Emma woke up at 2:17 AM. to the first real contraction sharp, low, and so deep it felt like someone had reached inside her belly and squeezed. She laid there in the dark, one hand pressed to the massive, sagging shelf of her belly, the other clenched between her thighs. The plug was already half-buried from the night before, but the pressure building inside her was different. Mark was still at the hotel two towns over his work trip stretched into a third night because the client refused to let him fly home. He’d texted her goodnight at 11:59: *Miss you, babe. Get some rest. I’ll be back tomorrow.* She smiled at the phone in the dark, pressed it to her leaking nipple, and whispered, “I love you, Mark. More than anything.”The guys had texted the second she had confirmed he was gone: *hospital. now.* No details. Just that.She didn’t even get dressed. She just pulled on the oversized robe that still smelled like them, waddled downstairs, and slid into the back of Jax’s SUV with Marc
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