Steven looked around at the show house and smiled. It was the most beautiful thing he had seen in a long time: a five bed four bath bachelor pad with a poolside dining room. He had even asked for black marble flooring to complement the eggshell walls. He could almost recall his days back in London when he had an all-white bachelor pad. As he looked around, he realized that what he had done was recreate his bachelor pad. Actually,
except for the one brick wall in the living room, it was his place all over again. He was still looking around when his client, sports agent Gary Follows walked in.
“Steven Davenport, long time,” Gary said with that boyish smile that drove women wild. Steven walked towards him and shook his hand before they
shared a brief manly hug.
“Nice to see you, Gary. Hope you didn’t have any problem getting here,” he said. Gary shook his head.
“Not at all. But I couldn’t help but notice the gentleman’s club around the corner,” he said feigning seriousness.
“Well, that right there is a great selling point. Maybe part of the reason why the price shot up a hundred grand,” he smiled.
Gary looked at him and laughed.
“You always knew me so well. Show me round this White Castle,” he said.
Steven smiled as they started walking out of the living room area.
“Well, this is the living area, completely furnished with a seven seater L-
shaped sofa and a fifty inch LED TV. Right here is a four seat dining table, 100% mahogany. The hardwood floors are original and the carpeting in the living room is thanks to our good friends in Turkey,” Steven started as they walked into the kitchen. “Right here is the six burner stove that comes with an oven. There is also the secondary oven on this side that also comes with a grill,” Steven said before he paused to look at Gary. “Perfect for those pizza parties and indoor barbecues you love so much.”
“So far so great, Davenport,” Gary said.
“Really? You haven’t seen the master bedroom yet,” Steven said as they walked up the stairs. They had just walked into the master bedroom when Steven’s phone rang. He reached for it and frowned when he saw Dana’s
number. “I’m sorry I have to get this,” he said as he stepped into one of the rooms. “Hey Dana…um…Julie? Why are you on Dana’s phone?” he asked when he heard his wife’s voice on the phone.
“Well, I think I am having the baby,” Julie said. He could hear that she was panting.
“Wait…what? Isn’t it too early…” Steven’s heart was suddenly threatening to beat out of his chest.
“Yeah but…. oh shit!” Julie never got a chance to finish her sentence.
“I’ll be at the hospital in ten minutes,” Steven said before he hung up. He walked back to the master bedroom and gave Gary an apologetic look.
“Hey, buddy. I’m really sorry but we’ll have to continue this tour later.”
“Everything okay, man? Because you look like you just saw a ghost,” Gary said.
“I think my son or daughter just doesn’t want to wait out the extra month,” he said before he practically ran out of the room.
*****
Julie was in a panic. As soon as she and Dana got to the hospital, Dr. Solloway got her into a private exam room. Dana was holding Julie’s hand as Dr. Solloway did her tests.
“Well?” Julie asked.
“Alright, your blood pressure is a little high but not alarming. I think you are just excited,” Dr. Solloway said.
Julie rolled her eyes.
“I don’t care about my blood pressure. I just want to know if I am having this baby today or not. And is the baby okay? I read that it’s a bad sign if they get restless before the due date and the pain…” Julie’s voice trailed off. The doctor smiled at her as she reached for the Doppler. She handed Julie the Doppler as she slowly ran the other end of the Doppler on her tummy.
“See that? That’s the baby’s heart rate and it looks pretty normal to me,” Dr. Solloway said. “And you are already in active labor. This baby is coming today,” she added with a smile.
Julie shook her head.
“Wait…there must be some mistake…it’s too early and…” she started saying before Dr. Solloway took her hand.
“Listen Julie. This is perfectly normal. We get cases of women giving birth earlier than their due date all the time,” she said. Julie nodded. “So, you need to relax because you are almost there.”
Julie took a long deep breath and leaned back on her pillow. Dana gave her hand a reassuring squeeze.
“You’re okay,” she said in a soft voice.
“You are just saying that to make me feel better,” Julie said as she took deep breaths.
“None of my kids were born on time,” she laughed as she looked at Julie. “You will be just fine,” she added just as Steven walked into the room.
“Hey you…are you okay?” he asked as he looked at Julie who was now putting on a brave face. She tried smiling but she soon cringed. “Okay we need to get her something…what can she have for the pain?” he asked as he looked at Dana.
“An epidural,” Dana said quickly.
Steven looked at Julie who was now nodding.
“You better get me that darn epidural. Right the fuck now!” she screamed as she grabbed fistfuls of the bedding. Steven looked at Julie and then at Dana. He didn’t know whether they could both see it but he was freaking out. He was still trying to figure everything out when a nurse walked in.
“Thank God you came. My wife needs an epi…that medication for pain,” he struggled to say. The nurse smiled at him.
“If you were not English, I would have hesitated but your accent makes everything sound so good,” she said as she added another pillow behind
Julie. “So Julie, are you consenting to an epidural?” the nurse asked. Julie nodded. “Alright. I’ll just wheel you to delivery and administer the epidural there,” the nurse said before she began wheeling Julie out of the exam room and into another room down the hall.
By the time they got there, Julie wanted to scream. She had always thought that labor was overrated but judging by what she was feeling, it was as real as being hit by a train.
“Okay. I’ll just need you to turn to your side,” the nurse said as she prepared a syringe and catheter. Steven helped Julie turn over and held her as the nurse warned about the pressure from the needle. “You are being
really brave Julie,” the nurse said as Julie buried her face in Steven’s
shoulder. She didn’t realize that she was digging her nails into his skin. She leaned back on the pillows when the nurse was done. There were small beads of sweat on her forehead.
“Okay Julie how are the contractions now?” the nurse asked as she looked at Julie who was cringing as yet another contraction waved over her. She was now breathing heavily and strands of her hair were beginning to stick to her face.
“Fucking intense,” Julie said. “How long is this supposed to take?” she asked as she writhed in pain.
The nurse looked at her and smiled.
“Fifteen to twenty minutes. That should give your muscles enough time to ease up,” the nurse said before she walked out. Steven wished he could take Julie’s pain away as he held her hand. Julie had been so engrossed in her own misery that’s he never even noticed that Dana was no longer in the room. She looked at Steven and forced a smile.
“I don’t even have any of my things here. I had packed my bag and everything,” she said.
Steven kissed her forehead and smiled.
“I already asked Chloe to bring it down here. You will be just fine,” he said in a low voice.
“I’m scared,” she said in a whisper.
“I know but the baby is fine and so are you. There is nothing more important to me than knowing that the two most important people in my life are fine,” Steven said as he looked at her. Julie closed her eyes again and leaned back against the pillows. Steven hated having to see her in so much pain. He felt helpless.
For the next few hours, Steven was not sure whether he wanted to be by
Julie’s side but he knew that the best thing to do at that moment was to stay by his wife’s side. Even though the epidural was supposed to help, he could still see the pain in his wife’s flushed cheeks. He wished there was more he could do but as Dr. Solloway advised, there was nothing much he could do except hold her hand. Dana had taken off and was now waiting in the
waiting room with Meg and Julie’s family. And just when he thought that the world was trying to hit him in the face, Dr. Solloway came in and
examined Julie. He could tell from the look on her face that all was not well. He felt his heart pounding hard in his chest.
“Steven can I see you outside?” Dr. Solloway asked. Now, Steven was more nervous than ever.
“What’s going on?” he asked when he stepped out.
“The baby is in breach,” Dr. Solloway said. Steven was confused but he knew that was not a good thing.
“What does that mean?” he asked.
“It means that the baby is coming out feet first rather than head first…but we’ve seen this before and I assure you that your wife is in great hands,” Dr. Solloway said. “I’m going to break the news to Julie right now…” she said. Steven nodded and followed her into the delivery room. He was
surprised at how composed Julie was even after hearing the news. He was not sure what happened next but the next thing he knew, a nurse was holding smelling salts under his nose and the he could hear a baby crying. He looked up to see Dr. Solloway smiling at him.
“Mr. Davenport, would you like to hold your son?” she asked with a smile.
The end… but there’s more:
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