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At the very least, I would have been much less bored now if I had him around.
But that version of him, in my imagination, was just a fiction. As much as I wanted him to be my Prince Charming, that’s just not who he was. And it was fine, I guess. It was better that we found out when we did, as opposed to living in denial of the elephant in the room until, without warning, that elephant stampeded and ruined everything.
So I was on my own for now and into the indefinite future. Sloane and Wesley would come by from time to time to help with the housework, but they had kids of their own to deal with. They were still young enough that I knew they’d be best friends with their cousin when she ultimately arrived in six weeks, which seemed so close, and yet, time had suddenly halted to a stop now that there wasn’t really anything left to do. It was like I was back to being a kid again in terms of my perception of time. Why couldn’t Dorothy just join me now?
In the meantime, I was spinning my wheels, looking for ways to keep busy. What was causing me anxiety was the knowledge that there were other things to do, I just didn’t know — and, indeed, couldn’t know — what they were. Being the A-type person that I was, I went through every online checklist of preparation I could find, but no matter how much you prepared for such things, there were always surprises. But the fewer surprises that arose, the easier it would be to deal with the ones that did come up.
As I stood there in the room, taking in and appreciating the job I’d done on the room, I remember thinking that I could use a surprise or two right then. Just to keep things interesting.
In retrospect, I wish I hadn’t had that thought. I was tempting fate too hard. The way I remember it, right as I had that thought, I got what I wished for.
It felt like a small pop, followed by a sensation of wetness in my underwear.
Shit, I thought, and my heart rate skyrocketed. I knew exactly what had happened even though it couldn’t have happened: my water just broke.
But it was too early for that. Six weeks until the delivery date. Whatever was going on, it had to be something else. Sure, I was eager to meet Dorothy, but I didn’t want her coming out any sooner than she was ready.
I tried convincing myself that I was overreacting. I’d never had a baby before, and even though this felt exactly like what others had described their water breaking feeling like, I didn’t know for sure. So I grabbed my phone and called the office of the obstetrician I’d been seeing the past several months.
“Dr. Janet Lucas’s office,” the voice on the other end of the line said. “This is Nurse Evelyn. Can I help you?”
“Hi, this is Mila Saunders, and I’m having some vaginal discharge.”
“One second, Ms. Saunders, let me pull up your file.” There was some keyboard clicking. “You’re pregnant, correct?”
“Yes.”
“How far along?”
“34 weeks,” I told her. “It’s probably nothing, but I just wanted to—
“How much discharge?”
I looked down at my dress, which were virtually drenched at this point. Maybe I wasn’t overreacting. “Quite a bit, actually. Maybe I should come over.”
“Do you have someone to drive you?”
“I could call my sister, I guess.”
“One second,” the nurse said. “I’m going to put you on a brief hold.”
“Okay…”
Not a full minute went by when Dr. Lucas came on the line.
“Mila,” she said.
“Yes?”
“Listen to me,” Dr. Lucas said, “I need you to get to the hospital as soon as possible.”
“Is this serious?”
“You’re very likely going into labor,” Dr. Lucas said. “I don’t want to frighten you, but it’s early enough to be of concern. Do you have someone who can drive you here?”
“My sister, but she’s a half hour away.”
“With traffic this time of day, I strongly encourage you to call 911 and get an ambulance to Cedars-Sinai.”
