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Maggie took a deep breath. Nodded. Then reached for her phone. “Okay. Let me call Michael, and the doctor. Max, can you get the car ready? Carina, can you go upstairs and find some things for me to bring? Toothbrush, robe, T-shirts, that sort of thing?”
“On it.” Carina rose from the couch and tugged Max with her. Her husband wore the comical expression of a man terrified to move, as if one word would elicit contractions and screaming from Maggie. “Max?”
“Huh?”
“Try to do better than Nick, okay? Get the car and call Alex and Nick for us. Let them know what’s happening. Can you do that?”
“Sure.”
“Don’t leave without us.” His panicked eyes made something inside soften. She grabbed his hands and interweaved her fingers within his. Max blinked in surprise, and she smiled. “We get to see our nieces or nephews born today. Let’s not forget a moment, okay?”
He lowered his head and kissed her. Just the softest touch, a whisper of lips sliding over hers and reminding her she wasn’t alone.
“You’re right. Thanks for reminding me.”
He released her and disappeared down the hallway.
Chapter Fourteen
“I want drugs!”
Maggie never wailed, or screamed, or whined. She demanded in her pissed-off, snarky manner until every nurse in the place was afraid to go into her room. Max held her Rubik’s Cube as her focal point and Carina gave the man credit. As each contraction rippled across the screen, he urged her to breathe through the pain and concentrate on her focal point. He took her curses and insults in stride and never wavered.
When he left to get her a glass of ice, she found the Rubik’s Cube on the side of the bed and hurled it across the room.
The only person her sister-in-law seemed to listen to was Mama Conte. Her mother never coddled Maggie, and did not let her get away with bad behavior. But she never left her side, and spoke with her in a low soothing voice, telling her about the birth of each of her children and their special story. In the spaces between contractions, Maggie calmed and listened. Until the next wave hit.
Carina dragged Max out of the room for a moment. “Is Michael going to make it?” she asked. “It’s been hours and the last time they checked she was almost dilated enough to push.”
Max tunneled his fingers through his hair and shifted from foot to foot. “He texted me he should be here within the hour. This is a nightmare. Michael and Alexa gone on the same damn day. I suck at this, Carina. She wants to kill me bad.”
“No, she’s in pain and scared and her husband’s not here. But you’re the next best thing, Max. You’ve been friends since childhood.”
He groaned. “What happened to the days when men got to wait in the waiting room? Crap, I don’t have to look down there when she pushes, do I?”
“Listen, buddy, you’re not spitting two humans from your vagina. Suck it up. She needs you.”
Her words penetrated his brain. He straightened up and nodded. “Sorry. I got this.”
Maggie snarled between the rapidly increasing waves rocking the monitor. “I signed up for a f**king epidural and I want it now.”
“Language, Margherita,” her mother said. “You are past that point and it’s almost time to push.”
“Not without Michael.” She gritted her teeth and panted. “I’m not pushing till Michael gets here.”
Her mama wiped the sweat off her forehead. “He will be here.”
“I’m never having sex again. I hate sex!”
Carina bit her lip and turned away. Her mother nodded. “I don’t blame you.”
Max’s voice cut through the room in sharp demand. “Maggie, look at me. Concentrate on my face when the contractions come. I’m going to tell you a story.”
“I hate fairy tales.”
“This is more like an action adventure. I’m going to tell you about the first time Michael and I bonded.”
Maggie looked a bit interested. He settled himself in the chair near the bed and leaned over. The monitor beeped and Max talked. “Our mothers were always close friends so we basically grew up together. One day they took us to the playground and there was this massive climbing thing. I think we were six at the time? Anyway, we both got into a bragging match of who could get to the top first. Michael was a bit smaller than me, but he was quicker, so it was sort of an even match. We both scrambled to the top, trying to kick the other one off in a crazy game of Lord of the Flies, and then we got there at the same exact time.” Max shook his head at the memory. “I remember that moment when we looked at each other. As if we both realized we’d be best friends and do everything together. Then we tried to shove the other one off.”
Maggie fought for breath. “Are you kidding me? Were you both psychos? What happened?”
“Michael and I both took a fall and broke our arms. The same damn one.”
Mama Conte snorted in disgust. “I was speaking with Max’s mama for only a minute, then we hear these screams. Both boys in a tangle in the dirt, blood everywhere. I think I almost passed out. We ran over to them and they were crying but laughing at the same time, as if they had both won something important.”
Max grinned. “We had matching casts and called ourselves ‘bone brothers.’ ”
Carina rolled her eyes. “Oh, I get it. Instead of blood brothers, you were bone brothers. Personally, I think you both were always a couple of boneheads.”
Tears slid down Maggie’s cheeks. Carina’s heart broke for her sister-in-law, and she ached to make things right. “He’s not going to make it, is he?”
Max leaned over the bed and gazed at Maggie. Fierce blue eyes commanded her to dig deep. “Right now it doesn’t matter, Maggie. I’m here for you. Lean on me, and think that Michael is my twin brother. Use me, and let’s get these babies born. I will not leave your side.”
The nurse walked in and examined her. “Let’s see, honey, are we ready to push?”
Maggie sniffed. Slowly, she reached out and took Max’s hand. “Don’t let go, okay?”
“Never.”
“Yes, I think I’m ready now.”
Carina and her mother stood on one side, and Max on the other. Time melted away until seconds blurred into minutes and back again. She pushed and grunted and cursed. Each one moved the twins a little bit farther, until Maggie lay back on the pillows, exhausted. Face red from exertion, perspiration rolling down her forehead, she gasped for air. “I can’t. No more.”
