Bonus [2] : Have You Ever Heard of Stapling Your Lips Together?-5

Ivan held the phone up. "I'm calling the hospital to book a room for you." "Thanks." I shot him a grateful look then had a moment of panic. "Wait, Sam-" "I'm reaching him right now," Caleb said, walking into the room and opening the fridge. "Don't worry." "We're going to time them," Ivy said, entering the room with my dad. "First grandkid wow." "Dad." I stared at him. He patted me on the shoulder, smiling and he took my camera off to hold in his hands. "Pretty momentous occasion." He proceeded to take a picture that showed me giving my dad a look. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ When I was set up in a room hours later, I tried to keep calm. With my family around me, I was glad but without the father of my child, I was antsier than I apparently should have been. But no one would notice because Caleb decided right then and there that me being in labour was a perfect time to ask for details. "How'd you know?" Caleb asked Ivan, "Was it like a flood? Like Moses parted the red sea and like a rush of people came through-" "Shut up." I heard someone say but I couldn't focus. I couldn't focus because Suddenly there was a moment when I couldn't breathe and the pain I felt was unexplainable. While it came, it passed moments later, and everyone was staring at me as I took deep breaths, my hands on my stomach. "What just happened?" Justin asked. I had been having them at the house, but Justin had made sure he was barred up in the second car, avoiding the topic of pregnancy until we were here. "She's having contractions. She's going to have them often as we wait for her to get ready to deliver." Natasha told him, and I noticed she tied her hair back in a ponytail. "How many times is she going to have that?" "That depends on her body. Every pregnancy is different." "How long until she's ready to, uh, push the baby out?" Why was he asking all these questions now? "That still depends on her body." "How long were you in labour?" He asked her. "Only eight hours." "Eight? That sounds like forever. I can get two 5-course meals in between that time and a couple of snacks. What do you mean eight hours?" "She means eight hours," Phillip said dryly from the chair beside me. "Some women can be in labour for way longer amounts of time. As I said it depends on one's body." "Wow. Crazy." Justin said in awe. "Maybe Macy won't be waiting for that long," Phillip spoke too soon. FIRST HOUR "Why do they put the televisions in cages around here?" "Caleb, shut up." SECOND HOUR Vince and my father were playing a round of a card game near me on the ground. Leave it to my father and my father-in-law to play crazy 8's at this moment. "Is Sam on his way?" I asked Phillip. "He's at the airport." THIRD HOUR Maddy walked into the room, a card and a teddy bear in her hand. She gave me a huge smile, reaching over to hold my hand. Anmol and Audrey and a couple of our other friends from university and our after-school life were with them, waiting in the hallway and waving hello to me. "Hey," I said, giving her a small smile. "We got here as fast as we could," Anmol said, holding up a bag. "Derek couldn't help but stop to grab food." "We're all energized, aren't we?" Derek said, leaning against the wall. He gave me a little wave. "Hey, Mace." I couldn't help but grin, "Hey D." "But then we recalled that water was probably best for you in this situation just in case," Audrey said, placing a bottle on my bedside. "Thanks, guys." "Anytime." Maddy grinned. "Now let's hope this little sucker will come out soon." "How many hours has it been?" Audrey asked. "We're about three hours in since we got here," Caleb said, texting on his phone with a slight smile on his face that dropped when he glanced at me and replaced it with a reassuring one instead. FOURTH HOUR "It's been about an hour. Is Sam on the plane yet?" I asked Caleb, leaning my head back as I had recovered moments ago from another contraction. "Um." "Um, what? Caleb." "He has to take a train." "A what?" "A train." "Why?" "Maybe the storm outside is the answer as to why," Phillip muttered, showing me the forecast on his phone. Just then I heard the thunder rumble in the sky. I couldn't see anything outside because we were placed in the middle of the hospital in a room that had no windows. "Holy shit," I couldn't help but say. "How long is a train ride going to take?" "Longer than a plane, Princess," Caleb told me. "Longer than a plane." I sighed. "Alright."