Redeemed Complete: A Military Stepbrother Romance (30 page)

“Yeah, honey, you are,” she said, “but it’s OK. This is a big deal, and I understand how it must be on your mind. I’m not sure how I could focus on anything else either.”

“Yeah,” I smiled, glad that someone understood even a little bit and was willing to hear about it even if I wasn’t willing to talk yet. “It’s been a whirlwind. I’m just not sure about him.”

“Boys are like that, dear. They bulldoze around like they know what they’re doing, but they’re just as confused as we are. And we have a tendency to worry about them a little too much.” Maggie nodded her head sagely as she spoke, dispensing wisdom no woman in her early twenties should even pretend to have.

“I know, and I know that I shouldn’t worry about it, but…” I trailed off.

“But it’s Harrison. It’s the guy you’ve hated for years and who you thought hated you. And now things are starting to change and you’re starting to change how you feel but there are roadblocks in the way. There always are.”

“Yeah, seems like it,” I monotoned, glumly.
 

“But you two will work it out, I have a good feeling.” That was an odd thing to say given how little she knew about the situation. I hadn’t told Maggie anything about the sex, the police, the interrogation, the I-guess-I-should-call-it breakup, or the possible attempt at rapprochement this morning.

“How do you figure?” I looked at Maggie and she was grinning, with that tell-tale look of ‘I’m about to drop a serious burn’ look on her face. I looked her up and down and decided it was a good idea to let her have this one.

“Because,” she smiled wide, “you two are family! And family always works things out!”
 

“Ugh, gross! You are the worst. We’re not family in the way you’re implying, Maggie!”

Maggie took a while to stop laughing, finally pulling herself together. It looked like she was on the verge of years. “I know, I know,” she said, wiping her eyes, “I just couldn’t resist. I’ve been waiting to use that one for days!”

“The worst.” I shook my head, cheeks on fire, but a smile on my face nonetheless. Maggie always knew how to brighten the situation. Even though in my heart of hearts, no matter what Maggie said, we weren’t going to reconcile.

I started walking forward, eyes on a particular small perfume store that carried the stuff I knew my stepmother liked. I personally wasn’t a fan, but she couldn’t get enough of the stuff, and I was eager to start crossing people off my imaginary gift list.

I got about 10 steps toward the store when I realized Maggie hadn’t kept up the pace. I slowed to a halt, making sure no one behind me in a rush collided with my back, before turning around.

Maggie hadn’t moved from the spot where we had our conversation just now. She had a stricken look on her face, like something had surprised her. I walked back to her as quickly as I could, ducking around people going in my direction, trying to stay out of other people’s way.

By the time I got to Maggie, it looked like she had collected herself a little bit. “Is everything okay?” I asked.

“I… I,” she trailed off, Then gulped. “I think my water just broke.”

I put my hand over my mouth. “Oh no, honey, are you sure?” I looked around helplessly, not knowing what to do.

Maggie nodded her head vigorously, her eyes closed. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure. I think the beach ball wants to go to the beach.”

Leave it to Maggie to try and find humor in a tough situation. “What we do?”

Maggie took my hand and grasp it tightly. She leaned in close. “That’s why we took my car,” she whispered, “because of the preparation kit.”

“Right, right. We got a get to the car.”

“Yeah, we do, and then you that a drive me to the hospital as fast as you can.” She grimaced. “But don’t break any laws, I don’t want to have to stop for a ticket.”

We started heading toward the entrance we had just come in from a few minutes earlier. “I think, Maggie,” I whispered to her, “that the police would forgive a little speeding under the circumstances.” I was moving a little faster than Maggie, and our arms were starting to stretch out.

“That may be the case, but I’ve seen your driving, and I don’t want to cause any accidents along the way.” Grim humor in a time like this!

The parking lot was still full, and just getting to the car took a couple minutes with all the people in the way. Cars still roved between the aisles of the parking lot, searching for a spot. One of them would get ours, in just a moment.

“Before we go,” Maggie piped up as we got to the car, “get the bag from the trunk and bring it up front with us.” I nodded, and popped the trunk, gathering the dark blue duffel bag from the trunk.

I ran over to Maggie’s side and opened her door. “Recline the seat,” Maggie moaned, clutching at her belly. I leaned the seat back, surprised to feel some remnants of the heat from the trip here still in the main cabin. I helped Maggie into the car and strapped her in before putting the duffel bag at her feet.

“All set?” I asked, wanting to make sure she was as comfortable as could be for the ride over. I wanted to feel like I was helping.

“All set,” Maggie replied. She gave me a half-hearted thumbs up, and I closed her door and hurried over to the driver’s side, and slid in. Maggie had her phone out, but wasn’t making a call. “I’m getting the directions to the hospital up for you,” she said, focusing intently on the screen.

“You know,” I turned the keys in the ignition and felt the old beast roar to life, before setting it in reverse and looking behind me, “I have actually been to Summitville before last week.” I cast a sarcastic eye at Maggie’s prone form stretched out in the passenger’s seat, her phone extended my way. “In fact, I may even have seen the hospital at least once or twice as I passed by.”

“I’m not taking any chances,” Maggie said through gritted teeth as another wave hit her. “Take the phone.”

I wasn’t about to fit too hard with a girl starting to give birth, so I took the offered phone and set it in the holder affixed to the dashboard and pulled out of the mall as quickly as I could.

We were off to the hospital!

Chapter 20 - The Labor

We were lucky that it was a Thursday and as we got further from the mall the number of cars on the road lessened. I looked down at Maggie every few seconds as I drove, careful to keep one eye on the road. I was a better driver than Maggie gave me credit for and we both knew it, but getting into an accident right now would be a really bad idea.

Maggie was spread out in the passenger seat, bracing her self, her knuckles almost white, one hand grasping the seatbelt, the other holding onto her phone. She stared intently at the screen, but I couldn’t make out what she was looking at.

“What’re you doing?” I asked right as Maggie convulsed again, pushing herself back into her seat.

“I’m timing the contractions. They’re getting closer and closer.” Maggie grimaced, as if she was preparing for the next one. I’d heard that no matter how much a woman tried to prepare for them, they would come out of nowhere and shock you our of your concentration.

I took a hand away from the wheel and squeezed Maggie’s hand, trying to reassure her. She was lying so low in the seat I wasn’t sure if she could see where we were. “We’ll be there soon, babe. We’re almost there, just hold on a bit longer.”

“Sure, Laurel, I’ll do just that,” Maggie piped up. “I got nothing better to do right now after all.” She paused as another contraction came over her, and she grunted through it.

I laughed at the levity of the moment. “Did you call your family? They know to meet us there?”

“I sent out the emergency text, they’re on their way, but we’ll get to the hospital before they do.” She paused and looked at me. “You’re doing fine, babe, you’ll be fine. I’m in good hands.”

It was funny to see the very obviously pregnant girl in the passenger seat go through contractions while reassuring the driver that she was doing a good job, but there we were. Maggie could tell that I was nervous about the situation, but she was there as always to lift me up, and keep me going.

“Thanks, babe. That means a lot.” I put both hands back on the wheel, and concentrated on driving. The weather had cleared up, and traffic was light, so we glided across the streets without stopping. The traffic lights managed to go our way almost every time, so we made it to the hospital less than 10 minutes later. By that time, Maggie was grunting without any pause, her contractions getting closer and closer.

Summitville Hospital was small, but the few times I’ve been there before, I’d found it to be super efficient. I drove up to the emergency entrance, and stopped the car honking the horn before I got out and ran across to the other side.

The door opened, and a nurse came rushing out. “What’s the matter?” She asked, as I started to open Maggie store.

“She’s pregnant! And her contractions are getting closer and closer together. Please help!” I threw the door open wide, and Maggie waived from inside.

“Got it. I’ll be back in a second. You stay with her, and make sure nothing goes wrong.” The nurse dashed back into the open hospital doors, and Maggie and I looked at each other.
 

How could I fix anything should anything go wrong? We were outside a hospital! This was the very place where wrong things were fixed! I settled for holding Maggie’s hand as she went through another contraction. Her phone was ringing, but Maggie was too busy to answer it. I took the phone from her hand and thumbed the screen.

It was Maggie’s mother, calling frantically to see how she was doing. I reassured her as much as I could, telling her that we were already at the hospital, and that the nurses were coming to take care of Maggie. That contra down a little bit, and she assured me that family members would arise as soon as they possibly could.

To reassure them just a little bit more, I took a picture of Maggie giving the thumbs-up, and sent it over to her mother, Before putting the phone away. “I’ll keep this, I’m sure they’re going to call again.”

Maggie nodded as another contraction hit. I squeezed her hand, and whispered to her how great she was doing, and how soon all the pain would be over, and she’d have a new baby to take care of.

By then the nurse came rushing back out of the hospital, pushing a wheelchair in front of her. “Get her on to this, help me.” I stood out of her way while she moved the wheelchair right up against the door, and then with Maggie’s help we managed to get her out of the car and into the chair, Maggie huffing and puffing the entire time with all the exertion.

Once we were done, the nurse immediately begin pushing Maggie toward the entrance. “There, there, we got you, we’ll take care of everything from here.” I followed alongside, holding Maggie’s hand as we entered the hospital.

The heat from the air inside hit me, and I unzipped my jacket before leaning over to the same for Maggie, who thanked me under her breath, still bracing for the next contraction.

“Are you family?” The nurse asked without stopping. She picked up speed, and I had to double time the pace to keep up.

“She might as well be!” Maggie muttered, just loud enough for the nurse to hear.

“Her family’s on the way. We were out doing some shopping. Is there anything I can do?”

“We’ll take it from here.” The nurse must have seen the look of concern on my face, because she looked down at Maggie, and seeing that things seemed to be stable, she stopped and grabbed my forearms. “Relax, honey, you did great. You got her here on time and everything seems OK. We’ll take it from here. Please try and relax.”

“Yeah, honey, relax,” Maggie added.

“Thanks, this is all just very new to me,” I stammered.

“It’s new to everyone once, you did just fine. Trust me, many people fall apart on the way here, or just after they arrive. You’re way ahead of the curve.” We started moving again, and a few seconds later we got to the intake area. “OK, from here on it’s just the new mom.” The nurse motioned to the waiting area we’d just passed by. “How about you take a seat over there, make any calls you need, have some coffee. It could be a while!”

I nodded and stepped in front of Maggie. “You gonna be OK, Mags?”

Maggie waved me away. “I’ll be fine, love. I don’t envy you.”

“Huh? You’re the one about to give birth.”
 

“Yeah, but you’re gonna have to spend the labor with my family in the waiting room.” The nurse smiled and started to push the wheelchair through the doors and out of view. The last thing Maggie said was, “of the two of us I got off easier!”

I laughed at the situation. Maggie was getting wheeled off to go give birth while her husband was deployed on the other side of the world and she was the one reassuring me, and not envying what I had to do in the next few hours!

I walked over to the waiting area and found a seat, waiting for Maggie’s family to arrive. No doubt they would have plenty of questions, and all of them would be directed at me.

***

The next few hours were rough. Maggie’s family thankfully didn’t show up all at once, but there was a steady flow of people one or two every hour or so. We exchanged excited greetings and chatted, reassuring each other that Maggie would be fine and that her new bouncing baby boy would be as well.

Finally Maggie’s mother arrived and took charge of the situation. The hospital staff tried to keep order, but even they withered under her steely gaze and shrank back. In no time at all, Maggie’s mother directed other family members, quelled arguments that arose, and became the point of contact for all hospital communication.

After that we just sat around and waited. I texted Harrison what was going on, but he didn’t reply. I sat in the waiting area with the rest of the family, but I mostly stayed out of their conversation. Maggie’s mother came over when she had a free moment and sat down with me, and we did the standard what-have-you-been-up-to-oh-that’s-nice-I-hear-wonderful-things-about-New-York thing. Like Maggie, her mother really loved Summitville and the surrounding area and even more than Maggie wondered out loud why anyone would ever want to leave, especially for the unsafe and anonymous bright lights of the big city.