AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“What?”
“Nothing,” I chirped, shifting our conversation to the ridiculous baby names Ray came up with. I didn’t want to accidentally blow Memphis’s cover. She’d have a fit if Umber found out about her real profession.
When it was time to cut the cake, I thought I’d pass out from the excitement and anticipation. We’d waited so long for this moment, initially having decided to remain in the dark about the gender until the little one’s arrival. It really didn’t matter to either of us if we had a boy or a girl. When the doctor asked if we wanted to know during the 3D ultrasound, I decided we’d get the information for a gender reveal. As usual, Ray wanted whatever I wanted.
Now, we stood together at the kitchen table, Ray behind me with his hands covering mine as I gripped the knife. Everyone surrounded us, smiles aglow. I unconsciously held my breath and squeezed my eyes shut as the blade sank into the confection. When I opened my eyes and looked down, tears sprang to them. I believe my reaction would’ve been the same either way but seeing that pink cake had me in shambles.
We lifted the piece of cake, garnering cheers from our guests. Setting the slice down, I turned to hug my husband, noticing the tears in his eyes.
Tears.
In Horacio Nation’s eyes.
Wow. Just…wow.
I was so fucking nervous.
Like, shaky hands nervous.
I’d traveled the world, been in life-or-death situations so many times I’d lost count. I was a got damn killer, had been since I was too young to even be thinking about doing shit like that, and there I stood in the labor room sweating, literally one fart away from shitting myself.
It wasn’t that I was scared of becoming a father. I was looking forward to having a little Lilith to love on. It was the possibilities. What if something bad happened and I lost my wife? What if we lost the baby? Any one of those scenarios was going to cause some huge problems for the rest of the world. They say depression is anger directed toward oneself. Well, I didn’t get depressed. My anger was always, always directed outwardly. I was going to fuck everybody up if I lost my family.
Real talk.
I watched the nurse as she checked Lilith. Checking her meant she had her damn hand up my wife’s pussy. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that shit. Yes, I’d watched the doctor do the same thing but this nurse was a stranger. This shit just didn’t seem right. Nevertheless, I kept my cool. Lilith had managed to keep her blood pressure down throughout the pregnancy after that first little elevation, I wouldn’t put her at stroke level by acting a fool now. We’d only arrive thirty minutes earlier after Lilith complained about being in pain for most of the morning.
“Oh!” the nurse said.
“What?!” I yelled. What the fuck was going on?!
“Yes, what?!” Lilith parroted me.
“Nothing bad, just urgent. You said you started feeling contractions this morning?” the nurse probed.
“Yes. I called Dr. Winters as soon as I started feeling them and followed her directions by coming here once they were at least one minute long and no more than five minutes apart for two hours,” Lilith panted.
I thought that shit was dumb as fuck. Why’d she have to suffer all damn morning before we could go to the hospital? I didn’t like seeing her in pain. As a matter of fact, I hated it! I was clenching my fists just thinking about her crying and moaning in our bed earlier. I felt so helpless in all this. There was nothing I could do to help Lilith.
“Well,” the nurse began, “you’re already at nine centimeters and one hundred percent effaced. That’s rare for a first birth. Looks like we’re going to have us a baby soon!”
“Really?!” Lilith’s voice was shrill and hopeful. Her eyes shimmered with tears as she smiled at me. “Ray,” she added, reaching for me.
As the nurse stood, I rushed to my wife’s side, grasping her hand while kissing her forehead and lips.
“You ready?” she asked.
“Yeah. You?” I replied, kissing her cheeks.
“I can’t wait to meet our little girl!”
“Me either,” I said, kissing her lips again.
“I’m so glad you’re here. I couldn’t do this without you.”
“I wouldn’t be anywhere else. Gotta make sure these folks don’t fuck nothing up.”
“Ray—”
