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“It’s okay if she’s sick.” Chloe patted Mitch’s shoulder. “Seasickness happens to the best of us. Has she thrown up?”
“Yeah,” his voice deepened before he cleared his throat. “But it’s not because of what you’re thinking.”
“What?” When the door opened, she tried to keep her jaw from hitting the floor. Mitch was right; this was not what she was expecting. “Are you in labour?”
“My water broke at the table, and my—” She inhaled sharply.
Chloe tapped out the time it took before Cedar’s face relaxed. Seventy-five seconds.
With tears in her eyes and bright crimson heat flooding across her cheeks, Cedar glanced up from the toilet at Chloe. “My surges happen every couple of minutes, but it’s too early, right?”
Inhaling to steady herself and bring a sense of calm to the tight space, she assessed. “How far along are you?”
“Roughly thirty-seven weeks, give or take a few days.”
Chloe hunched down in front of Cedar, any worry she had ebbing away. “You’re a tad early, but nothing alarming. And this is your second labour, right?”
“Ah-uh.”
Mitch wet a washcloth and draped it across the back of Cedar’s neck. “Her labour with the twins was eight hours. We’ve tried calling Willow, our midwife, but we haven’t been able to get a proper connection.”
Chloe took a quick scan of the tight bathroom. It was smaller than the one in her former apartment, and with the three of them in, felt even more constricting than normal.
“Well, second labours move much quicker, and we’re not going to give birth in here.” She snapped her fingers. “I’ll be right back.”
“Don’t draw attention to this,” Mitch said. “She doesn’t want to cause a scene.”
“I’ll be as discrete as possible.”
Chloe walked out of the bathroom, closing the door, which thankfully no one seemed to need at the moment, and high-tailed it back into the dining area. Quickly spotting Amber chatting with Mona, she tried to be casual as she sauntered over, connecting her gaze with Benjamin, and giving him the one-minute sign.
“Hey, Amber, sorry to interrupt, but can I have a quick word?” She tipped her head over to a less busy spot.
“Oh, sure.” She excused herself from the conversation with Mona.
They walked out onto the wrap-around deck, and Chloe kept her voice low and even. “Cedar is in labour, and I need a space bigger than the bathroom.”
“Is she going to give birth here?”
Chloe nodded. “I’d say the likelihood of that is one hundred percent.”
A mile-wide smile settled across her face and the apples of her cheeks pushed up into her eyes. “Oh my, that’s wonderful.”
“Can you radio back to land or something? She’ll need a transport back to make sure everything is a-okay.”
“Antonio will know what to do.” Amber paused as Lily and Eric walked by, and waited until they passed before speaking again. “Until then, do you think she could move up a small flight of stairs?” She pointed up. “Our bedroom is up on the top deck and would have more privacy than one of the staterooms below deck.”
“That works. Can we get there without going through the main area?”
“Of course.” She winked. “We’ll use the crew stairs and exit out onto the upper deck that way.”
They walked to the bathroom and knocked once again. The energy in the air had changed and there was a sense of urgency in the space. Mitch’s face was tight, and Cedar looked as if she hadn’t even heard them enter.
“Oh boy, we’re close, eh?” Chloe said as more as a statement than anything else. Slowly lowering herself, she gently rubbed Cedar’s thigh. “Cedar, we’re going to move you to a bedroom upstairs. Can you move?”
Eyes tightly shut, Cedar waited for the contraction to finish and breathlessly nodded.
“Mitch, can you help?” Chloe grabbed a towel from the nearby rack and handed it to Cedar. “Put this between your legs.”
