Page 164 of Dirty Like Dylan

“What about sex? Can’t that induce labor?” I’d heard somewhere that orgasm could bring on contractions, but maybe that was just another movie fact? And Brody wasn’t here anyway…

“Not now that the sac has ruptured,” Maggie said. “Bacteria.”

“Oh. Right.”

Maggie asked me to help her strip the bed so we could put on the waterproof sheet. We got Jessa’s bed all cozy for her, and I took a few photos of the girls talking as we worked.

Jessa ordered Maggie, “Don’t judge me,” then asked her to put one of Brody’s T-shirts on a pillow like a pillowcase. “I need to smell him right now. It’s an animal thing.”

“Jesus,” Maggie said, but she snuck a smile at me as she did as requested. “You want to crawl off into a cave somewhere and have this baby there? Maybe Brody can clean the baby off with his tongue and chew through the umbilical cord after it comes out of you.”

“Ew,” Jessa said, but she laughed, and the anxiety that had been weighing on her seemed to crack.

I could see why she’d chosen Maggie to be here. It wasn’t just Maggie’s managerial efficiency. The two of them had an easy, loving friendship underlaid with deep trust, and Maggie had put a smile on Jessa’s face for the first time in an hour.

I took a photo of them standing there in the glow of the bedside lamp, Jessa looking beautiful, tired and very pregnant as Maggie handed her a pillow wearing a man’s blue T-shirt.

“He looks so good in blue,” Jessa said softly, her voice kind of far away. “His blue eyes…” Maggie steered her onto the bed and as she helped her get comfortable, Jessa asked, “Do you think the baby will have blue eyes?”

“I don’t know,” Maggie said. “Yours are brown. Isn’t that a dominant gene?”

Jessa looked mildly alarmed, though still sleepy, as she tried to make sense of this. “Really? Is that how it works? I always thought the baby would have his eyes…”

“Well, maybe it will.” Maggie caught my eye and muttered, “What the hell do I know about babies?”

“Now what?” I asked, handing Maggie a cup of tea as she perched on the edge of the bed.

“Now,” she answered with a shrug, “we keep Jessa entertained and comfortable until she falls asleep.”

“Well, mission accomplished.”

Maggie looked over her shoulder, to find Jessa curled up in fetal position, asleep. Before we slipped out of the room, I took a photo of her like that, hugging her Brody pillow to her chest.

I barely even knew Brody, but I knew he was gonna love that photo.

Chapter Thirty-Two

Dylan

“Thank you for calling,” I told Amber. “But get your ass back in there before you miss all the action.”

It was about two in the morning. Amber had been with Jessa for over twenty-four hours now, and I missed her.

Jessa had finally gone into labor a few hours ago, without need of any drugs, which was apparently what she’d wanted; Amber had been keeping me updated by text all day and night. But this was the first time she’d actually called.

I liked to think it was because she’d finally hit the point where she couldn’t stand not hearing my voice.

“I will,” she said, and I could hear the softness in her voice over the line. She was tired. Emotionally wrung out, but still exhilarated. I could tell the girl was on fire, doing what she loved, no matter how tired she was. “It’s fucking crazy in there. I’ve never experienced anything so…”

“Raw?” I filled in for her, making my best guess of how it would feel to experience something like a baby coming out of my friend’s body.

“Yeah.” She laughed a little, blowing off some nerves. “It’s that. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever felt. I can only imagine how it feels for Brody. For Jessa.” She sniffed a little, and I wondered if she was crying. “I’m gonna go get some more images. Hopefully I don’t get kicked out. Everything’s going pretty smoothly, but if any shit hits the fan, apparently me and the midwife get bounced and the obstetrician takes over. I should get some more shots while I can, just in case. Brody’s on the edge. I think he’s gonna cry soon. I don’t want to miss it.” She laughed again. “That sounds awful.”

“Naw. It’s what they hired you for. Go do your thing.”

“Okay.” There was a small pause and a sharp intake of breath. “I… I miss you.”

Those soft, hesitant words of hers rocked right through me. I squeezed my eyes shut, savoring the feeling. “I miss you, too.”

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