Page 23 of Hot Life

My mind went fuzzy for the duration, and when I came back to the moment, Des looked up from his watch. “About two minutes.”

It may have been a blizzard outside, but it was in that instance that I witnessed a tornado. Inside. A husband tornado. Desmond disappeared outside while Cedric checked my blood pressure in between contractions. “Slightly elevated, but it could be because you’re anxious. Take some deep breaths, Dot.”

“I can’t be in labor, right? These are just practice contractions. My c-section is next week.”

Cedric grinned as he removed my cuff. “I’m not sure baby got that memo.”

Des bounded inside, followed by a snow-dusted Odie and Caroline. “Ced, I need you outside.”

My men left while my sisters rallied to my side. Caroline rubbed my back through contractions, which were getting more intense now, while Odette gathered bags from all over the place, putting them by the door. “Wait, you don’t think I need to go to the hospital, do you?”

I asked them both as Caroline held a straw to my lips. I took a small sip of lemon water and waited for someone to respond. Odette widened her eyes at her wife as if to say this is all you. “Dolly, I think we all need to be prepared to meet this baby sooner than we’d planned.”

My heart gripped. “No, I’m not ready. I haven’t read a single baby book. I don’t have a name picked out—”

A contraction gripped my middle and I doubled over on the sofa. Caroline caught me in a hug and rubbed my hair. “It’s okay, Dolly. We’ve got you. We’re all here.”

“I want the guys,” I whined through the pain.

Caroline cast a glance over her shoulder. What weren’t they telling me? Where’d the men go?

Odette knelt before me, rubbing my fingers softly. “The driveway is iced over. Caroline and I had to park down the road and walk up. Even Des’s all-wheel drive stalled out on it. I guess that’s what happens when you pick a house with lots of shade. The ground was so cold already…”

“Oh my god—”

Caroline held me through another surge. “They’ve got it under control. Don’t worry, just breathe, Dolly. Imagine the rose softly opening…”

Odette sniggered. Well, if Des wasn’t here to do it, someone had to.

Between contractions, I absently I focused my attention on the beluga whale documentary in the distance, watching them float like mermaids made of snow. “These are starting to hurt,” I confessed to Caroline, who nodded sympathetically and looked towards the door. We needed to leave…soon. How though? The thought of giving birth here, unmedicated, shot fear through my heart.

Just then, a white, drenched Des and Ced stomped into the doorway. “Let’s go,” Cedric commanded, and Caroline and Odette grabbed the bags while shoving on their jackets. Des helped me stand while Ced carefully helped me into my puffer coat. “Is the driveway okay?” I asked.

“With your dad’s help, yes, all clear.”

“Dad helped?” I asked in surprise.

Cedric took one elbow and Desmond took the other, helping me outside. “Your father walked all the way here with a snow shovel to help us. He says to give you his love.”

My chest melted as a warm tear slid against my frosty cheek. That was so my father. You’d think in his silence he didn’t see or feel, and then suddenly he walked a mile in the snow and didn’t stand around for thanks. He reminded me of both Cedric and Desmond in that way.

We made it to the hospital as sleet pelted my husband’s pickup truck. I sat up front, clutching his hand, while Ced and the girls shoved into the back. No one complained though. They operated like a well-rehearsed dance. I half wondered if they had actually practiced, and the thought made me smile. It was hard to tell if I was rushed to a room because of my progression of labor or because the nursing staff noticed who Cedric was immediately and gave us the star treatment. Regardless, it was comforting to be in a gown and hooked up to monitors, tracking mine and Krill’s progress. Dr. Kamara soon entered the room, my husbands on either side of my hospital bed in various states of caressing and hand-holding. “Dorthea, you’re a week early.” She smiled warmly and rubbed my knee. “If it’s okay with you, I’d like to check you and see if you’re dilated.”

I nodded, watching the line go up on the monitor indicating another contraction. “Deep breath,” Odette reminded as Caroline put on soft music from portable speakers I would never have thought to bring.

“You’re six centimeters,” she declared, pulling off her latex glove. “This baby is coming today. Now, due to your blood pressure, I’ll give you the choice. You can continue to labor and try to birth baby vaginally, or we can skip to the cesarean like we planned.”

I looked to my husbands. “It’s up to you, Dot,” Cedric encouraged.

Desmond nodded in agreement, kissing my knuckles.

“I want a ceserean,” I declared. I’d already mentally prepared for it so much so that going in another direction didn’t feel right.

“We’ll get the OR all set up. See you soon, Dorthea.”

With that she was gone as I tumbled into another contraction. “Intense sensation of feeling my ass,” I grumbled. “I’m kicking Sonny next time I see her.”

My family all chuckled.

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