December 9, 2022 (continued)
Finn pulled the Jeep into the driveway and parked. He had just calmed down from Quinn's contraction when another one hit her.
"Are you sur—ow, ow, OW!" He stiffened as Quinn squeezed the life out of his right hand. His chest puffed against his seatbelt as he tried steeling himself against the pain but she hadn't let go or relaxed her grip. He had never known for Quinn to be particularly strong, physically but damn—contractions gave her the strength of Wonder Woman!
"Breathe, Babe, breathe!" he hastily reminded her in a minimal voice.
As he heard her slowly release a breath, she'd finally let go of his hand. Finn drew it close to him, flexing and relaxing it repeatedly. "Holy shit, that hurt," he whispered staring at his hand while wondering how she hadn't broken any bones.
"I'm okay," Quinn insisted.
"No, no you're not 'fine'—you just had like…two contractions in ten minutes!"
"It's not cause for this much concern until they're about five minutes apart."
Finn's brows rose while his tone elevated to borderline hysterics, "Oh that's great—so we should just wait until that happens? No, we're going to the hospital! Now!"
"Finn! Relax. The baby's not gonna come flying out of my pants, okay?" She took a couple of deep breaths in her nose and out of her mouth while pressing a hand along her stomach. "Look, let's at least go inside and get the overnight bags."
The brunette was staring at her with a hard-fixed gaze as though they were running a play for a football game. He nodded one sharp nod, "Right. You wait here. I'll go get the bags. Then we can call our moms when we get to the hospital."
"Sounds great," Quinn said, half-sarcastically. "I'm going to call my doctor though while you go get the bag. Just don't forget to lock the house up on your way out."
"Got it," he said while rushing out of the car. He felt Quinn's eyes on him through the windshield but didn't dwell on her appraising stare. There was the very real possibility that he was going to meet his daughter within the next day.
Once inside the house, he sped to the staircase, taking the steps two at a time and then darted down the hall to their bedroom. The entire way, a giddy smile was creeping across his face and reached its peak when he reached their closet. On the floor of the closet was a grey and blue, pre-packed duffle bag. Sitting on the top was a handwritten note from Quinn: "Lock the front door!" with a heart beside it. He chuckled lightly to himself, slung the bag onto his shoulder and promptly headed for the door.
As Finn hurried out of the bedroom with the large duffle bag, he nearly collided with Quinn. He stopped just short of doing so and quickly stepped back, taking in her unusual posture. Her legs were spread apart in a slight squat as though she were seated on an invisible pony, but her white leggings were unusually dark at the joining of her legs. Finn's face contorted—jaw slackened, brows raised. "Uhh…what the hell happened?"
"My water broke. Stop staring at me like I decided to pee on myself! I need to change before we go."
She waddled past him and disappeared in the bedroom. Finn took a few steps toward the stairs and waited for her at the upper landing but a strangled holler from his fiancée sent him running back into their room only moments later.
Quinn was hunched at the foot of their bed, clad only in her blouse and underwear. She looked like she was in the worst pain Finn had ever seen her in, which made him come to her side faster than usual. She let out an agonizing groan while clutching her fingers to the bedspread. Not knowing what else to do, Finn raised a hand to rub soothing circles along her back.
"It's okay. The pain will pass soon," he murmured repeatedly, although it was hard to tell if he was trying to convince himself or her. But when Quinn nodded her bowed head, her acknowledgement of his words made him feel a little more certain about what he was doing.
As his hand continued its circuit along Quinn's back, he felt her shoulders rise and fall as she said to him, "My coat…the pink one with the butterfly pin on it…and my yellow dress…can you get them for me?"
"Yeah, sure," Finn replied, rising to his full stature. He neared the closet again, found the dress and coat she'd asked for and helped her change clothes. From there, he helped her get into a pair of boots and escorted her back out to the car.
As he drove, it started to sink into his mind—he was going to be a dad. There was no more waiting and no more wondering. In some number of hours, he and Quinn were going to be meeting their baby girl. It had taken him a while to get used to the idea of being a father, but this drive to the hospital—a first time experience that may or may not happen again—this weighed the reality down on him and pushed his lips up into a smile. That was, until Quinn found his hand again to grip for another contraction.
That, he could do without having ever experienced again.
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