Page 185 of Always Us

“There’s nothing wrong with donuts.” I try to sit up to kiss him but I can’t reach him and now I’m stuck in this chair. It’s a deep, squishy chair that’s hard to get out of.

Garret notices me attempting to move. “You want help getting up?”

I sigh. “No, I’ll just stay here. If I need help, Frank or Karen will help me.”

He leans down and gives me a kiss. “I’ll be back soon. Love you.”

“Love you, too.”

He leaves.

And a few minutes later, my water breaks.

GARRET

I’m at the donut place when my phone rings. It’s Frank.

“Garret, she’s having the baby. Meet us at the hospital.”

“Are you serious? I just left the house.”

“And as soon as you did, her water broke.”

I race back to the car. “I’ll be home in a few minutes. I’ll take her to the hospital.”

“We’re already on the way. Karen said things are moving fast. We couldn’t wait.”

Shit! I whip out of the parking lot and speed off. “Okay, I’ll meet you there. Let me talk to Jade.”

He gives her the phone.

“Garret?” She sounds out of breath. “Sorry. I didn’t know this would happen.”

“I’ll be right there, okay?”

“I’m scared. I’m not ready for this.” When she says it, I know what she means. This time she isn’t talking about giving birth. She’s talking about being a mom. She was so excited about it for the first eight months of her pregnancy and then the past month, she started panicking, thinking she’ll be a bad mom.

“You’re ready, Jade. This baby is so lucky to have you as a mom.”

I tell her this all the time and it always makes her cry. I hear her sniffle, then moan. “Oh, God, that hurts. Garret, I can’t talk. I’ll see you at the hospital.”

She hangs up and I speed even faster down the road. Then I hit construction and have to slow down. Going to the donut shop took me off the road I would normally take to the hospital and now I’m stuck here, waiting in a line of cars. I honk but it’s no use. There’s nowhere to go. I call Frank and let him know. He tells me Jade was taken straight to the delivery room. This baby’s coming fast. Jade and I both thought she’d be in labor for 15 or 20 hours, like most new moms. But no. This baby’s as impatient as Jade is and it wants out.

Ten minutes later, I finally move past the construction zone and speed to the hospital. I park and run inside.

Frank is waiting for me by the nurse’s desk. I must look like a nervous wreck because he laughs at me. “Calm down there, Garret. Everything’s fine.”

I’m out of breath from running. “Where is she?”

“She’s in one of the delivery rooms. The nurse will show you.”

An older woman dressed like a nurse comes over to me. “First timer, huh?” She smiles.

“Yeah.”

“Right this way.” She takes off and I follow her, waving goodbye to Frank. This is all happening so fast. This isn’t how I pictured it in my head. I read all those books and was all prepared for a long labor, spending hours sitting beside Jade trying to keep her calm.

The nurse takes me to the delivery room. Jade’s doing the breathing exercises she learned in birthing class. Karen’s next to her, holding her hand. Karen sees me and smiles, then says to Jade, “I’m going to leave now.”

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