Page 70 of Wild King
Kellen blows the air out of his lungs and says, “Because I was being my asshole self. Ava’s okay. Always has been. It was me who wasn’t willing to see that once she and Theo broke up. I think I blamed her for his death.”
I want to ask about her and Theo since I’ve only known of her with Matthias, but that can wait. For now, I think Kellen needs to hear something else.
“For what it’s worth, I think you were just missing him. I’m sure everyone understands that.”
“Don’t count on it. I’ve said some pretty rotten stuff to her and Matthias.”
He pulls up to the driveway at Matthias and Ava’s house and sighs, so I say, “Siblings always say terrible things to one another. You should hear what I’ve said to my sister when I was in a bad mood. Family means you just have to apologize and then do better and they forgive you. That’s what’s so great about family.”
As Kellen turns off the car and hands me the keys, he smiles. “I hope you’re right. For now, though, I just hope she’s going to be okay and my future nephew or niece is too. Matthias is probably going out of his mind with worry right about now.”
“Then let’s get in there and figure out how we can help.”
Almost like the heavens hear me, the rain stops and I see a few tiny stars in the sky when I get out of the car. If only that can be a sign that Ava and the baby are going to be okay.
CHAPTER THIRTY
Kellen
Eleanor meetsus at the kitchen door frantically flailing her hands in front of her as she tries to explain what’s happening. Her words come out so fast that neither Salem nor I can understand her, so I set my hands on her shoulders to try and calm her down.
“It’s okay. Just tell me slowly what’s wrong.”
She takes a deep breath in and lets it out in a rush as tears fill her eyes. “Ava wasn’t feeling well at dinner last night, so she said she was going to go to bed early. I stayed up because I wanted to make you more cookies to bring over to you tomorrow when I go to the store to shop for the week. I was just finishing the first batch when I heard a noise upstairs. I ran up to the bedroom and found her on the floor.”
Damn. That’s not good.
“Did she fall?” Salem asks.
Eleanor shakes her head. “I don’t think so. She said she tripped over the bedspread on her way to the bathroom, so I helped her get back into bed and came back down here to getstarted on the second batch of cookies. I finished those and was enjoying a cup of tea before bed since it was around ten o’clock and the chamomile tea always helps me drift off instead of tossing and turning all night.”
I love Eleanor like a mother and have all my life, but the woman is about to give me a throbbing headache with this story. Needing her to cut to the chase, I try to help her along to the end.
“Okay, but what happened with Ava?”
“It was about twelve-thirty or maybe closer to one, and I heard her cry out. I ran upstairs expecting to see her maybe tangled up in the comforter again, but she was in bed safe and sound. I asked her what was wrong and she said she was having terrible pains down near her hips. I think she’s gone into labor early. I called the ambulance, but they said they’re having a hard time getting anywhere because the roads are flooded from the storm. They’ve got a backlog of people needing help, so I don’t know when they can get here. That’s why I called you.”
I look over at Salem and hope she’s able to help like she claimed back at the house. “Do you really know anything about pregnant women and giving birth? Because I don’t know a thing other than boiling water and tearing strips of sheets, which I think is just nonsense they show in the movies to prove men are imbeciles when it comes to women giving birth.”
Thankfully, she nods. “I do.”
Turning to look at Eleanor, she says, “Do you know if her water broke yet?”
Jesus. I may not know much about women giving birth, but that I do know is a sign the baby’s coming soon if her water already broke. What a time for Matthias to be all about the job and travel to the London office. He’s so much calmer than I am about everything. More capable too. Eleanor wouldn’t be freaking out if he was here.
Eleanor shakes her head. “No, thank God. But I don’t think it’s going to be long. I think the baby is coming tonight. Oh, God! That baby isn’t due for two weeks.”
She begins to unravel again, so I say in as calm a voice as I can muster at this moment, “We’ve got this. With Salem’s knowledge of what to do and our helping, we got this. Let’s go upstairs and see what we need to do.”
I sound a hell of a lot surer than I feel, but Salem looks composed and relaxed, which makes me think what I just said wasn’t total bullshit. Even so, I wonder if the three of us can actually deliver this baby.
We all hurry up the stairs to the bedroom to find Ava sitting on the edge of the bed hunched over and breathing heavily. It’s even worse than I thought! I imagined we’d find her lying down or maybe sitting up watching TV as the contractions hit. So much for what you see in the movies.
“Ava! Are you in pain?” Eleanor asks as she rushes over to help her.
Shaking her head, she looks up at her as sweat pours down the sides of her face. “No, but I can’t stay in this bed anymore.”
“The ambulance can’t get here to take you to the hospital yet, but I’m sure it will be here soon,” I say, thinking that will comfort her.