“I’m here, I’m right here,” she says, walking slowly around the dining room table, swaying her hips hard back and forth as she walks.
“Jesus, you scared me.”
She smiles at me. “Are you finished cooking yet?”
“No, I just got so focused on cooking that I forgot to check on you.”
“That was the idea,” she grins as she rubs her belly gently.
“What?”
“You need to calm down. I love you, but you are already a mess, and we haven’t gotten anywhere near the hard part. I thought focusing on something that isn’t me right now might help you.”
I frown. “I’m calm.”
She raises an eyebrow.
And I look at what she’s staring at. I have oil, egg, and cheese all over the front of my shirt. I’m sweating like I just finished a workout. And my hand is trembling as I still grip the spatula in my hand.
“Fuck,” I say, rubbing my neck.
She slowly walks over to me and wraps her arms around my waist. “This is a marathon, not a sprint. Go change. Then finish making us some food. Everything is going to be okay.”
I kiss her forehead. “Everything is going to be okay,” I repeat her words as much for her as for me.
“Go,” she says.
“Are you sure? What if—”
“The babies aren’t coming in the next twenty minutes. My contractions just started. Go.”
Reluctantly, I go take a quick shower and shake out my nerves. When I return, she’s standing in front of the stove cooking the eggs I started.
She smiles when she sees me. “Better?”
“Yes.”
I walk over to her and wrap my arms around her. “I can’t believe you are the one in labor, and you had to calm me down. It should be the other way around.”
She laughs, leaning her head back against my chest. “I’m sure you will repay the favor soon.”
We hear footsteps, and both turn around. Beckett is standing in the doorway, pale and white.
“What?” I snap. Clearly, I’ve not completely calmed down.
Beckett looks from me to Kai. “The doctor isn’t coming.”
“What?” I growl.
Beckett ignores me and looks at Kai. “There is a really bad storm between us and Hawaii. Tropical storm level. I called three different hospitals. No doctor was willing to travel through the storm to get to us.” He looks to me. “I offered to pay any amount of money, but no doctor was willing to risk it.”
I open my mouth to speak, but Kai puts her hand against my chest, telling me she has this.
“Is there any other island nearby? Any other way we can travel safely to a hospital?” she asks.
Beckett shakes his head. “There isn’t another nearby island. I looked at the radar and weather stations. They think the storm will blow through in the next eight hours. After the brunt of the storm has passed, several doctors said they’d be willing to travel.”
Kai nods slowly. “Eight hours.” She touches her stomach. “We just have to make it eight hours, and then a doctor will be here. Labor, especially a first-time labor, can take days. So we have time. We will be fine. And even if the doctor doesn’t make it, women all over the world give birth safely without a doctor. We got this.” Her eyes travel from Beckett to me.