Listen To Me: A Rock Star Romance (True North) (5 page)

FIVE

Karen

I woke to the alarm on Adrian’s phone blaring from the nightstand. “Go back to sleep, babe,” he whispered. “I’ve got sound check in an hour.”

“I don’t remember you coming to bed last night,” I said, stretching. I slept wrong and my back had a kink.

“You were snoring when I came up.” He kissed my nose and got out of bed.

“I don’t snore.”

“Then the chicklet does and she’s loud.”

I stifled a laugh. “Whatever.”

He shuffled into the bathroom rubbing his eyes. A few minutes later, the shower turned on. I wondered if it would fit both of us. There was only one way to find out.

“Can I join you?” I asked, through the crack in the not-quite-closed door.

He pulled it open, standing there in his naked glory. Adrian had a beautiful body and it would be mine—officially—from now until the day I died. “You never have to ask,” he said. “Get that fine ass naked and in the shower with me.”

I pulled my XXL t-shirt over my head, shimmied out of my underwear and stepped in the shower. The hot water felt amazing. It was getting harder and harder to wake up without aches and pains.

“Will your belly button stay like this?” Adrian asked, water rushing down his stomach. He poked my belly button, which became an outie during month seven. “I like it,” he said. “It’s cute.”

“It’ll go back in.” I studied it for a second. “I hope.”

He turned me around and pulled me to him, my back to his chest. “These look dirty to me,” he said, rubbing soap over my breasts.

“You better be careful what you start,” I said, reaching over my head to run my fingers through his hair. “You’ll be late for sound check.”

“It’s a free show anyway. They can wait.” His hand trailed over my belly, trailing toward the apex of my thighs. “I can’t reach,” he said. “When did that happen?”

I couldn’t help giggling. “Maybe your arms got shorter?”

He bent his knees, trying to reach, the tips of his fingers barely touching when he leaned forward, bending me with him and I felt a popping sensation. “Wait,” I said, pushing him back up. “Something just happened.”

“What?” he said, frantic. “What is it?”

“I don’t know,” I said, pressing my hands to my stomach as a wave of pain rippled over it. “I think my water broke. I think I’m having contractions.”

“Okay,” he said, jumping out of the shower and grabbing a towel to wrap me in. “Okay. Okay. Let’s get you to the bed.” He scooped me up and carried me against his dripping wet chest.

“I can walk,” I said. “I’m okay. We need to time them.”

“Right.” He lunged for his phone to keep track. “When did this start? Just a minute ago, or were you feeling contractions before that?”

“I don’t know. I mean, my back ached when I woke up, but I thought I slept wrong. Maybe that’s a contraction?”

“Oh, God,” he said, “we don’t know what we’re doing. We haven’t been through the class yet. Should I call the doctor? Should I get Bess?”

I grabbed his arm, shocked that he was so shaken. “Mr. Cool is starting to freak out. It’s okay right now. We’ll time them.”

“How is it that you’re the collected one? We’ve undergone some role reversal here.” He brushed wet hair back from my face. “I’m going to get your clothes. I don’t think you want to ride to the hospital naked.”

“I’m sure it’s a false alarm. We have four weeks still.”

Adrian eyed his phone then set it down like a ticking time bomb before getting up and tip-toeing through the room collecting our clothes. “I’m not about to explode,” I said. “You’re acting weird.”

“How am I supposed to act when you’re about to give birth to my baby?” He froze at the end of the bed and dropped his hands, a look of absolute reverence on his face. “You’re about to have my baby.”
A brilliant smile crossed his lips. “A year ago I was some punk ass kid taking you for a ride in my Porsche and banging your brains out every time I got the chance. Now look at me. I’m about to be a husband and father. It’s crazy—in the most awesome way—but unreal.”

“It is crazy and un—oh God.” I tensed and curled in on myself as the pressure and pain squeezed around my middle.

“Five minutes,” Adrian said. “When are we supposed to call the doctor?”

“I don’t know!” I yelled. “Figure it out! I’m a little busy here!” The pain was intense and this was only the beginning. “I can’t do this. I don’t want to do this. Make it stop, Adrian!”

He pulled on his boxer briefs with one hand while jabbing buttons on his phone with the other. “Googling it,” he said.

“Why aren’t we prepared?! How are we going to have a baby?! We suck!”

“Shit. It says five minutes apart lasting sixty seconds. How long has it been—never mind!”

It was still going on. “I’m not going to make it through this. I have a very low pain threshold. If I die, take care of the baby.”

“You’re not going to die. You’re brave and strong and scare the hell out of me most of the time.”

A knock sounded at the door. “Everything okay in there?” It was Trent. He’d slept in the room right next to ours.

“Kay’s in labor,” Adrian shouted.

The door burst open and Trent came in, shirtless in his underwear. “I have t
wo Daniel’s men standing here half naked,” I said, easing myself out of the fetal position. “And I’m barely covered by this towel.”

Adrian took my hand and noted the time on his phone. “That one sucked,” I said.

“We need to get you to the hospital.”

“I’ll tell Bess and Derek and call mom,” Trent said. “Might as well be good news the first time I talk to her in about a year.”

“Thanks, big brother—hey!” Adrian called before Trent could step out of the bedroom. “Can you work with Derek to get the birthday party show postponed?”

“On it,” he said, and darted out of the room.

“Help me up,” I said. “I’ve got four minutes to get dressed before I’m doubled over in agony again.”

Adrian helped me to my feet, then took my face between his hands. His eyes were electric with excitement. “Today we’re going to meet her, Kay. Today!”

I lifted my face to his and kissed him, pressing my lips to his as hard as I could. I wanted to soak him in and swallow his pride, his optimism and exuberance. I’d need it to get me through the hours of labor to come before we saw the baby’s sweet face.

“I hope she’s just like you,” I said, kissing the tip of his nose.

“You said she.”

“I did.”

“Let’s get you dressed, mama.”

Adrian

I was so freaking glad I was a man. It being a teaching hospital, a parade of doctors-in-training had been by to stick their hands in Kay’s vagina while numerous other classmates looked on behind them. Like it wasn’t bad enough to have her doctor doing that every hour.

We’d been in the room with her hooked up to every monitor and beeping contraption known to man for three hours. The contractions were still five minutes apart.

The doctor withdrew his hand from inside Kay and pulled off his gloves. “Everything still looks good. First babies can take their time. As long as mom’s blood pressure doesn’t rise and the baby’s heart rate stays strong, we’re in no danger and can wait as long as it takes.”

“Maybe
you
can wait as long as it takes!” Kay shrieked. “I want the epidural
now!”

“Two more centimeters and I’ll call the anesthesiologist,” the doctor said, in no way affected by the raging woman on the bed. “Giving you the epidural too early can slow down the contractions and do more harm than good.”

Kay pounded her fists on the mattress and growled.

The growl tipped me off that I was in over my head. “I’ll be right back,” I told her. “Two minutes.”

She gave me a look to kill on my way out the door and  yelled, “I’m glad you and your penis can walk out of here and take a break!”

Bess was in the waiting room with Derek. I got on my knees in front of her, clasped my hands and begged. “Please come in there with me. I will do anything you want.”

Derek took one look at my desperation, cringed and crossed his legs like he might never have sex again if it meant being in my shoes someday.

Bess nodded and swallowed hard.
“Let’s go in.”

I heard Derek mutter, “Oh Jesus,” as we turned away from the chairs.

“Your turn’s coming, my friend,” I called back to him.

“I’m sticking with the dog!”

Bess stepped into the room. “Karen? Are you okay?”

“For another two minutes and sixteen seconds,” she said, and crunched on an ice chip. “Did you come to put me out of my misery? I want an epidural or a brick to the head. Take your pick.”

“I don’t have either, but you’re—”

“I swear to God,” Karen said, and whipped her hair behind her head and pulled it into a pony tail with both hands, “if you tell me how strong I am or how this will all be over soon, I will never speak to you again!”

Bess arched an eyebrow and pursed her lips. “I was going to say, you’re a bitch and tell you to stop acting like a pussy and deal with it.”

They glared at each other for a second and my pulse throbbed in my neck. I should’ve stayed in the waiting room with Derek. Maybe we could’ve gotten vasectomies together.

Karen and Bess cracked up and started laughing like drunk, hysterical college girls on spring break. Bess lunged forward and kissed Kay’s sweaty forehead. “You got this. You know you do. Tough it out.”

When the next contraction hit, Bess held her hand and helped her breathe through it. Thank God someone knew the basics of Lamaze.

After another hour, the doctor came in and checked her again. She was dilated enough for the epidural and started crying in relief.

When it was in and Kay was pain-free, Bess went back out to the waiting room to sit with Derek. “It’s warm,” Kay said. “Everything from my waist down is warm and tingly.” She snuggled deeper under the blanket and closed her eyes. “Wake me up when it’s over.”

“Okay. You nap. I’ll be right here.”

I wat
ched her sleep for a long time. The day had been a blur up to this point and looking back, it was a shot to the gut that she had to suffer all the pain of bringing our baby into the world on her own. I wanted to take it from her.

I stroked her hair and lifted her hand to my mouth to kiss her fingers. I couldn’t imagine being more in love and more connected to anyone. “I love you,” I whispered. “We’re going to be great at this parent stuff, babe. I promise.”

A couple hours later, I woke in the chair by Kay’s bed with her shaking my shoulder. “It’s coming! Get the doctor!”

“What do you mean it’s coming?”

“I can feel it pushing! Get the freaking doctor or you’re going to have to deliver it!”

I streaked from the room to the nurses’ station. “My fiancé says the baby’s coming. Like now. She needs her doctor.”

The nurse wasn’t fazed. “I’ll see if I can find him and send him in. I think he might be on his dinner break.”

I didn’t know what to do. “If I go back in there without someone, she will kill me.”

“She was only four centimeters two hours ago. She’s not delivering yet. I’ll come in and check her.”

“Thank you.”

I pushed the door to Kay’s room open and went back in. “The nurse is on her way.”

She was propped up in bed with her arms locked beside her, palms flat on the mattress like she was holding her butt up. “I’m telling you, this kid is right there, ready to come out.”

The nurse breezed in. “Let me take a look.”

Kay scooted down and the nurse probed around, then her eyes widened and she looked between Kay’s legs. “You’re ten centimeters and the head’s right here. You need to start pushing. I’ll page the doctor.”

“I know! What did I say?” Kay yelled. Her eyes met mine and panic was all I saw. “Oh God. I’m so scared. This is it.”

I took her hand between mine. “You’re doing great. This is the last part. This is where we get our baby.”

The doctor rushed in. “Okay, Dad, grab a leg.”

Did he mean me? Grab what leg?

“Like this,” the nurse said, taking Kay’s left leg and bending it, pushing it up toward her chest.

I did the same with her right leg, not realizing I got to be a part of the action. “Okay,” the doctor said, “we’re heading into another contraction. When I say now, you’re going to lift your shoulders up and  push for a count of ten. Ready? Now!”

“One, two, three…” the nurse counted. “Push like you’re pooping!” the doctor said.

I couldn’t believe I was here and this was happening.

“Ten! Good job.”

“Another thirty seconds and we’ll do it again,” the doctor said.

Kay pushed for a little over an hour before the doctor said, “Here’s the head. One more time should do it. Take a look, Dad.”

I thought I’d be petrified to see the baby coming out of Kay’s vag, but adrenaline had me riding high. “Kay, she’s got a ton of hair.”