Epilogue
EPILOGUE
EIGHT MONTHS LATER…
“Come on, babe, you’ve got this.” Blaze held Pandora’s hand, gazing into her eyes.
Her hair was soaked from perspiration. Fourteen hours of labor. The last three of them were grueling. She’d been pushing for nearly forty minutes, but this damn kid of theirs didn’t seem to want to come out and meet their parents.
“I need another big push with the next contraction,” the doctor said.
The nurse glanced between the monitor that checked the baby’s vitals and the doctor with a crinkled brow.
Blaze didn’t like that expression.
Pandora groaned, shaking her head.
“Our baby’s almost here,” he whispered in her ear, reaching for the back of her knee, lifting it as the next contraction started. “Big breath and push.”
Exhaustion filled Pandora’s eyes. She inhaled, leaning forward. She moaned as her face turned red.
But it wasn’t enough.
One of the monitors dinged an alarm.
Pandora fell back on the bed, gasping for air.
For the first time in a long while, Blaze had no idea what to do.
“Pandora,” the doctor said softly. “The baby is in distress. I’m sorry, but we’re going to have to move you to an OR and do a C-section. I know that’s not what you wanted.”
“Oh, hell no. You are not cutting me open,” Pandora said with more strength in her voice than she’d had in hours. “I’ll get this kid out with the push. I swear if it’s the last thing I do.”
“You’ve got one or two more tries, but otherwise, we’ve got to do this another way.” The doctor glanced to the nurse. “Make the call to have an OR ready. We’ve got to move her within the next five minutes.”
Blaze swallowed his beating heart. All he cared about was that his wife and child were safe. How that happened, he didn’t care.
“Here comes another one.” Pandora held his gaze. “I’ve got this.” She nodded.
All he could do was support his wife. He kissed her temple, helping her raise her leg as she bore down, hard.
“That’s it, Pandora. Keep pushing. Don’t stop until I tell you.” The doctor shifted in his seat. “Check this out, Dad.”
For the last few hours, all Blaze had done was focus on the woman he loved. He leaned over and watched as the head of his child appeared. Tears burned his eyes.
“Stop pushing, Pandora,” the doctor said as he shifted the baby. “Okay. One more push.”
Pandora groaned and the shoulders appeared. Then the rest of the body.
“It’s a boy,” Blaze whispered as his son screamed bloody murder. His arms and legs stiffened and shook.
The doctor placed little Axel Marvin on Pandora’s stomach and handed Blaze a pair of tiny scissors. “Would you like to cut the cord?”
Blaze’s soul was filled with so much love he thought he might pass out from it. He snipped and the doctor put a clamp over it.
Pandora hugged and kissed their child. Axel blinked his little eyes, staring at his mother, and he immediately calmed. She smiled up at Blaze as if she hadn’t experienced the most excruciating thing in the world. “I can’t believe he’s finally here.” She kissed his forehead, closing her eyes. “Not that I’m looking forward to doing that all over again, but I do want at least one more.”
“Oh my God.” Blaze raked his fingers through his hair. “I have no words for that.”
The doctor laughed. “Not the first mother to utter those words. Now, unfortunately, we’re going to have to take him for a minute, clean him up, check his vitals, weigh him, all that good stuff.”
“He looks big to me.” Blaze’s chest filled with pride. It didn’t matter to him if he had a boy or a girl.
But he had to admit, having a son and naming him after his brother and father had meant more to him than he could even express.
“I’m guessing nine pounds.” As soon as the nurse lifted Axel from Pandora’s chest, he started to cry again.
Blaze sat on the edge of the bed, holding Pandora’s hand. “I love you so much.” He glanced over his shoulder. Hearing his son cry tugged at his heart. “I love him more than I ever thought I could another human.”
“You’re a daddy.”
“And you’re a mommy.” He swiped at his cheeks.
“I was wrong,” the nurse said. “This little guy weighs in at ten pounds two ounces and is twenty-three inches long. No wonder he didn’t come out easily.”
“Thanks for the reminder.” Pandora poked Blaze in the chest. “That was all your fault. I was a tiny baby and as I recall you and your brother were massive.”
“I wasn’t that big. I think my parents said a little over nine pounds.”
The nurse swaddled Axel and brought him back, handing him to Blaze.
Tentatively, he took his son into his arms. “Hello there, little man.” He kissed his son’s forehead. “I’m your dad. I can’t promise to be a great one, but I can promise you that I will love you and your mom with all my heart.”
Axel blinked, then yawned, as if exhausted by the day’s events.
Blazed chuckled, setting the child on Pandora’s chest. “He’s perfect and so are you.” He’d spent the last twenty years searching for something to make him feel like he was alive. When in reality, all he’d ever needed was Pandora. She was who he should have been searching for and now that he’d found her again, he was never letting go.
She was his heart. His soul. His lifeline.
He would spend the rest of his life honoring her the way he should have twenty years ago.
And his brother would live on through his son.
***
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