Fade to Black

by Unknown

“I’ll call you when I’m on my way home.” Keys jingled in her hands. “Bye. I love you.”

  “You said that already,” he reminded her with a smile.

  “I feel like I have to say it now to make up for all the times I didn’t say it since the day I met you.” Green eyes twinkled. “You do know that I fell for you almost as fast as you fell for me.”

  “Good to know.” He kissed her again. “If you don’t get out of here right now, I’m not sure I’ll be able to let you leave. I may just have to call in sick for you so I can hold you all day.”

  She laughed. “I’m leaving.” He snorted in feigned offense, placed his hand on his heart as though she’d wounded him. Her head tipped to the side skeptically. “You know there’s nothing I’d rather do, but I really need my sick time for after the baby comes.”

  “Maybe he’ll come today,” he said with a laugh. “Wouldn’t that be great?”

  “If he’s coming today, you’d better get your butt in there and finish putting together the crib.” She kissed him and slid past him to the door. “Call you later. Love you.” And the door closed.

  “Hey, Kate,” Jordan yelled when she walked through the door. “You’re with Nate today. He’s already got the address and you need to get going.” He picked up the phone and his voice was now heard overhead, “Nate Hughes to the newsdesk. Nate Hughes to the newsdesk.”

  Kate skirted her desk with a glance to see if there was anything that looked pressing on the top of it. With nothing out of the ordinary, she walked over to where Jordan and Olivia had their heads together. “What’s up?” Kate asked.

  Olivia smiled. “Not much. How’s Rich?” she asked before Jordan shot a glare at her.

  Everybody was still a little cautious of how to approach her relationship. Kate couldn’t blame them. It had been an on-and-off kind of rollercoaster ride, she’d put more than just Rich through. She realized his friends—their friends—had been holding on for dear life too.

  “Good.” Kate turned to see if Nate was coming yet. If they were in a hurry, then he’d better…well, hurry. “Rich is putting the crib together. I think. At least he’s got the English directions this time,” she added with a giggle.

  “Let’s go, girlfriend,” Nate bellowed from behind her. With his camera in one hand, he picked her bag from the floor, placed it over the opposing shoulder, and started to the door. “Be sure you buckle that seatbelt,” he told her when she climbed into the passenger seat. “I don’t need Rich’s overprotective side coming at me.”

  Kate rolled her eyes, but forced the buckle together with a click. “Happy now?” He nodded and turned the engine over. “Where we headed?” she asked.

  “Elementary school in Lehi. They’re doing their own version of some Shakespeare play. I plan on being bored stupid.”

  I-15 at 75 miles an hour was not the perfect place to feel warm liquid running down your legs. Kate knew she hadn’t just peed her pants. She was an adult for hell’s sake. Adults did not pee their pants.

  What possessed her to reach down and rub her hand on the fluid she wasn’t sure, but what really shocked her was when her hand moved toward her nose. Then, to top it all off, she inhaled—deep.

  At least it smelled like the ocean instead of ammonia. This was damned inconvenient, but it’s not like she could control the when and where of her water breaking.

  Her water breaking.

  Her water broke!

  She laughed out loud and slapped her hand on her thigh. Nate swerved, nearly into the other lane of traffic. “What the hell, Kate?”

  “Um, Nate, I think you need to turn around.”

  His eyes were frantic as he searched for the reasoning of her bizarre request. “But the story…”

  “Nate, my water just broke.” Her voice was completely calm, which was a surprise to her.

  Horns blared as Mario Andretti cut across three lanes of traffic to the shoulder where he decided to finally stop showing off his driving skills. His hands were clamped around the steering wheel, his face flashing from white to red which each puff of breath.

  “Your water broke?” He sounded completely detached. “What do you mean your water broke?” The second question had the tinge of panic Kate expected.

  “A baby is in a bag of water, and that bag breaks just before…”

  “Wait!” His eyes flew to Kate’s crotch and she jumped when he plucked at the hem of her skirt. “What the hell, Kate! You got baby-juice all over the seat!”

  Now that Rich had the English version of the directions Kate had printed off the internet, the crib went together quickly. He even took on the challenge of putting the sheet on the tiny mattress. That task was almost harder than putting the whole damned bed together.

  When Kate asked his opinion, Rich had decided on a dinosaur theme for the little guy’s room. Every little boy liked dinosaurs, right? After the blue paint had dried, wallpaper with pastel colored dinos finished the lower half of the room. Nate had helped nail the natural-stained chair rail to the wall. When it came time to hang the valance, Kate had held the ladder, just in case he fell—from the six inches off the ground. He loved that she worried about him.

  Rich stood back and admired the room that had been transformed into a really great nursery. He leaned against the wall and slid down until he rested on his haunches. A little boy could be really happy in this room, he decided.

  The phone in his pocket began to vibrate, and he reached around to pull it out. Nate’s number flashed on the caller id which caused a slight increase in his heart rate. “Hey, man.”

  “It’s okay Kate, I’m here and I can… Oh, Rich, the baby’s coming.” Nate had never sounded so hysterical in all the years Rich had known him. Rich felt a little hysterical in the seconds that followed, too.

  He jumped to his feet and ran down the hall, grabbed his keys and headed for the car. “Where are you, man? Did you call an ambulance?”

  There was a snapping of rubber gloves and Kate said, “Where the hell did you get those?”

  “In my emergency kit.” He sounded so pleased with himself. “Now just breathe, and I’m gonna…”

  A slap resonated through the phone. “You’re not gonna look up there.”

  Every muscle in Rich’s body tensed and he had the sudden urge to slap Nate too. Slap him silly. “Nate!” he barked into the phone.

  “It’s okay, I’ve watched enough TV to be able to deliver a baby. I even recorded one for a crazy friend in college. I mean how hard can it be? Just put on the gloves and wait to catch it.”

  “Oh, that makes me feel so much better,” Kate snorted. At least she still had her sense of humor. “Rich,” Kate screamed, “I-15 just south of Thanksgiving Point.”

  Grateful to finally have a direction to go, Rich floored it. The engine roared in protest. He wanted to hang up, call 911 to make sure Kate had someone who wasn’t an idiot to deliver their son, but didn’t dare lose the connection.

  The sound of movement reached Rich’s ear. “I just need to find some towels. Hey, will a butt load of Taco Bell napkins work?”

  “No!” Rich and Kate screamed at the same time, then Kate added, “You are not tying off the umbilical cord with a zip-tie, Nate. Just take me to the hospital.”

  “But…”

  “Nate, step away from Kate.”

  “But…”

  “Let me talk to her. Now!”

  There was a shuffling of the phone and Nate’s irritated voice said, “He wants to talk to you.”

  “Rich, it’s okay.” She sounded too annoyed to be in too much pain—yet.

  He thought back to everything he’d learned in their childbirth class. “How far apart are the contractions?”

  “No contractions yet,” she answered Rich, then said to Nate, “Dude, back off. I am not letting you see if he’s crowning.”

  Rich was going to have to deck his best friend. Heaven help him, he was going to hit him—right in the nose. “I’m coming, love. Give me fifteen minutes. Have you calle
d an ambulance?”

  “Rich, there’s no reason to. I’m fine. It could take hours before the contractions even start. My water broke.”

  “Baby-juice, man. Your woman got baby-juice all over my seat.”

  “Nate, shut up!” Kate snapped. “I’ll pay for you to get it detailed, okay?”

  “Okay,” he muttered.

  “No pain at all? You’re sure?” Rich didn’t want her to pull the I’m-fine-I-can-take-care-of-myself crap.

  “None.”

  “Kate,” he said skeptically, “you don’t have to be brave.”

  “None,” she answered again. “I just need you rescue me from this Neanderthal.” Another slap. “Dammit, Nate, stop trying to lift my skirt!”

  Rich couldn’t stop the protective growl that rumbled in his throat. “Get off her, Nate.” Who’s the Neanderthal now?

  “He’s gonna have to kick your ass, you touch me again,” Kate informed Nate.

  Rich listened to Kate battle Nate, who kept insisting that he knew what he was doing, as he drove the last few miles to where he found the news vehicle with its hazard lights flashing.

  The transmission protested as he threw it into park before the car was at a complete stop. He opened the door and ran up to where Kate was sitting in the passenger seat. She faced forward, her eyes trained out the windshield, her hands on her knees that were pressed tightly together. “No,” she said, “get away from me, Nate.”

  “Nate,” Rich roared, “enough!” He muscled his way through the brick wall that was his best friend and scooped Kate into his arms. “Thanks for everything you’ve done, but I’ll take it from here.”

  **

  Hours passed and Rich wondered if the baby would ever come. By the time they’d reached the hospital at 12:14, the contractions had started. The clock said 1:33 when Kate said they were starting to hurt a lot. And at 2:55 she was screaming for an epidural.

  Rich moved a lock of hair from her forehead and replaced it with a kiss. “You okay now?”

  Her eyes were hooded, tired as she nodded. “Could you get me some more ice chips?”

  He grabbed for the cup and offered her an ice covered spoon, watching as the monitor rose and fell with another contraction. “How’s the pain?”

  “Nonexistent. Epidurals are a gift from heaven.” The ice crunched between her teeth. “Are you bored out of your mind yet?” she asked as her hand reached for more ice. “Have you eaten? You must be hungry. I’m hungry.” Her stomach growled to punctuate her statement.

  “I’m okay. Let’s worry about you, okay?”

  The door opened, and a short, heavy woman dressed in mauve scrubs waddled into the room. “Hello, Kate, I need to take your temperature and get an update on how you’re doing down there.”

  It made Kate more comfortable to have Rich at her head anytime anyone looked ‘down there’, so he took his position. The nurse lifted the sheet, held Kate’s knee and used her finger to… “Oh,” she said, her eyes shooting wide. “Don’t laugh. Don’t cough. Don’t even sneeze or we’re going to have this baby without a doctor.”

  “Wait. What?” Kate yelled as the nurse reached over her head to press the call button.

  “Yes?” answered a voice.

  The nurse started to pull the bottom portion of the bed away and lifted stirrups into position. “Get Dr. Tipton in here. Miss Callahan’s ready to push.”

  “I am?” Kate asked, her eyes wide as she looked at Rich.

  “You are,” the nurse smiled. “In only a few minutes, that little one will be in your arms.”

  Kate wore the deer-in-the-headlight look, but Rich couldn’t find the energy to worry. He was consumed with an excitement that resembled Christmas morning before he knew Santa Claus didn’t exist. He was minutes away from getting the greatest gift of his entire life. In mere minutes, he was going to be a father. A dad. The thought brought tears to his eyes.

  Dr. Tipton came through the door and a flurry of activity burst to life. Three more nurses flooded into the room, each taking their battle stations. The doctor donned scrubs, little booties, and a pair of plastic gloves that nearly reached his elbows. He positioned himself at the foot of the bed, between her legs. “You ready, Kate? I need a good hard push.”

  Rich mirrored the nurse, holding the back of Kate’s thigh and put a palm on her lower back to successfully fold her in half. Her forehead crunched in concentration and she bore down.

  “…Eight. Nine. Ten. Okay, take a breath and one...” Another round of pushing brought the head out, and one more brought a new life into the world.

  Dr. Tipton tossed the baby from one hand to the other, not gentle at all. Rich wanted to tell him to be a little more careful with his son, but figured the older man knew what he was doing. “It’s a boy.” He handed Rich a pair of scissors. “Dad, you wanna do the honors?”

  Of course he did. He’d never wanted anything so much. By cutting that cord, Rich accepted responsibility for the boy, to be there for him, to teach him—to love him. He wrapped his fingers around the scissors and sliced through the rubbery cord in three awkward cuts. Tears burned his eyes and he blinked to keep them behind the lids.

  A nurse snapped a thin white bracelet on his wrist. “This tells us that you’re the daddy.”

  Two other nurses cuddled the baby in a blue blanket, his head full of jet black hair the only thing remaining uncovered, and began to do their measurements against the far wall. It was obvious who the biological father of the little boy was. The baby had Jesse’s blood running in his veins.

  “I’ll be right back,” Rich told Kate, kissing her on the forehead. “I…um…there’s something I have… I’ll be back.”

  Then, with his heart and mind racing with what to do next, Rich walked away from Kate—and Jesse’s son.

  Kate watched in horror as Rich removed himself from the room. The paternity was sure. One look at the sweet little boy left no doubt of which man had donated his half to the gene pool. The olive complexion and head full of straight dark hair that pointed in every wild direction verified that his father was Jesse.

  And despite everything Rich had said, all the promises that he’d made, as soon as he saw that hair, the light in his eyes disappeared behind unshed tears. He cut the cord, but only because the doctor had practically shoved the scissors into his palm.

  Tears welled in her eyes and poured down her cheeks as Dr. Tipton stitched the ‘small rip’ caused by the baby’s exit. “It’s completely natural to feel overwhelmed,” he said softly. “It should pass as your hormones level out.”

  The nurse who had assisted her gave her a soft pat on the shoulder. “Go ahead and cry. None of us will mind.”

  They thought she was overwhelmed, that it was the delivery of her son that had her blubbering like a fool. But there was another piece to her puzzle that was missing. When Rich walked out that door, he took with him every hope, every dream she’d ever had. Her heart was breaking. That is what caused the tears to flow with such intensity.

  Her body had just endured the greatest trauma to date, but it was the ache, the pain in her chest—the one she could still feel in her numb state—that had her reeling.

  How was she going to raise her son alone? She’d convinced herself it would be easy, that she could do it, no problem—until Rich and his grand promises had convinced her otherwise. Now she was scared out of her mind and alone.

  Completely alone.

  The pillow soaked up the tears as they rolled from her cheeks to pool on the cotton. Kate wasn’t sure how much time had passed since Rich had walked out of her room. It seemed like forever ago, and yet the recognition in his eyes as he stared at her son seemed to have happened only moments ago. And that moment replayed over and over in her mind.

  The expression on his face wasn’t recognizable, but the tears in his eyes were. He was hurt. She’d warned him, tried to protect him from himself. He’d been so damned determined to believe the baby was his. Hell, she’d hoped for it, prayed for it. But it
seemed even a Higher Power couldn’t change the paternity of a child.

  She closed her eyes, but could still feel the tears as they trailed down her cheek. They’d taken the baby for his first bath, and Kate was glad that she had a few minutes to just sulk. The baby deserved a mother who wasn’t a wreck and that is what she would give him from moment one.

  “We’re ba-… Kate?” asked a quiet female voice. “Do you want me to take the baby back to the nursery?”

  “No, I…I really want to hold him.” She struggled to sit up with her lower half still feeling less than fully awake. When she was finally upright and propped against the back of the bed, her arms absorbed the tiny little boy. Another round of fresh tears started. These ones were the overwhelmed ones. “He’s so…perfect.” Kate ran a finger over his plump cheek and the baby turned toward her touch, his mouth open wide. He’s rooting, she thought, a smile on her lips.

  The older woman smiled too. “Do you need any help breastfeeding?”

  Kate hadn’t thought to need help. Like Nate earlier, she wondered, how hard could it be? But now that the time had arrived, she wanted someone to at least show her the ropes. “Yes, please,” she muttered, popping the buttons on her gown to expose her breast.

  “Okay, cradle his head in your hand and guide him…that’s it.” A tiny mouth opened and accepted what Kate was offering. The gentle tugging sensation sent shivers to her toes. It was weird and wonderful at the same time. “Looks like he’s going to be a good nurser.” The nurse made some notes on the chart and turned to leave. “Let me know if you need anything.”

  “I’m a little hungry too, could I…?”

  “Of course. I’ll see what I can dig up.”

  “Thank you,” Kate muttered. Her eyes were focused on the miracle in her arms, the little piece of Jesse that everyone back home had wished for. Dark lashes rested against tiny cheeks. Full lips were something else he’d gotten from Jesse. If she were honest with herself, this little boy looked nothing like her. He was all Jesse.

  No wonder Rich left.

  A war waged amongst her emotions. She loved this little boy exactly the way he was, but wished that his father would have been the man who could no longer love her.