Page 141 of Bound By Blood and Lies
She starts laughing.
But this isn’t fucking funny. I’m not meant to be angry at my son before he even arrives, right? How do other people cope with this? Because nobody, and I mean nobody, is allowed to hurt her and right now she’s bent over in pain whilst I stand here completely fucking useless.
Another contraction suddenly crashes through her hard enough that the laughter dies instantly. Fae’s breathing stutters as she squeezes my forearm with surprising strength before bowing her head against the mirror.
“Okay nope,” I shake my head aggressively whilst rubbing her back faster. “I’ve changed my mind. We’re getting the epidural.”
“We?” she chuckles through the pain.
“Yes, we,” I hiss as I stare at her wide-eyed in the mirror and she shakes her head.
“Okay,” I breathe in deeply. “Okay, let’s stay calm.”
The contraction must ease slightly because she finally manages to straighten back up. Her head tips against my shoulder as she looks up at me with so much love in her eyes that it almost knocks the air from my lungs. Her hair is messy from sleep, water still dripping slowly down her bare legs ontothe tiles beneath us and somehow, she still looks like the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen in my entire fucking life.
“Are you telling me that or you?” she mumbles weakly.
“I can’t answer that question with good conscience.”
“What? Why?”
“Because you know I don’t lie.”
Her laugh cuts off sharply as another contraction hits and every molecule of humour immediately evaporates from my body.
“Oh fuck, nope, we’re done laughing now.”
I stay wrapped around her whilst the contraction works its way through her body, rubbing slow circles against her back and whispering complete fucking nonsense into her hair because I genuinely don’t know what else to do. Eventually her breathing starts evening out again and some of the tension leaves her shoulders. The second she nods weakly to let me know it’s passed, I move.
“Okay,” I say quickly. “Right. Hospital. Baby. We’ve got this.”
She snorts tiredly whilst I immediately start ushering her back into the bedroom like we’re in some kind of emergency evacuation drill. I help her sit on the edge of the bed before crouching in front of her and pulling fluffy socks onto her feet with shaking hands. Then comes leggings, one of my hoodies because apparently none of her own clothes are “comfortable enough” anymore and finally her coat whilst I mutter to myself trying to remember if we actually packed everything we need.
“Roman,” she laughs softly as I nearly trip over the baby bag. “Breathe.”
“I am breathing.”
“I can physically hear you panicking.”
Another contraction suddenly stops her halfway through standing and I’m immediately back at her side. She folds into me with a broken groan whilst I hold her upright in the middleof the bedroom, one hand supporting her bump and the other rubbing firmly against her back as she breathes through the pain against my chest.
The second it passes, we finally make it downstairs. Slowly. Very fucking slowly. Every few steps she has to stop. By the time we reach the front door, I’m pretty sure I’ve aged at least twelve years. I help her into the passenger seat before rushing around to throw the baby bag into the back of the car. My hands are shaking so badly I nearly drop my phone whilst trying to unlock it.
Roman:
Fae’s in labour. We’re going to the hospital now.
The replies come through almost instantly.
Riggs:
OH MY FUCKING GOD
Riggs:
THE BABY IS ESCAPING
Victor:
