Chapter 10
Drew
I’m not only being tested, I feel like the entire world is against me, a giant obstacle in my race to get home and be with my wife when she gives birth.
Getting a flight back to San Francisco was easy.
Too easy. I paid for my first-class seat and waited only a few minutes before boarding the plane, relaxing in the soft, oversized leather seat, refusing anything to drink from the flight attendant beyond a glass of water.
I’m anxious enough. I don’t need liquor or caffeine flowing through my system to make it worse.
I might have offended her but I don’t give a shit. She was rude first.
It was her audible gasp about an hour later that had me yanking out my earbuds to hear an announcement being made by the captain.
A cargo plane had crashed on the runway in San Francisco.
All runways had been shut down. SFO wasn’t allowing planes to land.
We’d circle in the air for a few minutes and might be diverted to another airport.
I couldn’t fucking believe it. I wanted to stand and shout, But my baby is being born, damn it!
I held it in, though. I couldn’t make an ass of myself. I’d already offended the lady next to me. In fact, she was looking at me oddly right now.
“Are you okay? We’ll probably end up landing in Oakland or whatever,” she said reassuringly. “Though I hate those damn Raiders.”
I laughed because of course, I ended up sitting next to the one football fanatic in the entire plane. “I’m fine, it’s just…”
“What?”
“My wife is in labor.” I exhaled, but it didn’t loosen up the ball of anxiety in my chest whatsoever. “And I need to get to the hospital so I can be there when the baby’s born.”
“Wait a minute. Your wife is in labor right now?” When I nodded, she continued. “And this is your first baby, right? I saw that on ESPN.”
“Yeah.” I rubbed a hand along my jaw as I glanced out the window. We were not going to land anytime soon, I could tell. We were too high up. “She’s been in labor all day.”
“Oh my word. She could have that baby at any minute!” She reached out and snagged the sleeve of the passing flight attendant. “Miss, do you know who this is?” She jerked a thumb in my direction.
The flight attendant glanced at me, a polite smile on her face. “I’m sorry, I’m afraid I don’t.”
“Drew Callahan, quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers.” The woman said it loud enough for the entire plane to hear. Jesus. “His wife is in labor. She’s going to have the baby at any minute and he’s missing it!”
“There’s nothing we can do—” the flight attendant started, but my seatmate cut her off.
“Don’t give me that crap. Tell the captain to divert the plane to Oakland. We have a celebrity on this plane. Someone important to this entire city, and he needs to get to his wife so he can witness his baby being born.”
“Hey.” I touched the lady’s arm. “They’re doing what they can. It’s all good.”
“No, no it’s not. Tell the captain,” she said to the flight attendant, giving her a little push. “Go on.”
The flight attendant scurried away and the woman turned to look at me, a smug smile on her face. “See? That’s how we get things done.”
“There’s probably nothing they can do,” I reminded her, but she shook her head.
“There is. Trust me. We’ll make this happen.
You’ll get you to see your baby being born.
” She reached out and patted my shoulder, seemingly forgetting that she totally ragged on me not even an hour ago.
“You’re no Tony Romo, but you’ll do. And I can’t stand the thought of you missing seeing your first child come into this world. ”
Crazy thing is, all her protesting and telling everyone who I was spurred the captain into gear.
The entire plane was abuzz with the fact that a 49er football player was on the plane.
The freaking quarterback who was trying to get home to his wife so he could be there for their baby being born.
They all started grumbling and it worked to my advantage.
We landed in Oakland within twenty minutes.
There was a car waiting for me, one I didn’t arrange for, but someone had.
Whoever it was, I offered silent thanks as I hopped into the backseat and gave the driver my address.
I was on the phone with either Owen or Fable the entire time as we moved quickly through traffic, which wasn’t easy considering it was rush hour.
See? The odds were completely stacked against me. Yet somehow, I made it. I got there in time. Even with Fable telling me she was dilated at nine centimeters and was starting to feel the urge to push, I told her to hold off as long as she could. I wanted to be there.
I needed to be there. To get so close and miss it would crush me. No way could I let that happen.
The driver drove like a bat out of hell, zipping through traffic and getting us to the hospital in record time.
I gave the guy a two-hundred-dollar bonus, raining twenties on the front seat before I jumped out of the car with a hurried thank you and ran toward the entrance of the hospital.
Owen had already told me what room Fable was in and I went to the elevator, practically hopping up and down while I waited for it to arrive.
This is fucking it. Our lives are changing as we know it, at this very moment. We’re going to be parents. Our daughter is going to be born.
I’m so nervous and excited I can hardly stand it.
Fable
He made it. I’ve never been happier to see his face, to see his smile and smell him as he rushes into my room, coming right to my side so he can drop a kiss on my forehead and grab my hand.
The doctor is there, accompanied by the nurse, and my legs are spread, my knees bent as I’m in position to get ready to push.
“You’re here,” I breathe as Drew kisses me and whispers that he loves me.
The doctor sends us a stern glance, her gaze flickering to the monitor that’s keeping track of the baby’s heart rate. “A contraction is coming. You need to get ready to push, Fable.”
I grip Drew’s hand hard and squeeze, bending forward, my chin practically pressing into my belly as I feel the contraction come on, big and strong. I breathe and push all at once, doing what the doctor told me earlier, trying my best to get this baby out of me.
I’m desperate to meet her. Hold her. Cuddle her close.
“Good job, baby,” Drew encourages, his mouth close to my ear. “You can do this. You’ve got this.”
I stop pushing on a sob and lean my head back against the stack of pillows.
I close my eyes on a grimace, my hair sticky with sweat and plastered to my forehead and cheeks.
Drew pushes the hair out of my face, tucks it behind my ears, and I crack open my eyes to find him looking right at me, his blue eyes full of love.
“You’re doing great,” he murmurs.
“I’m exhausted,” I confess. My entire body feels weak. I don’t know if I can keep this up much longer.
“A couple more pushes and you’ll have a baby in your arms,” the doctor promises and I let out a little groan, closing my eyes again.
“Oh God, the pressure,” I say, and Drew laughs.
“Focus on me, baby.” I open my eyes to find his expression has gone serious, my hand clutched tight in his as he brings it up to his mouth and kisses my knuckles. “Listen to the doc. Only a couple more pushes and she’s here. You can do that, right?”
“I can,” I agree weakly with a nod.
“I know you can. So let’s do this.”
The contraction comes again, bigger this time, and the baby’s heart rate increases.
I focus on the sound of my girl’s heart and push with all my might.
The doctor says the head is out and Drew lets go of my hand to go look, his eyes wide and his face pale as he stares.
I start to laugh because the entire moment is so freaking surreal, and I can’t help but wonder if he’s ever going to look at my lady parts in the same way again.
Well. That’s a sobering thought.
But yeah, I can’t focus on that now. I’m giving birth to a baby, for the love of the God.
“One more push and she’s here,” the doctor advises with a small smile. “Get ready, Fable.”
Drew is back at my side, gripping my hand, his sole focus on me. “Ready to meet her?”
I nod, so overcome with emotion I press my lips together to hold back the sob. I’m beyond ready to meet her. And she’s beyond ready to meet us if the next contraction is any indication, because it’s a doozy.
“Push!” the doctor yells, and I do. I push so hard I can feel the baby slithering out of me. “She’s here!”
Within seconds she starts to wail and so do I, relief and love and exhaustion flooding me all at once.
Drew kisses me, tells me he loves me, and then the doctor is asking him to cut the umbilical cord and he does, looking nervous as he takes the surgical scissors and snips it.
The nurse hands him the baby and he holds her like a football.
She looks so tiny, his big hand sprawled around the back of her head, and he brings her to me, a dopey smile on his face as he presents our daughter to me for the first time.
“Want to hold her, Mama?” he asks.
I tug the hospital gown down so my chest is exposed and Drew settles her there, her little face smashed against me.
Her hair is black, her body red, and she makes these weird snorting noises as she noses around my breast. “She’s perfect,” I whisper, touching her head, smoothing her downy soft hair with the tip of my index finger.
“Yeah, she is.” He stares down at the two of us in wonder. “I can’t believe she’s here.”
“I can’t believe you made it,” I say, grabbing my daughter’s hand and touching her fingers.
They’re so tiny, so perfectly formed, and I glance up at Drew, tears shining in my eyes.
I can barely see him but I notice tears are shining in his eyes, too.
“I love you,” I whisper, my throat raw, my heart swelling.
“I love you, too. This is a miracle, Fable. We have a baby.” He shakes his head, settling his hand on our daughter’s back. “She’s beautiful.”
“She is,” I agree, gazing at her. I readjust her and try to bring her to my breast and she latches on just like she’s supposed to, her eager little mouth pursed around my nipple and tugging. My heart fills with love and joy and I trail my fingers across her soft cheek, feeling the tears fall.
“Are we still going to name her what we planned?” he asks.
I nod, staring at her. I’m fascinated with her sweet little wrinkled face, her wiggly little body.
She feels good, nestled in my arms, snug against my bare skin.
I don’t even know her, we only just met, but my love for her grows so big and bright it’s overwhelming.
Powerful. I’d do anything to protect this little person.
Anything. “Welcome to the world, Autumn,” I whisper.
“Your daddy and I are so glad you’re here. ”
She lets go of my nipple when I finish talking, her big blue eyes staring up at me.
I see it all in her face at that exact moment.
Autumn recognizes my voice; she knows I’m her mama and for whatever reason, I can tell she’s going to be wise beyond her years.
She’ll probably give us endless grief. Stubborn like her mama and too quiet with her problems like her daddy.
She’ll be smart and beautiful and strong and fearless.
That’s what I want most for her. That she’ll be fearless and unafraid to face anything.
Autumn will believe she can do anything she sets her mind to. Nothing will ever get in her way.
That’s what I wish for my daughter.
It’s the least that she deserves.