Bring Me Back Here

by A. M. Guilliams

  Shockingly, Holden won that game along with a monitor for the baby, which he gladly handed over to Ainsleigh.

  We played guess the baby food game and Brooks won that along with a breast pump. I thought he was going to throw it across the room even though it was still in the box, but he handed that one over to me and told me good luck.

  Lastly, we all had to guess how round Ainsleigh’s stomach was. I tried to opt out for fear of getting slapped, but no one would allow me to. I was the last one to take the ball of yarn and cut off the size I thought she’d be. Aspen enjoyed the look of terror on my face before she showed everyone the piece of yarn she’d cut when she called Ainsleigh away.

  I won that game hands down getting the size perfect. I hadn’t even tried. But the lines matched up to a T.

  “Way to go, Daddy,” she said as she kissed me on the mouth in front of everyone. I had to pull myself back before the kiss got too heated. I’d save that for later when I’d get my reward for being right.

  Aspen handed me an envelope with details inside for the photographer that we’d used to take Arabella’s pictures in the hospital.

  “She’s already been paid to take the photos. We just have to tell her when the baby’s born,” Aspen said when I looked up at her.

  “Thank you,” I told her, shocked that they’d gone through so much trouble for just baby shower gifts. Aspen then handed all of the winners’ gift baskets that they got to keep that held a bottle of wine and wine glasses. She told me she was keeping mine since I wasn’t a wine drinker, and I laughed.

  I got Ainsleigh a plate of cheese and crackers with some fruit for her to snack on before we opened gifts. The table that held them was full, and it would probably take us the next hour to open them all.

  We’d gotten enough diapers to last us the first year. Quite a few toys that the baby could play with when he or she started grabbing at things. Outfits upon outfits that wouldn’t all get worn.

  Her parents had gotten us the swing and stroller that Ainsleigh had picked out.

  Her brothers had gotten us the car seat that we’d need once the baby got bigger and didn’t fit into the carrier anymore, as well as a high chair that converted to a booster seat for the table.

  There was one gift left that I assumed was Aspen’s with the way she was jumping up and down.

  “I’m so glad you’re opening mine last,” she said with excitement.

  There was no telling what she’d gotten us.

  Ainsleigh gasped when she pulled the tissue paper out of the bag.

  She pulled out the cutest pair of cowboy boots. They were so small and perfect for our little one whether it was a boy or a girl.

  “These are so adorable,” Ainsleigh said as she handed me the small leather boots.

  She pulled out two gowns for the baby and started to cry when she handed them over for me to read.

  One read ‘Handpicked by my sister in heaven’ with green and yellow lettering. The other read ‘After every storm there is a rainbow of hope. Here I am’. I started to tear up as well when I turned it around for everyone else to see.

  The final item in the bag was a beautiful quilt that was also green and yellow. The center square of the quilt read ‘Your first breath took ours away’. If I didn’t already know Aspen was sentimental, I’d swear her goal was to make the whole room cry. She was just the type of person who loved to give meaningful gifts.

  Ainsleigh stood and walked over to where Aspen was standing across the room and gave her a big hug. They stood that way for a while, while Ainsleigh said something to her no one else was meant to hear. I loved that she had a friend as good as Aspen in her life. One who stood by her no matter what. One who moved all the way out here into the unknown to stay by her side.

  The shower ended shortly after that, and Ainsleigh came straight home and put all of the clothes in the washing machine and placed the rest of the items strategically around the baby’s room. He or she was lucky to have all of these people in his or her life and would be very loved, that was for sure.

  “It looks perfect now,” Ainsleigh said when I walked into the room and pulled her into me for a hug.

  “Yes, it does.”

  I knelt in front of her and lifted her top like I always did and placed a kiss on the center of her belly, earning me a kick I’d loved since the moment I experienced the feeling for the first time.

  “Now you’ve got to finish growing. We’re all ready for you out here, little one. We can’t wait to meet you and bring you home,” I whispered to her stomach. The baby always got extremely active when I talked, and I placed my hand over the bare skin of her stomach to feel our little miracle moving inside of her.

  We were truly blessed.

  CHAPTER 28

  Gentry

  T hirteen days before the baby’s due date Ainsleigh woke me in the middle of the night. She’d been moaning in her sleep for the past hour, but here recently she’d been so uncomfortable no matter how she laid down that I thought nothing of it.

  “Gentry,” she said as she shook me out of my half-asleep state.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked, bringing my hands to my face to rub the sleepiness from my eyes. Instantly, I went on alert.

  “I think the baby’s coming,” she said as she let out another moan, this one louder than the rest.

  “Just breathe,” I replied as I crossed the bed and placed my legs on either side of her. My hands went to her shoulders and began to rub them to keep her calm and focused.

  “That’s it, baby. Breathe through it,” I said in a whispered tone.

  Her eyes were shut as she took a breath in through her nose and out through her mouth.

  She lifted her head and turned to look around at me.

  “You’re good at that, you know. If I wasn’t in pain, I’d be back to sleep in no time.”

  “We’re going to get you through this. I looked at the clock so let me know when your next contraction hits, and I’ll keep tabs on timing them. We should get to the hospital, though. This little one was supposed to wait until next week when your cesarean was scheduled, but it looks like this baby has other plans.”

  I stopped rubbing her shoulders, and she groaned when I got up from behind her and walked to the closet where her bag was at ready to go.

  “Another one?” I questioned, stopping in my tracks.

  “No. You stopped rubbing,” she joked. At least she wasn’t in so much pain that she’d stopped with her humor.

  I grabbed a pair of jeans and a sweater from the closet along with her bag and came back into the room. Quickly, I pulled out a pair of my sweats and one of my shirts for her. She’d grown accustomed to wearing my clothes in the past two weeks since they were more comfortable than her maternity ones. She was still sitting up which was a good sign that another contraction hadn’t began.

  I dressed as quickly as I could and rushed around to the side of the bed where she was at to help her up so I could get her dressed as well. She’d grown in the past two months, but was so glad she hadn’t gained more than ten pounds. She was literally all belly with this baby.

  Carefully, I placed my hands under her arms and lifted her from her sitting position on the bed.

  A gush of water landed on the floor, puddled around my feet.

  “Oh my God! My water just broke,” she screamed. Instead of worrying or panicking, she burst into tears.

  “It’s okay, beautiful. Why are you crying?” I pulled her into me and held her to try to comfort her.

  “My water broke all over your feet. You’re going to hate me for that,” she muttered between her sobs.

  “It’s just water. And even if it wasn’t, it’s okay. We’ll get you and the floor cleaned up and then we’ll go to the hospital.” I tried to reassure her, but I doubted she was hearing me.

  “Okay,” she replied as she hiccupped through her sobs.

  I walked her into the bathroom and wet a washcloth with warm water and stripped her out of her shirt and panties.
I wiped her down with the washcloth as she started to breathe deeply.

  “You okay?” I asked as I threw the washcloth in the hamper and looked up at her.

  “Another one’s coming,” she grunted as she gripped onto my shoulder to get through the pain.

  “Breathe through it, baby,” I said as I rubbed my hands up and down her legs. I checked my watch and realized the contractions were seven minutes apart. We still had a thirty-minute drive to the hospital on snow-covered roads.

  The contraction ended, and her grip on my shoulder faded. I’d probably have bruises there tomorrow, but getting her through this was all that mattered. I’d take the bruises any day of the week if that meant we got to hold a healthy, beautiful baby in our arms.

  “I’m going to go in the bedroom and grab your clothes. Don’t try to move,” I told her as I kissed the top of her head and rushed into the other room. I grabbed the sweats and shirt from on top of her bag and another pair of panties for her from her dresser and ran back into the bathroom.

  “I can’t believe the baby is coming. And that you have to dress me.”

  “He or she knows how to make an appearance, that’s for sure. And I’d dress you any day of the week. It’s no chore, believe me,” I replied as I pulled the panties and sweats up her thighs. She balanced herself on my shoulders as I finished pulling them the rest of the way up. She grabbed the shirt from me and put it on then quickly sat down to steady herself, wincing in intense pain.

  “You ready?”

  “As I’ll ever be. We still need to clean up the floor,” she said on a deep breath.

  “I’ll wake Aspen and Dylan up. They’ll clean the floor,” I told her. We didn’t have much more time to waste. I didn’t want anything to go wrong, but I refused to show my worry over the situation.

  I walked her out of the room and down the hall, and stopped at Aspen and Dylan’s door. I knocked a few times to get them to wake up. I knew they’d hate getting up this early, but they’d love the reason.

  A sleepy Dylan opened the door just as I was about to knock again.

  “What’s up?”

  “It’s time.”

  “Huh?”

  “The baby is coming. We’ve got to get to the hospital. Her water just broke. Can you and Aspen clean up the floor while I get her in the truck and to the hospital.”

  “Yeah, of course. We’ll get ready and do that then head that way too. Be careful. It’s icy out.”

  “We’ll be okay. I’ll text you when she’s settled into a room,” I told him and then walked her into the living room.

  After I got both of our coats, socks, and shoes on, I grabbed her bag and we started for my truck.

  “Take the Jeep. It’s safer,” she groaned as another contraction started. I rummaged through the front of her bag for those keys and walked us both over to the Jeep.

  Once she was safely inside and through her contraction, I rushed around the front and got into the driver’s side.

  “We’re having a baby, beautiful. Just breathe and we’ll be there as soon as I can get us there,” I told her as I started the Jeep and waited for it to warm.

  A few minutes passed and the windows were all clear, but another contraction came. Damn… they were now five minutes apart. I couldn’t speed in these conditions. This baby needed to stay in until we could make it there.

  “You’ve got this, Ainsleigh. Just grab my hand, squeeze, and breathe through it,” I told her as I backed up and went down the driveway.

  Her pain got worse the closer we got to the hospital. There were several times I told her I’d pull over, but she refused to let me. The roads were slick and a few times we started to slide, but I managed to keep us on the road. It was like there was some presence with us making sure we were safe and able to make it there in one piece.

  The thirty-minute drive ended up taking an hour, but I pulled into the hospital emergency room zone with both of us safe and sound.

  “I’ll be right back, beautiful. I’m going to go get us some help,” I told her before I opened the door and let the cold inside.

  “My wife is outside in our Jeep. She’s in labor,” I told the woman at the front desk who rushed to take action. In no time at all, two nurses and a doctor appeared with a wheelchair in tow. I raced out the automatic doors and opened the door of the vehicle to see Ainsleigh with her hands on her stomach battling another contraction.

  “Help is here, baby,” I told her as I let them help her into the wheelchair.

  “We’re taking her straight up to the maternity ward. Once you’ve parked come up to the seventh floor, and they’ll buzz you inside,” the doctor told me as a nurse pushed my life into the hospital.

  I parked the Jeep in a nearby parking spot and grabbed her bag before I raced inside. I almost ran into the automatic doors when they didn’t open fast enough.

  Thankfully the elevator door opened just as I reached it. I ran inside and pushed the seven button several times willing the doors to close. It felt like the seconds were hours before the elevator stopped on the floor where Ainsleigh awaited my return.

  I walked up to the double doors and pushed the button for the intercom system and waited.

  “How can I help you?”

  “My wife was just brought up in labor.”

  The door buzzed then slowly opened to allow me to enter.

  A nurse met me at the door and showed me the way to my wife.

  She’d been dressed in a gown, and another nurse assisted her in getting into the bed.

  “The doctor will be in to check her in a moment,” she said as she placed a blanket over top of Ainsleigh’s legs.

  “Thank you,” I told the nice lady before she left the room.

  I sat down in the chair beside the bed and moved it as close to her as I could.

  “Are you okay?”

  “I’m okay right now. I feel another one coming though, so I’m trying to stay calm,” she said. Her breathing picked up, and I held out my hand which she instantly grabbed and squeezed. Hard. I didn’t even flinch with the pain. She was in far greater pain than I was, and I’d take it away from her a hundred times over if I could.

  “You’re doing so good, baby. Keep breathing. It’s almost over,” I reassured her as I took my other hand and rubbed the top of her head. Rubbing her hair always soothed her.

  “Another one down,” I whispered as I picked up a towel left on the bed and wiped the sweat off her forehead.

  “Several hundred more to go.”

  “You’ve got this. Just think of the end result. We’ll get to finally find out what the sex is and meet our little boy or girl.”

  “You still want a little girl?”

  “I want a healthy baby. Boy or girl. Doesn’t matter.”

  “That’s what I want too. More than anything,” she said as she looked away from me. I knew this was hard on her. I knew she was thinking about Arabella. I was too. She was never far from my thoughts. But today she was at the forefront of our minds. The little girl we lost. The little girl who should’ve grown and had a chance at being a big sister.

  “How is everything this morning?” someone asked from the door of the room before he entered.

  Turning, I saw a young man in scrubs and a white coat enter the room. He pulled on blue gloves as he approached and stood front of the bed.

  “Where’s my doctor?” Ainsleigh asked as she tried to sit up in the bed.

  “Unfortunately, she’s two hours away and unable to make it back here. I’m Dr. Young, and I’ll be taking care of you and getting this beautiful baby into the world,” he greeted us both. Worry covered Ainsleigh’s features as another contraction started, and she breathed through it.

  I took my eyes off of the young man and turned my attention rightfully back to my wife.

  “We’re going to get him or her home before we know it, baby. Just keep taking deep breaths in and blowing them out. You’re doing great.”

  “I’d be even better if I could get drugs.
This fucking hurts,” she screamed as she gripped my hand tighter than she had with the prior contraction.

  “I’m sorry for screaming,” she said as the contraction died down.

  “You’re doing great. I’m going to check your progress, and we’ll see about getting those drugs,” Dr. Young said as he lifted the blankets. I hated that he had to touch my wife, but it was a means to an end. I loved her regular doctor. She made me feel comfortable around her. This man, I didn’t know what to think about him. He looked way too young.

  “Well, I’ve got some good news and some bad news,” he said as he took off the gloves and tossed them in the container.

  Ainsleigh’s breath caught in her throat. This man didn’t know our history. He wouldn’t know that saying that wouldn’t be funny.

  “The good news is you’re making amazing progress. The bad news is I can’t give you any drugs. You’re eight centimeters already and completely effaced. This baby will be here in no time at all,” he said as he stood from the bed.

  “She had a cesarean section with our little girl. Can she give birth to this baby naturally after having a cesarean? I don’t want to risk anything,” I asked, concerned for both of their well-being’s.

  “I got a brief history from her doctor. I don’t see a cause for concern. Several mothers have natural births after a cesarean section. Everything looks amazing, and the baby isn’t in distress. I’m sorry for the loss of your little girl. I didn’t realize what I said would cause you worry until after I said it. The baby’s heart rate, as well as the mother’s, is great. We should be meeting your little boy or girl in no time,” he said before he left the room.

  I finally felt like I could breathe a little better hearing him say that.

  “How are you feeling after what he just said?” I asked Ainsleigh while I rubbed my thumb across her knuckles.