Page 120 of Pipe Dreams
He removed her suit jacket and hung it on a hook. “Do you want the anesthesiologist?”
“I think I do. Oh...” she gasped. “Here we go again.”
As he watched, her face creased from pain. She took a deep breath and blew it out.
“I got you,” he said uselessly, pulling her big belly against his chest. She wrapped her arms around his back and groaned. He rubbed her lower back, and she seemed to relax a little.
Eventually she sat back and let out a sigh. “I think that was four minutes since the last one.”
A nurse ran in. “Oh, hello there!” she greeted Mike.
He shook her hand and introduced himself. “She says she’s ready to talk to the anesthesiologist about an epidural.”
“I’ll just page him,” the nurse offered.
“I thought if I didn’t get it yet, the baby might wait for you,” Lauren said, sighing against her pillows.
“Why?” It killed him to think of her in pain because of him. “Hey, I like your game jersey.” He fingered the hospital gown, which had bunnies on it.
She gave him a weak grin. “Thank you for being funny right now. I’m freaking out. Ihatefreaking out.”
“You are going to be fine. And so is the baby.” He kissed her forehead two more times, just for luck. “But if you want the drugs, just go for it. There’s no championship cup for suffering.”
“I know,” she mumbled against his shirt. “Mike, can I just say that I’m really happy you’ve done this before? At least one of us knows what’s happening.”
“Aw.” He put his chin on her shoulder and reached hisarms around, stretching to rub her very swollen belly. “That’s not why I’m unafraid.” He rubbed his new baby through her taut skin. “We don’t need to know anything, because there are a dozen doctors and nurses on this floor who do this every day.”
“Mmm.” She relaxed against him for a couple of minutes. Then he heard her suck in her breath.
Beneath his hands, her tummy grew even tighter as the contraction hit. Wow. The human body was astonishing. “Breathe, baby.”
She exhaled in a great gust. “Fuck, that hurts.”
“I know.” Though he didn’t really. And the last time he’d sat in a hospital room with a laboring woman, he wasn’t even legal to drink. All he remembered from that experience was Shelly screaming at him, and then his first sight of Elsa’s tiny face, red and wet and shrieking right after she was born.
It wasn’t terrifying until they’d handed him that tiny baby, and he realized that nothing would ever be the same. From that point on, he was responsible for three lives, not just his own.
Fast forward almost a decade and a half, and he knew now that this right here was the good stuff. Responsibility is the flip side of joy.
“How are we doing today?” a smooth-faced doctor asked on his way into the room.
“Well, I’m feeling pretty good,” Mike joked. “You?”
“Ouch,” Lauren panted.
The younger man grinned. “That sounds about right. I’m Dr. Phelps, the anesthesiologist. Do you want to talk about an epidural?”
“Let’s skip the talking,” Lauren panted. “I’ll take it.”
Dr. Phelps smiled again. “All right. I’ll be back in a few minutes with my cart.”
Doctors and nurses came and went as Lauren breathed through contractions, waiting for her body to push the puck toward the goal. The only scary moment was when theanesthesiologist asked Lauren to brace herself against Mike’s chest and hold still so he could perform his procedure.
Mike held tightly to her body and stared pointedly at the doctor who was busy inserting the needle into the spine of the love of his life.Careful, he inwardly threatened.
But it went fine, and Lauren was able to relax as her pain became more manageable.
Mike left the room only once to make some calls. He let Lauren’s mother know the baby was coming. He called Hans to make sure he’d made it to the house to stay the night with Elsa. Their favorite manny was living in a different Brooklyn neighborhood with his boyfriend, but he frequently came over for practice sessions with Elsa, or just for dinner.
