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“He’s the baby’s father,” Bear replied.
I didn’t have time to be surprised at Bear’s announcement before she jumped from her chair. “Then we need to get you to the delivery room.”
I didn’t look back at Bear before rounding the desk and following her down the long hallway to the set of elevators. She hit the button for the third floor, and the doors slid open almost immediately. We stepped inside, and she began talking. “I’ll get you in the room with her, and a nurse will give you a band with your name and Rebecca’s name on it. That allows you to move freely on the maternity floor. Without the band, you wouldn’t be able to.”
“Okay.”
When the elevator doors opened, we both moved quickly through a double set of doors, and I followed her to the nurses’ desk. “This gentleman is with Rebecca Pierce.”
The nurse behind the desk smiled at me. “I’ll need your name.”
I hesitated for a minute, hating to use my real name because of the implications, but they wouldn’t know those. “Colt Harrison.”
She quickly made me a band and secured it on my wrist before pointing toward the hallway. “She’s in room 307.”
“Thanks,” I said while I was following the nurse, who was quickly walking away.
We didn’t go far before we were in front of room 307. The nurse pushed open the door and held it while gesturing me inside. I didn’t hesitate to rush through the door, only to come face-to-face with who I assumed was the doctor and two other nurses.
“Dad made it in time.”
My eyes landed on Becs, and hers widened in surprise before pain flashed across her expression. Moving quickly, I stopped beside her head and watched her close her eyes tightly. I scanned the bed and saw her hand fisting the sheet before reaching down and wrapping my hand around hers.
Her eyes flew open and met mine, but before she could speak, I did. “Squeeze my hand.”
She nodded, but her attention shifted to the nurse when she spoke. “Short, panting breaths, Becs. Don’t hold your breath.”
Her eyes shifted back to mine. “It’s too soon.”
“Can they stop it?”
She squeezed my hand, and pain flashed through her eyes, so I quickly looked at the nurse across from me when she spoke. “It’s too late to stop. She’s dilated to ten centimeters, and she was only eight when she arrived twenty minutes ago. This baby is coming now.”
The doctor, who had been moving around the room, sat on a stool with wheels and rolled to the bottom of the bed. “It’s time to start pushing, Becs.”
With wide eyes, I looked down at Becs, and she whispered, “I’m scared. It’s too soon.”
A determination I hadn’t expected filled me. I was going to get her through this and any damn thing after. Leaning down, I squeezed her hand, and my lips hovered above hers. “I’m right here, baby, and I’m not leaving you.”
She nodded slightly but faced the doctor when she spoke. “I need you to push when I say the word, okay?” Becs didn’t even answer before the doctor’s eyes shifted to me. “You’re doing great, Dad, but I need you to wrap your arm under her thigh and pull it toward her face.”
“Umm…” Becs started, and I knew she was hesitating because it felt intimate, but when pain once again washed over her expression, and she moaned, I did exactly what the doctor said and watched the nurse across from me mirror my hold.
It felt like hours while I watched her push, only taking breaks for a minute or two and then right back at it. At one point, the nurse handed me a cold cloth, and I wiped the sweat from her forehead while she pushed her way through more pain than I could even imagine.
And I’d felt pain in my life.
I’d been in prison fights that I swore would force me to take my last breaths on this earth.
But to watch a woman like Becs who handled any shit thrown her way, actually showing pain, was tearing me apart. I couldn’t do more than I was except pray this baby stopped beating the hell out of her and came into the world.
“Almost there, Becs; you’re doing great,” the doctor praised. “I’m going to need a few hard pushes, though.”
Becs flopped back, her head lying on the pillow, and turned her face toward me, but she didn’t speak. She wouldn’t admit weakness. She wouldn’t admit she was exhausted. Not to anyone and certainly not to me.
Leaning down, I lowered my voice. “You’re one of the strongest people I’ve ever met in my life, Becs. There isn’t anything you can’t do.”
She turned her head slowly, and her dark eyes met mine. She didn’t say anything, but she nodded slightly and pushed herself onto her elbows.
