Trying Hard to Ignore You

I need a fucking massage.

"How are you feeling?" Spencer asks for the millionth time.

Today is July 22nd.

I was due to have the baby last Friday.

It's been a week and one day.

I'm swollen and having Braxton hicks more frequently. My doctor said she won't induce me unless I hit July 27th, which is two weeks after my due date.

I want this baby out.

Our family won't leave my house. I'm walking around the living room, rubbing my belly with my right hand, my left hand on my back.

I need a fucking massage.

I know that if my Braxton hicks are still happening when I've changed position, it means I'm going into labor.

"Do you need anything?" Spencer asks.

"I need to give birth." I say, breathing out slowly.

The Braxton hicks don't go away when I sit down or start walking, and normally they would go away when I change positions, but this time, they're not.

"Why don't you sit down?" Spencer says.

I remind myself that he's my Romeo and he's just trying to take care of me. I shake my head.

"I'm okay."

"Okay." He says.

I keep pacing, the uncomfortable Braxton hicks piss me off, but I ignore it and keep pacing around.

And then, suddenly, after a couple of hours, an intense pain hits me, making me grab onto the couch, closing my eyes.

"Audrey?" Dad asks.

We've all been waiting.

Waiting for some type of sign. They've been here for a week and one day.

I'm ready to get this baby out.

The pain is strong and makes it hurt to breathe, but I breathe through it.

I stand there, intense pain flooding my uterus, until it passes.

"That was a contraction." I say, walking around again.

"Let's go to the hospital." Spencer says.

"No. I'm not spending more time there if I don't have to." I say. "I'm waiting for 3-1-1."

"3-1-1?" He asks.

"Three minutes apart, one minute long, for at least an hour." I say.

I keep walking around, and around ten or so minutes later, it starts again, but this time, I'm not near the couch. Spencer stands up the moment I stop walking, grabbing onto my arm.

"You need to sit down." He says.

I wait until the feeling passes, and then let him go again.

"Audrey." Spencer says.

"I'm not sitting down." I say.

He sits on the arm of the couch, next to his Mum.

I keep pacing.

Another few minutes pass, and then it hits again, stronger this time than the last. Spencer grabs me, and I squeeze his hand, hard.

"Jules, I would really like for you to sit down for me."

"This walking is what is putting me in labor." I say through the pain.

"I know, but-"

"Spencer, no!" I say, strained.

He sighs. After a little while, I start walking again.

This continues for an hour, and they start getting closer together. When I first have one three minutes apart, Emily sets the timer for the hour while Mrs. Carter keeps track of them.

Every three minutes, like clockwork, I get a contraction.

The next one is so bad, Spencer physically has to hold me up.

"You're sitting down. It's not a discussion anymore." He sits me on the couch. I sit down, and they continue, every three minutes, a minute long.

They're so fucking painful. I hold Spencer's hand tightly, burying my face in his shoulder.

After a few more times, the pain only intensifying, I speak up.

"How long has it been?" I ask Emily, sweating.

"Uh...thirty six minutes." She says.

Another one hits. I fight back a moan of pain and hold Spencer's hand, hard.

After a minute, it stops.

"Maybe we should go." Spencer says.

I shake my head and get up.

"I'm walking until we hit the hour mark." I say, stubborn.

Spencer stays close to me, and this time, when the contraction hits, something warm runs down my legs.

My water broke.

I watch as the puddle gets bigger, until it stops. The contraction hits again, and Spencer grabs me, holding me up.

"Upstairs." I say. "I'm going upstairs."

"I'll clean that." Mrs. Carter says.

Spencer helps me upstairs so I can change. I'm sitting on the edge of the tub while he gets my clothes.

I feel like I have to push, right now.

"Spencer!" I moan. I'm in so much pain, it's clouding my thoughts. He rushes into the bathroom.

"Yes?"

"I'm going to push now."

His eyes get huge and he drops everything in hands.

"What? No, you-SOMEBODY CALL 911!" He yells. "Audrey, don't push, okay baby? You can't."

"Spencer, get me on the floor." I say, panting.

Spencer

I get her on the floor, panicked, and she tugs at her pants.

I pull them off of her, and I can already see the start of my sons head.

Oh fuck, this is happening.

And she pushes.

Nobody is coming up the stairs, and I have no idea what I'm doing, and my phone is on the floor.

My heart is pounding and my hands are clammy, but she pushes.

"Wait, stop!" I say, panicked. She didn't scream, she's just breathless. I hear footsteps coming down the hall as I reach in, carefully pulling my son outside of Audrey.

Mom comes to the door of the bathroom with my Dad and Audrey's Dad, Ethan, Emily, and Noah in tow.

"Oh my god." Emily says.

"Call 911." I say, looking down at Declan, who isn't crying.

Audrey is bleeding. She's bleeding a lot, so much that my knees are soaked in her blood.

"Mom. What the hell do I do?" I say.

"Okay, we need to suck everything out of his mouth and nose." She says, ripping through the cabinets.

"Audrey, stay awake, okay?" Her dad says, talking to her while Noah is on the phone with the ambulance.

When he hangs up, I hear sirens.

"He's not crying." Audrey says, but her words are slurring.

Mom finds the little sucker thingy and sticks it in Declan's mouth, and then his nose, sucking all the gunk out.

He lets out a loud cry, and then Audrey passes out.

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