I smile mischievously. I’m going to play with him a bit. “Maybe we should have sex, Joshua. That would be cool, right? And it would take my mind off things?”
His face falls in horror. “Natasha. That is the absolute furthest thing from my mind, and you have just cemented what I always thought.”
I smile broadly. “And what did you always think?”
“You are a bona fide sex maniac.”
I raise my eyebrows. “Takes one to know one. I learnt from the best.”
Joshua closes his eyes and pinches the bridge of his nose. God, it’s so fun annoying him when he’s so stressed out.
After an extended time, Dr. Walton walks in with a nurse. “Hello, Joshua and Natasha.” He smiles calmly.
Joshua stands and shakes his hand. “Hello.”
“Hi,” I say through a smile.
He starts to read the printout from the monitor attached to my stomach. He smiles. “This is a bit earlier than we expected, isn’t it?”
“Yes.” I nod.
Joshua holds his breath. I’m expecting him to turn blue at any moment.
“I’m just going to examine you.” He pulls on a pair of gloves. “Pull your legs back, Natasha.”
He pulls my gown up around my waist.
Joshua cringes and drops his head, openly freaking out now.
“I’m alright, Joshua.” I smile as I hold my hand out for him.
He nods once. That was his shut up nod.
The doctor puts lube on his hand and goes in, feeling around, while both Joshua and I hold our breaths.
He smiles broadly and takes off his gloves. “Well, my dear, your water has broken.”
“Oh,” I mutter, I really did think it was a false alarm.
Joshua frowns. “Isn’t it too early? Can we stop it?”
“No, it will be ok. Once the amniotic fluid is lost, we need to go to the birth plan.”
I frown. Shit.
“The baby is relatively big, so I can’t see any problems with it at this stage. It’s actually more dangerous to delay.”
“Ok.” I nod.
“Now you have two options.” The Dr. continues.
“What?” Joshua asks too quickly.
“You haven’t had any contractions yet, have you?”
I shake my head. “No.”
“Well, we can either wait for you to go into labour naturally, which may take a while, seeing how you are this early.”
“How long is a while?” Joshua frowns.
He shrugs. “Hard to say, but you are not dilated at all, so I would assume up to twelve hours.”
Joshua’s face falls in horror. “Twelve hours before she even goes into labour?”
“Yes.”
“What’s the other option?” Joshua asks as his eyes flick to mine.
“We could put you on a drip and speed up the process.”
“Induce me?” I ask.
“Yes.”
My eyes hold Joshua’s, and the worry on his poor face makes my decision. I want this done. I want our baby in our arms.
“I would like to be induced, please, if you are sure that’s ok for the baby?”
“Yes, of course.” Dr. Walton smiles.