“Ellie needs to take some deep breaths, girls. Can you stay with her while I go in with Garrett? He’s about to beat the hell out of my grandson. ”
“Ah…okay. ” Heather said.
I looked at Ellie as she shrugged her shoulders.
“Ells, are you okay?” I asked.
“No, I want to have the baby in Austin, but I don’t think I’m going to make it, so we have to go to Fredericksburg. ”
“Alright, babe. Why are we just sitting on the porch? And why is Garrett about to beat t
he hell out of Gunner? I think we should probably be on the way to the hospital, honey, don’t you?”
Ellie let out a laugh. “Yeah, I think we should. . . oh shit, here comes another one. ”
I looked at Heather. “Can you go into the house and see what the fuck is going on?”
Heather nodded and went inside.
“Ellie, baby, just take deep breaths. Come on, let’s walk over to Gunner’s truck. Can you get into the truck?” I pulled her up and held on to her as we made our way to Gunner’s truck.
“Yep,” Ellie said between breaths.
“Is your bag in the truck, Ells?”
“Yeah, I put it in there the other day because I was worried I’d forget it. ”
Sounds like Ellie.
I helped her into the truck. “Do you need a pillow or anything?”
“Nope, I just need Gunner. Please, Ari, can you go get him? I can’t breathe. ”
I smiled at the thought of how only Gunner could calm Ellie down.
“Okay, baby, I’m going to go get his ass right now. He’ll sit back here with you while Jeff drives. Heather will follow us. ”
“Sounds good, but I really think we need to hurry. ”
I jumped out of the truck and started to make my way back to the house. Jeff came walking out with Gunner, and I stopped dead in my tracks.
“What the hell happened?” I asked, confused.
Gunner was holding a bag of ice to his head. When he pulled it away, he already had a huge black eye.
“Stupid bastard passed out and hit his eye on the table,” Garrett said as he threw his head back and laughed his ass off.
Gunner turned and looked at him.
“Thanks, Gramps, thanks a lot. ”
“Okay, boys that’s enough. Gunner get in that truck with Ellie. ” Emma said. She turned to Heather. “I called Grace and Jack, and they’re leaving from Austin and will meet us at the hospital. ”
After we got Gunner in the truck, Jeff and I jumped in.
Ellie turned to Gunner. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
Jeff looked over at me and smiled. I’d never known Gunner to be nervous or scared of anything. I thought back to when I’d gone into labor and how Jeff reacted. Jeff reached across and grabbed my hand.