Forever In My LIFE (Book 4) 2nd Alternate

Part 26

"Sugar, Baby, wake up," Prince urges, there's a slight tension to his voice.

That's when I'm first aware of the pain radiating from my back, I muffle a groan.

"Sugar, something's happening, your belly gets hard."

"What?" he's not making sense as far as I'm concerned, plus the pain is distracting.

"I was sleeping and you whimpered a little bit and your whole belly got hard like a rock. It was the weirdest thing, then it went back to normal. I was almost asleep and I felt it do it again, you cried out again, too."

"My back is killing me," because I'm still half asleep, and it's all I can pay attention to. I sit up in the bed, thinking maybe I have to go the bathroom. When I stand and start across the room the pain from my back shoots around to the front, I feel my belly tighten and he's right, it turns hard. "Prince, grab my phone, what time is it?"

He picks it up, "9:52, why?"

"Remember that, I'll be right back," he carries the phone and follows me to the bathroom. "I'm going to pee," I tell him, "maybe more." I circle my finger, indicating for him to turn around, "Alone."

"Should I call Gretchen?"

"Not yet, I want to see if it happens again. Stay out there," I warn.

I'm thinking these are contractions, because they hurt. I sit on the toilet and rub my belly, it feels as it should right now, and I relax a bit and find I did have to do a bit more than pee. Making room for the baby to pass through, I tell myself, but it did nothing to ease the pain.

I return to the bedroom and I'm more than uncomfortable. I don't know whether to lay back down or not, as I waddle around the room holding my back. Prince is up and walking beside me, caressing my shoulders and looking worried. I stop and grimace, folding over to try to ease the tightness of my belly, I start puffing from the pain. "Time?" I ask through clenched teeth.

"It just flipped to 10:00," he tells me.

The pain subsides a bit and just the ache remains, "Eight minutes," I breathe.

"I'm calling Gretchen," he flips the phone over and starts to look for her number.

"Prince, let's see if it happens again. I hate to bother her for another false alarm."

"Dana, I don't think these are the same as this morning, I think this is it," he almost looks scared.

I continue to waddle around the room in circles, I'm restless. The pain in my back starts to build and I hurry back to the bed for something to hold onto. The pain makes my legs want to buckle, but I breathe my way through. I don't even have to ask, Prince announces, "10:07."

"Call Gretchen," I whisper before I start my pacing again. Prince nods and dials, his face is so full of concern, I wish there was some way I could reassure him, but I'm consumed by the pain. Oh, God, please don't let anything be wrong, not now, we've come so far.

I listen as Prince starts to explain the whole thing, being woken, the hardness of my belly, but he's cut short. "Seven minutes," he answers her question. When I cry out, I hear him confirm to her I'm having another one. Prince is silent for a minute, then his answering voice is quiet, "Okay. Yes. Okay. Yes, Ma'am, we'll see you soon."

He presses the disconnect button, "She's on her way to the hospital, she's calling them first, then our doctor." I nod as I try to gauge the time for the next one. "Come on, I'll help you get dressed. She said it's time to go."