by Shandi Boyes
“We have to go, Emily” I practically beg.
“Babies can take ages to come” she replies smiling.
“Uh no they don’t, Jenni had Jasper in under an hour. Nick nearly had to deliver him in the carpark at the hospital. I am not delivering the baby Emily” I advise panicked.
“Come here” she whispers softly while her light brown eyes dazzle. I sit on the edge of the bed, before she pulls me down to lay next to her.
“You won’t have to deliver the baby; I promise” she whispers as I roll over to face her.
She better not be making a promise she can’t keep.
Chapter 41
Emily
My teeth clang together as I bite down hard while attempting to breathe through another contraction. This is one of the most painful things I have ever experienced in my life.
Noah had begged me at the start to go to the hospital, but I knew from all the books I have been reading that first babies normally take hours to come. Jenni was just an exception to that rule.
Noah tried to lay next to me still so I could get some sleep, but he wouldn’t stop fidgeting. Every time I would place my hand on my belly while breathing through a contraction, he would jump out of bed and beg me to get into his truck.
Within an hour, I had convinced Noah to hop into the shower with me, hoping the hot water would be able to relieve some of the pain. The hot water on my sore and tired back was a god send. Noah started to time the contractions and four hours later when they were seven minutes apart he refused to let me stay at home any longer. In protest, he quickly gathered me in his arms and carried me down the stairs, before placing me gently in the passenger side of his truck, making sure my seatbelt was firmly in place.
“Is it another one?” Noah questions when he hears my teeth clang together. I nod my head as I close my eyes and try to remember the breathing techniques we had been taught during Lamaze class.
I can feel that Noah pulls his truck over to the side of the road before he gently grasps my hand within his.
“Breathe baby, keep breathing” he says gently, while rubbing his thumb along my hand.
The intensity of the contractions is rapidly gaining as the hours ticked by on the clock. After this latest contraction eases, I open my eyes and the first thing I notice is Noah’s alarmed gaze staring back at me.
“They are five minutes apart now” he informs me.
I smile brightly at him, as I know that five minutes apart is good. It means we are getting closer to meeting our baby.
“Are you okay?” he questions. I nod my head at him, before his gaze turns back to the road as he slowly pulls his truck back onto the asphalt.
“You don’t have to pull over for every contraction” I advise. It is sweet of him, but it is going to make the trip hospital take double the amount of time.
Noah’s gaze turns from the road and looks directly towards me, with his eyebrows pulled together.
“Yes, I do. There is no way I would be able to concentrate on the road and help you through the pain” he replies, his voice making it sound like I was crazy for even suggesting it.
I watch as his gaze flicks between me and the road cautiously, before another contraction rips through my body.
“Arrrgghhhh” I scream in pain as my belly constricts so tight it feels like I am being torn in two.
Noah immediately pulls the truck off the side of the road.
“Breathe Emily” he begs. The pain is so intense I now have tears streaming down my face. Noah looks over towards me before he unclasps his seatbelt and slides over the bench seat to cradle me into his chest.
“It’s okay beautiful, just keep breathing” he whispers gently in my ear, as his rough hands run down my hair in a soothing motion.
“It fucking hurts” I cry into his chest “I can’t do this Noah it hurts to much; I can’t do it anymore” I cry panicked.
I haven’t even got to the painful part yet and I know I can’t do this anymore. I am sure delivering a watermelon out of a hole the size of a lemon is going to be even worse than these contractions, and these contractions really hurt.
“Yes you can beautiful. You can do this; I know you can” Noah replies without any hesitation.
Suddenly my nightie gets saturated, as my waters break all over Noah’s red leather interior. I look up at Noah and his eyes are open wide in shock and he looks like he is going to be sick.
“Is the contraction gone?” he asks quickly. I nod my head and Noah practically dives over to the driver side of the truck, before he pulls his truck out onto the road like a maniac.
“You better not have made a promise you can’t keep Emily!” he yells, while he pushes his foot down hard on the accelerator “Close your legs!”
I can’t help but laugh at Noah’s request. I don’t think closing my legs would be able to stop a baby from coming. Noah’s face is as white as a ghost as he weaves his truck in and out of the traffic.
“It’s not funny” he states firmly while looking at me, the expression on his face is priceless. It causes me to giggle more, as I have never seen Noah so unconfident and nervous. He normally oozes cockiness and charisma, but now he just looks shocked and scared.
My laughing soon dies down as another contraction hits me full force causing me to scream out loud. I grab a hold of the dashboard, digging my nails into the vinyl, as I continue to let out one long deep scream.
“Hold on Emily, we are nearly there” yells Noah as he pulls his truck into the front of Ravenshoe Private Hospital, just as my contraction starts to lessen. This is the first time I have been back here since Noah left eleven weeks ago. It seems like a lifetime ago, but the memories soon come flashing back as Noah helps me down from his truck. Noah’s strength still amazes me. The fact he has fully overcome his injuries and has the ability to live his life to the fullest causes tears to spring into my eyes.
Noah runs around to the passenger side of the truck, before he scoops me up into his arms.
“You have to move your truck or they will tow it” I inform Noah as he briskly walks into the hospital entrance.
“Let them tow it” he replies, while walking swiftly to the delivery suites. Once we are outside the double locked doors of the delivery suite, Noah hits the intercom button as he gently places me back down on my feet.
“Hello” greets a voice over the intercom.
“My wife Emily is in labour” Noah replies, his voice still marred with anxiety.
That is the first time Noah has ever told anyone that I am his wife. I smile at him as his gaze seeks mine. He then uses his thumb to rub away the tears that have stained my face.
Once the door lets out a large buzz declaring it has been unlocked, Noah pushes it open. He then attempts to scoop me up into this arms, but I advise him that I can walk. I make it three steps into the delivery suite before another contractions rips through me, causing me to drop to my knees.
Noah quickly gathers me off the floor, before he runs towards the nurse’s desk that is located in the middle of the delivery suite. It only takes one look at Noah’s face for the midwife to usher us into a private room. Noah places me gently down on the bed, before turning to face the midwife.
“You need to give her something for the pain” he pleads to the midwife, while running his hands through his hair.
“Do you need pain relief?” the midwife asks, looking past Noah’s shoulder towards me.
Noah follows the midwife’s gaze and watches as I gently shake my head.
“Emily you need to let them give you something” he declares as he moves back to my bedside.
“No, I don’t want anything. I can do this. You said so yourself” I reply into his fearful dark eyes.
Noah has overcome so much pain and heartache in his life. If he can survive all that pain, I am sure I can handle the pain of bringing our child into the world. I want to show him that I am strong too.
“Are you sure?” he questions, while his dark intense eyes stare direc
tly into mine.
“Yes I’m sure” I reply as another contraction hits me full force, making me wonder if I am going to regret my decision.
Chapter 42
Noah
“No, I don’t want anything. I can do this. You said so yourself” Emily replies through her tear filled eyes.
I can tell she is trying to put on a brave front, but giving birth looks incredibly painful. The last few contractions have caused tears to stream down Emily’s face. I fucking hate seeing her cry, let alone being in pain. She doesn’t need to prove anything to me, I already know how strong she is.
“Are you sure?” I question, while looking into her feared light brown eyes.
“Yes I’m sure” she replies, before her face morphs into agony while her hands clutch down tight on the white hospital sheets.
Emily’s body curves tightly into a ball as she tries to handle the pain that is ripping through her body. I move towards her, trying to offer her comfort and support. But I don’t know what the fuck I am doing. I can’t take her pain away, and she is refusing any form of pain relief. So I just hold her hand and rub her back soothingly while she struggles through a long contraction.
“Good girl Emily. Just remember to keep breathing” advises the midwife that had brought us into the room. I notice that she looks down at a small silver watch attached to her chest as she times the length of Emily’s contraction.
Emily starts panting as her scared eyes open to look directly into mine.
“I… need… to… push” she screams while panting between each word. I can feel my panic surging to a new level, as I look towards the midwife who is rapidly gathering equipment from around the room.
“Hit that buzzer” the midwife tells me as she pulls a stool over near the bed. I look over at all the buzzers located on the wall and there are several different buttons, which fucking button does she want me to push.
“The call nurse one” she states urgently, as she gently rolls Emily from her side to her back, causing Emily to let out a long deep scream. I have never heard a noise come out of Emily like that before, she sounds like she is possessed.
I locate the button that has a picture of a nurse on it, before quickly hitting it. It instantly announces over the speakers that assistance is required in room twenty-two.
“Where is her doctor?” I ask the midwife panicked.
Emily had been seeing Dr Morgan weekly for the past six weeks. He advised me that he would meet us at the hospital when I called him, before gathering Emily and forcing her into my truck against her wishes. I am glad now I didn’t let her stubbornness deter me from getting her to the hospital.
“There isn’t going to be enough time” announces the grey haired midwife, as she places Emily’s legs into stirrups that were just pulled out from underneath the bed, causing my stomach to drop.
“Your baby’s head is crowning Emily” the midwife advises, as Emily lets out another big long grunt.
“You need to calm down and try to breathe Emily” encourages the young blonde haired midwife that has just joined us in the room.
“Help her calm down” whispers the midwife to me.
I can see the panic settled behind Emily’s eyes. She needs me now more than ever. I quickly move to place my arm gently around her shoulders, while I whisper into her ear.
“You can do this beautiful, you are so strong and brave. I am so proud of you. Just try to calm down and keep breathing slowly like the Lamaze instructor showed you”
Emily appears to be listening to what I am saying as her screams slowly lessen and she starts to pant. She grabs a hold of my hand tightly as she fights her way through another contraction.
“Okay Emily, when you feel another contraction I need you to pull your chin in close to your chest and push right down deep into your bottom” advises the midwife.
Emily nods her head swiftly, before pulling her chin into her chest like instructed. As she pushes, her torso raises off the bed and she squeezes down hard on my hand. Her face goes red, as she bites down hard on her lip during the contraction, making me concerned she is going to draw blood.
“Good girl, well done keep pushing” encourages the midwife.
As the contraction eases, Emily takes in a long deep breath, before her gaze turns towards mine.
“You are doing it” I beam proudly. I am so fucking proud of her it causes my heart to soar in jubilation.
“You are about to become a daddy” she smiles, before her face once again morphs into pain.
“Push Emily, right down low into your bottom. Take a deep breath and push” advises the grey-haired midwife that is sitting on a spinning stool directly in front of Emily’s open legs.
Emily takes one big deep inhale of air before she bears down again. As she bites down on her lip she lets out a long ragged scream.
“Stop pushing and pant” the midwife quickly instructs Emily.
“Pant, Emily, Pant” I whisper into her ear, I remember the Lamaze instructor had said it was very important that they pant during this part.
Emily instantly starts panting as requested and not long later we hear the first tiny little cries of our baby. Emily flops back against the bed, feeling relieved that the pain is finally over. As the midwife lifts our baby towards us, I can feel tears instantly springing into my eyes.
“It’s a girl” announces the midwife as she moves towards the humidicrib located at the side of the room.
“It’s a girl?” Emily questions unbelievably. She was so convinced that we were having a little boy that she had only packed blue rompers in her hospital bags.
“I told you it was a girl” I declare excitedly, as I lean down and place a kiss on Emily’s sweat drenched head.
“I am so proud of you Emily” I whisper, while staring directly into her tear filled eyes.
Emily’s eyes flicker between mine, before she lifts her hand and wipes away the tears that had fallen down my face. I hadn’t notice that I was crying. I quickly used my hand to rub away my tears, not wanting to look like a pussy in front of Emily. But seeing our baby girl being born was one of the most exhilarating things I have ever experienced in my whole life. She is proof that instant love exist, as I knew the instant I laid my eyes on her that I would love her for the rest of my life, just like her mother.
The midwife walks over to us with our little girl all wrapped in a white blanket, she has a little pink beanie on her head. She hands her gently over to Emily, causing fresh tears to spring into my eyes. Emily’s face shows her pure joy as she looks down at our little girl.
“She has your dimples” Emily gushes as she loosens the blanket wrapped tightly around our daughter.
I look over at her and notice she does have two perfectly placed little dimples in her cheeks. Her small sprouts of hair are as dark as her mothers, but her eyes are currently blue in color. I run my index finger gently down her chubby little cheeks, before running it across her little hand that has poked out from the blanket. When my finger runs across her open palm she quickly grasps my finger tightly in her hand.
“Daddy is going to be wrapped around your little finger, isn’t he?” Emily whispers cheekily.
I don’t care what anyway says, anything my baby girl wants she is going to have. I am planning on spoiling her and her mother every day of my life. Emily moves over to the side of the bed so I can sit down next to her.
“What do you want to name her?” Emily asks.
We have never discussed baby names. Emily was adamant that we were having a boy and she wanted to call him Maddox. I liked the name she had chosen so we never had a reason to discuss it any further.
“I don’t think Maddox will work for a little girl” I advise Emily causing her to smile.
I look down at our daughter and try to work out what name would suit her cute little face. Her face is as beautiful as her mothers, although her cheeks are a lot chubbier.
“What about Maddie?” I question. Emily’s gaze turns from mine down to our
little girl yawning in her arms.
“Maddie” she whispers, testing out the sound of the name on her lips.
“I like it” Emily says with a smile.
“Maddison Grace Taylor” I declare, causing Emily’s eyes to turn quickly back to mine.
Emily’s moms middle name is Grace and I think it is fitting for her little granddaughter to follow the tradition of having her grandmothers middle name. Just like Emily has her grandmothers middle name, even though she hates it.
“It’s perfect” Emily gushes as she uses my shirt to pull me to her lips.