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“Yep, you’re going to be an auntie!”
Tears start flowing down my cheeks before I can stop them, and I know I’m a hot mess right now. “Our kids are going to be close in age, and you’re all the way up there.”
“But we’ll visit and vice versa. There’s no crying during labor,” she teases.
I chuckle, wiping my face. “When did you find out?” I ask, but before she can answer, a harsh contraction begins.
“They’re getting closer together,” Natalie states. “Are you getting the epidural?”
“Alex, press the call button. It’s time.” I squeeze my eyes shut and try to inhale and exhale slowly.
“Good luck, sweetie! Alex, FaceTime me when she starts pushing so I can watch!”
“Ew, no,” Alex responds. “I’m staying above the waist.”
“You better not!” she scolds. “You get down there and watch your son being born!”
“Okay, I’m hanging up now! Bye!” Alex presses the button before Natalie can retaliate.
“Do you two have any boundaries at all?” he mutters, but I can barely breathe to respond. “Okay, I’m paging the nurse right now.”
Another thirty minutes go by, and I finally have an epidural and some relief. It felt like a couple of boxers were punching me down there, and now I feel happy as ever.
“I can’t believe Natalie and Adam are going to be parents,” I say, dreamily.
“I see the meds are working.” He grins.
“Yeah, they are…” I rest my eyes and enjoy the comfort.
ALEX
I sit next to River’s bed and hold her hand as she falls in and out of sleep. I’m so relieved she doesn’t have to feel her contractions anymore, but I know this is just the beginning.
Hours go by, and when the doctor checks River’s progress again, she’s only dilated to six centimeters.
“All of that, and I’m only at a six?” she whines to the nurse. She looks to be in her mid-thirties, and when I look down at her ID tag, it says Amelia.
“I’d suggest walking around, but you can’t once you’ve had the epidural.”
“I know,” River says. “I used to work as a nurse up in Milwaukee,” she adds.
“Oh, how cool. They have great hospitals up there. What brings you all the way down here?”
River points at her belly and then at me. Amelia chuckles.
“Well, then you probably know that these things take time. Rest as much as you can now because once you’re at a ten, the doctor’s gonna want you to start pushing.”
“Great.” She moans, her head falling back against the pillow. “Pushing alone can take a while.”
“Up to two hours sometimes for a first pregnancy.”
“Two hours? I don’t think I even have twenty minutes in me.”
Amelia pats her hand and smiles. “Let me know if you need anything, okay?” She directs her question at me.
“Will do, ma’am.”
My phone is blowing up, so I start texting my brothers and Dylan back. I tell John to call our folks to give them an update before tending back to River.
“You want a foot rub?” I ask.
“Have sex with me,” she blurts.
“River,” I scold.
“It’ll help me dilate. C’mon.”
I laugh, knowing she’s desperate to progress naturally and have the baby.
“I’m serious.” She pulls on my hand, pouting.
“You can beg all you want, but there is no possible circumstance that will make me say yes to that right now. Also, I’m pretty sure that puts you at risk for infection since your water already broke.”
“Argh,” she groans. “That stupid book.”
“Want me to read to you to distract you and pass some time?”
“Ooh yes. No, wait. That’ll just make me want sex more. You’ll have to find a thriller or something to read instead.”
I click open my phone and begin searching. Once I find something she agrees to, I start reading aloud. She eventually falls asleep, and I step out momentarily when Evan knocks on the door just as Amelia comes back in with River’s chart.
“How’s it goin’?” he asks.
“Fine, I guess. Slow. River’s getting anxious.”
He pats me on the shoulder and pulls me in for an unexpected hug. “Proud of you.”
“Thanks, but I’m not the one pushing out a Bishop.”
He chuckles then makes a wincing face. “Well, text me if you need anything, okay? If you get hungry, I can bring you somethin’.”
“Will do, thanks.”
An alarm going off behind me grabs my attention and both of us come rushing in.
“What is it?”
Evan searches the monitors and answers. “The baby’s heartbeat monitor. The heart rate is dropping.”
“What? Why? What’s that mean?”
Amelia clicks the button and mutes the sound. She’s looking it over and tells us she’s going to page the doctor.
“Is he okay?” River asks, panicked.
“River, let’s move you to your side. Sometimes that helps.”
Evan steps in and helps Amelia shift River till she’s lying on her side. Amelia adjusts the monitor and continues watching it for several minutes until the doctor finally arrives.
“His heart rate went back up a tad, but it’s not staying steady,” I overhear Amelia say.
