“Go get something to eat,” Ava said as my stomach grumbled loudly.
“I’m not leaving you here alone,” I said.
“I’m not alone. Mom is just outside, and as soon as you walk out that door, she will be inside. You need to eat. You haven’t had anything since dinner last night,” she said.
“Neither have you,” I responded and then stopped. She looked down at her stomach and then back up at me.
“My stomach’s a little busy,” she said and smiled.
“God, I love you,” I said, shaking my head.
“I love you, too. Now go get a sandwich downstairs.”
As I opened the door, her mother popped up from her seat in the small waiting area for families.
“What’s going on? Is she okay? Is the baby here?” The peppering questions came out in one breath, and I reached out to hold her shoulders and steady her.
“She’s fine. We still have a little time before the baby will be here. She said she wanted me to go get a sandwich from downstairs. You can head on in. She’s expecting you,” I said.
She reached up and hugged me tight and then darted off into the room without another word. She was so anxious about not being in the room with Ava, but Ava had been clear that she only wanted me in there during the delivery. I shook my head and headed for the elevator, and as I entered the main waiting room, I came upon a gaggle of family and coworkers.
“Mason,” Miranda called out as I came into view. I saw several of my brothers jostle awake and immediately arrive on their feet, as if the mention of my name shot a rod of lightning through their spines.
“Hey, nothing’s happened yet, I’m just going down for some sandwiches,” I said, waving everyone off. “Does anyone want anything?”
I took a few orders and headed down, taking my time and trying to keep myself calm. Tom accompanied me, but he didn’t try to get me talking. I appreciated the silent company and the extra hands to carry drinks. As we arrived back at the waiting room floor, I handed the drinks out and turned to my brothers and friends.
“Alright, guys, I’m going to go back and eat with her, and I’ll let you know when something happens, but it might be a while.”
The words had barely come out of my mouth when the door behind me opened and Ava’s mom, red in the face and a smile plastered on it, stood in the opening.
“Mason, come quick! It’s happening!” she exclaimed.
I turned to look at my brothers, seemingly rooted to the spot. I could feel my eyes were so wide that the cold air of the hospital was drying them out.
“What the hell are you waiting for?” Tyler shouted in glee.
“Right,” I said, taking off for the room.
As I arrived, I saw the hustle and bustle of doctors and midwives surrounding Ava and felt out of place. Stupidly I stood there for a moment, holding the subs in one hand and a soda in the other. After what seemed like eternity, one of the nurses noticed me.
“Sir, would you like to come over here?” she asked, motioning to a chair beside the bed Ava was in.
I nodded, incapable of functional thought, and wandered toward her in a bit of a daze. Everything was happening, and it was so fast, and I was still holding this damn sub.
Putting it down on the table nearby, I looked into Ava’s flushed and sweaty face.
“Where, were, you,” she said, deep breaths punctuating each pause.
“I went to get sandwiches. I have sandwiches.”
“You have sandwiches?” she asked.
“I have… sandwiches,” I repeated.
“I am going to need Ava to push now,” the midwife said from her place at the foot of the bed. It seemed to shake some of the cobwebs out, and suddenly, I was very present in the moment, and when Ava clasped my hand, I wiped her forehead and settled in.
Two hours of intense labor later, I held my baby boy in my arms for the first time. He was so beautiful I could barely contain myself, and I kissed Ava on the forehead as I held him close to my skin.
“Welcome to the world, little Robert,” Ava whispered to him as she kissed him on the head. I smiled, knowing that my father would be proud of us naming the baby after him, and would have loved to see his grandson.
Sometime later, after Ava had a chance to clean up and brush her hair back into a bun, she let me invite everyone in. It took almost no time at all before my mother and hers were haggling over which nights they would be able to have the baby.
“Alright, you two, maybe we can hang on with the schedules. He’s less than a day old,” I said.