A Time to Grow

Adeline Jane Chmerkovskiy

They kept up a light conversation on the drive stopping in between topics to help Peta deal with each contraction. They pulled in and Maks directed Val where they had told them to be when it was time. Val pulled up to the curb and suddenly all the nerves hit Peta at once. Her grip on Maks tightened when he tried to get out of the car. He stopped and let her hold onto him for a moment.

"What's wrong?" He said softly.

"Don't leave me in there. Please?" She said as her voice shook.

"I promise. I won't go anywhere. I'm not leaving you until we hear Miss Addie cry."

"I'm scared."

"I know. I'll be with you the whole time though. Let's go in and see what they say. You'll be able to get the epidural soon I think."

"One minute." She said as she buried her face into his chest holding on to him as tightly as she could. His arms wrapped around her while his hands gently went up down her spine.

"Okay." He said motioning for Val that they'd be a minute. Val headed in to grab a wheelchair. They sat there for a moment until Peta was ready. They helped her out and Val gave them each one last hug.

"Kelly and I will be here once Sophie wakes up and we get her ready for the day. She's going to spend the day with Haley. Keep me updated when you can alright?" Val said as he let them head in.

Maks took them in and got them checked in. They took Peta to her room and got them situated. Peta changed into a gown and they hooked her up to all the necessary monitors so they could track her current progress. They took all the necessary notes and listened to Maks and Peta's updates. True to his word Maks stayed directly beside Peta keeping her hand in his. They checked her dilation progress.

"Okay so right now you're at 5 centimeters. We are going to keep the monitors on you for the next hour just so we can check your baby's heart rate. We want to ensure that this isn't agitating her at all and make sure that she's doing okay in there. After we ensure that, we'll remove the monitors and you'll be able to move about the room. Now as far as an epidural, we recommend you wait until you're at 6-7 centimeters. You can have it earlier though if you choose. But once you are given the epidural you will be continuously hooked up and monitored from that point forward. But we are more than happy to give it to you when you're ready. You are past the point where we'd tell you to wait. So we'll leave you now, talk about it with your husband and let us know. We'll be back in to check on you in an hour or unless something shows up on the monitors." Alice their nurse on duty explained to them before she left them to talk in the room.

"What do you think about all that?" Maks asked her as he settled on the side of her bed facing her.

"It's a lot to take in. We talked about the epidural though and we know I want it. As nervous as I am, I want to try to enjoy this as much as possible so I'd like the pain to be at it's least if possible."

"That's understandable. So do you want it now? Or do you want to wait for awhile yet until you are at their recommended stage?"

"Let's see how this next hour goes. Right now with you helping me, I'm okay. So can we see how the next hour goes and how far along I go with this next check?"

"That sounds fine with me. Whatever you want okay?" He leaned forward and kissed her gently.

"Holy shit! Maks! My Mom!?" Peta yelled realizing that her mom was coming in that day.

"Whoa, relax pretty girl. I got it taken care of. Beau is going to pick her up and either take her to the house to drop her stuff off or bring her straight here depending on how advanced you are."