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Ironic that I blame the artist for all the time I lost with Mom.
Suddenly, Kira screams, and the thoughts in my head scatter.
A nurse nudges me out of the way to check Kira’s pulse. Then she moseys—calm as you please—down between her legs. “Well, well, looks like it’s time to take you down to the delivery room.”
“No!” Kira grabs for my hand like she’s expecting me to hold her here in this room. Maybe a cork isn’t such a bad idea, after all. “I’m not ready. My husband isn’t here yet.”
The look on the nurse’s face tells me she doesn’t get paid enough for this. So I kneel down next to Kira.
“Hon, it’s time to have this baby. Dominik will still get here in time, but we’ve got to get this show on the road.”
I think the baby is on my team, because she grinds her teeth together through another contraction. As it ebbs, she’s panting.
“Stay with me,” begs Kira.
“I’m not going anywhere.”
We’re moved in a hurry, an armada of fast-walking nurses and wheelchairs as we make our way to the delivery room. The nurses are a buzz of activity doing this and that, and Kira is muttering to herself as she is helped into the bed. “I can’t believe this. All that planning… all that preparation… And he’s not here…”
The doctor sweeps into the room, sleeves rolled up, game face on. “Alright, Kira, I’m told your son is ready to make his grandentrance.” His gaze passes casually over me, but he’s tactful enough not to mention Dominik’s notable absence.
Kira cranes to see the doctor over her giant belly. “Is the baby really coming right now, Doctor?”
The doctor plops down onto a stool between her raised legs.
“In my professional opinion?” He takes a peek. His eyes widen before he looks back up at her. “Definitely. Yes.”
God, help us all.
Kira looks like she’s about to heave, and I smooth her hair back. “You can do this. In a few minutes, the only thing that will matter is your baby boy will be here, safe and sound.”
That actually gets a smile out of her.
The doctor claps his latex-clad hands together. “Alright, Kira. Give me a big push on three. One, two?—”
“I’m here!” The doors fly open, and Dominik rushes into the room. He’s pale and sweaty, his arms flailing in the air like he’s trying to land a plane. He takes one look at Kira and relief floods across his face. “I didn’t miss it?”
I grab him by the collar and haul him over to the bed. “By the skin of your fucking teeth, friend. Now, go hold your wife’s hand.”
But even as Dominik hurries around to the other side of the bed, Kira doesn’t let go of me. “Laila, can you stay, too? Please?”
“But Dom’s here. You don’t need me anymore.”
“You’re the reason I’m not still in denial, giving birth on the kitchen countertop right now,” she insists. “Please, stay.”
Dominik kisses her sweat-slicked forehead and nods. “You should be here for this, Laila.”
He’s looking down at Kira like she’s the center of his whole world. Like there’s no place in the world he’d rather be.
I blink back tears and slap on a smile.
If anyone asks, they’re happy tears.
26
ARSEN
As soon as Dominik opens the door, I shove my present into his arms and push into the house.
