Callan put a hand on Ethan’s shoulder. “I’ll stay,” he said. “You and Foster have been doing everything. Let me do this.”
Foster and Ethan shared a look, but ultimately, they moved out into the hallway to wait. Callan helped Dr. Greene sit me up, and I turned so that my feet hung over the side of the bed. “It’s not comfortable, but I need you to sit as far forward as you can,” Dr. Greene said.
Callan helped me to lean forward and kept hold of my hands. “You okay?” he asked.
“It’s a little hard to breathe like this.”
“This will only take a moment,” Dr. Greene assured me. “Let me know if anything feels painful or if you get lightheaded at all. Once I hit your spine, you shouldn’t feel anything, but sometimes the medicine can lower your blood pressure.”
There was a small stick as he numbed my back as best he could for inserting the epidural itself. Callan glanced over my shoulder, and I could see the color draining from his face. I grabbed his hands and squeezed. “Look at my face, okay? I need you not to faint on me.”
Callan nodded, and his eyes found mine. “Hey, Princess,” he said and smiled that million-watt smile that made me melt.
I felt a pressure in my back, and then I felt cold. “It’s cold,” I said. “Whatever you just hit.”
“Yes, it can feel that way.”
The feeling started to spread, and I gripped Callan’s hands all the tighter. “Are you okay?” he asked.
I shivered, and for the first time, what was happening hit me. “I’m scared, Cal,” I said softly, pitched just for him. “We’re going to beparents.”
Callan laughed. “That’s the part I’m not scared about at all,” he said. “You’re going to be an amazing mother.” He kissed my forehead.
My legs were starting to feel heavy at this point. “I think it’s working.”
Dr. Green taped something down against my skin and helped me to lie back. “Your nurse will be in shortly to put in a foley catheter. You won’t be able to get up for several hours.”
The pressure of a contraction hit, but none of the pain came with it. “That isamazing,” I said with a sigh. Callan’s shoulders relaxed. “Thank you, Dr. Greene.”
The older man laughed. “All soon-to-be mothers thank me,” he said. “Congratulations. I’m sure you two will have a beautiful baby.”
He left before either Callan or I could react. “Does it bother you that one of you will always be assumed to be the father and not all of you?” I asked.
Callan shrugged. “Maybe a little, but we’ll all know the truth, which is all that matters.”
It bothered me a little bit that we couldn’t just be open about our relationship, but unless I wanted to quit Hollywood altogether, that just couldn’t happen. Ethan, Foster, and Callan were better about it than I was, and they had offered several times for one of them to step to the front and become my “official” boyfriend. This had become a topic of argument, actually, because of the baby. The press had been hounding me about the baby’s father, and so far, I had done a good job of avoiding the question.
Ethan wanted me to allow one of them to step forward, but I wanted to avoid the microscope that we were under in Australia. Having a public partner would most certainly do that. Foster and Callan were more neutral about the whole subject and were content to let us duke it out. So far, I was winning... but the baby could change that.
There was a knock at the door, and then Ethan poked his head in. “Did Callan pass out on you?”
“Fuck off, Merc.”
Foster pushed the door open, and they both came in. “I’ll take that as a ‘no’,” Ethan said with a grin. “How’s our princess doing?”
“I am numb from the waist down,” I said. “I’m good.”
Foster sat in the chair beside me. “Don’t make us leave the room again,” he said. “Ethan was a nervous wreck.”
“Liar,” Ethan shot at him, but I just laughed. It would be just like our fearless leader to hide how scared he was from me. “Seriously, Adrianne, Foster was the one freaking out. I’m fine.”
Foster shook his head. “She already knows that I’m freaking out. I don’t have to hide out in the hall to do it.”
I touched his cheek, bringing his eyes to mine. “You don’t have to be scared, love,” I said. “I’m going to be just fine.”
“I know,” he said. “It’s still... terrifying.” Callan and Ethan echoed that sentiment, and my heart thumped against my ribs. There were moments when I wasn’t sure that I could love these men more than I already did, and then they showed me a side of them that I hadn’t seen before, and I fell even deeper.
The nurse came in and tried to chase them all out, but I refused. “They can stay,” I said. “They’re about to watch a birth. I think they can handle a catheter.”