by Bec Botefuhr
“Sierra, are you ok?”
I look up at Marcus, who is watching me with a worried expression.
“I…something is running down my leg.”
He looks confused for a moment. He comes around the bench and looks down at my legs.
“Did you…”
“No,” I cry. “I didn’t wet myself.”
“Sierra…I think…your waters have broken.”
I snap my head up and gasp, “What? I still have a few weeks!”
“I guess the baby doesn’t think that.”
“Oh god, what do we do? Marcus, what do we do?”
He grips my shoulders. “Aren’t I meant to be the one freaking out? Come on Sierra, we’ve got this. We went to all those classes.”
“I can’t…oh no…oh god.”
“I’m calling your mom, ok? Calm down, we’re going to be fine. You can do this. You are tough sweetheart.”
“My vajayjay, it’s going to be ruined!” I cry, cupping my face in my hands.
Marcus looks down at me, truly confused.
“Your what?”
“Oh god, I’m not ready. I’m not ready!”
“Hey,” he says, putting on his dominant voice. “Look at me.”
I open my eyes and look at him, trembling.
“We’re doing this, and we’re going to be fine. Just think, soon you’ll have a beautiful baby in your hands.”
“Beautiful baby,” I whisper. “Yes.”
“Good girl, now sit tight while I call your mom.”
He walks around the corner for a moment and I resume panicking. When he comes back, I see a glimpse of panic on his own face, but he quickly smothers it. He gathers my hospital bags and helps me up.
“We’re going to the hospital to get this checked out, ok?”
My back cramps again and I whimper.
“Are you ok?” he asks.
“Cramps in my back are getting worse.”
“All right, we’re on our way. Hang in there, baby.”
The drive to the hospital is brutal, seriously. It’s slow, traffic gets in our way and by the time we get there my back pain has gone from bad to worse. A nurse rushes out and helps us inside. When we get in, I see my mother and sister. They come rushing over as soon as they lay eyes on me. My mother takes my hands and instructs me to breathe.
“You’re going to be just fine, good girl, keep breathing.”
I cry out as the pain in my back begins to resemble a knife being stabbed into it.
“God, it’s so painful. Why is it in my back?” I cry, rubbing my back furiously.
“Back labor,” the nurse says softly. “The baby might have its spine to yours, and that will cause the labor to be felt in the back, instead of the front.”
“Is that bad?” I cry.
She shakes her head quickly. “No, it can just be a different kind of pain.”
When we arrive at the birthing room, Marcus helps me onto the bed. My mom rushes around gathering ice cubes while my sister sits beside me holding my hand.
“All right, we’re just going to check how far along you are, ok love?”
I nod and shift uncomfortably as the nurse checks. It’s one of the most uncomfortable things I have ever done. Seriously.
“Oh, wow, you are coming along nicely. You’re around seven centimeters. It won’t be long now love. Do you want some pain relief?”
“No,” I groan, rolling to my side.
“I’ll go gather the doctor and we’ll go from there.”
Marcus begins rubbing my back as the pain becomes overwhelming.
“How did I not know I was in labor?” I cry.
My mother strokes my hair. “Sometimes it just creeps up on us. You’re doing very well honey.”
“It hurts!”
“I know, it will be all over soon.”
It wasn’t. It took another twelve hours for me to get to ten centimeters, and another two hours of pushing before we finally brought our baby into the world. I slump down when the doctors deliver and my eyes flutter closed. Then I hear that cry. The crackly, new cry of fresh life. I open my eyes, Marcus is down the other end of my body, tears are stumbling down his cheeks as the doctors hand him a little blue bundle.
“It’s a girl,” he rasps.
He walks over to me and I feel my own tears swell as he places the little bundle into my arms. The first thing I see, are the mass amounts of black hair. She’s perfect in every way. Pink cheeks, rosy lips, perfect little chubby features. I sob loudly and brush my finger down her face. She’s perfect. She’s everything I could ever want and more.
“Oh, Marcus, she’s perfect.”
He puts his arms around me, stroking my hair and using his other hand to slip his finger into her little fist.
“Oh congratulations you two, she’s perfect. Welcome, sweetheart,” my mother sobs, kissing us both, and then our daughter before leaving.
“We did it,” I whisper, swiping a tear from my eyes.
“She’s beautiful, Sierra. She’s everything I ever imagined and more.”
“She’s ours.”
“All ours.”
The doctors do what they have to do, and when we’re alone, Marcus crawls into the bed beside me. He wraps his arms around me and our daughter, and we sit staring down at her.
“Esme?” he whispers.
“Yes, it’s perfect.”
“She’s perfect.”
I look up at him, and he leans down, kissing the side of my mouth.
“Who knew we’d end up here?”
I nod, swallowing back my tears. “You made all my dreams come true, Marcus Harrison.”
He tightens his grip on us. “No sweetheart, you did that all on your own. I just gave you a helping hand.”
~*~*~*~*~
MARCUS
“Marcus Harrison, she is not a football!”
I chuckle as I tuck my six month old daughter under my arm and carry her like a football to her change room. Sierra giggles as she follows down behind me. When I get to Esme’s room, I place her on the table and smile down at her. She cackles and reaches up at the yellow ducks hanging above her head.
“It’s daddy’s turn!” Sierra smiles, slumping down onto the old rocker in the corner.
“We got this, don’t we, Esme?” I grin down at my little girl.
Esme smiles back at me, a big, toothless grin that gets my heart every time. She’s the image of her mother, only she has my dark features. Her thick, dark hair, curls at the ends and flicks out. She has big brown eyes, and two perfect dimples. I lean down, letting her give me one of her famous sloppy kisses.
“Aw, daddy is a sucker,” Sierra teases, standing and wrapping her arms around my waist.
She peers around me and looks down at Esme.
“She’s so darn cute!”
“She got it from her momma,” I grin.
“Maybe a touch from her daddy.”
“Maybe a touch,” I smirk.
When we’re done changing, we all go out to the large patio and I put Esme in her rocker. I fall back onto the swing chair and Sierra crawls in next to me.
“Are you happy, Mr. Harrison?”
“I could never be anything, but with my two favorite girls around.”
“You’re still a smooth talker, sexy sweet.”
I chuckle. Sierra still uses the nickname for me, the way she did the day she created it. I grip her hand, pressing it to my lips. The girl drives me wild, no matter how many days go by, she always manages to bring me pure happiness.
“Only smooth for you, baby.”
“Hey, Marcus?”
“Hmmmm.”
“Did you ever think this is where you would end up?”
I lean back in the chair and stare out at the ocean over the road. If she had asked me that two years ago, I would have told her I never wanted to lose my career or change my life. Heck, I thought I was happy with Chayne. I thought nothing could ever make me feel better. But life is funny like that, i
sn’t it? Sometimes you think you have everything figured out, but really, you’re just getting started. I thought I had it all, but in reality, I didn’t have any of it. I had a career, I had big dreams but I didn’t know the meaning of happiness, until Sierra.
“I didn’t ever think this is how things would go for me, sweetheart, but I can tell you…I would never change it. I wouldn’t do a god damned thing differently.”
“Do you ever miss your job?”
I shrug. “There are days I miss the craziness of the job, but when I walk in the door to you each night, and see my daughter smiling at me from her chair…I don’t think anything could ever be worth more than that.”
“You wanna know something, sexy sweet?”
“Always.”
She grins up at me, her eyes sparkling as she wraps her hand around one of mine.
“I love you.”
Grinning, I press a kiss to her forehead.
“You wanna know something sweetheart?”
“Always.”
“I love you too.”
And heck…that was all there ever needed to be.
THE END
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