Page 141 of Mine to Worship

“It’s the correct term. Not my fault, you like to call it pussy, you pervert.”

“I like how I make it purr even more.”

“This is not the time!”

“You started it.”

We burst into nervous laughter. The door to our room flies open and Kian scowls at our friends stumbling into the room.

“What is wrong with you people? Ever heard of knocking?”

“Is Kira here?” Aubrey asks, her eyes scanning the room.

“Of course not, we just got here.”

“How long can it take, anyway?” Jason asks.

“Jason,” we all yell at him. He lifts his hands and zips his lips.

“How are you?” Tara asks and Aubrey follows.

“Be honest, are women exaggerating or is it honestly ripping you apart?”

“Ask me after.”

They place the flowers and the balloons around the room. They leave then the waiting begins. The pain in my stomach steadily increases until my eyes bulge out. It will be a miracle if Kian still has his arm intact by the end of the delivery.

The epidural makes the pain bearable. Still, I have never experienced pain like this. It all happens in a whirlwind. I am pushed into the delivery room and when I am settled, I look for Kian. He walks in the room wearing blue scrubs and I relax.

“I am here, Ellia. I love you. You’re doing great.”

The doctor tells me to start pushing. It’s a constant struggle not to give up.

If I have to push one more time, the probability that my head will explode before my child comes out is more realistic.

“Breathe, angel and then push.”

“If someone would give me a damn baseball bat right now, I would push it down your throat,” I shout, my cheeks filling with air, and I push again. I fall on my back. He brushes the wet strands from my face and kisses my sweaty forehead.

Over the course of the last few hours, Kian changed from the love of my life, and adoring husband to the enemy. Worse, if I still had any physical strength in me, I would strangle him.

“You’re doing great. One more push. I can see her head.” Before I can even protest his high handedness, he kisses me on my forehead then rushes to peek at what’s happening between my legs.

“Look and look really, really close, because this is the last time you’ll see me like this,” I threaten. I love him, I do, truly and madly, but it’s his dick that got me here, on the verge of insanity.

“My wife’s a bit dramatic today, understandably,” he tells the doctor.

“Kian.”

“I love you. too, angel. Now push.”

“I hate you.”

“No, you don’t.”

I must really be crazy in love with him, if his child is tearing me apart and I’m smiling because he’s not doubting my love for him.

“It’s coming, push hard, this is it, you can do it,” my doctor says.

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