Ready. To. Have. The. Baby. I want to put it off for a week, preferably two.”
Another contraction hit her. She moaned. “Maybe if I sit down, it’ll go away.”
The doctor whipped out his phone and punched in a number. “E.R.? Send an orderly out to the staff lot with a wheelchair immediately. I’m with a pregnant nurse who’s in labor. If I’m not mistaken, she’s already in transition.”
Emma sank to a crouch. A groan ripped out of her. “Tell them to hurry.”
* * *
TWO HOURS LATER Emma gazed into the dark unfocused eyes of her brand-new baby. Her hair was plastered to her forehead and temples with sweat, she felt as if she’d run a marathon and her peritoneum was so sore she couldn’t move.
None of that mattered. Her baby was here. Her beautiful baby. Her boy. He’d been checked over by the doctors, bathed by the nurses and swaddled tightly in a pale blue blanket.
“You’re not Ivy. But you’re perfect.” She tucked her little finger beneath his starfish hand. Her heart clutched as his tiny fingers curled around hers. “What am I going to call you? I wasn’t prepared for a boy. And I definitely wasn’t ready for you to come three weeks early.”
She wasn’t ready in any sense of the word. Not with regard to her university courses, with her work—even the nursery wasn’t finished. “I was waiting for a pram to go on sale next week. It’s a beauty, with big silver wheels.”
“How’s mum and bub?” Sasha bustled into the room, beaming. “I’m so glad I was on duty when you came in. We’re getting a bed ready for you in a semiprivate room. It won’t be long now.” She strapped the blood pressure cuff around Emma’s arm and pressed a switch to inflate it. “Have you called Alana yet?”
“I will soon. She’ll be sorry she missed the birth.” As soon as Emma spread the word, she would be inundated with family and friends. Which would be wonderful—she couldn’t wait to show off her baby—but first she wanted a few precious moments alone with him.
Sasha made a note of the blood pressure on Emma’s chart and stuck a thermometer under her tongue. “What are you going to call him?”
“Don’t know,” Emma mumbled around the thermometer. “Got any suggestions?”
“I always think using a family name is nice. What’s your dad’s name?”
“Percy.” She made a face. “I’ve always liked the name William. If Holly had been a boy that’s what Darcy and I were going to name her.”
“That’s a good name. Does it have any significance?”
“It’s Darcy’s middle name.”
Sasha’s eyes narrowed. “I’ll hunt up a baby name book at the nurses’ station.” She rolled a bedside table with Emma’s purse on it within reach then left the room.
Emma pushed back her gown and put her baby to her breast. His mouth opened and closed and his tiny fist hit out blindly. “Come on, little guy.” She guided her nipple but although he mouthed it, he didn’t latch on. “Don’t worry. Not every baby can do that right away. We’ll figure it out.”
She reached for her purse and found her phone. Darcy answered on the fourth ring. She felt suddenly nervous and couldn’t speak.
“Emma? Are you there? I can see your caller ID.”
“I—I just wanted to let you know I had the baby a couple of hours ago.”
He was silent for three long beats. She could hear the clink of glasses in the background. Maybe he wasn’t sure if he heard right. “I said—”
“Was there a problem? Is that why you delivered early? Are you all right? And...and the baby?”
“I’m fine. The baby’s fine, too. I don’t know why he came early. Sometimes they just do.”
Again, there was a brief silence. “He?”
“Yes. I had a boy.” She paused. “I thought I would call him William. Not necessarily after you. I just like the name.” No response. She stroked her sleeping baby’s hair where it was stuck to his temple. The skin there was nearly transparent, traced with fine blue veins. “Darcy? Did you hear what I said?”
“I heard you.” His voice was gruff.
“Labor was really quick.” Briefly she related events, not sure if he wanted to hear this. But he listened as she told him about the parking lot and the urologist and being whizzed into the delivery room with no time to call Alana, her birthing partner. “The main thing is the baby is healthy. He’s seven pounds, two and a quarter ounces. His hair is thick and dark.