A Reason to Be Alone (The Camdyn Series Book 2) Read online

  “The doctor said it would probably be a while,” Charlie interjected. “Her water broke, and the contractions have been getting steadier…”

  “But I’m only dilated to a four,” Trina whined.

  “Well, what’s the number you’re shooting for?” I asked, feeling a little stupid when she looked at me like I had grown an extra head.

  “A ten,” she said as though I should have known, but I had never really given the matter much thought before. I hadn’t had a reason to, until that very moment. I managed a small, “oh,” and then she shook her head.

  “Are your parents coming?” I asked, hearing Charlie sigh behind me and immediately guessing that was the source of some of the emotion. Trina sniffed for a second but managed to hold it together.

  “No, my mother was going to stay with us, but since the baby is early, she wasn’t ready. She said she could be here in a few days.” I knew how badly Trina wanted her mother there for the birth, and I felt a sharp pang of sadness for her that her family was missing this big moment. Instinctively, I reached out my hand and placed it over hers on the bed.

  “I’m sorry, Trina,” I stated, giving her a slight smile. She shrugged her shoulders and looked down at the blankets.

  “It’s okay, I’m just glad you’re here, and…” she paused, staring out at the bed, and I thought she was having a contraction or something. I waited expectantly for her to make a face or complain, but instead, she screamed. I jumped back a couple of inches in fright as she grabbed my hand and pulled it up into the air.

  “Camdyn has a ring on!” she squealed, eyes sparkling. “Look, Charlie!”

  “I guess you asked her, then,” he said to Cole.

  “You mean you knew about this?” she asked Charlie in a high-pitched voice, and then she lowered her tone significantly. “You knew about this, Charlie?”

  “No, I didn’t know…” Charlie began. “I mean, I knew he wanted to ask her, but I didn’t know he had asked her. I certainly didn’t know she said yes.”

  “Camdyn said yes to a proposal!” Trina laughed. “You barely know each other. You are both insane! I’m so happy for you!”

  Cole and I just looked at each other and started laughing, not knowing what to say to her comments. We were all enjoying the moment when a nurse came bustling into the room, peeking around the corner.

  “Everything okay in here?” she asked, looking expectantly at Trina. “I thought I heard screaming.”

  “Yes!” she exclaimed with a twinkle in her eye. “My sister is getting married, can you believe it?”

  “Okay, I’ll leave you then,” the nurse said with a smirk, trying not to laugh. She glanced at me as she turned to walk out of the room.

  “Ooh,” Trina moaned, clutching her abdomen, “there’s a contraction. Camdyn, you’ll be my birthing buddy, won’t you?”

  What? Birthing buddy? Um, no, don’t think so.

  “Trina, I have no idea what to do, and…”

  “My mother’s not here, and I need you,” she stated matter-of-factly.

  No, no, and no.

  “Of course Camdyn will help you,” Charlie interjected.

  “Cole…” I said quietly, using my eyes to plead with him to intercede and save me from whatever a birthing buddy was supposed to do. When he flashed that smile, I knew I wasn’t going to win this one.

  “She needs you, Cam,” he said. “You can handle anything.”

  Could I? I wasn’t so sure.

  -§-

  The morning passed with the four of us sitting in Trina’s room and chatting. Nurses popped in intermittently to check her vitals and her progress, and she remained fairly cheerful. I heard them ask several times if she wanted anything for the pain, but she was determined to do things the natural way, so she kept saying no. She seemed to be handling everything pretty well, from what I could gather. By lunch time, she was dilated to a seven, which made her extremely happy. With assurances from Trina that nothing would be happening in the next little while, Charlie decided he was hungry, and he and Cole left to grab a bite to eat. As soon as the boys left the room, Trina’s mood fell distinctively. It wasn’t a minute later that she was crying quietly.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked, grabbing her hand. “Do you need something for the pain?”

  “No, it’s not that,” she sniffed, grasping my fingers. “Cammie, I’m just scared. What if I’m not a good mom?”

  “What are you talking about, Trina? You’ve always wanted to be a mom, as long as I can remember.”

  “I know, but what if I stink at it?” she worried. “What if he starts crying and I can’t get him to stop? What if my milk doesn’t come in fast enough? What if…”

  “An asteroid hits the hospital right as you’re giving birth?” I finished for her with wide eyes. “Seriously, Trina, you’re going to make yourself crazy. You’re tired and emotional, and you’re not thinking straight. Why don’t you just try to relax a little?”

  “Ha!” she laughed in her throat, sitting up a little straighter in bed. “You try to relax when you’re having contractions constantly. I can’t seem to get comfortable at all.”

  I stood and helped her arrange a couple of pillows behind her back, and then I sunk back into position beside her on the bed with a smile.

  “Should I turn the TV on?”

  “No, I can’t,” she sighed. “I already told Charlie I didn’t want the TV on, because I didn’t want him watching the game while I was in labor.”

  “Okay,” I said with a laugh. “So, do you want me to find a magazine, or a book?”

  “No, I don’t think so,” she stated, holding her abdomen and drawing in a sharp breath. “Oh, I know. You can tell me everything that happened since you left.”

  “Everything that happened?” I chuckled. “I think you already know the high points.”

  “No, I don’t want to hear that. Tell me how you met Cole, in detail, and why he was so angry with you. Don’t leave anything out. Oh, and tell me how he proposed to you.”

  Reluctantly, I started explaining how I had gotten myself so terribly lost in the rain, thanks to my phone, right about the time that a young auburn-haired nurse walked in the room. I paused for a minute, but Trina insisted that I keep going, so I told her how Cole showed up to rescue me. I trailed on about him delivering me to Rosalie’s bed and breakfast, and the way we spent hours talking. When I mentioned breakfast the next morning, and the fact that the TV had been on that newscaster talking about my viral proposal video, I noticed that the nurse had not proceeded out of the room, but was standing right over Trina gawking at me.

  “Sorry, am I keeping you from your work?” I asked, and she shook her head adamantly.

  “No, but what happened when he saw the video?” the nurse asked. I chuckled as I went on to explain that he didn’t say a word to me, but marched right out the door. Detailing our next meetings, I mentioned how he seemed to alternate being angry and doing or saying something so nice that I was terribly confused. All the while, I was trying to write my book and finish my research, and I was completely distracted – not just by Cole, but by finding friends, and feeling like a part of a family.

  I was explaining the argument we had over Cole’s parents’ dinner table about whether or not I was a bestselling author when another nurse peeked her head in the room, this one sporting short dark hair and looking more like the motherly type.

  “Something wrong, Annie?” she asked the first nurse, who looked over at her but made no move to the door.

  “No, nothing’s wrong,” she stated. “Come in here, Jen, this is fascinating.” Realizing I now had an audience of three instead of one, I plunged ahead through my story, telling Trina how Cole and I managed to get together, about cleaning out my apartment in Richmond, and about meeting up with Sybil in Louisville to finish my research. When I was almost near the end of my story, Jen was seated in one of the chairs nearby and Annie was leaning on the bed rail near Trina. I finished with the proposal, and when I stopped
talking, I heard Jen and Annie sigh in unison.

  “Amazing story,” Annie said. “So romantic.”

  “Your fiancé, that the guy who left a little bit ago?” Jen wondered. “Dark eyes, ball cap…”

  “Yeah, that sounds like him,” I stated. She let out a low whistle.

  “You’re a lucky girl, that’s all I got to say. We were inspecting him earlier, and Jessa was the first to point out that he didn’t have a ring on.”

  “Not yet, but he will soon,” Trina added with a smile, which turned into a strain as another contraction took hold.

  “Goodness, I practically forgot why I was in here in the first place,” Annie mumbled. “Jen, do you think we should check her again?”

  “Yeah, we probably should, at least so we have an excuse for being in here so long,” Jen stated, giving me a wink. They went about doing all their nurse activity while I stood near Trina’s head and tried not to pay attention. I wondered if Little Peanut could sense that he was about to meet us all, or if he was still content in his little bubble.

  “We’re about there,” Jen stated. “We’ll be good to go any time now.”

  “Oh, where’s Charlie?” Trina groaned, holding her stomach again. “If he’s somewhere watching that ballgame, I will kill him.”

  As if on cue, Charlie swung open the door and stepped into the room, looking puzzled when he saw the two nurses standing there.

  “It won’t be much longer, Mr. Taylor,” Annie stated in a cheery voice. Looking behind him at Cole, she glanced over her shoulder at me with a smile. “Thanks for the entertainment.” I could feel Cole and Charlie narrow their eyes at me more than I could see it, and I tried to keep my focus on Trina until Annie and Jen were out of the room.

  “What was that about?” Cole asked with a smirk as he settled down into a chair.

  “Camdyn was just telling us a story,” Trina said as she drew in a breath.

  “I’ll bet she was,” Cole chuckled, shaking his head at me when I shrugged my shoulders.

  “Were the nurses out there staring at you, by any chance?” I directed at Cole, and he gave me an exasperated look.

  “Um, yeah,” Charlie stated as he sunk down into a chair of his own. “The curly haired brunette at the desk stopped us to ask if I was the dad in 307. I said yeah, that I was, and then she wanted to know who Cole was. Brother? Friend? When I said he was my sister’s fiancé, she said, ‘That’s a shame.’” I couldn’t keep myself from busting out in laughter at Cole’s obvious embarrassment, and I could hear Trina chuckling behind me.

  “Oh, that hurts,” she said between giggles.

  “Well, if it’s about time, I probably better go out to the waiting room.” Cole stood and stretched as he moved toward the door. “Camdyn, you want to walk me out?”

  “Yeah, you probably should,” Charlie interjected. “Wouldn’t want him to feel violated.”

  I could hear Charlie and Trina giggling behind me as I stepped toward the door with Cole, and together we walked down the hallway. Neither one of us said a word, but when we walked past the nurses’ station, I couldn’t help but notice that he took my hand. When we reached the waiting room, there were two other groups of people in there, sitting together and talking animatedly. Cole plunked himself into an armchair.

  “Can’t I just stay out here with you?” I whined. “I don’t think I can do this.”

  “You can do it,” he said, pulling me onto his lap and looking into my eyes. “How cool is that, anyway, to be there when someone takes their first breath?”

  “Sort of cool, I guess,” I acquiesced, glancing down at the Poison t-shirt I was wearing. He tilted my chin back up so I was looking into his eyes.

  “I love you,” he stated simply. Every time I heard him say that word, my breath still caught in my chest.

  “I love you back.” I kissed him softly on the lips, and then I stood resolutely to my feet. “Okay, then. I’m off to birth a baby.”

  I savored the fact that I could hear his laughter as I walked away.

  -§-

  As it turned out, the doctor arrived in the room just moments after I returned, doing her own check of Trina. I stood near the head of the bed and held her hand while inside my heart was pounding wildly. When she stated that it was go time – and yes, those were her exact words – my knees almost gave out for a second. There was no part of me that wanted to stay in that room while Trina gave birth.

  Okay, maybe there was a small part that was slightly fascinated, but very small. I’m talking two percent, three at the most.

  Trina was mumbling something about wishing she had taken the pain medication, and how it was too late now, and it wouldn’t be effective at this point. Charlie wasn’t being very helpful at all, standing silently to the side of the room as I held Trina’s hand. The doctor explained the process of pushing to Trina as she stared wide-eyed with a white face, and suddenly the sight of Charlie trying to fade into the background and Trina freaking out about the pain gave me a resolve I didn’t realize I had.

  “Charlie Taylor,” I stated forcefully, and he swung his eyes to meet mine. “Get over there and hold your wife’s hand.” To my astonishment, he moved around the side of the bed and did exactly as I said.

  Okay, that was good. What now?

  I leaned down and cupped Trina’s chin with my hand, bringing my face inches from hers as she looked up at me with frightened eyes.

  “Trina, do you remember the time that we went on that scavenger hunt with those girls from crazy town?” Once Trina and I had met a couple girls from another dorm that were so memorable, we called the entire building crazy town from that point forward as a reminder. She nodded her head, but her eyes were still glassy.

  “Well, do you want to know what I remember?” I asked her solemnly. “I remember that you saw that flag at the same time one of those crazy town girls saw it, and you went for it with all you had. You took her out, and she punched you in the ribs, and you almost broke your foot. You hobbled around the entire day holding your side in pain. You know what else I remember, though? That night, you danced just like nothing was wrong in those four-inch heels with that idiot Justin Harper. I couldn’t see it on your face at all.”

  “How is that helping?” Charlie wanted to know, but I shushed him.

  “That’s because you’re a warrior, Trina. When there’s something you want, you go for it. It doesn’t matter if it’s a flag, or an idiot guy, or a little peanut who really wants to make his entrance in the world. And really, what have you ever wanted more than this? He’s minutes away.”

  “Yeah,” she whispered, still staring in my eyes.

  “The Trina I know wouldn’t let a little pain stand between her and Little Peanut. She would grit her teeth and tell the pain to bring it.”

  “Yeah,” she breathed, narrowing her eyes, “bring it.” I stepped back, glancing toward the doctor, satisfied that I had given my best attempt at a pep talk. We could totally do this.

  “Bring it!” Trina stated again forcefully, bracing herself in the bed.

  Oh, dear God, we’re about to bring it. I’m not ready for this.

  Trina’s hand clamped down on mine with more force as the doctor began instructing her to push. Jen and Annie were both in the room as well, talking in hushed tones and doing as the doctor instructed. Judging by the pressure Trina was exerting on my hand, Little Peanut should have made his entrance in no time.

  Except he didn’t. About twenty minutes into the pushing, Trina’s warrior position in the bed started to relax into helpless victim. After every round of effort, she would collapse against the pillows. I did my best to cheer her on as the minutes dragged on, eventually turning into hours.

  By the end of the second hour, she seemed so totally exhausted that I didn’t know how much longer she could go on. She had physically exerted herself long enough that I was honestly starting to sweat for her a little. Her grip on my hand wasn’t nearly as tight as it had been.

  “Cam, I don’
t think I can do this,” she whispered, on the verge of tears. Charlie glanced over at me helplessly as I leaned close to his wife.

  “Trina, you’ve never given up on anything,” I told her softly, “not even me. If you wouldn’t give up on me, why would you give up on Little Peanut when you’re so close?”

  At that moment, as though we had finally chipped away enough that the dam was about to burst, the doctor announced that she could see Little Peanut’s head. All of a sudden Trina was digging her fingernails into me, pushing with all her might. Every time she exerted her energy, she would let out a guttural sound that made me cringe inside.

  There was no doubt in my mind when Little Peanut started to make his exit, because Trina made a horrible moaning sound with the expression of all the breath in her lungs, tears streaming down her cheeks. When the doctor finally held him up for us to see, I realized that I was crying right along with Trina.

  I also realized that he was covered in crap and horribly disgusting, and I almost gagged.

  The doctor had Charlie move to cut the umbilical cord while Trina looked up into my face and smiled, and I tried to smile reassuringly back at her, but the little guy looked weird as could be. I was wondering if any of that was…well, normal…but I wouldn’t have dared asked with Trina gazing at me that way.

  “I did it,” Trina whispered. I leaned down and kissed her on the forehead.

  “Yes, sis, you did it,” I told her. Charlie and Trina started talking together quietly, and I told them I was going to go out with Cole for a few minutes, making my exit. I walked down the hall and into the waiting room, but he was nowhere to be found. Perplexed, I turned back to the nurses’ station.

  “Excuse me,” I asked the woman behind the desk, “I’m looking for someone. Blue t-shirt, ball cap…”

  “The hot guy with the perfect smile?” she wanted to know, narrowing her eyes a little.

  “Wow,” I chuckled, taken aback. “Yeah, that sounds like him. Do you know where he might be?” She hesitated for a few seconds before she pointed behind her.