Page 54 of Cougar

“Great, thank you.”

She grips my shoulder in a comforting squeeze before heading out. I take a deep breath and look down at my stomach, holding it in my hands. “You gave me a scare there, baby boy. It’s not time for you to meet Mommy and Daddy yet. I know I call you a little intruder and complain about wanting you out, but you’re not allowed out yet. You keep doing what you’re doing and stay in there and cook a little bit longer, okay?”

I smile as I convince myself he’s talking telepathically to me. Closing my eyes, I listen to Bob and Linda contemplate if they’re good parents or not, and I can’t help but smile at how fitting it is. My quiet moment is shattered when I hear her. She’s being, well, her, and I remind myself I need to apologize to my nurse the next time I see her.

I turn toward the door right as my mother comes barreling in.

“Oh, my Ducky. Lord be with me. You gave me the palpitations,” she rushes toward me as tears fall from her eyes. She sits on the bed, and one hand goes to my stomach as the other grabs the back of my head. She pulls my forehead against hers and cries. It takes all I have to not cry with her, but I’m all cried out. Once I was told my son would be okay, I was able to calm down.

“Mom, it’s okay. We’re both okay.”

“You were in a car accident. You could have died. He could have died. I could have lost the lot of ya!”

“I understand it’s scary, but you didn’t. We’re both here, and we’re both okay. I’m currently being monitored as a precaution. I promise we’re fine.”

“Why in the world would they have to monitor you?”

I take a deep breath and release it. I know that she’s going to go crazy once she knows everything that happened. But if I don’t tell her, she’s going to find out regardless.

“I was getting restless at the house. Everyone went inside, and for a little bit, it was okay. But then kids were screaming because they couldn’t do what they wanted, eat what they wanted. Everyone was exhausted, and the mood soured. I had to get out of there. Plus, I was really, really hungry.”

My mother laughs at me, but I don’t think she gets it. Okay, I’m sure she does because she had my brother and me, but this was intense. I felt as if my stomach was eating itself.

“It made zero sense because I ate so much at the party, but damn. I was starving. Of course, what I wanted wasn’t an option.”

“What did you have to absolutely have?”

“I was on my way to that chicken place off Sixth Street. I wanted to get a sandwich with a side of fried okra, greens, and mac and cheese.”

“Oh, that place. Yeah, I get’s why the b’y was demanding it.”

“It’s so good,” I groan out, and she laughs at me. “Anyway, I was on my way there when I was rear-ended. I jolted forward but had my seat belt on, so it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. I have some bruising on my stomach and chest from it, though. Once I put the car in park and started to get out of the car, I noticed a man running away.

“I got out of the car, and there was a cop car already behind the car that hit me. Well, the cop was pulling up. Either way, I went to the car that hit me to make sure they were okay. That’s when I saw there was no driver. My guess is the man I saw running away was the driver. However, there was a girl in the back seat. She didn’t look good at all.

“The cop got out of the car, and when he noticed my stomach, he called an ambulance. He hadn’t even seen the other girl yet. On the way here, I started contracting. They rushed me and gave me drugs to stop labor.”

“They fucking what?” A voice rages from the doorway. I turn to see the love of my life seething. He steps forward, but my mom stands up and smacks him across the face, stunning us both.

“Where the hell were you? She had to sit here and hope that she didn’t give birth to this baby, and you were where? Huh?”

“I know you’re upset,” John says through his teeth, “but if anyone understands club business, it’s you. I was already gone. I had no fucking clue she was here until about twenty minutes ago and came straight here. Excuse me.”

John pushes past my mother and comes into my open arms. “Birdie, are you okay? Is he okay?” he asks as he places his hand on my stomach. His eyes are filled with tears as he sits with me in my hospital bed. I look past him as my mother slips out of the room.

She and I will be having a long ass talk later.

“We’re fine. As I said, they stopped labor. The force from the car accident caused enough stress to make my body think it was time to go into labor. The drugs they gave me worked. Right now, they’re monitoring us both to make sure nothing changes. The nurse said I might be able to go home tonight.” I smile at him in an attempt to calm his nerves. I don’t think it works. He kisses me deeply, and when he pulls back, tears are streaming down his face.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”

“Hey, it’s okay. It’s fine. We’re fine.”

“No,” he shakes his head, “nothing is fine. This entire night has gone to hell and back. Everything is fucked.”

I have no idea what he’s going on about. I want to ask him, but I’m also afraid to. If whatever happened tonight is enough to break him, do I really want to know? He wraps his arms around my stomach and lays his head on it in the small space not covered by monitors.

“I’m so sorry. I’ll do better. I’ll keep you safe, I promise. I promise.”

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