He picks it up and quickly skims over it. “Yeah, when they’re in labor!”
“Sebastian, I am not in labor. Do you hear me? Sam is eight hundred miles away right now, fighting Carey Valentine,” I say through my teeth, looking up at the TV. “I am not in labor.”
He puts the pamphlet down and presses his lips together. “Yeah. Okay.” He pushes a button on his watch and sits back down on the couch.
“What are you doing?”
“Timing your contractions.”
“Why?”
“The brochure says that when you have contractions five minutes apart for an hour, you’re having a baby.” He holds his wrist up. “Time’s started.”
“I’m not having a baby,” I say, leaning against the arm of the couch.
“I sure hope not,” he says, glancing over at me, unable to hide the concern in his voice.
I put my hand on my stomach and take a slow, calming breath before sitting back down. I am not having you tonight, do you hear me?
“Yes!” Bas shouts when Sam knocks Carey back against the ropes.
This is definitely not the same Sam Cole we saw in Las Vegas, I’ll give you that…Carey Valentine fans did not like that hit, but Sam seems pretty happy about it.
Sam dodges several punches that Carey returns and then he throws a left hook at his face.
“Hell yeah! Show him who the fucking champ is!” Bas shouts, and I give him a surprised look.
“You’ve been hanging around Miles too much.”
Sam throws another left hook that leaves Carey with a bloody nose.
“Wooo! Yeah!” I shout, sitting up and clapping, but another contraction soon takes control of my body, making every muscle tighten. No, no, no, no, no! I lean back against the couch again and close my eyes.
And this is why Sam Cole is such a dangerous boxer. There aren’t many southpaws in history that can hit as hard as he can.
“Lucy, what are you doing?”
I shake my head back and forth. “Mmm-mmm.”
“Mmm-mmm, what?”
“Shhhh. Don’t talk.”
“Are you having another contraction?”
I don’t answer.
“How long have you been having it?”
I still can’t answer him.
“Lucy Marie Bennett.”
After a few more seconds, I open my eyes and he resets his watch. “Tell me when the next one happens.”
I inhale a deep breath and sit up. “Okay.”
Sam Cole wins the second round.
“Yes!” Sebastian makes a fist and I smile. “He’s going to win tonight, Luc,” he says excitedly, and I can’t help but feel the way I used to feel when Sam fought, before the Crawford fight. Hopeful.
Carey Valentine looks unfazed by the first two rounds as they make their way back to the center of the ring. Sam has done a great job protecting himself tonight, especially after the beating he took in Las Vegas.
I tap Sebastian’s arm and he looks at me. “What?”
I nod and close my eyes.
“Another one? Already? Shit, Lucy.”
I ball my fists up and press them against my thighs as my stomach turns into a tight ball that seems to be squeezing my organs and uterus together.
“Thirty seconds,” Bas says, and I grab his hand. “Forty seconds,” he says, and I squeeze it harder, trying to will the contraction away. “A minute.”
“Shit!” I say, keeping my grip on Bas’s hand. I huff loudly and fall back against the couch when it finally passes.
“A minute and ten seconds. Lucy—”
“I’m not in labor,” I pant, shaking my head back and forth.
And Sam Cole has won another round.
I open my eyes and see him sitting in the corner of the ring, covered in sweat, but there’s no blood that I can see. “He’s winning, Bas,” I say, smiling.
He glances at the TV and nods, then he looks at me again. “Lucy, if you have another contraction in the next two minutes, I’m calling the doctor.”
“I won’t.” I give him a weak smile. “I promise.”
He gives me a doubtful look.
“I promissssss,” I say through my teeth as another contraction pulls me up off the couch.
He huffs. “You promised!”
“I’m not…in labor,” I grit through my teeth.
He stands up and pulls his phone out of his pocket. “Oh, my God. We have to tell Sam. I have to call Miles.”
I hit his hand with my balled-up fist and knock his phone to the floor. “Don’t you dare.”
He picks up his phone and puts his hand on his hip. “Lucy, if you’re in labor, he needs to know.”
I look at him like he’s grown a second head. “Are you kidding?” I ask, looking up at the TV. “He’s in the middle a fight. A career-defining fight. And I am not in labor,” I say for the hundredth time. “It hasn’t even been an hour. They’re going to go away.” As soon as I say it, another contraction grips me.
Sebastian helps me back to the couch and he sits beside me quietly, until it passes.
“I’m not in labor,” I cry, accepting that I might actually be. “I can’t be in labor. Dr. Fletcher said that we still had time. He told Sam to go to New York.”
Bas nods and takes a deep breath. “Honey…” He wraps his hand around mine and says softly, “I know what your doctor told you, but I think you’re in labor. And it’s going to be okay.” He smiles softly. “We’re not going to panic and we’re not going to freak out, because everything’s going to be fine. We just need to breathe.” He blows out a slow breath. “We both just need to breathe.”
I nod and swallow down the fear that’s racing through my veins. “Okay.”
“I need the number to your doctor’s office. Where’s your phone?” he asks calmly.
“It’s in the kitchen.”
“Okay, I’ll go get it.” He gets up slowly and smiles softly. “Just stay calm and try to relax.”
As soon as he’s gone, another contraction wraps around me all the way to my back.
I don’t hear Sebastian return, but I feel his hand wrap around mine. “You’re doing great,” he says, holding my hand until it’s over.
I open my eyes and look at him. “They really hurt.”
“I know. You have to breathe through them, okay?”
“I’m trying.”
“Okay,” he says, handing me my phone. “Let’s call your doctor.”
I scroll through my contacts searching for the number.
Sam Cole takes a hard hit to the face.
My head snaps up.
“He’s fine, Lucy. It’s the fourth round and he’s blocked almost every hit. I need you to focus and find your doctor’s number.”
“Okay,” I say, pulling it up.
Sebastian takes my phone and holds it to his ear. “Hi, this is Sebastian Ford. I’m calling for Lucy Bennett, who’s a patient of Dr.…”
“Fletcher.”
“Dr. Fletcher…She seems to be in labor…Yes, we’ve been timing them…They’re less than five minutes apart, actually…Okay, thank you.”