A few seconds of silence passed by before Luke said, “Shit. I better call Gunner and Ellie.”
“I’ll call Mom and Dad, even though I’m sure they’re all together.”
My father’s phone went to voicemail which wasn’t surprising and my mother’s only rang twice when she answered in a panicked voice. “Grace! What’s happening? Gunner is talking to Luke and Ellie is freaking out.”
“Mom, calm down. Alex’s water broke.”
I could hear my mother put her hand over the phone and said, “Alex’s water broke.”
“Mom, Colt is driving her and Will to the emergency room, and Alex’s doctor is meeting them there.”
I could hear Gunner and my mother say at the same time, “The emergency room.”
Turning around, I looked at Luke. He was staring straight ahead as he talked to Gunner. “Okay, you’ll be there before us. The doctor’s office said we needed to keep Alex calm.”
> Luke nodded his head at something Gunner told him. “Yes, sir. We will. Bye.”
“Gunner told us to be careful and make sure Colt doesn’t speed. Josh and Heather weren’t at the restaurant yet, so Gunner asked if we would call them.”
After calling Josh and Heather and telling them everything I told my mother, we drove in silence. I knew each of us was saying our own silent prayers. Covering my mouth, I cried. Noah placed his hand on my shoulder and I knew he was feeling helpless. Just like I was.
“The other day Alex told me she had a weird feeling something was wrong. I brushed it off to nerves. What if something was wrong and I’m the reason she ignored it?”
“That’s crazy, Grace. Don’t sit here and blame yourself. Let’s get to the hospital and see what’s going on before we start thinking the worse.”
“Luke is right, Grace. Baby, just take in some deeps breaths. We’re almost there.
Leaning my head back against the headrest, I prayed harder than I ever have before for Alex and the baby.
Please let her and the baby be all right. Please.
Grace
My eyes roamed the waiting room as I took everyone in. Most of everyone was sitting in silence as we waited for news on Alex and the baby.
Noah walked up and handed me a cup of hot chocolate. I wasn’t in the mood for coffee so he went on a search to find me something hot to drink.
“Thank you, babe,” I said while my shaking hands took the hot chocolate as Noah kissed me gently on the forehead before sitting next to me. The nurse had already come out and talked to all of us. She said Alex’s water did indeed break, but she wasn’t going into labor, which was not good. They were going to have to do an emergency C-section. I could see the fear in everyone’s eyes as I looked around. Ellie, Gunner, Josh, and Heather were all in another waiting room right outside where they were performing the C-section. My heart broke as I watched Grams and Gramps across the waiting room as they held each other’s hands and waited.
Their main concern was the strength of the baby’s lungs. Closing my eyes, I leaned my head on Noah’s shoulder.
“How many kids do you want?” I asked.
Noah kissed my head and said, “How ever many you want.”
“Two. I kind of liked having Luke around. He came in handy when I needed him.”
Noah’s body rocked me gently as he chuckled. “Yeah, I liked having Em around too. Especially when I needed her to taste something new my mother had cooked.”
Smiling, I peeked up at Noah. “That’s mean.”
Shrugging his shoulders, Noah said, “That’s life. She learned quickly not to be such a push over.”
I let out a soft chuckle as I looked back over at Grams and Gramps. They both looked so worried. “Can you believe they’re waiting for their great-great-grandchild to be born? Can you even imagine?”
Noah’s fingers glided across my arm softly as he said, “No, I can’t imagine how that must feel.”
“The things those two must have seen in their day. How awesome is that?”