give great moral support from out ’ere, ye’know? I’ll keep everyone updated. I won’t leave this spot, not even to use the jacks. I’ll be the best support system from a distance, I swear.”
Bronagh snorted, then turned and continued walking. With a dragged-out sigh, I followed her, silently praying that a security guard or a member of staff would inform me that I had no business being in a room where a lady was about to give birth … but no one stopped us. Not a single bloody person. I followed Bronagh towards the nurses’ station, and when I spotted Ash, Branna’s co-worker, behind the desk, I smiled along with Bronagh. Ash was lovely, and any time I had met him, he had always made me laugh with a dumb joke one way or the other.
“Bronagh, Alannah,” he said with a bright smile when she stopped before the desk. “It’s great to see you both. Which one of you is in labour so I can get you checked in?”
I snickered. “Arsehole.”
He grinned at us.
“I’d jump this counter and wring your neck if I wasn’t so excited,” Bronagh said, bouncing from foot to foot. “Which room is Branna in?”
“Number one,” Ash answered. “Sally is in there with her and so is Taylor; she’s doin’ beautifully. She’s already dilated to eight centimetres.”
Ash barely finished his sentence before Bronagh squealed excitedly and ran towards room number one at the end of the corridor. I made no move to follow her; instead, I stared at the door of the room where Bronagh just vanished.
“You look scared.”
I looked back at Ash. “Just scared? Because I feel terrified.”
His lips twitched. “Have you never seen a baby being born?”
“Not in person, and I avoid it on the telly whenever I can,” I answered. “I wasn’t expectin’ to go into the room. I thought it would have been a private moment.”
“From what Branna tells me, you’re her family. You don’t get any more private than that.”
That made me smile.
“Yeah,” I agreed. “We’re a family.”
“Then get in there,” Ash encouraged. “The more support, the better, and it’s better you than me, to be honest. Bronagh can focus on Branna, and you can focus on Ryder. The man looks like he is going to drop any second.”
I nodded, swallowed, then turned and walked towards the room Bronagh disappeared into. When I reached the door, I knocked on it gently, and maybe two seconds went by before the door was pulled ope
n, revealing a very distraught Ryder.
“Lana,” he said, relieved. “Get in here.”
He took my hand and pulled me into the room, closing the door behind us. Instantly, my eyes landed on Branna. She was on her hands and knees on her bed, her head down, and her hips swaying from side to side as she groaned. She was wearing a pretty pink nightdress, and her hair was pulled back into a tight French plait.
Bronagh was beside her, with her jacket and bag hung up on a rack across the room. She had her long-sleeved t-shirt rolled up to the elbows, and her hair was pushed behind her ears. Her attention was 100% on her sister as she roughly rubbed her lower spine. I noticed two women, one older and one younger, pattering around the room checking machines, checking on Branna, then chatting to one another like there wasn’t a woman in excruciating pain next to them.
I assumed them to be Sally and Taylor that Ash mentioned. I had heard Branna talking about them before, but I had never met them in person.
“You’ve got this, Bran,” I said to her, finding my voice. “You’re gonna be a mammy soon.”
Branna lifted her head, and though she was sweaty and red faced, she smiled at me as best as she could.
“I’m so happy about you and Damien, honey.”
My heart warmed. “Thanks, Bran.”
She lowered her head, and said, “’Ere comes another one.”
She moaned in pain, and Ryder, who still had hold of my hand, squeezed it.
“Hey,” I said, gaining his attention. “She’s goin’ to make you a daddy real soon, and she is goin’ to be perfectly okay.”
He bobbed his head, and I knew he was repeating what I had said over in his mind. He gave my hand another squeeze, then moved over to Branna’s right side. He kissed her cheek, head, then hunkered down beside her, grabbing her hand as she powered through a contraction.
She suddenly cried out in pain, and I jumped with fright.
“I really shouldn’t be ’ere for this,” I said to no one, my stomach tightening. “I think I’m gonna faint.”
Ash snickered as he entered the room, and that frightened me as well, which told me just how wound up I was. I focused on him.
“This room is over capacity, right?”
“Yes,” he answered with a twitch of his lips. “But Branna works here, so having extra people in with her is no problem.”
I frowned at the man. “You were supposed to agree with me, then escort me off this ward and to a waitin’ room.”
Ash rumbled with laughter. “My bad.”
I focused on my friend and so did Ash.
“You’re doing beautifully, babe,” he said to her. “You’re flying along.”
Branna groaned in response, and Ryder sort of glared at Ash, while Bronagh continued to rub her sister’s back and spoke words of encouragement to get her through the current contraction.
“She’s progressin’ like lightnin’,” the older woman, who I assumed to be Sally from what Branna had told me, beamed with pride. “Those twins will be ’ere within the hour, mark me words.”
Ryder looked like he was about to faint.
“Isn’t this happenin’ too fast?” I quizzed to Ash. “Shouldn’t she be in labour for hours? Me ma was in labour for twenty-seven hours before she had me, she said it’s the reason I’m an only child.”
“Every woman is different,” Ash answered with a one-shoulder shrug. “When I came on shift this morning, the woman who had been in labour for twelve hours when I left last night was still in her room labouring while another woman came in and left an hour later after having her baby.”
“Wow,” I murmured. “That’s insane.”
“Branna’s been in labour since six o’clock this morning, and she said nothing just so Ryder would go to work. She’s in labour a good nine hours now,” Ash explained. “She just didn’t ring Ryder until her water broke an hour ago because she knew how long labouring could take, and she didn’t want to worry him.”
That was such a Branna thing to do. She wouldn’t bother anyone, even her husband, unless she absolutely had to.
Branna suddenly cried out in pain as her contractions strengthened, and I cringed right along with her as her entire body tensed. Crossing my legs absentmindedly as I inhaled and exhaled deep breaths. I found that the actions helped me as much as it seemed to help Branna, so I kept on at it.
“Do you remember,” Bronagh said to her sister with a smile, “when I was eighteen and you dropped me off at school, but I didn’t wanna go inside because I didn’t want to be around Dominic?”
Branna nodded, breathing heavily. “I remember.”
“Do you remember laughin’ at me?”
“Yeah,” Branna panted, sweat running down the sides of her face. “I do.”
“Do you remember that I said I would remind you of that moment when you were at the height of pain in labour?”
Branna growled. “I remember.”
“This is me revenge for that moment ... does it hurt?”
Branna swiped at Bronagh, who leaned away laughing before returning to her sister’s side. She resumed forcefully rubbing the base of Branna’s spine, and it made Branna groan and not in pain. She seemed to like the treatment Bronagh was giving her, while I found it all to be rather … rough.
“You won’t make me see Dominic again when I don’t want to, will you?” Bronagh teased.
Branna laughed, then cried out in pain again, and even though I had only been in the room for a few minutes, I could tell the pains were getting stronger and faster.
“It hurts,” she growled. “God, it fuckin’ hurts.”
“I know,” Bronagh said. “Breathe through it. You’ve got this, Bran.”
Branna screamed through the worst of her contraction and agony played across her face. The sound, and visual, cut me in two. I looked at Ryder who was staring at his wife with non-blinking eyes, and he looked exactly how I felt. Fucking terrified.
“What can I do, sweetness?” he almost pleaded. “I’ll do anything, just tell me, and I’ll do it.”
“Ice,” Branna groaned. “Some ice, please.”
Ryder zoomed out of the room to gather some ice before Branna even finished her sentence.
I watched him go. “He is feckin’ terrified.”
Branna inhaled and exhaled deeply four times before she said, “There is no point in reassurin’ ’im. Until the babies ... are born ... he will remain that way.”
“Or until they’re eighteen,” I teased.
Everyone laughed just as my phone rang. I checked the screen, saw it was Damien, and answered instantly.
“Any news?”
I winced as Branna screamed and latched onto Bronagh like a boa constrictor. Bronagh’s face reddened a little, which told me just how tight of a grip her sister had on her.
“She’s still in labour.”
“I heard her, poor mama,” Damien said, and I could picture him frowning. “Is she okay apart from her obvious pain? How is Ryder holding up?”
“Branna is doin’ brilliantly.” I looked at his older brother down the hallway gathering ice from the ice machine and said, “And Ryder is still conscious so I’m countin’ that as a positive.”
Damien snorted, and Ash grinned beside me before he said something to Taylor to make her cheeks redden. I watched as he patted her behind with his hand, and a smirk stretched across his face before he left the room. If didn’t take much to see that they were more than co-workers.
“I wasn’t expectin’ to be in the room,” I whispered to Damien when I refocused on our phonecall. “I feel so scared, and I keep crossin’ me legs when Branna gets a pain. Bein’ ’ere is such good birth control; they should make teenage girls come and experience this.”
Damien’s laughter relaxed me, but another cry from Branna cut the sound off. I placed my finger in my free ear so I could hear him better.
“You’ll be fine,” he assured me. “Think of it this way; you’ll get to see our nephews come into the world.”
Our nephews.
“Yeah,” I said, smiling. “You’re right.”
Branna screamed so loud it scared the bejesus out of me, and I could do nothing but wince on her behalf.
“Gotta go,” I said to Damien. “I’ll phone you when I have another update.”
“Okay, baby. Bye.”
I bit down on my lower lip to keep from smiling like a fool. Every single time he called me baby, or some silly pet name, it reminded me that we were really together, and I hadn’t imagined our coupling.
“Bye.”
After I ended the call, I pocketed my phone. Ryder re-entered the room with a jug full of ice, instead of just a small cup, and it made me grin. I had never seen someone as big as him look so scared, but I knew he wasn’t just scared for his babies. He was also terrified for his wife.
“Ye’know,” I randomly said, “I keep forgettin’ that you’re both married, and your surname is Slater now, Bran.”
She smiled through her pain.
“I know. It has a ring to it, though, doesn’t it?”
“Yup,” I agreed. “Bronagh Slater sounds foreign, though.”
“I probably won’t take Dominic’s last name,” Bronagh said with a shrug. “It’s the twenty-first century; not every woman takes ‘er husband’s last name.”
Ryder, who popped a piece of ice into Branna’s mouth, looked at his sister-in-law and said, “Does Dominic know about this?”
“No.”
I grinned. “Can I be there when you tell ’im?”
“Me too,” Ryder and Branna said in unison, making one another laugh.
I frowned when Branna whimpered as pain consumed her once more. She tucked her head against Ryder’s neck and began to cry as he leaned down to hug her. Bronagh continued to rub her back, and Ryder murmured things to Branna that made her bob her head. I sat on a chair to the left of the room as things progressed fast. One minute, Branna was breathing through her pain, and the next, her legs were parted and there was a flurry of people in the room.
A man called Doctor Harrison, Taylor, Sally and two more nurses who were on standby to take each baby when they were born filled the already crowded room.
Before I knew it, Branna was pushing. Bronagh was on her left, and Ryder was on her right, both looked like they’d swap positions with Branna in a heartbeat if they could. I, on the other hand, was focused on my breathing because I felt like my heart was about to beat out of my chest. I wouldn’t have been able to swap with Branna even if I wanted to; I was too scared.