Heaven Knows it's High Time | Joanne

Chapter Seventeen

"Hey, Di. See if you can get another one in."

Joe turned the camera around to Dianne as she sat in a hospital bed, stuffing a third marshmallow into her mouth.

"Chubby bunny" she said.

Joe laughed and threw her another.

"Hey, Di. Why are we in hospital?"

Dianne pushed the fourth marshmallow in, grinning at the camera. "I'm in labour" she tried to say, causing Joe to laugh even harder.

"Five?" he asked. Dianne held out her hand.

"Why don't you try and say 'I'm having a baby'? We can use it in the intro".

Dianne nodded and somehow managed to squeeze a fifth marshmallow into her mouth.

"I' 'abin a ba-ee"

"Amazing!"

Lisa, the midwife, walked into the room with a smile on her face. "Nice to see you two are having fun. How are you?"

Dianne spat the marshmallows into a tissue before answering.

"Sorry. That was gross. Anyway, I'm alright. Uncomfortable but not in agony. Joe's trying to take my mind off it."

"Bless you. Can I have a check?"

Dianne nodded and sat back, legs spread, as the midwife examined her. She had been through this process a few times in the last couple of hours and was past caring who saw what. Labour hadn't been too bad so far, but things were progressing much quicker than they had with Emelia.

"We're at about six centimetres. Not long to go. Try and rest as much as you can. I know the contractions are uncomfortable now but try and save your energy. You're going to need it. Don't forget, the yoga ball is in the corner if you want to use it, and the gas and air is right next to you."

Dianne smiled as Lisa left the room, turning to Joe. "You know, we should probably pick a girl's name since we're definitely having a baby today and we still don't know what we're going to call it. It might be a good idea to have a definite girl's name and boy's name and a back-up in case it doesn't suit them."

Joe smiled. "Probably. I mean, hopefully the same will suit them now that we've vetoed anything daft."

Dianne pouted. "Including Americas. You arsehole."

"It's awful. Anyway, what have we decided? If it's a boy, are we going with Harry or Oscar? See what he looks like and pick which one fits? If it's a girl?"

Dianne sighed. "If it's a girl, I want her name to have something in common with Emelia. And for it to be cute. That's all I want. Let's find a list online and go through it. Something might jump out."

Dianne leaned back into her pillow as a contraction washed over her. Squeezing her eyes closed, she clenched her fists and breathed through the pain. Joe stopped reading out baby girl names and watched as the monitor at the side of her printed the graph.

"Wow, that was a big one" he said, looking at Dianne. "Are they getting more painful?"

Dianne nodded as she recovered. "Yep."

Joe kissed her head. "You're doing so well. I love you."

Dianne turned his face towards her and kissed his lips. "I love you too. Anyway, go back to that list. Keep reading. It's helping to take my mind off the pain."

///

"Alright, Dianne. Looks like we're ready to have this baby. Are you feeling like you want to push?"