Their plane landed on the private tarmac a little before noon the next morning, in just enough time to meet Carly. They had decided to wait in the car since Lulu wasn't up to standing for long amounts of time and it was still a little cool. They weren't in there long before the Jacks family jet landed.
"Oh…my…gosh." Carly squealed as she saw Lulu struggle to pull herself out of the car, "You're more beautiful than ever!"
"Are you kidding me?" Lulu asked, "Is that like code for 'you're a fat cow'?"
"No!" Carly exclaimed, hugging her cousin, "You're pregnant Lulu, that's beautiful."
"Well thanks, but I don't feel like it." Lulu smiled, "I'm just ready to get this over with."
"Hey," Carly started, "don't be rushing her out, she'll come out on her own time."
"I know, I'm just miserable." Lulu replied as she rubbed her forehead.
"Lu, if you're ready, we can head to the hotel." Nikolas said, walking over to them with Nadine and Spencer after talking to the staff.
"Okay," Lulu nodded, "I'm going to ride in the car with Carly."
"Alright, we'll see you when we get there." Nikolas said, watching his sister wince, lightly pushing at the bottom of her rounded stomach, "Lu, are you okay, do we need to go to the hospital?"
"No, I'll be fine." Lulu said as she took a step, "It's just a false alarm, I think. Ow!"
"No, come on, let's go to the hospital." Carly added, Nikolas quickly swept Lulu off of her feet and carried her to the car.
"Do you want me to ride with you and Carly?" Nikolas asked placing Lulu in the back seat of the town car.
"No, you go ride with Nadine and Spencer, we'll be fine." Lulu replied, "I need to lie down."
"Just get comfortable honey." Carly told her cousin allowing Lulu to rest her head in her lap.
"I'm scared Carly." She said as another contraction started, she allowed tears to fall from her eyes.
"Lulu, it's going to be okay." Carly told her rubbing Lulu's cheek with her thumb and allowing her to squeeze her hand through the pain, "The last few weeks of gestation are just insurance, your little girl has Spencer running through her veins, and even if she is born today she'll be fine…she's a fighter."
Lulu looked at Carly and smiled through her tears, "I'm so glad nothing like this happened before you got here." Lulu told her, clinching her teeth together because of the pain.
"I wouldn't be anywhere else in the world." Carly said
One they got to the hospital, Lulu was rushed to the labor and delivery floor while Dr. Walker was paged.
"Can I get an epidural or something?" Lulu asked her doctor as she came into the room.
"Well Lulu, we're going to have to check you to make sure everything is okay and see if you are really in labor." Dr. Walker replied, "Can everyone step out of the room please?"
Lulu was trying to reposition herself on the bed after her family left as Dr. Walker scrubbed her hands, then came over to Lulu, "Has your water broke yet?" she asked as she began to check Lulu.
"I don't think so." Lulu nodded with an uncomfortable look on her face.
"How far apart are the contractions?" She asked
"Well, they've been various, but since we got here, they're about seven to ten minutes apart." Lulu told her
"Okay, well you're dilated to a four, so we're going to keep you here." Dr. Walker told her, "I'll be back in about an hour to see how we're progressing."
"Um, I think my water just broke." Lulu said
Dr. Walker came back over to Lulu's bed, "Yeah," She confirmed, "I will have a nurse in here to change your linens and if you need me, have me paged, I will be back in thirty minutes instead of an hour. Do you want the epidural?"
"Yes!" She exclaimed
"Alright, I will send in the anesthesiologist to give it to you." Dr. Walker told her
"Okay, so it may not be very long?" Lulu asked
"Well, it could be a couple hours and it could be well into tomorrow morning before we deliver." Dr. Walker replied
"Great." Lulu said laying her head back on the bed as she watched Dr. Walker leave.
Carly and Nikolas came back into the room and immediately ran to Lulu's side, "What did she say?" Carly asked
"She said it could be two hours and it could be morning before I deliver, but my water just broke and I'm dilated to a four." Lulu replied, inhaling sharply and clinching her teeth again before grabbing onto the bed railing as another contraction hit.
"Just breathe honey." Carly said rubbing Lulu's arm.
"I'm never having sex again after this!" Lulu exclaimed closing her eyes tightly, still grasping the railing, but trying to breathe.
Carly began to laugh, "I think you'll change your mind after awhile." She told her
"Okay, I don't want to hear that." Nikolas said
"Come on Nikolas, how do you think she got where she is today?" Carly asked, teasing him.
"I know how it happened, but I don't want to think of my sister doing that." Nikolas said
Lulu began to laugh now too as her contraction subsided, "Carly, I need you to call Georgie, I completely forgot I was supposed to call her when I went to the hospital." Lulu said
"Actually," Nikolas said, "I'll do it, you stay here with Lulu."
After they came to change her linens, the anesthesiologist came in, "Okay Lulu, I need you to sit up for me and just relax." He said
Lulu did as he asked, but looked over to where he was preparing the epidural, then she felt Carly grabbing her face, "Don't watch him." She said, making Lulu look her in the eyes, "Just talk to me, tell me about…tell me about when you were in Manhattan with Johnny."
Lulu began telling Carly about all the good times they had in the apartment, how he surprised her on her birthday and he tried teaching her to play the piano.
Lulu felt the large needle go into her back as she jerked a little and drew in a sharp breath through her clinched teeth, she closed her eyes and tried not to cry. Carly grabbed her hand, and let her squeeze it, "Come on Lulu, tell me what you're going to do after your baby girl gets here."
"Almost finished." The anesthesiologist told her
Lulu now allowed the tears to run freely down her face, "I can't Carly." She cried, shaking her head and hyperventilating a little.
"It's okay, it's almost over." Carly told her.
Twenty minutes later when the doctor came in, Lulu still had a hold of Carly's hand, but she was no longer in pain and she was drifting in and out of a light sleep.
"Lulu…" Carly whispered, Lulu slowly opened her eyes, "Dr. Walker is here."
"Hi Lulu." Dr. Walker said, "Would you like for your cousin to stay in here while I check you?"
"Yeah, that's fine." Lulu replied as her doctor put some gloves on.
"Well, it looks like you're still at a four, but it's only been thirty minutes." Dr. Walker said, "I'll be back in an hour and if you need me before then have a nurse page me."
"Okay." Lulu said as Dr. Walker left the room, "This is going to take forever."
"But it's so worth it Lu, when you hold Leah in your arms for the first time, it will all be worth it." Carly smiled
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