Page 81 of Never Really Mine
“Yep,” I say with a small laugh. “They love their Auntie Josie. Every time they hear your voice they get excited.”
“Really?” she says, her voice squeaking. “Hi, Babies, Auntie Josie loves you!” She bends down, resting her palms on my stomach. Of course, she feels the moment my stomach tightens, and hears my sharp intake of breath at the sudden pain. “Marley…” she warns.
I can’t say anything, because the pain doesn’t lessen this time, it gets worse. I hold up my finger, trying to breathe through the wave. Less than a minute later, it’s done, and I’m working to catch my breath. “All good,” I say, with a pursed smile, trying to convince both myself, and Josie.
“Not good,” Josie replies.
Marissa furrows her brows. “I think Josie’s right, Marley. You should go get some rest, and maybe call your doctor.”
I huff out a breath, and tears fill my eyes. I know they’re right. With a shaky voice, I say, “Can you call Beau to come pick me up?”
“Yes,” Josie breathes. “Marissa, what do you need from me?”
“Not a thing. I’ll go update the bride and let her know you’re okay, but you need to go home. She’s so sweet, I’m sure she won’t mind at all.” Marissa takes my hand in hers, squeezing my palm. “You need to take care of yourself.”
I nod in reply, my throat tightening. Josie’s already got her phone to her ear, and I can just barely hear Beau through thephone, his voice is edgy and concerned. I don't want to be so emotional right now, but tell that to my hormones. Marissa tells me she will update me later on the rest of the event and that she wants an update from me as well. She gives me a quick hug, and then she’s off, heading down to the cellar.
Josie takes my hand, still on the phone with Beau, and leads me to the front lobby of the venue. There’s a few leather couches against the walls, and Josie deposits me in one. She finishes the conversation with Beau, and then points her finger at me. “Don’t move. I’m going to get you some water and find Megan. Put your damn feet up, please.”
“I will,” I agree and do as she says. She nods when she sees me following directions, and then she hurries out of the room.
My own cell rings in my pocket, and I pull it out, adjusting myself so I can take my camera harness off my shoulders. Unsurprisingly, Beau’s name is on the screen.
I swipe my finger across the screen to answer the call. “Hi,” I say.
“Butterfly, are you okay?” Beau asks, his voice is thick, and I can hear the sound of a car door slamming in the background.
“I’m fine, really. I just pushed myself a little too hard, and I’m having some Braxton-Hicks contractions. Nothing major.” I lean my head back onto the couch, closing my eyes. The heat from outside is making its way in, forcing the air conditioning to work overtime to keep up. Luckily, I’m right under a vent, so I have a nice cool breeze on my sweaty skin.
“Don’t downplay this, Mar. Call the nurse line, and tell them what's going on. If you need to go in, I want to know right away so we can stop by on the way home.”
“I will. I’ll call as soon as we hang up,” I tell him honestly. I have another contraction right as I finish my sentence and I inhale sharply.
“Shit,” I hear Beau murmur. “Are you having another one?”
I nod, but he can’t see me, obviously.
His voice is panicked. “Just breathe, I’ll be there as soon as I can. It’s okay,” he repeats, over and over until it passes.
“I’m good now,” I say on a heavy breath. “Just wasn’t expecting that one.”
“I’ll be there soon.”
“Thank you,” I murmur. “I’m in the front lobby.” We say goodbye, and I immediately pull up the phone number for the nurse line.
Halfway through the conversation and endless questions, Josie strides back into the room, this time with Megan and Isaac in tow, and Jason, who I’m surprised to see. Megan and Josie sit on either side of me on the couch.
I finish the conversation with the nurse, who has determined I should come in, just to be monitored for a little bit to make sure it’s not active labor.
“Well?” Josie asks when I hang up the phone.
“They want me to come in. Just for evaluation though. She doesn’t think I’m in active labor, but since things are a bit more risky with twins, she wants to be sure.” I rest my phone on top of my bump. Jason sits on the coffee table next to my legs, hands clasped in his lap.
Megan nods. “After Josie told me what was happening, I figured that would be the case.” As a family medicine doctor, Megan has a bit of experience in all ends of the spectrum, including a bit of women’s health and obstetrics.
I rest my hands over my lap, tilting my head back to let the cool air hit my face and neck. I take a steadying breath, unsure of why I feel like crying. Is it nerves? What if I’m really in labor? I’m not ready.
“Marley,” Jason’s deep voice pulls me out of my internal panic. I raise my head to look at him. Jason has always been the big brother I needed. My own older brothers didn’t seem tocare about me or our family. They didn’t even have a reaction to finding out they were going to be uncles, other than to ask who the father was, and give a disgruntled groan when I told them it was Beau. Jason’s brown eyes look so much like Beau’s that my heart squeezes. “Do you need anything? Hungry? Thirsty?”
