AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Someone better be dying,” he says in a husky tone, helping me up and then leaving the shower. I stay under the hot water while he goes to see what’s going on.
“Julianna’s in labor,” he yells through the door, and I instantly turn the shower off and jump out. “They’re leaving now, but Romeo said to come to the hospital.”
“Of course,” I say, quickly getting ready. I can’t believe the time has come—excitement fills me at the thought of meeting my new niece or nephew. We rush to the car and I pick up some flowers from the hospital gift shop on the way in.
When I knock at the door of her hospital room, Julianna tells both of us to come in, but River lingers at the door. “What are you doing?”
“I’ll wait here,” he says, gesturing for me to go in. “You’re her cousin, but I don’t think she’d want me in there.”
I hesitate but leave him outside and go in to check on her. “I’m glad you’re here. Where’s River?” Julianna asks when she sees me.
“He’s outside—he wasn’t sure if you wanted him in,” I say, placing the flowers next to her bed.
“Thank you.” She beams, looking at them. “They are beautiful.”
“You’re welcome.” I take her hand in mine. She’s wearing a blue hospital robe and has a monitor on her belly, to check the baby’s heart rate.
“Romeo, can you go and get him?” she asks her husband, who gets up instantly. She had told River and me she’d like us both in the room, if we’d be okay with that.
“How are you?” I ask her.
“Good now—they gave me an epidural,” she says, eyes going wide. “If you came here a little earlier you probably would have heard me screaming down the hallway. It hurt, Bella. So fucking bad. Like knives stabbing me in my lower stomach.”
“And the epidural stopped that?” I ask, intrigued. I make a mental note to definitely get one of those when it’s my time to have a baby.
“Yeah. I’m only five centimeters dilated, so it might be some time. Or it might come on quick; we will just have to wait and see.”
Romeo and River come back in and stand around her, like a unit. After a few hours of our company, she’s finally dilated enough to push.
“Okay, River, you stay by my head,” she says, making me laugh. I hold one hand, River holds the other and Romeo stays down near the crowning vagina side to witness the birth of his child firsthand.
The epidural must be wearing off, because Julianna starts to cry out in pain.
“You can do this,” I say. “Use each contraction, go with it, don’t fight against it.”
Yes, I did some reading prior to coming here, wanting to know what the hell I’m supposed to say and do that might be helpful other than just telling her to breathe. Her nails score my palm, but I don’t mind. It’s nothing compared with what she’s going through right now.
“I can see the head!” Romeo calls out, hand on her leg. “Oh my God, you are doing amazing.”
River looks a little traumatized but lets her hold his hand and squeeze the shit out of it with her nails, like she’s doing to me. He even feeds her ice chips when she asks, and rubs her arm in silent comfort.
And then we hear her heart-wrenching warrior cry, and then the wails of the baby. Romeo all but delivers the baby, catching it as it comes out, the midwife and doctor on each side of him helping. Aside from Romeo, we’d all assumed it would have been a girl—after all, the Callistos haven’t had a boy in their line for as long as we can remember. So when Romeo announces it, I’m in complete shock.
“It’s a boy,” he says, choking up with emotion. “A beautiful baby boy.”
“A boy?” Julianna repeats, sounding confused. She looks over at me and we both share our surprise.
A boy.
Romeo cuts the cord, and the doctor checks over the baby quickly before giving him to Julianna to hold. River and I leave to give them their private moment, and so Julianna can have some skin-on-skin contact with her newborn son.
We sit outside in the waiting room, wrapped in each other’s arms.
“When do you think you’ll want a baby?” River asks, tucking my hair back behind my ear. “You said that you wanted them, but never said when.”
“Did that scare you off having kids?” I tease. “Because I’m pretty sure it’s the woman doing all of the work.”
He grins and kisses my temple. “The women do the work, the men do the worrying.”
