Total pages in book: 65
Estimated words: 63786 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 319(@200wpm)___ 255(@250wpm)___ 213(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 63786 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 319(@200wpm)___ 255(@250wpm)___ 213(@300wpm)
EPILOGUE
The cry comes from very deep within me.
“It’s okay, zayka, we’ll be at the hospital in fifteen minutes,” Lev tries soothing me.
But I don’t have fifteen minutes.
The baby is coming.
“You need to stop the car,” I cry to Feliks. “I won’t make it to the hospital.”
Twenty minutes ago, my water broke without warning, so Lev had Feliks drive while he sat with me in the back of the Escalade. We weren’t worried to begin with. After all, I didn’t get my first contraction until I climbed in the car. But ever since that very first one, they’ve come on hard and fast.
I let out another roar. It’s like I’m being pulled apart from the inside out.
How is it that my contractions have gone from zero to a thousand in mere minutes? Isn’t labor supposed to take hours? How is it that I wasn’t even thinking about contractions an hour ago, but now I’m wondering if I’m going to give birth on the side of the road?
Oh my God, I’m going to give birth on the side of the road.
“Pull the fuck over,” I yell in a voice I don’t even recognize.
Feliks looks at Lev in the rearview mirror for guidance. “Don’t look at him,” I growl. “He’s not the one about to squeeze a goddamn watermelon out of his vagina.”
Lev squeezes my hand. “My love, we need to get you to the hospital.”
“There’s no time. She’s coming.” I reach down between my legs. “I can feel her.”
Lev looks at Feliks. “Pull over and call the hospital. Tell them what’s happening and where we are.”
Feliks does as his cousin tells him to and immediately calls the hospital while Lev tries to make me comfortable in the back seat.
Panicked, I look up at him. “Lev, tell me I’m not about to have our baby in the back seat of this car.”
He gently parts my thighs, and even though his face remains calm and unreadable, his eyes tell a different story.
“It appears so,” he says calmly. “But it’s going to be okay, my love. I’ve got this.”
Another contraction racks my body, and I let out an almighty cry.
I start to pant. “Do you know what to do? Have you ever helped a woman deliver her baby?”
He gives me a charming grin. “There is a first time for everything.”
I grab him as another contraction hits and grit my teeth. “Now is not the time for first times.”
Oh God. This is really happening.
Feliks, who is standing outside the car, clears his throat. “As it happens, I do have experience in this area.”
“What do you mean?” I snap.
“My family might be bratva, but before that, we were farmers. I grew up on a dairy farm and helped deliver more than my fair share of calves.”
“I’m not a cow,” I cry, tears and sweat sliding down my face.
Feliks grins. “I have experience bringing human babies into the world too. When I was sixteen, I had to deliver my neighbor’s twins sons. Long story. The short version is we were in a flood and miles from medical help, and I was the only one around who could do it.” He shrugs. “Sometimes you’ve just got to do what you’ve got to do.”
“You’re not delivering this baby,” Lev says possessively.
“Why not?” I demand between gritted teeth.
“I’m thinking of your modesty, zayka. You might feel different about it later.”
I’m a sweaty mess whose insides feel like they’re being pulled out of her. I don’t have time for his possessiveness.
I grab his collar. “I don’t give a rat’s ass if the entire team of the New York Rangers is down there having a look at my coochie right now. You let him get down there and help get this baby out of me.”
He looks pained. I know he’s trying to protect me from whatever embarrassment I might feel later. But right now I need him to back away and let Feliks do what he’s got to do.
He reluctantly agrees and moves aside so his cousin can deliver this baby. He walks around to the other passenger door and slides in behind me. I lean against his powerful body and feel instantly safer. I can do this.
Crawling into the backseat, Feliks does the sign of the cross and gives the man above a nod before looking between my legs.
“I need to push,” I pant.
He nods. “I can see the head, so I’m going to need you to take a deep breath and then push. Can you do that?”
I nod and suck in a deep breath, then push with all my might.
“We have the head,” Feliks says with a big smile. “Next will come the shoulders, so I’m going to need you to give me another big push.”
I do as he says. I push hard. And then again.
“Okay, you’re doing really good, Brooke,” Feliks says. “We’re almost there. But I need another big push from you.”