My Universe [a Roman Reigns story]

35 Overdue

Roman POV

"Do you feel anything yet?" I asked Stefanie as I helped her get out of the car.

"I wish." she said exhausted.

By now our little Ruby was already a week past her due date and didn't seem to want to meet us yet. For Steffi it was in the meantime very exhausting, even if she tried not to let it show. I knew that she wouldn't mind if the contractions started now.

We had tried different things to induce labor, but so far without success. Neither the teas nor bathing with essential oils nor the massages had worked. Also the additional exercise in the form of walks and sex had brought nothing.

Now we had been to acupuncture to see if we had any luck with it. Because if it was up to the doctor, the birth would not be induced for another week. But the doctor and we wanted to avoid that. As he told us, experience shows that a birth induced with medication is often lengthier and more painful than a birth that begins naturally.

"The woman said it could be a few more hours. Do you want something to eat?" I asked her as we walked into the house together. Immediately Reese was on hand and never took his eyes off of us.

"I'm not really hungry." she replied.

"Okay, I'll just get you something to drink then. I'll be right back." I said as I helped my wife sit down on the couch.

But when I came back into the living room, I saw that she had already gotten up again and was holding her lower back. I put the bottle with the water to the side and stood behind Stefanie. With both thumbs I put light pressure on the points where I knew the pain was.

"Thanks, babe." she sighed deeply as she carefully leaned against me.

"Always." I replied, kissing the side of her head.

"Do you want to lie down for a bit?" I wanted to know.

"No. I want to move around. That helps. Why don't we go to the gym? You can distract yourself a little with exercise and I'll go on the treadmill." she replied.

"Whatever you want. I'll go change." I said and then gave her a quick kiss.

I quickly put on workout clothes and then we went over to the gym. While I started working out I kept a close eye on my wife. I knew how tired she was. I didn't want her to overdo it. But as long as the exercise was good for her, I let her do it.

After 10 minutes I saw her get off the treadmill again and hold the side of her bump. Immediately I was at her side.

"Are you all right?" I asked tensely.

"Yeah, I think that was a contraction." she answered me and to my surprise she was smiling.

"What do we do now?" I wanted to know.

"Now we wait until they get stronger and more regular or my water breaks," Steffi replied calmly.

Although I had not expected this composure in response to the pain, I think she was just happy that it was finally starting.

We were lucky. The contractions became more and that it wasn't just one. The hours passed. The intervals were shortening. I was glad that despite the pain it was possible for Steffi to sleep. I took the chance when she was resting to call the doctor and the hospital. And then I told Mom that the baby was on the way. I also let Leo know so she knew what was going on. Because she wanted to stay with Reese while we were at the hospital.

When Stefanie woke up from her nap, the contractions were 10 minutes apart. It was time to go to the hospital. The next time we walked through that door, we would bring our daughter home. I would finally be able to hold her in my arms. I wanted to hold my wife in my arms while she held the miracle we had created in her arms.