Total pages in book: 23
Estimated words: 21831 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 109(@200wpm)___ 87(@250wpm)___ 73(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 21831 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 109(@200wpm)___ 87(@250wpm)___ 73(@300wpm)
“Then it’s a good thing Dr. Charron is right down the hall, ready to help you deliver this baby.” I rolled her toward one of the birthing rooms. Hoping to distract her, I asked, “Do you know if it’s a boy or girl?”
“Our little pup is a boy.”
This big guy calling his soon-to-be-born baby a pup was one of the cutest things I’d ever seen. “Aw, that’s such a sweet nickname for your baby. Adorable. I normally hear things like peanut or bean.”
“Mm hmm,” she hummed with an impish gleam in her eyes that I didn’t understand. But that didn’t matter because we had more pressing matters to take care of.
“Are you pre-registered with the hospital?”
She nodded. “Yup, everything should be all set under Cressida Kemp. My birthing plan should be in there, but if not, Aaron knows what I want.”
“And I’ll be right by your side every second to make sure everything goes exactly to plan,” he promised.
I wheeled her into the room and over to the bed. “Great, after I check to see how dilated you are, I’ll pull up your records and let Dr. Charron know how you’re doing.”
“Hurry,” she urged, breathing through another contraction after Aaron and I helped her onto the bed.
“It’s going to be okay, sweetness,” he reassured her, wrapping her fingers around his hand so she had something to squeeze.
I was impressed that he didn’t complain—not even a grimace—when his fingers started to turn purple. “Let’s get your feet into the stirrups, and I’ll take a look to see where you’re at with dilation.”
It turned out to be a good thing that we moved quickly—and that she was wearing a skirt—because she was at ten centimeters. And the baby’s head was already crowning.
My plan to instruct her husband to help her change into a labor and delivery gown went out the window. Pressing the call button on her bed, I said; “It looks as though your son is in a rush to meet you, Cressida. I’m going to get the doctor in here right now.”
“Oh thank goodness,” she breathed. “I wasn’t kidding when I said I wasn’t sure how long I could hold on without pushing. It feels like a ring of fire down there.”
Kelly, the other nurse on the floor, rushed in, and I instructed, “Get Dr. Charron in here, stat. This baby is coming now.”
Kelly ran out of the room and returned with the doctor only a couple of minutes later. I used that time to get Cressida a little more comfortable. Luckily, she had planned to go without an epidural since there wasn’t enough time for one. Her labor and delivery went by freakishly fast for a first-time mother. Only twenty minutes later, she gave birth to their son. I immediately moved him to her abdomen for some skin-to-skin contact while I dried him, covering him with a warm towel and placing a cap on his head.
His father cut the umbilical cord, and a short while later, I was placing their new baby in his mother’s arms after he passed his Apgar test with flying colors.
“You did so good, sweetness. Andrew is perfect,” Aaron murmured, running his hands over his son’s cheeks, looking even smaller against his large fingertips.
I stepped back, intending to give the new family their privacy, but then I was overcome by an urge to capture the moment. “Would you like me to snap a few photos?”
“That would be wonderful.” Cressida beamed a smile at me. “My phone is in my purse.”
I grabbed the device and took a bunch of pictures before handing it over to Aaron. “Here you go.”
“Thanks,” he mumbled, his attention firmly fixed on the phone’s screen as he scrolled through the photos I took.
I was about to step out of the room when Cressida asked, “What did you think of Leyton?”
2
EVETTE
“Leyton?” I echoed, my brows drawing together. “Who’s that?”
Cressida tilted her head toward the door. “Our friend with the truck who drove like a bat out of hell to get me here before I gave birth to Andrew.”
“You have more important things to focus on than what I think of your friend.”
I shook my head, laughing softly. “I’ve been a nurse for almost three years, and this is the first time I’ve had a patient who just gave birth try to play matchmaker for me.”
“You know it’s not necessary, sweetness,” Aaron murmured, bending to brush a kiss against her cheek before doing the same to their son. “If Evette and Leyton belong together, that’s what will happen.”
Kelly returned with security bands to put on the new mom, dad, and baby. Then she placed Andrew in a bassinet and rolled him from the room to take his footprints, one for our records and another for the parents. Aaron followed her, unwilling to let his son out of his sight so soon after his birth.