Chapter 2No Maternity Leave Till My Water Broke

The next morning at exactly eight fifty six, the scanner chimed.

The receptionist almost dropped her coffee when she saw me.

"Kelly? You actually came in?"

I set my heavy hospital bag by my feet and slowly walked to my cubicle, supporting my aching lower back.

The office AC was blasting on high, blowing freezing air directly onto my head. My desk chair had been lowered to its absolute limit, and the lumbar support had been removed, leaving nothing but a hard, flat seat.

Tina strolled past with a mug in her hand, her voice sweet as syrup.

"Oh dear, who could have done that? Kelly, with a belly that big, is it even safe for you to sit on that?"

No one answered her.

I pulled a disposable underpad from my bag, laid it neatly over the seat, and set my portable oxygen canister right beside my monitor.

Then, I laid out my prenatal records, the hospital notice, and my clock-in receipts, arranging them in a perfect row under my clear desk mat.

Around me, the clicking of keyboards faltered, then resumed.

When Mike walked out of his office, he caught me slipping into my comfortable house slippers.

His brow furrowed instantly.

"Kelly, is this an office or a maternity ward?"

"It's an office." I booted up my PC and logged into the portal. "You said we'd wait until my water broke. I'm here waiting."

Several coworkers lowered their heads, their shoulders shaking as they tried to suppress their laughter.

Mike's face turned a brilliant shade of red.

"Stop playing the victim. You're ruining team morale."

"I'm not playing anything."

Suddenly, my abdomen hardened like a stone. I gripped the edge of my desk, unable to sit down. The weight of the baby dragged downward, and a sharp, pulling pain shot through my back, as if someone were tearing my spine from the inside.

Penny panicked. "Kelly, are those contractions?"

Tina immediately piped in. "Don't overreact, Penny. Braxton Hicks contractions are perfectly normal in the final weeks. When my cousin was pregnant, she had false alarms for half a month."

Mike looked at me coldly. "Can you still do your job?"

"Yes."

I opened the client database, my fingers trembling so hard from the pain that I made several typos.

Ten minutes later, Tina dumped a heavy stack of folders onto my desk.

"Mike says you know the launch materials best. He wants you to proofread everything one more time."

The heavy stack slammed down, pinning my prenatal booklet underneath.

"I already handed these over yesterday."

"Well, I don't understand them." She leaned down, keeping her voice low enough so only I could hear. "If you're really as capable as you claim, finish the job. Don't make the rest of us suffer for your condition."

I looked up at her. "Would you care to repeat that in front of Mike?"

Tina's eyes welled with tears instantly. "Kelly, I was only asking for help. Why are you being so hostile?"

Hearing the commotion, Mike stepped out of his office. "Kelly, leave your personal drama at home."

"She brought back the files I already transferred."

"You've been doing this for three years. What's wrong with double checking them?" He shoved the folders closer to me. "Stop being so fragile."

The sharp edge of the top folder scraped against the back of my hand, leaving an angry red line.

A sudden, brutal contraction seized my abdomen, forcing me to double over. I clutched the disposable pad on my chair, crumpling it in my fist.

Penny rushed over to support me. "Mike, something is seriously wrong. She's completely pale."

But Mike only stared at the hospital bag by my feet.

"Cut the act. Who brings a hospital bag to work? You're just trying to humiliate me in front of the whole department."

Before the words fully left his mouth, a warm rush of fluid cascaded down my legs.

Within seconds, a dark puddle spread across the carpet.

The room plunged into absolute silence.

Penny's face went entirely white.

"Her water broke!"

Mike stared at the pool of water at my feet, completely frozen.

Down the hall, the copy machine continued to click and spit out pages, the rhythmic sound echoing in the stunned silence.