I sniffled. “I really like cake.”
“Great.” He winked. “Now, turn on your side and grab your knees and hold still. The minute your next contraction hits, I want you to take a few deep breaths, and once it ends, I’m going to put in the epidural.
“Okay? You’ll feel a slight sharp pain and then some pressure and we’ll be all done. You can’t move though.”
I nodded. I was sweating and freaking out. I hated needles.
Thatch was immediately on the other side of the bed. “Let’s just fight through this next one together, alright?”
I couldn’t speak; the contractions were getting worse. I clenched my eyes shut and waited for the torture to end.
And then I heard Ben’s voice. “That was a big one. Alright, let’s go.”
I tried not to tense, but like I said, the needle was huge and it was getting placed in my spine, of all places. Already woozy, I waited for my legs to go numb and was pleasantly surprised when the pain started to dissipate and, within five minutes, went away altogether.
“It’s a miracle!” I could talk and function like a normal human being. “What’s in that thing?”
“Fentanyl,” Thatch answered with a smirk. “There’s no chance in hell you should feel any pain, and if you do, just click this handy little button but not too often, ’kay?”
He handed me a magic button.
And suddenly I felt powerful again.
And like myself.
“I’m going to rock this.” I nodded.
Thatch rolled his eyes. “Yeah, I think it’s safe to say she’s got drugs in her system, since a few minutes ago she was flipping everyone off.”
His dad smiled, and they started chatting about the football game while I was busy trying to figure out why the little guy hadn’t decided to make an appearance yet.
A half hour went by.
And then a full hour.
I was restless, reading a magazine, when Thatch’s dad checked me again and smiled. “You ready?”
I knew everyone was restless, and eager to see the baby. My mom was in the waiting room with everyone else, most likely pacing away the carpet.
“YES!” I threw the magazine on the floor and waited. “Do I push now or—”
“Patience.” He chuckled. “We don’t want to stress the baby.” He glanced at the monitor. “At the height of each contraction, I want you to grab behind your knees and use that to help you push from your stomach, alright?”
I nodded.
And during the next contraction, I pushed as hard as I could.
Thatch was on the right side of the sheet, holding my hand and squeezing with each push.
“Two more and I think we got it. You’re born to do this, Austin.”
“I am,” I said more to reassure myself. “I am. I’ve got this.”
“Love you.” Thatch squeezed my hand tighter as I pushed again.
“I see baby’s head,” Dr. Holloway said hoarsely. “One more, honey.”
I pushed again.
And then all the pressure was gone.
And a warm, wailing, tiny, wrinkly little thing was placed on my chest.
I burst into tears.
Thatch was already there, helping the nurse clean up the little guy while his dad did whatever he was supposed to be doing down there.
“This is going to hurt a bit.” He looked up. “We need to get all the fluids out along with the embryonic sac. You ready?”
I nodded and held my baby tight while he pushed down on my stomach. I was seriously going to puke if he didn’t stop soon.
Thatch was staring at the bundle on my chest with tears streaming down his face.
“So beautiful,” Dr. Holloway said. “The way the body creates another precious human.” He held up something bluish and gross looking, and I about passed out.
“Thank you,” Thatch whispered in my ear. “You did wonderfully.”
“I don’t really hate you,” I said, suddenly exhausted.
“I know, baby.”
“And I don’t want you to jump off a cliff.”
“I’m aware.”
“And I really do want you to touch me again,” I whimpered. “Maybe just not tonight.”
He smirked. “Austin?”
“Yeah?”
“I love you.”
“Love you too.” I kissed him on the mouth and felt full, so full, I thought I would explode.
A family.
Who would have thought that saying yes to a hot doctor at a bar would lead to this?
Not me.
It was the perfect ending.
Acknowledgments
I still pinch myself. I love my job; it’s my passion. And I’m so blessed to be able to do it, and so thankful to God for allowing me to do it and putting me on the right path so that a dream could become a reality.
To my amazing husband and son, who put up with my late nights and constant craziness over book deadlines—I love you guys. Nate, you are truly the best book boyfriend EVER, only you’re real . . . Wait, you are real, right?
Melody, thank you for all your hard work with this manuscript. Courtney, thank you for always being so up for whatever crazy ideas I have and going, “Okay, yeah, let’s do it!” So honored to be a part of the Skyscape team!
Erica. Best agent EVER! Thank you for pushing me, and always being such an amazing friend and agent. I love you!
Jill—you literally make sure everything is perfect before publication. Thank you for keeping me sane and making sure that every t is crossed and every i dotted. I don’t know what I would do without you as family and as a friend!
Liza, Kristin, Jessica, best beta readers ever! Thanks for loving this book as much as I did and for helping me when things got a bit sketchy!
To Rachel’s New Rockin’ Readers, GAH! I love you guys, and I know I say this basically every single day on Facebook, but we really do have the best, most supportive group ever!
Bloggers, Readers, I love you guys hard. And words will never be able to adequately express how thankful I am that you stick with me or that you even pick up one of my books. I’m fully aware I would not be where I am today without you guys!
If you want to stay in contact, follow me on Instagram @RachVD or you can join my totally awesome group on Facebook, Rachel’s New Rockin’ Readers. To be kept up to date on future releases and all the stuff in between, just text MAFIA to 66866 to be added to my newsletter!
HUGS!