Текст книги "Always Enough"
Автор книги: Stacy Borel
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Текущая страница: 1 (всего у книги 10 страниц)
Copyright © 2013 by Stacy Borel
Cover Design by Sarah Hansen, Okay Creations
Editing by Ryn Hughes, Delphi Rose & Trish Kuper
Interior design by Angela McLaurin, Fictional Formats
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owner.
All rights reserved.
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Epilogue
Acknowledgements
About the Author
This book goes to any kid that has had to deal with an absent parent. We unfortunately are group of many, but I can only hope you all have persevered and have come out on top despite life’s circumstances.
My eyes open to the sound of yelling in the next room. Hiding my head under my covers, I put my hands over my ears trying to block it out. I sing ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star’ and ‘I’m A Little Teapot’ over and over. Mommy and Daddy are fighting again and I hate it. They’ve been fighting a lot more than they usually do and it’s been a lot louder too. Daddy has been gone a lot and I sometimes find Mommy sitting on the floor in their room crying while listening to Journey and Heart records.
I jump when I hear something hard hit the wall that connects my bedroom with theirs. Frozen in fear, I lie there motionless, listening. Another loud thump follows, and my Mommy yells at Daddy and tells him to get out. I’m shaking as I slowly crawl out of my bed and tiptoe to the door and listen with my ear against the cold wood. Daddy must have been gone again tonight and come home later than Mommy thought he would.
“Get out, Stan! Don’t you ever set foot in my house again! Your cheating ass is never going to see me or your daughter again. Do you understand me?” My mother shrieked.
I pull my bedroom door open a slit so I can peek out into the living room where their fight had moved. My mom pushes my dad out of the front door. Her arms are full of his clothes and she tosses them out after him. With my heart hammering in my chest, I open my door the whole way and walk to my mom’s side. Unable to comprehend the significance of what was happening, I call out to my dad who is on his hands and knees in the front yard begging my mom not to do this to him.
“Daddy, where are you going? Don’t leave me and Mommy,” I cry after him.
“Harper, baby, go back to your room,” my mom instructs, grabbing my shoulder and trying to maneuver me behind her.
My dad crawls towards my mom, his eyes bloodshot. He glances at me and then back to my mother. “You can’t keep her away from me. She’s my kid too, Rena.”
“The hell I can’t. Look at you, you’re high on lord knows what, and you smell like you’ve been with another one of your drug whores. You can’t even take care of yourself, let alone your kid. Get the hell off my lawn, Stan, before I call the cops.” My mom’s voice shakes through her tears.
“Please, Rena, just give me another chance?” My dad begs, crawling closer to where my mom stands in the doorway.
I stand there behind my Mom’s leg, watching my parents’ marriage fall apart. I cry and call out over and over again, “I’ll be a good girl, Daddy. Please don’t leave me, Daddy!” My mom pulls me even further into the living room and shuts the door on my dad.
“Mommy, nooo …!”
Sitting up abruptly and gasping for air, I looked around the dark space trying to remember where I was. Flicking on the bedside light, I instinctually knew I was in my room, but my head was still foggy from the nightmare. My heart fluttered in my chest, and sweat made my hair stick to my forehead. Glancing down I saw that the skin above my heaving chest was glistening. Flinging the covers off of myself I got up and made my way to the bathroom attached to the master bedroom. The cool water I splashed on my face helped to shake the dream. Peeking up at the mirror I could see my alarm clock in the reflection—only twenty minutes until I had to be up for work anyway.
“It was just a dream, Harper,” I said out loud, looking myself over. Except I knew better than to believe it was just a bad dream. It was a memory that had haunted me for the past twenty-seven years. The radio on my alarm clock started blaring in my room, and I realized I’d zoned out. Not wanting to dwell on the dream any longer, I went back in my room and shut off the alarm.
After getting showered and dressed I went into the kitchen and made myself a cup of coffee. Unplugging my iPhone from its charger, I sat down and went through my messages. Work never ended for me. I was the busiest real estate agent in Southeast Idaho. At any given point I had forty to fifty clients to give my full attention to. Between drawing up contracts, showing homes, and working with builders, I barely had time to breathe. I’d built my life this way for a reason. Working hard—and playing even harder—was something I lived by. I had a beautiful home that I worked my ass off for, a closet full of shoes, and a bank account that I could live off for the next five years if I didn’t lift another finger.
I was the sole owner of my own company. I’d started Harper Realty six years ago. I had over thirty people working under me, and I knew I needed to hire at least another two realtors to keep up with demand. My day started at five-thirty every single morning and didn’t end until almost midnight. Most people couldn’t survive on my schedule, but I’d conditioned myself to work every waking minute. If I stopped, I had too much time to think, and thinking could be bad. Thinking meant I remembered that I came home to an empty house. It meant that I had time to think about being alone. And just because I didn’t like to be alone, didn’t mean I wasn’t used to having it that way.. Why fix what wasn’t broken?
My cell went off just as I was about to take a sip of my coffee. “Jesus! It’s not even seven and they’re already calling,” I grumbled to myself.
“Harper Graham,” I said in greeting.
“Hi, Ms. Graham.” It was Suzy, my receptionist. “I was calling to remind you of your early showing this morning at eight-thirty. You having a meeting to close on the Oak Street house at nine-fifteen, and then you have another showing at ten-thirty.”
“Suzy, are you calling me from your house?”
“Yes, ma’am.” She sounded hesitant.
“You could wait until you’re in the office to call me, you know? I don’t want you overworking yourself.”
“I know, Ms. Graham, but I don’t mind. You have a very busy schedule, and I enjoy helping you keep on task.” I heard a child in the background.
“Suzy, please call me Harper. And I didn’t know you had kids. How many do you have?” I felt like an ass because she’d been working for me for five months and I didn’t know anything about her.
“I have just one child.”
“You should bring him by the office sometime so I can say hello. I keep a stash of suckers in my drawer for kids.”
I could almost hear her smile through the phone and what sounded like a sigh of relief. Was I that intimidating? “I definitely will. Thank you, Ms. Graham.”
“It’s Harper, Suzy. And you can relax, I don’t bite. I’ll see you in the office in a little bit. Thanks for the reminders.”
“You’re welcome, Harper.”
With that we hung up, and I spent another ten minutes sipping my coffee and scrolling through some unread emails. I paused when I saw an email from Kyler. I’d been getting emails and texts from him almost daily for the past three months. I stopped reading them shortly after he started sending them. He used to call too, but stopped when he realized I wouldn’t answer. Not that I was answering his texts or emails either. Ky and I had gotten together for a brief time while Emilyn and Finley were working their shit out. Prior to that we had hooked up every once in a while but kept it quiet, since we were unsure what we were even doing with each other. It hadn’t taken long to realize that Ky wanted more from me. I didn’t do relationships, but for him I had been willing to give it a shot. He’d told me the evening when we left the hospital after Em had lost her baby that he wanted to “define what we were doing.”
Things had been going really well, but then he was asked to go on tour with the band Down Glory Road. Ky told me that nothing had to change, and we could Skype, text, call, email. He was even willing to fly me out to whatever town he would be performing in. As much as I had really considered it, I knew it just wouldn’t work. I led a very busy life, and I wasn’t about to play second fiddle to a band on tour, wondering if my man was shacking up with some groupie whore at the end of each night. I’d told Kyler that we weren’t working and he needed to head out on the road, as a single man. I’ll never forget that night for as long as I live. He was pissed at first. He had thrown his hands up in the air and yelled and cursed a blue streak. He begged me not to do this to him, to us, but he must have seen the resolve in my eyes. I had no intentions of budging. He stared and said that we weren’t over, and that was the last thing he said before he walked away. I’ve heard from him every day since. The first few emails that I did read were all about what he had been doing, where they were performing, how exhilarating it had been standing in front of those huge crowds.
He also included how much he missed me.
I was glad that he seemed to be having a good time, but I didn’t want to know that he missed me. I’d made up my mind that he must be with a new girl every night. Why wouldn’t he? I was a red-blooded female, and I could see how hot he was. There was only so long that a man could say no. I started deleting the emails after that, not even bothering to open and read them. With my finger hovering over the delete button, I tapped it and got up from the table. I had work to do. I headed out the door and made my way across town to get the house ready to show.
I got to the Meadow Estates subdivision and pulled up to the house that I was working to sell. I was more than happy selling homes in this area of town because they showed well. Finn had bought a home in this area a few months back. The neighbors kept their yards manicured, and the curb appeal was a dream for both the buyer, and the realtor selling it. When a house in this area went on the market it usually took less than a month a sell. I was certain the couple that I was meeting would be putting in an offer. They were eager to purchase since their lease was going to be up in just over a month.
Pulling up the driveway, I got out and walked up the stone path to the front door. The home was vacant and there was a lock box on the front door. While I was putting in the combination, my cell phone started ringing. I swear to god if it was the couple calling to tell me they need to reschedule, fuck the commission, I was going to dump them on Bruce—my newest employee who was struggling to make sales. Pulling out my phone, I saw the name “Michael” on the screen.
Michael Brandt was a good friend. We’d hooked up on occasion, and he’d helped me get Harper Realty off the ground. He was a good-looking guy, not as hot as Ky, but I was certainly attracted to him. I hated to call him a “fuck buddy”, but it was inevitable that when we got together our clothes would come off.
“Well good morning, stranger,” I said in a flirtatious voice.
“Hey beautiful, what are you doing?”
I was walking through the empty house, turning on lights and making sure that it was lit up. A dark house didn’t sell as well as one with natural light, or one that was brightly lit.
“I’m about to show a house, how about yourself?”
I could hear his smile through the phone. “Well, I was sitting here thinking about you and wondering if you would let me take you out tonight?”
Not even needing to think about it, I said yes. “What time will you be by?”
“I can come pick you up at seven and we can go try that new place Mexican restaurant in Twin Falls. Sound good?” He sounded so confident it was sexy.
“I’ll be ready by seven,” I told him.
“Great. See you later, beautiful.”
Michael had that way about him—he didn’t just say I was beautiful; he made me feel like I was beautiful. He commanded your attention, be he also gave his own back, one hundred percent.
Despite the house being vacant, there were two bar stools still at the kitchen counter. I sat down and waited for my couple to show. When they finally did, they loved the house and decided that they wanted to make an offer—just as I knew they would. I told them I’d call the listing agent and make the offer, and be in touch. After shutting off all the lights in the house, I got in my car and made my way back to the office.
The day continued right on track as far as my appointments went, and I even managed to stay on time—a rarity for me. It was six forty-five when I looked up at the clock. “Fuck, I’m going to be late,” I said to myself, shutting down my computer and walking through the now empty office. I was always the last one to leave. I didn’t want anybody else to be responsible for locking my businesses doors besides me. Making a quick call to Michael on my way home, I let him know I was running about thirty minutes late but he was more than welcome to come and hang out while I got ready. I shook my head. Of course I managed to be on time all day, but when it came to doing something for myself I was late.
Go figure.
The food at the restaurant was delicious and I would for sure be going back. Michael looked just as appetizing as the ‘melt in your mouth’ fried ice cream I ate for dessert. And that was pretty good if you asked me because fried ice cream was my very favorite treat. We’d just pulled up to my place when Michael got out of the car and walked me up the steps to my front door. He leaned in to kiss me, lightly touching his lips to mine.
“Mmm … you’re coming in.” It was a statement, not a question.
He smiled against my lips. “So bossy. What if I say no?”
“Not a chance in hell, Brandt. You smell good, look good, and I need to get laid.” I grabbed him by the tie and dragged him into my house, kicking the door shut with my heel.
Walking me backwards, he pushed my back against the wall of my entryway. I looked up at him, and marveled at his gorgeous face—he looked like he wanted to devour me. Michael was six foot one, with strong cheekbones and bright blue eyes. His hair was a little grown out, but still shorter than Kyler’s, and a lighter brown. He was wearing a gray, button-down dress shirt, and black slacks. He always dressed nicely because of his job. He helped companies get off the ground and a good presence was necessary. I loved a man in a suit—the total opposite of how Ky dressed everyday, and what he performed in on stage. God, I needed to shake the thoughts of Ky from my head.
Running one of his hands down my hip, he reached to grip my thigh to wrap around him. I moaned as he ground his pelvis into me. I could feel his erection pushing just above where I needed him to be. His other hand held the back of my neck, tilting my head so he could deepen the kiss. As dominant as I could be during my everyday life, I loved a man who took charge in the bedroom—or against a wall as it happened to be right then.
My hands wove into his hair and gripped the short spikes as I moaned into his mouth. He took that as his cue to lift my body up, forcing my other leg up to around his hips. My breath came in short pants as I started to unbutton his shirt, running my hands up and down his chest. His mouth nipped and sucked a trail from my mouth to my chin, and over to my earlobe.
I scratched my nails down his front and he hissed. “Fuck, Harper,” he growled, sliding my dress up so he could hold my bare ass. Who needed underwear anyway?
I heard a sound in the distance, but I was so preoccupied I didn’t care what it was, or where it was coming from. Continuing to kiss Michael, I had just bitten down on his lip, when he pulled away, frustrated by the interruption. “Your cell phone keeps ringing. Maybe you should answer it?”
I whined as I slid my legs back down until my feet touched the floor. Reaching over toward the entry table, I grabbed my phone. Christ, I was wet. I was going to murder whoever it was. Seeing I had three missed calls from Em and a text from Finn, my head cleared.
Finn: Em’s in labor. She needs you. Call me!
“Oh shit,” I whispered as I looked through my contacts and found Finn’s number.
Michael came up behind me to ask what was going on.
“Em’s in labor. I have to go.”
He’d seemed disgruntled when we were first interrupted but hearing my news, he started smiling. “Well hot damn! That’s great news. I’ll drive you to the airport.” Michael adored Finn and Em.
I called Finn to find out how Em was doing, letting him know I was catching the first flight out and I’d be there in a few hours. My best friend was having a baby and I needed to be there for her. I was going to be an Aunt … wow. Michael drove me all the way to Boise and told me to give the new parents a “Congratulations” hugs from him. A short hour later, I was on a flight to Los Angeles. I was still reeling from my ‘almost sexathon’ evening that it was cut short, but becoming an aunt was worth the buzz kill.
Arriving at the airport four hours after receiving Finn’s text, I called him to let him know that I was there and would take a cab to the hospital. He sounded tense and nervous. Who wouldn’t be? He was about to become a father.
Pulling up to the main entrance of UCLA Medical Center, I looked around for a directory to tell me where I needed to go. Unfortunately, it was after hours and the front desk wasn’t manned. Over by the elevators on my left, I saw a map of the different floors. Scanning for Labor and Delivery, I located it on the third floor, in the west wing. Hitting the elevator button, I made my way up. When I arrived on the third floor, there were two large double doors that had a button to electronically open it. Walking inside I found a circular desk that housed at least twenty computers and monitors that I assumed were the monitors of all the women in labor. From the looks of things, most of the rooms were occupied. Nurses were walking all around, pushing carts, carrying IV bags, and some were chatting amongst themselves behind the desk. Approaching it, one of them stopped and looked up at me.
“Hi, I’m looking for Emilyn Morgan’s room.”
She pushed a few buttons on a screen in front of her then said, “She’s just down the hall in room three twenty-five.”
“Thank you,” I said and walked in direction she had pointed.
I found Em’s room all the way down the end of the hall. Knocking, I heard Finn’s voice on the other side saying, “Come in.”
As soon as I set foot in the room, Em saw me and burst out crying.
“Oh, honey, don’t cry.” I rushed to her side. Finn was standing on her other side by the window, holding her hand.
“I’ve missed you so much, Harper. I’m so glad you’re here.” She wiped away her tears.
“Where else would I be? You’re about to make me an aunt.”
She smiled at me and I smiled back. I glanced around the room and saw that Em was hooked up to an IV and a machine was feeding the line. In one corner was a wooden rocking chair and an exercise ball. What on earth do you need an exercise ball for? Em must have seen the look on my face.
“That’s for me to sit on. It’s just another tool I can use to help me move around and maybe help the baby move down.”
Nodding in acknowledgement, I continued to look around. In the opposite corner of the rocking chair was a large incubator looking thing. I assumed that was what they put the baby in when it was first born so they could weigh and measure it. There was a rolling cart next to it that had a sheet over it. I had no idea what that was for or what was under it, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to. There was a door leading to a bathroom, but the rest of the room was wide-open space.
“Oh god, here comes another one,” Em said as she began squeezing my hand.
I looked down at her, watching as her eyes squeezed shut and she breathed in and out.
“That monitor right there is what shows her contractions. When it spikes like that, it shows how strong it is. At least, that’s what they tell me,” Finn said. I had almost forgotten he was in the room. He was very quiet, and Em had held my attention from the moment I set foot in the room.
When Em’s contraction seemed to dissipate, I got up from the bed and walked around to the other side to hug Finn.
“Hey there, handsome. You hanging in there?”
His smile was meant for me, but he wouldn’t take his eyes off of Em. “I’m doing fine. I just wish I could take the pain away for her.”
Finn was so sweet. I adored him even more for for how much he loved my best friend. I wasn’t happy with him ten years ago when he’d dumped Em on graduation night. I was one of the unfortunate few that had witnessed how miserable she’d been without him. Almost two years ago, he grew his balls back and let her know how he felt, and told her he wasn’t leaving her ever again. As much as I’d wanted to keep his man sack in a mason jar in my closet, I knew she loved him and he was good for her. Em was a sensitive girl, and I only wanted to protect her.
The machine next to Finn started beeping and he leaned over the top of her, brushing her hair out of her face.
“You okay, baby?”
Another contraction must have hit her because she gritted her teeth and said, “Do I look like I’m okay, Finley Morgan?”
Finn stepped back, and I had to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing. Em breathed heavily, before releasing a long deep sigh.
“Holy shit, that one was bad.”
The beeping was still going off in the room when a short nurse that looked smaller than Em walked in. She went over the machine that monitors the contractions, pushed a few buttons, then asked Em to roll over onto her left side. She placed an oxygen mask on Em’s face as well.
“Why does she need that?” Finn asked, concerned.
“There are a few decelerations in the baby’s heart rate when she’s having a contraction, so we are giving her some oxygen to give baby and mommy a boost.”
“Should we be concerned?” Finn asked.
Em looked at the nurse with anxious eyes.
“No. It happens sometimes, and it’s pretty standard procedure. We’ll just move you in different positions that suit the baby. It’s okay, momma, you can relax.” She smiled before she walked back out of the room.
Another contraction hit Em, and this one was apparently brutally painful. Tears streamed down her face, and she squeezed the bed sheets. When she came down from the pain, she looked over at Finn with red teary eyes and said, “Finn, I need that epidural. Call the nurse back here, now.”
Finn shook his head and said, “Em, you told me you’d do this. Remember, you said you wanted an unmedicated birth and to talk you out of any medical intervention if you asked for it?”
She reached over and grabbed him by the shirt, yanking him down to her level on the bed. “I don’t give a flying fuck what I said, you get me those drugs … NOW!”
She started panting through another contraction. Finn looked at me with mild humor and a little bit of apprehension.
“You heard the woman. Get her the drugs,” I laughed.
An hour later, Em was sitting up in her bed eating ice chips. She’d had to wait for the anesthesiologist to get out of surgery before he could administer her epidural, but now that she’d had it, she acted as though she hadn’t just spent the last few hours crying and yelling in pain. In fact, she was downright hilarious. The doctor had come in to check her progress not too long ago and she was almost ‘complete’ … whatever that meant.
As Em shoveled another spoonful of ice in her mouth, she looked over at the clock and said, “Uhhh, its two-thirty, why isn’t Dr. Phil on?”
Chuckling, Finn said, “Well, Dr. Phil wasn’t exactly your priority a few minutes ago. But if it’s Dr. Phil you want, then it’s Dr. Phil you’ll get.”
While he was flipping through the channels there was a knock on the door. Finn glanced over at me and gave me a weird look before telling whomever it was on the other side to come in.
Before I’d even turned around I felt him. His presence invaded my senses, and my whole body stiffened. I heard the door open and that familiar voice hit me in the gut. “So am I an uncle yet, or what?”
I turned and faced him. His eyes locked on mine and I was frozen.
“Hey, Ky,” Em and Finn both said.
He still didn’t remove his eyes from mine, and I began to feel like an idiot staring at him. Finn cleared his throat, which sounded quite loud over the television. Ky tore his eyes from mine and walked over to the bed. After giving Em a kiss on the cheek he hugged Finn, slapping him on the back.
“Hey back, Shorty.” He spoke to Em. “Aren’t you supposed to be in labor or something? Every movie I’ve ever seen the women are all sweaty, and act like they are dying and want to kill their husbands.” The three of them laughed.
I would have rolled my eyes at him but I felt leery about Ky being there. How come I hadn’t known he was coming? That must have been the reason why Finn had looked at me the way he did. Seeming relaxed and as though the situation wasn’t awkward for me at all, Em smiled and Finn smiled back at her.
“Oh, I wouldn’t say that she hasn’t, just that she can’t really move because of the pain when she wants to do it,” Finn responded. “You just missed all the action.”
A brief moment of silence came over the room before Kyler looked me straight in the eyes. “Hey Harper, long time no talk.”
Straightening my shoulders I responded with a simple, “Hello, Kyler.”
What I really wanted to say to him was that I didn’t know how I was feeling. I hadn’t realized how strange it would feel being in the same room with him until I saw him and breathed in his scent. I wanted to know where those feelings were coming from. It had been my choice to step away from him. It was for the best, wasn’t it?
He gave me a brief nod and turned toward Finn. The two of them moved over to the other end of the room to talk. What in the hell did that nod mean? I stepped to the side of the Em’s bed, ready to have words with her for not telling me Kyler was coming. In labor or not, that woman had some explaining to do. How could she not tell me he was going to be there? She must have seen my agitation on my face as I approached because she held up her hand to halt my argument.
When I got close enough she said, “Before you say anything, I didn’t know he was going to be here.” I looked at her like she was full of it. “Well, I didn’t know until we were already here, and I was in too much pain to even remember Finn telling me he’d called him. My attention was elsewhere.” She rested her hands on her belly. I silently berated myself for making this about me.
“I guess I can’t fault you for that, since you’re playing the ‘I was in labor card’,” I sighed.
She giggled and her round stomach bounced with her laughter. “I knew you’d give me a pass. But seriously, why is it such a big deal that he’s here? I thought you two ended things mutually?”
I hadn’t exactly told Em the entire truth about how I ended things with him. I’d told her that we’d both decided we couldn’t find time for quick visits while he was out touring so we should put the relationship on hold. If she knew I had been the one to walk away, and that I hadn’t been responding to his emails and texts, she would go off the handle. She knew my past relationship pattern, including my habitual need to end things before I allowed it to get serious or even get a chance to see where it could go. Honestly though, it was my life, and if I wanted to walk away from a relationship—no matter the reason—that was my business. I reasoned that I just felt guilty about it this time because she loved Kyler. She still had hope that we’d work out and he would be the one to break my serial dating streak. Sorry, Charlie, I’ll settle down when I’m ready to.
Not wanting to lie to her, but not wanting to get into it either, I told her, “I was just surprised to see him, is all. Isn’t he supposed to be in New York City or something with the band?”
“Yeah, but they let him come here for the next two days. He wanted to come support us, and I’m happy he did. Finn needs a friend to share this with.”
She was right. Even though I may not have wanted him there, Kyler was Finn’s best friend, and Finn deserved to have another guy here to talk to. Peeking at Ky out of the corner of my eye, I saw him looking over at me before turning back to Finn. Asshole. Why did he have to look so good?
Several more hours passed and Em lay in comfortable silence, having dozed off shortly after our chat. At around seven in the evening, she woke up from nap number two feeling contractions again. Finn called the nurse in. After checking her, she told him that it was baby time.
“Now?” His face was pale.
The nurse smiled at him. “Yes, Daddy, right now. She’s ready to start pushing.”
“That’s my cue. I’m out!” Ky got up from the rocking chair he had planted himself in an hour previously and moved towards the door. “Push hard, Em.”
She yelled for Ky to “shut up” before he closed the door, grinning. As much as I’d hoped he would leave so I wouldn’t have to see him again, I’m sure he’d just go to the waiting room.
After a particularly painful contraction, Em blew out a long shaky breath. “Why am I feeling them again?” she asked the nurse.
