“Um, babe?” she said to her husband. “I think my water just broke.”
Everyone jumped from the table and converged on Kitty, who at the moment, now looked more embarrassed than anything. “Is the baby coming?” Steve asked, sounding a little panicked. Lauren couldn’t help but feel sorry for him. Poor guy. After she’d had Henry, Tom had confessed to her that he’d felt completely useless during her labor.
Kitty laughed. “Hardly. I’m okay, really. We have plenty of time. Don’t we?” she said to the room in general. The other women began talking at once, all about their own labor stories. The consensus in the room was that, yes, Kitty did indeed have time. “But you still need to get to the hospital,” Mimi said.
“Are you having contractions?” Lauren asked Kitty.
“Braxton-Hicks. But I’ve had them all night.”
“All night?” Steve’s eyes bulged.
“Just since earlier this evening,” Kitty said, placing a hand on her husband’s arm to reassure him. “Really, it’s no big deal.”
“Well, no big deal is now a big deal. I say we go to the hospital immediately,” Steve said.
“I was in labor for over twenty hours with Anthony,” Pilar said. “So if you’re anything like me, you’re looking at a C-section sometime tomorrow afternoon.”
Shea narrowed her eyes. “Aren’t you just a bundle of optimism? Why do you have to tell her that now when she’s obviously in pain?”
“Girls, girls, I’m fine,” Kitty said, trying to play peacemaker. “There’s absolutely no reason that I can’t stay and finish playing. Um, once I change, that is.”
“Finish playing? Are you crazy?” Shea said.
“But, I’m winning!” Kitty’s gaze searched the group for a friendly face, but no one was buying it.
“No one’s finishing the night anywhere but at the hospital,” Steve said. This was met by a chorus of agreement by all the men.
“Oh, all right. But we need to swing by the house first and get my bag. It’s got all my labor equipment in it. You know, my good camera, and my special pillow, and the lollipops and the chap stick—” Kitty stopped and winced.
“What’s wrong?” Steve asked. Lauren noted that the level of panic in his voice had raised a notch.
“She’s having a contraction, dummy,” Shea said. “Give her another sixty seconds and she’ll start ordering you around again.”
“Whew!” Kitty said, “That one was rough.”
“That one?” Steve said. “I thought you said they were just Braxton-Hicks or whatever.” He shoved a hand through his dark hair.
“I guess couples Bunco is over for this year,” Shea said cheerfully. “I’m going to get Kitty some towels and I think Steve should drive his car up to the house.”
“Good idea.” Steve looked relieved to have a plan. “I parked halfway down the street. I’ll be right back.” He took off for his car and Lauren offered to help Kitty in the bathroom.
Shea found a box of maxi-pads and handed them to her. Kitty cleaned herself up as best she could and when they were done, they walked out to the front of the house to wait for Steve. The rest of the group followed them outside. The mood was still jovial, with the women taking bets on how far along Kitty would be dilated when she got to the hospital, and the men talking about how much the baby would weigh. And everyone, of course, was still on the fence as to whether they thought it was a boy or a girl.
“I feel like a big mess,” Kitty joked. A few minutes later, she had another contraction. This time she moaned toward the end. The entire group fell silent.
“That didn’t sound good,” Mimi said.
Lauren caught Nate’s gaze. He shrugged as if to say everything was normal. And Lauren knew from experience that it probably was. But she also knew everyone would feel better once Kitty was actually on her way to the hospital.
A white Chevy Tahoe came screeching to a halt in the circular driveway. Steve jumped out and opened the passenger side door. “Let’s go.”
He tried to help Kitty in the car, but she waved him off. “I’m not an invalid. Oh. Hold on a minute, I think I’m having another contraction.” She bent over, supporting her hands on her knees and began to huff and puff.
Steve’s frantic gaze searched through the small crowd. “You,” he said, pointing to Nate “You’re coming with us. Just in case.”
Nate gave Lauren a questioning look. “If it makes Steve feel better, then go ahead,” she said. “I can catch up with you later.”
“Damn right it’ll make me feel better,” Steve said.