Brain Games

BONUS- Oh baby

"I hate you," I seethe through gritted teeth.

"I know," Brad coos sympathetically, being the absolute perfect husband by letting me squeeze the life out of his hand, only making me hate him more.

I do my best to breathe through my contraction, wondering where the fuck Ashlee is. I paged her over thirty minutes ago saying I was ready for the epidural, and she said she was on her way. My contractions are only getting closer and closer, and with the rate she's going I'm afraid I'll have this baby before she even gets here.

"Where is she?" I whine with desperation and annoyance. My contraction subsides and I go back to anxiously pacing my hospital room, needing to do something. Brad has tried to get me to sit down and relax multiple times at this point, but to no avail, I don't listen. "I swear to God, if she isn't here in the next five minutes I'm paging someone else. I'll have you do it. Hell, I'll even take some Joe schmo off the street at this point. I—"

"Don't get your panties in a twist, mama. Aunt Ashlee has arrived," she sing-songs, waltzing through the doorway with her supplies. I relax a fraction, but annoyance still simmers beneath my skin. "Well, not that you're currently wearing any panties under that hospital gown, but you know what I mean," she teases. "In fact," she drawls, cocking a hip and placing a hand on it, pure mischief glittering in her eyes, behind her wiry glasses. "I think not wearing panties got you here in the first place."

I bare my teeth at her. "I hate you."

She has the audacity to laugh. "Not in a minute you won't. I have the good stuff, remember?"

I glare at her and she taps the side of the bed, gesturing for me to sit. I reluctantly oblige, untying the back of my gown to expose my back so she can get to my spine. "I swear to God, if you make any sort comment about seeing my butt crack I'm throwing you out," I threaten.

"Relax, I wasn't going to say anything about your butt," Ashlee chastises. "Although, it is pretty cute," she mutters, and I don't have to look at her face to know she's grinning.

"Alright, out!" I demand, and not a second later another contraction starts, making me double over, groaning in pain.

Again, she has the audacity to laugh, and Brad is immediately at my side, being the perfect husband once more by offering me his hand to squeeze the shit out of.

"I hate the both of you," I groan between deep, labored breaths.

Ashlee snaps on her gloves dramatically, shooting Brad an amused look. "You know she's never having sex with you again, right?" she teases, making him frown at her. Whether it's because she made the statement in general or because the statement holds some truth behind it, I'm not sure.

"You are so lucky both of our parents are out grabbing coffee right now," I state, knowing I'd wring her neck if they were here—that is if I didn't die of embarrassment first at her bring up sex in front of all of the parents.

"Yeah, yeah," Ashlee mutters dismissively. "Now sit forward and let me prep your spine."

She adjusts me how she wants me on the edge of the bed before palpating my spine to find the correct location to stick the needle. Once she finds it she sterilizes the skin of my lower back and places a drape, reaching for the needle, making me immediately tense.

Fun fact about me: I absolutely hate needles.

Knowing this fact, Brad kneels in front of me, grabbing both of my hands. "It's going to be okay," he assures softly, looking up at me with his kind, patient, and loving brown eyes.

"Alright, here we go," Ashlee says.

I instinctively tighten my grip on Brad's hands as the needle pokes through my skin, everything suddenly becoming all too real. My heart begins to pound and tears immediately line my eyes. Brad brings one of my hands to his lips, kissing the back of it, thinking my tears are all because of the needle, but his expression changes after studying mine, realizing its something else.