Page 130 of Rival
I shove Griffin out of the way and help assist Edith with taking her dress off, tossing it to Jaxon who shoves it into her bag, then get her dressed in the pink hospital gown.
Meeting her eye, I quirk up a brow. “Think they gave you pink because they know we’re havin’ a girl?”
Humming, she gives me a brittle smile. “Maybe. Or it could be because of the size? But I like pink.”
“I think you look beautiful in pink,” I tell her, holding it open for her to step in, then watch as she snaps the edges together. As soon as she’s finished, she stands straight and looks at all of us.
“What now?”
We’re all pretty clueless, but thankfully, Dr. Willet comes flouncing into the room. “Well, helloooo there, momma!” Her voice is happy in a sing-song type way, and I want to yell at her for being so damn giddy while my girl is in pain. “Looks like we’re going to have a baby!”
She quickly washes her hands, then shoos me out of the way so she can stand in front of her.
Edith bends over from another strong contraction and I look at Jaxon who mouths, “Four minutes,” to me. Dr. Willet places her hands on Edith’s shoulders and murmurs encouraging words, coaching her through breathing and widening her stance to ease the discomfort in her back.
After what feels like an hour, but was more realistically only a minute or so, everyone blows out a slow breath as this one passes.
“Wow, that was a good one. Why don’t you lie down on the bed and let me see where we’re at? I’d suspect you’re probably a few centimeters dilated. You told the front desk you water already broke, correct?”
Nodding quickly, Edith does her best to clamber up on the bed, then does her best to get comfortable on the bed. I move to her head and offer my hand while Dr. Willet moves to the foot.
Checking with Edith before proceeding, she asks, “We good with everyone being in here right now?” I like that she doesn’t ask any of us, leaving the choice to my girl. If Edith wants us gone, we’ll leave, but I’m relieved when she smiles.
“Yes. They can stay here. At this point, I don’t care about anything other than stopping this pain.”
“I’m sure we’ll be able to help you out. Okay, I want you to relax your knees. You can keep your feet there. You’ll feel me touch the inside of your thigh, then I’m going to check your cervix.”
I want to smack Griffin when he moves behind the doctor to watch, and when she turns to him with a look of confusion, he shrugs at her. “I’m curious. If Edith doesn’t mind, I want to see what you’re doin’.”
Waving him off, Edith tries to shift, gritting out, “He’s fine.”
Moving right along, Dr. Willet pushes up the gown slightly, then does something to feel around down there. I purse my lips and lean forward, interested, but stop when her eyes widen and she pulls her gloved hand out, quickly snapping them off. Leaving the end of the bed, she tosses them away and turns, smiling at Edith.
“Well, I will say your little girl seems to have a full head of hair!”
“What the fuck does that mean?” I grit out, ignoring the glare from Jaxon. “That sounds like—”
“Like baby girl is right there? Yup!” She’s grinning from ear to ear, then moves over to Edith’s side. “I’m so sorry. I know you wanted to have some pain management, which we can do to a degree. I’ll send in a nurse to set you up with an IV and we’ll get some painkillers going, but honey, she’s ready to come out.”
“Is that normal?” Edith is panicked, her hand gripping mine hard, so I rub my thumb over the back of hers in a calming gesture.
Giving her a pat on her leg, she reassures my girl. “It’s normal. We never know how it’ll go. Some women take days to have a baby, others hours. There’s no birth that goes exactly the same. But I’d say within thirty minutes or so, we’ll be ready to have you start pushing. So, let me sneak out of here and get everything going, then we’ll have a baby!”
Edith doesn’t get the opportunity to ask more questions because another contraction takes her breath away. She grips my hand hard and pulls it toward her, gritting her teeth as she moans through it. She’s doing her absolute best to imitate the breathing thing Dr. Willet just did with her during the last one.
I lean down and let her use me as she grunts through the pain, Jaxon helping her shift to her side, then rubs her back. He seems calm, but there’s a tightness around his mouth which tells me he’s hating this part every bit as much as I am.
Griffin is standing at the end of the bed, bouncing in place, ready to step in and help however she needs. Murmuring from the side of my mouth and not taking my eyes from Edith’s scrunched up face, I ask, “Why don’t you go see if you can get her a glass of water or ice or somethin’?”
“Got it. I’ll be right back.”
He hurries from the door, and I can’t stop myself from brushing a stray strand of her soft hair from her forehead. “You doin’ okay there, girl?”
“N-n-nooo,” she moans out, then opens her mouth on a gasp as the contraction intensifies. She reaches back and shifts Jaxon’s hand to a different spot, then sighs in relief as the contraction lets up while he works his fingers against the much needed area. Cracking her eyes open, she peers up at me. “It hurts really bad in my back.”
Her voice is broken and already sounds exhausted, but she’s doing well.
“You tell me where you want me, sweetheart,” Jaxon tells her, pressing a kiss to her shoulder. “Whatever you need.”
