Nice to Meet You

Chapter 31

Bruce walked out of the courthouse carrying Monica. Helena walked behind them carrying a bouquet of flowers. "Mrs. Dickinson, let's go get something to eat. What do you think Mrs. Dickinson?" Monica laughed, "I think you're a loon. Put me down, please!" Helena laughed, running in front of him, "Hey, little Dickinson, where do you think you're going?" She turned around, laughing at Bruce, "You're crazy Paul." she laughed and continued to run off. Bruce looked at Monica, a mock look of shock on his face, "Did you hear that Mrs. Dickinson, she thinks I'm crazy. The nerve of the child. Kids these days are raised with little to no manners." Bruce put Monica down, he wrapped his arms around her waist, and looked her deeply in the eyes, "I love you so much. Thank you for everything. You have made me the happiest man alive. From kissing me the first time, to becoming my girlfriend, to having my child, and now marrying me. Even though you knew how fucked up in the head I was, and still am, but you've helped me work through that. And you've accepted my sister." he pulled her into a deep kiss, "Thank you Monica Dickinson." Monica smiled at Bruce, "There's no need to thank me. You're the one who bought me the pint on the first day. I was so intrigued with you from the first day I laid eyes on you. I saw your beautiful eyes, your smile, your hair, and once you began to talk, I was drawn in. It was love at first sight. And now I am yours forever." They kissed again, only to be interrupted by Helena. "Can you guys please stop and wait until we get home?" she grimaced at them. Bruce and Monica looked at her and laughed. He broke from Monica's side and ran after Helena. "Are we embarrassing you? Get over here my little poppet!" Helena squealed as he chased her down the street.
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They sat at a table of a pizza restaurant, celebrating Bruce and Monica's nuptials. Bruce made sure everyone knew that Monica was his wife. When the waiter came, he did all the ordering, "Yes, I would like a pint of Fuller's ESB, my lovely wife of" he looked at his watch, "about 2 hours, who is going to have my baby any day now," he grabbed Monica's hand, giving it a kiss, "She's beautiful isn't she?" the waiter gave him a forced smile and a nod, "She'll have a..." Bruce looked at Monica, raising an eyebrow, "I'll have a glass of red wine please." Bruce nodded, "A glass of red wine, but just one, and a small one, she's with child." Bruce then focused his attention to Helena, "And for my beautiful little sister, who is going to be the best Auntie ever, she will have a Cola?" Helena shook her head, "I'll have a water please, I'm not to have fizzy drinks, they're bad for me." Bruce smiled at her, "You're with us now, it's a special occasion, have a Cola." Helena smiled at him, "OK, I'll have a Cola." Bruce smiled at her. "And we'll have a pizza with pepperoni and extra cheese. Make it a large please." Once the waiter left, Bruce grabbed Monica's hand, "How are you feeling, my beautiful wife?" Monica looked at Bruce and sighed, "I'm tired, cranky, my feet hurt...I'm ready for this baby to come out." Bruce smiled at her, rubbing his hand on her belly, "Not much longer, dear." he ran his hand through his hair, it was now past his ears, at what Bruce called the annoying stage. He couldn't wait until it was long again. Bruce looked at Helena, "I have a question for you, if we have a boy, what name would you give him?" Bruce looked at Monica, "We...well I, was thinking of Austin for his first name" Monica nodded, "If it's a boy his name will definitely be Austin." Bruce gave Monica a huge smile, "Austin will be his first name, after Grandad. Thomas his middle name after my Dad. Is there any name you like? Any one that treated you right or had an impact on your life?" Bruce smiled at Helena, "And please, don't say Bruce. I know that was Dad's name, but there's enough of us in the family." Helena laughed, "Well, there was a teacher at school who always treated me kindly. Whenever Mum forgot to give me food, and it happened a lot, he made sure he brought me some. He would have his wife make extra just for me. He and his wife would also give me clothes that their daughter wouldn't use anymore. Sometimes they would give me brand new clothes. They were always so kind to me Paul." Helena smiled at Bruce. "When Mum would leave me by myself for days they would let me stay at their house so I wouldn't be alone. Mum found out and wanted to report them. I'm not sure why, but they still took care of me, they never took her threats seriously." Bruce's heart swelled when he heard that someone had taken care of his sister. He made a mental note to thank them personally. "What's this teachers name?" Helena looked at Bruce and Monica, "John. Mr. John Myers." "Well, it's settled then, if we have a boy, his name will be Austin Thomas John Dickinson." he looked at Monica, "What do you think, my love?" Monica thought for a minute, "I like it." Bruce laughed, giving her a hug, "Yes! We have a name! Now, the hard part...what if we have a girl? I don't have very many positive girl role models in my life...besides you two. What is the name of Mr. John wife?" Helena thought for a minute, "Her name is Anna." "Anna Dickinson....sounds OK, no?" Bruce asked Monica. Monica nodded, "I like the middle name Marie. Anna Marie Dickinson." Helena giggled, "That's sounds nice." Bruce laughed at his sisters reactions, "It's settled then. That was easy. I love you girls so damn much!" They sat eating their pizza, talking about movies, music, and Bruce was telling them how he was going to teach the baby to be the best rower, the best fencer...because of course, he or she was going to have the best teacher.
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Bruce and Helena were in the waiting room of the maternity ward. Monica was admitted earlier, she was having contractions and was dilating. They were getting things ready before they allowed Bruce back to see his child being born. The hospital had a center where they could watch Helena, Bruce felt safe leaving her there. He knew she was going to be OK. Monica's parents were unable to make it. Her grandmother had taken a fall the day before and was in the hospital for observation. They were with her to make sure she was OK. "Mr. Dickinson?" a nurse came out smiling at Bruce. He jumped up, "Yes? Is my wife OK? Is my child OK? Are we having a baby? What is going on?" The nurse laughed, "Yes, everything is fine. She is going into labor. Let's take you back so you can see your baby being born. I'll have someone take your sister down to the children's center. She can watch a movie or play on a computer while she waits." Bruce let out a sigh of relief, "Thank you." he gave Helena a hug, "As soon as Monica has the baby and we get settled into a room, I'll come get you, OK?" Helena hugged him back, "OK, I love you Paul." Bruce followed the nurse to one of the maternity rooms. He saw Monica in a bed with her legs propped up in the stirrups. She was naked from the waist down, a sheet covering her. Bruce felt nervous, he didn't know what to expect. He sat next to her and held her hand. Monica squeezed it, he looked up at her, giving her a nervous smile. "Paul, are you OK?" he nodded, "Yeah...I'm just....I"m nervous. I..." he closed his mouth, not knowing what to say. Monica kissed his hand, "Everything will be fine, you'll see." The nurse began putting small dose of Pitocin to induce labor. Little by little, the dose was increased until Monica's contractions were strong and she began to go into labor. Bruce had no idea what was going on. Monica was screaming in pain, he didn't know what to do, he held her hand, rubbed her shoulders, rubbed her feet...anything to make her comfortable. He looked at the nurse, "What do I do?" he asked. The nurse smiled at him, "Exactly what you're doing. Make her comfortable, tell her how much you love her and what a great job she's doing." They allowed Bruce to sit behind her, he began to massage her lower back, he whispered in her ear, "You're doing so good. I'm so proud of you. C'mon darling. Just a little more. We're going to see our beautiful child soon." Bruce gave her a kiss on the cheek. "I love you Monica. I love you so much." Monica screamed as she pushed, "I can't." she cried, "It hurts..." Bruce continued to massage her back, "It only hurts a little bit. But it's going to be worth it. Baby, it's going to be so worth it." Monica gave another hard push. The Doc looked up from between her legs and smiled at them, "Keep it up Mrs. Dickinson. The baby is crowning. We can see the head." Bruce felt as if his heart was about to beat out of his chest. "Do you hear that. The head is starting to come out. That means the baby is almost here. Please darling, just a few more pushes." Monica took a deep breath and pushed once more, she felt the baby begin to come out, "A couple more pushes like that Mrs. Dickinson and we'll have a baby." Bruce wiped a towel across Monica's forehead, "Darling, I'm so proud of you." She pushed, she felt the babies shoulders pass through, screaming as they did, once the shoulders were out, the Doc grabbed the baby and pulled it out. They immediately took it to a table and suctioned the amniotic fluid out of it's lungs, as soon as they did, a piercing cry filled the room. Bruce wrapped his arms around Monica, burying his face in her neck, crying as he did so, "Do you hear that?" he sobbed, "That's our baby. That's the best sound in the world." The nurse brought the baby wrapped in a little blanket to Monica, "Congratulations, here's your Son." Monica grabbed her Son, crying as she looked at his little face. Bruce was still behind Monica, he ran a finger across his Son's face. "He's beautiful. Monica, he's perfect. He's....." he was too emotional to finish. Monica turned her head and gave Bruce a kiss, "I love you Paul." Bruce wiped his face, kissing her back, "I love you too. God I love you."
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Once Monica got out of the hospital, she was convinced that Bruce was indeed Austin's Dad. She had seen photos that Tom had of him when he was a baby and they looked a lot alike. Bruce was a very attentive Dad. He helped out as much as he could. He changed diapers, he woke up in the middle of the night for late night feedings, he woke up early and let Monica sleep in. He was head over heels in love with his Son. Helena proved to be a great Auntie. She loved helping out with her nephew. She loved to play with him and making him laugh. She would read him bedtime stories and would sing him songs when he was upset. Now that Sonia didn't have any responsibilities to either Bruce or Helena, she proved to be a decent person. She checked herself into rehab for alcohol abuse and also checked herself in therapy. Besides Bruce Sr. every man she had been with had been abusive to her and Helena. Bruce Sr. wasn't an emotional man, but he wasn't abusive in any way. Sonia finally saw that the way she had treated Bruce, Helena, and herself wasn't fair and wasn't right. Bruce and Monica and allowed her to come by the house to meet Austin. At first Bruce was hesitant, but he hated holding grudges. He saw that she was actually trying to change and better herself. They would never leave her alone with either Helena or Austin, but she was slowly becoming a part of her Son's small family. On one occasion Sonia was staying the night, before she went to bed, she hugged Bruce, when she pulled away, he saw she was crying, "What's the matter Mum?" She smiled at him, "I'm so happy. I am so proud of the man you have become. You've come so far from the angry person you were, and that was my fault. You are a great father, a great husband, and a great brother. It took me fucking up, losing you and your sister, and getting my head out of my ass to realize what I had lost. And now I am so happy to have you back in my life. Thank you Paul. For giving me another chance. For allowing me back into your life, for allowing me to meet my Grandson." Bruce smiled at Sonia, "Mum, I've said some nasty things to you in the past. And I meant every one of them. But we've both done some growing up. I'm proud of you as well. Proud that you took it upon yourself to get help. I am so happy to have my Mum back in my life. It may have taken 20 years, but Mum, 20 years is better than never. Mum..." he looked at her, his arms opened wide, "Nice to meet you!" he wrapped his arms around her, kissing her on the top of the head, "Nice to meet you too, Paul."