Page 89 of Until Forever

And this is the best one ever!

EPILOGUE ONE

LATOYA

One year later…

“Ahhh,” I yell at the top of my lungs and Jasper carries me into the emergency room with my nails digging into his shoulder.

“We’re here, baby, just hang on,” Jas encourages.

We approach the desk with our entire wedding party behind us. Everyone’s frazzled and confused because this is so not how we planned to spend our day. We were ready for a different kind of celebration, I dressed from head to toe in a white floor-length, lace, off-the-shoulder gown and veil, and Jasper in a black tux with a hunter-green tie. Ensembles that are now ruined by sweat and from my water breaking.

“She’s in labor,” he says, out of breath, his grip slipping a little.

“Get me a wheelchair,” the ER nurse requests.

An orderly rushes over to us, and Jasper is gentle when he places me in it. At the same, another contraction rips through me, every muscle tensing to help brace myself from the pain. It’s useless, and now I’m wondering why anyone would want to do this more than once. It’s been so long since I had JJ, I’d forgotten all about this part of the process.

We turn, following the nurse toward a set of double doors. “I’m sorry, we can only allow two people other than the parents in the delivery room, but the rest of you are free to wait in the Labor and Delivery wing.”

“Mommy,” JJ calls out.

I glance behind us, watching as he struggles to get through the crowd of our closest friends and family members.

“I’m okay, baby.”

“I want to go with you.”

“I know, but I need you to keep Paw Paw company. You know how he feels about hospitals. Can you do that for me?”

It’s not my father I’m worried about. Yes, he isn’t the biggest fan of this place, but I know it’ll help settle my child if he thinks he’s helping. My dad steps up behind him, placing a hand on his shoulder.

“Come on, son. When she comes back, you’ll be a big brother.”

“Okay.” JJ doesn’t fight when Dad pulls him back, but then he breaks away and runs to my side again. He rises on the tips of his toes and plants a kiss on my cheek. “I love you.”

“I love you more.” I smile through the budding of another contraction. “Ahh.” I wince.

“All right, bud. We’ll see you soon,” Jasper promises, accepting JJ’s hug.

We disappear behind the door, and it feels weird being on this side of things—a patient in pain. The nurse hands Jasper a clipboard to fill out all the appropriate details.

“She works here, do we really need to worry about all this right now?” he asks, his voice full of agitation. Not necessarily at her, but we’re kind of having a baby here.

“If she’s never been a patient, yes, we’ll need this.”

“Hand it here, I’ll fill it out and they can get her insurance information later,” my mom says out of nowhere.

I didn’t even realize she’d come through the doors behind us.

“Ahhhh.” I grab his hand, squeezing for dear life and breathing the way they taught us in birthing class. “It’s coming.” I groan at the pressure against my opening. “I feel like I need to push.”

“Try not to push, we’re almost there.”

We board the elevator with Jas and I practicing our breaths to help keep my mind off things. He kneels in front of me, rubbing his palms up and down my arms, all while demonstrating what we learned. I mimic him with my hand on my stomach. The steel car arrives at our floor, and they rush me into an empty room.

Jasper helps me out of my dress and into a gown, then guides me on the bed. As best I can, I tell the next nurse who enters, the labor and delivery nurse, who my OB-GYN is. She goes about her job, preparing me to have this baby before finally exiting the room.

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