Page 121 of Well Aware

—Iris to Magnolia

MAGNOLIA

“This. Fucking. Hurts!”

Beau kept hold of my hand, unfazed by the yelling, screaming, and blood.

At this point in our relationship, I wasn’t sure that anything really affected him.

He was a rock.

Hell, when Iris had to have her head stitched shut, I’d been woozy and ready to pass out while he’d held her hand while blood dropped on his shoulder since she wouldn’t move away from him long enough to get the stitches.

I may be a nurse, but there was just something about seeing your child dripping their blood that threw me for a loop…

He hadn’t flinched when I’d broken my arm in the last game of the regular season, and it’d been bent like an L halfway between my forearm.

But childbirth? That seemed to rock him.

He was a little green as he held my hand and talked me through contraction after contraction.

Merrill was also in the room, watching with fear in her eyes.

Mostly because in six months, she and Lysander would also be welcoming a child into the world.

Our child, however, hadn’t really come as a surprise.

We’d known what would happen if we kept having unprotected sex.

Though, we hadn’t found out that we were expecting until four months before our baby boy was due.

It came as a shock, but we were both excited.

Now, the look of fear on Beau’s face didn’t make him look as excited as he’d been on the way into the hospital.

Another contraction hit, and I could no longer look at Beau’s beautiful face.

I screamed and went back into child’s pose, my heart in my throat.

I heard something hard hit the floor as the doctor said, “Head’s out!”

I looked to the side and found Beau’s belly blocking my view.

“What was that?” I panted.

Beau’s voice was amused as he said, “You just saved the student doctor from choosing the wrong career.”

“What?” I moaned, feeling the next contraction start to ramp up again.

He stepped aside, and the med student who’d been so damn cocky earlier about “knowing what to do” was lying on the ground with not a single soul helping him.

I would’ve laughed had I not been in so much pain.

Stupid fucking epidurals.

I really wanted one.

I’d planned this all out. I’d go into labor, and I’d go into the hospital demanding that I get an epidural stat.