"Ow." Lucy latched onto Harry's hand. "Holy shit."
"Luce, what is it?" Harry asked.
Tony, Lucy's bodyguard, and Robert, one of Harry's bodyguards, looked back at the couple.
Harry rubbed Lucy's hand with the back of his thumb. "What is it, Lucy?" he repeated. "Is it baby? Is he kicking?"
"Obviously not," she spat through her clenched teeth. Her finger squeezed his hand tightly. "I think... I think it's a contraction."
"A contraction?" Harry sputtered. "Like labor? Like the baby is coming now?" His eyes bugged out. "It's too soon. You're only eight months. You're supposed to get to nine months. The first baby is supposed to be late. We haven't done anything to the apartment. There are so many things that would fall over and-- and-- and we can't. Not now. We're not ready. This baby isn't ready. No--"
"Harry?"
"Yeah?"
"Shut up."
He closed his mouth and watched his wife intently. Lucy faced upward now, eyes to the roof of the car. She tightly gripped the side handle of the car. Her teeth clenched shut. Her mouth frowned. She breathed deeply through her nose.
"Robert," Harry demanded, "hospital now."
"Yes, your highness." Robert started up the car and pulled quickly out of the spot. He knew the rules, safety first, and he did. He did everything carefully and he obeyed all traffic signs and signals, all rules to the road.
Tony called ahead to the hospital, where a doctor waited for the couple.
"Harry, calm down." Lucy's fingers curled into the leather of the seat again. She tried to straighten her legs but there was nowhere for them to go.
"Luce," Harry said, "everything is okay. I know it is. Everything is okay. We're all good. You're doing great. Baby will be fine. He'll be healthy, with ten fingers and ten toes. And--"
"Harry?"
"Yeah?"
"Shut the hell up."
Harry closed his mouth.
Robert turned onto the hospital's road. He glanced back before pulling off. The car sat near an entrance, with glances in all directions to see that they weren't followed. They weren't followed, no paparazzo. It poured outside as Lucy entered hospital and was directed to the left. Immediately Lucy was put into the lift and went up to the maternity ward. The hallways cleared when Lucy was taken into a room.
Lucy managed to stay calm the whole time, but that left Harry to panic on his own. Though she was in pain, she had felt worse. Then there was Harry beside her, who tried to be calm but failed. He tried to calm her but failed.
"It shouldn't be happening this fast, right?" Harry asked the midwife who walked in. "It's supposed to take hours, days even. The pain just started and it hasn't stopped."
The midwife, a firm lady with a frown for a mouth, only glanced at Harry. "Your first?"
"Yes," he breathed.
"I assumed." The midwife immediately started to feel Lucy's stomach. Her hard bone fingers pressed into the bottom of her stomach harshly. Lucy let out a hiss but said nothing. "We're going to run a few tests. We're going to do sonogram. We're going to find out what's going on."
"Is it labor?" Harry asked.
The midwife paused. "Unsure."
"Unsure?"
"Though she appears to be having contractions, baby has yet to drop down. He seems quite comfortable in there. If he doesn't drop down and this is labor, we're going to have to do a cesarean. However, we don't know this is labor. This could be something else."
"Is Lucy okay? Is the baby okay?"
"Breathe," the midwife said. "We'll find out." The midwife turned to Lucy. "We can't give you any pain medications until we know what we're dealing with. You're going to be okay?"
"I'll be fine," Lucy grunted, trying to get comfortable on the bed.
The midwife nodded and left the room.
Harry sat down beside his wife and squeezed her hand. He moved around in his seat, and Lucy gave him a look. He tried to settle down.
"Everything is fine, Harry. It's just pain. Everything is good." Lucy rubbed her belly with her other hand. "If the baby comes, he'll be fine. It'll all be good."
"We don't have any baby stuff."
"That won't be a problem. I'm sure they'll be toys everywhere." Lucy smiled through the pain. "If the baby is born, does that mean I still have to have a baby shower?"
Harry huffed a chuckle. "I... probably. You can't escape that one."
"Dammit," Lucy grunted and sucked in a breath. Her back arched on the bed.
The midwife came back with a sonogram machine. A few other midwives did a few tests on Lucy quickly, some blood and urine tests, and then left. The main midwife went to the sonogram machine and started. Automatically, the baby popped up on the screen. "There is baby boy. He looks healthy." His heartbeat filled the room. "His heartbeat is healthy. Everything is good."
"He hasn't dropped?" Harry asked.
"No, which is good. You two still have time." The midwife cleaned of Lucy's stomach. "It is just as expected: Braxton-Hicks contractions."
"What?" Harry asked.
"False labor," Lucy answered.
The midwife nodded. "False labor," she repeated. "It is your body training itself before the baby comes. Labor will hurt more than this. Think of it really as your body getting ready. You have a month left?"
"Yeah," Harry agreed.
"First baby, I suspect two months. He still wants to grow, and he's already big. He'll spend as much time in there as he can."
"What about the pain?" Harry asked. "Lucy will still be in pain. Or we just supposed to ignore or can she get something or...?"
The midwife paused. "There's nothing we can give her. This is her first batch of Braxton-Hicks contractions. Could be her last." The midwife's eyes turned to Lucy. "What were you doing before coming here? Something stressful perhaps? In this weather?"
Lucy nodded.
"That's what caused the Braxton-Hicks contractions. If the stress stops, the false labor shall. She'll be fine; baby will be fine." The midwife paused. "We shall keep you over night, in case real labor begins, but I wouldn't suspect it. If real labor doesn't begin, we'll send you home. You'll spend the rest of your pregnancy there, hopefully out of stressful situations."
"How will you know when real labor begins?" Harry asked.
"Waters break," she said. "That's how you know for sure." The midwife walked to the door. "I'll get you a dress for the night, and we'll see what happens." She left.
Harry and Lucy sat in the room alone. The smell of the cleanness burned their nostrils. The walls weren't wall at least but happier, like it was supposed to welcome baby into the world. The walls were a dull pink and blue. Everything was shiny. The only sound came from the heartbeat of Lucy's monitor over her belly; his heartbeat filled the air. Sometimes the other sound with a grunt and groan from Lucy.
With her husband's help, Lucy managed to change out of her old, cold, wet dress. It crumbled on the ground. The cotton dress Lucy was given was warm and it felt so nice on her skin. Her high heeled shoes clanked across the ground. The shoes were put in the corner. Lucy shed all of her jewelry, even her engagement ring and wedding ring.
"Well," Harry said, "everything is good. We're safe. He's safe. He'll be great. He needs to get bigger, but I don't know how. You saw him, Luce. That's going to hurt to push out." Her eyes came to him, and Harry moved onto a different subject. "You're so perfect right now, so beautiful. I love you. You're so strong, and I don't know how you could do this. You're perfect and brave and beautiful and--"
"Harry, shut up."
"Yep."