Page 51 of Worth the Risk

Then, we were on the road. It didn’t take long to get to the hospital from our place, but she had three more contractions by the time we arrived. I used the car’s clock to time them, and they were five minutes apart. She was fully in active labor. Things were moving fast.

Okay, maybe I was starting to panic a little too. We knew this was coming any day, but it still felt sudden. We were about to become parents!

“Ford.” Zoey hissed my name between gritted teeth as I parked the car, reaching for my hand and squeezing it hard enough to bend my bones.

I just held on.

When that contraction was over, I popped my door open and rushed around to the other side. Zoey shook her head as I pulled her into my arms.

“No, I can walk.”

I just kissed her and started to make my way into the hospital.

Everything moved quickly after that. Ruby personally met us at the entrance, hustling down the hallway as Zoey moaned in pain. I didn’t have a clock to reference now, but there was no way five minutes had passed since the last one.

Our little pumpkin was coming soon.

Ruby helped me put Zoey in a gown, and she didn’t protest the help this time. Probably because she was in so much pain. Tears swam in her eyes, and she was flushed.

“It hurts,” she whimpered after a contraction that lasted fifty seconds. All I could do was hold her hand and kiss her forehead.

The doctor came in and checked her, announcing to my dismay that labor was too far along for the epidural. My heart plummeted to the floor but when I looked at Zoey, there was a determined spark in her eyes. The panic was gone. She’d found her strength at the final moment.

In no time, the doctor was telling her to start pushing. Ruby was at her other side, holding her other hand, and we counted to ten every time she pushed. She grunted and cried out, but she didn’t scream after the doctor told her to conserve her energy for pushing instead.

It felt like it took forever because every flinch and wince made my heart stop and my lungs feel too small. I wiped the sweat from her head and murmured encouraging words in her ear. Mostly, I told her that was the most amazing woman I’d ever known, and that I was so damn proud of her.

When the baby’s cry filled the room, the sound of joy that fell from Zoey’s lips was something that I knew I’d remember forever.

I cut the cord and they placed our daughter on Zoey’s chest. Seeing the two of them together was the most significant moment in my life. Nothing compared to this.

When we were alone, I took a brief moment to make a few phone calls. Everything had happened so fast that I didn’t have the chance to before. Leanne informed me that Ryan was at the firehouse on a shift, but she’d let him know right away. Jake picked up my call on the first ring, and I barely got the words out before he said he was on his way and hung up.

I smiled and shook my head. He’d come around to the idea of Zoey having my baby over the last eight months. Once I made it clear that I loved her and would never hurt her again, he gave his blessing.

I didn’t particularly care about having it, but it made Zoey happy.

Ryan wasn’t surprised when I told him about my relationship with Zoey. It turned out that he was more observant than I knew, and he’d picked up on a vibe between us the first time we were all at a party after we started dating.

When I asked why he didn’t say anything, he just shrugged and said that he wasn’t nosy.

Leanne, on the other hand, had no clue and had laid into Ryan about the importance of sharing vital gossip with his wife. In the end, we all had a good laugh, and I didn’t have to deal with another pissed off brother, so I was happy about that.

“Did you text Lance?” Zoey asked.

Ever since I joined his clinic seven months ago, Zoey and I referred to Dr. Lance Hayes by his first name. He wasn’t just my colleague; he was my friend. He was still an arrogant ass at times, but I’d grown used to it.

I found that I liked private practice. I liked having medical autonomy and more regular hours. It was a good fit for me.

“Yeah,” I said, putting the phone away as I came back over to where she was breastfeeding our daughter. “He says congratulations and that he’ll come by to visit tomorrow.”

I reached out and softly ran my finger over the soft brown hair on the baby’s head.

“So, what do you think?” Zoey asked. “Which name should we use?”

We’d pick out two girls’ names, but we couldn’t decide which one we liked more. So, we chose to wait until she was born to see which one felt right. “I think she looks like a Stella.”

“Stella,” Zoey repeated with a grin. “Yeah, she’s definitely a Stella.”