Page 90 of Labor of Love

Once I finally got Rowan in the chair, I raced him inside through the double glass doors. My car was in the pickup-only zone, but I’d worry about tickets later. Rowan moaned softly while he braced his hands on either side of his stomach. The contractions had sped up and were coming one right after the other. His body wasn’t giving him a chance to catch his breath between the waves.

“May I help you?” the clerk asked from behind the glass partition at the reception desk.

“He’s having a baby.”

“Oh, babies are my favorite,” she said as she smiled kindly at Rowan. “How close are your contractions?”

“In the ride over, they were two minutes…arrrrrgggggh.” Rowan’s answer was cut off when a particularly strong cramp overtook him.

“Oh, you got an impatient one.” The clerk came from around her desk and took control of the wheelchair from me. “Are you parked out front or in the lot?”

“Out front.”

“Go and park your car, Papa, and then come back. We’ll get Daddy checked in. We’ll do our best to get the little one to wait for you.”

I squeezed Rowan’s hand before I headed back outside to park the car and grab Rowan’s bag. In less than ten minutes, I was back at the desk looking for him. A new clerk escorted me to his room on the birthing ward. We walked to the end of the hall before he pushed open the door and announced my entry.Rowan was on the bed, already hooked up to monitors with an IV in his arm. He looked scared as hell.

“Hey, you, looks like you’re having a baby today.” I walked over to the bed, and Rowan immediately grabbed my hand. I’d always heard that pregnant people were surprisingly strong.Can confirm. His grip on my hand was like a vise.

“I don’t want to do this.” I pried Rowan’s fingers from around my hand and picked up a cold cloth from the bedside table next to him. I wiped his forehead and his flushed cheeks.

“Sorry, my guy, but we already covered this. Your baby is finished cooking.”

“I’ll tell the doctor I changed my mind.” The nurse on the other side of his bed chuckled.

“Mr. Prescott, we hear that a lot in here. But when you’re holding your baby, you’ll be so glad you decided to stick around and have them after all.”

“You can’t promise me that.”

“No, I can’t promise, but I’ve been doing this for thirty years, and I haven’t been wrong yet.”

The nurse bustled around checking the monitor, including the one attached to Rowan’s bump. The drugs pushed through the IV must be helping with the pain because he wasn’t nearly as agitated. The nurse had pushed up his gown so I could see his fully distended belly. It was covered in stretch marks, with the dark line straight up the midline. His skin rippled as the baby moved around, eager to meet the world. It was the most fascinating thing I’d ever seen.

“Here, Silas, you can feel them moving.” Rowan reached for my hand and placed it on his stomach.

His skin was warm and taut. I added my other hand so I could feel the entire span beneath my fingers. I felt the baby’s movement, but I couldn’t tell exactly which part of them I felt.Rowan placed his hands over mine and our fingers linked while we felt the baby move.

“Sweetheart, oh my gosh, that’s your baby in there. You’re gonna be a daddy.” While I stared at his stomach, one of the machines hooked up to Rowan alarmed.

“Sir, I need you to step back, please.” The nurse’s warm and welcoming voice went no-nonsense and firm. She pushed a button on the wall and another alarm sounded. Within a minute, the door opened and two more nurses and a doctor entered. She immediately looked at the printout generated by the alarming machine. After a quick review of the pattern, she gave a decisive nod and waved everyone back.

“Mr. Prescott, we don’t have time to wait. The baby’s heart rate is dropping rapidly, and we need to go now.” Before I knew what was happening, Rowan was whisked out of the room, and I watched helplessly as the door shut behind them.

5

ROWAN

“You’re so beautiful. You’ve got all your fingers and all your toes, and you’ve got your daddy’s hair. He’s gonna be so excited to meet you.”

My brain was fuzzy around the edges, but I instantly recognized Silas’s voice. It was low and soothing.

“He’s been waiting a long time to meet you. Seven months. Can you even imagine? You’re just a couple of hours old, so probably not, but trust me, it’s a long, long time. Can I tell you a secret?” I strained to hear what else he said. “He’s sleeping right now, but he’s gonna wake up soon, and he’s gonna fall in love with you.”

My eyes drifted closed again—my baby was safe. They were with Silas.

When I woke up the next time, Silas and the baby were still there. I managed to turn my head and find them in a rocking chair in the corner. Silas was bare chested and the baby was cradled close while they took a bottle. The baby looked blissful and well on their way to being milk-drunk. Judging from their eager sounds, the baby was perfectly content. Silas never took his eyes off the baby. I could sleep more.

By my third wake-up, the fog had finally lifted from my brain. My body felt like I’d been run over by a truck. My arm still had an IV in it and a blood pressure cuff remained on my arm. According to my classes, this wasn’t how it was supposed to go.

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