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Ellie ran over and fell to her knees. She
grabbed my face to look at her.

“What happened?”

“He left.”

“Who left?” Heather and Ellie said at the
same time.

“Jeff. I was just about to tell him about the
baby, and he got a call from Rebecca. When he hung up, he just
turned away and started walking out. He wasn’t even going to say
good-bye until I yelled out his name.”

“Wait…I’m confused, Ari. What happened to
Rebecca to make Jeff just leave like that?” Ellie said, wiping
tears off my face.

“She, um…I don’t know. She was having
contractions or something like that. I’m telling you that she is
further along than she says, and he won’t believe me!” I
shouted.

Then, I stood up.
I need to ride.

I walked over and grabbed a saddle and made
my way over to Rose’s stall.

“Ari, are you going for a ride now?” Ellie
asked as she walked over to help me.

“I think I’ll go also. I need to get away
from the Josh-and-Lynda show,” Heather said.

“Oh Jesus, I guess that means I’m going, too.
Um, should I go tell Gunner that we’re heading out?” Ellie asked as
she watched me saddle up Rose.

Rose is still acting feisty as hell.

“If you want,” I said.

“Just a quick ride, right? It actually looks
like a storm is about to come in. Emma is in a panic, and I don’t
want to leave her to long.” Ellie said while she made her way over
to saddle up Big Roy.

After we all got our horses saddled up, the
three of us headed out.

Ellie noticed right away that Rose was acting
up a bit.

“Ari, are you sure you want to ride Rose? She
seems to be spooked about something. Maybe the storm coming
in?”

I rolled my eyes at her. “Ells, I’ve been
riding horses long enough to know when I shouldn’t be on one.”

***

We rode for a good thirty minutes in complete
silence.

When we started back, Ellie broke the
silence.

“Ari, you have to know that Jeff wasn’t
thinking clearly. I mean, there is a chance this baby could be his,
and he’s just trying to do what’s best for the baby.”

I started to feel the tears
building in my eyes again.
Shit, I’ve
never cried so damn much in my life as I have these last few
weeks.

Rose started jumping around a bit. I pulled
back on her to get her to settle down.

Ellie turned Big Roy out of the way while I
tried to get Rose under control. She seemed to calming down until a
huge bolt of lightning hit close by. It scared the shit out of all
the horses. When Rose reared up, it took everything out of me to
stay on her. The next thing I knew, she was running off. I heard
Ellie yell out for me as we headed toward the creek.

Oh fuck, Rose. Don’t jump it.

She jumped it.

All I heard was Ellie and Heather both
scream.

Oh shit.
I knew I was in trouble the moment I flew off the
back of the horse.

CHAPTER
THIRTY-ONE

JEFF

I was almost into Austin
when my cell phone rang. It was Rebecca.
Shit, I hope nothing happened.

“Hey, I’m almost to your place. Are you doing
okay?”

“Yeah, they’ve slowed way down, and the
doctor said it was just Braxton Hicks again.”

“I thought you said they were painful and
coming faster?” I asked, clearly frustrated.

“They were, but now, they’ve settled
down.”

Shit
. This was another time when I rushed away from Ari, except
this time, I had a really strange feeling that I fucked-up more
than normal.

“Well shit, Rebecca, I drove all this way.
Damn it. Have you eaten today?”

“No, I haven’t had anything since breakfast.
I’ve been too nervous, I guess.”

“Want to go grab something then? That way,
you can eat, and we can make sure you weren’t feeling the real
thing. Then, I have to head back to Mason. I kind of walked out on
Ari and a party.”

“Oh no! I’m so, so, sorry Jeff. I know you
said to call only if it was important, and I really thought it was
important.”

I could almost hear the smile in her voice.
Somehow, I figured that I totally just got played here. I thought
it was time to have a heart to heart with Rebecca, regardless of
the risk of an early birth or not.

***

After I picked up Rebecca,
we headed to the restaurant. Along the way, I tried to call Ari
five times. Each time, it went straight to voicemail.
Shit! Why did my cell phone work out there today
but Ari’s isn’t?

“Thank you so much for rushing in Jeff. I’m
pretty sure everything is going to be okay. You really don’t have
to baby-sit me, you know. Like the doctor said, it’s just Braxton
Hicks contractions. I think if I just take it easy, I’ll be able to
make it to term with no problem.” Rebecca said with a smile

There was something about her smile that
seemed wrong. I was starting to get a strange feeling that maybe
this was all just a game with her. As we made our way to the table,
I glanced down at her stomach. She really did seem pretty big to
have a month and a half left. Then again, what the hell do I
know.

Suddenly, the sickest
feeling came over me. I reached for my phone and tried to call Ari
again.
Nothing.
I
tried Ellie’s cell and then Gunner’s.
Something’s wrong.
I could feel
it.

Just as the waitress was about to take our
drink order, Rebecca grabbed the table. “Oh no.”

“What? What is it, Rebecca? What’s wrong?”I
jumped up and walked around the table to her.

She looked up at me with a panicked look on
her face. “Um, nothing, Jeff. It’s nothing. I guess the baby just
kicked really hard. That’s all.”

“Are you sure? Do we need to go the
hospital?”

She tried to laugh, but I could see the pain
on her face. She was trying to hide it. She shook her head and
reached for her phone.

“Who are you calling?”

“I’m gonna call Crysti. I really just want to
go and lay down. She can stay with me at my apartment to make sure
I’m alright.”

While she started to talk to
Crysti, my head started spinning.
What the
fuck is going on here?

“Rebecca, don’t be crazy. I’ll take you home
and stay with you until Crysti gets there. Don’t you think though
that you should call the doctor again?”

“No! Jeff, listen to me. I
just need to go lie down.” Rebecca looked away from me, returning
to the her phone conversation. “Yeah Crysti, I know….I know! It’ll
all work out. Just trust me on this,
please.
Just come to Maudie’s. Yep,
the one off of Lake Austin Boulevard.”

Rebecca hung up the phone and tried her best
to smile at me.

“Rebecca, I don’t understand. I drove all the
way in because you said you didn’t have anyone to be here for you.
You said you were having contractions. Now you’re fine, and you
just want to go home and lie down. You don’t want me to take you
home even though I just drove a few hours to get here. What the
fuck is going on? Clearly something is wrong.”

“Jeff, really, I just need to stay calm right
now. I sense that you’re upset that you had to leave the party and
Ari. You’ve tried calling her a number of times. Really, you should
just head back to Mason. I promise I’m okay. Crysti is on her way,
so I’ll have someone to stay with me. I can’t go into labor this
early. I’m just nerv-v-v.”

She grabbed the table again.

I looked up and noticed the waitress was
still standing there. She just kept looking back and forth between
us. Then, she took a step back and glanced at Rebecca’s feet.

“
Um, can you give us a few
minutes? Just two waters for now, please,” I said smiling up at the
waitress.

She looked back at Rebecca.

“Listen, I really think you need to go to a
doctor now,” the waitress said.

Rebecca gave her a dirty look.

“Um, I really think you need to mind your own
goddamn business!” she yelled.

“Rebecca! Holy shit!” Turning to the
waitress, I said, “I’m sorry.”

“Listen, I’ve had three kids, sweetheart and
I hate to tell you this, but your water just broke.”

Rebecca’s face turned white as a ghost.

“No!….
Oh no. Oh god no! This can’t be happening!” Rebecca just kept
repeating herself over and over again. She reached for her phone
and called Crysti again.

“You need to hurry. My water just broke. Yes
Crysti! I know!”

It took a good two minutes for everything to
soak in before I jumped up and headed over to Rebecca. I reached
down and picked her up in my arms.

“What the hell are you doing, Jeff? Put me
down!”

“Jesus Christ, Rebecca.
You’re in labor. We’re going to the hospital now!” I couldn’t
believe it.
Fuck!
She still had a month and two weeks to go. This was not
good.

“Oh god, Jeff. Please…I just need you to
leave. Crysti can take me to the hospital. I’m sure it will be
fine. They will get the contractions under control. I’ll probably
just be put on bed rest or something. Really, I just need you to
leave!”

When we got to my truck, I gently set Rebecca
down while I opened the passenger door.

“What the fuck are you
talking about? Your water broke! You’re gonna have this baby,
Rebecca, regardless if it’s time or not. I’m not leaving. I missed
the first seven months. Do you really think I’m going to miss the
birth of my son?” I held the door open and helped her in.
Poor thing seems like she was scared to
death
.

Rebecca was panicked during
the entire ride to the hospital.
I thought
she was going insane. Motherfucker, is this a normal
reaction?

She just kept saying the same things over and
over again. How this can’t be happening. This wasn’t part of her
plan.

“Rebecca, I’m pretty sure Mother Nature’s
plan outweighs yours. It’s going to be okay.”

She called the doctor’s
office, saying that her water broke. Then, she began crying
hysterically.
What the fuck?

***

Twenty minutes later, things were only
getting worse. The nurses were telling Rebecca that she needed to
calm down. She even tried to tell one of the nurses that I wasn’t
allowed in the room.

“What the hell? I’m the father! You better
bet your ass I’m gonna be in the room!”

The nurse was yelling at me to stop yelling
at Rebecca. My phone started ringing, and I looked down to see it
was Ellie calling. I went to answer it, and the nurse just glared
at me.

“Really? Turn it off and put
it away, Mr. Johnson!
Now!
”

Shit!
I sent it to voice mail and put it back in my
pocket.

Rebecca looked at me and tried to smile.

“Jeff, I really need you to just not talk to
anyone if you’re gonna stay. Please I just need peace and quiet.
What I really need is to be left alone. I’ll call you after I have
the baby.”

When I looked at the nurse, she was staring
at Rebecca. Then she pulled me outside of the room.

“Mr. Johnson, clearly Ms. Moore is very
upset. I’m not really sure why she keeps asking you to leave.
Honestly, it’s a bit strange, but over the years, I’ve learned not
to question what women in labor do and say. With that said, we
really need her to calm down. Her contractions are coming faster,
and Dr Wyatt’s is almost here. I need to tell you though that the
baby is getting stressed. I cannot stress how important it is that
we get her to calm down.”

I nodded my head. “I understand what you’re
saying, but I’m not leaving. I missed the whole pregnancy. I can’t
miss the birth. I just can’t.”

Just then, my phone rang again. I pulled it
out of my pocket and saw it was Gunner. I hit ignore. A minute
later, I got a text. I looked at it quickly and noticed I had one
message from Ellie and one from Gunner.

Ellie:
“Jeff, please call me ASAP. It’s about Ari. Please
call.”

Gunner:
“Jeff, it’s really important that you call one of us back
right away. It’s Ari, dude. Something has happened.”

Shit!
Ari was probably so pissed off that I left.
Mother fucker.
I can’t
deal with this shit right now.

I sent Ellie and Gunner a text back.

Rebecca in labor. At hospital. Will call
later.

Just then, a doctor walked
out of Rebecca’s room.
What the
hell?
I didn’t even see him go in
there.

“Are you Mr. Johnson?”

I held out my hand to shake his. “Yes, Jeff
Johnson.”

He gave me a once over and
shook his head.
What the hell?

“I’m afraid we are going to have to put Ms.
Moore under. She won’t calm down, and her blood pressure is way too
high. I’m having an OR prepped for a cesarean right now. The baby
is stressed. It appears the cord is wrapped around the baby’s neck,
so we need to move fast. Please go in and try to calm her down.
Then, one of the nurses will take you to get ready.”

My head was spinning. I
wanted to ask him if the baby would be okay since Rebecca went into
labor so early, but then my fucking phone went off again.
Ellie.
I sent it to voice
mail and turned off my phone. I would deal with Ari later. I needed
to think about Rebecca and the baby right now.

“Um…okay. I’ll try to get her to calm down,
but I think I’m making her more upset for some reason.”