2. Noah
Chapter 2
Noah
Watching my wife’s face turn three shades of red had that little voice in my head sounding a panic alarm. I’d already called her OBGYN, Dr. Athens, so he was ready for her.
“Breathe, baby. Come on. I’ll do it with you. Deep breath in, long breath out.” I kept eye contact with her as she did just what I asked of her. Her body shook with another contraction. I was helpless to make any of this better for her. It was like being hit in the balls with a hammer.
We’d both wanted kids, so this wasn’t all on me, but it really was. I had the fun, easy part of making this baby. It was Mara who had to carry the baby—deal with uncomfortableness, sleepless nights, and so many other things that no one warned you about.
“Noah—” I watched as her body all but folded in half. “The baby…” Her head fell back as she scrambled to pull up her dress.
“What are you doing?”
“Baby’s…coming…”
“We’re almost there, baby. Just hold on a little longer.”
“The. Baby. Is. Coming!” Her snarl had me pushing up her dress the rest of the way.
“Are you sure?” I asked, pulling at her slip.
“Don’t you have that kid in my car! Fucking hell.” Abel hit the steering wheel with his palm.
“Shut up, Abel,” Brenna and I said in unison.
“Pull over, now. Brenna, turn and help get her leg up.”
“Bro, we are only a few miles?—”
“Stop the fucking car, Abel. Jesus Christ.” Brenna took her belt off and turned in her seat.
I had no intention of waking up today and delivering my child on the roadside, but here we were. “Call the doctor,” I instructed, tossing my phone into the front seat. “Let him know what’s happening. Then call for EMS.” I made quick work of removing her panties.
“No ambulance!” Mara griped.
“Sweetheart, I don’t have the proper equipment to cut a cord. We need help.”
Thankfully, this was not the first time I’d been in this situation. Though to be fair, the last time I’d literally just played catch. The poor couple had done the hard work by the time I’d come across them.
I looked up, meeting my wife’s worried gaze. “It’s going to be okay.”
“Breathe, heffa. Let my niece out.”
“Nephew,” Abel countered, his gaze out the driver side window. “Don’t let us be outnumbered.” His mutter had Brenna huffing at him.
I couldn’t help but chuckle at them both. This had been a daily argument for weeks now. Who would be right? I really doubted it mattered to them one way or another. I knew for me and Mara, we just wanted a healthy baby. There had been a few scary talks throughout the pregnancy. I remembered that first appointment with the doctor like it was yesterday. The term ‘geriatric pregnancy’ had sent Mara into a full-blown panic attack. The doctor reassured us both that plenty of women had babies in their early forties. She was healthy, so he didn’t foresee any issues. But every time her blood pressure or sugar would spike, panic set in. Would she need bed rest—there were a lot of what ifs. The fear of losing her during childbirth—I let out a long breath. Now was not the time to let that sink into my head. I had to be strong for her.
“Noah,” her voice broke, pulling me back to the here and now. I watched her stomach tighten with a contraction.
“I’ve got you, baby.”
“Squeeze my hand, heffa.”
Mara latched onto Brenna’s hand with a grip I knew had to hurt by the look on her face.
“Fucking hell…” Mara panted out the curse as her body jerked. “That. Fucking. Hurts!”
I was doing the best I could to not panic. There was no doubt she was in full-blown labor. If it hadn’t been for the fact that I had to play catch, I might have let the woozy feeling swimming in my head take me down. Watching the baby’s head start to appear— “Jesus Christ.”
“What?” Brenna and Abel spoke at the same time. My brother chose that moment to turn and look into the back seat. There was no time to react to what happened next.
“The baby is coming.”
“Oh my god! My eyes!” He jerked back, covering his face. “Why does it look like that?” The noises he was making were louder than the woman having a literal baby right now.
“She’s pushing a human out of her hoohah, what did you expect it to look like?”
“I’m going blind!”
“Let that baby out!” Brenna was cheering Mara on all while laughing at her husband. This family was certifiable on a good day; why should I expect today to be any different?
“That’s it, Mara, you’ve got this!”
I had my hand down to catch the baby’s head as she pushed. It took another hard push, and the head was out. “The head is out. Come on, sweetheart. You can do it.” Mara’s breathing was rough. She was panting one minute and gasping another. The pain in her eyes—it was splitting me in two. “That’s it, keep pushing.”
The blare of sirens getting closer had me breathing a little easier. There were tears in Mara’s eyes as she pushed one last time. I caught our baby in my arms. I hurried to wipe the face, making sure there was nothing blocking the nostrils or mouth. The cry that came out of this little one made my heart skip a beat.
“It’s a girl! I told you, heffa!” Brenna laid over the seat to hug Mara. “It’s a girl!”
I held our daughter until her mama’s arms were free. I laid her against her chest, leaned in to kiss my wife. “I love you so much.”
“I love you, too.” She looked down and kissed the baby’s head. The sirens reverberated around us as the ambulance stopped.
I pushed her skirt down as best as I could before opening the door and stepping out. I was covered in—never mind. No one needed to know that. I looked like I’d survived a horror movie, so the second glance one of the EMT’s gave me made me shake my head.
“I’m good. My wife just decided to have a roadside delivery.”
While they assessed her and the baby, I stood back, watching. We were parents. I was a dad. I rubbed my chest as an ache I had ignored this whole time started to throb. My parents, her parents: they weren’t here to see what we had become. How far we’d pushed ourselves. My brother’s bear hug pulled me back to the here and now.
“Congrats, man. You’re going to be one helluva dad.”
I hugged him back, not ready to process that thought. I had done pretty well with him, so I could do it again. At least this time I had Mara and her quick thinking to help out. She was going to be the best mom. Our little girl was going to be so loved.
“Can we see her now?”
I turned to find Brenna and Abel standing in the doorway, bags in hand. I waved them in before putting my finger to my lips. Mara had been given some meds to help with her pain, anxiety, and who knew what else.
I could use something to ease the twisting in my gut.
“Is she okay?” Brenna asked, dropping Mara’s hospital bag in the chair beside the bed. She leaned in to kiss Mara on the head. “Where’s the baby?” Her whisper was loud enough to have Mara shifting in the bed.
“To answer your first question: yes, she’s fine. The baby is fine. The doctor gave Mara pain meds and a cocktail of something to help her relax. She was spiraling.” I still felt like I was. I wasn’t prepared for any of this, and my adrenaline spiking and dropping and then the worry—it was a cocktail I didn’t want to have again.
“They’ve taken the baby to do whatever it is they do. Tests, weighing, and all of that. The nurse said she would be back in a few hours.” I sighed, pushing my hand through my hair. “It’s been a couple of hours now, I guess.”
“Why don’t we go get some fresh air?” Abel suggested, his hand squeezing my shoulder.
I shook my head. “No, I can’t leave her here. If she wakes?—”
“I’ll be here. She loved me first, so she will live without you being here after her nap. I’ll text you if she wakes up. Okay? Go walk off the emotions. You look like a junkie ready for his next hit.” Brenna waved a hand at us. “Go, I’ve got her.”
I nodded and turned with my brother toward the door. The walk down the stairs was quiet. My mind was going in a hundred different directions at once. I wasn’t sure where my thoughts started and stopped. I’d thought I was prepared to be a father. To have another person who would not only steal my heart, but scare the shit out of me. What if I wasn’t a good father? Was there a handbook or something to read? Classes… Dammit. I was losing my mind.
“Bro, chill. You’re going to keel over.” Abel stopped me, and I realized we were outside.
“I don’t know how to be a father, not really. What?—”
“Yo, man, chill. For real.” He hugged me. “You are going to be a great father. I wouldn’t be here without your help. You’ve got a good head on your shoulders, old man.” He chuckled as he stepped back.
“It’s so real now.”
“Of course, it is. My niece is here. You have to man up and get your shit together, bro. Leave the freaking out to the girls.”
I chuckled this time. “Maybe you’re right.”
“You’re not alone in this, man. I’ve got your back. No one will mess with that little girl. I’ll burn the town down to keep her safe.”
He meant it too. I recognized that look he was wearing. I reached out and cupped his shoulder. “I know you will. That little one will have as many protectors as Charlie does.”
“Hell yes. That is—what’s the baby’s name going to be? Did you guys really pick out names already?”
“I’ll tell you when we’re back upstairs. Mara will skin me if I do it without her.”
“She’s scary on a good day, so yeah, I’d wait.”
A bit later, we headed back inside. We’d managed to survive the whirlwind that was today. The sun was setting, the sky closing the curtains on another day. It made going back inside easier. I could hear the girls chatting as I pushed the door open. Their excited, smiling voices echoed through the room.
“Hey, you having a party without me?” I teased. Mara was on the bed, holding our daughter. She was glowing with happiness. I walked over, kissed her softly, and then placed a kiss on our daughter’s head.
Brenna got up, wrapping her arms around Abel. I could tell she and Mara had both been crying. I was glad they’d gotten to work out their emotions like I’d done downstairs.
“Okay, everyone is here, awake and all that jazz. I think after seeing the things that I have, I’ve earned the right to know what her name is.”
Chuckling, I punched Abel in the arm. “You may have a point.” I took the baby from Mara and gently placed her in Abel’s arms.
“Abel, Brenna, meet your niece, Kelsey Noel Lawton.”
“She’s so tiny.”
“She’s perfect,” Brenna countered.
I moved to sit on the edge of the bed, watching them with her.
“There’s something we’d like to ask you.” When they both looked over at us, I did my best not to let what Mara was about to ask get me emotional again. “We would be honored if you guys would be her God-parents.”
“Fuck yes,” Abel’s voice cracked, and before I knew it, my carefree, jolly, jokester brother was crying. Brenna and he stood there, cradling our daughter, and even I had to wipe away tears. Abel handed the baby over and moved to me. I caught him up in a bear hug.
“I love you, little brother.”
“I love you, too.”
I could hear the girls crying, giggling at us; it only added to the memories this day would hold for us all. Our family had grown, and the love that we all held onto for dear life was expanding to include this sweet little girl.
Today started a new forever—and I, for one, said bring it on. We were ready.