Page 107 of Boston
“Look at me, Kat,” she said. Kat was hyperventilating and could barely breathe. “You need to slow down. Look at me.”
“Yeah, hi,” Boston said, his back turned to them. “Kat’s gone into labor and she’s not sure she’s gonna make it to the hospital.” He spun back toward Cora, his eyes wide. “I’m not sure.”
She looked over to him and then back to her sister. She planted both hands on her sister’s knees. “Breathe, slow down.”
Kat did, nodding. “I never called Jeremy.”
“Okay,” Cora said calmly, though her pulse stampeded through her whole body. “Boston will do it as soon as he’s done with medical.”
“They want to know how far dilated she is.” He cleared his throat and stared at Kat.
Cora drew in a deep breath. “Okay, Kat, we’re going to go in the bedroom.”
Kat started to sob, but together, Boston and Cora got her up, and they slowly made their way down the hall.
Boston said, “You guys just need to come. Right now. She can barely move.”
“And there’s blood on the chair.” Cora tried to say it quietly, but with Kat between her and Boston, of course, her sister heard it.
“I can’t have the babies here,” she said.
“Honey, you’re going to have the babies here,” Cora said in a placating voice. “It’s going to be fine. We have medical staff on-site, and they’re almost here anyway.” She helped Kat into bed while Boston hovered in the doorway. She glanced over to him. “Will you tell them to get here quickly and then hang up and call Jeremy? He doesn’t know yet.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Boston said, and he turned to go.
“Boston,” she called after him, rushing over to the doorway. “Get Kelsey out of the playpen and get her a bag of chocolate chip cookies from the top shelf in the cabinet next to the microwave.”
“Okay,” he said, his eyes as round as the moon. He hurried away, honestly, she didn’t blame him. This was not how she thought she’d spend the one night she had plans with Boston.
“Okay,” she said, turning back to her sister. “I’m no nurse, but I know how to check if you’re dilated, okay?”
Kat nodded, and Cora grabbed more pillows and piled them under her knees. “Okay, honey, I’m just gonna look.”
Kat’s face turned red as a contraction hit, and she groaned in a horrible, high-pitched sound that turned into half-sob, half-scream.
“I knew we should have gotten a condo next to the hospital,” she said, panting as the contraction subsided.
“Honey, you’re at least a six.” Cora moved to kneel beside the bed. She took her sister’s hand in hers. “They’re coming, and it’s going to be fine. Remember when Daddy told us about the lady who had her baby in the hot tub here? And that was what, twenty years ago?”
Kat didn’t smile, and tears continued to stream down her face. Cora suddenly remembered a movie she’d seen once, and she got back to her feet. “I’m going to put some towels in the dryer so they’re nice and warm for when your babies come.”
“Don’t go,” Kat said, more fear in her eyes and voice than Cora had ever seen.
“I’ll tell Boston.”
Kat nodded, and Cora moved to the doorway. “Boston?”
“Jeremy’s on the way,” he said, and he appeared at the end of the hall with a sniffling, hiccupping Kelsey in his arms. She babbled something and held up a cookie. Cora smiled and said, “Can you throw some clean towels in Kat’s dryer? We want to have something warm to wrap the babies in when they come.”
“How far along is she?” Boston asked as he moved down the hall.
“They have a stackable washer and dryer right there,” she said. “There will be towels in the linen closet right across the hall.”
He nodded and pulled open both doors.
“She’s at a six,” Cora said, and as her sister started to groan behind her, she added, “And the contractions are coming fast. How long did they say until they’d be here?”
Just then, a knock sounded on the door, and Boston said, “Oh, Dear God, thank you,” as he rushed to answer it.
