Page 222 of The Coach

I shouldn’t be nervous.

I just coached a team in the biggest game of the year.

But this?

This is bigger.

This is Ivy.

This is our baby.

And nothing—not a Super Bowl, not a contract, not a single damn thing in this world—could ever come close to what this means.

I burst through the emergency room doors, scanning the waiting area like a man possessed.

Cassie stands up first.

"You made it!"

I barely hear her.

“Where is she?”

Lauren is beside her, shaking her head. “She’s upstairs. It’s happening fast.”

My stomach drops.

“Take me to her. Now.”

The second I step into the labor and delivery room, everything else disappears.

Ivy’s on the hospital bed, hair a mess, face flushed, her hands clutching the bed rails.

And when her green eyes land on me?—

Something inside me shatters.

Relief. Love. Every damn emotion all at once.

“You came,” she whispers, her voice hoarse.

I rush to her side, gripping her hand, pressing a hard kiss to her forehead.

“Of course I came. I would’ve run here if I had to.”

She laughs, but it turns into a sharp gasp as another contraction rips through her.

I hold her tighter.

“I got you, baby. I’m right here.”

She nods, breathing through it, gripping my hand like a vice.

The doctor steps up.

“Alright, Ivy. It’s time.”

Ivy is strong as hell.

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