Chapter Twenty

"Sweetheart,…wake up,…please." Gillian said, nudging him on the shoulder. "Ryan…"

"What is it, Gillian? I'm trying to get some sleep." He mumbled, his face still buried in the pillow.

"I think it's time."

"Time for what?"

"To go to the hospital, silly. The baby's coming."

With that, he shot up out of bed and began to pace the room in his boxers, mindlessly shoving Gillian's things into a duffle bag. "Toothbrush, she's going to need her toothbrush…"

"How long have you been…"

Gillian slid onto the edge of the bed as another contraction began, shooting through her back, and her abdomen, momentarily engulfing her body in pain. Seeing her scrunch up her face and clutch her stomach, Ryan dropped the bag and rushed to her side.

Gillian immediately wrapped her arms around him, resting her head on his chest, and trying to count back from twenty.

"Don't panic, take some deep breathes," he said soothingly, to himself as much as his wife. "It could be false labor. We'll go to the hospital anyway, just to make sure. Besides, the baby's not due for another month." He rambled on as he dressed quickly.

"Ryan, no. This is the real thing. My water broke."

************

Lying in her bed in the maternity ward at Pine Valley Hospital, Gillian drifted off to sleep. It was still very early in the morning, and the sun was barely up. The stream of doctors and nurses, or the painful contractions would inevitably jolt her awake again, but for the moment, she was at peace.

Soon, someone would arrive and whisk her away to the delivery room, where she would greet her child for the first time. She smiled in her sleep, her heart filled with love and anticipation. Sensing a presence in the room, she opened her eyes to see Ryan watching her from a chair next to the bed.

"Hello, my love."

He took her hand and laced his fingers through hers.

"The baby's coming."

"You ready?"

She smiled gently. "Yeah, I think I am."

*************

Gillian gripped Ryan's hand and whimpered, "I lied, honey, I'm not ready. I thought I was, but I was so very wrong."

"You can't back out now, you're almost there."

She heaved a sigh, tightened her hold on his hand, and continued on. "I'll have this baby if it's the last thing I do."

"That's my girl."

***********

Ryan was wrong, she wasn't 'almost there'. 'Almost there' didn't come in sight for another six hours, and by then it took every bit of Gillian's strength and courage to bring the wailing, red-faced angel into the world.

Ryan held his son proudly, touching each of his small fingers and toes. Knowing that Gillian was dying from anticipation, he wrapped the blanket around him and placed him in his mother's arms.

Exhausted, she lay back on the pillow, and gazed at her husband. Once her child was nestled safely in her arms, she began to comfort him and calm him with a soft voice. "Hello there, welcome to the world."


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