Chapter 32
And when you thought it was over.
Seven months later.
“I don’t know how much more I can take, baby.” I squeezed Carter’s hand. His wedding band cut into my hand because I held it so tight.
He kissed my forehead and gazed into my eyes. “You can do it. Pretend we’re at the gym, and your arms are tired, but you push through. We’re almost there.”
“Be my husband and not my coach,” I whined.
“It’s one and the same, Wifey.” He grinned.
We were in the tenth hour of hard labor.
We’d opted not to use any drugs, and as every hour passed, I regretted that decision.
I yelled and cursed Carter, and he kept his patience, though his jaw tightened from time to time.
Our families waited outside because he and I wanted to be the only ones in the delivery room.
Carter and I married in a small, private ceremony with just our immediate families two months ago, following his selection in the second round of the draft by the Los Angeles Rams. We’d both graduated and had already found a three-bedroom condo in Los Angeles.
I would stay home for the first two years, then get a job in a pharmacy or hospital.
Over the last seven months, we’d worked hard to build trust and love each other, and we'd become a team. I lived with my sister until we married, and then I moved into his condo. Although I still thought of Grey, it no longer hurt. All that remained were happy thoughts of our past. I opted not to watch the Olympic Trials, though I heard he’d made it to the Olympic Team when they announced it on the local news, as I knew he would.
Chelsea kept her distance from me whenever we saw each other on campus or around the complex.
I was too focused on finishing school, my pregnancy, and my relationship to think about her duplicity.
Another wave of excruciating pain attacked me. I swear if I survive this, I’m not having sex again. The minute I had that thought, Carter kissed my neck as if he had read my mind. “One more big push, and we can go home.” Okay, one of us needs to get fixed because this shit hurts.
The midwife walked into the room and clapped her hands. “You’re crowning. The baby is here.”
“Thank God,” Carter exclaimed as he hunkered down like he was catching a football. “I see his head.”
I shut my eyes tight, grabbed my knees, and bore down harder than I ever had, and I finally felt the baby exit from my body and enter the world.
Then I heard his soft wailing as Carter quickly snipped the umbilical cord, cradled him with a blanket, and laid him against my breast for skin-to-skin contact while he gently cleaned him.
We both looked down at him. With a full head of thick, wavy hair, he already had his daddy’s hair and cupid bow lips.
Carter beamed. “He’s a perfect blend of us.”
“All I see is you.” I smiled, relieved that my baby was also his.
“Nope. He has your big ears.” Carter teased before he bent to kiss his son’s head and then my lips.
Suddenly, another contraction hit, and I tried to control my yell since my baby rested on my chest. “Ooh...she’s coming.”
Carter’s eyes grew wide. “Can you hold him while you push?”
“Um...” I grunted my threat, “I swear I’ll kill you if you try to move him.”
The midwife laughed. “I believe Darren.”
Carter rolled his eyes with a wide smile. “I’ve already been replaced.”
The push was easier this time as Carter grabbed our daughter with the blanket, cradled her to his chest, and closed his eyes. I could tell he was going to be a girl’s daddy at that moment.
“Can I see my baby, please?” I smiled with happy tears that Carter loved our babies as much as I did and was committed to me. We would have a strong family like the one I grew up in.
When I held my daughter on the other side of her brother, she slowly opened her hazel eyes, and my heart skipped two beats.
Carter involuntarily gasped as he grabbed my hand.
We stared at each other, and I apologized silently, which he received with a slight nod.
And just as he did for his son, he kissed Grey’s daughter on her forehead before he pressed his lips firmly against mine.