Page 132 of Family Bonds- Gabriela & Luca

“It hurts,” Taylor said. “Make it stop hurting.”

She looked at Hudson. “We can’t do anything until Dr. Mills-Young gets here,” Hudson said. He turned to her and nodded his head for her to leave the room.

“Tell me,” she said out in the hallway.

“I don’t think this is stopping. Her contractions are five minutes apart. Ava knows and she’s trying to get down here.” He grabbed her hand. “I’m not finding a heartbeat. We haven’t said anything yet. I want Ava here and taking over if she can for that.”

Gabriela closed her eyes, the tears filling fast. “Hudson. I need to call Luca. He’s adopting that baby.”

“What?” Hudson said. “Shit. I had no idea.”

“We’ve kept it quiet,” she said.

“You can’t call him without their permission, you know it.”

“I’ll get it. I’ll stay with her. Go do what you need to and we’ll pray that Ava gets here fast.”

The two of them walked back in. “Dr. Mills is going to stay with you and monitor things. She’ll get me if she needs to. I know it’s hard, but please, try to relax. Practice your breathing.”

“I am breathing,” Taylor yelled. “Fuckkkkk. Make it stop!”

The teen sobbed and kept her hand on her stomach. Gabriela went over to put her hand on top of Taylor’s. Her stomach was rock hard, her body telling her something wasn’t right.

“What’s going on?” Cora asked. “She’s in labor? It’s too soon. And the blood.”

“She is in labor, but if we can stop it, we will.” She looked at Cora and then Taylor. “You should be prepared that we might not be able to.”

“I don’t want to deliver. It hurts. I don’t want to do this,” Taylor cried. “None of it. Make it stop.”

She knew the teen was scared, but they were in it now and the best she could do was make her as comfortable as possible. Even if it was only mentally.

“I have to ask—can I call Luca and let him know?”

“How do you know about that?” Cora asked.

“Luca and I are in a relationship. I’ve known all along, but he was doing this on his own.”

“I don’t want him to be mad at me,” Taylor said.

“He won’t be,” she promised, her voice steady even as her chest muscles clenched. “He’s not going to be angry. None of this is your fault.”

The contractions seemed to gather steam. Taylor whimpered.

“I ate too much ice cream again,” Taylor cried. “I really like it but it hurts my stomach?—”

“That didn’t cause this,” Gabriela said firmly, rubbing slow circles as the tension eased. They might be more frequent, but they were only a minute long. If that. “You did nothing wrong. Try to relax between contractions. Save your strength.”

Cora swallowed hard. “You can call him, right, Taylor?”

Taylor nodded, tears streaming as she squeezed her eyes shut.

She stepped into the hallway, found a quiet corner, and pulled out her phone.

“Two calls in one night,” Luca said when he answered. His voice was warm. Relaxed. Completely unaware.

“I’m sorry,” she said softly. “It’s Taylor. She’s in the ER. She’s in labor.”

“I’m on my way,” he said immediately.