“I paged your doctor, Ellery, but I haven’t heard anything yet,” Henry said.

“Who’s your doctor, sweetie?” Nurse Bailey asked.

“Dr. Keller!” I yelled through the pain.

“Dr. Keller had a family emergency yesterday and had to leave town for a few days. His partner, Dr. Reed, is taking care of his patients. I’ll go call him,” she said as she patted my hand and left the room.

The contraction ended, and I felt like I could breathe again. Connor sat on the edge of the bed and softly kissed my lips.

“I love you,” he whispered.

“I love you too,” I whispered back.

Henry walked over and explained to us how the fetal monitor worked. He showed us at which point a contraction was starting, when it was at its peak, and when it was ending. Connor looked intrigued as he studied it. Peyton and Henry left the room to grab some coffee and to bring me back some ice chips.

“Can you believe Nurse Bailey is my nurse?”

“No, baby, I can’t believe it. But I’m glad she is.”

“Me too.” I smiled.

“Look at our daughter’s heartbeat,” Connor said as he pointed to the number on the fetal monitor.

I smiled as I looked over at it and another contraction began. I grabbed Connor’s arm and dug my nails into his skin. Did I feel bad? No, the pain of my nails is nothing compared to the pain of childbirth.

“Breathe, baby.” He smiled at me as he stroked my forehead.

Peyton and Henry walked into the room with a cup of ice chips. She took one out and started rubbing it across my lips.

“Maybe this will help you feel better,” she said.

“The only thing that’s going to help me feel better is getting this baby out of me!”

Nurse Bailey walked in and said she needed to examine me. Henry and Peyton stepped out of the room again while Connor sat on the edge of the bed next to me, holding my hand. She explained that she needed to see how much I was dilated. When she finished, she looked at me and pursed her lips.

“Hmm, you’re only dilated to one centimeter. You said your water broke while you were at the restaurant, correct?”

“Yes, I was sitting down at the restaurant when it broke,” I replied.

Nurse Bailey looked directly at Connor. “You didn’t by chance have sex today, did you?”

I looked at Connor, and he looked at me. “This is your fault!” I said.

“My fault? You’re the one who invited me to take a shower with you before we left for the restaurant.”

“Just relax, Ellery. Everything will be fine. I don’t want you to worry,” she said as she walked out of the room.

A few hours passed, and I wasn’t any further along. The contractions were getting worse, and Nurse Bailey stepped out of the room to call Dr. Reed. Henry was keeping a close eye on the fetal monitor, as was Connor.

I was lying on my side, and Connor wiped my forehead with a cool cloth. A contraction had just ended. I let out a deep breath and closed my eyes. I felt Connor kiss me softly on the forehead as he pushed back my hair.

“Get ready, Elle. Here comes another contraction,” he said as he stared at the monitor.

“Why do you have to tell me, Connor?!” I yelled.

“I want you to be prepared so you can start your breathing. I don’t want you to be caught off-guard.”

Every bit of me wanted to kill him at that moment. The pain with each contraction was intensifying, and I felt like my body was trying to rip itself in two. As always, he was right and another contraction came.

“Breathe, Elle. Come on, baby; deep breaths.”

“Connor, I think you better lay off; she’s getting pissed,” Peyton said.

I started screaming in pain. I promised myself that I wasn’t going to be one of those women, but at that moment, I didn’t care. I didn’t care who heard me, and I didn’t care what they thought. Connor was still telling me to breathe, and that was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

“Tell me to breathe one more time, and I swear I’ll castrate you, Connor Black!” I screamed.

I heard Peyton burst into laughter, and Connor looked at me.

“Wow, Elle. That was uncalled for,” he said.

“No! What’s uncalled for is you making me feel worse than I already do. I don’t want to know when another contraction is coming! I don’t want you to tell me to breathe! I know you’re trying to help me, but all I need from you, babe, is silence.”

Connor stared at me and took my face in his hands. “I’m sorry, baby. I didn’t mean—”

“I know you didn’t, Connor. It just hurts so badly, and I want it to be over,” I said as I interrupted him.

“I know you do, and I can’t wait to see our daughter. She’s going to be beautiful, just like her mother.” He smiled.

A tear fell from the corner of my eye and down my cheek as another contraction started; the worse one yet. I looked over at Henry.

“Please, Henry, give me an epidural. Please, I’m begging you.”

“Ellery, I can’t. You’re not dilated yet. I’m sorry,” he said as he shook his head.

I wanted to die. This baby was tearing me apart inside, and something didn’t feel right. Nurse Bailey walked in and told Henry that Dr. Reed asked her to call him when I was dilated to five centimeters. Connor sighed, got up from the bed, and walked over to Henry.

“How much longer is she going to be like this?” he asked.

“Every woman is different, Connor. It’s hard to tell. She’s not even dilated to three yet. This could go on for another twenty-four hours.”

“WHAT!” I exclaimed.

Peyton took my hand and started rubbing it softly. “Don’t worry, Elle. We’re here to help you through this.”

Connor turned and looked at me. He tilted his head and gave me a small smile as he walked over and sat on the edge of the bed. “If I could have this baby for you, I would. I hate seeing you in so much pain,” he said as he grabbed my hand and brought it to his lips.

“I love you, Connor,” I whispered as I closed my eyes and braced myself for the next contraction.

“I love you, Ellery.”

Chapter 2 Connor

Seeing Ellery in pain like that was killing me. My heart ached for her with every scream she let out and every tear that fell from her eyes. I called my mom, dad, and Cassidy to let them know that Ellery had gone into labor. They stopped in the room for a few minutes to talk to her and then took seats out in the waiting room. Ellery and I had discussed that we didn’t want anyone else in the room during the delivery. Peyton had a hard time with our decision at first, but then understood. As Peyton and Ellery talked in between contractions, Henry asked me to step out into the hall.

“I don’t want you to worry, but Ellery isn’t dilating like she should be. I’m getting concerned because her water broke, and I don’t want to risk an infection setting in. I think we need to let her get up and do some walking around to try and get her dilated.”

“You tell me not to worry, but you’re worried about an infection,” I said.

“I’ll call Dr. Reed and ask him what he advises,” he said as he put his hand on my shoulder. “I’m watching her and the baby very carefully.”

“Thanks for keeping me posted, Henry.” I sighed as I walked back into the room.

Ellery was lying on her side, panting and trying to breathe through another contraction as she squeezed Peyton’s hand. I walked over to her, sat on the edge of the bed, and grabbed her other hand.

“Ellery, look at me. I need you to focus on me, not the pain.”

She nodded her head and looked at me as her pain continued to spin out of control.

“Our daughter is killing me, Connor. She’s going to KILL me!” she screamed as the contraction came to an end.

Ellery closed her eyes. I took the cloth from the table and gently wiped her forehead with it.

“It’s okay, baby. I’m here with you, and I’ll get you through this. We’ve been through so much, and this is nothing.”