Meant To Be Mine
Epilogue #2
Sarah King
*No sharing or reproduction of any kind without express permission of the author*
Ben
Had it really been three years? Three years since I’d woken up from a horrific accident. Three years since I made the best decision of my life and asked Callie to marry me. Some days it seemed like only yesterday while others it felt like a lifetime ago.
As I got home from work and let myself into our home, I looked for my wife. My wife. It still brought a smile to my face to think of Kat as my wife. “Oh, honey, I’m home!”
When she didn’t immediately answer, I went in search of her. I found her stretched out on our bed, fast asleep. Her hands were resting protectively over her swollen belly. Standing there, I just had to stare. She was so beautiful, it took my breath away.
I was so proud of her. She’d completed her degree and received certification in physical therapy. Callie had worked all the way up until last week when she finally agreed to go out on maternity leave. My wife liked to pretend she was super woman, but I could see the toll working all day on her feet was taking on her.
Closing the door gently, I walked into the bathroom to clean up before I made dinner. With Logan making me part-owner at the shop, I was busier than ever, but still tried to make sure I was home early every night to take care of Callie. It had taken some getting used to, but I liked to think I’d gotten a handle on this whole domestic thing.
A little while later, I had steaks in the oven while I heated up some sides. As I expected, the smell of food woke my wife from her nap.
“Is that steak I smell?” Her arms wrapped around my waist and she pressed a kiss to my back. A slight nudge moved against me.
Turning, I first acknowledged my little nudger. “And hello, to you, too.” I pressed a kiss to Callie’s belly and she giggled in response. “Are you done baking in there? Daddy is excited to meet you.”
Callie sighed and placed a hand to her back. My eyes followed the movement. “You okay, Kat? Need to sit down?”
“I’m fine.” She reassured me with a kiss and grabbed a bottle of water from the refrigerator. After taking a healthy sip, she eyed one of our kitchen chairs. “On second thought…”
“You need to take it easy. Dr. Mahoney said-.”
“I know what he said, Ben!” Callie’s moods had been all over the place lately and almost on cue, her eyes filled with tears. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to yell.” She swiped at the tears leaking from her eyes. “God, what is wrong with me?”
Chuckling, I came to kneel in front of her. I took her hand and kissed it gently. “Nothing is wrong with you, sweetheart. You’re having a baby. Our baby.” I placed our hands over her stomach and was rewarded with a swift nudge.
“Jeez, you’d think she was playing soccer in there.”
“Still think it’s a girl, huh?”
My wife got a dreamy look in her eyes. “Just a feeling. But you know I’m happy either way.”
We’d decided to opt for a surprise when it came to determining the gender of our baby. After my close call, Callie had said she didn’t care what we had as long as the baby was healthy. As for me? I just wanted my wife happy. She was the center of my universe.
Callie
After dinner, we decided to go for a walk. The fall air was crisp and felt good on my constantly over-heated skin. Ben had joked that I was an oven, baking our baby until he/she was finished. He’d laughed, I didn’t.
Finding out we were pregnant was one of the best days of my life. It was right up there with our wedding day. I’d marveled at every new change to my body, every nudge I’d felt. But now? Now, I just really wanted to see my feet again.
Another pain squeezed my lower back and my hand flew toward it, massaging it gently. My husband’s ever-watchful eyes never missed a thing.
“Are you sure you’re okay? Maybe we should go home.”
“No, it feels good to walk. My back just hurts from all this extra weight.”
“You’re perfect, Kat.”
I sighed. “Well, I don’t feel very perfect.” My mouth turned down.
“You’ll just have to take my word for it then.” He squeezed my hand. “How about we head home and get some ice cream?”
“Ice cream?” My mood instantly improved.
Later that night, I woke up to use the bathroom for the five billionth time. Okay, so maybe it was only the fourth, but when you’re pregnant, it feels like that much. My back was still bothering me, so I walked around our bedroom a few times. A stronger pain rippled across my lower stomach and I staggered, holding onto the edge of our bed. Okay, that one hurt.
Trying to stay calm, I remembered that Doctor Mahoney had said Braxton Hicks contractions were perfectly normal, especially in first pregnancies. The pain passed and I stood straight once more. There. That hadn’t been that bad. I walked to the kitchen to get some water. As I pulled the bottle from the refrigerator, another pain gripped me. Holy mother…
Glancing at the clock, I saw that only four minutes had passed since the last pain. I tried to remember my breathing exercises as I waited for the contraction to pass. And there was no mistaking it now, that’s what this was. I was in labor. Holy shit.
Okay. Breathe. Stay calm. I repeated this to myself as I slowly started walking back toward our bedroom. That progress was hampered when my water broke spectacularly all over my kitchen. Another pain, stronger this time, gripped me, and I cried out, holding onto the counter so hard that I’m surprised I didn’t crumble the granite.
“Ben!” No response. So, I tried again, louder this time. “Ben!” Still nothing. My husband was a sound sleeper. Normally, that didn’t bother me. But now…
I carefully made my way toward our bedroom and over to where my husband lay, snoring. “Get up!” Another contraction hit and I shrieked, grabbing the first thing I came in contact with. Unfortunately for my husband, it was a part of his anatomy that he was very partial to.
“Son of a bitch!”
“Benjamin, get up!” His tear-filled eyes met mine.
“Callie, what the hell?” I loosened my death grip and he cradled his injured manhood, murmuring toward it like a damn baby. “It’s okay, big guy…”
“Ben, so help me, God, if you don’t get out of that bed, I will rip your balls clean off!” My sister’s over-used threat finally got his attention.
“Are you…? It’s time?”
“Yes,” I hissed. “Get the bag.” As I watched my husband hurl himself around the room like a lunatic, I calmly changed out of my pajamas and grabbed my hair brush.
“You’re brushing your hair now? Callie, let’s go!”
“Would you calm down? Everything’s fiiiiiiiiiine.” I screamed and sent the brush flying across the room as a stronger contraction gripped me.
Ben rushed to my side and held me steady as he walked us out of the house. “You were saying?”
“Shut up!” I breathed steadily through my nose.
After helping me into the car, we took off in a squeal of tires toward the hospital. On the way, he called Dr. Mahoney who said he was already at the hospital and would meet us there.
Ben
I don’t remember much of our trip to the hospital. To be honest, I think I nearly blacked out for most of it. Not from fear, but from the pain of Callie’s death grip on my thigh. But seeing as I wanted to keep my balls firmly attached to my body, I didn’t dare say a word.
We reached Labor and Delivery and I got us checked in at reception while an orderly brought Callie a wheelchair. The man helped my wife into it and I growled. The nurse behind the desk chuckled at me. “There, there, Mr. Tanner. He’s only helping her, not trying to steal her from you.” My pen scrawled my name in a half-assed attempt at my signature while I kept my gaze on my wife.
The nurse took the clipboard and handed it to the orderly. “Take Mrs. Tanner to Delivery Room 4. Mahoney is the attending doctor.”
Before the orderly could take off, I quickly stepped in and replaced his hands on my wife’s wheelchair. No one was taking her anywhere but me.
Callie sighed. “Oh, Ben…”
I kissed the top of her head. “Some things will never change, Kat.”
We were led to a room and Callie was changed into a gown and hooked up to several monitors. Our baby’s heartbeat thumped in a steady rhythm around us. I paced the room feeling helpless as my wife cried out again. “Can’t you get her something for the pain?” I asked the nurse.
“Not until the doctor checks her, Mr. Tanner.”
“Well, where the hell is he?”
From the bed, Callie cried out again and I rushed to her side. I brushed the black hair from her beautiful face. “Hey, sweetheart. You’re doing great.”
Her face fell. “Ben, I’m scared.”
My heart squeezed in my chest. I was terrified, but I had to be strong right now. “No, baby. Not my beautiful, courageous Callie cat. You can do this. I know you can.”
She squeezed my hand as a tear rolled down her cheek. Leaning forward, I kissed it away. “I love you.”
“And I love you, Callie. So much.”
Doctor Mahoney entered the room and put on a pair of gloves. “Hello again, Mrs. Tanner, Mr. Tanner. About how far apart are the contractions?” The nurse studied one of the printouts from the machine hooked to Callie. “About three minutes, Doctor and her water’s already broken.” He nodded and wheeled a stool over to the end of Callie’s bed.
I growled again as he lifted the sheet.
“Ben,” Callie warned.
Taking a deep breath, I murmured to my wife as her face pinched in discomfort as the doctor checked her progress.
“You’re nearly ten centimeters already.”
“What?” we both exclaimed.
The doctor laughed. “Yes, I’d say we’re going to be delivering your baby within the next hour.”
Callie gripped my hand tightly. “Epidural?” I could hear the worry in my wife’s tone.
Doctor Mahoney met her gaze and frowned. “I’m afraid there’s no time, Callie.”
Her grip tightened as another contraction took hold. “Son of a fucking bitch!”
“There’s got to be something you can do.” I plead with the doctor. There was no way I could handle seeing my wife in this much pain. “Please.”
“I’m sorry, Mr. Tanner. But I assure you, she can do this.” He patted my back sympathetically and left the room with the promise to be back very soon.
“Hey, Ben?”
I looked down at Callie. “Yeah?”
She laughed and it sounded a bit hysterical. “I’ve changed my mind. We don’t need to have kids.”
Wisely, I held my own laughter in. “Umm, bit late for that, Callie cat.”
Another curse left her as the contraction hit, seemingly harder this time. The nurse checked the monitor and then became a flurry of activity. A bassinet was wheeled into the room and several people entered, dressed in scrubs. I swallowed down my fear as the doctor entered behind them.
“Okay, Callie. It’s time to push. Are you ready?”
And I had to give my wife credit. Tears flowed down her face, but she nodded.
Exactly twenty minutes later, I was handed my daughter. She was swaddled in a blanket and her little tufts of jet black hair stuck up in all directions. And just like that, my Callie cat was no longer the only person in the center of my universe.
A little hand gripped my finger and I swallowed hard against the emotion threatening to swamp me. “Hey, little kitten,” I whispered to my daughter.
The End