Shortly after Gretchen checks my progress, I excuse myself to use the bathroom, only to have her ask, "Number one or two?"
This is not something I have ever had to discuss in front of Prince, and I look uncomfortably at Gretchen, "Two."
"Has there been an increased frequency?" When I nod, she says, "Okay, I'll wait outside, leave the door open."
Prince interrupts by kissing my cheek, "I'll be downstairs, Sugar," giving us privacy.
Before I enter our bathroom, I warn her with a grimace, "They have kind of been," I wrinkle my nose, "not normal the past couple days."
She smiles, "Looser or softer is the norm right now, you're fine."
I take care of business and return to the bedroom for her to gather her bag. When we step into the loft she moves towards the stairs, because that's how we had come up, but she when she sees me head to the elevator, she follows. When we get to the main floor, Prince is standing by the windows looking out, but I don't think he's seeing, again he's quick to return to my side. Gretchen says, "Just go about your day, I'll call the doctor and let her know what's going on, and then the hospital to give them a heads up. My gut feeling is you may be having this baby late tonight or early tomorrow morning."
Prince and I look at each other wide eyed, we've been waiting and ready, but her gut feeling seems so fast. I open the backdoor, stepping outside, Prince follows closely, watching my every move with interest. When I pick up the pruners he looks at me like I have lost my mind, "You're gardening?"
"It's what I do," I kiss him. Then I look into his eyes and blink playfully, "Would you play for us?" I ask, stroking my belly with my free hand.
He chuckles, "Of course, it's what I do," he throws back before returning into the house to fetch his guitar.
When he returns, he sits on the patio and plays while I tend to the garden. Gretchen joins us soon after to relax and keep an eye on me while I move around the yard. I have to stop sporadically as my low back seems to spasm, this isn't so bad, I think to myself after a couple little puffs of air, and continue on. After an hour or so, the spasms seem to have stopped, and I find myself disappointed, I had finally wrapped my mind around meeting our son tonight. Prince stops playing and joins me as I work my way around our little sitting area under the trees. "You've stopped holding your back," he says as he climbs the steps towards me.
"I know," I frown, "Maybe Gretchen's gut feeling is wrong." Prince doesn't look as disappointed as I feel, "Weren't you excited?"
He nods, "Yes, but tomorrow would be better."
I knit my eyebrows in confusion, "Did you have plans tonight?"
He laughs, "No, but tomorrow is the seventh."
"Oh, you're kidding!" I say slightly annoyed, sometimes he flabbergasts me with his quirky ways. "Should I keep my legs crossed until tomorrow?" I snap.
"Whoa," he chuckles wide eyed, "I'm sorry, Sugar, it was just a thought." He pulls me close, "How cool would it be that all of our birthdays would fall on the seventh of the month?"
"It would be cool, but seriously, his decision," I place his hand on my stomach.
"I know," he looks at me to see if I have calmed, and I have. "Come on, get off your feet for a bit," he leads me over to the chairs.
They are a little too low, and too reclined for a very pregnant woman to maneuver into with any type of finesse, but we share a laugh as I get seated, "You're going to have to call a tow truck to get me back out of this thing!" He just laughs and shakes his head before sitting beside me and taking my hand.
We're sitting there quietly enjoying the beautiful day, when a pain comes from nowhere, I gasp, then blow out a breath. We're both wide eyed again, "Are you okay?" Prince asks.
"Wow," I breathe, "Yeah," I take some deep breaths, then look at him confused.
"What?!" he's worried.
"I'm able to take deeper breaths, it's weird after gasping for air for so long." I struggle on the chair, "Help me out of this thing."
Prince is up and pulling at my hand, I look up to see Gretchen hurrying across the yard, "Contraction?"
"Something, yeah. Gretchen, I can breathe better," I add.
She smiles knowingly, "He's on the move."
"So this is normal?" I ask.
"Yes, Dear." Gretchen answers with a happy smile, before she glances at Prince whose eyes are flitting back and forth between us, "Mr. Nelson, may I have a word with you please?"
Fearing something is wrong, I watch as she leads him out of my earshot. Gretchen speaks to him calmly but there's a very serious expression on her face. Prince's body language goes through several stages as she talks. First he's fidgety with concern as he's lead away, but that quickly changes once she starts to speak. His shoulders square, his chest puffs, his jaw sets, I grin because I'm pretty sure he's being told what to do, and this is something he doesn't handle well. As she finishes, I see his body relax and he nods solemnly, as if he has submitted to doing whatever she has said.
As they approach, Gretchen looks pleased, while Prince looks like a scolded child, but this changes as he resumes his protective stance next to me. Gretchen excuses herself to send our doctor a text on my progress, which pleases me to know that they are working so closely together on this. I turn to Prince, "She reprimanded you, didn't she?"
His lips twist and he frowns, "No."
"Um, hmmm," I look at him and wait.
"Maybe a little. I was told I needed to calm down, my stress may induce yours, which in turn would stress the baby." I nod as he recounts her instructions.
I reach out and stroke his back, "Prince, I have a feeling you have scrutinized all of Gretchen's qualifications before you hired her, so we need to trust her here. She's done this many times before, we haven't." He nods again. "Prince?" He perks up, "I think you're doing great." I have to maneuver sideways a bit, but I pull him for a long, deep kiss that leaves us both a bit breathless.
He clears his throat and looks lustily at me as he whispers, "If we were alone, I would take you right here."
I glance up to see Gretchen crossing the lawn, she saw our kiss and how close Prince is standing, and I'm sure she can read the desire on my face as she approaches. She grins at Prince's embarrassment of being caught off guard by her arrival, and offers, "That could speed things up, actually." His blush deepens as he averts his eyes and shakes his head comically. Gretchen laughs, "I'm sorry, I assumed you two had had sex before."
I snicker, but Prince does not, "We make love," he says dryly. The topic is closed.
Gretchen puts her hand on my arm, "Dana, I would like to check you again, if that's okay?"
"Uh, sure," I agree and follow her back into the house begrudgingly, because less than thirty seconds ago, I was tempted by my husbands bedroom eyes, and now I'm going to be prodded by my midwife.
After this second examination, I'm told there's no change, "Still at three, my dear," as she takes off her gloves. Disappointed, I pull my panties back on and straighten my dress. "I'm going to leave since everything seems to have calmed down, but you call me as soon as there are any changes. May I suggest you both get some rest, we may be in for long evening if this little guy decides to change his mind." It's my turn to nod solemnly.
I follow her to the elevator and once we're inside, "I was serious about you two having relations, sometimes that helps," she offers.
"We'll see," I say with a smile, but I know he's going to be as disappointed by this obvious false alarm as I am.
Gretchen explains everything to Prince and we walk her to the door. She reiterates, "Don't worry about wearing my number out, that's why I'm here. Call, for any reason," and she's down the steps and gone.