Page 87 of Finding Wonderland

For a moment, Vera concocted a plan in her mind. Although Isla’s due date was three weeks away, Vera had been prepared for the home birth for weeks. She knew they had everything they needed when it was baby time. Which, if Vera’s gut instinct was correct, would be sooner rather than later.

“Okay,” she firmly nodded. “I’m going to check you again and if you’re more dilated, we’re going to treat this like labor, okay?”

Isla nodded, but less firmly than Vera. Her brown eyes did little to cover the panic that entered her expression, so Vera put a hand on her stomach.

“I have you and I have our baby. I won’t let anything happen to either of you.”

“You think this could really be it?”

Vera felt her eyes sparkling as she looked at Isla. “It could be.”

Before they could say anything else, Isla had another contraction. Vera could see it on her face it hurt, and she quickly put her hands on her hips as Isla wrapped her arms around her neck. They swayed slowly, Isla humming softly as she worked through it. Once it was done, they stayed in that position for a moment.

“On a scale of one to ten…”

“Eight.”

After it had passed, Vera checked Isla again. She was three centimeters, which made Vera believe she was probably getting ready to be in labor—which, of course, proved to be right. Isla’s contractions grew stronger and more frequent as the day went along, but they’d decided not to tell the kids or Eden just yet.

By lunch, Isla’s contractions were to the point Vera knew they’d have to tell Mason and Eden soon. But they found out on their own as Isla had what seemed to be her most painful contraction yet as they were in the kitchen making lunch. Ellie and Brayden, thankfully, were distracted in the living room with their Christmas presents and a movie so they didn’t hear Isla’s pained moans.

Mason was instantly at Isla’s side, as was Vera.

“It’s okay, Mom.” Mason kissed Isla’s cheek. They each had a hand on Isla’s lower back, and Vera moved hers slightly to touch Mason’s. She loved her mom so much, and Vera needed her to know she was okay. “You got this.”

“Shit,” Isla groaned as she leaned over onto the counter. The contraction wasn’t letting up, and Vera wished she could take the pain away from her wife.

Finally, the contraction ended and Isla tried to stand up straighter. She smiled at Vera, trying to act like she was okay for Mason, Vera was sure.

“Okay, yeah,” she laughed and looked at Mason, “I’ve been having contractions all day.”

“We know,” Eden and Mason said in unison.

“Really, Mom,” Mason arched an eyebrow at her, “I know you. I could tell you have been having them since breakfast.”

For the rest of the day, Vera, Mason, and Eden took turns helping Isla through contractions while also keeping the kids distracted. But by the time dinner was over, Isla’s contractions, which had been consistently strong all day, had started to stall out. Vera knew they needed to get them going again, and had some ideas on how to do so.

“You know,” Isla breathlessly laughed after sex, “I’ve always said you do your best work on your knees.”

“Shut up,” Vera rolled her eyes with a laugh. “That’s how we jump-started labor for you, so hopefully, that and the nipple stimulation will start the contractions back up soon.”

“If not I guess you’ll just have to do it more.”

“You know I would.” Vera kissed her, savoring the feeling of Isla’s lips on hers.

Thankfully, Isla’s contractions intensified and didn’t let up for hours. She progressed so quickly that Mason and Eden had taken the kids over to the garage apartment for the night so Isla wouldn’t wake them. And it was a good thing, too. Isla’s contractions were so brutal that Vera could feel the pain in her voice.

“Fuck, this wasn’t this bad either time before.” Isla breathlessly leaned back onto the shower wall where she’d been sitting since her water broke. Vera was glad they’d installed the built-in seat in the shower, especially now. “I really thought this one would just walk out after two births. And the pressure,” Isla groaned, “I don’t remember it being so intense.”

Vera chuckled to herself, but her heart went out to Isla. The last time she’d checked Isla, she was almost ready to push. “You wanna start practice pushing? That might help relieve some of the pressure.”

Isla nodded, and Vera helped her get dried off and over to the bed. The warm shower had helped Isla immensely, but it was game time now. Helping Isla onto the bed, she laid on her side as Vera helped her lift a leg up. She pushed for a half hour before Vera could see the baby finally starting to emerge.

“Honey, you’re doing so good.” Vera kissed her knee as Isla pushed through another contraction. Once it passed, Vera carefully sat her leg down and stood. “I’m going to go put the towels in the dryer so they’ll be warm when she’s born. I’ll be right back.”

Once she arrived back in the bedroom, Isla had moved to sitting on the edge of the bed. She was pushing, and Vera instantly got down on her knees between her legs.

“You’re doing so good, Isla.”

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