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So when she threw my door open at three AM, the light from the hall putting her frame in shadow, I knew.
"We need to go now," she said, her voice a pained hiss.
I tried to convince myself when Repo pulled me aside and asked me to keep an eye on Maze, to make myself believe I was totally prepared to be her coach. I read a book and articles online. I even watched birth videos that made me equal parts amazed and queasy.
But as I flew out of bed, trying to find shoes and my purse, I felt completely unprepared.
"Okay. Relax," Maze ended up comforting me, bent over, holding the doorjamb. "Your shoes don't match," she added and I looked down to see one sneaker and one ballet flat. On a frustrated huff, I tossed off the sneaker and slipped into the other flat, grabbing my purse and going into the hall to sling Maze's hospital bag over my shoulder.
"Okay. Alright. Let's get moving," I said, putting an arm around her lower back as we made our way slowly down the hall.
When I passed the only other closed door, my anxiety went to full-on panic mode and I stopped, slamming my fist into it until it flew open to reveal a tired-looking, shirtless Renny.
He might not have been as big and built as Duke, but he had a lithe strength that he covered almost completely in tattoos.
"Fuck, honey what the..." but then his focus went to Maze and I almost wanted to laugh at the sheer masculine terror that crossed his face. "Oh, shit. Oh, fuck. Okay. Um. I need a shirt," he said, running a hand through his copper hair and disappearing for a moment, coming back with a tee on and his boots on his feet.
"You're driving," I informed him as Maze and I started slowly moving down the hall again.
"Yeah. Ah, watch... let me..." he said, squeezing past us. "I'll go start the car so it's, ah, warm," he said, rushing off to do that.
"If my uterus didn't feel like a washrag getting wrung out," Maze said, stopping to take a deep breath, "I would find it hilarious how flustered he is. Nothing phases him."
"Well, you're about to push a human out of your body. And I think he thinks I am going to make him watch with me," I said with a laugh.
When we got in the car, I called Repo who answered on the second ring, sounding fully awake. "She's in labor, isn't she?" he asked.
"Yeah, we're on the way to the hospital now."
"Fuck. God damn it. There's no way I will..."
"Just get here when you can," Maze called, obviously knowing what he was saying.
I handed Maze the phone.
She didn't hang up for the drive or the entirety of her delivery.
That was until the baby came and I had to briefly hang up to call him back with video so he could see his daughter.
He flew into the room late that night, startling me and Renny awake from our sleeping positions- him on the windowsill, me in a chair that made everything hurt when I went to move.
Renny stood, putting a finger to his lips and grabbing my hand to pull me out of the room as Repo climbed in bed with Maze, leaning down to kiss his daughter's head.
"You were fucking green the entire time," Renny teased me, bumping into my shoulder.
Okay, so at the last moment, I grabbed his hand hard enough for him to hiss and dragged him in the room with me.
"Shut up," I said, knowing it was the truth.
Let's just say that childbirth, while a wonderful thing and all that jazz, was also equally terrifying.
"Well, let's hope you get over that by the time you're in the stirrups."Duke- 10 monthsRenny dropped down on the couch next to me, head tilted, watching as Penny walked into the kitchen.
"Does she know yet?" he asked, looking over at me.
"Know what?" I asked, shaking my head.
"That she's pregnant."
My head snapped to him, brows drawn together. She knew. She had told me earlier that week. But she was only about seven weeks along. It wasn't like she was showing or anything.
"How the fuck do you know this shit?" I asked, for once, genuinely wanting to know.
Renny shrugged. "She's breaking out. She's always had perfect skin. But she's breaking out from the hormones. She stopped drinking coffee and started eating a fuck of a lot of spinach and kale. And she's popping some horse pill in the mornings. All adds up." He paused. "Unexpected, right?"
"Yeah," I said with a nod.
We definitely hadn't been planning to start a family quite so soon. But that being said, when she told me, nothing had ever felt more right.
"You gotta get a place," Renny said, telling me something I had been thinking every day since Penny told me.
