Two weeks later, I was dragging. Work was kicking my butt, my back hurt all the time and I was as big as a house. Sleep was a distant memory and Braxton-Hicks was my new best friend. I was still two weeks out from my due date, but I was thinking that was about to change. That morning, I'd had a bloody show and I knew that usually signaled the onset of labor within two days.
Kade was already at the doctor's office when I arrived and he looked at me sharply. "You look beautiful but I can tell you're exhausted. Are you OK?"
I shrugged. "Not sleeping much and the days at work seem really long. Nothing unexpected, though. And I have tomorrow off, so I plan on resting."
"Please do. And let me know if I can do something for you. Can I bring you dinner tonight?"
I shook my head. "But thanks for offering."
He looked frustrated and I knew he was thinking if we were together, he could ease the burden. His nature was protector, and in his mind, I was in need of protecting right now, since I was carrying his child.
We waited silently in the exam room for the doctor.
She wanted to do an internal exam since I told her about the bloody show. I could sense Kade come alert, and I just bet he'd been reading enough lately to know what that meant. For the first time ever, he left his chair and came to stand beside my head as the doctor examined me. She finished with a smile.
"You're about 85 percent effaced and dilated to three centimeters. I'd say things are probably going to happen within the next day or so. And given the full moon tonight..."
I laughed and she offered me a hand and Kade put his hand on my back to help me sit up.
"Make sure your bag is not only packed but in the car so you can just go straight to the hospital. I expect I'll see you very soon."
When she left, Kade brought me my clothes and turned around while I dressed. We checked out and he walked me to my car. I could tell he wanted to say something.
"I want you to think about letting me spend the night. I'll sleep on the couch and I'll be able to take you to the hospital. From what I've read, it's common for it to happen in the middle of the night, so I don't want to have to waste time driving to your place when I could be right there. And, I know that's assuming that you'll –"
"Okay," I said, which stopped him for a moment.
"Okay?" he said, as if he couldn't believe I'd agreed. He beamed me the brightest smile I'd seen from him...ever. "All right then. I'm going to head home, grab a bag and I'll be right over. And I'll bring dinner."
"Okay," I said again.
He saw me settled into my seat and waited until I drove off.
An hour later, he knocked on my door. "Hey, Abigail. Everything still good?"
I shook my head, telling him about the contractions that had begun since he left me. He helped me walk around my house for a couple of hours and that seemed to help bring on the contractions. When my water broke, we looked at each other and I smiled at the slightly panicked look in his eyes. "Guess we should head to the hospital.
It had been going on fourteen hours since my water had broken and I was still only at four centimeters dilated. "You're fighting the pain, Abigail," my nurse, Cheyenne, had told me. "You're working against yourself. Sure you don't want to try an epidural?"
"No," I panted as another contraction began. Things happened rapidly after that, and in another two hours, I was pushing our son into the world, squalling and fighting me every step of the way.
"He's perfect," Kade told me as we both watched our son blink at us like a tiny owl.
"Do you have a name?" Cheyenne asked.
I nodded. "Yes. Griffin Tyler Hamilton."
"I like it!" the nurse smiled.
"Griffin is my last name and Tyler was my mother's maiden name."
"Hey, Griffin," Kade cooed at his son, trying out the name. "Welcome to the world, son."
His big hand dwarfed our son's head, the wisps of black hair still slick and wet from the birth. The baby turned toward my breast, little lips working.
"Looks like he's hungry," Cheyenne observed, then helped me sit up a little more and position the baby properly for nursing. I jumped a bit when he latched on, my face so surprised that Kade couldn't stop grinning. He watched our son nursing, and finally said, "I feel like I'm witnessing the purest, strongest love I've ever seen in my life." That may have brought a tear to my eye, but I was hormonal.
After a few minutes, the baby conked out, pulling away from my nipple. "Mom feeds, dad burps," Cheyenne declared. So Kade found himself holding Griffin and learning how to rub his little back until he got a burp.
