Page 87 of Sniper

The contraction subsides, and I stand up, take deep breaths, and check my watch.

“Damn, now eight minutes apart. That was quick,” I mutter, and I call Doc.

He answers on the second ring, “Please tell me you’re not having Braxton Hicks again because I don’t want to spend a week at the hospital and away from my girl.”

I chuckle and mutter, “Uh, no, I’m not, but I am having contractions. Have been all day, but now they’re eight minutes apart. I haven’t told Theo yet.”

“Let me guess, you're still adamant about a home birth and want to wait until the last moment to tell him,” Doc summarizes, and I laugh, not one bit sorry.

He sighs, but I cut in before he can convince me the hospital is the best place, “Autumn's birth was hard, for obvious reasons. This one is going to be a bittersweet moment. We get to meet our son while mourning the fact we won’t meet our daughter. I don’t want to be in the hospital with all the conflicted feelings, and seeing pity on the nurse's faces. Please, Doc, I want a home birth….”

I hear a smack, then a grunt, and Doc curses, “Fuck’s sake, Ken, I was going to agree with her.”

I chuckle as Ken's voice comes through the receiver, “We both know that’s bull crap.”

I gasp suddenly when another contraction hits, and Doc rasps, “I’m guessing this one was quicker?”

Breathing through the contraction, I check the time and mutter, “Yeah, five….”

He curses and asks, “And your water?”

I swallow hard, the contraction hitting stronger, and I gasp out, “Still intact.”

Doc curses as Kennedy shouts, “We’re on our way, Rory!”

The phone goes dead as the front door opens, and Theo’s voice travels through the kitchen, making my eyes widen.

“Firecracker, where you at? I hear we have the house to ourselves, so I left work early….”

Dammit!

Theo walks into the kitchen, looking delicious in his wife beater, cut, and jeans. My eyes take him in as his hands grip the doorframe above his head.

Damn, if only I weren’t in labor…. Though sex could break my water.

“Caught you sneaking into the kitchen again, huh?” He smirks, but his eyes widen when fluid gushes down my bare legs, his mouth hanging open in shock.

Okay, never mind.

I give him an innocent smile, trying to ignore what has just happened, knowing I’m in trouble, and whisper, “Well, you know me, I love my food.”

He snaps his jaw shut, the muscles twitching, and he growls, “Please fucking tell me you haven’t been having contractions all day.”

The door opens again, but Theo doesn’t move, only glares at me, and I reply, “Sure, I won’t tell you I’ve been having contractions all day.” I try to direct him elsewhere and ask, “So you, uh, came home early?”

He growls as Doc rushes into the kitchen, stops abruptly, looks between us, and then his eyes go to the floor.

“Ah crap,” he mutters before looking at Theo and stating, “Brother, as much as I know you want to throw a fit, right now is not the time.”

Theo shakes his head, and starts to pace as another contraction hits. I swallow my gasp as he snaps, “No! I wanted to go to the fucking hospital!”

I take a deep breath then snap, “And I wanted a home birth without the pity!”

He flinches, and I immediately feel guilty. I didn’t mean to snap but these contractions flipping hurt.

Theo's eyes soften, and he asks with absolute pain, “And what if something goes wrong and we lose our son like we lost our daughter?” Oh my heart, the vulnerability in his eyes…. “What if everything goes wrong, Rory? If we lose him, then I know I’ll lose you, and I-I can’t fucking live without you….”

Everything inside me hurts at his admission. These are the fears he’s held onto, keeping them from me.

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