She smiles warmly and takes my hand. I bite my bottom lip to stifle my smile. These older midwifes obviously don’t take shit from young doctors. She doesn’t give a damn who he is.
“Hello, Natasha. Why are you here, my dear?”
“Um.” I swallow my nerves. “I think my waters may have broken but it is too early.”
“How far along are you?”
“Thirty-six weeks.”
She smiles calmly. “I see.” Oh, this midwife is good, really good. She looks between Cameron and Joshua. “And who is the father?”
“Me,” Joshua snaps, affronted that there could be any doubt.
She smiles again. “And what is your name?”
Bridget and I exchange looks. She doesn’t know who we are. Thank God for that.
“Joshua,” he replies.
“And this is your family?” She looks between Bridget and Cameron, and they both nod.
“Ok, lets take you through here with Joshua to run some tests. Your family can wait in the waiting room.”
Cameron and Bridget wave us off nervously and take a seat in the waiting room.
Nancy leads us into a hospital room and opens the bathroom door to the side. “Just go into the bathroom, dear, and remove your clothes and underwear, then put this gown on.” She retrieves a gown from the cupboard and passes it to me. I nod nervously and do as she instructed. I put it on and take my place on the bed. She wheels a trolley in and attaches pads that are hooked up to monitor, to my stomach. The baby’s heartbeat starts to bleep a little noise. “Ah, there it is. A beautiful strong little heartbeat.” Nancy smiles.
My relieved eyes turn to focus on Joshua, and he smiles his first smile in two hours, squeezing my hand.
“The doctor is on his way and he will inspect you when he gets here.”
“Ok,” I murmur.
“Here is the buzzer.” She hands me a control thingy from above the bed. “If you need anything, just call me.”
We both smile. “Thank you.” She leaves the room.
Joshua and I sit for what seems like forever. Joshua is silent and pensive as he sits in the chair next to the bed.
I look around the room nervously. “This isn’t like the rooms we inspected, is it?”
“Hmm.” Joshua groans deep in thought.
“We don’t have a spa bath. I thought we were supposed to have a spa bath?”
“Hmm.” Joshua repeats, as he stands and starts to pace at the end of the bed.
“Do you think we will get in the spa?”
He doesn’t answer me, instead running his hands through his hair nervously.
“Are you listening to me?”
“Hmm.”
We hear a commotion down the hall and someone crying.
Joshua’s face falls and he goes pale.
“Wonder what’s going on down there?” I whisper. “Go and see.”
Joshua frowns. “What?”
“Open the door and see who is crying. I want to know if it’s a mother giving birth.”
“Oh, for fucks sake, I’m not doing that. Mind your own business!” he snaps in frustration.
We hear Nancy’s calm voice. “Come back into the room, dear, its ok.”
We hear more tears and a door slam.
I tap my foot on the bed impatiently as Joshua sits back in his chair. He rubs his index finger back and forth across his lips in his classic thinking pose. He is silently freaking out.
The room is quiet and still. “This is boring, isn’t it?” I mutter.
Joshua blows out a breath and rolls his eyes.
“Do you think I’m in labour?” I ask.
“Natasha” He sighs.
I smile cheekily. “Yes, my Lamborghini?”
“Why don’t you have a sleep? This is going to be a very long day if you don’t relax.”’
I screw up my face. “As if I could sleep.” I continue to tap my foot in excitement as I sit in my bed and look around.
He scratches the back of his head in frustration. I know he wants to snap at me and say ‘shut up, I’m thinking’ but he’s holding his tongue.
“Have you eaten?” he asks.
“No, I’m good.”
“Are you hungry?”
“Nope.”
“You will need your strength later.”
“I know,” I reply casually.
“Close your eyes and rest, Presh.” He rubs his hand on my thigh.
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.