Page 67 of Shine: Sins of the Father
Mom bends to hug me, then squeezes my hand. “I’m here, honey. Don’t worry.”
“I’m surprised Dad didn’t come,” I say.
“I told him to stay there. This could take hours. I said I’d let him know when things got close.”
“Good. He should enjoy the party.”
“Oh, I don’t think your father is going to drink another drop. He won’t want to be drunk when his grandson arrives.”
I smile. “My son is coming today.”
She lights up. “He is.” She checks her watch. “February 20th. It’s a good day for a birthday.”
My eyes fill, and my throat closes, and all I can do is nod. Then another contraction hits me, and a big bear of a man comes to wheel me up to labor and delivery on the third floor.
He’s got a great smile and glasses. He reminds me of a young Forest Whitaker. His name tag reads Jamal.
“Come on, little lady. You ready to meet your baby today?”
We get on the elevator, and the girls hold back.
“Maybe we should catch the next one,” Melissa says.
“Nah.” Jamal holds the doors open. “You can all squeeze in. Come on.”
It’s a tight fit, but we make it work.
“Got your girl squad, I see,” Jamal says. “Girl’s gotta have that, right? My lady has one, and when they come to the house? Who-ee. It gets loud.”
Soon I’m ensconced in a bed and a different nurse is busy hooking me up to a bunch of monitors. Now it’s getting real.
Everyone steps out except my mother, and the nurse checks my dilation and attaches a fetal heart rate monitor, and I see the line on the screen start to blip.
I squeeze my mother’s hand. “There he is.”
“Looks good, Mama,” the nurse says. “They’ve contacted your doctor, and she’s monitoring your progress. When you get further dilated, she’ll come down. She’s delivering twins right now.”
“Thank you.”
“I’ll let your friends in now and be back with some ice for you.” She disappears out the door, and Janey, Tori, Harley, Melissa, and Ella come in.
“You guys don’t have to wait. It could take hours,” I say.
They end up bringing me things from the gift shop to keep my spirits up. Janey even finds me a cupcake magazine, and I flip through it.
Harley Jean checks her phone. “Reckless is asking how you are.”
I know he has a special interest, and wonder if he’s going to break down and tell Shine. If he was going to break his word to me, now would probably be when he does.
“Tell him everything is fine, and he doesn’t have to worry about me. Ask him how the party is going. I’m so excited Cody finally got his patch. I never even got to hug him.”
Harley is busy tapping out a message. “He says he’s not giving Cody a hug from you.”
I make a face, and we all start laughing. That just brings on another contraction.
This goes on for hours.
It’s almost 10pm when things really start to progress, and they finally shoo everyone but my mother out of the room. She sends a text to my father that the baby is coming.
