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Epilogue
Hallie
“Come on. Let's go,” Jasmine ordered.
“You can't leave the gallery,” I protested.
“Hallie, yes, I can. Your water just broke.” She rolled her eyes before grabbing my purse and jacket from the chair beside me.
“But it's three days early,” I pointed out. “This isn’t how it's supposed to go.”
Jasmine ignored my comments. Moments later, she had hustled me into her car, and I called Chase. “My water broke,” I announced as soon as he answered.
“Did you call the ambulance?” he sputtered, his usual calm presence rattled.
“I'm with Jasmine. She's taking me to the hospital here, not Anchorage.”
“It'll be quicker,” Jasmine said loudly enough for Chase to hear.
“She's right,” he said. “I'll meet you there.”
The next few hours passed in a jumble. All I could remember were slides of it, like those old slideshows when they showed one memory at a time. The car ride where I was surprisingly calm. Arriving at the hospital and being rushed in. Chase getting there moments later. The intense look of love in his eyes. My contractions were sharp, the pain literally snatching my breath out of my chest. Between wasn't that bad. It went more quickly than I’d expected.
Holly, one of the ER nurses and a friend of Chase’s, popped in to check on me and let me know she'd called Darren and my parents and that my doctor from Anchorage would be there soon. I had no sense of time and was startled to hear the doctor announce the time of birth.
“It's not even five o'clock,” I wheezed after she’d said it was 4:43 p.m.
Chase, who looked worn out and overwhelmed, met my eyes, his lips kicking into a smile. “Yeah, you're really efficient.”
My doctor chuckled. “Agreed. The first labor can last longer, but not in your case. From the time your water broke until now, it's only been four hours and three minutes.”
Our baby boy was placed on my chest. I didn't remember falling asleep, but I did. Hours later, I came awake, still utterly exhausted. It was dark, and the lights were dimmed in the room. Chase was sitting in a chair beside me. His fingers were laced through mine with our baby sound asleep on his chest.
I rolled my head to the side.
“Hey,” he said softly. “How are you feeling?”
I did a mental scan, reporting, “Sore, but okay.”
“He just finished nursing about an hour ago, and I was pretty sure you wouldn’t remember waking up. The nurse says he’s nursing like a champ.”
I shook my head.
“Do you want to hold him?” He carefully shifted the bundle into my arms.
“Oh, wow. He’s here,” I murmured.
“Wow is one way to put it,” Chase said softly, smoothing my hair.
For a moment, our baby boy opened his eyes, and his gaze met mine. I experienced a jolt inside, and a sense of connection shimmered between us. His eyes closed, and I rolled my head to look at Chase again. “Wow,” I breathed.
He smiled. “It's three of us now.”
