Where You Belong

"No, no, no!" I cried as I was hooked up to a heart monitor in the maternity ward, shaking my head vigorously as an IV was inserted into my hand, "He's early! He's too early!"

The doctor, whose name I had yet to learn, frowned at me, "How far along are you, Miss...?

"Williams, Brittany Williams," I groaned as another contraction hit me, "I'm at thirty six. He's not ready yet!"

The doctor sighed, "He's not supposed to be ready yet, but he's decided to come. Brittany, you've just exited the early labor phase of premature labor, which usually consists of mild and irregular contractions, which last from 30 to 45 seconds and can be anywhere from five to thirty minutes apart. From the looks of it, you've already gone through this phase, as it lasts from eight to twelve hours. How long have you been feeling the contractions, or any strange pains in your stomach?"

I sobbed as soon as the thought occured to me, lowering my head as I felt tears run down my cheeks, "Since around ten this morning." I whispered brokenly, feeling Mattie's hand in mine, and Jason's lips on my forehead. It was now eleven at night, and I knew it wouldn't be long before the gang found out what'd happened.

The doctor hummed, "I see. This means you're now in the active labor phase. It won't last nearly as long as the first phase, but the contractions will worsen during the next three to five hours, and you won't have much of a break between them," he mentioned softly before eyeing Mattie and Jason, "I'd like for you two to keep her distracted and keep track of how long the contractions are and how far apart they are."

Jason nodded tensely as the doctor gave them instructions, "Okay."

The doctor continued, "This phase will be hard on her, so do your best to keep her comfortable and distracted, and remind her to change positions frequently. You can do this by having her take baths or taking her for walks, okay?"

Mattie nodded next as another contraction hit me hard, causing me to scream out and grip his hand, "O-Okay. W-we can do t-that."

The doctor then turned to me, "Brittany, this is a great time for you to start your breathing techniques and relaxation exercises, okay? You're gonna start feeling a lot more than before, but you can't push until you're dilated to ten centimeters." he intructed me, speaking loudly over my hisses of pain.

"Where am I now?" I squeaked, screwing my eyes shut.

I heard him move around the room and felt the blanket over my legs lift up for a few seconds before it was readjusted, "You're at five centimeters now."

I groaned loudly, opening my eyes to glare up at him, "What do you fucking mean I'm only at five? This shit hurts, just get him out of me!" I nearly shrieked, feeling my hormones take a turn for the worst.

The doctor ignored my attitude, and my guess was that he was used to it, "I'll be back in a bit to check up on you. In the mean time, since these two gentlemen have told me that you're not from Virginia, I'll need to get in contact with your physician from back home. What is--"

"Jerry Polizzi, 657-312-9537," I cut him off, knowing that he would ask for Dr. Polizzi's number, "Just hurry up!"

The next hour was spent with Mattie stuffing my face with candy from the vending machine while Jason made phone calls to the others, as I watched TV. From what I could hear, the guys were freaking out, and Val and Leana stayed with them to try and keep them calm as they made their way over to the hospital. Lacey and Michelle had to make a late night stop at the Babies R Us, as I couldn't leave the hospital without a carseat and some going home clothes that we hadn't thought to bring with us on our visit.

"Okay, Britt, let's go for another walk," Jason suggested as he plucked me out of the hospital bed, setting me on my feet after I'd ripped my IV out of my hand and attempted to throw the little fluid bag thingy at the doctor's head, "It'll make you feel better."

"Nothing will fucking make me feel better until this kid gets the fuck outta me!" I snapped, fixing him with a dark glare as he placed a hand on my lower back, guiding me out of the room and down the hallway.

"Well, you're only at six, so it's not time yet," he sighed, holding onto me as another contraction racked my body. I doubled over and growled loudly, most likely scaring any passerbys who weren't used to seeing women in labor.

"I fucking know I'm only at six, Jason!" I hollered, staring him down, "And I bet if you were standing here, waiting for a baby to stop kicking you in the fucking ribs as a stabbing pain shoots through your fucking stomach every minute that you try to fucking breathe, you'd know how I fucking feel and wouldn't blame me for wanting him out!" I bellowed, yanking his arm towards me so that I could continue walking up and down the hallways.

We walked for a while, though we stayed in the maternity ward. Jason was thoroughly terrfiied, I was sure. I'd jumped at several passerbys who'd eyed me with odd expressions, feeling my anger ball up and simply explode. I was a screaming, raging mess. I'd scream and cry, then scream some more. Mattie would come meet us with chocolate bars and donuts every few minutes, hoping to distract me and calm me down. It stopped working after about the sixth time.

"What?!" I growled at a young girl who'd looked at me the wrong way, "Have you never fucking seen a woman in labor before? Well, it's only a fucking matter of time before you're in here screaming your lungs out like me, with the way you're dressed. Fucking looking at me. Didn't your momma ever tell you to cover the fuck up? Don't you dare fucking look at me like that! You know what? Go ahead and open your mouth and see what the fuck happens! I fucking dare you! I fucking dare you, you motherfu--"

"Britt!" someone screamed my name and I whipped around, ready to give whoever it was that'd interrupted me the cussing of their fucking life.

"What the fuck do you-- Jimmy!" I grinned widely, going to move toward him, but stopping and letting out a yell as another contraction surged through my body. Jason screamed with me, as I probably had broken his hand from the tight grip I'd kept on him.

I felt a pair of arms carefully wrap themselves around me and smiled despite the pain I felt, knowing that the guys were here at last. I couldn't move that much from all the pain I felt, so the guys took turns coming up and hugging me as I cursed the motherfucker who'd impregnated me to high Hell as I was hit with contraction after contraction. Val and Leana quickly hugged me too, though I couldn't make out much of what they were all saying to me as I bent over and screaming at the top of my lungs.

"DOC!" I roared, even though I didn't know my doctor's name, or if he was even still on the same floor, "Get your ass over here and check me! I want him out right fucking now!"

"Miss," I turned and looked to see a nurse looking towards me with a timid smile, "You'll have to keep quiet so that the other--"

"Who the fuck are you to tell me to keep the fuck quiet?!" I exploded, fixing her with an innimical stare, "I'm not supposed to even be in this position for another four weeks! I had no time to prepare for this shit, so I'll yell all the fuck I want!"

She looked taken aback, though I could hear Jimmy's laughter in the background, "Well, I--"

"JUST GO GET MY FUCKING DOCTOR!" I hollered with a loud stomp of my foot, and she quickly scurried off. My friends looked completely shocked, but I didn't care. They didn't know how the fuck I was feeling. I continued ranting after her in rage, "I wish you would tell me what the fuck to do! I wish you fucking would tell me to fucking be quiet while I'm the one in fucking labor! I fucking wish you would tell me--" I felt a pair of hands on my stomach and looked up, instantly feeling calmer as my eyes locked with a pair of green ones.

"Princess, you've gotta calm down," Zack murmured quietly, pulling me into his chest as he pressed several kisses to my face, "It'll all be over soon."

"Not soon enough," I grumbled irritably, feeling his chest rumble beneath me as he laughed, gently massaging my lower back.

"I know, baby," he chuckled, pulling me in the direction of the room I'd been admitted to, "But killing everyone around you isn't gonna make him come any faster."

With that, he grabbed the pillows on my bed and fluffed them up before lifting me onto the bed and laying me down on my side. I groaned loudly, sounding almost like some kind of dying animal as Mattie appeared by my side and offered my his red, swollen hand. I quickly took it, then took Zack's hand in my other one as Leana stood by Zack's side, reminding me of the breathing techniques we'd learned about in my childbirth classes she'd gone to with me.

Between the breathing techniques, Zack's soft caresses, and Mattie's words of encouragement, I'd managed to stay relatively calm for the next two hours. The others had come in and out of the room several times, though most preferred to stay in the hallway since I was apparently freaking them out to some degree. Brian, Jimmy, and Michelle often went on snack runs, sometimes getting me things from the vending machines, and other times fast food from nearby places I'd requested as I was hit with craving after craving. Val went back and forth between me and everyone else, trying to keep us all calm.

Well, I was calm until the doctor told me I'd dilated to eight centimeters.

"You mean to tell me that after all that work, I'm only at eight? Are you fucking kidding me!" I huffed, crossing my arms over my chest as I glared at him fiercely.
He chuckled, not bothered by my heated gaze in the least, "Yes, ma'am. You're officially in the transitional phase."

"And you're officially in the suck my dick and fucking like it phase; I'm nowhere near fucking ready to push and all I wanan do is fucking push! Do you know how bad this shit fucking hurts!"

He held his hands up in defense, "Well, we can do something about the pain--"

"No shit, Sherlock! You think I'm stupid? I want my fucking Epidural, and I want it now!"

"We can do that, Brittany, don't wor--"

"Don't worry?" I scoffed, hearing Zack try to calm me down. I ignored him, "Don't worry? You mean to tell me that as quickly as pregnant women dilate in this last fucking phase and I don't have my fucking Epidural yet, and you don't think I should worry?!"

"Brittany, we--"

"YOU GET ME MY EPIDURAL RIGHT FUCKING NOW!" I snapped, sitting up as far as I could to look him dead in the eyes, "I SWEAR TO THE LORD JESUS, THOU WHO ART MOTHERFUCKING HOLY IF I GET TO TEN BEFORE YOU COME BACK AND YOU TELL ME I CAN'T HAVE MY EPIDURAL, IT'S GON' BE SOME SHIT UP IN HERE!"

That's when the doctor hauled ass out of the room.

I hollered after him, "YOU BETTER PRAY I DON'T DILATE TO TEN BEFORE YOU GET BACK! NOT JESUS, NOT BUDDAH, NOT ALLAH OR FUCKING SANTA CLAUS CAN SAVE YOU FROM ME! YOU BETTER HOPE I DON'T FUCKING GET TO TEN! Y'ALL MOTHERFUCKERS BETTER HOPE I DON'T GET THERE, OR IT'S GON' BE SOME RUMBLE IN THE JUNGLE, AND I'M NOT LYIN' ABOUT THAT! TRY ME! TRY ME--"
Zack laughed, pulling me further into his chest, "Britt, relax. Here they come right now."

"Yeah, I bet they did haul their asses up them stairs," I grumbled meanly into his chest, causing him to laugh some more as I heard several sets of footsteps enter the room.

"Alright, Brittany, here's your Epid---"

"JUST DO IT ALREADY!" I snapped, feeling Zack's arms move from around my waist, his hands holding mine tightly to his chest.

"You gotta relax, babe," he murmured, and I felt my eyes drift closed as he softly pressed his lips all across my face again, not missing a single spot of my skin.

I froze momentarily as his lips pressed against mine, my breath hitching in my throat and my body going rigid as a bolt of electricity went shooting through me. I looked up into Zack's bright orbs, hoping to figure out why he'd done that in the first place. Then, the more I thought about it, the more I'd figured it was something he'd only done to keep me quiet and distract me, as the doctors opened up the back of my gown and began inserting a long, thick needle into my spine. I squeezed my eyes shut as Zack whispered comfortingly into my ear, biting hard enough on my lip to draw blood as I ignored the searing pain shooting through my back.

"There you go," the doctor smiled with what sounded like a sigh of relief as he tossed the used needle into a biohazard bin as a nurse closed my gown back up. "You'll start to feel a numbing sensation in a little bit, and once you're at ten, we'll start pushing."

With that, the doctor left the room, and all I could do was look around the room as the medicine took its effect, slowly numbing my entire body. The contractions didn't bother me so much anymore, but I could still feel them completely. It was a strange feeling. Leana and Michelle came in the room and began speaking to me, but my mind was foggy, and I couldn't concentrate on their talking to save my life. I could barely lift my head to look at them.

"Yeah, those meds are working just fine," Mattie said from beside me, and I lazily turned my head and fixed him with what I hoped was a mean glare. He took one look at my face and stifled a laugh, causing me to roll my eyes.

"You...just wait until...I...get him out of me and can...g-get out this bed," I slurred slightly, and it was then that I knew I was getting loopy from the drugs they'd given me. I felt chills shoot through my body and knew that I was quickly making it to the last couple of centimeters of dilation.

"Almost there, Britt," Zack murmured, gently running a hand through my hair.

I smiled goofily at him, "Yup!" I exclaimed, popping the 'p' on the end like a little kid. I then moved my gaze to the ceiling, smiling up at all the millions of little dots etched into it. I was tempted to count them all, but my eyes weren't focused enough to even really see them. "Shit, they got me geeked up on this Epidural, don't they?" I mumbled, causing whoever else was in the room to laugh.

"She's high as a fucking kite," someone familiar laughed, though I couldn't think of whose voice it was.

I raised my finger in the air, only for it to involuntarily fall back down on the bed, "I am....n-not! Nope."

I wasn't sure how long I'd laid there with Zack and probably made an ass of myself as the drugs I'd been given continued to kick in, but after a while, the doctor from before walked briskly back into the room, lifting the sheet over my legs and spreading my legs open to check my progess.

He smiled before replacing the sheet and looking back up at me with a nod, "It's go time."