Fall by Winter

I checked the time.

Three minutes. How on earth… Brady had put me through hell for forty-six hours, and Aurora for seventeen.

As Mason connected his phone to the car, the signal came through the speakers, and Tristan replied in a quite irritated tone.

“I’m talking to my boss, Dad. What is it?”

“Get to the fucking hospital, you jerk!” Katie yelled.

I managed to cover my laugh with a cough.

Mason cleared his throat repeatedly, perhaps struggling a little, and made a swift turn onto the main road out of the neighborhood. “Yeah, get to the hospital, you jerk. It looks like my granddaughter wants out. Now.”

“Holy shit!” Tristan went straight into hysteria. “All right, okay, fuck, I’m stuck. I think I can be there in twenty minutes. Katie, baby, are you okay? Does it hurt? Do you think you can hold—”

“Don’t finish that sentence, son,” Mason warned in a rush. “Fucking hell, boy. Just step on it—and call her parents and your doctor. Contractions aren’t far apart, maybe two-three minutes. We’ll be at the hospital in five. Lis is with us too.”

Katie panted through clenched teeth and tightened her hold on my hand, and then she squeezed her eyes shut and let out a shrill sound of pain.

“We’re almost there, Katie.” I checked my phone again. Still three-ish minutes. “You’re doing so great. Just keep breathing.”

Four minutes later, Tristan called back to say that Katie’s doctor was expecting us and that traffic was beginning to ease up.

“Hurry, please,” Katie begged.

“I’ll hurry, baby,” Tristan vowed. “I’ll be there soon. Just stick with Aunt Lis and Dad, okay? I love you so much. I’ll hurry.”

She couldn’t respond as another contraction hit her, and now they were two minutes apart. She needed to be in a delivery room at this point.

Shortly after, Mason came to an abrupt stop outside the private hospital, and a nurse was standing outside with a wheelchair. It had to be for Katie.

“We’re here, honey. Everything will be great.”

I just feared there wouldn’t be any time for an epidural.

Mason helped Katie out before the nurse took over, introducing herself and promising that Dr. Green was ready for them.

“Are you her parents, sir?” the nurse asked, assisting Katie into the wheelchair.

“She’s our daughter-in-law,” Mason replied. I allowed myself to feel a bit excited at his declaration. “Tristan will be here soon, and I’d like to be able to tell him exactly where he’ll find Katie when he shows up.”

“Room four on the second floor,” the nurse responded.

Seeing as Katie wasn’t letting go of my hand, Mason nodded for me to go with them.

“I’ll be out soon,” I told him.

For a while after that, everything was organized mayhem. The staff was understandably cool, calm, and collected, but a lot was going on at the same time. I did my best to focus solely on Katie as the doctor prepped her for delivery. She was nine centimeters dilated already, and I wouldn’t tell her this right now, but hot damn, one day she would find out how lucky she was. She’d have her beautiful baby girl in her arms very soon.

“Everything looks good, Katie,” the doctor comforted. He was reading the monitor for the baby’s heart rate. “Do you want an epidural? There’s still time.”

Katie glanced at me, silently asking.

“Totally up to you, sweetie.” I wiped her forehead with a paper towel. “How’s your back?”

She groaned and screwed her eyes shut. “It hurts.”

“Let’s try another position.” A nurse came over to help Katie onto all fours.

“Katie!” I heard Tristan call somewhere outside in the hall.

Relief washed over me, and I pressed a kiss to Katie’s temple. “He’s here. I’ll be in the waiting room with Mason. You’ll do amazing.”

Tristan burst through the door and barely registered the nurse who offered him a protective gown. His frenzied gaze was fixed on Katie.

“Come take my place, hon,” I urged him.

That made him snap out of it, and he rounded the bed to join my side as soon as his gown was on.

I carefully pried my hand free so Katie could grab on to his instead.

“Your father and I will wait outside,” I told him.

He nodded absently, focused on Katie again. I slipped out of the room and shed the gown I’d been given, and I let out a big breath.

Holy crap, that was…that was something. When I saw a sign for the waiting room, Mason reentered my mind, and I beamed to myself. What a wonderful twist to an already amazing evening. I hurried down the hall, barely remembering I’d come through here with Katie.

The elevator doors at the end of the hall opened just as I reached the empty waiting room, and Mason stepped out. He must’ve gone to find better parking for their cars.

As soon as he spotted me, the questions were written across his face.

“Everything’s fine.” I discarded the balled-up gown in a nearby trash can. “Tristan’s with her. She’s almost fully dilated, and the doctor said everything looked great with the baby.”