Page 89 of Strike Zone

“I’m on it, but let’s ride in the ambulance.” I gesture to her pants which are soaking wet with amniotic fluid. I know that because I’ve read every pregnancy book available and yet feel completely unprepared. “We’re not ruining the leather interior of my car with all this.”

“I swear to God, Lincoln Nash, I’ll sucker punch you in the nuts.”

“Duly noted.”

As promised, an ambulance is ready and waiting at the team exit. Once they have Diana safely loaded, Brooke hands me her purse. “We’re going to follow right behind you. Anders will go and grab your stuff from the locker room. Phone, keys, and whatever else you keep in there. Hopefully, a clean change of clothes.”

“Yeah, I don’t want to meet my daughter for the first time in an ash-stained, funky-smelling uniform.”

“Trust me, she doesn’t want to meet you that way either,” Diana quips from the rig. “Can we get going? I’m kind of in the middle of something here. You can coordinate by text. My phone’s in my purse.”

Brooke practically shoves me up into the ambulance. “Godspeed, Linc. I hope you survive the ride to the hospital with her. She’s not the nicest right now.”

“She’s shoving a human out. Let’s see how pleasant you are when it’s your turn.” I grab the doors and haul them shut. “We’ll just catch up with them at the hospital.”

I perch on the bench across from Diana, clasping her hand in mine. “How are you feeling, southpaw?”

“Better now that it’s just us.”

“I’m so sorry I couldn’t get to you right away.”

Her face contorts, her sweet smile replaced with an agonized grimace as she crushes my hand in a vice-like grip. “Contraction.”

“Holy fuck, southpaw. You’re hurting me.” She tightens her grip.

“You didn’t just complain to me about pain. You and your hand can go fuck yourself!”

“I’m sorry. If it were any other woman in labor, I’d agree, but you’re a UFC champion, Diana. You’re genuinely capable of snapping my bones like a twig.” As her contraction subsides, she restores blood flow to my hand and starts laughing. “Should I be really scared now? Laughing is worse than shouting at me in this scenario, right?”

“I love you, Linc. Only you could make me laugh at a time like this. There’s a human trying to fight her way out of me at this moment, and you still make me smile.”

“I can’t believe your water broke in Yankee Stadium.”

“Did Anders give you my message?”

“He did. I told him we were taking the draw, and I’d buy the team flashy cars for Christmas to make up for it. Then he came at me with the fact that you were planning to come and kick my ass even though you were in labor, so I figured I better do as I was told.”

“I knew you were going to hit it first time.”

“Is it big-headed if I say, so did I?”

“Yes, but why change now? I fell in love with an ego maniac, and let’s be honest, what you just did out there on the field was hot. You earned your anaconda-swinging moment.”

“You thought it was hot?” I give her my best come-hither look as another contraction hits.

I’m a lesser man for it, but there was a slight hesitation before I took her hand on this one.

“Oh my God. Having my face punched with a broken nose was less painful than this. What the fucking… fuck!”

“I wish I could take the pain for your, baby.”

“So do I, but you wouldn’t be able to hack it.”

“What?” Her grip tightens, and it’s all I can do to swallow a yelp.

“Who are you kidding? You’re ready to ask for a morphine drip right now.”

One of the EMTs starts checking his watch and flips the switch on the sirens.

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