“Because it is,” I muttered sleepily. “We’re about to have two kids under the age of four destroying our peace, instead of just one.”
“I’m okay with that. Wouldn’t mind a few more, actually.”
It was my turn to snort. “Yeah, okay. Next time, you can incubate the brat for nine months. We’ll see how many more you want after that.”
“If I could take this on for you, I would without hesitation,” he breathed at my ear. “But I can’t. So I’m going to keep rubbing your feet and thanking you for making me the happiest man in the world.”
“I hate you when you’re so sweet,” I complained. “It makes it hard for me to yell at you with my eyes for making me so uncomfortable with this kid of yours jumping on my bladder.”
“Sorry, sweetness.”
“Speaking of which, I have to pee.” Harris stood and helped me to my feet. As I stood, I felt a burst of painful pressure shoot from my back around to my stomach, and I gasped just as a puddle poured out of me at his feet.
“Fuck,” I moaned.
“Did your water just break?” His voice was weak, and I bit back a smile despite feeling embarrassed as hell for getting his shoes wet. For some reason, he seemed more nervous right then than he had when I’d gone into labor with Hayat.
“Well, I’m pretty sure I didn’t just pee all over you, so yeah.”
“Oh God,” he groaned loudly. “Ah, fucking hell.”
“What’s wrong?” Mom came out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on a dish towel. “Something happen?” She stopped in her tracks when she saw the puddle that was only getting bigger at our feet. “Oh…well, okay then.” She smiled calmly. “Let’s get you to the hospital, baby. Actually, I’m kind of glad your dad already left with Hayat. We don’t need his chaos right now, do we?”
“No, I think this one is chaotic enough for me,” I said with a grin, only to practically double over in pain as a contraction hit me. “Ah, gods,” I moaned. “I forgot how much this hurts.”
“If you remembered the pain, then you wouldn’t ever have another baby,” Mom said with a laugh. “Hey, Nat?” Nat stuck her head out the door. “Did they take your car to get ice cream or mine?”
“I’m not sure. Why…?” She broke off when she saw Harris’s face. “Is it time?” she half squealed, half whispered.
“Looks like it,” Mom assured her, still completely calm. “With all the cars out front, I doubt we’ll be able to get Lucy’s out of the garage.”
“Gotcha.”
“What’s going on?” Aunt Emmie asked as she came out of the house with Lana. “Oh, hell. Really? You decided that one birthday was easier to remember than two?”
“Yep,” I giggled. “Seemed like the perfect idea at the time.”
“Can we not joke around and get to the hospital?” Harris snapped.
I patted his arm. “It’s okay, babe. We’ve got plenty of time before the baby actually comes. Remember, Hayat took forever to get here after I first started having contractions.”
“Actually, the second baby always comes quicker than the first,” Lana offered, and Harris’s face lost what little color it still had. “Your body remembers what to do and wants to get the baby out faster, I think.”
“Not helping, Lana,” I bit out.
My sister laughed. “Oh, sorry.”
Another contraction hit me, this time even harder, stealing my breath with it. “That’s two in two minutes.” Harris’s voice shook with panic. “We have to go now.”
“Relax, honey,” Nat urged, trying to calm him, while Mom rubbed my back. “We’ll get her to the hospital in time.”
“Where’s Dallas?” He started to step away from me to go search for her in the house, but I clung to him.
“Don’t leave me,” I whispered, my own anxiety taking hold. “You can’t leave me.”
“I won’t,” he swore. “Dallas can help, though.”
“She just left, actually,” Aunt Emmie said with a grimace. “Asher kind of blindsided Cannon with a punch to the back of the head, and when Gabriella started raging, he said he was just defending his sister’s honor. Which, of course, got Dallas raging when she made Cannon confess what he’d done to Piper this time.”