He’s the smartest person I’ve ever met, but intelligence has its limits. I feel like I’m watching one.
Rose starts shaking her head at Connor, and his fingers firmly hold her in place so she stops.
“Rose,” he says softly, “your body is ready to have this baby. And if you just let go, your mind will catch up, darling.”
“I’m scared,” she cries, wetting his hand with her tears.
Connor eyes grow red as he stifles more emotion. “I’m not leaving you.” The limo is quiet, Ryke already off the phone. Rose’s forehead wrinkles as another contraction begins. She shuts her eyes, and Connor glances between her legs before looking back at his wife.
And he asks her, “When you were fourteen, what was the first thing I ever said to you?”
It looks like she wants to scream again, but the noise dies in her throat as she concentrates on Connor’s words. “Are you…quizzing me?”
“Yes,” he admits. I almost want to ask how much she’s dilated, but then I don’t want to imagine it at all. I’m guessing Connor can tell though, even if he’s not a doctor. He’s smart enough.
She chokes back a cry and lets out a trained breath. Rose opens her eyes as she answers, “You said that I was your greatest competition.”
“And now,” he whispers, “you’re my greatest ally.” With one hand on her knee, he says, “I need you to push.”
This is actually happening.
In the back of Connor’s limo.
Rose is having a baby.
I rub my lips while Rose pushes and curses, her language as foul as Ryke’s. She’s threatened to kill all of us in the span of a minute and declared her hate of pretty much everything.
Daisy pulls Rose’s damp hair out of her face. “You’re doing great, Rose,” she cheers her on.
I make sure to keep my mouth shut, more worried about what’s going to happen if the ambulance doesn’t show up when the baby does. Or if the baby isn’t breathing. Or if there are other complications with Rose. There are just too many things that could go wrong.
“Give me your shirt,” Connor says to me, his voice urgent. I take off my suit jacket and then unbutton my dress shirt. I pass it to him and then glance down at Lily.
She’s stunned in silence still, and maybe if she wasn’t pregnant too, she’d be less freaked out and more encouraging. I think the majority of us are terrified.
“One more push,” Connor tells her, his hands disappeared beneath his suit jacket across her lap.
Rose looks exhausted, her eyelids heavy. “Connor…it’s too much…”
“Rose, Rose, keep your eyes open.” He checks her body before he says, “You’re mentally capable of anything, even this.”
Rose holds in a breath, and then Lily abruptly unfreezes from her state. She stretches her arm to clasp Rose’s hand, who’s shaking and sweaty and the minute Rose meets her sister’s gaze, it’s over for both of them. They start crying profusely, and Rose nods repeatedly, gearing up to push one last time.
Ryke turns his head, not able to watch this. My hand shakes, and I ball it into a fist. I can barely keep my eyes trained on Connor and Rose either. It’s hard seeing two put-together people face a situation that seems too damn big for them. With consequences that could cripple everyone. And there’s nothing we can do to help.
Rose screams like someone is stabbing her in the chest.
Shrill. Pained screams.
My ears blister, and Ryke rests his hands on his head. I’m about to rub my eyes, to cover them, to tug at my collar. Something to distract my mind.
But then, the wail of a high-pitched baby follows Rose’s cries.
I can’t see the child yet. Instinctively, I look for Connor’s reaction. And it takes me a moment to realize that real tears well in his eyes.
I’ve never seen him cry.
Not even close to it, and there’s no mask concealing his emotions right now. It fills me with something pure and raw. It’s even hard to breathe.
Rose collapses back against Daisy, but her eyes stay like nervous pinpoints on her husband. “Is he okay?” she asks tiredly, her chin trembling.
She thinks that she’s having a boy. Maybe it’s what she believed this whole time, but in this moment, I can see that she’d be fine with it. She extends her arms to take him from Connor.
And then Connor lifts up the small baby, hands and legs tiny but moving, and alive. The cries have softened some. “She’s perfect, as far as I can tell.” She.