There was only one way to find out.
Heart hammering, he pulled his phone from his pocket and scrolled through his contacts. He was on the point of dialing Tawny when Suzette's picture flashed big and bright on his phone. The little square vibrated in his hand and he clicked to answer it quickly before pressing it to his ear.
“Suze?"
"The baby is coming!” Suzette's drawl was so fast and shrill that at first he wasn't sure he'd heard her right.
“Wait, what?” The world seemed to stop spinning as his brain finally decoded her words.
"He's coming!” she squealed. “We're on our way to the hospital. You better get here soon. The contractions came hard and fast from the start, and her water broke already."
He opened his mouth to ask how Tawny was, if she was all right, but then the phone clicked off and he abandoned his cart as he rushed to the front of the store, practically tripping over an end cap as he ran.
"Forget your stuff," he shouted to his mom as he approached her in the line, "we're having a baby."
They were having a baby who could be there any second and Luke wasn't even there yet. Suddenly it didn't matter Tawny's reasoning for what she'd done--he knew the truth. There would never be another moment in his child's life that he was going to miss, never a time when he should be holding Tawny's hand that he wasn’t there for.
She really didn't love him?
Fine, he'd stick around until she did because there was nothing on this earth that was more important than his family--their family.
I’m coming, Tawny.
Chapter 23
He burst into the delivery room just as Suzette was pulling on a paper cap.
"Wait, wait, wait!” he panted. He'd sped all the way here from the baby store and abandoned his mother in the parking lot to sprint up three flights of stairs--worried that the elevator would take too long. This was his moment. The moment his family was going to come together, and he'd be damned if he was going to miss even a second of it. "I'm the father!"
Suzette's wide eyes stared up at him from beneath her blue medical cap, but he barely saw her. Right now, he only had eyes for Tawny. Tawny, whose face was set into a pained grimace as she grasped the edges of her bed until her knuckles turned white.
"Luke," Tawny groaned as her eyes rolled back in her head and she screamed loud and hard, her body shaking with the effort of her labor.
He rushed to her side and took her hand in his. For the next tense thirty seconds, he held on as she squeezed the shit out of his hand while the nurse encouraged her gently to breathe.
It wasn’t until she finally loosened her grip and her muscles seemed to relax that he realized he’d been clenched and holding his breath right along with her.
“I’m glad you’re here,” she murmured softly.
“Me too,” he said, brushing a damp lock of hair from her forehead. “Why is Suzette suiting up? Are they taking you into surgery or something?"
"No." Tawny shook her head. "No, Suzette just wanted to be on the safe side."
"You should, too," a nurse said, then handed him a medical cap. He shoved it on his head, then glanced at Suzette and back to Tawny.
"How far apart are the contractions?" he asked, but this time Suzette answered.
“Just a couple minutes. It’s going very fast for a first-time mom, but she’s not fully dilated yet. We’re hoping she can start to push soon.”
He nodded, and Tawny managed a weak chuckle.
"What? What's so funny?"
"Your face. You look so terrified. It’s okay, really. I’m fine. We’re having a--" Another scream tore through her and she squeezed his hand so hard he was shocked he couldn't hear the sound of his knuckles popping from their sockets.
"You've got this, beautiful, you've got this," he soothed, and her screams echoed louder still through the room. He fucking hated it. Hated not being able to shield her from this pain or take it away. Hated to watch her suffering and feel so damned helpless.
Then, just when he was about to demand that the doctor give her something for the pain, almost out of nowhere, she sighed and laid back, closing her eyes.
"Good, baby, rest. You've got this. You can do anything," he went on. It didn't matter what happened tomorrow. In this moment, he knew that he loved her more than he'd loved any other person in his life. He wanted to be there for her and to help her, to do anything and everything in his power to somehow make this easier.
For a few moments, she lay still to catch her breath, then she squeezed his hand gently again.
"Luke, I want to talk to you," she murmured, swiping a trembling hand over her sweaty forehead.
He stared back at her and blinked, stomach still pitching with the rush of terror and adrenaline. "Right now?"