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She narrowed her eyes, inspecting Harrison's messy blonde hair, tan skin, and bright blue eyes. "Oh yeah, I see it."
Harrison rolled his eyes. "You two can fuck right off."
Laughing, I turned to leave. "Both of you better keep your phones on you, too. Amara and I expect you both at the hospital when the time comes."
"Yeah, yeah. We'll be there." Harrison stood, buttoning the top button on his suit jacket. "Later, mate."
"Later." As I left the office, I noticed none of the employees in their cubicles would meet my eyes. I guess it was a side effect of all the bad press. I was a pretty social guy, but I didn't mind people minding their own goddamn business for once where I was concerned. I'd had about all the attention I could ever want and more the past few months.
* * *
Later that night,Amara and I ordered a celebratory dinner that we took to the beach and had a picnic with Zen and Kennedy. The label had begrudgingly given the go-ahead to release my album, and there was no going back now. All my hard work, everything I'd endured these past months, was finally going to pay off. Hopefully.
After dinner, Amara curled up next to me on the couch, falling asleep not even halfway throughAn American Werewolf in London.I kissed her forehead and stood up, scooping her into my arms and carrying her to our bed. She must have been exhausted because she didn't stir at all.
Laying in bed next to her, I watched her slow, even breathing until I passed out myself only to be shaken awake what I assumed was a few hours later. The room was still dark, and I was disoriented. "Amara? What's wrong?" I blindly groped for my phone on the nightstand and turned it on, the light from the screen illuminating her face in a soft glow.
She wore a grimace and gripped onto my arm, but she wasn't saying anything. I shot upright, my heart thundering in my chest. "Honey, what's wrong?"
She exhaled a slow, shaky breath and then looked at me, her eyes wide with fear. "I think… I think I'm in labor. Feel." She grabbed my hand and put it on her stomach, which felt like a boulder underneath her shirt.
My panic kicked up to another level as I jumped out of bed. "Okay, let's get changed and I'll grab the hospital bag."
She chuckled. "Take a deep breath, True. I think we've got time. I've been awake for a little while, and my contractions are about five minutes apart, but they're regular, so we definitely need to go. Can you text Zen or Kennedy and let them know?"
She slid out of bed, and I rushed to her side, steadying her. I still held my phone in my hand, and I punched a frantic message to Zen.
True: Baby's coming now!
Zen: Be there in two minutes
I threw my phone down on the bed and ran into the closet, grabbing whatever clothes were closest to me and not even paying attention to what they were as I threw them on. Then I grabbed something for Amara, helping her into them as she dug her fingernails into my arm and tried to breathe slowly through the pain.
Once we were both dressed, I grabbed my phone off the bed and shoved it in my pocket and lifted the bag, grabbing Amara's hand as we made our way toward the car. The front door opened and a frantic-looking Zen and Kennedy burst through. "Oh my Thor, we're here! We're here! Are you okay?"
Kennedy ran up to Amara's other side while Zen grabbed my keys off the counter. "I'll get the car," he said, disappearing into the garage. We slowly walked to the front door, me on one side holding Amara's arm and Kennedy on the other.
Amara stopped, squeezing her eyes shut and digging her nails into my arm again, but I barely felt it. My heart thundered in my chest, and I would give anything at that moment to take her pain on myself.
"How far apart are they, Am?" Kennedy glanced at me with a concerned look on her face that made me worry even more. Was I missing something?
"Last I checked, five minutes," she gritted out through clenched teeth.
"I'm going to time them starting now." Kennedy pulled out her phone and checked the time before we continued our slow walk out the front door and down the stairs. Before we made it to the Jeep, we had to stop again.
Kennedy looked over at me again. "Four minutes."
"Shit." It was at least a thirty-minute drive to the hospital, and her contractions were getting really close together. I'd read all the baby books, I knew theoretically what to expect during this process. I figured since this was our first baby, she'd take her time getting here. Clearly, my daughter had other plans.
Once Amara could walk, I helped her into the back seat of my Jeep and climbed in beside her. Kennedy hopped in the passenger seat, and Zen took off. We were all quiet except for when another contraction would hit and we all chimed in to encourage Amara through them. Kennedy looked at her phone after the last one and mouthedthree minutesat me.
At this point, I hoped my daughter wouldn't be born in the back seat of my Jeep. I didn't know if any of us were prepared to handle that.
I looked up at Kennedy, who had her eyes glued to Amara, concern etched across her face. "Can you text everyone and let them know the baby is coming and to meet us at the hospital?" I asked her.
She nodded, pulling out her phone and shooting off what I assumed was a group text. "Did you include my mom in that?"
She rolled her eyes. "Like I'd forget Rebecca."
