Iris

21. It's Time

The rest of the week dragged on into the weekend. Now that Chloe was off of work, the days felt agonizingly longer. Lucifer stuck by her side throughout the day, only leaving at night to tend to the club. She loved him dearly, but she felt huge, crampy, and upset all the time, so it took everything in her not to constantly lash out at him. Most of their time was spent trying the internet's advice on how to induce labor at home. Some of the tactics were really fun (for Mom and Dad), but unfortunately, none of them worked. 

Dan had agreed to let Trixie come back to the penthouse after school this entire week. Chloe had called him a few hours after her last appointment to let him know that they might have to induce labor next week, so she wanted to spend as much time with Trixie as much as she could before her time was divided. 

Trixie loved her new room on the floor below the penthouse. Chloe still wasn't too warm toward the idea, but she also felt guilty knowing that Baby Deckerstar (Iris) was about to get all of her attention, so maybe distracting her oldest daughter with shiny new toys would help. It was a bad mom move, she knows, but it's the only thing she could think of at the moment to compromise. 

They spent most of their days watching movies and snacking when Trixie wasn't in school or doing homework. Sometimes, Chloe felt like she was going miss the days when it was just her and Trixie; they were some of her fondest memories, but now she was getting the opportunity to spread her love to another person, and she knew Trixie would make an amazing big sister, something Chloe never got to be.

Even though she tried to rest and relax as much as possible over the course of the week, Chloe found herself getting less and less sleep every night. She was just so uncomfortable in any position she tried, and many times (once she found a comfortable position) her mind wouldn't shut off. So, on top of being bored, uncomfortable, and anxious, now she was exhausted. 

Chloe found herself in a similar situation the night of October twenty sixth, two days before her induction date. There was something slightly different about tonight, though. Trixie had gone to sleep around nine because she had school in the morning. Chloe tried for sleep any time she could nowadays, so she climbed into bed not long after tucking her daughter in. Begrudgingly, Lucifer followed her even though he was nowhere near tied, but Chloe was hinting at a back rub. 

She grumbled that he wasn't rubbing hard enough and that her back still hurt, but he kept arguing that if he presses any harder, he risks doing damage to her spine. Chloe rolled her eyes, he was just being dramatic. After a few seconds, the pain subsided and Chloe felt herself drifting off into sleep...until the pain flared back up, but this time curving around to her stomach and making it feel tight. 

She winced and opened her eyes. She turned over her phone on the bedside table to see what time it was. Chloe could hear Lucifer snoring beside her, his hand still resting on her back. He must have fallen asleep while massaging her. 

Her phone said that it was a little after eleven, so Chloe had gotten about two hours of sleep. This pain was not about to let her go back to sleep though, that she knew. It felt just like the Braxton Hicks she had been experiencing the last few weeks but definitely more intense. 

Chloe told herself over and over again that it was just Braxton Hicks, they were nothing to worry about, and she should try to get some more sleep. 

That was until midnight rolled around and instead of subsiding, the contractions became slightly more intense and seemed to be more frequent than they were hours ago. 

Deciding to play it safe rather than sorry, Chloe opened up the timer app on her phone and began to time the duration and frequency of each contraction. 

As quietly as she could, she rolled herself out of bed. Part of her wanted to wake up Lucifer and have him tell her that she's crazy and needs to go back to sleep, but one look at his peaceful, sleeping face turned her against the option; he needed sleep almost as much as she did if this was really happening.