Page 89 of Accepted Precedent
“Are you sure they aren’t real contractions?”
“Yeah, my water hasn’t—” Her eyes widen.
“Your water hasn’t what?”
“I just jinxed myself. Andy, this isn’t a drill. Either I have incontinence, or my water broke.”
“Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck! They’re early! And the nursery furniture won’t be delivered until tomorrow.”
“I know,” she groans through the pain.
“Okay, let me call Mickey, then Finn.” I let her lean on me as I help her over to the kitchen table to sit. “I’ll grab the bag.”
Evie nods, and I sprint to her bedroom for the hospital bag. Slinging it over my shoulder, I pull out my phone and dial Mickey. No answer. I try Finn.
The moment the ringing stops, I rush out, “Where’s Mick?”
“How the fuck should I know? What’s going on?”
“Evie’s water broke.”
“Fuckin’ hell. I think he’s at Ileah’s—they’re working on something for the campaign. How the fuck are we going to pull everything off if we can’t get him to the hospital?”
“I don’t know,” I groan. “Track him down and have him meet me there.”
We hang up, and I load up the car, then help Evelyn in. As I press the ignition button, she grunts with another contraction. If she’s been having these all day, we’ll need to move fast.
“If Mick can’t make it in time…”
“He will, babe. I promise,” I assure her. “But you’ll just need to keep those babies in a little longer.” I pull onto the road as Evie’s cries grow louder. Mickey’s name appears on my dash screen. Answering the call without a greeting, I help Evie through her breathing. “In through your nose, blow out slowly. Just like that. You’re doing amazing.”
“Finn told me she’s in labor. Is everything okay?”
“So far, so good,” I reply, reaching to squeeze Evie’s hand.
“It’s too soon.”
“Yeah, but when has anything ever gone as planned for us?”
“I’m thirty minutes out. How’s she doing?”
“Sheis right here,” Evie grumbles, and continues her breathing exercises.
He huffs a laugh. “How are you doing, angel? Are you going to be my good girl and wait for me so I can talk you through it?”
“If my back wasn’t experiencing sharp, shooting pain right now, I could appreciate how deliciously dirty that sounds.”
“We’re about fifteen minutes from the hospital,” I announce. “I’ll help her get checked in, then you can take over.”
“Perfect. I’ll see you both soon. Love you.”
“Love you too,” Evie and I say in unison, making me chuckle as I hang up. If you’d told me ten years ago that I’d be sharing Mickey Gallagher with my best friend, I’d have thought you were drunk. Still, I’ve accepted that there’s no precedent for what we’re doing.
We make it to the hospital in record time, and I’m grateful we preregistered or we’d be stuck filling out paperwork. They wheel her into triage for a quick exam, and Evie gasps, “Fuck! My tubal paperwork! It was only signed three weeks ago. Can we keep these babies inside me for another week?”
“I’m sorry, but since you’re water broke, the twins will be coming sooner rather than later,” the nurse explains.
“Andy, there has to be something you can do.”
