Page 148 of Moonlighter
“Mine does.”
“Fine,” he says quietly. “But if you think you might be in labor, raise your hand, okay? The snow might be an issue.”
“I’mnotin labor!” I can’t be. “It’s too early.”
He gives me a sideways glance. “Okay. You’re the expert.”
I try to keep reading, but it’s no good. I can’t follow the story because now I’m panicking a little. “The, uh, backaches come and go.”
Eric closes the childbirth book. “How often do they do that?”
“I’m not sure. It aches right now.”
“Bingley!” Eric says. “Time this. Starting now.”
“Yessir.”
He rolls toward me. “Come here.” When I adjust my giant body, he reaches around and starts rubbing my lower back.
“Ohhhhhh…yes. Yes yes yes. Keep doing that. Please.” It feels so good, I want to weep. After a couple minutes I exhale, and the pain leaves.
“Better?”
“Yeah.” We lie together in silence for a while. Until I say, “Uh oh.”
“It hurts again?”
“Yep. Bingley, how much time has passed?”
“Nine minutes, my queen.”
“Okay,” Eric says softly. “Nine minutes is no big deal. The book says you could have contractions for twenty-four hours before it’s even time to go to the hospital.”
“Right.” I blow out a breath. “I’m nervous. I’m not ready.”
“I’ll bet nobody is ever really ready,” he says kindly. “But you’ll be fine.”
“You don’t scare easily.”
“No.” He shakes his head. “I don’t. Not much scares me. Not even amucus plug.”
I giggle. “Most men would be running for the door right now.”
“Not me.” He kisses me on the nose. “I told you. I’m here for this.”
“Okay.” I take a deep breath and try to calm my nerves. “Would it be a bad time to tell you that my mother had me on the back seat of the car? She didn’t make it to the hospital.”
He stops smiling. “Why not?”
“I showed up really fast.”
“Is that…” He clears his throat. “A hereditary thing, you think?”
“Probably not, right?” We blink at each other for a long moment. “What time did you say it was going to stop snowing?”
“Midnight.”
“And what time is it now?”
