I nodded. “Okay, then what?”
“Then I’ll check the baby’s heartbeat and we can have a chat.”
Check the baby’s heartbeat and have a chat.
“Got it.”
Branna and Nico both held onto me as I left the sitting room and entered my bedroom. Nico and Damien left and shut the door so I could undress and change.
“Can I shower?” I asked Branna.
She shook her head. “Wait another hour. I just want to watch your water to make sure there is no colour change.”
I nodded my head. “Can you go wet a cloth then so I can wash down my legs, please?”
Branna bobbed her head up and down and then headed out of my room and into the bathroom. She returned with a warm, wet washcloth. She helped me strip naked and took the cloth and washed the lower half of my body.
I flushed. “I’m sorry you have to do this, I’m so embarrassed.”
Branna snorted as she washed my thighs. “Babe, I help strangers do this on a daily basis at work. I’m happy to help you, you’re one of me best friends.”
I got emotional. “I’m so happy you’re going to be deliverin’ her.”
Branna stood up when she was finished and leaned in, wrapping her arms around me. “Me too, sweetie. It is an honour.”
When she separated, she got me a knee-length baby-blue nightie. She got a pair of granny knickers from one of the many new packets I bought for after the baby was born. She also grabbed one of my large pads and placed it onto the knickers then helped me slip them on.
I sighed. “I feel better knowing it will catch the water. It felt so weird when it just came out with no warnin’.”
Branna smiled as we sat down on my bed. She asked me a few questions about my water breaking then she laid me back on my bed and went to get the little portable Doppler she had so she could check the baby’s heartbeat.
When she returned to my room, Nico, Alec and Damien were hovering by the bedroom door looking in. I smiled at them and waved them in.
“Come in. I’m decent.”
They entered the room but quickly made a show of looking up at the ceiling when Branna lifted my nightie upwards until it sat under my breasts. I chuckled at them and said, “I have big knickers on, lads. All you will see is belly and leg if you look.”
They hesitantly peeked at me then fully looked when they saw I had nothing private on show. Alec climbed onto the bed and sat next to me while the twins stood a metre or two away from the bed, watching me warily.
“Where is Kane?” I asked Damien. “Is he on his way home?”
He licked his lips and said, “He didn’t answer his phone, but we left text messages and voicemails. We’ll keep on trying until he picks up.”
I frowned. “He is with Ryder, why don’t you try—”
“Already did.” Nico cut me off. “He isn’t answering either. They’re both probably doing sets and their phones are on silent.”
I blinked. “What if he misses the birth?”
Branna chuckled. “Darlin’, this takes a while. Trust me, he will be here.”
I nodded my head to Nico and said, “Did he take his injection this mornin’? I can’t remember if he did or not.”
“He took it,” Alec confirmed. “He binned the needle in that yellow bucket on the kitchen counter when I came over.”
I nodded my head and relaxed a little.
I glanced at Nico. “Did you ring Bronagh?”
“She and Keela are in town searching for a new bed since our base... broke.”
I snorted. “You broke the base of your bed?”
He shrugged, smirking. “It was bound to happen at some point. I’m actually surprised it lasted so many years of us having sex on it without caving in.”
I laughed.
My attention was brought to Branna when she squeezed some gel on my stomach. She turned on the little machine that found the baby’s heartbeat, then placed the Doppler onto the gel on my stomach and swirled it around.
There was some static, then almost straight away there was a beautiful thudding sound.
I smiled, and so did Branna.
“The heartbeat is as strong as ever.”
“Is it just me,” Alec murmured, “or does the heartbeat sound scary similar to the beat of the song Jingle Bells?”
We laughed and listened for a minute more before she put the machine to the side and wiped my belly free of gel. We chatted then for a few more minutes, until everything stopped when a pain struck.
“Oh, shit,” I winced and hunched forward, gripping onto my stomach as if it would somehow help ease the pain.
“Breathe,” Branna’s voice soothed. “Remember your breathing.”
Right, my breathing.
Big inhale, long exhale, big inhale, long exhale.
I dropped my head back to my pillow when the pain eased. “Shit, that really hurts.”
“That’s labour, darlin’.” Branna chuckled as she busied herself and grabbed different items from her bag, humming as she did so. There was a spring to her usual dragged step, and she looked happier than I’d seen her in a long time.
I hoped it was because of the baby coming and not because I was in pain because that’s what the next four hours consisted of. Pain, pain, some laughter, and more fucking pain.
It was excruciating.
I had never felt anything like it before in my life, and there was no let-up to it either. I had some gas and sucked in air for pain relief, but even that only minimised it slightly by making me lightheaded.
Through my pain I noticed Kane still wasn’t with me, and the more pain I felt, the more irritable I became about it. I needed him here, and he was nowhere to be found.
Damien even left at one point to go looking for him at the gym, but he came back alone and told me the manager said they left a few hours ago.
We had no clue where they were and all sorts of horrible things ran through my mind. Things like what if Big Phil somehow had him?