Page 27 of Breath By Breath

We’re having a boy.

Royce just turned two, and I still have everything that was his, and we moved him to a big boy room. It’s saved us a lot of money, that’s for sure. I read somewhere when I was pregnant with Royce not to give away any baby items until you were certain you were done having kids. I listened and packed away everything he outgrew into totes in the basement. Sure, some of the seasons for clothes might not line up, but that’s okay. We have a baby boy nursery ready to go, and Royce got his new big boy race car bed. I wasn’t sure if he would sleep there, but to my surprise, he loves it and sleeps all night long. I still have a gate in front of his bedroom door, just as we did with the nursery. The little bugger took a liking to crawling out of his crib at night. We also have one at the stairs, because I worry he might fall down them. If we ever move out of this house, I want a sprawling ranch. Stairs are too big of a worry for this momma.

I take two steps when I feel the wetness between my thighs. At first, I think I’ve waited too long to get to the bathroom, but the accompanying pain in my lower back and abdomen tells me this isn’t me peeing myself.

“Lena?” My coworker, Sandra, stands and comes to where I’m hunched over. “Are you okay?”

“Oh, I’m fine. My water just broke.” I laugh.

“What?” Panic flashes in her eyes. Sandra is in her late forties and never had kids. “Oh shit,” she mutters. “What do I do?”

“I need a ride to the hospital.”

“I’ll call an ambulance.”

“No.” I reach out and place my hand on her arm to stop her. “I don’t need an ambulance. We’re five minutes from the hospital. You can drive my car, and I’ll call Stanley to have him meet us there. You can bring my car back here, and we’ll get it later.”

“Okay. Right. I can do this. What do you need?”

“Hand me the phone.” She moves the phone from my desk to the edge, and I pick it up to call my husband.

“Riggins Enterprises, this is Kathy.”

“Hi, Kathy, it’s Lena. Can I talk to Stanley?”

“Sure, Lena. Please hold.” I wait a few seconds before I hear his voice.

“Lena?”

“It’s time,” I tell him.

“Are you okay? Dammit, I knew you should have gone on maternity leave.”

“I’m fine. I’m closer to the hospital here than I am if I were at home. Sandra is driving me in my car. I’ll meet you there.”

“Tell her to drive safely. She has my life in that car.”

“We’ll be fine. I’ll see you soon.”

“I love you, Lena Riggins.”

“I love you too.” I end the call and place the phone down. “Okay, let’s do this.”

“He’s perfect,” I say, smiling down at my son.

“You’re both perfect.” Stanley kisses my temple. He’s sitting next to me from where I’m lying in the hospital bed. “What are you thinking for names?”

“We’re terrible at this.” I laugh. “Most parents have names picked out before the baby gets here.”

“Yeah, we have a list. I like that we meet them before giving them their names. It needs to fit, you know?”

“I agree. It’s our thing.”

“Yeah, and it will be for the next one too.”

“How many are we having, Mr. Riggins?” My heart feels too big for my chest as I think about our growing family. This life we’re building together, it’s more than I ever could have imagined that it would be. I don’t know how many kids we’ll have, but I know in my heart we’re not done yet. Our family doesn’t feel complete, but we’re getting there.

“We’ll keep going until our family feels complete. We both hated being only children.”

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