Page 60 of The Road Back to Us

I deepened the kiss, only pulling back when I heard the moan escape her lips. We still had months before I could touch her the way I wanted to, so I wasn’t going to tease her now with something I couldn’t give her.

Fifty-Four

Lyric

I woke up to the worst pain I had ever experienced in my life.

A jolt shot through me, my stomach tightening as I sat up and clenched it, trying to remember to take deep breaths.

“Cole,” I managed to bite out, nearly snarling as I reached for his arm.

I meant to squeeze it gently enough to get his attention, but the contraction got stronger, and I gripped it so hard, he bolted right up. His eyes scanned the room as he tried to figure out what was happening.

I shook my head, trying to keep from screaming because I didn’t want to wake everyone up.

“Shit,” he stammered, pushing the covers back as he realized what was happening.

He sat on his knees beside me as he gently rubbed my back, watching me with concern as we both waited for it to stop.

My whole body trembled from the pain once the contraction ended.

“Are you okay?” Cole asked.

“I think the babies are coming.”

“Okay. No problem. We are more than ready for this,” he said as he quickly got out of bed and threw a T-shirt on over the one he was already wearing.

I sat on the bed and frowned as I watched. He met my eyes for a split second, then looked down, realizing what he had done.

“For the most part, we’re ready for this,” he corrected.

He took the other shirt off and tossed it aside before coming around to the other side of the bed to help me up. I took his hand and threw my legs over the edge, making sure I was steady before standing. I felt the trickle of fluid as it dripped down my legs and looked behind me to see a wet spot where I had been sleeping.

“Just great,” I muttered in frustration.

“What’s wrong?”

“I peed the bed during that contraction.”

Cole smiled slowly as he held my hands in front of us and waited for me to look at him.

“I don’t think you peed, baby. I think your water broke.”

I nodded in agreement, too exhausted to have realized it on my own. Last night had been terrible with my body aching so badly that I hadn’t slept well. I tossed and turned so much that I had barely fallen asleep a few hours before I was woken up by the contraction.

“If you want to go change clothes, I’ll call my parents and have them come stay with the kids.”

“Sounds great.”

I waddled into the bathroom and closed the door behind me. I knew Cole would handle everything, so I didn’t have much to worry about, which was kind of nice since I had the hardest job of all—giving birth to two babies.

***************************

Four hours later, I was ready to punch a hole through the wall from the agonizing pain I was in. My OBGYN had met me at the hospital after Cole called her before we left the house. Everyone was super kind and doing their best to keep me comfortable, but the pain was seriously making me feel like a totally different person.

We had several discussions about different pain management options, but I declined all of them. I had made it this far with bringing these babies into the world; I wasn’t going to mess it up now. While I knew that the risks were very low, I wasn’t about to tempt fate with unnecessary complications if I didn’t have to. Life had been a fickle bitch for years, so there was no way I was going to let my guard down now.

“You’re ten centimeters,” Doctor Navarro said, smiling at me after finishing her exam. “It’s time to have these babies.”