The Spark Between Us – bonus scene

Sarah

Six Months Later

“Call Tater Tot,” I instructed Nigel, who would always and forever be my car husband. I was still madly in love with Braden, but a woman’s relationship with her navigation system’s voice was a sacred thing. 

Also sacred was the ability to drive the six blocks to campus and find a guaranteed parking space, thanks to the head of the physics department, who had loaned me his spot for the last month of my pregnancy. 

My belly had gotten so big and round that I gratefully accepted the gesture in order to avoid more time on my already swollen feet. Standing in lecture halls took everything out of me, but I intended to work right up until I gave birth. 

“Calling Tater Tot,” Nigel obeyed in his clipped British voice.

“Hey, you haven’t exploded yet?” Tatum asked, amusement in her voice.

“You’re hilarious. That’s not how babies are born, via explosion. In case you didn’t know. I’ll have Becca give you a tutorial.” Yes, I was eight months pregnant and as big as a house, but there was no sign this baby would be born early. 

“Yes, do that, would you? It’s been so long since I’ve used my female parts, I’m pretty unclear how it all works.”

I felt for Tatum. She reminded me of myself, the way I’d always been—working hard on career goals, never taking much time for a social life. But she was younger, so there was hope.

“Hey, I heard your boss’s team just brought in a hot new player.”

“Mmm-hmm,” she muttered. Either I’d bored her by talking about a sports team she didn’t care about, or she’d forgotten we were on the phone and had gone back to her computer.

“Tate? You still with me?”

I heard the rustling of wrappers, then Tatum answered around a mouthful of something. “Yeah, sorry. I’m eating lunch at my desk. Multitasking.”

“And by lunch, you mean a candy bar, right?” I knew her too well. 

“It has peanuts. And it’s milk chocolate. That’s practically all the food groups,” she said, her fingers tapping the keyboard. I was losing her attention, and I needed to get to the point of my call. 

“Not so good, Tate. You can do better.” Even if I was only four years older, I’d lecture her like a parent. Old habits never died.

I pulled into the parking spot in the lot on campus and hoisted myself out of the driver’s seat. Switching the phone out of car mode, I waddled around to the trunk to take out my laptop case and the lunch Braden had packed for me that morning. More often than not, he made me peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, which I knew reminded him of the first day we met. And I continued to eat them, even though my pregnancy had soured my taste for peanut butter. 

“Fine. I’ll ask my boss to load the vending machine with veggie sticks.”

“Really?” 

“No,” she cackled. “That’s the last thing I’d bother him with. He makes over five thousand dollars a minute. Unless the celery sticks have dollar signs on them or have the ability to disrupt Silicon Valley, trust me, he doesn’t give a crap.”

I trudged up the single flight of stairs outside the Life Sciences building, noticing that my pace had slowed to a crawl by the time I reached the top stair. I had to stop and rest until I could walk without panting.

“Are you on the treadmill?” Tatum asked, incredulous.

“Nope, just walking up a few stairs.” She started to snipe, but I interrupted her before she could make fun of me. “When you’re eight months pregnant, you can judge.” 

“I was just going to say I’m surprised you’re still working. You know, you could take maternity leave if you wanted.”

Fanning the sweat on the back of my neck, I had to concede she had a point. But I was stubborn, and pregnancy hadn’t changed the fact that I felt like I had a lot to prove as a newly tenured professor. I sat on a bench outside the door of the building and caught my breath. “I know. Just a couple more weeks.”

My thoughts drifted to what my life would be like with a baby, and I couldn’t repress the smile spreading across my cheeks. So lost in my thought, I almost forgot again why I’d called Tatum. Pregnancy brain was real. 

“So right, speaking of your billionaire boss, that’s why I called you. I heard he just bought the Strikers.”

The typing on Tatum’s end resumed, indicating she didn’t have much interest in the conversation. “Yeah, I heard rumors.”

“That’s huge. They’re shaping up to be a good-looking team. They just need one or two key players and they could clean up.”

“Mm-hmm.” Her typing speed increased.

My sister was nothing if consistent. She liked what she liked, and the Strikers didn’t qualify. “Okay, I can see you don’t share my enthusiasm for the team, but can you at least do me a favor and get me tickets to a game sometime?”

The typing abruptly stopped. “Wait, you’re about to give birth and this is what you’re worried about, free tickets to some game?”

I started to explain that it wasn’t just some game. The Strikers were a formidable team, even if Tatum refused to acknowledge that any sport other than football exited. 

But I didn’t get the chance. As usual, my smartest sister was correct—I was about to give birth. Right there on the bench outside the Life Sciences building. “Hold up, Tater Tot. I think my water just broke.”

* * *

“Push, push, push… Okay, you can rest.” The urgency in Becca’s voice was immediately replaced with calm. “Good job. You’re doing great.”

“I am? I don’t feel great.” If I thought I was sweating after mounting the stairs on campus, this hit a whole new level. “Wowza,” I panted. “I feel like I’ve been at this for days. Am I close?”

“No.” “Nope.” “Not there yet.” “It’s only been an hour.” The chorus of voices at the other side of the room chimed in to let me know the baby didn’t seem ready to make an appearance. I felt grateful that Becca came back into work an hour after her shift had ended to be my delivery nurse. I doubted most other hospital employees would understand why I had four sisters and my mom all gleefully cheering my vagina on like it was a horse in the Kentucky Derby. 

Fortunately, Doctor Bradley knew Becca well and had met most of my family members on other occasions. Nothing needed explaining. She stayed focused on me and kept my sisters in line with an occasional stink eye. 

Braden was the one she needed to worry about. He stood a few feet in front of my sisters with his arms folded across his chest and wearing a yellow paper hospital gown over his clothes. I didn’t mind the view—I’d never tire of staring at his biceps—and right now, his gorgeous muscles were the only thing distracting me from the frustration of failing so far to push a baby out. 

But I could also see that he looked uncomfortable. Maybe it was the chaos of having all my family members in the room or just the hugeness of the moment, but he didn’t look great. “Hey, you okay? Come up by me.” I waved him closer so he could stand by my head.

He took my hand and leaned down for a gentle kiss. “I should be asking you that.”

“Yeah, but you’re the one who looks like he might faint. Is this some sort of life-coming-full-circle thing? Since I almost fainted the day we met?”

“I can’t believe you’re joking around to make me feel better.”

“I need you here, Captain Michaels. No fainting.”

He nodded. “I love you so much. I’m here. I’m not gonna faint. I just…” He glanced at

my family, and I knew. 

This needed to be our time, just ours. There would be plenty of days and years with my meddling family around us and in our business, but now was not the time. Motioning to Becca, I whispered to her. She wasted no time.

“Everybody out!” Becca yelled, shooing them with a wave of her hand like he was dismissing a sea of flies. “This baby’s coming, but we need a little peace in the room. We’ll come get you right after Sarah’s last push.

Watching the monitor, I could see the beginning of another contraction, even if the epidural made it harder to feel them. As the line started ticking upward into a peak, Becca grew more insistent. “Now, people. Let them have their baby in peace.”

Amid a smattering of grumbles, Cherry, Tatum, and Isla filed out, followed by my mom, who stopped to kiss my cheek. “You can do this. You can do anything.”

My mom. She’d been telling me that for most of my life, but I’d never really needed to hear the words before. I’d always been self-motivated and driven, so her cheering felt like helpful confirmation of what I already knew. 

But this…this was different. I couldn’t power my way through it using my brain or sheer force of will. I had to surrender and let the unknown have its way with me. Kind of an apt metaphor for motherhood, I decided.

The door closed, and Becca’s eyes met mine with fierce determination. 

Doctor Bradley hit me with a similar look, as though the sudden vacuum of insanity in the room changed everything. “You ready? Probably just a couple more pushes. I can see the head.”

I turned to Braden, whose giant smile assured me that I could do anything. “We’re ready,” he whispered to me. We were ready, and I loved that we were a “we.” I took a deep breath. “Yup. Ready.”

Becca started counting so I could breathe into the contractions and push when Doctor Bradley instructed. I couldn’t lie. Even with the epidural, I still felt like I was forcing a basketball through an unprepared, undersized exit. 

I pushed hard. “Push, push, almost there.” I pushed and grunted. Braden wiped the sweat from my forehead and held my hand. 

“I can do that part. You get down here,” Becca told Braden as she scrambled to take my hand. “Go see your baby be born.”

Amid another push, I squeezed Becca’s hand, watching her eyes bug out. We both let out a breath after the push. “There’s a reason I don’t let patients hold my hand.” She pulled hers away and shook the blood back into her fingers.

“Sorry,” I gasped. 

Doctor Bradley told me to push again, and I gave it everything I had. I took a deep breath and pushed like I had to shove a truck out of a muddy ditch. I pushed like I didn’t know I could. When I couldn’t push anymore, I exhaled.

“Oh, there’s a baby, I think I see a baby with a full head of hair.” Braden was talking fast.

“She’s almost there. I just need one more push from you,” Doctor Bradley said.

I inhaled and screamed out the only push I had left. In a whoosh, I felt something shift. “Oh. Yes. She’s…out! Damsel, you did it. Oh my god, it’s a girl.” The loving delight on Braden’s face brought tears to my eyes. “We have a beautiful girl,” he exclaimed, rushing over and cupping the back of my head in his hand and pressing a kiss to my lips. 

“She’s going to be fierce and brilliant like her mom and her aunts,” he whispered through his impenetrable grin.

This man. He was the best boyfriend, and he was going to make the best dad ever. “I love you, fireman.” 

Doctor Bradley handed our new baby to Braden, who cradled her like the most sacred thing he’d ever seen and brought her straight to me. 

There might have been other business happening in the room—monitors beeping, Becca getting ready to do whatever labor nurse things she’d do next, but for those few seconds, it was just the three of us. My whole world. 

“Everybody back in!” Becca called to the Finley women in the hallway, who must’ve had their faces pressed against the door for how quickly they fell back into the room. They were followed by Mitch and Braden’s mom and Finn, who came straight from teaching his class.

Suddenly the labor room felt like a football game day party with everyone hugging and high-fiving and edging in to watch Becca bathe our little girl in the sink and take all her vitals. 

And amid the chorus of excited whoops and cooing voices, I took a moment and met Braden’s eyes. “We have a girl.” Tears stung my eyes, and he wiped them gently away with the pad of his thumb. “These are happy tears,” I told him. I needed to be sure he knew. 

He nodded, and I saw evidence of his own. “I know exactly how you feel. It’s just… This is the beginning of us. I’m so, so happy, Sarah.” He spoke quietly, out of earshot of our raucous families in the background. I had a clear vision of us and our future, navigating a steady path with their chaos all around us. It felt good.

I nodded as he bent to brush a soft kiss against my lips. 

Emotion pulled at my throat as I blinked back tears and stared at this beautiful soul who I’d be with forever. I loved him. But I loved us even more.