I saw Waylynn sitting in the front seat of her daddy’s truck. The closer they got, the better I could see her…and the huge smile on her face.
“Dude, I think you’re fixin’ to be a father,” Trevor said, slapping my back. My heart felt like it dropped to the ground.
The truck came to a halt and Waylynn jumped out. “Jonathon! Why aren’t you answering my text messages?”
I pulled my phone out. I had twenty missed calls and five texts.
“Shit, it was on silent.”
“Liberty is having the baby! She called thirty minutes ago and said she was on the way to the hospital.”
“What?” I nearly shouted. “Holy shit!”
Waylynn ran over and jumped into my arms. “We’re having a baby!”
“Come on, kids, we need to get going. You want to be there when the big event happens.”
I turned to Trevor. “Bummer, I’m not gonna be able to help y’all unload all this hay now.”
Trevor gave me a shit-eating grin followed by the middle finger. “Just go and keep us up to date. I want to meet my new niece or nephew.”
I reached out and shook Trevor and Wade’s hands. “We’ll let y’all know.”
Wade pulled me in for a hug. “Good luck. I’m happy for y’all.”
The lump in my throat kept me from talking. I nodded before jumping into the backseat of John’s truck.
John swung back by the house and picked up Melanie, and we were on our way to San Antonio.
* * *
“Daddy, don’t get a ticket,” Waylynn said as she gripped my hand tighter.
“Baby, you’re gonna cut off the circulation in my hand,” I said.
She glanced down at our interlocked hands. “Oh. Sorry.”
The drive into San Antonio seemed to take forever.
“Will the lawyers be there?” Melanie asked.
“No, but I’ve texted Wanda and Mick. They’ve hired Liberty to work for them part-time and told her during the summers she can go full-time. She’s got a lot of academic scholarships, but with her parents cutting her off, she’ll still need to pay for some of school. My heart hurts for her, but the fact that Mick and Wanda are helping her just shows you the amazing couple they are.”
“What a wonderful thing for them to do. How sweet,” my mother said glancing back at Waylynn.
“Yeah, once we told them her story and how her parents had stopped talking to her, they took her under their wing. She’s able to work from her dorm, so it’s perfect for her.”
John turned into the hospital, and my heart rate must have spiked tenfold. “I’ll drop y’all off and park. Just let me know where you’ll be.”
Waylynn jumped out of the truck before John came to a stop.
“Goodness, that girl never could wait for a vehicle to stop before she jumped out in excitement.”
We power-walked to the information desk and a sweet, older woman greeted us with a friendly hello.
“Hello, there! You look like you’re on a mission.”
“Labor and delivery, please,” Waylynn said with the twinge of excitement in her voice.
She pointed to our right and said, “Take the elevators to the fourth floor and check in. They’ll be able to direct you from there.”
“Thank you!” Waylynn said as she took off.
“I’ll text John. That is, if I can text and jog!” Melanie said as we both tried to keep up with Waylynn.
Stepping onto the elevator, I tried to take a few deep breaths.
“Are you nervous?” Waylynn asked.
“Hell yes, I’m nervous. Aren’t you?”
She giggled. “I am, but I think I’m more excited.”
The elevator doors opened onto the fourth floor, and I took Waylynn’s hand in mine. Then we just stood there. Melanie pushed us from behind, forcing us to get off the elevator.
The young lady at the desk giggled as we stumbled out.
Melanie walked up to her. “Hello, these are the scared-to-death, future parents of Liberty Wilson’s baby.”
The girl’s eyes lit up. “Oh! Liberty told me the baby’s adoptive parents were on their way. I’ll let the nurse know she can bring them back to the room.”
“Room?” Waylynn and I both said at once.
“Yes. For the delivery.”
“Yes, of course,” Melanie said as she took Waylynn’s hand, as well as mine. When she squeezed the shit out of it, I snapped out of my daze.
“Ouch! Momma, what in the hell?” Waylynn whispered as the girl walked toward the nurses’ station.
“You two need to snap out of it. Liberty wants you in the room when the baby is born. That’s an honor.”
I stumbled a few steps. “What?”
“Ohmygawd! Do you think so?” Waylynn asked as she jumped up and down.
“Settle down, Waylynn Parker. You’re not five. And, yes, that is my best guess.”
The next thing I knew we were walking into Liberty’s room. We already knew from the tour we did last week that this was a one-and-done room: labor, delivery and recovery. Waylynn had also hired a doula to be Liberty’s birthing companion after she saw Liberty looking at the information.