It suddenly felt way too hot. Her throat was dry, and she felt like everything was starting to spin.
Hunter’s arms immediately went around her, and he led her over to the nearest set of chairs and sat her down. Crouching in front of her, she could see the concern on his face. “Okay, deep breaths,” he said softly. “Just focus on breathing and I’ll go get you some water. I’ll be right back.”
But Violet knew all the water in the world wasn’t going to help her.
Breathe. Just breathe…
Before she knew it, Hunter was back and handing her a cup of water. She drank it because she knew he wanted her to, but all it managed to do was kill three seconds.
When he sat down beside her, he took one of her hands in his. “What’s going on?”
Later, she knew she’d be mortified by the blathering she was about to do, but…she couldn’t seem to stop it.
“This wasn’t supposed to happen!” she cried. “I mean, I knew Katie was going to have the baby, but…we never talked about me being the one with her! I don’t know anything about birthing a baby! There were no classes or videos or anything!” Looking at him as the hysteria threatened to overwhelm her, she went on. “Shouldn’t she have someone who has a clue about childbirth be with her? Shouldn’t I have some sort of qualifications? You know what I’m qualified for? Booking the baby its first vacation! That’s it!” Groaning, she got to her feet.
“Violet, it’s not…”
But she wasn’t listening. “Not once did Katie say I was her labor coach! I just assumed there was going to be someone else with her! Why would she think I could do this?” By now, she was practically in his face as more insanity poured out. “I was here to be a distraction for her–someone to keep her company–not someone to remind her to breathe or push or…” She shuddered. “Or cut the cord!”
Slowly, Hunter came to his feet and gently grasped her by the shoulders. “Vi, stop. It’s okay. You’re spiraling.”
“You don’t understand! I…”
He gave her a gentle shake. “I do understand, okay? I get it. But you need to pull it together because Katie needs you. Now!”
Reaching up, she frantically cupped his face. “You have to come with me, Hunter! Please! I…I don’t want to mess this up!”
For a minute, she seriously thought he was going to tell her no, but with a curt nod, he stepped back and took one of her hands in his and led them across the lobby and back to the room where Katie was finishing getting checked in. When she spotted the two of them, she looked confused.
“If it’s okay with you, Kate,” he said carefully, “I’m coming up too. Violet’s a little nervous and…”
“It’s fine,” she replied around another contraction, and once she seemed to relax, their little group began making their way up to labor and delivery.
The nurse was talking to Katie, and Violet knew she had a death grip on Hunter’s hand. By the time they were in the elevator, she was beginning to resign herself to what was happening.
“You’re going to be fine,” he whispered in her ear. “You’ve got this. Just do what you’ve been doing since you came–distract Katie and encourage her through the contractions. That’s it.”
Turning her head and going up on her tiptoes, she whispered back, “I don’t want to…you know…see the baby being born. I can stay up near her head, right?”
“Oh, my God, I can totally hear you,” Katie whined. “Yes, you can stay up by my head, no, you don’t have to see anything.” Then she glanced at Hunter. “And you better not see anything!”
Violet breathed a sigh of relief even as Hunter promised to keep his eyes at the head of the bed.
And once they were all gowned up and in the delivery room, the smile Hunter gave her told her he believed in her and that he was there for her.
Other than Katie, no one else had ever made her feel that way.
This so wasn’t the way he envisioned his night going, but…here he was.
His father was picking up Eli and taking him home with him, and Hunter had no idea when he’d be leaving the hospital.
Although things seemed to be moving along rapidly. Katie had gone from no signs of labor just a few hours ago, to being at eight centimeters. Glancing over at Violet, he noted she still looked a little pale, but she was chatting away with Katie and doing a great job of keeping her calm.
So what am I doing here?
Then he remembered. He was here for Violet.
Technically, it should have been that he was here for Katie’s benefit, and he was. Just in a kind of roundabout way.
One hour turned into two without much happening, but then…shit got real.
“Okay, Katie. Here we go,” her OB said calmly. “Let’s get ready to meet your baby.”
Hunter had been there when Eli was born and had delivered three babies as part of the EMT squad, but this was the first time he wasn’t sure what to do with himself. Violet was standing at Katie’s right shoulder, so he opted to go to the left, and together they held her hands and helped her sit up and became a synchronized cheering squad while she pushed.
It took a little over an hour for little Benjamin Kristoff Holden to make his way into the world, and once Katie got to hold him, everyone relaxed.
Unable to help himself, he asked, “Kristoff?”
Smiling, Katie nodded. “We promised Kira she could help name the baby. She picked Elsa for a girl and Kristoff for a boy.” She looked up at him and winked. “We never said it would be the baby’s first name, so technically…”
“You’re not breaking any promises,” he finished for her.
“Exactly.” With a very contented sigh, she kissed her son’s tiny head.
Hunter looked over at Violet and saw tears streaming down her face as she looked down at Katie and the baby.
Without being too obvious, he walked around to her side of the bed and luckily the nurses were scurrying around to help mother and baby and it was the perfect time to step out into the hallway. As soon as the door was shut behind them, he pulled Violet into his arms and she sobbed for several minutes.
Tucking a finger under her chin, he smiled down at her. “You okay?”
“It was…it was amazing,” she said softly, wiping her eyes. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like it. I wanted to scream at the doctor to help more and to take away Katie’s pain, but when he held Benjamin up, it was like…everything stopped.” Her eyes were wide with wonder as she looked up at him. “He was both gross and beautiful all at once, and it was crazy to believe I was standing there as he was making his entrance into the world.”
“It’s pretty incredible.”
“And I got to be there for it.” She started tearing up again. “Brian missed it, but I got to be there to see his son born. How unfair is that?”
“Yeah, I was thinking the same thing about myself.” He held her tighter, kissing the top of her head. “I’m proud of you.”
She pulled back slightly. “You…you are? Why? I was a blathering idiot earlier.”
“No, you weren’t. You were scared, and you were worried you weren’t going to be able to help your friend. Why? Because you’re a good person, Violet.” Another kiss. “You did an amazing job in there. Katie’s lucky to have you as a friend.”