Page 47 of Accepted Precedent (Love & Politics #3)
Andrew
FOUR MONTHS LATER
“ Y ou shouldn’t be lifting that,” I growl, though it lacks the same authoritative tone of a Gallagher.
As predicted, Evie rolls her eyes. “I’m fine! You guys worry too much. Women have been doing this for centuries.”
“Baking, yes. Moving a stand mixer that’s half your weight? Absolutely not.” I take it from her and set it beside the ingredients she laid out.
“You’re worse than Mick.”
“If anything went wrong, I’d be in trouble with Daddy—and not in a good way,” I wink, making her laugh. “So, what are you making?”
“The babies are craving something savory, so I’m making cottage pie.”
“Then why the hell do you need the mixer?”
“I’m lazy and don’t want to hand-mash the potatoes,” she winces, rubbing the side of her belly.
“Are they kicking?”
“No, I’ve just been having Braxton Hicks contractions all morning. Ouch! Fuck, that one hurts.”
“Are you sure they aren’t real contractions?”
“Yeah, my water hasn’t—” Her eyes widen.
“Your water hasn’t what?”
“I just jinxed myself. Andy, this isn’t a drill. Either I have incontinence, or my water broke.”
“Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck! They’re early! And the nursery furniture won’t be delivered until tomorrow.”
“I know,” she groans through the pain.
“Okay, let me call Mickey, then Finn.” I let her lean on me as I help her over to the kitchen table to sit. “I’ll grab the bag.”
Evie nods, and I sprint to her bedroom for the hospital bag. Slinging it over my shoulder, I pull out my phone and dial Mickey. No answer. I try Finn.
The moment the ringing stops, I rush out, “Where’s Mick?”
“How the fuck should I know? What’s going on?”
“Evie’s water broke.”
“Fuckin’ hell. I think he’s at Ileah’s—they’re working on something for the campaign. How the fuck are we going to pull everything off if we can’t get him to the hospital?”
“I don’t know,” I groan. “Track him down and have him meet me there.”
We hang up, and I load up the car, then help Evelyn in. As I press the ignition button, she grunts with another contraction. If she’s been having these all day, we’ll need to move fast.
“If Mick can’t make it in time…”
“He will, babe. I promise,” I assure her.
“But you’ll just need to keep those babies in a little longer.
” I pull onto the road as Evie’s cries grow louder.
Mickey’s name appears on my dash screen.
Answering the call without a greeting, I help Evie through her breathing.
“In through your nose, blow out slowly. Just like that. You’re doing amazing. ”
“Finn told me she’s in labor. Is everything okay?”
“So far, so good,” I reply, reaching to squeeze Evie’s hand.
“It’s too soon.”
“Yeah, but when has anything ever gone as planned for us?”
“I’m thirty minutes out. How’s she doing?”
“ She is right here,” Evie grumbles, and continues her breathing exercises.
He huffs a laugh. “How are you doing, angel? Are you going to be my good girl and wait for me so I can talk you through it?”
“If my back wasn’t experiencing sharp, shooting pain right now, I could appreciate how deliciously dirty that sounds.”
“We’re about fifteen minutes from the hospital,” I announce. “I’ll help her get checked in, then you can take over.”
“Perfect. I’ll see you both soon. Love you.”
“Love you too,” Evie and I say in unison, making me chuckle as I hang up. If you’d told me ten years ago that I’d be sharing Mickey Gallagher with my best friend, I’d have thought you were drunk. Still, I’ve accepted that there’s no precedent for what we’re doing.
We make it to the hospital in record time, and I’m grateful we preregistered or we’d be stuck filling out paperwork. They wheel her into triage for a quick exam, and Evie gasps, “Fuck! My tubal paperwork! It was only signed three weeks ago. Can we keep these babies inside me for another week?”
“I’m sorry, but since you’re water broke, the twins will be coming sooner rather than later,” the nurse explains.
“Andy, there has to be something you can do.”
“Sorry, babe. It’s federal law—it has to be thirty days before the procedure.”
“What’s the point in being best friends with three Senators?” she grumbles. “You know I’m just going to get pregnant again.”
I startle as Mick taunts from behind me, “Aye, that you are.”
“Damn it, Mick. You scared the shit out of me.”
The nurse continues her examination, and hesitantly asks, “Which one of you is the father?”
“He is,” Mick and I say in unison. I quickly correct, “I am, but he’ll be there for the birth. I, uh, have to set up the nursery.”
The nurse’s eyes dart between the three of us.
“Right. Okay. Well, I’m going to get her set up in one of the suites as requested.
You two will need to wait in the lounge until she’s hooked up to the fetal monitors.
Should only be about ten minutes.” She turns to Evie. “Are you still wanting a cesarean?”
“They’re huge! I can’t wrap my arms around my belly. There’s no way in hell I’m going to push them out vaginally.”
“You can try, if you’d like. Up to you.”
“No. That might be great for other women, but I don’t love that journey for me.”
I stand and kiss Evie on her forehead. “I’ll be back soon.”
“Oh, and don’t forget about the thing we talked about.”
“How could I forget?” I wink and grip Mick’s forearm for a moment, nodding once in solidarity.
I leave as casually as I can manage, but once I hit the hallway I begin power-walking toward the entrance. We don’t have much time. I can only hope Finn is already headed to Mick’s to get everything ready, or we’ll never pull this off.