Dashing along the large corridors and ducking into several electronic doors, he finally made it to the wing he was seeking and came skidding on highly slippery, perfectly buffed floors to a halt at the reception desk.
"Pignataro?" he asked breathlessly.
The woman grinned perkily and pointed down another hall.
"Right down there in L3, sir," she announced. "You're gonna have to hurry, though!"
"Yeah, I know!" he called back as he jogged quickly down the corridor.
Turning a corner and nearly toppling over, he swiftly retrieved the dropped flowers and continued on toward the room. He suddenly heard the sounds he was expecting to hear and as he got closer to the room, he could see Emily holding the hands of both his seven-year-old son, Liam, and her six-year-old son, Garrett, within the doorway. By their side was Calen Wakefield, giddy with the event at hand. As they heard Joe arriving behind them, they became more excited.
"Here he is!" announced Emily in a sing-songy voice. Liam immediately turned to greet his father with a huge smile and ran to embrace him.
"Hey, buddy!" Joe said as he picked up Liam in a tight hug and swung him around in a circle.
"Daddy, is that for the baby?" Liam asked.
"Yeah, buddy," he answered. "Thanks, Emily," he directed toward their friend.
"No problem," she said as she cocked her head toward the middle of the room.
As he put Liam on the floor again, he walked past Calen, fistbumping him as we went.
"Stud," Calen threw out toward him as Joe locked eyes on his beloved Toni, sitting in a large pool of water and wrapped in all the birthing apparel necessary for this method of birth. A doctor was kneeling in the pool as well and was staring intently toward the birth canal with hands poised as the nurse stood by with all her instruments and equipment. Toni grunted and breathed loudly as she looked up over her shoulder toward her husband, sweat beads forming on her temple.
"Cutting it kind of close, aren't ya?" she observed with a half-grin, half-grimace, as Joe knelt down behind her.
"Wash your hands, please," the nurse announced loudly and sternly.
"Oh, right," Joe said apologetically as he stood quickly and raced to the hand sink. After scrubbing and drying off, the nurse barked out the next block of instructions.
"Gown, cap and mask, too, please, daddy," she said with authority.
Joe obliged and as he began to don the requested items, he joked, "I'll tell you what…you'd be a great Navy Chief!"
The nurse chuckled and nodded.
"Sonny, I was in the Navy," she answered. "Eight years."
"That explains a lot," Calen threw out in a light tone. They all laughed. Except, of course, the mother-to-be and the doctor.
"All right, Toni," she said loudly. "One more push, okay?"
Toni nodded as she puffed out her cheeks with air and held her breath. Her face was red beyond any color that Joe could remember and he quickly placed both hands upon her shoulders for support. Grunting, letting out the air in her lungs in a whoosh, and clenching her teeth and sneering, Toni screamed and pushed and, within moments, their baby emerged.
Being a father once before, Joe recalled the drill. Move around to the side of his wife and take the surgical shears that they hand him, and…
"Cut the cord, daddy!" the doctor ordered quickly.
Snip!
Like cutting through rubber, Joe thought in a comical moment. Suddenly, the baby's mouth was swabbed several times and then suctioned, and like clockwork, the baby bellowed its first sounds.
"Here's your beautiful baby boy!" the doctor announced as the nurse assisted her in wrapping the baby in a temporary warming blanket and placing him gently upon Toni's tummy.
"Oh, babe, he's beautiful," whispered Joe as he leaned down and kissed Toni on the forehead. Liam inched over toward them and looked down on his little brother.
"He's all dirty," Liam moaned as he gazed at the baby. "Yuck!"
They chuckled as the nurse was swiftly cleaning up and the doctor called in another intern to help with post-birth duties.
"Is there a name for this little one?" the doctor asked with a broad smile.
Toni and Joe looked at each other and smiled.
"Dominic," they announced in unison.
Looking over their shoulders at Emily, she began to weep in joy. Calen placed a reassuring arm around her as they moved forward to look upon the newest addition to their family.
THE END
A SEA STORY: THE UNTOLD STORY OF THE U.S. NAVY RESPONSE TO 9/11. Page 19