I was in the kitchen, pulling out ingredients to make pasta when Shawn's caller ID popped up on my phone screen. I answered the FaceTime request.

"Hi honey! I'm at the airport! I'll be home in around seven or so hours"

I smiled widely. Shawn finally finished tour and he's coming home from New York. "I'm so excited for you to come. I'm sick and tired of not having you here"

"I'm very excited too. What are you up to?"

"I'm just making spaghetti for me and Sweets. How's New York?"

"New York is beautiful. I was able to make some music and I'll let you listen when I come home"

"Yay! Th-" I stopped when I felt a weird sensation at the lower part of my stomach. I looked down, silent.

"Alana, is everything alright?"

"I-" I couldn't seem to get my sentence out.

"Honey what's going on?"

"Shawn. I think. My water broke"

Shawn's eyes widened on the screen. "Are you sure?! She's not supposed to come out for another week"

"Oh. I'm sure"

"OKAY DON'T PANIC. CALL ELENA"

"Shawn. Calm down. I will clean this up and then I'll call Elena. My contractions haven't even st-" At that moment, I felt something squeezing inside of me. I closed my eyes shut and grimaced.

"CALL HER ALANA" Shawn panicked through the phone.

The contraction lasted about thirty seconds then stopped. "Mmm. Yup. I'll call her. After I clean this mess up and change my clothes"

"YOU DON'T HAVE TIME TO CLEAN THAT UP. GO TO THE HOSPITAL"

"That's disgusting if I just left this here. Besides, I have 24 hours to get this baby out and the contractions aren't five minutes apart yet so it's not like I really need to get to the hospital" I brought the phone with me to grab a towel to clean the mess.

"You're insane Alana"

"I'm fine. Don't worry"

"I can't NOT worry. You're in labor and I'm not even there!"

"It's going to be FINE SHAWN. STOP YELLING"

"Who's the one yelling now?"

"You're stressing me out. I thought you'd be here when this happened and look. You're on the other side of the dang country"

"I'll be there in seven hours. Just have the baby and I'll be there. Look. I have to go. My plane is taking off. I love you sweetheart. You got this"

I looked at the screen and frowned. "Love you more love bug" He ended the call and I went upstairs to change my clothes and grab the baby bag.

I pulled out my phone on my way down the stairs and called Elena.

"Hi Auntie Alana!" Layla's voice exclaimed excitedly.

"Hi honey. Is Mommy there?"

"She's in the bathroom. Do you need her?"

"Mhm. Can you ask her if she can take me to the hospital. The baby's coming"

"THE BABY'S COMING?!" She yelled. I heard her little feet run and the opening of a door. "MOMMY. AUNTIE ALANA IS HAVING THE BABY"

On the other side, I could hear Elena. "WHAT?!" She took the phone. "Oh my gosh. HELLO?"

"Woah. Calm down. Everything is alright. My water broke and contractions are pretty far apart"

"STAY RIGHT WHERE YOU ARE IM ON THE WAY" She hung up the phone.

Thirty minutes later, the door bell rung. "What took you so long?! I said to take your time but it's hurting a lot now"

She grabbed the baby bag for me and helped me to the car. She ran to the driver's seat and started the car. "Sorry. I got pulled over by the police for speeding. Just keep breathing. How far apart are the contractions?"

"About twenty minutes now"

"Alright. You still have a bit of time before the real labor kicks in. We should get to the hospital in about ten minutes so hang tight. Have you called Shawn?"

"Yeah. I was facetiming him when it happened. He was just getting onto the plane"

"Goodness. You guys definitely weren't expecting this, huh?"

"Not at all" I was silent for a moment until I spoke up again. "Elena, I'm honestly so scared"

She took a quick glance over at me. "Why? Are you scared about the pain?"

"No. Nothing about the labor at all. How do I know if I'm going to be a good mom?"

She sighed. "Alana, Alana. Have you seen yourself? Have you seen the way you've interacted with Layla through the past years? The first time you saw her, I was convinced that you were a better mother than I was because you were able to get her to stop crying in an instant when Josh and I spent all night trying to. You were 16 years old, Alana. Sixteen. So no, I don't doubt your capabilities of being a mother"

"Thanks Elena. That helped a l-" The squeezing pain came again only this time, it was twice as painful as the last.

"Just breathe" Elena soothed me. She stopped the car. "We're here"

She got out of the car, the baby bag slung around her shoulder, and she helped me out of the car, bringing me into the hospital to get checked in.

A lady at the reception focused her attention from computer screen to us and smiled. "Hi, how may I help you tonight?"

"Hi" Elena spoke for me. "My sister's water broke"

"Oh!" The lady began typing away at the computer. "How exciting! May I have a name?"

"Alana Mendes"

"Alana Mendes" The receptionist whispered as she typed my name in. "How far apart are contractions?"

"Around fifteen to twenty minutes" I answered.

"And who's your doctor?"

"Doctor Green"

"All right. You'll be in room 8 down the hall to your right. A nurse will be in there shortly. Good luck!" We thanked her and made our way down to the room.

There was already a nurse when we got to the room. "Hi!" Her back was faced away from us as she was getting the bed ready. With a hospital gown in hand, she turned around. "Holy-"

My eyes widened. "You're a nurse here?!"

Elle slowly shook her head. "Yeah. I decided pediatrics wasn't the route for me and took up labor and delivery. Oh my gosh. Come in" She motioned her hand towards the bed and I sat down.

"This is crazy" I nodded. "How are you?"

"I'm doing great. You're pregnant!"

"I am!"

"Boy or girl?"

"A girl"

"Awww. Congratulations" She handed me the hospital gown. "I will let you put this on and will come back to hook you up to the monitors" She walked out of the room and I put on the gown.

"That was awkward" Elena spoke from the chair next to the bed.

"It wasn't that awkward"

"Oh no" Elena shook her head. "That was awkward"

"I guess things have never really been the same since the stuff with her ex-boyfriend"

"Mhm" Elena nodded her head as I moved to lay down on the bed.

Elle came back five minutes later and placed pads on my stomach to monitor the baby, a monitor on my thumb to monitor me, and an IV so I don't get dehydrated during delivery.

When she was done, she smiled at me. "You're going to be a great mom, Alana"

"Thank you" I smiled back.

"Where's Shawn?"

"He's on an airplane right now, coming over here"

"He has around roughly five hours until you're ten centimeters dilated"

"He should be here in time"

————————————

The next couple of hours were pretty rough. Contractions were getting closer apart, lasting longer, and were more painful. Elena went home and my mom switched places with her.

Elle came back in to check on the monitors. Her eyebrows raised. "Get ready to meet your baby. You're currently 8 centimeters dilated"

"How long is that?"

"Depends on your body. Some take an hour, some take thirty minutes"

My eyes widened. I looked over at my mom sitting in the chair next to me. "Ma, can you call Shawn please?"

She pulled out her phone and FaceTimed Shawn. "Hi honey" His face smiled at me through the screen. "How are you holding up?"

"You have at least 30 minutes to get here before this baby pops out"

Shawn looked away. "Hey Andrew. How far away from the hospital are we?"

"We're about 35 minutes away"

Shawn looked back at me. "We'll be there"

"You better"

"I love you"

"Love you more" I hung up as another contraction was starting again.

Twenty minutes later, Elle came back to check. "Oh my gosh!"

"What?" I asked.

"You're ten centimeters dilated! I need to call the doctor" She ran out of the room.

I looked back at my mom. "Shawn's not here yet"

"I know honey but you need to get this baby out"

"I can't do it without him"

She grabbed my left hand and held it. "Sweetie. You can do this. Shawn will be here, don't worry"

The doctor and two nurses came in with a cart of supplies and a gadget where I could place my feet.

"All right. When I say push, you push" The doctor looked at the monitor.

"Mom. He's not here yet"

"Alana" My mom whispered. "You have to do it"

"In about three seconds" The doctor announced. "PUSH"

Instinctively, my body just pushed itself as if it were programmed to do so. My left hand tightened around my mom's while the other gripped the railing of the bed.

I pushed at least three times until there was a knock on the door. I didn't have enough time to look over though because the doctor told me to push again. A hand was placed on the hand that was on the bed railing. I looked up. There he was.

"I made it just in time" He smiled.

I panted, out of breath. "Well, you're a little late"

"Come on. Let's get this baby out" I removed my hand from the railing and gripped Shawn's.

I pushed for what seems like hours. Then, one thing led to another and the sound of a baby's cries was all that could be heard in the room.