“That’s your water’s breaking, you haven’t had an accident,” Isaac insists, not phased at all. “We need to get to the hospital now. I don’t think you have time to change. Let’s get you in the car.”
“But I’ll ruin the car. I don’t want to get the seat all wet. You have such a nice car and I don’t want…”
Isaac laughs and kisses me on the head. “You’re focusing on the wrong things here. I don’t care about the car. I care about my baby. Plus, if we don’t go right now, then you’ll have the baby in the car and that will be much more mess.”
Those words are enough to strike the fear of God into me. I know that some people want a nice natural birth, but I want to be surrounded by doctors in case something goes wrong. I don’t think anyone dreams of having the baby in the car anyway! That’s a nightmare situation, and I don’t want to be in it. The idea sends a shiver racing up and down my spine. I need to get there right away. I can’t stand it.
“Yeah, you’re right. I am thinking about the wrong things. Sorry, let’s go. Quick!”
I allow Isaac to take me in the car, and he drives fast to get me to the hospital. Now that I know what the pain is, the contractions are hard to suffer through. I can’t wait to get to a place where I can be looked after.
“You’re okay,” Isaac reassures me the entire time. “You don’t need to worry. I am here for you.”
I can feel Jane here with me too, pushing me towards my new life, wanting the best for me, and I use that feeling as a driving force. I can do this, I can, for her. Whatever pain I am about to go through now, it’s nothing like she experienced, and she remained strong the entire time. I can do that too. I can!
As Isaac parks the car in the hospital car park, he turns and holds my hand. I focus on him instead of the terrifying building in front of me where so many things have happened.
“We can do this,” he tells me. “You can do this. I’m here for you, but this is on you. Just know that I believe in you. I know that you’re scared, but you’re the strongest woman that I know. I love you.”
“I really love you too, and I appreciate all you just said, but I need to get inside. It hurts now.”
“Come on then.” He grins. “Let’s go and have this baby already. Before I explode.”
Everything from this moment on is going to be different, but in a really good way. Me and Isaac will become a proper family at last. There’s just one little terrifying mountain to climb first. But it will be worth it.
Chapter Forty
Isaac
“Oh, my goodness, she’s so beautiful,” I half weep as my baby girl lies in my arms. “And it didn’t even take us that long to get her here. She must have been so keen to be born!”
“Hey!” Lexi exclaims. “It might not have seemed like a long time to you… but to me…”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that, I know you had a hard job.”
“But she’s perfect, isn’t she? Little baby Jane.”
The intense, boundless love that I’m experiencing is in her eyes too. There is such an intense bond between us now, that’s nearly overwhelming. We share something so powerful, nothing else matters.
“Jane would love her, wouldn’t she?” I ask. “I can just see them together now.”
“Oh, I know, they would seriously love one another, it would be incredible. Hey, have you contacted your mom yet? I know that she wants to come and meet baby Jane right away.”
“Oh, you know what, that’s a good idea. I will do that now.”
I pass Jane to Lexi and admire how cute they look together for a few moments before I pull out my phone and I fire off a text to Mom. I know just what she’s like, she will be here in a moment. She’s so eager to meet her grandchild. She’s been calling me all the time, wanting to know if anything has happened yet.
“I don’t know why you’re looking at your phone,” Lexi teases. “You know that she won’t take time to message you back. She’s going to be far too busy getting into the car and getting down here.”
I laugh and nod before taking a seat by Lexi. I want to hold baby Jane again, but she looks so lovely in her mother’s arms I don’t want to disturb them. Instead, I just watch them for a while, falling deeper in love.
“Let me know if you want anything,” I finally say, remembering this isn’t a picture, but real life. “You’re kinda stuck in the bed, aren’t you? If you need drinks or food just let me know.”
“No, I’m good right now. Happy to just be here with my baby girl.”
There’s a sudden knock at the door that makes me jump. “Do you think that’s Mom? She’s quick.”
As I open the door, I’m stunned not just to see my mother, but my father too. Everything freezes within me as I stare at him. Things are slowly improving between us two, but he hasn’t seen Lexi since that awful day. The day when he fired her and publicly embarrassed her. I don’t know how this is going to go.