Page 52 of Until You

Kelsie: Oliver.

Kelsie: So the baby is okay?

I look at the curtain.

I look at my phone.

The discharge papers rustle on the other side of the curtain. Dolores says something cheerful about prenatal vitamins.

Me: Yes. The baby is doing great. Measuring right, and we got to see the ultrasound and hear the heartbeat.

The chat erupts.

Kelsie: It’s your baby, isn’t it?

Payton: OH MY GOD. I’m going to be an uncle!

Addison: Oliver, you’re going to be a dad!

I’m going to be a dad. I would have expected that news to send panic through my veins. But I feel only a calm sense of contentment.

Me: Yes.

Addison: How long has she known?

Me: Since before I moved in.

Kelsie: Oh, Cora.

That surprises me. I’d expected something else from Kelsie. Something louder, or more—pointed. But that’s all she says. Oh Cora. Like she knows, senses, the burden my girl has been carrying.

Payton: Is she okay? Like, actually okay? Not just medically.

I look at the curtain again.

Me: She will be.

Payton: Good. Good, good, good.

Addison: I can’t wait to give her a hug.

Kelsie: To welcome her to the family, but also to thank her.

Payton: That slideshow was epic.

Addison: So beautiful.

Kelsie: I’m hugging her first.

Addison: Why do you always have to be first?

Me: Do NOT come to this hospital.

Kelsie: Too late, we’re pulling into the parking lot right now

Payton: Mom and Dad are already here. With Mimz and Pops.

Fuck. They’re going to overwhelm her.