Proving Paul's Promise (The Reed Brothers 5)

Logan tosses Paul his keys and goes to scoop up his daughter. Emily gets my bag, and we all file into the hallway as one big unit. Even the Zero girls come, because they’re nosy, they say. But they’re quickly becoming family, too.

Paul takes my bag, and we go to Logan’s car. “I feel bad taking Logan’s car,” I protest. Another pain hits me, and I feel like I need to double over.

“He’ll find his way there,” Paul says as he buckles Hayley in. She’s been waiting for this baby. She loves her cousins, but I have a feeling she’s not going to let any of them be the first to hold her new baby brother or sister. We still don’t know what we’re having. We didn’t want to find out.

We get to the hospital quickly, and Pete and Logan pull up right behind us. Logan takes his keys back and goes to park the car. Emily gets Kit from her seat, and we all walk in together. Emily kisses my cheek. “Go get settled. We’ll see you in a little while.” She takes Hayley with her, even though Hayley protests.

The nurse scowls at the number of people we’ve brought with us. Even Garrett and Cody came with Tuesday, and the room is absolutely packed. This is my ragtag family, though, and this is what we do.

I change into a gown, and Paul sits down beside me. He was with me during Tuesday’s delivery and held my hand through it, but this one is different. This one is ours.

Suddenly, a little brown-haired boy pokes his head into the room. “Hi,” Jacob says. Jill walks in behind him and comes to kiss me on the cheek. “We came to see the baby.” He touches my tummy. “I grew in there, too,” he tells my stomach, his lips really close to my hospital gown. He looks up at me and grins. He lost another tooth last week, and he lost it when he was at our house. So, I’m getting to experience some of his milestones. Jill and I are really good friends.

“Yes, you did,” I say. “I think this one is ready to come out.”

He steps back. “Right now?”

I nod.

“Ewww,” he says. “Where’s Hayley?” He scampers off to find Hayley. Jill waves to me from the doorway as she goes after him. I didn’t know they were coming, but I should have known.

“Did you call them?” I ask Paul.

He shrugs. “Maybe.”

I lean over and kiss him. “I love you so much.”

I’m barely hooked to the monitors when I feel the need to push. “I think it’s time,” I say.

Paul jumps up and calls for a nurse. The room is suddenly filled with doctors and nurses and the real work starts. Paul talks me all the way through it, never leaving my side. He’s my rock. And I think I’m his.

This one is going even faster than Tuesday’s birth. Holy f**k, it hurts.

“You’re almost there,” Paul says.

“I wish you would shut the f**k up,” I say.

“Fuck you,” he tosses back as he wipes my brow with a damp cloth.

“Fuck you,” I say to him.

The nurses look at one another with concern, but this who we are. This is who we have always been.

“There’s the head, Dad!” the doctor says.

Paul doesn’t let go of my hand but looks down to watch his baby come into the world. His eyes shimmer with tears, and I push. I feel like I’m going to push forever, when finally, the pain and the pressure ease. I open my eyes, and they lay a bloody, purple mess on my belly.

“It’s a boy,” the doctor says.

Paul leans into me and presses his face into the side of mine. “Our boy,” he says. “He’s ours.”

I nod. I know he is. Paul cuts the cord, and I lay my hand on our son and he looks up at me. Then he starts to scream. They reach to take him from me. “Just a minute,” I say. I look down into his eyes, and I know this one gets to stay. The weight of him on my belly is so different from the weight of him inside me. He blinks up at me, and his skin turns even more purple as he screams. I count his fingers and toes, just because I can. “Okay,” I say.

They take him from me and clean us both up.

“He’s perfect,” I say.

“So are you.” Paul drags his nose down the side of mine, and I feel the hot splash of one of his tears as they hit my chin. He wipes them away.

Paul

I have a son. I dry my eyes with my shirt and walk out into the waiting room. They all sit forward. When did our numbers grow this big? Even Henry is here. Hayley runs to me and jumps into my arms. “It’s a boy!” I tell them all. “Eight pounds, nine ounces, twenty-four-inches long, and he’s here!”

Hayley squeals, and everyone claps. I give Hayley to Emily and go back to be with Friday because there’s nowhere else I want to be. After they’re all cleaned up, the nurses let Hayley and Jacob in for a few private moments. Then they let the family in, and they hand the baby around to everyone. Friday is tired, but her labor was pretty quick. She hasn’t been sleeping well, though, so she’s probably exhausted.

People start to file out as soon as they’ve had a turn with the baby. Matt and Sky take Hayley home with them, and when the room is finally empty, I sit down with Friday and put my arm around her in the bed. We’re alone, but we’re not. I’m surprised she’s not an emotional wreck; she’s pretty calm and cool. She’s done this twice but never with a baby she would be taking home. “I want to learn to breastfeed,” she says quietly. “I can do that, right?”

“You can do anything you want to do.”