Forever In My LIFE (Book 4) 2nd Alternate

Part 27

*drum roll, please*

When the duration between contractions lessens, Gretchen has me turn over and she checks me again while I'm still in the water. "Eight. This baby boy is impatient," she chuckles, "we're going to have to get you out of the water and onto the bed soon."

"Impatient, huh?" I look at Prince and Tyka stifles a laugh. Prince shoots her a death glare. I grin at their sibling-ly exchange, but my face falls when I see him glance at the clock again. When he notices the change in my expression, his eyes question me while Tyka looks on confused by our silent exchange.

Gretchen starts preparing the hospital bed for me, placing what looks like huge puppy training pads down over the sheet. When I watch in horror, she laughs, "You'll be wet from the water, Dear."

I visibly relax at her explanation, but tighten my grip on Prince's shoulders as another contraction roars through, "They're getting worse," I pant.

Gretchen sets a hospital gown on the back of Prince's chair, and she's holding a towel. " When you get out, I'm going to have you remove your bra."

It seems silly, because it's the only thing I'm currently wearing, but I had felt some sense of privacy in the water. I'm helped to standing by Gretchen and my doctor, who has pretty much just observed at this point. Tyka politely turns as I'm patted dry, Prince unfolds the hospital gown. "Open in the front, please," Gretchen instructs and it gets slipped over my shoulders. In my modesty I pull the edges together as they help me to the bed. The bed is larger than a single width and I'm kept to the one edge where Gretchen has a chair situated.

Prince is instructed to move to the head of the bed to coach, I raise my arms up to clasp his forearms, his hands are on my shoulders, this is something we had discussed prior, because I was worried about injuring his hands if I squeezed too hard. Gretchen opens the flaps of my gown all the way up to just under my breasts and I question why I was given a gown at all. The doctor moves in and runs a wand shaped instrument over my belly, the baby's heartbeat becomes audible. The two women nod at each other as my grip tightens on Prince's arms. Prince leans over and kisses the top of my head, "Almost there, Sugar." His head turns ever so slightly to look at the clock.

Gretchen sneaks her fingers back into my vagina, she smiles up and nods. "Pretty soon you're going to want to push, I want you to go with it," she says.

I start to wonder how I'm going to know, but when the next contraction hits, the urge to push is evident. I let out a loud growl and bear down hard for as long as I can, then collapse against the bed when the urge passes, panting and fatigued. Gretchen checks, "Dana, if you can do that a few more times, you'll be holding this baby faster than I thought possible."

I take some deep breaths and rest, while my doctor comes back with the wand and checks the baby's heartbeat again. Gretchen looks at her, "I think we may be looking at a precipitous labor here," my doctor nods with a big smile.

"Is that good?" I'm concerned.

"It's a term used for a labor that's shorter than three hours, it's not bad, but we have to keep an extra close eye on the baby," she says, "he's not crowning yet, but I have a good feeling he will be on this next push."

I haven't rested very long, and the urge is back, I resituate my grip on Prince's arms and tuck my head and give it all I got, grunting loudly the whole time. Now Gretchen and my doctor are both grinning.

"I'll be damned," the doctor says, grabbing the wand instrument again, we hear the heartbeat, they both nod.

"Why do you keep doing that?" I ask in between pants.

"To make sure the baby isn't in distress. Mr. Nelson, you need to get down here with us," Gretchen says.

Tyka trades places with Prince, taking my hands in hers and Prince is given gloves when he arrives next to Gretchen, he looks lost for what to do when as he puts them on. Gretchen works him through the details while I rest. "Pretty soon you're baby is going to crown, when his head is clear I'll suction out his nose and mouth," Prince nods, staring between my legs in fascination. She continues, "Once he's out, we're going to put him right onto her belly, that's where I want your help." He looks at her and nods again, then he glances at the clock.

With the pressure in my groin and my emotions in overdrive, the clock check causes a mini eruption from me, "Prince. Rogers. Nelson!" I growl through clenched teeth, "So help me God, if you look at that clock one more time..."

Everyone is wide eyed with amused shock, Gretchen looks at Prince, "Say: Yes, Dear," she instructs. Prince looks scolded, "Yes, Sugar," after meeting my eyes they drop back down to the point of interest.

The doctor says, "Dana, you take that little bit of anger and put it into this next push," she smiles and pats my arm. The next urge to push comes and I do what she says, I bear down and I growl, thinking about him looking at that damn clock. It's a good push and I see Gretchen go to work suctioning, Prince's eyes dart from my face and back to Gretchen's hands repeatedly, he grins and a tear slips from his eye. Gretchen looks up at me, "You're doing great! Now, listen carefully. This next push has to be a big one, once his shoulders are through, you're done." My doctor reaches over and pulls my gown open at the top, exposing what little left I had covered, I'm now on full display from head to toe.

At that moment I hear our baby cry, he's loud and I want to hold him, I push and feel the resistance lessen instantly. I see Prince move in and lift our baby from Gretchen's hands, he places him gently on my belly as instructed, then stands there in awe watching as the doctor covers him with a blanket on top of me. I forget about everything at that moment as our baby's cries silence now that he's skin to skin on my belly.

Right now there is no one, it's just me and this precious gift, I forget about Tyka, the doctor, Gretchen, being exposed, and even Prince, temporarily. Tears stream down my face as I wipe his tiny head clean with the blanket, I look up to see Prince still watching me. "Get up here," I say tearfully, patting the bed beside me. Prince looks at Gretchen, she nods, he climbs up and crawls from the end of the bed to settle in beside me. I lean toward him as I uncover the baby's head, "Look at all this hair," tears are still streaming down my face.

Prince nods and another tear slips free, "He's beautiful."

Tyka comes to stand where the doctor was and takes my hand, "You did amazing, Girlie, I wish my first one was this fast." She kisses my cheek, "I'll leave you guys be, congratulations." Her words are soft and heartfelt, she looks at Prince, smiling, she nods a quick nod before she leaves the room.

Gretchen and the doctor work below to clean me up, but I'm unphased. I look back at Prince and lean in for a kiss, it's a deep, tender kiss, and when we part, my tears start again. Prince rests his hand on the baby's back and his head against mine as we look down at Ramiel, "We did it," I whisper.

"We sure did, Sugar."

Gretchen asks with a grin, "Mr. Nelson, would you like to know the time of birth?"

His eyes shoot to me to see my response and I laugh, "I don't even care," I say as I kiss the top of Ramiel's head.

He looks expectantly at Gretchen, and although she's not privy to the whole reasoning behind it, she's smiles, "12:01."

I roll my eyes and shake my head as Prince grins ear to ear and says, "Thank you, Gretchen."

"Are you happy now?" I tease.

"More than you'll ever know," he leans in and kisses me again.