URBAN 2

TWENTY ONE

Ashanti

I groaned as I felt something that was like a serious contraction. "AHH!"

"Baby, breathe, breath," Keem said over the phone. "I'm coming. I swear, you're not doing this alone,"

I looked at Ty with sheer panic in my voice. "Wh-What do I do?"

"I-I... Eli!" he called. "Ti's water just broke!"

"Shit!" I heard Eli shout. "One second, I'm coming!"

BEEP BEEP BEEP

Keem groaned. "Ah, shit, this phone's about to die. Ti, listen. Don't worry, okay, baby? Just keep breathing deep, like we practiced. You're strong. I love you. I promise, I'll be there with you before you-"

The call cut.

I started crying without tears. It was like cries of shock and pain mixed into one.

My whole body ached.

"Okay, okay, I'm here," Eli said, carrying Khanan at one hip and a baby bag in her hand.

I couldn't speak, the pain was so intense. I tried to touch my stomach but it hurt even more.

"Breathe, Ti," she said, putting Khanan in his play area. "You need to breathe through the pain. We can't have you having a panic attack while you have contractions,"

I nodded and took shaky breaths, mid tears. "I need Keem,"

"Keem's gonna be here soon," Eli held my hands. "Okay, now, listen, I need you to focus, babe. When did you have the last contraction?" she asked.

"Like... 10 minutes ago," I looked at her.

She nodded and flicked through some big midwifery book. "Ty, find the contractions page,"

Ty started flicking through.

"What did the last contraction feel like?" she asked.

"Erm, like cramps, like... I don't know how to describe it, like, dull period cramps... they're the fake contractions though, they come every half an hour or so," I said, sighing as the pain reduced. "Last one was like 10 minutes ago,"

"Nah, those weren't fake cramps. Braxton-Hicks come randomly, you shouldn't be able to put a time on em," Ty said, reading form the book. "Fam, you've been having real contractions,"

No way. This means my labour started hours ago.

"Yeah," Eli said, starting a timer. "When your next contraction starts, we'll put a timer on it, we need to know how long they're lasting so we can find out what stage of contractions you're at."

I nodded. "I feel okay now. The pain was like in waves, it got so painful then it stopped,"

Eli put the TV on. "You need a distraction or else you'll be so focused on the next contraction, it'll hurt even more,"

"Okay, okay," I said. I took deep breaths, imagining Keem bursting through the door at any minute.

After a little while I felt the pain again. "I-It's starting," I said.