Page 81 of Single Mom's Secret Diary
Avery breathes hard, taking practiced, measured inhales and blowing out hard. Those are what we practiced in her Lamaze classes.
Panic seizes my chest, and I’m frozen for half a second. Is she in labor? Did that trick work?
Mai is going to get so much praise from Avery if this is the real thing. And it must be because Mai circles the kitchen island and rubs Avery’s back.
“See? What I say? Works every time. You breathe. In, two, three, four. Out. Yes. There you go.” The house is silent except for Avery’s breathing and the ringing in my ears.
Holy shit. She’s in labor. It’s happening.
“You go get Ezra. Ryder, too. Chop-chop,” Mai orders.
Finally, my limbs break from their paralysis, and I’m on the move—running, actually—to grab everyone. Thankfully, Charlie is with Dominick. They can meet us there.
I run into Ryder first, panting. “Avery. Labor.”
It’s all I can get out before I take off again for Ezra, who’s baby proofing the new SUV.
When we all return to the kitchen, Mai is laughing at us. “Run around like chickens with heads cut off. Just like men.”
Part of me wants to take offense, but she’s not wrong. There’s not enough practice in the world for the real thing. The absolute frenzy working its way between my ribs feels like I’m going to die, but when Avery looks up at me and smiles, my world turns soft.
I get an arm around her back and help her straighten as we waddle fifteen feet before she’s clutching her stomach and growling.
“Breathe,” Mai reminds her.
Ryder slings a bag over his shoulder and stands with Ezra as we wait.
“Fuck,” Avery spits as we start moving again. “I forgot how much that hurts.”
We stop two more times before we get her in the BMW.
Ryder’s on the phone the moment I’ve got her buckled in. She’s yelling and arching against the seat. He reflects back the same awe and fear I’m undulating between.
And then, his mouth dips toward the mouthpiece of his phone. “Dom… yeah. The baby’s coming.”
Avery’s hand squeezes mine to almost breaking.
Shit. This is real. The baby is coming.
EXTENDED EPILOGUE
Avery
Five Years Later
I’m walking around my blissfully silent house in nothing more than Ryder’s shirt and a pair of panties. It’s beensolong since I’ve been able to do something like this. Nothing like having a fourteen-year-old and a four-year-old to put a damper on your smaller freedoms.
Although, to be fair, Charlie is so good with Bridgette. He really takes the role of big brother to heart, and my life has gotten easier in ways I never imagined.
Having three dads helps, too.
I glance in the fridge, seeing if Mai left us any treats before she and Dad took the kids to the waterpark. She did—cartons of pork ribs and rice and soup. Thank you, Mai.
Ezra’s arm circles my waist before I feel the heat of him at my back. His chest is hot, searing me through the thin cotton shirt. He, too, has taken advantage of the lack of kids.
Better yet, when his hips press the hard length of him against my ass, I know our day is going to be more than blissfully quiet.
I arch back, rubbing against him in invitation.
