Page 171 of Babies for the Big Shot

I gasp as a jolt of electricity shoots through me.

My heart drops into my stomach, my breath catches in my throat. I don’t know what’s happening at first; my body just goes into shock. Everything has suddenly gone on pause.

It’s not a cramp, not a sharp pain, but a rush… a heavy, cold weight that makes my knees buckle.

Before I can even register what’s happening, I double over, clutching my belly as if holding on to something that might slip through my fingers. My hands tremble, the only thing I can focus on now is the sudden wetness, the heat that rises in my face.

For a split second, I think I’m dreaming.No. No, this can’t be happening. Not now. Not here.

I look up at Nick, my vision blurry around the edges, and I can’t even speak. I try to take a breath, but it’s caught somewhere in the air, thick and suffocating.

His face goes from calm and serene to pure panic in the span of a heartbeat as the wetness spreads.

“What the hell, Sara?” Nick freezes, eyes wide with panic. “Is this…?”

“I think so,” I manage through a laugh, holding onto him for support. “I… my water just broke, Nick.”

Nick, understandably, starts to lose it. “Sara, what? No. Wait. We’re not… what the hell do we do now?”

I just laugh harder. I can’t even help it. The situation is so completely absurd, it might as well be scripted. I turn to Meatball, who’s happily trotting around us as if nothing is wrong.

“I guess we’re going to the hospital, huh?”

“What?” Nick asks again, his voice climbing the higher register. “The hospital? You’re really doing this now?”

And of course, Meatball, sensing the chaos, howls, on cue, just to add more flair to the situation.

I clutch Nick’s arm, trying to steady myself. “I guess so. You did propose with a dog, after all. You should have expected the babies to want to join in.”

Oh my god.

Babies.

The babies are coming. Are we even ready for it?

Nick looks like he might pass out, his panic on full blast now. I can’t even process it because I’m too busy dying from the absurdity of it all.

“Okay, we need to get you to the hospital.Now. Now.”

But before we can make any moves, Meatball goes full diva, howling again, this time louder than before, announcing the chaos to the entire building.

It’s hospital time.

As Nick scrambles, trying to coordinate a car, and I’m halfway between laughing and holding back tears, I think to myself,of course it’s happening in this way. This is us. This is our life.

And, surprisingly, it’s kind of perfect.

CHAPTER FORTY-TWO

Nick

I’m not exactlysure how we’ve ended up here.

One minute, we’re in Sara’s old apartment, I’m on one knee, my heart racing with the words I never thought I could say aloud, and the next, we’re in a hospital room, and everything I thought I could control is slipping through my fingers.

I don’t handle this well.

It’s the smallest things that throw me off. The way the nurses move around the room with a calmness I can’t quite match.