As we drive to the hospital, she calls Tanner, who is with my boyfriend. Hanging up, she says, "Alright. Evrard's going to drive him over."
"How are you feeling?"
"Scared," she admits, gripping the door handle as a contraction hits. "But also excited."
I reach over and squeeze her free hand. "You're going to be amazing. And Tanner's going to lose his mind when he sees his baby girl."
"You think it's a girl?" she asks, trying to smile through the pain.
"Just a hunch," I say.
Tanner and Evrard are already there when we arrive since they were closer to the hospital. The father-to-be rushes off with Alyssa and the hospital staff while Evrard stays behind with me. I wrap my arms around my love's waist, giving him a squeeze.
"I assume you want to stay for this," I say.
"Do you mind?"
"Not at all. Of course not."
The waiting room smells of antiseptic and stale coffee. Evrard paces back and forth, checking his phone every few minutes even though we both know Tanner will call when there's news. I watch him wear a path in the industrial carpet, his firefighter instincts making him restless when he can't do anything to help.
A few hours later, he gets a text from Tanner saying the baby's in distress, so they're doing an emergency C-section.
"Shit," he says, showing me his phone.
"They deal with stuff like this all the time, babe," I say, rubbing his back, but I can tell that he's anxious.
The day turns into night, and we wait, not hearing anything from Tanner or a doctor. Evrard grows more and more worried,and I continue to comfort him, bringing him snacks and rubbing his shoulders.
At one point, he is lying on my lap as I finger his hair, and he mumbles, "I want to spend the rest of my life with you, Joelle."
My breath catches. The words were so quiet I almost missed them, but they landed in my chest like a physical thing. Before I even comprehend their meaning, Tanner bursts into the waiting room with a huge grin on his face.
Evrard and I jump to our feet.
"Baby and mom are doing great," Tanner says, seeing the look on his brother's face.
Evrard grabs him in a hug, slapping his back.
"Congratulations, man. What is it?"
"A baby girl. Terri is her name," the proud papa says. "And you two need to get home. It's late. You look exhausted."
"You don't look so hot yourself," Evrard jokes.
Walking out to the dark parking lot, we reach his SUV, and I turn to him, fiddling with his collar.
"Did you ask me what I think you asked me back there?"
Evrard looks down at me, brushing a stray hair out of my face.
"Did I ask you something?"
"Well, babe, you said you wanted to spend the rest of your life with me. So does that mean you just asked me to marry you?" I ask, my heart racing.
Evrard chuckles and nods his head.
"Well, hell, yeah. I guess I did just ask you to marry me."
