Beyond Me. {Haylor}

Chapter Twenty-Six.

Through gritted teeth, I nod and mumble a "yes. Exactly." Harry's more nervous than anyone.

"Miss Swift, I think you may be having a baby today." She says, setting down the clipboard to the counter. "The pain should last less than a minute if it's contractions." Her words trigger the pain and immediately it stops.

"Contractions?!" I say, "now?!"

She nods. "We'll start timing them. And once they're twenty minutes apart, we'll check your cervix. See how dilated you are. We'll proceed from there."

"Baby, today?!" I say and it seems that's the only thing I can get out.

She smiles. "For now, just try to relax. Try and get some sleep if you can. It's really early in the morning. If you need anything, a heat pack or water, anything. Just let me know." Then she leaves, just as fast as she came.

I sit stunned. Just as well as Harry. A baby. Today. Tonight. Contractions? Wow... I take a deep breath and breathe out. Overwhelmed. Extremely overwhelmed.

The next two hours go by slower than hell. The contractions are gradually getting worse and are nearly twenty minutes apart. The doctor is on her way in to see how far dilated I am and that will tell us how long until I'm giving birth. I haven't really had much time to think about any of this. It hasn't really hit me. I'm aching more now but my back isn't hurting, which is good. My mom and dad are on their way, and when the time gets closer they said they'll let Ali come in. I'm not sure who else Harry called, but I know they'll be in the waiting room. The only people I want here, with me, is my mom and Harry and Ali. The three most important people in my life.

The whole process of checking how dilated I am is very awkward, especially for Harry. His cheeks turning red as he turns away. At this point in time, whatever the time may be, I'm only two cm dilated. Which means I still have eight more to go until we can proceed with pushing.

The next hour is when my mom and dad show up, Austin too. Although, he doesn't seem too enthused about it. How can I blame him though, it's too early to even be comprehending such a thing for my lazy collage student brother who usually doesn't see the light of day until noon. My mom on the other hand, is rather the opposite of Austin. Way too enthused, perhaps. Although she's just as torn as anyone about what happened to Ali, she seemed to have been much too excited from the get go. She's having her dream come true of a granddaughter so I guess I can't blame her. My dad is inbetween, midst conversation with Harry about something that I don't have the energy to ease drop on. They seem deep in thought though, so I shouldn't interrupt anyway.

The fifth hour has clocked itself in and I'm slowly coming in and out of paying attention to anything. My headache is much too painful to concentrate on anything. My contractions have proceeded themselves to come every sixteen minutes now, and by the looks of it, this labour is going to be long and stressful. I've learned the time is now noon, due to the nurse change. The sun is blocked by curtains but from the sounds of it, it's not all that bright out.

Hour number six starts to kill. My lower back is throbbing and I'm given the option for pain killers. I say I'll fight it off for awhile, if it gets worse I can change my mind. The doctor switches with my family to check my dilation. I'm only at four cm. "it's only going to get worse." Dr. Rose says. "You have six cms left and considering it's already been six hours... You've got a ways to go."

I take a deep breath and sigh, curling back up In the bed sheets. She leaves and flicks the light back off. My mom walks in and takes my hand, rubbing my side and it relieves some pain. "How are you feeling babe?"

I shut my eyes and moan. "Worse."

"Oh baby." My mom mumbles and starts massaging my hand.

"Where's Harry?"

"With Austin and your dad. They went to go get something for lunch. Do you want anything?"

I swallow hard and shake my head. "You should probably eat at some point."

"Don't push it." I say, glaring and then closing my eyes again. Silence fills the room for a few minutes. "I'm scared mom."

"About what, sweetie." Her voice calms me.

"Do you think I'm ready?" I say, looking deep into her eyes as a scream for help. "Do you think I'm ready to be a mom?"

She licks her lips and forms a smile. "No one is ever ready to be a mother, sweet Taylor. No matter how many books you read or prenatal vitamins you take. No matter how many baby outfits you have or how many diapers you have stored away, you're never truly ready. You can be prepared, which I have under control, but you're never truly, 100%, ready."

"Do you think I'm gonna do okay, though?" I say, trying not too cry.

"Sweetie, you've been waiting for this day since you we two years old, absolutely, I have no doubt. You're gonna be an amazing mother. I promise."

•••

Hour ten makes everything impossible. The past four hours were doesn't with me trying to eat something, anything. But everything turned me off. I was uncomfortable to the max and nothing made anything better. Except Harry talking to me. About anything. Just his voice made everything... Okay. And better. With no sign of birth anytime soon, My mom went out with my dad and Austin to pick up some necessities. Diapers and onesies. Bottles. All the good stuff. The nursery was going to get done after we got home, it was just too much to get done in the short amount of time.

My contractions stay strong at fourteen minutes with no more improvement of dilation for hour eleven and twelve. Finally, I'm able to get sleep. But for hour thirteen, In waken by the contractions. Once again. Worse than anything I've felt yet. The doctor comes in after we time the contractions to be ten minutes apart. They're more intense now, and painful. Lasting close to two minutes. Dilation is 7cm. So close. My head throbs as soon as any light comes on and I can hardly handle the voice of anyone.

Hours fourteen and fifteen blend into the mess of pain. Contractions are at seven minutes apart lasting for a minute and thirteen seconds. Only two cm to go and I can start. My parents and Austin are back. And Ali has joined us as well which I couldn't be more thankful for. Somehow, she's able to calm me more than anyone else. She looks like she's doing well, although she's in a wheelchair. She makes me happy though, to see that she's doing okay. This hour drags out much too long. To the point where contractions are five minutes apart and lasting two minutes.

When the doctor announced that I'm fully dilated, my heart stops. Dr. Rose announces that it's time to push. My dad and brother give me a hug and then leave. I'm in shock. After this long it seems like it's come so quick. I wasn't ready. This came too quick. I can't do this... Now! Harry can see I'm uncomfortable so he kneels down beside me while the doctor and nurses prepare to being my child into the world. "Look at me..." Harry whispers, dabbing my face with a cold cloth. "You're gonna do amazing. You've gone through almost seventeen hours of labour. You're so close, Tay. And then we're gonna have Ellie in our arms. Squeeze my hand as hard as you need to, okay?"

I take a deep breath and nod. "For you. For us." I whisper and pull his forehead to lean on mine. "Let's do this."

One hand is grasping Harry's, the other grasping Ali's. My mom videoing it all for whatever reason.

"And... Push!"

A/N

Only a few more chapters and then this entire thing is over. Done. Completed.

It's crazy to think about and it nearly hurts my heart. But that doesn't mean we won't have that much fun on the next one, Winding Wheel!

Thank you for voting and commenting and reading and spreading the word.

I will always love you.

-Ash