Page 68 of Fighting for Family

“I can’t be in labor. We still have to fix the porch light and the French doors,” she cried.

“Claire Bear, the baby’s coming whether we have the house done or not,” he said as a nurse brought a wheelchair and he gently set her in it. “The contractions are eleven minutes apart. Her water broke approximately fifty-two minutes ago,” he gave them a report as they wheeled her down the hall.

“Hi, Claire,” Annabelle greeted her. “I’m here to take you to the maternity floor. Dr. Greene will check you there,” she said, taking over the wheelchair. “You’re stunning. Did you do an expectant mother’s shoot?”

“No.” Claire clutched Patch’s hand. “We got married this morning.”

“Oh, how wonderful,” she exclaimed. “I guess the baby wanted to celebrate.”

“Have you heard from Ragu?” Claire asked as they entered the elevator.

“We haven’t heard from them in three days,” she said sadly. “Doc finished his work early, and he and Whiskey discussed leaving earlier.”

“When did they decide?” Patch asked.

“This morning. Ahmed will take charge tomorrow,” Annabelle said as the doors opened and she wheeled her across the hall from Gabby.

“How’s she doing?” Claire asked, biting her lip. “She’s having an awfully long labor.”

“Dr. Greene went in before you got here to discuss her options. Victoria brought you those.” Annabelle pointed to a large bouquet. “She’s leaving in the morning.”

“Oh, I wish I got to talk to her more. I didn’t get a chance to thank her for bringing Patch home,” Claire said as Annabelle helped her out of the chair.

“She might pop in after she visits with Kassie. Why don’t we get you out of this dress? Or I can leave it to Patch to help you?” Annabelle asked.

“I’ll help,” Patch volunteered.

Annabelle smiled and left, giving them privacy.

Undoing the tiny buttons, Patch muttered, “This wasn’t how I imagined taking you out of this dress.”

“Maybe the sex started labor?” Claire guessed, biting her lip.

“Hey. I know you’re nervous, but you’re a week early, and your scans showed a perfectly healthy baby,” Patch informed her.

“How do you know?” she asked.

“I asked Kassie to email them to me. Since I didn’t get to make any appointments, it was the next best thing,” he admitted. “You put me on your HIPPA.”

“Why didn’t you say something? I’d have sent them to you,” she exclaimed. Then, her eyes narrowed. “Did you find out the sex of the baby?”

Scowling, Patch replied, “No. Kassie put a big sticker over the genitals and wrote ‘No Peeking’”

“Good,” she said. “I’m excited to discover it together.”

The dress slid to the floor, and he kissed her shoulder. Taking the hospital gown, he helped her dress and climb into bed. As he pulled the blanket over her, Dr. Greene gently knocked on the door and entered.

“I know you and Gabby have spent entire lunch hours planning everything. Did you plan this, too?”

“I wish,” Claire said. “How’s she doing?”

“She’s good,” Dr. Greene assured her, placing the belt around her tummy to watch the contractions.

“It seems you have a very determined baby who wants to see you today,” she said, giving them a motherly smile.

Claire drew a deep breath.

“We got this, Claire,” he assured her.