“I’m here,” comes her voice.
I turn around to see Choi muscling his way through the crowd of students with Paislee under his arm. I make a mental note to allow him to sleep his way through the rest of the semester. Seeing Paislee calms me down. “Baby,” I murmur, taking her arm. “How many minutes apart?”
“Um, five?” she says weakly.
“Five?” I shout.
“I didn’t know that they were contractions,” she wails. “I’ve never had a baby before!”
“It’s okay. It’s all good,” I say, but inside, I’m panicking. I need to get her to the hospital. I reach down and pick her up.
“What are you doing? I’m too heavy for you.” She bats at my hands. “Put me down.”
“Get the door, Choi!” I yell.
A body rushes by and pops the door open. I slide Paislee into the seat and then hurry around to the driver’s door.
“Should I drive?” Josh asks.
“Maybe we follow them?” suggests Choi.
It’s how Paislee and I end up with a twenty-plus car entourage. I don’t even try to explain it to the hospital staff when we arrive. Mom and Caro and Marguerite are already in the birthing room.
“One of your students called us.”
“Of course they did.” I help Paislee out of the bathroom where she’s changed into a gown. There’s sweat on her forehead.
“Did you have a contraction?” I say as she climbs into the bed.
She bites her lower lip and nods. I put an ice chip to her lips, which she accepts gratefully. “How close?”
“Three minutes,” I tell her.
“Our baby is coming soon,” she says. Her grip is tight. Her face is luminous.
“We are.” Emotion overwhelms me. Five years ago when I first laid eyes on Paislee, I knew I wanted her forever, and now the forever includes a child.
“Are you excited?”
“So excited I almost left school without you, my keys, or my car.”
She giggles until her laughter is cut off by pain. Her tight grip turns into a vise that threatens to break my fingers. I remind her to breathe. She tells me to fuck off.
“I love you.” I kiss the white tips of her fingers.
“If you touch me again, I’m killing you,” she pants.
“It’s only what I deserve.” I wipe the sweat off her forehead with a towel.
“How can you be so calm? I’m having a baby!” she yells.
“I know.” I bite the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing. It’s not that I’m happy about her pain, but I’m so full of joy over this miracle. We’re at the hospital. Our family is here. The doctors are just outside the door. The nurse has arrived and is bustling around the room. It’s all going to be good. I don’t need to panic anymore. My heart is still pounding. There’s sweat running down my spine, but I am weirdly calm. How could I not be? The love of my life is having my baby. I don’t deserve such a blessing, but I have them and I’ll treasure them forever.
The contractions subside, and Paislee grows teary. “I’m sorry I yelled at you.”
“You should be yelling at me. You are passing a watermelon between your legs.”
She laughs again. “Stop making jokes,” she says. “It hurts my tummy.”
“I don’t think my bad jokes are what is hurting you,” I demur.
She starts to chuckle, but the pain takes her over. The cursing comes back, as does the iron vise around my fingers. The process occurs again and again until there’s no blood in my fingers and she’s drenched in sweat.
There’s one final push, and then the air is filled with nothing but panting and the singular cry of a newborn. My heart rises into my throat. Paislee starts sobbing. I hear a distant yell. “It’s a girl!” followed by what sounds like a football team cheering in the hallway.
“It’s a girl,” I whisper to my wife. “You did so well.”
The nurse raises the head of the bed and places our baby girl in Paislee’s arms. Tears stream down my wife’s face as she peers down at the little bundle. With the help of the nurse, Paislee feeds the baby for the first time and then collapses from exhaustion.
I take the child and settle into the chair next to the bed. “Welcome, baby Fréres.”
As my precious wife slumbers, I whisper to my daughter about the plans we have, the picnics we’ll take, the places we’ll visit, the books we’ll read—all together. Paislee entered my life an orphan but she’s now surrounded by the people she loves and who love her, which is how it should be. Perfect.