"Not yet. Not yet. Focus, Hayley, you're doing great. Roz, maybe we need the doctor. "
"Already on it," she said on her way out the door.
When it was time to push, and the doctor sat between Hayley's legs, Stella noted that both men went a little green. She gave Hayley one end of a towel, and took the other, to help her bear down while she counted to ten.
"Harper! You get behind her, support her back. "
"I. . . " He was already edging for the door, but his mother blocked him.
"You don't want to be somewhere else when a miracle happens. " She gave him a nudge forward.
"You're doing great," Stella told her. "You're amazing. " She nodded when the doctor called for Hayley to push again. "Ready now. Deep breath. Hold it, and push!"
"God almighty. " Even with the babble of voices, David's swallow was audible. "I've never seen the like. I've gotta call my mama. Hell, I gotta send her a truckload of flowers. "
"Jesus!" Harper sucked in a breath along with Hayley. "There's a head. "
Hayley began to laugh, with tears streaming down her face. "Look at all that hair! Oh, God, oh, Lord, can't we get him the rest of the way out?"
"Shoulders next, honey, then that's it. Another good push, okay? Listen! He's already crying. Hayley, that's your baby crying. " And Stella was crying herself as with a last desperate push, life rushed into the room.
"It's a girl," Roz said softly as she wiped the dampness from her own cheeks. "You've got a daughter, Hayley. And she's beautiful. "
"A girl. A little girl. " Hayley's arms were already reaching. When they laid her on her belly so Roz could cut the cord, she kept laughing even as she stroked the baby from head to foot. "Oh, just look at you. Look at you. No, don't take her. "
"They're just going to clean her up. Two seconds. " Stella bent down to kiss the top of Hayley's head. "Congratulations, Mom. "
"Listen to her. " Hayley reached back, gripped Stella's hand, then Harper's. "She even sounds beautiful. "
"Six pounds, eight ounces," the nurse announced and carried the wrapped bundle to the bed. "Eighteen inches. And a full ten on the Apgar. "
"Hear that?" Hayley cradled the baby in her arms, kissed her forehead, her cheeks, her tiny mouth.
"You aced your first test. She's looking at me! Hi. Hi, I'm your mama. I'm so glad to see you. "
"Smile!" David snapped another picture. "What name did you decide on?"
"I picked a new one when I was pushing. She's Lily, because I could see the lilies, and I could smell them when she was being born. So she's Lily Rose Star. Rose for Rosalind, Star for Stella. "
Chapter Nineteen
Exhausted and exhilarated, Stella stepped into the house. Though it was past their bedtime, she expected her boys to come running, but had to make do with an ecstatic Parker. She picked him up, kissed his nose as he tried to bathe her face.
"Guess what, my furry little pal? We had a baby today. Our first girl. "
She shoved at her hair, and immediately got the guilts. Roz had left the hospital before she had, and was probably upstairs dealing with the kids.
She started toward the steps when Logan strolled into the foyer. "Big day. "
"The biggest," she agreed. She hadn't considered he'd be there, and was suddenly and acutely aware that her duties as labor coach had sweated off all of her makeup. In addition, she couldn't imagine she was smelling, her freshest.
"I can't thank you enough for taking on the boys. "
"No problem. I got a couple of good holes out of them. You may need to burn their clothes. "
"They've got more. Is Roz up with them?"
"No. She's in the kitchen. David's back there whipping something together, and I heard a rumor about champagne. "