“Alright everyone,” Lawson’s voice rose above the murmur of concerned guests. “Not that there’s nothing to see here, but I need you all to take some serious steps back. Don’t make me put my angry pants on. They’re bright green with pink polka-dots, and they are stomach-turning.”
A low chuckle rippled through the other guests.
Elisa let out a wobbly laugh.
Angus snorted. “I’ve seen those pants. He’s not wrong.”
“For fuck’s sake, stop talking and help her,” Zeta ground out.
Mick turned to her. Her eyes were wide, terror burning in them. His chest tightened. She was trying to cope with her own stress about her cheetah kittens back in San Diego. Add this to the situation, and she was likely on the brink. He hated the idea of her feeling so helpless, so panicked.
“Zeta?” he said softly. “Zeta, look at me.”
She jerked her stare to his face. “What? What?”
“Can you find my stethoscope in my bag, please?”
Movements jerky and abrupt, she nodded and looked in his bag. He knew exactly where it was in there and didn’t need Zeta to locate it for him, but Zeta needed something to do. Something to help with.
He turned back to Elisa. “Ready?”
She squeezed Angus’s hand and nodded.
Chest tight, breath slow and calm, Mick took off his close-friend hat and put his emergency-department-doctor hat on.
* * *
“First thing first,the heartbeats are good. Steady,” he said, keeping his voice soft as he removed his stethoscope from Elisa’s stomach.
Relief burst from Elisa—and Angus and Zeta and Bria—in audible breaths. No matter how stern Lawson was, he couldn’t get Zeta or Bria to leave their sister’s side. Fair enough. He wouldn’t leave Owen’s or Tilly’s side either in a similar situation.
He placed his palm gently on the swell of her stomach and gave her a smile. “That’s a good sign.”
She smiled back. “It is.”
“Now, there is a risk of trauma,” he went on. “But I need to know where the pain is before I can ascertain that.”
Elisa bit her lip, frowning as she nodded. “Trauma?”
“It’s a horrible word, so don’t get hung up on it.” He smoothed his hand softly over her stomach. “Where is the pain now?”
Her frown deepened, and she tentatively touched low on her right side, near her hip. “Here.”
“Cramping?” He moved his fingers to where she’d indicated and explored the area with a light pressure. “Like contractions? Do you feel like you want to poo?”
Her eyebrows shot up, and a nervous giggle fell from her.
“Evacuate your bowels, I mean.” He grinned. “Sorry, I’ll keep my doctor language going.”
She laughed and looked up at Angus, who brushed his fingers across her forehead again. Mick wanted to point out to Angus there was no more hair on her face to sweep away, but he knew the repeated move had nothing to do with Elisa’s hair and everything to do with Angus keeping himself calm.
“No,” she said, looking at Mick again. “No pain like that.”
“Okay, this is good. Really good. It means the chance of the fall instigating labor is low. We definitely don’t want you going into labor yet.”
“No, we don’t,” she said, at the exact same time Zeta and Bria said the exact same thing.
The sisters looked at each other, and then all three smiled.