I point to my belly and smile. “No, I mean it’s too early in my labor. I’ve only had one contraction. I’m not even sure how far apart they are, because I haven’t had another one since the first one hit. The doctor said it usually takes longer with your first baby. I’m not supposed to go to the hospital until they’re like five minutes apart or my water breaks, and I think I have to call the office first to make sure it isn’t just Braxton Hicks that are false labor pains that don’t help things along, no matter how painful they might be,” I mutter, praying that’s not what I’m feeling right now. It would really suck to go through that pain again if I’m not really in labor.
He shakes his head as he walks to the door. “The shit you women have to go through for the miracle of birth.”
“You can say that again.” I blow a piece of hair out of my face and he smiles.
“Here’s the plan.” He opens the door. “I’ll grab your bag so we’re ready, and then we’ll keep track of your contractions. If they even come close to being five minutes apart, we’ll head to the hospital. Which one is your doctor at?”
“Vanderbilt.”
“Perfect. If it’s a problem, I’ll call Autumn and see if she can pull any strings for us, since she’s a nurse there.”
I don’t think hospitals work that way, but he seems so confident that I don’t want to burst his bubble. Plus, I have no doubt that he’ll figure out how to get me admitted if it comes down to that. Honestly, it’s reassuring, especially since I figured I’d be alone when the time came to give birth to my baby girl. This is so much better than my recurring nightmare where I had to drive myself to the hospital but couldn’t get the door to my car open and I ended up giving birth in the parking lot instead.
While he’s gone, I get up and go to the bathroom, wash my hands, splash some water on my face, and brush my teeth with an extra toothbrush I find in one of the drawers. When I pad back out to the living room, I feel a little more refreshed, but I am in no way ready for the next contraction as it hits me. This one is stronger than the other one I felt, and it almost drops me to my knees. I rest against the wall and attempt to breathe through the pain.
“Why are you up?” Justin asks, dropping my bag off his shoulder and rushing to my side as soon as he comes through the door. “Did you have another one?”
“Yes.” I lean into him and let him help me back to the couch. I take a deep breath through my nose and let it out through my mouth. “It’s over now.” I sigh in relief and lean back against the cushion.
“I don’t think I was gone for even five minutes.” The worry in his tone is audible.
“I don’t think you were either.”
“C’mon.” He tugs on my hand and leads me to the door. “I can’t handle seeing you in that much pain. We’re going to the hospital.”
“But—”
He doesn’t let me finish. He goes and grabs my bag then comes back to the couch and picks me up. Cradled in the safety of his embrace, I wrap my arms around his shoulders as he carries me out the door. “You can call your doctor on the way. At the rate you’re having contractions, you’ll have four more before I even get you to the hospital.”
“Okay.” I’m not about to argue with him, not when I’m seriously scared myself by how quickly each one seems to be coming. Especially when I read it’s normal to be in pre-labor for hours with your first baby.
“Let me help.” He takes the seatbelt from my shaking hands once he has me in the passenger seat of his Rover.
“Thank you,” I whisper, and his eyes linger over my face before he clicks my buckle into place.
“Anything,” he whispers back, brushing his lips over mine before moving out the door and slamming it closed. A moment later, he climbs behind the wheel then reaches over and laces his fingers through mine, giving them a squeeze. “I know it’s got to be hard as fuck for you to trust me, baby, but I promise you’ll never regret it.” He starts the engine and pulls out of the parking lot.
“It’s actually easy trusting you,” I admit quietly as he drives. Yes, my brain might’ve needed a little more time to catch up, but my heart seemed to know right away that he was the kind of guy any woman would be lucky to have, including me.
“That’s good to know,” he says, and I start to laugh, but it’s cut off by another contraction. While I breathe through it, his gaze darts to the clock on the dash as he steps on the gas to speed up.
A little less than a minute later, the pain passes, and I pant, “You’re everything I didn’t expect to find.”
“Fuck, sweetheart,” he groans. “How can you be so damn sweet when you’re in labor? Aren’t you supposed to be yelling and screaming at me?”
“Do you want me to yell at you?”
“Not really,” he says, squeezing my fingers, and I laugh as he stops at a red light and turns to look at me. “Seriously, baby. If anyone in this car is lucky, it’s me, not you.”
“I think that goes to prove I’m right about you.” I shift in my seat, trying to get comfortable now that my lower back is aching. It doesn’t do any good, and I grimace at the pain.
“What’s wrong?” he asks, his tone full of worry.
I try to smile at him, but my attempt doesn’t appear to reassure him much. “The contraction’s over, but now my back hurts.” Tears fill my eyes as I start to freak out. “What if the recurring nightmare I’ve had about giving birth in the parking lot all by myself was a warning? What if we should’ve called an ambulance? What if—”
“Aubrey,” he bites out in a firm, deep voice, cutting me off. “Take a deep breath, baby.”
I squeeze my eyes shut and focus on my breathing. “Okay, you’re right. I need to try to stay calm. Even if you have to pull over before we make it to the hospital, it’s not like I’ll be alone.”
“I’m not going to have to pull over so you can give birth. Your doctor said the first time you give birth takes the longest, remember?” he reassures me. I give him a jerky nod and keep on breathing. “We’re halfway there already. You’re doing great.”
“So are you,” I say, and he laughs, thinking I’m joking when I’m not. I’m almost sure most men wouldn’t be this calm and understanding in the same situation.
“All I’m doing is driving, sweetheart. You’re the one who’s doing all the hard work.”
“You’re not just driving.” My throat gets tight. “You’re here for me.”
“Damn straight I’m here, and I’ll never let you be alone again if you let me.”
I turn my head, open my eyes, and stare at him in silence as he drives for another minute or so before all the muscles in my lower abdominal area squeeze tight and I have to pant through the pain again. When it passes, I whisper, “You better be careful what you offer right now, because I might hold you to it, Justin.”
“Go ahead, Aubrey. Don’t you get it? I want you to hold me to it for the rest of our lives.”
Chapter 8
JUSTIN
WHEN WE PULL up in front of the hospital, I throw the Rover into Park and haul ass around to the passenger side as a guy wearing a uniform steps out through the sliding doors. “What’s going on?”
“My girl’s in labor,” I tell him, and he grabs a wheelchair while I grab her bag from the backseat.
“You can’t leave your car here, man,” he says as I slam the door shut and turn to follow him.
“There’s no way I’m letting my girl out of my sight when the baby could be here any minute.” He opens his mouth, and I know he’s about to tell me that the Rover will get towed if I leave it there. I couldn’t give a fuck, since Aubrey is what’s important to me at the moment. But I figure there’s an easy solution so I don’t need to track my vehicle down when she and the baby are discharged. “There’s a hundred bucks in it for you if you’ll park it and bring me the keys and parking garage ticket when you’re done.”
Aubrey looks over her shoulder, rolling her eyes at me. “We just got here and you’re already bribing hospital em
ployees?”
“It’s not a bribe. It’s asking someone to do a favor in return for money.”
“Yeah, it’s a favor.” The attendant holds out his hand for my key then steps away from the wheelchair, letting me push it as he walks toward the Rover. “And if you decide you need any more favors while you’re here, I’m your man.”
“How much money do you have left in your wallet?” Aubrey asks ten minutes and five contractions later while we’re still waiting to go back to a room.
“Probably a couple hundred bucks, but I’m sure there’s an ATM around here somewhere.” I look up at her from the paperwork they handed us when we got here. “Why? You need something?”
“Yeah,” she pants. “A bribe for the nurse to get me into a room now!”
I press a kiss to her forehead then rise from my chair. “Gimme a second and I’ll take care of it.”
She gives me a jerky nod, and I stalk over to the desk. “How much longer? My woman is about ready to deliver her baby right here in your waiting room.”
“It’ll be just a few more minutes,” the woman dressed in scrubs says without even bothering to look up from her cell phone.
I lean closer and slam down the clipboard. “Put your goddamn phone down and do your fucking job.”
That finally gets her attention, and her head jerks up. “Step back and do not swear at me again. If you do, I’ll call security and have you kicked out.” Her lip curls up in disdain as she mutters, “Medicaid patients are the worst. Popping out babies left and right, expecting the rest of us to cover their bills while they demand the best of everything.”
Her tone is low, but I still caught what she said. “Pardon?” I fight the urge to jump over the counter and strangle her scrawny ass.
“Sir.” Another nurse moves next to me and wraps her hand around my bicep, pulling my attention off the woman I’m currently glaring at. “I have Aubrey’s room ready for her.”
“It’d better be a private room after the shit that nurse just spewed,” I grumble. “If it comes down to it, I’ll pay the difference.”
“No worries there. All we have are private rooms in this unit.” She beams a smile at me as she moves over to Aubrey’s wheelchair and starts to wheel it toward the hallway leading to the rooms. “And even if we didn’t, I’d make sure your girl got one anyway, after you guys had to put up with Marni’s drama. You shouldn’t have had to wait that long or hear her say crap like that.”
“What happened?” Aubrey asks.
I reach down and squeeze her hand. “The girl at the desk was in no rush to get you admitted, because she was too busy being a bitch about your insurance.”
“It isn’t the first time someone’s had something bad to say about me being pregnant with a ‘Medicaid baby.’” She shrugs her shoulders. “But it’s not like I have a lot of options. Johnny doesn’t offer health insurance, and I can’t ask my family for help. Not after what they asked me to do.”
I make a mental note to ask Kenton what it would take to get Aubrey and the baby added to my policy. We’re covered for just about anything with almost no deductible, which is a smart move on his part considering some of the risks we take for the job.
“Marni’s behavior today was unacceptable and is the last bit of evidence I need for Human Resources so they can finally fire her. Please trust me when I tell you that you won’t be hearing anything like that from anyone else.”
“Let me know if you need me to file a complaint,” I offer as I help Aubrey out of the wheelchair and onto the bed.
“It would be helpful,” she says as Aubrey has another contraction. Once it passes, we help her change into a hospital gown and lie back against the pillow.
“I’m so thirsty.” Aubrey’s face contorts in pain with another contraction and I eye the clock. I haven’t been keeping track, but they seem to be coming even closer together.
“Can you get her some water?” I ask the nurse.
She shakes her head while picking up the pink plastic pitcher on the table next to the bed. “She can’t have water, but you can feed her some ice chips. They’ll help with the dry mouth.”
Aubrey lets out a little whimper, and I press a kiss against her sweaty forehead. “Sorry, baby. I promise once the baby’s here and you’ve got the all-clear from your doctor, I’ll get you whatever you want to drink.”
“Even a milkshake from Lulu’s?”
Lulu’s is an old-fashioned diner about an hour north of us, but that doesn’t change my answer. “If a milkshake from Lulu’s is what you want, then that’s exactly what you’ll get. As often as you want them.”
“Awww, I wish all the daddies were as sweet as you,” the nurse says, handing off the pitcher of ice chips and a spoon to me.
“He’s not the father,” Aubrey admits softly with tears in her eyes. I have to swallow down a lump in my throat, and it’s not just because I know she’s remembering how she got pregnant. It’s also because there’s a big part of me that wants to lay claim to her daughter and her.
Aubrey squeezes my hand, and I focus on her beautiful face. “You’re the only person in the world I want to have with me when she comes into this world.”
“Just try and get rid of me.”
The nurse laughs. “I’m not volunteering for that job. I can only imagine how many security guards it would take to rip you from her side.”
“All of them,” I mutter, knowing damn well I’d fight to my last breath to stay at her side now that she’s let me in.
Aubrey’s hold on my hand tightens to the point of pain, and I breathe a sigh of relief when the doctor finally arrives. Things move quickly from there, and a sense of pride fills me with how well Aubrey holds up through it all.
“Sorry, it’s too late for an epidural,” the doctor says, lowering the sheet back into place after checking her.
“She’s in pain,” I point out.
He looks at me. “I know, but unfortunately she’s progressing too fast for her to get one now.” He pats my arm after he stands and says, “She’ll be okay.”
I want to punch him in the face and ask if he’ll be okay, but I don’t. Instead, I focus on Aubrey for the next hour and a half, whispering words of encouragement and feeding her ice chips. When the time comes, I hold one of her legs back until the beautiful sound of a baby crying fills the room.
“It’s a girl!” the doctor confirms.
I look up and lock eyes on Aubrey’s daughter for the first time, feeling my heart pounds hard in my chest. One look and I’m done for. She already owns my soul, just like her mom does.
I divide my attention between both my girls as the doctor finishes up with Aubrey and the nurses check over the baby before cleaning her up. When all the excitement is over, the nurse places the baby in Aubrey’s arms.
“She’s beautiful,” she whispers, tracing a shaking finger over the baby’s cheek.
“Just like her mommy,” I agree.
“Have you picked out a name yet?” the nurse asks.
“No.”
“Yes.”
Aubrey and I answer at the same time, and I’m surprised, because the last time we talked, she told me she hadn’t decided for sure yet. “What did you decide on, baby?”
“I’d like to name her Jenna Ann.”
“A beautiful name for a beautiful girl.” The nurse writes the baby’s name down onto a notecard and places it in the bassinet in the corner of the room.
Aubrey smiles at me, but there’s a hint of worry in her tired blue eyes. Wanting to wipe that look away, I brush a kiss against the top of her head and whisper, “You did good. Jenna Ann is the perfect name for her.”
“It’s more perfect than you know.” She looks down at Jenna’s sweet sleeping face and touches her cheek. “There’s a tradition in my family when it comes to naming babies,” she admits softly as she takes my hand and holds on tight.
She doesn’t talk about her family much, which I get, considering everything she’s been through. I figure that
bringing them up now is a big deal for her, and I hook my foot around the chair leg at the end of the bed and pull it toward me so I can drop down into it without letting go of her hand. “Did the tradition help you pick Jenna’s name?”
“Yeah.” She shifts her gaze to me and her cheeks fill with a pretty pink color. “But you helped more.”
Even tired from giving birth to Jenna, with her hair a tangle of curls and dark circles under her eyes, she’s so fucking beautiful that I have to lean over and brush a kiss over her lips before I ask, “How’d I help?”
“The baby’s middle name always has the same initial as their mom, so Ann is for Aubrey, since I’m her mama.”
It’s like the whole world stops for a moment when it hits me what she’s about to say next. The nurse is still in the room with us, but the only people who matter to me right now are Aubrey and Jenna. I want this to be just ours for now, so I get up and bend over the bed, caging Aubrey in by pressing my hands into the mattress on either side of her head. Then I drop my forehead against hers and ask in the barest of whispers, “And her first name?”
“It’s supposed to be the same initial as her father, but I couldn’t do it. He doesn’t get to touch any part of my precious girl, not her name. Nothing.”
“Of course he doesn’t, sweetheart. He’d have to go through me to get to either of you, and that’s never gonna happen,” I swear.
Her eyes fill with tears and she nods. “When the nurse asked about her name, you popped into my head, the way you’ve taken care of me, the way you looked at her. It felt... right. I know I probably should’ve asked first, but… I—”
“Don’t ever try to apologize to me for this again.” I cup her cheeks with my palms and swipe the tears on her cheeks away with my thumbs. “Naming her Jenna after me? I’m so fucking honored and proud.” I have to swallow down a lump in my throat before I can continue. “I promise I’ll do right by both of you and earn that gift you just gave me.”
“Justin,” she whispers.
“Promise, Aubrey.” I squeeze her hand and touch my fingers to Jenna’s cheek, knowing that she and her mommy were always meant to be mine.
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