by Robin Huber
“Yeah, I really do. Now, come on, let’s go watch.”
“Okay.”
We take our food to the living room and sit on the couch in front of the ridiculously large TV Sam had mounted above the white brick fireplace between the built-ins that go up the wall on either side.
“This is incredible. It’s like we’re there,” Bas says, staring up at the giant screen.
We welcome you to our live coverage at Madison Square Garden, where tonight we’ll see current titleholder Carey Valentine and former champion Sam Cole battle it out in the light-heavyweight title showdown…I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a crowd quite this excited. Carey Valentine fans are ready to see him prove that he deserves the title he’s defending tonight, which he took from Brody Crawford just last month…Which, of course, many say is a title Crawford himself didn’t actually earn—a title Sam Cole carried for a few years, not months…Look, we all know you’re a Sam Cole fan, but some small part of you has to think he’s met his match. Heck, some would argue that he met his match in Las Vegas when he lost his title to Brody Crawford…Brody Crawford? No way. Crawford’s a great fighter, but he’s not Sam’s match. That loss had more to do with Sam and less to do with Brody…You’re saying Sam beat himself that night…That’s exactly what I’m saying. I’ve talked to Sam and I believe wholeheartedly he wasn’t in a good place that night…Mentally, you mean?…That’s exactly what I mean. The loss of Joe Maloney took its toll on him, and he wasn’t ready to be back in the ring…Do you think he’s ready tonight?…I talked to Sam about twenty minutes ago. The Sam Cole we’re going to see tonight isn’t the same fighter we saw in Las Vegas…I sure hope you’re right. That would mean one heck of a show for this New York crowd.
I put my plate down and squeeze Sebastian’s hand as the commentator introduces Sam, articulating every syllable as he says slowly, Ladies and gentlemen…Sam…Cole!
“Lucy…Lucy! Ow!” Sebastian says, pulling his hand away.
I ball my empty hands into tight fists and squeeze my eyes shut through another contraction.
“Lucy, what are you doing? Sam’s getting into the ring.” He wraps his hand around my arm and shakes me. “Hello? Earth to Lucy.”
I exhale loudly and open my eyes as it leaves me, sucking in another breath. “Sorry,” I pant.
“What is happening?”
“It was just a contraction. I’m fine.”
“You don’t look fine.”
“I’ve been getting them for months. I’m fine,” I say, turning my attention back to the TV. I watch Sam bounce from foot to foot inside the ring, cheering on the excited crowd as “Phenomenal” blares through the arena speakers. I smile softly as my anxiety begins to subside. “He looks like himself tonight.”
“Yeah, he does,” Bas says, bringing a forkful of rice to his mouth as he watches intently.
The camera zooms in on Sam’s face, and he looks into it and says, “You watching, baby?”
“Oh, my God,” Bas says over his mouthful, bumping my arm with his.
I smile and nod. “We’re watching,” I say quietly.
For those who don’t know, Sam is going to be a father soon…Very soon. In fact, his fiancée, Lucy, wasn’t able to make it tonight because she’s too far along to leave their home in Atlanta…No doubt, she’s watching this on TV and routing for Sam…We wish them both the best.
“Ahhh,” I groan, leaning over.
“What is it? What’s wrong?” Bas asks, but I can’t answer.
“Another contraction,” I grit through my teeth.
“Lucy, are you sure these are Braxton whatevers?”
I nod and breathe through it, until it goes away. “Yeah, the doctor just checked me yesterday. He said I had at least two more weeks. I wasn’t dilated at all. I think I just need to get some water. I probably didn’t drink enough today. I’ll be right back.” I get up and go to the kitchen to pour myself another glass of water.
“Hurry up,” Bas calls from the living room. “They’re about to start.”
“Be right there,” I say as another contraction grips me. I lean over the sink and suck in a lungful of air, but it’s forced out with a loud, “Ow.”
“Lucy?” Sebastian walks into the kitchen and sees me hugging the kitchen sink. “Are you having another contraction?” I nod, but don’t answer. “What can I do?”
“Nothing,” I say. “I’m fine. I just need to sit down.” I take my glass of water back to the living room and Sebastian follows me.
I sit back down on the couch and stare at the TV as Sam and Carey circle each other inside the ring. Sam waits for Carey to throw the first punch, but he dodges it and follows with a fast right hook. At the same time, my stomach tightens under my shirt again.
“I have to pee.” I get up again.
“You can’t hold it?” Sebastian asks, glancing up at me quickly before turning his eyes back to the TV.
I shake my head and walk down the hall, slowly pacing up and down it, until the contraction passes. But before I reach the living room, another one wraps around me, squeezing tight. “Ahh,” I cry, squeezing my eyes shut.
“Oh, my God,” Sebastian says, finding me holding on to the wall. “I’m calling the doctor.” He pulls his phone out of the pocket of his joggers. “What’s his name?”
“No.” I shake my head. “You don’t need to do that. It’s just Braxton Hicks. I’m not in labor.” I catch my breath and walk back into the living room.
“Are you self-diagnosing right now?”
“Look at the stupid brochure,” I say, pointing to the Stages of Labor pamphlet on the coffee table. “Women think they’re in labor all the time. It’s normal to have contractions like this at the end.”
He picks it up and quickly skims over it. “Yeah, when they’re in labor!”
“Sebastian, I am not in labor. Do you hear me? Sam is eight hundred miles away right now, fighting Carey Valentine,” I say through my teeth, looking up at the TV. “I am not in labor.”
He puts the pamphlet down and presses his lips together. “Yeah. Okay.” He pushes a button on his watch and sits back down on the couch.
“What are you doing?”
“Timing your contractions.”
“Why?”
“The brochure says that when you have contractions five minutes apart for an hour, you’re having a baby.” He holds his wrist up. “Time’s started.”
“I’m not having a baby,” I say, leaning against the arm of the couch.
“I sure hope not,” he says, glancing over at me, unable to hide the concern in his voice.
I put my hand on my stomach and take a slow, calming breath before sitting back down. I am not having you tonight, do you hear me?
“Yes!” Bas shouts when Sam knocks Carey back against the ropes.
This is definitely not the same Sam Cole we saw in Las Vegas, I’ll give you that…Carey Valentine fans did not like that hit, but Sam seems pretty happy about it.
Sam dodges several punches that Carey returns and then he throws a left hook at his face.
“Hell yeah! Show him who the fucking champ is!” Bas shouts, and I give him a surprised look.
“You’ve been hanging around Miles too much.”
Sam throws another left hook that leaves Carey with a bloody nose.
“Wooo! Yeah!” I shout, sitting up and clapping, but another contraction soon takes control of my body, making every muscle tighten. No, no, no, no, no! I lean back against the couch again and close my eyes.
And this is why Sam Cole is such a dangerous boxer. There aren’t many southpaws in history that can hit as hard as he can.
“Lucy, what are you doing?”
I shake my head back and forth. “Mmm-mmm.”
“Mmm-mmm, what?”
“Shhhh. Don’t talk.”
“Are you having another contraction?”
I don’t answer.
“How long have you been having it?”
I still can’t answer him.<
br />
“Lucy Marie Bennett.”
After a few more seconds, I open my eyes and he resets his watch. “Tell me when the next one happens.”
I inhale a deep breath and sit up. “Okay.”
Sam Cole wins the second round.
“Yes!” Sebastian makes a fist and I smile. “He’s going to win tonight, Luc,” he says excitedly, and I can’t help but feel the way I used to feel when Sam fought, before the Crawford fight. Hopeful.
Carey Valentine looks unfazed by the first two rounds as they make their way back to the center of the ring. Sam has done a great job protecting himself tonight, especially after the beating he took in Las Vegas.
I tap Sebastian’s arm and he looks at me. “What?”
I nod and close my eyes.
“Another one? Already? Shit, Lucy.”
I ball my fists up and press them against my thighs as my stomach turns into a tight ball that seems to be squeezing my organs and uterus together.
“Thirty seconds,” Bas says, and I grab his hand. “Forty seconds,” he says, and I squeeze it harder, trying to will the contraction away. “A minute.”
“Shit!” I say, keeping my grip on Bas’s hand. I huff loudly and fall back against the couch when it finally passes.
“A minute and ten seconds. Lucy—”
“I’m not in labor,” I pant, shaking my head back and forth.
And Sam Cole has won another round.
I open my eyes and see him sitting in the corner of the ring, covered in sweat, but there’s no blood that I can see. “He’s winning, Bas,” I say, smiling.
He glances at the TV and nods, then he looks at me again. “Lucy, if you have another contraction in the next two minutes, I’m calling the doctor.”
“I won’t.” I give him a weak smile. “I promise.”
He gives me a doubtful look.
“I promissssss,” I say through my teeth as another contraction pulls me up off the couch.
He huffs. “You promised!”
“I’m not…in labor,” I grit through my teeth.
He stands up and pulls his phone out of his pocket. “Oh, my God. We have to tell Sam. I have to call Miles.”
I hit his hand with my balled-up fist and knock his phone to the floor. “Don’t you dare.”
He picks up his phone and puts his hand on his hip. “Lucy, if you’re in labor, he needs to know.”
I look at him like he’s grown a second head. “Are you kidding?” I ask, looking up at the TV. “He’s in the middle a fight. A career-defining fight. And I am not in labor,” I say for the hundredth time. “It hasn’t even been an hour. They’re going to go away.” As soon as I say it, another contraction grips me.
Sebastian helps me back to the couch and he sits beside me quietly, until it passes.
“I’m not in labor,” I cry, accepting that I might actually be. “I can’t be in labor. Dr. Fletcher said that we still had time. He told Sam to go to New York.”
Bas nods and takes a deep breath. “Honey…” He wraps his hand around mine and says softly, “I know what your doctor told you, but I think you’re in labor. And it’s going to be okay.” He smiles softly. “We’re not going to panic and we’re not going to freak out, because everything’s going to be fine. We just need to breathe.” He blows out a slow breath. “We both just need to breathe.”
I nod and swallow down the fear that’s racing through my veins. “Okay.”
“I need the number to your doctor’s office. Where’s your phone?” he asks calmly.
“It’s in the kitchen.”
“Okay, I’ll go get it.” He gets up slowly and smiles softly. “Just stay calm and try to relax.”
As soon as he’s gone, another contraction wraps around me all the way to my back.
I don’t hear Sebastian return, but I feel his hand wrap around mine. “You’re doing great,” he says, holding my hand until it’s over.
I open my eyes and look at him. “They really hurt.”
“I know. You have to breathe through them, okay?”
“I’m trying.”
“Okay,” he says, handing me my phone. “Let’s call your doctor.”
I scroll through my contacts searching for the number.
Sam Cole takes a hard hit to the face.
My head snaps up.
“He’s fine, Lucy. It’s the fourth round and he’s blocked almost every hit. I need you to focus and find your doctor’s number.”
“Okay,” I say, pulling it up.
Sebastian takes my phone and holds it to his ear. “Hi, this is Sebastian Ford. I’m calling for Lucy Bennett, who’s a patient of Dr.…”
“Fletcher.”
“Dr. Fletcher…She seems to be in labor…Yes, we’ve been timing them…They’re less than five minutes apart, actually…Okay, thank you.”
“What did they say?”
“They’re paging him. She said they’d call back if he wants you to go to the hospital.”
“If,” I say, sighing with relief. “See? This is normal. It could just be a false alarm.” I stare at him, no longer able to breathe or blink because another contraction is twisting my torso.
“Lucy?” He waves his hand in front of my face. “Lucy, are you having another contraction?”
“Mm-hmm,” I squeak.
And the bell marks the end of the fifth round. By the looks of things, I’d say Sam Cole has won this round too.
“I think I need to stand up,” I say, getting to my feet.
“Are you sure that’s a good idea?”
“Yeah,” I say, waddling to the kitchen.
I put my hands on the cool marble counter and walk laps around the island, while Sebastian watches me. “This is better,” I say, ignoring the way my cami has rolled up over my belly. It feels better not binding me. “I think maybe a bath would feel good.”
“A bath? Right now?”
“Yeah.” I make my way over to the stairs.
“Okay,” he says hesitantly. He follows behind me as I slowly climb the stairs.
I pause halfway up and grip the banister. “Ahh,” I cry quietly as a contraction squeezes me.
“Maybe a bath isn’t a good idea, Luc.”
“I want a bath. It’ll relax me.”
“Okay.” He follows me to my room and turns the TV on while I undress in the bathroom.
I dim the lights and pour some bubble bath into tub, then I light the candles that surround it. When it’s full, I step in and sink beneath the water, just in time for another contraction to strike. I sit up and put my hands on the sides of the tub, wincing through the pain. When it subsides, I lean back in the water and sink beneath the bubbles.
After ten minutes and several more contractions, Sebastian shouts from my room, “Sam just knocked Carey Valentine to the mat!”
I close my eyes and smile.
“He’s getting back up, but Sam looks great. He’s still got a lot of energy.”
I press my lips together and nod over tears that suddenly sting my eyes. “Please don’t come yet,” I whisper, putting my hands on my stomach. “You have to wait for your daddy to get back. I can’t do this without him.” Tears run down my cheeks as another contraction wraps around me.
“Lucy,” Sebastian says softly through the cracked door, “can I come in?”
“Yeah,” I squeak over the contraction.
“Are you okay?”
“No,” I cry.
He kneels on the floor next to the tub. “I know you’re scared right now. It’s okay.”
I pull my sudsy hand to my eyes and cry into it. “I can’t do this without him, Bas. I need Sam.”
“I know you do.”
“Wait until the fight’s over, then call Miles, okay? Maybe he can get a flight home tonight.”
He bobs his head. “Of course. I’m sure he’ll be able to. Don’t worry.”
“If he doesn’t, will you promise you’ll stay with me? Because I don’t have anyone else,” I say, looking up at
him.
“Oh, Lucy. You don’t even have to ask.” He reaches for my hand. “I would never leave you. We’re in this together, whether we want to be or not.” He smiles and I nod over the tears rolling down my cheeks.
Another contraction grips me, squeezing me beneath the water, and I squeeze Sebastian’s hand.
“Okay, just try to breathe, you’re doing great.” He inhales a deep breath and blows it out slowly, and I do my best to copy him. “See, you’re doing it.”
I nod and squeeze his hand harder.
“It won’t last too much longer, just keep breathing.”
When it passes, I open my eyes and let go of Sebastian’s hand. “I’m sorry.”
“You don’t have to be sorry.”
“I think maybe I should get dressed now. Has anyone from Dr. Fletcher’s office called back?”
“No, not yet. Want me to get you a change of clothes?”
“Maybe a pair of yoga pants and a tank top?”
“Okay, I’ll be right back.”
I step out of the tub and grab a towel, hurrying to dry myself off before another contraction renders me useless…and naked. I wrap it around me and stare at myself in the mirror. You can do this.
Sebastian walks back into the bathroom, unfazed that I’m wearing nothing more than a towel that barely wraps around my stomach.
“Oh, SHIT,” I say with wide eyes.
Sebastian’s face falls. “What, what is it?”
“I think my water just broke,” I say, afraid to look down at my wet feet, which I just dried off.
Sebastian looks down and gasps. “Either that or you just peed on the floor.”
I look down and see a puddle around my feet, but I don’t have long to fret over it. A contraction stronger than I’ve felt before moves from my front to my back, practically squeezing me in half. “Shit,” I cry, putting my hands on the counter and leaning over it.
“Screw the doctor, I’m taking you to the hospital.”
Chapter 23
Sam
Carey Valentine is bleeding from the right eye as he retreats to his corner following a brutal tenth round…That eye looks pretty bad, but the doctor is looking at it now…If he sees a problem, he’ll stop the fight…It looks like he’s okay.
