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“This wasn’t the plan, we were supposed to have another month.” The panic in my voice is clear.
He smooths a palm over my jaw and shakes his head. “We knew something like this might happen, right? After the accident, it was a possibility. We’ve been monitoring, you’ve been doing everything right. We got him to this point, you’ve been a freaking warrior, and now it’s time for the doctors to take us all the way home.”
After another bout of bedrest in the last month, a high blood pressure diagnosis, and worrying that I’d torn a part of the placenta during the incident on the farm, to say this pregnancy has been a roller coaster would be an understatement. There was always the chance that we’d deliver early, but I never thought it would be so sudden like this.
Liam and I got married four days prior to this regularly scheduled appointment. Neither of us wanted anything fussy, and following in Alana and Warren’s footsteps, we had gone down to the courthouse to be legally bound to one another. We wanted to be husband and wife when our son came into the world, to be a united family, so that we wouldn’t have to go through anything legal with his birth certificate. I have the paperwork to change my name, but I guess that will have to be done after I give birth.
Since that’s happening today.
The ring on my finger sparkles as I look down, still trying to digest the information, and I can’t help but zone out to the memory of him putting it on my hand.
We’d been standing in front of the local judge; well, Liam had stood and I’d been in the wheelchair due to bedrest restrictions. Liam got down on one knee again and pulled the ring from his pocket, a total surprise I didn’t know he’d been planning. It was a flower-shaped diamond composed of other tiny diamonds and was so unique and beautiful that I burst into tears.
I guess I was prone to do that these days, what with the surprise baby and wedding shower his female relatives threw me a month ago. They made me feel so special throughout this whole journey, and I can’t understate how incredible it feels to have a supportive, safe place to land for the first time in my life. The Ashtons are my home now, too, and I know I can count on any one of them in the future.
As for my own family, we haven’t had much contact. I called to let them know about my accident, which also led to the pregnancy reveal, and their reaction was much what I expected. I’d been scolded about traditional ways of doing things, expectations, etc. I’d politely told my mother I didn’t agree and haven’t heard from her since. Only my sister reached out to share they were sending a wedding card. When I received it, I felt nothing.
I no longer let someone who so clearly didn’t understand me rule my life. Deep in my heart, I know what I want and who I want it with, and that’s all that matters.
“The baby won’t be in danger?” I ask my doctor, nerves creeping up my throat.
We’re sitting in her office in the hospital, her second location that she requested I see her at ever since the injuries from the combine. Specifically, in case something like this arose and I needed to be rushed into emergency labor and delivery.
Or, in this case, surgery.
“I perform about ten C-sections a week, Gabrielle. You’re in very capable hands. I won’t say that nothing will go wrong; this is surgery and something can always go wrong. But this is why we’ve been monitoring, this is what gives us the best chance to have a healthy mom and baby. You just have to trust me.”
I do, but it doesn’t mean it isn’t still scary.
“You can do this. We can do this. It’s a different route than we thought we’d take, but we can handle this. We’ve handled so much together, this is just another hurdle.”
Liam’s expression, his voice, and his reassurance always do the trick. This man has always known how to wear me down, how to help me get over something, so, of course, this is no different.
He’s right, too, about this just being another bump in the road. From the time we met to distancing ourselves from each other when I thought it was the right thing to do, to coming back together, to learn the chemistry never went away. Nothing has been easy for us, and the past few months are an example of that. My injuries might have healed completely, but we’re still dealing with some things from the combine incident.
Dan Quillin’s charges and trial are still pending, but we’ve let the prosecutor know our stance and are hoping their office takes into consideration how we feel when his sentence is delivered.
As for the promise Liam made about his family farm, he has already upheld it. Even though he doesn’t want to be personally involved with running it, or any day-to-day operations because it just hits too close to home, he increased one of his farmhands’ salaries and made him the operational director, if you will, of the dairy farm. Working in tandem with the Quillin family members who took it over, they’re trying to make the portion of land they have left remain profitable.
If we can get through that, we can get through anything.
“Okay. Let’s do it.” I nod, sounding more confident than I feel.
My doctor explains the entire procedure, has me undress and step into a gown, and then we both have to sign documents and procedurals. Once that is all done, the team wheels me back to the operating room, and I have to say goodbye to Liam temporarily at the doors.
“I love you. I’ll be right out here in my funny hat and I’ll be in there in a couple minutes.” He’s not allowed in the room while I’m getting my spine numbed.
“I love you so much. Tell me it’s going to be okay?” My nerves are on high alert.
“We’re about to meet our son, everything is perfect.” He grins, bending over the rail of the bed to give me a kiss.
And then I’m in the operating room, all bright white lights and foreign language of the doctors and nurses communicating. I try to stay calm, following the directions they give me. A nurse asks if I’d like to put on some music, and she puts on some classics to lull me into a calmer state. The same woman lets me hang on to her as they open the back of my gown and insert the needle in between my vertebrae. After some pain, burning, and a few minutes, my entire lower half is numb.
Liam appears as they’re stringing a curtain up so that neither of us can see my exposed guts on the operating table.
“Hi, beautiful.” He cradles my head with one arm and latches on to my hand with his other.
“All right, Gabrielle, we’re going to start. You’ll feel a lot of pressure and it could take us some time to get him out depending on how he’s positioned. You just stay calm, tell us if you’re feeling any pain, and let that husband of yours distract you.”
