Page 36 of Home Is Where the Witch Is
“We love you too. Be there soon.”
As Declan hung up, Rosie glanced around to make sure her chariot hadn’t arrived yet. She dialed one last number.
“Hey, Rosie!” Ben greeted her. “Wassup?”
“Tammy and I are both at the hospital about to have babies.”
Rosie delivered the line straight up, no chaser. There was a pause on the other end of the line for Ben chuckled.
“Har-har.,” he sassed her. “Very funny! Don’t blame you for the wishful thinkin’, though, Tammy was only telling me yesterday how?—”
“Ben!” she cut him off. “Tammy and I are both at the hospital about to have babies.”
The pause this time was longer. Rosie could almost hear the cogs in Ben’s mind whirring as he took in the situation.
“… I’ll be there in thirty minutes.”
“But it’s a forty-five minute drive!” Rosie protested.
“I’ll be there in thirty minutes,” Ben promised.
Declan, Maggie and Gabe were on their way. Hopefully they could get hold of Myles and Matthew too. Cillian and Saoirse could get there by magical means, so Rosie wasn’t worried about them missing anything. And now Ben had confirmed he was on his way too. Relieved that they would hopefully have everything sorted, she nodded gratefully. “Drivesafely,”she said to her dear friend.
“I will. Just relax and breathe.”
“Yep,” Rosie said sarcastically as the orderly arrived and proceeded to help her into her wheelchair. “Feelin’ super relaxed right now. See you in a bit!”
CHAPTER TEN
The reliefon Tammy’s face when Rosie was brought into the maternity ward was quickly replaced with shock when she realized that her friend was also in a wheelchair.
“Are you okay?” the Southern mother hen asked, sitting up on her bed as her nurse attached various monitors to her. “What happened?”
“Seems like my kid decided they didn’t wanna be outdone by your kid,” Rosie smiled, trying to keep her nerves at bay. Maggie’s birth had been long, arduous, and had very nearly resulted in an emergency C-section. She really hoped that everything went much smoother this time around.
“You’re in labor?”
“Yep,” Rosie grinned, deciding to be chipper while the going was good. The orderly parked her at the bed next to Tammy’s. “Thanks.”
The room was long and narrow, with a row of hospital beds along both of the longer walls. There was only one other woman in there, but the paper curtains around her cubicle had been pulled around the bed for privacy. Tammy’d been put in one of the beds nearest to the window.
“At least y’all have good company,” the nurse with Tammy joked as the orderly helped Rosie into the bed beside Tammy’s.
“The best,” Tammy agreed, with a grateful smile at her best that was wholeheartedly returned.
“So from here, you’ll wait for a few hours while we monitor your contractions and do other observations. Once you’re dilated enough and your contractions are coming a bit faster, you’ll be moved to a delivery room. Any questions?”
Rosie’s tummy gave a flip flop. “Can we eat?” she asked sheepishly.
The nursed smiled understandingly. “At this stage, yes. I’ll have someone bring you both something to tide you over.”
“We’d sure appreciate it. Thanks!”
She wasn’t one of those people who would complain about the quality of hospital food. Rosie was just grateful the money Carol-Ann’d left her allowed for decent health insurance, meaning she didn’t have to worry about how much all of this was going to cost. Tammy, on the other hand, would probably be mildly scandalized by whatever was on the tray they received. Rosie wouldn’t have been at all surprised if she sent Myles home for some of her signature brownies that she’d baked and frozen for just such an occasion.
And Rosie wouldn’t say no to those, either.
“Did you manage to get a hold of Myles?” Tammy asked, trying to downplay how obviously anxious she was. Rosie wished their beds were close enough that she could reach out and hold her friend’s hand. She was still scared about the birth experience, but it was an experience shehad. All the birth stories and documentaries and internet research in the world could never prepare a woman for the real thing in Rosie’s opinion.
