Page 79 of Mommy

“Yes?” She sounds out of breath, and the confusion is thick in her tone. I’m not usually calling her, I think, this is the first time, but hearing her voice on the other end? I think I’ll be turning into an obsessive multiple phone-calls a day kinda man just for that breathy answer.

“Honey, you gotta come home right now.” I wish I had time to appreciate her little gasp at the nickname, but I can hear a deep breath behind me that tells me that I’ll have to make this quick. Before waiting for an answer from Ivory, I keep on going. “Posie has gone into… labor, or whatever you call that for dogs, and I’m not sure everything is fine.”

Silence on her end. What feels like a full minute of silence. And then, shuffling and a loud crack in the line.

“I’ll be there.”

And then, the line is dead.

I don’t have time to put my phone up on the counter and instead, I drop it to the floor and get back to Posie’s side.

Fuck.

This is definitely not easier the second round. I still feel pretty much useless and all I end up doing is stroking her head and telling her about how well she is doing—even when I don’t know shit about puppy delivery.

Maybe this is all going horribly wrong. Is there supposed to be fluid coming out instead of puppies? And if yes, how much is too much? Why does it look greenish to me?

I’m about ready to burst out in tears of relief, when I hear the front door unlock.

Hurried steps follow and then she’s there. A whirlwind of blond chaos curls and the layers of oversized sweatshirts.

She’s staring at me like I’m at a crime scene. Mouth hanging open, baby blue eyes taking everything in, from the greenish stuff on my hands and shirt to the clear gue my knees have spread over the creme coloured carpet.

And then she bursts out laughing.

Her body folds at the middle, her hands pressing to her stomach as she’s heaving for a breath.

What is happening?

I stare at her, gasping and giggling.

“Why are you laughing? This is not funny.”

Is she blind? Can’t she see that there is something coming out of the dog we saved? The dog she insisted we take home with us?

“Oh, but it is.” She wheezes. “Especially, because you covered both yourself and your house in vaginal discharge.”

Vaginal discharge, what⁠—

Ohh.

So I guess this greenish stuff is actually normal.

Getting up from the floor, I glare at Posie. She made this look like she was having problems when in fact everything is fine.

“I guess the rug is done for?” Ivory giggles.

I look back down, and nod. There’s no way in hell I’ll get rid of the stains, not to mention the smell. I’ll just get a new one once this is all over.

“How far along is she?” The male voice comes from the living room and before I know it both Samuel and Ivy’s colleague from the shelter are storming through the door.

Liam.

What the fuck does he want here?

“She hasn’t started yet. And everything is fine.” Ivory says softly, turning to take off her shoes. In the hallway, she hugs both men, making my blood run cold. I’m not usually the jealous type, but I do not like this.

I especially don’t like it because Liam is holding onto her for a tad too long.