A Wall Between

Chapter 51

When they went out into the waiting room, Abra was there, still dressed in his tuxedo with his long, dark hair loose down his back. Cooper walked over to him and hugged him. He didn't know why he'd done it, but Abra being Abra hugged him back without question.

"Everything good?" Abra asked when Cooper finally pulled away.

Cooper nodded. "Yeah, I think so. Obviously the baby's coming a little early, but it sounds like it's not early enough that it's a big worry."

"That's good. Are you two coming back to the house or staying here?"

Cooper exchanged a look with Mason, though he'd already made up his mind. "I think I'm going to stay. I hate waiting rooms and sitting around for unknown lengths of time so bad, and it's only a short drive, but I think it's important to be here."

"They are kinda naming the baby after us, so yeah," Mason said. "Gotta be good uncles."

"Okay," Abra said. "I might head back, if that's okay. I left Ellie to figure out how to manage dealing with the wedding party after the sudden disappearance of the bride and groom all on her own. She is very good at that sort of thing, but even so."

"Yeah, of course," Cooper said. "Check in with Sasha as well. I'll text him in a sec, but it's hard to judge how he's really doing without being there."

"He was fine when I left, but I will check on him," Abra promised. "Give me the keys and I'll drive our car back, and then you can call me when you need to be picked up. I realise that could end up being at two in the morning, but that's fine."

Cooper patted down his pockets, realised he hadn't driven, and then helped pat down Mason's pockets until they located the keys. As Abra left, Cooper pulled out his phone and texted Sasha to update him on what was going on. Sasha sent back a picture of the kitten tucked into their bed with his head pillowed on a folded up shirt, fast asleep.

"Aw, there's my baby," Mason said as they sat down on the uncomfortable plastic waiting room chairs.

"Got any name ideas yet?" Cooper asked.

"I was thinking maybe Monty," Mason said.

"That's a nice name."

"It's short for Monster Truck. Because he's going to get really big."

"Ah."

"We're going to hang out and eat tuna straight from the can together. It'll be great."

Cooper nodded, but his mind was elsewhere. "I can't stop thinking about, like... childbirth. It doesn't seem like it should work. I mean, you put parts of your body that are adequately sized but relatively small when compared to a baby inside a vagina and it feels tight. It feels close to the limit of how much it should stretch and you have to be gentle and patient or things can hurt. How does a whole baby come out of there?"

"Well, I mean, there is tearing sometimes. I've also heard that it's not a comfortable experience."

"I have also heard that."

"Think about it this way. An asshole is even tighter, but you can fit a whole raccoon up there."

"...You can?"

"Ah, finally an animal fact you didn't know."

After that, Mason decided he might as well get his ten thousand steps in for the first time ever so he spent some time walking in circles around the waiting room as the nurse at the reception watched them with not-unfriendly bemusement.

Once Mason was finished, Cooper decided he wanted to do it as well so he borrowed Mason's smart watch and started walking. He'd added about eight thousand steps to the counter before he remembered that his phone also tracks steps, a feature he used often. When he checked it, he found he'd hit his ten thousand steps for the day about five thousand steps ago. He finished them out on the watch anyway.