“Every four to five minutes,” James said.
“Hmm. Okay.” She turned back to Harper. “So you’re in what we call active labor. That’s when you’re having regular contractions close together, and your cervix is dilated more than three centimeters. Because this is your first baby, it’s hard to say how long your labor will take. It could be a few hours, or could be longer, but I’d like to monitor you for the next half hour and see how things progress.”
“You’re not going to stop it?” Harper asked.
“Not at this point. The chances of stopping labor now are minimal, and could cause complications. We’d have liked to keep baby inside a little while longer, just to let her get a little more prepared for the outside world. But we rarely worry about a thirty-six-week-old baby. She may need a little extra oxygen, or some time in the NICU, but her chances of being born perfectly healthy are very high. As a doctor, we always breathe a little easier once a baby reaches thirty-six weeks.”
“I’m going to have a baby?” Harper asked, eyes wide.
Ellie laughed. “Yeah. You are. How do you feel about that?”
Harper squeezed James’s hand. He squeezed back, his fingers threading through hers. “How do you feel?” she asked him.
“I’m not the one doing the hard work,” he told her. “I feel fine. And confident. And ready to meet our girl.” He leaned forward to brush her hair from her face. “I’m here for you, whatever you need, I’ve got it.”
“I need you to stay. Don’t leave.”
“I won’t,” he promised.
“And don’t shout at me if I start screaming.”
“I wouldn’t dare.” He leaned forward and pressed his lips to her brow. She closed her eyes and breathed him in. Yeah, she’d asked him to keep his distance, but right now she needed him to be as close as possible. He made her feel safe in a way she’d never felt before.
She took a deep breath, feeling her stomach tighten again. She squeezed her eyes shut as the pain over took her. “Another one,” she gasped.
“Breathe in,” James whispered. “Then blow out. One, two, three, four.”
She felt a sudden gush of liquid, followed by a strange emptiness inside her.
“Don’t panic,” Ellie told her. “Your water has broke. We’ll clear it up before anybody slips on it.”
“That’s good,” Harper managed to gasp out. “Because I’m not cleaning it up.”
From the corner of her eye she saw James biting down a smile.
“Ah, you’re a feisty one,” Ellie said. “I like that. It’ll make labor much easier.”
There was a knock at the door, and the nurse walked over to open it.
Caitie was standing in the doorway. “Sorry it took me a while to get here. I dropped by your apartment and picked up your bag. Just in case.” She walked over to Harper’s bed. “How are you doing?”
“Not great. I’m going to have a baby.”
It was Caitie’s turn to laugh. “I think we’ve known that for a while.”
“Yeah, but this is the first time it’s been today.”
“Is everything okay?” Caitie asked, looking over at Ellie.
“It’s looking good. We’re keeping a close eye on her blood pressure, but everything else is where it should be. I’m going to go call up to the NICU to make sure there’s a bed if we need it, then I’ll be back to examine you again, okay?”
“Okay.” Harper nodded. She couldn’t help but feel dizzy at the speed of it all. One minute she thought she had a month until the baby was here, and now she was on her way.
Thank god James and Caitie were here. She wasn’t sure how she’d do this without them.
“And just to warn you, there’s a little crowd gathering in the waiting room,” Caitie continued, her lips curling into a smile. “Ember’s here with Lucas and baby Arthur, along with all the models from your show. James’s parents showed up right after me, and for some reason my mom decided to tag along.” Caitie shook her head. “And Brooke and Ally just arrived. Oh, and Breck’s on his way.”
“They could be waiting a while,” Harper told her.