Total pages in book: 30
Estimated words: 28845 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 144(@200wpm)___ 115(@250wpm)___ 96(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 28845 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 144(@200wpm)___ 115(@250wpm)___ 96(@300wpm)
“I can’t help it if you don’t have good taste.”
When I stood, I heard Lucas draw in a loud breath of air. Turning to look at him, I saw a wet spot on the sofa.
“Oh my gosh, did I pee on the sofa?”
Lucas flew up, stared down at the sofa, and screamed, “Holy shit!”
With a roll of my eyes, I said, “It’s not that big of a deal. I can use the small carpet cleaner or have Mom or Sarah clean it.”
“Oh my God!” Lucas said, turning to look at me. His eyes went to my stomach, and he pointed. “It’s…it’s…it’s…”
“Pee. Get used to it now,” I said as I turned on my heels and walked toward the kitchen and my snack stash. “I heard that sometimes when you change the baby, they pee right then and there. Your mom said one time you peed so far it hit the ceiling fan and went everywhere.”
“Hollie!” Lucas shouted, causing me to turn and look at him.
“What?”
“Your water broke!”
I looked down then back up. With a shake of my head, I said, “No.”
He nodded.
“No,” I repeated, whipping my head back and forth until it felt like it would snap off. “I cannot go into labor on Halloween!”
Lucas flew past me, nearly breaking his neck in the process. “The bag!”
“It’s already in the car. Remember? I’m being induced tomorrow. This is all just a strange peeing incident. Let’s go take a shower and…”
My voice trailed off as I saw Lucas come running back with his bag over his neck, a bag of Doritos in one hand, and his phone in the other.
“We need to call your mom!”
The doorbell rang then flew open as Sarah, my mother, and Lucy walked in.
“Elaine!” Lucas shouted. “Your daughter is about to have a baby!”
Talking control of my clearly psychotic husband, my mother took the bag off of his neck then pried the chips out of his hands.
“Sarah, go take this out to the car, will you sweetheart?” she said.
Doing as my mother asked, Sarah looked at me and raised a single brow. I shrugged.
“So your wife goes into labor and you thought she needed a bag of Doritos?” Sarah asked.
Lucas shot a look at my sister. “She loves them, okay!”
Holding up her hands, Sarah slowly backed out of the door.
“What are the three of you doing here?” I asked.
“We all sensed the baby was coming,” Lucy stated.
“Oh no.” I waved my hands across my front. “Not today. She’s going to be born tomorrow, or November secohhhhh!”
“What’s wrong?” Lucas asked, rushing to my side.
“I think I’m…having a…contraction—ohhhh…yep. Pain. Oh, that’s painful.”
Lucas went to pick me up then stopped. “I might trip. Can you walk, baby?”
I nodded. “Yes. But no, this isn’t how it’s supposed to be.”
My mother laughed. “Not even you can control that, sweetheart. Come on. Let’s get you to the hospital.”
Once at the hospital, Lucas passed out, Sarah declared to the entire room that she was never having sex again, Lucy fell asleep on the sofa in the room, and my mother kept wiping a wet rag over my forehead.
“The contractions are getting closer. Goodness, you’re moving along pretty quickly,” Dr. Lenard stated after she did an exam. “I think you’re ready to push.”
Mom kissed me on the forehead and whispered, “Lucas is awake now. I’ll let him take over.”
Nodding, I gritted my teeth. The doctor had said there was no time for an epidural, so every time I had a contraction, my mother and Lucas would grimace when I squeezed their hands.
Lucas appeared and smiled down at me.
“You fainted,” I panted out as the doctor said, “Give me a good push, Hollie.”
He reached for my hand and clasped it tightly. “You didn’t see what I saw. I’m not sure I’m ever going to be able to look at you down there again!”
The nurse next to Lucas cleared her throat and gave a quick little shake of her head as she whispered, “Other people in the room.”
Lucas blushed then looked down at my hand. “Babe, can you maybe not squeeze it so hard? That hurts.”
“Another push,” the doctor said as gripped my husband’s hand harder and leaned forward to push.
I wasn’t sure who was crying out louder, me or Lucas. Then the sounds of our baby’s cries filled the air, and I dropped back against the pillows, exhausted.
Lucas cut the cord, the nurses cleaned off the baby, and before I knew it, she was on my chest looking up at me with the biggest blue eyes I’d ever seen.
“Welcome to the world, Charlotte Elizbeth Payton.”
I felt tears streaming down my face as Lucas leaned over and kissed me on the temple. I turned my head to see that he was crying as well. He kissed me softly on the lips then looked down at our daughter.
“She’s the most beautiful little girl I’ve ever laid eyes on.”