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“You okay?” I check, not liking the look on her face one little bit.
She pulls herself back together with a deep breath.
“I’m good, just been having some real strong Braxton hicks pains. That one was a killer.” She steps back so I can get out of the car, and when I shoot a look at my brother, his face says he’s every bit as worried as I am.
“You want me to call Nyx?” I ask, but Ella’s too busy leaning over again to answer me, and just as I think she’s gonna pull herself back out of it, she reaches out, grabs my hand, and squeezes with more strength than I’d ever give such a tiny person credit for.
“Shit,” she moans, her hand clutching her stomach and her grip on me not letting up.
“You think it’s the baby, now?” I feel the panic rise in my throat, causing my words to come out all high-pitched and broken.
“It can’t be. I’ve still got nearly a month left.” Ella sounds worried, and I have no idea how to calm a panicked woman down, especially one who I strongly suspect is in labor.
“I’m calling Nyx.” I reach into my back pocket and grab my phone.
“Holy fuck,” Ella moans again, and seeing his mama in distress starts Dylan off too.
“Don’t worry, Mama’s gonna be okay.” I lean back into the car to tell him, feeling Ella's clutch get tighter.
“Screw, a hand over here,” I nod him over, and he marches to stand beside Ella, surprising me when he takes her other hand in his. She releases me as she crushes him instead, and the look he gives me over her head tells me I need to do something.
The ringing goes on and on without an answer, and I keep trying, smiling at Dylan and willing his asshole father to pick up his damn phone.
“Squealer, what’s happening?” Ella puffs at me, her face red and flustered.
“Look, I don’t want you to get all panicked and shit, but your man ain’t answering the phone,” I tell her, immediately regretting it when her eyes brim up with tears.
“Listen though, it’s okay. I’mma keep trying him,” I try and calm her down.
The noise she makes next ain’t exactly agreeable, it's raw and deep throated, and my brother stares at me, willing me to do something to make it stop.
“I have to go to the hospital,” Ella manages in between breaths. “There’s hardly any time between these contractions. Nyx promised me it would be different this time.” She looks up at me desperately.
“Okay, darlin’, I’ll keep trying.” I lift the phone to my ear, ready to call him again, and she thunders toward me like she’s been possessed, knocking the phone out of my hand and grabbing the front of my shirt in her first.
“Listen, funny guy. I’ve already pushed something the size of a watermelon out of my body once. It wasn’t fucking fun. This time I’m not doing it without drugs. You need to get me to the hospital. Nyx can meet us there… oooooh.” She scrunches my shirt tighter and leans forward when another pain comes, and I don’t know what the fuck to do. So I try my best to console, patting my hand against her head while I think.
“Stop petting me like a dog,” she growls at me.
“Okay, we can do this. I’ll get you to hospital, we’ll take the truck.” I place my arm around her and start leading her over to the spare truck in the yard.
“I can’t climb into that.” She shakes her head, her feet grounding to a halt.
“Fine, we’ll take Rogue’s car.” I change direction and pray that Rogue’s left the keys in the ignition.
“Wait, what about Dylan?” She stops again.
“Screwy, get the kid,” I call over my shoulder, trying to keep her moving forward. I can’t be delivering no babies in this yard with only Screwy here for help.
Why does this have to be happening now, when there’s no one here but me to pull shit together?
“Screwy.” Ella looks up at me like I’ve grown a dick on my forehead. “You want me to leave my baby with Screwy?” She sobs, clutching her stomach and breathing hard.
“Listen to me.” I spin her all the way round to face me and hold her by the shoulders. “This baby of yours wants out, and I need to get you to a hospital. We can take the kid along, but we’ll have to strap his seat in the car, or Nyx will kill me, and that's gonna take some time because I don't know how the fuck to do that.”
“I don’t want him to have to come to the hospital, Maddy was supposed to watch him. It wasn’t meant to happen like this.” She’s talking too fast, her head shaking and her eyes streaming. I don't know how the fuck to handle this. When I get my hands on Nyx, I’m gonna kill him.
“Well, Maddy ain’t here. You're stuck with us. And this is how it’s happening. Now, Screwy may not look like a nickelodeon kid, but I can promise you he’d give his own life before he let anything happen to that kid of yours,” I assure her, and when both of us turn and look toward Screwy, he’s already got Dylan out of his seat and is holding him in his huge bear-like arms. His mouth is straight, eyes are narrow, as he stares at us while the kid pulls at his hair.
