I felt my breathing pick up. I was freezing my ass off, but I didn’t want Maddie to hear the panic in my voice.
“Dude! Listen to me. I don’t have time for this. Maddie is in labor. I need your truck. It’s a four-by-four, and the only thing that will get us to the hospital.”
“Maddie’s in labor?” Jack asked as I heard Monica yelling in the background. I heard some noise and then Monica’s voice.
“Cale, how far apart are her contractions? I knew something was off with her. I knew it!”
I took a deep breath and looked back at the front door as I jumped around to warm up. “She said thirty minutes.”
“Okay. Jack is on his way over. Call the doctor first and let them know. Then call your neighbor and ask them to come stay with Lily—you can’t bring her to the hospital. Then call your parents and Maddie’s dad and Michelle.”
I nodded. “Got it.” I turned to open the door and ran smack into it. “Shit. I locked myself out.”
I rang the doorbell as I listened to Monica tell me all the things I needed to do. I kept jumping around to warm myself up. I rang the doorbell again. “Damn it. Maddie isn’t answering the door. What the hell? Oh God. Oh, no—what if something happened to her? Fuck! Fuck! Fucker! Suck a dick!”
“Um, yeah I don’t want to ask about that last outburst. Bang on the door.”
I banged on the door and kept ringing the doorbell. “Monica, I’m freaking out. She isn’t answering.” I banged louder and rang the doorbell again and again. I put my ear to the door. When I hit the doorbell, nothing happened. Then I heard music. Loud music.
“She’s playing music. Like really loud.”
“Huh?” Monica asked.
I ran my hand through my hair as I blew out a breath. “She’s dancing with Lily, I bet. Lily loves the music up as loud as we can get it, and they dance. The doorbell is fucking broken and she can’t hear me banging on the door.”
Monica laughed. “Is it cold out?”
“I really hate you right now, Monica.” I hung up my phone and looked out over the front yard.
I stared at the falling snow. It really was beautiful. The white snow blanketed the area, making everything look new. This was it. This was the one thing I’d been waiting for. The moment in time I’d been dreaming about for years.
The front door opened and Maddie laughed. “Jesus, Cale get in here!”
I spun around and ran into the house. I pulled Maddie into my arms and gently brought her lips to mine. “Thank you,” I whispered.
Her breathing was rapid as her eyes searched mine. “For what?”
“For loving me.”
She smiled bigger and whispered back, “Always.”
MADDIE WAS HAVING another contraction when Jack finally pulled up to the ER. “I’m really going to have to thank James for calling the cops.” he said with a chuckle.
Maddie groaned. “I’m…going…to…kill…my…oh God!” Maddie took quick breaths as she worked her way through the contraction.
She let out a breath. “Father…I’m going to kill my father for this police escort.”
I jumped out of the truck and ran into the ER, slipping twice. Just as I was about to reach the door, I slipped again and fell. Two nurses came running out to help.
“Are you okay, sir?”
I pointed to the car as I kept doing that stupid breathing exercise from Lamaze class. “My wife. Contractions.”
I looked back and Jack was walking slowly with Maddie up to the doors. They all walked past me and sat Maddie in a wheel chair. I brushed off the snow as I followed them in, ignoring the incredible pain in my left leg.
“Cale! You’re limping. Did you hurt your leg again? Wait, stop!” Maddie attempted to get out of the wheel chair, but the nurse stopped her.
I caught up to Maddie and kissed her lips. “I’m okay, baby. I promise.” Tears filled her eyes and she nodded.
She grabbed my hand. “Cale, I’m so scared.”
“Don’t be scared, Maddie. I’m right here with you, baby. I won’t leave your side. I promise.”
We got Maddie checked in and they brought her up to her labor and delivery room. The room was decorated in neutral colors. The nurses all wore scrubs patterned with kid or baby themes. Some were in bright pink, some in baby blue. Maddie’s nurse was wearing some with rubber ducks on it. I laughed as the memory of cleaning Lily after the shit fiasco came back to me.
Maddie had decided to have a natural birth. I was pretty sure she was regretting her decision. Especially when she grabbed me by the T-shirt and pulled me down. “I can’t take the pain anymore. Do something. Cale do something!”
My eyes widened and I looked around. The nurse smiled and winked at me.
Maddie let me go and let out a moan. “Please can I have an epidural? Please.”
I turned to the nurse and gave her a look. She nodded and said, “Let me get your doctor in here, sweetheart, and we’ll see how far you’re dilated.”
I sat next to Maddie as her doctor examined her. He turned and said something to the nurse and she rushed out the door. Doctor Green walked to the side of Maddie’s bed. “Maddie,” he said, “you’ve been a trooper, but we can’t give you an epidural.”
Oh shit, I thought. This poor man is about to die at the hands of Maddie.
“What? Why not? Please, Dr. Green. Please.” Hearing Maddie beg nearly killed me.
Doctor Green took a deep breath. “Maddie, the baby is breach. You’re dilated too far for us to give you an epidural. We need to get in there and get the baby out. Her heart rate is starting to drop.”
My knees almost gave out. “What?” both Maddie and I said at the same time.
More nurses walked in as Dr. Green kept talking. “Cale, you can walk with us down to the OR, but you can’t come in.”
Maddie sobbed. “No. Cale has to be there. Someone has to be there for our baby.”
The nurse grabbed Maddie’s hand and said, “Maddison, I promise you, Cale will be the first person outside of the OR to see the baby. I promise you.”
They moved Maddie out of the room and I followed along with her. Everything was happening so quickly. She held my hand so tight that it felt like she was breaking my fingers, but I didn’t utter a word about it. I just kept telling her how much I loved her.
“Maddie, baby I love you so much,” I said. “I’m so proud of you. I’ll be right outside the doors. I swear.”