Fifty-Two Weeks

twenty eight

Scarlett stood there, supporting herself on the wall as another wave of pain struck, and she panicked since the baby was making its way into the world. For a while she thought it was braxton hicks contractions but realized this was the real deal when her pants damped with what she could only assume was her water breaking.

Her mother had left briefly to go back to Scarlett's apartment and fetch her hospital bag. When she returned, Scarlett was delighted to see Jess had tagged along as well. Amy and Jessica helped a heaving breathing Scarlett into the car before letting themselves in and driving to the hospital.

Jess couldn't help but smile and giggle the whole way there, which pissed Scarlett off to no end. She was just excited that her best friend was giving birth to her new godchild. No to be mistaken, Scarlett was excited too. She just couldn't focus on that seeing as her body felt like it was being torn in half.

When the trio arrived, Jess sat with Scarlett in the waiting room while Amy signed them in.

"I can't believe this is actually happening!" Jess squealed.

"A bit earlier than I had hoped..." Scarlett sighed and glanced at her watch. She had been timing her contractions and they were currently nine minutes apart.

"Ashton isn't coming?" She asked as Scarlett closed her eyes and braced herself for the next wave of pain.

"He's still on tour and he doesn't even know this is happening, of course he isn't coming." Scarlett snapped and Jess dropped the subject.

Amy and a slim woman in scrubs walked over to Scarlett and Jess. The slender nurse looked overly tired with her blonde hair falling out of it's bun and dark circles under her eyes. Her name was Kelly and she would be Scarlett's nurse for the next hour or so until her shift ended. She had thoughtfully brought over a wheelchair for Scarlett to use and helped her into it as well.

Kelly offered to push Scarlett to her room but Jess couldn't pass up the opportunity. She raced down the hall carelessly and even managed to make Scarlett laugh. The staff however, weren't so delighted by her antics.

"Slow down! There is a child in here!" Scarlett giggled as Jess pushed her into the tiny room.

"We're here you can stop complaining." Jess huffed and walked around the room, inspecting every inch of it.

"What are you doing?"

"Making sure this room is adequate."

"And?"

"Ten out of ten!"

---

Three hours had passed since their arrival and Scarlett's contractions were still just under nine minutes apart. She had thought her baby coming early meant the birth would happen quickly as well, but boy was she wrong. The nurse had told her to just be patient but she didn't have a watermelon coming out of her body.

Nurse Kelly had left and now she had a delivery nurse named Sabrina, who seemed overly cheerful. Scarlett was happy too, just not sunshine and rainbows happy.

"You might want to try walking around, sometimes standing helps strengthen your contractions and speed things along." Sabrina suggested after realizing the labour was going at an agonizing rate.

"You heard the lady, walking time!" Jess instructed and helped Scarlett stand up.

The two linked arms and made their way around the delivery ward. Scarlett didn't want to stray far away incase she needed her mom or the nurse.

"Do you want to call Ashton?" Jess offered and pulled out her phone.

"Do you think he'll want to know?" Scarlett felt like a bother to Ashton and didn't want to disturb his tour.

"It's his child, of course he wants to know!" Jess rolled her eyes and dialed the number.

"Hey Ash! It's Jess but Scarlett wants to say something, here she is..."

"Hey you." Scarlett smiled.

"Hey beautiful, what's up?" His voice was smooth and he had a giggle ready to burst.

"It's go time."

"What do you mean?"

"Baby Irwin's coming. Today."

"But you weren't due for another two or three weeks?"

"Life doesn't follow a timed plan." Scarlett mumbled, annoyed that Ashton wasn't showing his excitement.

"So I don't get to see my baby enter the world?" He pouted.

"We could skype the birth?" Scarlett suggested but regretted it as soon as the words left her mouth. She didn't want her private area on camera for Ashton (and most likely the other boys) to see.

"It's not the same." Ash pointed out.

"We can't change anything so there's no point in arguing over this!" Scarlett groaned in frustration.

"You're right. Just focus on getting our little love bug out alive." Ashton cooed and Scarlett laughed.

"Love bug?" She giggled.

"It's cute!" He defended.

"I'm going to hangup if you call it that ever again." Scarlett threatened.

"No stay on the line! I want to be part of this, then I'll see what I can do about coming home."

"Okay. Here, talk to Jess for a bit." Scarlett handed the phone to it's rightful owner and made her way back to the room. Her mother was curled up in a hard armchair with a thick novel in hand.

"How do you feel?" She asked the moment Scarlett sat down next to her.

"Scared, nervous, happy, in pain, excited, all of the above I guess." She confessed.

"Don't worry about the pain it'll be worth it in the end." Amy soothed and rubbed circles on her daughter's back.

"Ashton's not going to be here. What if I can't do it without him?" Scarlett's eyes began to well with tears as she slowly crumbled her unphased persona.

"You can do this, with or without him. You can do anything." Amy said and she meant every single word.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Anything baby girl."

"Should I get back together with Ashton?" Scarlett asked and bit her nails as she waited for her mother's answer. Part of her was also waiting for the next contraction to hit, so she was prepared for pain in more than one way.

"I've known since you were little that you two would get married. Whether or not that happens now is all up to you two. I think he treats you well, you love him, and he loves you. You belong with him and you know you do." Amy grabbed Scarlett's hand in hers and clasped them together.

"Even with him being gone all the time?"

"You can do anything." She repeated.

---

I'm so sorry for the lack of updates! I just started school this year and I've had tons of homework but even then that's no excuse :( I love you guys I'm so sorry :(

I'd also like to dedicate this to Allison who's going through a rough time right now. Sweetheart no matter what you should never feel embarrassed or ashamed of your situation right now. I'm always here for you, and anyone for that matter. Love you guys to the moon and back❤️❤️❤️