Page 154 of Set Me On Fire

“Nope.” I tried to pull them up and under me but that wasn’t happening. I was like Violet Beauregarde when they turned her into a blueberry. The guys would have to roll me out of here at the end of the night. “They are swollen and disgusting, and if you get them out of those sandals, you’re not getting them back in again. That wasn’t why I called you over. Mum and Astrid say we need to have lots of sex to bring the baby on.”

Or I’d be getting induced. The midwifery team had a very frank conversation with me about that possibility. I’d made the mistake of Googling that and did not like the results at all. More painful, faster birth, greater potential for a C-section. Nope, nope, nopey, nope, nope.

“Orgy.” Charlie rubbed his hands together. “We’re having an orgy tonight.”

“Please don’t say the word orgy,” Hayden said, wincing as he stared at us.

“So I shouldn’t say we’re also having an orgy when we get home?” Jamie asked.

“Now, baby…”

“Children, we have company,” Dad said.

“Company that suggested this whole thing in the first place,” I countered. “So Astrid, just how much sex do I need to be having…?”

An hour or so later,the conversation had been steered away from our sex life and back to the dinner table.

“This is amazing,” Moira said as she sliced into the meat. “So tender. You’ll have to give me the name of your butcher.”

I watched them all chatter. Astrid was sitting next to Jamie and whatever she had to say, it seemed to have my bestie grinning, my brothers rolling their eyes. Everyone was here, together, getting along.

And that was the moment our little girl decided to join us.

People tried to explain to me what my water breaking would feel like, but for me, it was as if something swelled and then popped. I felt a hot gush of fluid and looked down in despair. My bladder control was bloody awful, something that would only get worse if I didn't practice my Kegels, Mum informed me, but for it to just let go like this? I whipped a cloth napkin off the table then patted at my lap. I was saturated. Pee had gone everywhere, soaking into my dress, the chair, and dripping onto the floor…

It wasn’t pee.

My cutlery fell from my hands with a clatter, getting the attention of the room.

“Everything OK, love?” Dad asked in concern.

“Millie…?” Knox was up and out of his chair, walking towards me. “Millie?”

“What’s going on?” Noah asked, reaching for my hand, then seeing the mess. “Is that?—?”

“Go time.” Charlie shoved himself back from the table, tossing his napkin onto the table. “It’s go time. Our little girl is on her way out.”

She was.

I was bundledinto the car, a towel produced to cover the backseat, but I couldn’t give a shit about the upholstery. Pain like a period cramp on steroids tore through me as I struggled to get in the back seat. Noah picked me up and then slid me into the middle as our families came rushing out.

“We’ll meet you at the hospital,” Astrid said.

“We all will,” Mum added. “Angus! Turn the oven off and lock up now.”

“Jesus, is she alright?” Jorge asked Brock.

“Millie!” Jamie looked pale, too pale, her stricken expression a perfect echo of my own. She thrust herself forward. “I’m here. We’re here. However you want this to go, that’s how it’ll happen.”

I’d talked to her about my birth plan one afternoon when I was fretting about it, but I had no mental space to think about that. My world was reduced down to pain, only pain.

“Hey…” Noah’s face swam into view and he smoothed my hair back from my face. My hand wrapped around his wrist, clamping down tightly. “Remember to count.” What, was he freaking insane? I couldn’t have counted right now if you put a gun to my head. “Sixty seconds, that’s how long this will last. Sixty seconds. I, 2, 3, 4…”

I didn’t need to count, because he was doing it for me, and somehow that made it so much better. It didn’t lessen the pain, but it let me know the end was near. Well, for this contraction. I puffed along with him, getting closer and closer to sixty seconds and then… I let a long breath out, my body collapsing against the car seat.

“I’ve called the hospital. They know we’re coming. Everyone who’s getting in the car needs to do so right now,” Knox barked. Charlie and Noah climbed in, the doors slamming shut around us. “Hold on.” He was behind the steering wheel, turning on the ignition and then throwing the car into gear as he looked overhis shoulder, meeting my eyes for a second. “I’ll get you to the hospital, babe, don’t you freaking worry, and with an escort.”

“The boys are coming out?” Charlie asked with a grin.

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