I might have offended her but I don’t give a shit. She was rude first.
It was her audible gasp about an hour later that had me yanking out my earbuds to hear an announcement being made by the captain. A cargo plane had crashed on the runway in San Francisco. All runways had been shut down. SFO wasn’t allowing planes to land. We’d circle in the air for a few minutes and might be diverted to another airport.
I couldn’t f**king believe it. I wanted to stand and shout, But my baby is being born, damn it!
I held it in, though. I couldn’t make an ass of myself. I’d already offended the lady next to me. In fact, she was looking at me oddly right now.
“Are you okay? We’ll probably end up landing in Oakland or whatever,” she said reassuringly. “Though I hate those damn Raiders.”
I laughed because of course, I ended up sitting next to the one football fanatic in the entire plane. “I’m fine, it’s just …”
“What?”
“My wife is in labor.” I exhaled, but it didn’t loosen up the ball of anxiety in my chest whatsoever. “And I need to get to the hospital so I can be there when the baby’s born.”
“Wait a minute. Your wife is in labor right now?” When I nodded, she continued. “And this is your first baby, right? I saw that on ESPN.”
“Yeah.” I rubbed a hand along my jaw as I glanced out the window. We were not going to land anytime soon, I could tell. We were too high up. “She’s been in labor all day.”
“Oh my word. She could have that baby at any minute!” She reached out and snagged the sleeve of the passing flight attendant. “Miss, do you know who this is?” She jerked a thumb in my direction.
The flight attendant glanced at me, a polite smile on her face. “I’m sorry, I’m afraid I don’t.”
“Drew Callahan, quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers.” The woman said it loud enough for the entire plane to hear. Jesus. “His wife is in labor. She’s going to have the baby at any minute and he’s missing it!”
“There’s nothing we can do—” the flight attendant started, but my seatmate cut her off.
“Don’t give me that crap. Tell the captain to divert the plane to Oakland. We have a celebrity on this plane. Someone important to this entire city, and he needs to get to his wife so he can witness his baby being born.”
“Hey.” I touched the lady’s arm. “They’re doing what they can. It’s all good.”
“No, no it’s not. Tell the captain,” she said to the flight attendant, giving her a little push. “Go on.”
The flight attendant scurried away and the woman turned to look at me, a smug smile on her face. “See? That’s how we get things done.”
“There’s probably nothing they can do,” I reminded her, but she shook her head.
“There is. Trust me. We’ll make this happen. You’ll get to see your baby being born.” She reached out and patted my shoulder, seemingly forgetting that she totally ragged on me not even an hour ago. “You’re no Tony Romo, but you’ll do. And I can’t stand the thought of you missing seeing your first child come into this world.”
Crazy thing is, all her protesting and telling everyone who I was spurred the captain into gear. The entire plane was abuzz with the fact that a 49er football player was on the plane. The freaking quarterback who was trying to get home to his wife so he could be there for their baby being born. They all started grumbling and it worked to my advantage.
We landed in Oakland within twenty minutes. There was a car waiting for me, one I didn’t arrange for, but someone had. Whoever it was, I offered silent thanks as I hopped into the backseat and gave the driver the address. I was on the phone with either Owen or Fable the entire time as we moved quickly through traffic, which wasn’t easy considering it was rush hour.
See? The odds were completely stacked against me. Yet somehow, I made it. I got there in time. Even with Fable telling me she was dilated at nine centimeters and was starting to feel the urge to push, I told her to hold off as long as she could. I wanted to be there.
I needed to be there. To get so close and miss it would crush me. No way could I let that happen.
The driver drove like a bat out of hell, zipping through traffic and getting us to the hospital in record time. I gave the guy a two-hundred-dollar bonus, raining twenties on the front seat before I jumped out of the car with a hurried thank you and ran toward the entrance of the hospital. Owen had already told me what room Fable was in and I went to the elevator, practically hopping up and down while I waited for it to arrive.
This is f**king it. Our lives are changing as we know it, at this very moment. We’re going to be parents. Our daughter is going to be born.
I’m so nervous and excited I can hardly stand it.
Fable
He made it. I’ve never been happier to see his face, to see his smile and smell him as he rushes into my room, coming right to my side so he can drop a kiss on my forehead and grab my hand. The doctor is there, accompanied by the nurse, and my legs are spread, my knees bent as I’m in position to get ready to push.
“You’re here,” I breathe as Drew kisses me and whispers that he loves me.
The doctor sends us a stern glance, her gaze flickering to the monitor that’s keeping track of the baby’s heart rate. “A contraction is coming. You need to get ready to push, Fable.”
I grip Drew’s hand hard and squeeze, bending forward, my chin practically pressing into my belly as I feel the contraction come on, big and strong. I breathe and push all at once, doing what the doctor told me earlier, trying my best to get this baby out of me.
I’m desperate to meet her. Hold her. Cuddle her close.
“Good job, baby,” Drew encourages, his mouth close to my ear. “You can do this. You’ve got this.”
I stop pushing on a sob and lean my head back against the stack of pillows. I close my eyes on a grimace, my hair sticky with sweat and plastered to my forehead and cheeks. Drew pushes the hair out of my face, tucks it behind my ears, and I crack open my eyes to find him looking right at me, his blue eyes full of love.
“You’re doing great,” he murmurs.
“I’m exhausted,” I confess. My entire body feels weak. I don’t know if I can keep this up much longer.
“A couple more pushes and you’ll have a baby in your arms,” the doctor promises and I let out a little groan, closing my eyes again.