Page 6 of Falling for Autumn
“I’ve been having contractions all day and?—”
“Why haven’t you said anything?”
“Because I was just going to time them, which I have been doing. They’ve been coming and going off and on all day. But they haven’t been consistent until the last hour and a half.”
“How consistently are they coming, Sis? Where are you?”
“They’re about three to five minutes apart. They keep alternating, and each one lasts about a minute.”
“Where are you?” Wynter repeated.
“I’m at home, getting ready to head to the hospital.”
My parents and sister were in Alabama, burying my father’s sister.
“We’re still a couple hours away. They stopped to gas up. They’re in the restroom now. You’re going to?—”
“Aiggghhh!” I groaned as another one hit me. Shit, that wasn’t even five minutes after the last one. That was only three minutes apart.
“Mesha, I’m sorry. I knew I should’ve stayed.”
I clenched my teeth and gripped the doorknob as my stomach continued tightening, and a pain worked its way across my back. When I finally caught my breath again, I blew it out and spoke.
“No. I’ll be fine. You needed to be there supporting Daddy.”
“And who’s there supporting you?”
“I’m less than ten minutes from my hospital.”
“But are you going to make it there safely? With the pain that you’re in, Mesha, you might not?—”
“Don’t say it. I’ll be fine. I just wanted to call and let you know.”
“Do you need me to stay on the phone with you?”
“No. I can’t focus like this.”
“I’m telling Mama and Daddy,” Wynter declared.
“Mmkay. Y’all be safe.”
I pushed the front door open and made my way through it. No sooner than I had put my phone away and closed and locked my door, another contraction hit me, causing me to buckle slightly.
I was thankful that I had the foresight to pack mine and my baby’s bags a couple of weeks ago and leave them in the car so that I didn’t have to worry about this. Even my car seat was already properly hooked up.
As a single mother, I had to be able to be independent and take care of myself in the event that this happened when I wasalone. It hurt that Wilson wasn’t here for me. Never in a million years could anyone have told me that there would be no more us.
I loved that man and knew that we would be together forever. He was my everything until he wasn’t. He had left me in a horrible predicament, trying to figure out the future for my baby and myself.
I straightened up with my hand holding my belly as my neighbor, October, called out, “Are you okay, Autumn?”
I nodded, but he came rushing over anyway. “Let me help you down the steps.”
He took my hand and gradually helped me down the steps to the sidewalk. The moment that I made it, another contraction assaulted me in my back and my belly. I surrendered to the pain, crumpled over, and squeezed his hand until he exclaimed, “Shit!”
“Sorry. So sorry,” I whispered between breaths when the contraction passed.
“No problem. How far apart are they?”
