“Well.” Frazer smiled. “A week early? In a hurry?”

He gave a shrug, clearly uncomfortable in the hospital gown. “Apparently.”

His fingers looked small pressed against the huge swell of his abdomen.

“How you feeling?” Frazer grabbed his chart from the end of his bed and looked over it quickly. Nothing of importance jumped out.

“It hurts. I don’t love it.”

Frazer tried to resist quirking her lips but wasn’t sure she managed to. “I’m yet to hear someone tell me how much they adore childbirth.”

“I’m not surprised. It feels like an elephant is sitting on my stomach.”

He managed a small grin, a sheepish one that made Frazer feel a bit better for him. This wasn’t an easy thing for Jack, and she was incredibly glad Cora had found him therapy that had helped him prepare for this.

The thought of Cora made Frazer’s stomach flip with anger.

Frazer winced in sympathy. “That sounds horrendous?”

His eyebrows shot up. “Isn’t this, like, your job? Every day?”

“Yeah, but it doesn’t mean I’m not aware that it hurts like crazy.”

“Do you have kids?” He stared up at her.

“Would you still trust my skills if I said no?”

The rapid nod of his head made her smile.

“No, I don’t. I think if I decided to have kids, I’d adopt, actually.”

He cocked his head and stared at her. “Really?”

“Yeah.”

“Watching babies come out put you off?”

She chuckled. “You could say that.” And also, Frazer had seen far too many parents, like Jack, who had babies to give. Or, perhaps should give.

“Righto, Jack. Sorry, but I need to do a quick internal exam. I have to check how far you’re dilated.”

His cheeks flushed more, but he shuffled on the bed. “I’m so glad this will be over soon.” His voice was low, like he was offering secrets he wasn’t used to sharing.

It was a matter of minutes before Frazer was washing her hands and Jack was wriggling back up the bed.

“How far apart have your contractions been?”

“The emergency nurse said seven minutes. That hasn’t really changed.”

“Okay. Well, I’ve been in here,” Frazer glanced at the clock above the bed, “for about six. So get ready.”

He started breathing, hard, eyebrows scrunching up and fingers digging into the material over his stomach. “God, it’s that exact?”

Frazer rubbed his knee. “It can be. Squeeze my hand if you need.”

He did just that, and Frazer was thankful she’d had siblings to toughen her up. It was not a light grip. “Breathe slowly, that’s it… Five, four, three, two…one.”

The grip loosened and he looked at her with slightly glassy eyes. “Am I at ten yet?”

Frazer wished for his sake he was. “Sorry, you’re at four.”

“Four? Four! This has been hours and I’m at four?”