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“Maybe we can cook it together. You’re almost a month through this, I’d hate to get to ambitious when you only have a month or so to go.”
“Alright, good. I’ll see you in a couple hours.”
“Yes, you will, now go get some rest.”
*
I had never been much of a nap person when I was younger, but golly did I love them now. I guess the doctor was right that I had been pushing myself far too hard and my body needed a lot more rest and special care. I had just been so stressed and so tired for so long, that I had thought that it was normal.
I guess not.
But as I woke up from my nap, I felt refreshed and ready to cook that dinner I had talked about with James. Well, I would be ready once I went to the bathroom. One thing that had certainly never been exaggerated to me was how much the baby growing within me would press on my bladder.
Swinging my feet over the side of the bed, I heard James watching some sort of stock report in the living room. The noise gave me quite a bit of comfort, assuring me that I wasn’t alone. That, for the first time in my life, I had someone who was one hundred percent on my side.
Too bad we were getting divorced.
I shook that thought out of my head. Our divorce had always been the plan, so I couldn’t cop out now. We would just be best friends and ex-spouses.
I went about my business in the bathroom, smiling as I heard James argue with the reporter on TV who couldn’t hear him, and went to wash my hands. Wiping them on the towel, I started to call out to James to ask him what was going on, when suddenly I was hit with one of the most intense cramps I had ever had.
“Holy halibut,” I wheezed, both of my hands going to my lower stomach. I tried to breathe through it, but the squeezing was impossibly painful. I managed a single step towards the door before there was the strange sound of water hitting the tile and suddenly my bare feet were wet.
No… oh no.
“James!” I cried, my voice shrill and cracking. “James, I need you right now!”
I heard his feet thundering to me, and I tried to take another shaking step, but mostly just ended up clinging to the towel rod for support while my abdomen continued to shake, rattle and roll like a warzone.
James practically barreled through the door and took one bewildered look at me like he was trying to figure out what could have possibly gone wrong. It took me several solid gasps before I could collect myself enough to blurt out a response to his confused look.
“I think my water broke.”
“Your water broke?!” he repeated like I had stuttered or something.
“No, I decided to just splash something on my feet because I can’t bend over anymore. Yes! My water broke! It’s time for that hospital plan we put together!”
“Right, of course! I’ll go grab our blitz bag!”
“Yeah, do that!” I said, managing to stand up slightly. “Whew, the cramps halted for a moment. We’ve only got a little bit before they come back again.”
“Try to get to the car. I’ll be right behind you!”
“You sure?” I asked, panicky. “Aren’t I not supposed to take stairs?”
“…we have an elevator, Nicole.”
“Oh… right. That’s a thing. I’ll get going.”
I grabbed a towel and waddled out, careful not to slip on the wet tile. I was in such a state of shock and scrambling to remember what James and I agreed was the best protocol that I didn’t even have time to think about the fact that I was having my baby three months early. I just rushed for the car as fast as my pregnant legs could take me.
Naturally James caught up with me before I was even out of the front doors, my duffle bag over his shoulder. “You alright?” He asked, looking more nervous than I had ever seen him before.
“Yeah, but I don’t promise anything when the next round of contractions come around.”
“How far apart are they?”
“I don’t know, James,” I said with all the patience I could muster. “I haven’t had the second set yet.”
“Oh, yes. You said that. That makes sense.” We reached his car and he opened the door for me, helping me in. For once I actually needed his assistance, because I couldn’t quite muster the leg power to get myself up and in.
At least I managed to buckle myself in before James slid into the driver’s seat. I didn’t even have to tell him the address, he had it memorized and was punching it in before I could even open my mouth.
He gave me one last look, his expression one of anticipation and total fear, then punched the gas.
