The One [a Roman Reigns story]

35 And just like that

Roman POV

When we both looked down we knew immediately that it was time. Our little boy had decided it was time to meet us. Nova lifted her head and looked at me in amazement.

"Oh boy." she said.

"Okay... Shortcake we're both going to take a quick shower and then head straight to the hospital. Your bag is ready right?" I replied as I slowly guided her towards the door.

"Yes... yes it is... You just need to grab a few odds and ends. Like our charging cables. The list is on my nightstand. Oh and you definitely can't forget Nes." she said a little out of breath.

"I would never. God I'm nervous." I said then as we arrived at the house and walked up the stairs together.

"You don't say." she laughed shortly.

When we got to our bedroom I helped her get undressed and into the shower. I then quickly went and got the hospital bag out of the closet and packed everything else that was on the list. Of course I made sure Nes came with us. The last thing I wanted to do was forget the bunny.

Then I went back to the bathroom to see how far Nova had come. To my surprise, she was already drying herself off.

"How do you feel?" I asked as I helped her.

"Pretty good. But you better hurry up. I'll get dressed." she replied with a strained smile.

And that was exactly what I did. I quickly undressed and just rinsed off as fast as I could. That had to be enough. I tried to breathe deeply, but never in my life had I found it so damn difficult.

"Ouch...." I heard as I came out of the bathroom to get dressed.

"I'm here, Shortcake. Squeeze my hand. We'll be on our way in a minute." I said as I rushed to my wife's side and took her hand in mine.

Nova breathed through the pain. She had her eyes closed and was concentrating only on inhaling and exhaling. This way she gave herself and our boy as much oxygen as possible.

"Okay... I think that's it. Do we have everything?" she asked after a few minutes after the pain had passed.

"Yes. I just need to get dressed." I replied, then gave her a kiss on the forehead.

*****

"Alright Mrs Reigns... We are going to check you again. It seems like the birth is progressing fast." said the doctor when he came back to the room after only half an hour.

When we arrived here at the hospital Nova was already 3 centimeters dilated. It seemed that our son would not be waiting long. 2 hours later it was already 7 centimeters.

And now we were here for 3 hours. Nova was fortunately able to nap a little between contractions. But it didn't help much. It was so hard for me to see how she was in pain. But not once did she complain. I mean, I always knew she was a tough cookie, but this was so much more.

"Okay... Your cervix is fully dilated now. We're about to start delivering your boy. You're in the home stretch, Novalee." the doctor said.

"I can't wait to see him." she said softly as she put her hand to my cheek.

"Neither can I. If someone had told us that 20 years ago..." I replied.

"We would have called them crazy.... I know..." she said softly.

"I love you, Shortcake." then I said and gave her a kiss.

"Oh I sure hope you do. I'm about to push your baby out of my vagina. I deserve all the love in the world." she replied with a laugh.

And I couldn't believe she was still in the mood to crack jokes now.

It took a few minutes for the nurses to get everything ready. But then it was time. I held my wife's hand while supporting her back. The doctor kept counting to 10 and Nova pushed as hard as she could. At this point I had lost all sense of time.

But then she had done it. We heard the first cries of our little man as he was placed on his mommy's chest. And to say he was absolutely perfect would have been the understatement of the century.

"Hi baby boy." whispered Nova to him as tears of joy ran down her cheeks.

"God he is so beautiful. We love you, Lucian. Mommy and Daddy love you so much." I said as I looked at him in awe.

"I love you, Roman. Thank you for our perfect little Lucian William Reigns." said Nova as she lifted her gaze and looked at me.

"I love you Shortcake and I have to thank you." I replied and then gave her a long loving kiss.

And just like that, we were parents. We who had known each other and been friends for most of our lives. But as fate would have it... we were destined for something greater. And that something was just looking at us with his big eyes as he grasped his mommy's finger.