“I know you do. I even remember the classes for men who advised not to listen to the woman when she was screaming and shouting about how much pain she was in. I’m here.” He helped her to the car, but she couldn’t climb in as she felt another wave.
“They’re close together.” She cried out, holding her stomach.
“I know.” He helped her inside and she leaned the chair back, panting. Perspiration dotted her brow and she felt so much pain.
“I’m calling my parents.”
“Don’t forget Aunt Betty. I need her. This is too soon. We’ve got a couple of days.”
“We were told that it wouldn’t be long now.”
“I know what we were told, but I wanted her to arrive on time.” She screamed. “Fuck! We need to go to the hospital now.” She yelled the last word. Gripping the chair, she panted, taking deep breaths, trying to think calm and relaxing thoughts. She thought about her wedding.
Aunt Betty, Jane, Lilly, and she had organized a wedding within two months. She’d started to show but the wedding dress had been so beautiful. No one had been able to tell that she was pregnant, or at least she liked to think no one saw the start of her pregnancy.
Taking a deep breath, she tried to think past the pain.
“You’ve got this.”
He wasn’t helping, but she knew she loved him and he would never do anything to cause her pain, apart from helping to knock her up. She had to remember she’d been part of the sex. Amazing sex, which they hadn’t been able to have lately because of her heavily pregnant state.
“Drive faster. I love you, baby,” she said. “But please, don’t drive carefully. I need the hospital.” There was no way this baby was going to wait.
He pressed his foot to the gas and they were out of there, driving at a speed that should have scared her. Just as he arrived, she had another contraction but also a desire to push.
“You can’t push!”
James parked the truck and ran toward her side. He’d parked right in front of the doors.
“I need to push.”
She screamed as she entered the hospital. Within seconds, nurses were around her, asking her what was going on.
The next part was a bit of a blur as she was moved into a private room. Her clothing was removed, her legs were put up, and a doctor was between her thighs.
“You need to push, Eliza, so push.”
The pain was intense. The need to push was out of this world and she did so.
“You’re doing really good,” James said.
She collapsed against him the moment she was out of air, crying. Perspiration dripped from her. She wanted everything to stop.
James held her hands, squeezing them tightly, giving her an avenue to think clearly, and to hold on to him, desperate to feel something.
“I’ve got you. I’ve got you,” he said, over and over, trying to help her, but it wasn’t doing any good.
“Another push. Come on, Eliza. Nearly there.”
Did they even know how painful this was? How hard it was to keep on pushing?
She leaned forward and pushed again. This time, a scream came, not her own. The sound of a newborn child filled the air and Eliza collapsed to the bed. Her heart raced and James kissed her head. She watched the nurses prepare her.
“You did it, baby,” James said. “You really did it.”
She couldn’t close her eyes.
The nurse came over and smiled. Her little girl was wrapped in a blanket. Tears filled her eyes as she was handed her baby daughter. Part of her had doubted the love that she’d feel for her little girl, but staring down into her beautiful face, she was overcome with so much love and joy and everything in between.
“Hello, sweet girl,” she said. Her voice was hoarse from the screaming. “I’m your mommy.”
“And I’m your daddy.”
She looked up at her husband and smiled. “I didn’t call you too many names, did I?”
“No, nothing. Believe me. We can handle anything.” He kissed the top of her head.
“She’s finally here,” she said. “And she’s so beautiful.”
“I’ll be shooting a lot of boys when it comes to her.”
Eliza laughed. “No, she’s going to be the boss of them, every single step of the way. She’ll be the one in charge, won’t you, my darling?”
Her little girl opened her eyes, and she sighed. This was even better than she imagined.
“I don’t think we should be having another kid any time soon. I don’t think I can handle it,” James said.
“We’ll see.” Every single dad had said the same at the parent classes, and she’d seen the look in the women’s eyes. More kids would follow.
Epilogue
Fifteen years later
“Come on, kids, get your asses down here. We’re all heading out to camp now,” James yelled at the top of his lungs for his five kids to hear.