But this time, my feeling was correct, and I knew it the second Mom called me.
“Hi, honey, are you resting okay?”
“I’m fine. What’s up? Are you with Grace?”
“Yes, I am.” She talked slowly, which was a thing she did whenever she was trying not to make someone panic. “We need to head to the hospital actually.”
“What happened?” I ground out. “Is something wrong?”
“No, nothing’s wrong, but you might want to get ready for a big life change. Grace is in labor.”
I heard her groan in the background, and it felt like my heart stopped. She was in pain and I wasn’t there. “Where are you guys?”
“We’re five minutes out from the house. Can you be ready to go to the hospital?”
I’d never moved so fast in my life. I jumped out of bed and threw on new clothes. The second I was done, I ran out to the car and right to her.
“Baby, I’m here.”
“Oh, thank God.” She grabbed my hand and pulled me into the back seat with her. “Thishurts.And we’re not even sure I’m in labor!”
“We’ll find out when we get to the hospital. Everyone, hang on!”
I’d never seen Mom drive like a maniac, but when there was a woman in labor, she didn’t mess around. We made the drive in forty minutes and were ushered into the triage area where they tested to see if her water truly had broken.
“I’m very sure it did,” Mom said when the nurse left.
Grace shook her head. “It still could be?—”
“I know you’re scared,” I said. “And I know it’s tempting to be in denial, but we’ve got this whether you are or aren’t.”
Her bottom lip poked out, but she nodded. “You’re right. God, I’m so glad you’re here.”
“It seems like you have it, Dean,” Mom said. “I’ll go get some things from the house for you two.”
“Even if I am, first-time moms take forever,” Grace said. “Don’t rush.”
“I’ll rush just because I want to be here too,” Mom said with a smile. “Let me know if you two need anything else.”
Mom dashed out the door and I returned to keeping Grace calm.
When a nurse announced her water really had broken and we were being moved to a room, I knew it was go time.
For a while, I helped her through the labor. We dealt with her being hooked up to an IV, her contractions, and all the interruptions from those contractions.
Grace was brave for a few hours. We hadn’t had time to come up with a full birth plan, but we knew some of the things to expect in labor. She tried to take deep breaths and listen to her favorite music, but eventually, I could see it starting to take a toll on her.
“I can’t do this,” she said on hour four.
“Are they getting worse?” I asked, brushing her hair from her face.
“They’re hitting like afuckingtrain now. Is that normal? God, how am I supposed to do this for longer?”
Her voice rose in pitch, and I could feel her panic sink into me. Neither of us had a clue of what we were doing. But I wouldn’t show her a damn thing other than support.
“We can call a nurse to do another check.”
“I was only five centimeters last time,” she groaned. “There’s no way I’m any further along.”