before, and he sure as heck wasn’t going to let his wife go through labor right there in the Ranch House. He jumped up and hurried around to her side of the bed. “Okay,” he said, putting his hand in hers. “How long has this been happening?”
“I think this is the second or third one,” she said, and as quickly as he’d woken, the pain left her face. She relaxed completely, her shoulders going down and the clenching of her fingers around his loosening. “Okay, it’s done.”
“We’re not anywhere near done, June-Bug,” he said. “Let’s get to the hospital.”
“They have to be close enough together,” she said.
“We’re thirty minutes away.” He stepped over to the dresser, where he draped his clothes most days. He pulled on a pair of pants and rushed into the closet to find a shirt. “Stay there,” he called over his shoulder. “Time how long between each one.” He should’ve done that, but Judge’s mind ran in fifteen different directions, and he didn’t know which avenue to pay attention to.
He needed to be dressed and shod to enter the hospital. June too. He’d work on that first. He pulled down the first shirt he saw and yanked it over his head. “What do you want to wear?”
“My stuff is on the settee,” she said, and when Judge returned to the bedroom, he found June sitting on the edge of the bed, preparing to stand.
“Wait for me,” he said, swiping up her clothes and jogging over to her. “Here, let’s get the nightgown off.” He lifted it over her head and handed her the maternity shirt she loved. It was pale pink, with a giant heart over the chest and belly. “Okay, nice and slow, love. Did your water break?”
“I don’t think so.”
Judge didn’t either, and he let her steady herself with her hands on his shoulders while he helped her into the pants. “How long?’
“Three minutes,” she said. “It’s too soon to go.”
“I’ll get your shoes,” he said. “In the kitchen?”
“I’ll follow you out there.”
He nodded and started for the door. His boots sat by the back door too, and he pulled them on before grabbing June’s sneakers. She still hadn’t come out of the hallway yet, and Judge went back toward it, calling, “June?”
She leaned against the wall, one hand on her belly and the other supporting her against the plaster. “This one just started,” she said, her voice pinched. “I think they’re four or five minutes apart.”
As Judge stood there, wondering how he could help his wife, he had the very distinct thought that he couldn’t. This was not his burden to bear. He could not have this child for her.
Get her to the hospital, streamed through his mind, and he took a step toward her. The discoloration in her jeans stopped him, and he said, “Uh, Juney, we need to go now.”
“I don’t think I can move,” she whimpered, and Judge wasn’t sure he could lift her. Before she was nine months pregnant, sure. Her eyes met his, and he was surprised by the level of fear there. She’d had a baby before, at a much younger age. “I don’t have a baby bag ready or anything.”
“We don’t need a baby bag,” Judge said, making an executive decision. “We’re going to the hospital right now. I’ll bring your shoes, but I don’t care if you wear them.” He took another step toward her and met her in the hallway as she groaned and closed her eyes. He cupped her face in his hands and said, “I’m going to get my wallet, and we’re going to go. Stay right here. Do not move.”
She panted in and out and nodded.
Judge hurried back into the bedroom, grabbed his wallet and then his phone, and rejoined his wife in the hall. “As soon as it’s over, tell me,” he whispered, keeping one solid hand on her back.
She nodded almost frantically now, and Judge stepped even closer to her so she could lean into his body for support too. She did, and he wrapped his arms around her and put both hands on their baby. “I love you,” he whispered. “This is going to be fine.”
“We still don’t have a name for him,” she whispered, her voice full of agony. “Please, tell me what you want to name him.”
Judge had said June could name their baby boy whatever she wanted, but she didn’t like that. She wanted him to have an opinion. He’d held out, because she and