“Dangerous?” the nurse questions, eyeing both of my close friends.
“Not dangerous to you or the welfare of anyone else,” I explain. “Last time they got this drunk together, they ended up married and annulled. Get this, they hate each other.”
“Not true,” Vincent and Dalia deny simultaneously.
“If you guys can’t keep it down, I’m going to ask you to leave.” The nurse issues her first warning, but I’m sure it won’t be her last.
“Please, ignore them and just tell me where I can see my wife, Denise Daniels.”
“Yes, Dad, you’re down the hall and to the right, suite 210.” The nurse smiles and sends me on my way.
I head toward the room, unsure of what to expect, but what I see is nothing I’m prepared for. Denise’s white knuckling the railing at the end of the bed, squatting while two nurses and a doctor are trying to talk her into getting in the bed.
“Babe?” I rush over to her. “Hey, hey, hey.”
She turns to me, beads of sweat dripping down her beautiful face that’s turning a deep shade of red, just in time for her to grab my hand and crush it as I assume a contraction hits.
She groans through it but doesn’t scream.
“Should she be holding in pain? Isn’t she supposed to scream and break my fingers?” I ask the medical professionals.
“They won’t give me anything for the pain,” Denise snarls before she squeezes my hand again.
“Oh-kay.” I wince in pain as I stare at my sweet girl and kiss her on the temple. By now, I’m kneeling beside her.
“Um, Mr. Daniels, can we get you to help her into the bed?”
“I told you dipshits before, my back is killing me, and I will NOT get in that fucking bed!”
Everyone in the room stares at each other like,what the hell are we doing in here?I run a multimillion dollar fitness empire. I know pain; I know management. We can do this.
“Okay! Listen up. I’m going to lean back in this bed. She’s going to squat in front of me. Do you need to get inside of her for anything right now? We can hang her ass over the edge.”
Denise bursts into laughter before shoving me and knocking me onto the floor. “You’re such an asshole.”
“I’ve been trying to babe, but you won’t let me in there. It’s gonna be a long six weeks,” I joke and she laughs again. There’s a flood of relief washing over me and the room in general as I lighten the mood and help my wife move from the floor to the bed where I let her brace herself against me to avoid laying in the bed.
“You’re so stubborn,” I tell her, brushing her hair off her face.
“As a mule.” She huffs. I see her eyes cut to the doctors moving around behind her. “I kick like one too.”
“Calm down babe.”
“I don’t like them moving around me like this. They’re making me uncomfortable. They’re trying to make me do things I’m not ready to do like HAVE A BABY!”
I stroke the side of her face, trying to keep her attention on me. “Hey, Dalia’s giving Vin moonshine.”
“Oh no,” she whines. “Go stop them before they get married again.”
“Soon as we have this baby, I promise I will toss them both down the stairs.”
“I’m not having this baby,” she says adamantly. “This hurts, like a lot, babe. It’s too soon.”
“Coming in to check dilation,” the doctor says as he moves behind Denise.
I narrow my gaze at him but she turns my face to look at her. “It’s only for you, Daddy. Don’t pay attention to where he’s going.”
“Don’t Daddy me in here, little girl,” I whisper against her forehead. “This is how we got into this mess in the first place.”