She was only six months and two weeks along! That hardly seemed like enough. After all, she was growing a whole baby in there! An entire mini-human being was inside of her and there was no way that thirty-eight weeks was a sufficient amount of time!
But that didn’t seem to matter to the baby, because they were eager to arrive. We didn’t even know their gender yet! While I had been ordering things online, we still had so much more to get. And I hadn’t baby proofed the house yet.
We weren’t ready!
Another groan sounded from Nicole and I told myself to get it together. I could panic later, on my own time. Right now, the whole world needed to be about her and the baby.
“So, it looks like we’re on good track for dilution, but I’d like to keep track of it, okay.” The doctor said, shaking me from my reverie. I had zoned out so hard that I almost didn’t comprehend how only thirty seconds had passed, but I rolled with it.
“I’m going to get to have a natural birth?” Nicole asked, sounding happy for the first time since I had found her in the bathroom.
“I don’t want to promise because life can sometimes be a little unpredictable, but if everything goes as it’s supposed to, then yes, a natural birth should be in your future.”
She let out a long breath and collapsed back while the doctor took off his gloves and tossed them in the trash.
“I want a check on her every half hour, and if this persists beyond three hours, then every fifteen minutes after that.”
“Yes, doctor.”
The man turned to me, gave a short nod, then exited, no doubt to help some other pregnant woman who was going to hopefully have one of the most magical days of her life.
Would I even be a good father? Sure, I liked to think so, after all, my parents were amazing and fully supportive, but that didn’t mean I was guaranteed to be. What if I screwed this kid up? What if they turned out to be a bully or a sociopath or a drug addict? Why hadn’t I prepared more for this?
“Did you hear that?” Nicole asked. “We’re going to be able to do this naturally.”
I startled, once again getting lost in my own thoughts. I needed to stop doing that. I wanted to be present for the birth of my son, not off in lala land.
“We are,” I said, rushing to her side and grabbing her hand in mind. She was covered in sweat and her hair was plastered down to her head, but to me she couldn’t look any more beautiful. “All you have to do is breathe through it.”
“Easy for you to say, you’re not the one pushing them out.”
I laughed at that, but it was a much more frantic sound than I had hoped. “That’s true. But I’m here for you, whatever you need.”
“Any chance you could give me a better drug resistance, so I wouldn’t have to go without for this whole very painful process?”
Another dry chuckle from me. I knew from our planning stage after her first trip in the hospital that Nicole was extremely susceptible to any sort of narcotic. Even half doses would leave her unconscious and confused for hours. It was unfortunate, but she didn’t want to risk being remotely dopey for when her baby came into the world.
Our baby.
It was so insane to think that. Soon, I was going to have a child in the world. Me. The billionaire bachelor who had one-night stands in Vegas and got drunkenly married at some speed chapel. Unless something went horribly wrong, but I wasn’t going to allow myself to entertain those kinds of thoughts.
“Sorry, I don’t have that either.”
“I know,” she sighed, sinking back onto her pillows. I guessed that her most recent round of contractions was over, and she was going to get a few minutes to rest. I couldn’t imagine what it would be like once she went into active labor instead of the pre-labor she was in now. “And you know what?”
“No, what?” I said, using my free hand to give her water again.
“Although I’m in a lot of pain, and that pain is probably going to get worse. And even though I’m covered in sweat and about to have my vagina mangled by an interloper that’s half your DNA, I’m happy I met you.”
Wow, I couldn’t think of a kinder thing that she could have said. “I’m glad I met you too,” I said, pressing a single kiss to her damp forehead. “I wouldn’t give it up for anything.”
“Really?” she asked skeptically. “Even with the running away, disappearing for three months, pawning your ring, and needing you to foot the bill just for me to get a place?”