A Baby, Quick!

by Layla Valentine

  “Yes,” I said, my breath short. “And he works all the way in the Financial District.”

  “Shoot,” said Dr. Hart. “Is he on his way over?”

  “Yeah,” I said. “He knows.”

  “Good. Then all we can do is hope for the best.”

  She was right, but that didn’t mean I didn’t want him there more than anything.

  “Doctor,” I said. “The baby’s not supposed to come for another two weeks. Is that bad? My last baby was right on time.”

  My parents turned their eager attention to Dr. Hart, the other staff swarming all around us and getting the room ready for the birth.

  Dr. Hart spoke in a cool, even tone that put me at total ease.

  “It’s totally fine,” she said. “Sometimes babies are really eager to come out and see the world. It’s nothing to worry about.”

  “Oh thank God,” I said, letting all the air out of my lungs as I spoke the words.

  “Now,” Dr. Hart said. “All I need from you is to relax. We’ll get this little tyke out of you soon, because he really doesn’t seem like he wants to wait.”

  Another contraction hit as Dr. Hart led my parents out of the room. I could feel the baby coming—it was going to happen, and soon.

  And, right at that moment, I heard the three sweetest words I could possibly imagine.

  “The dad’s here!”

  “I want to see him!” I shouted out.

  Justin burst into the room. He was wearing a gown, mask, shoe coverings, and hair covering.

  “Am I in time?” he asked, short of breath. “Are you doing all right, sweetie?” He leaned over and kissed my forehead, taking my hand.

  I let out a big moan as another contraction built up. All I could do was try to smile at him through the pain.

  “You’re just in time,” said Dr. Hart once my legs were propped up and everything was set for the birth. “Okay, Heather, this is going to be one of the fastest births I’ve ever seen, so get ready. When I say ‘push’, I want you to push hard!”

  It was all starting to come back to me from Faye’s birth. I did my best to clear my mind and work through the pain.

  “Push!”

  I did, as hard as I could.

  “Push!”

  I grunted, sweat trickling down my forehead.

  “Push! There’s the head!”

  Somehow, the pain intensified even more.

  “Push one more time!”

  I did, pushing out with all my might. I let out a yell, putting every bit of energy I had into it.

  Then I heard the sweetest sound—a baby’s cry—and collapsed back into the bed.

  “What—boy or girl?” I asked trying to catch my breath.

  “It is,” said Dr. Hart over the baby’s wailing, “a beautiful, healthy, strong-lunged little boy.”

  Justin let out a whoop of joy as he squeezed my hand. He wiped my forehead with a cool cloth a nurse had given him.

  A boy. I couldn’t believe it. Faye had a little brother.

  The pain began to subside, and a warm wave of euphoria came over me. I relaxed, listening happily to my baby boy crying, knowing that it meant he was healthy and strong.

  Dr. Hart and the rest of the staff cleaned the two of us up. I eagerly awaited seeing my boy, and when he was ready, Dr. Hart brought him over.

  He was so beautiful I couldn’t help but cry. His skin was a healthy, rosy red and he already had a head of thick, dark hair just like his daddy’s. And when he opened his eyes for the first time, I saw that he had my mint-green eyes.

  “Congratulations,” said Dr. Hart. “Couldn’t have gone any better.”

  “Thank you so much,” I said.

  “My pleasure,” she replied. “Now, I hear your parents are outside eager to meet this little guy. Want me to send them in?”

  “Are you ready?” Justin asked.

  “Please,” I said, holding the baby close, gazing down at him.

  Dr. Hart and the rest of the staff stepped out. Justin and I were alone with the baby for a moment.

  “I can’t believe it,” said Justin. “That’s my boy, my son.”

  I could see a shining film of tears form in Justin’s eyes, which surprised me—I’d never seen him cry before. But, of course, only a single tear managed to trickle down. He quickly wiped it away and composed himself.

  My parents knocked and came in. I was so happy to see them that I could hardly contain it.

  “Oh my God,” said my mom, hurrying to my bedside. “There he is.”

  I held the little baby close, planting a soft kiss on his adorably wrinkly forehead.

  “Can I hold him?” Justin asked.

  “Of course, you can,” I said. “He’s your boy.”

  I handed him over and Justin carefully took him, as if the baby was the most precious, fragile thing in the world.

  “He’s beautiful,” said Mom as she wiped away tears. “Just beautiful.”

  “You both did good,” said Dad as he put his hand on Justin’s shoulder and gave it a squeeze.

  “I can’t believe it,” Justin said. “I’ve never been this happy in my life. He’s perfect. I can’t wait for Faye to meet him.”

  “Me either,” I said.

  “Well,” said Mom. “Now that we know this little baby is a he, you both need to pick out a name.”

  She was right. I had a few names in mind, but as I watched Justin with the baby, how he held him close and tight, a thought occurred to me.

  “You know what?” I asked. “I think that since this is your first child, you should get naming duties.”

  Justin’s eyes flicked up to me, an excited expression on his face that was almost boyish.

  “Really?” he asked. “Are you sure?”

  “Totally sure.”

  “Okay,” he said. “Then that’s easy—William.”

  “William,” said Dad, trying it on for size. “Good, strong name.”

  “Where’d you get it?” asked Mom.

  “It was my father’s name,” he said. “He’s gone now, but I think it’s fitting that his name can keep going.”

  “I love it,” I said. “Little William and Faye—sounds so good.”

  We doted on little William some more before Dr. Hart returned and let us know that because everything had gone so smoothly, despite William’s early arrival, I could be on my way in just a few hours.

  It was exactly what I wanted. The time passed as Dr. Hart took care of all the necessary baby business and made sure that William and I were as healthy as we looked.

  Soon enough, it was time to go. We all said our goodbyes to Dr. Hart and the rest of the staff, thanking them for all of their help.

  “Might have to see about making a donation here sometime soon,” said Justin as we left.

  “I hope you two are fine with Dad and I inviting ourselves over,” said Mom. “We want to make sure everything’s okay. Not to mention smother that little guy with attention.”

  I glanced up to Justin.

  “That okay?”

  “Of course,” he said. “How about we head back to the penthouse, pick up Faye, and all get settled in for the night. More than enough space for you both to say as long as you want. Then tomorrow morning, I’ll order in some breakfast for us all.”

  “What a guy,” said Dad.

  “I’ll take the new Mommy and William,” Justin said. “You both can follow.”

  A short while later we were in the car and making our way back home.

  “I have to ask,” I said. “How did you get there so fast?”

  “Damnedest thing,” said Justin. “I was stuck in traffic, sure I wasn’t going to make it in time. But then an ambulance started carving through, and I got the bright idea to follow him.”

  “Smart thinking,” I said.

  “That took me all the way through the city, and once I made it to Queens, it was smooth sailing. It was meant to be.”

  I couldn’t have been happier how it all turned out.
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br />   We all arrived back at the penthouse, picking up Faye on the way up. I introduced Faye to William, Faye being beyond happy to meet her new little brother. We settled in, getting comfy for the evening. Before too long my parents went to bed, and it was just Justin, Faye, William and me, all of us cuddled on the couch.

  My heart was so full of love and joy I could hardly stand it. Everything had turned out perfectly. I had a happy little family.

  Epilogue

  Six Months Later - Heather

  The click of the camera sounded over and over again. I did my best to make sure the smile stayed plastered on my face, but by the time we reached the second hour of the photo session, I was getting to my limits of endurance.

  “How you holding up?” asked Justin through a camera smile, his eyes flicking over to me.

  “I can handle maybe—maybe—another five minutes.”

  “Same here,” he said.

  I glanced down at the kids. William was in Justin’s lap and dressed in an adorable onesie. He cooed happily, apparently loving the attention of the photo crew that surrounded us on the set. Faye, on the other hand, seemed about over it.

  “No camera!” she said, pointing to the crew, a cranky expression on her face.

  The crew laughed.

  “Don’t worry, kiddo,” said the lead photographer. “We’re about done.”

  I let out a sigh of relief. When Justin had asked if I minded if the family posed for some shots for one of his new lines, I said “sure” without a second thought. But now that I was in the middle of it, I was beginning to realize how difficult simply posing for pictures was. It gave me a new appreciation for models.

  “These are the best photographers in the city,” said Justin. “Think about how nice these shots will look on our mantel.”

  “True, true,” I said.

  The photographers took a few more shots.

  “And that’s that!” called out the lead. “Awesome, awesome stuff, guys.”

  I let my body relax as I took a sigh of relief. The crew began chatting among themselves, and I stretched out my arms and legs.

  “I don’t know about you,” said Justin. “But I’m starving.”

  “Same,” I said. “I bet the kids are too.”

  “How about this,” he said. “I go over the pictures with the photographers, and after that we grab some lunch nearby.”

  “Perfect.”

  “Because I want you ready for this evening.”

  Now I was curious.

  “Why?” I asked. “What’s going on this evening?”

  “Something special I have planned for the family,” he said with a sly grin. “You’ll have to wait and see.” With that, Justin stood up. “Keep an eye on the little guys,” he said. “I’ll be back in a few.”

  I watched Justin stroll confidently across the set toward the photographers. He was dressed in a sharp business-casual outfit and looking good as ever.

  My eyes lingered on him as he had a back-and-forth with the photographers, all of them gathered around a large computer monitor as they went through the shots.

  Justin had changed since we had William. He was still a hard worker, but now there wasn’t even a trace of burnout in him. He was energetic and cheerful, always eager to start his day.

  I’d found myself wondering what it was. After all, most new parents had less energy, rather than more.

  Then it had occurred to me that being a family man had been exactly what Justin needed. He wasn’t making clothes for some hypothetical family now. He had skin in the game, as they say.

  “Okay,” he said, coming back over to us and scooping up William. “Ready to eat?”

  “So ready.”

  The four of us left his office tower and made our way back to our neighborhood. Once there, we stopped at a cute, casual diner where we enjoyed a nice light lunch of sandwiches.

  As we stepped back into the penthouse an hour or so later, in I noticed that there was a box on the kitchen table. It was brown and wrapped with a lavender-colored bow.

  “What’s that?” I asked.

  “Some snacks,” he said. “A baker friend of mine just opened up a new place, and he sent me over some goodies. Thought they’d be nice for our little field trip.

  “Sounds perfect to me,” I said.

  William in one arm, I approached the box and opened up. Inside were all sorts of goodies, from cupcakes to cookies to macaroons and everything in between.

  “You know,” I said. “This is the wrong message to send if you want me to lose the last bit of my baby weight.”

  Justin shot me a confused expression.

  “What baby weight?” he asked. “You look like a million bucks.”

  I waved my hand in an “oh, you” gesture. “Nice of you to say, but I know you’re just being nice.”

  Faye seated on the couch, Justin stepped over to me and wrapped his arms around my body.

  God, I never got tired of being in his embrace. It was magic, the effect he had on me. I closed my eyes and savored his touch, his smell—everything about him.

  “I never say things that aren’t true,” he said. He kissed me softly on the cheek, the slight dusting of stubble on his gorgeous face tickling me just right. “Okay,” he said. “Are you ready for our trip?”

  “You have to tell me where we’re going first,” I said. “The suspense is too much.”

  “Fine, fine,” he said. “We’re taking the limo up to the Hamptons for the weekend. Because I…may have made a slightly unnecessary purchase.”

  “Wait, what? What kind of unnecessary purchase?”

  “Well, you know I love my penthouse—our penthouse,” he said. “But sometimes it’s nice to get out of the city. Then I thought about that trip we took up to the vineyard months back. I did a little looking around and saw that there just so happened to be a very lovely house for sale right nearby.”

  “Wait a second—you bought a house?!”

  I was beyond shocked. He said it like he had picked up a new pair of shoes on the way home from work.

  “Not yet,” he said. “I put down a deposit, and the realtor is letting me take it for a spin for a month. Nothing’s final yet. If you hate it, I won’t go through with the sale. But something tells me you’re going to be a fan.”

  “Okay,” I said, suddenly very intrigued. “I’ll give it a shot.”

  “It’s all I ask,” he said. “But we’re in walking distance of the duck wine vineyard—so, there’s that.”

  “You’re making this sound awfully tempting.”

  “It’s what I do,” he said, flashing me that winning smile of his.

  Then he glanced away, shifting his weight from one foot to the next.

  “And…there might be another surprise.”

  “Let’s hear it,” I said.

  “You know how you said you’ve been missing your work friends since you decided to become a stay-at-home mom?”

  “Yeah,” I said, curious as to where he was going with this.

  “I may have invited all of them to the house tonight.”

  “What?”

  “Yep. Julia, your work friends, your parents. And there will be some of my friends too—maybe some pretty famous ones.”

  “It sounds like there’s going to be a party tonight,” I said, intrigued.

  “Quite possibly.”

  I wanted to be a little miffed that he’d done all this without asking me, but I couldn’t find it in myself. It all sounded so nice. And he was right—I loved staying home with the kids, but I did miss Julia and all the rest of my friends.

  “So,” he said, clasping his hands together. “Get your things ready, and we can head out. Everyone’s already on their way. I took care of transportation and food and drinks and all that. All you have to do is show up and be your gorgeous self.”

  I stepped up to him, got on my tiptoes, and planted a kiss on his lips.

  “I love you,” I said.

  “And I love you. But I’d love
you more if I was showing you off to everyone.”

  I gave him one more smile before rushing to the bedroom and packing my things.

  Before too long I was ready, my heart beating in anticipation. Justin was in the living room with the kids, the box of baked goods tucked under his arm.

  “Limo’s waiting for us,” he said.

  “What, no helicopter?” I asked jokingly.

  “I thought about it, but then I realized it might scare the poop out of little William here.”

  “Good call,” I said.

  “Shall we?”

  “We shall.”

  We were soon loaded up and on our way. The sun had begun to dip low in the sky, and I watched the lights of the city’s towers twinkle on as we drove. It was all so beautiful and perfect, and I had the best family I could ask for with which to share it.

  I snuggled up to William and Faye in the back of the car, playing with them and otherwise keeping them busy during the drive out to Long Island. It took a couple of hours, but we soon arrived.

  “There it is,” said Justin. “Our Long Island getaway—if you want it, that is. The call’s yours to make.”

  I gasped at the house. It was a beautiful blue-and-white colonial-style building, three stories and situated on a large tract of land near the beach. Dozens of cars were parked out front, and lights inside were on—the party was underway.

  “I love it,” I said. “It’s perfect.”

  “Glad to hear it,” he said. “And like I told you, duck wine’s only a five-minute drive away. Or a stroll through the vineyard.”

  I pulled him close for another kiss. I couldn’t believe it—a year ago I was a struggling single mom, and now here I was with the man of my dreams and two beautiful children.

  We parked in the middle of the large, half-circle driveway. The chauffeur helped us out and brought our bags to the door. Justin invited him in to enjoy the food, and he was happy to accept.

  “Ready?” Justin asked.

  “Ready,” I said.

  He opened the door revealing the beautiful interior of the house, the place packed with friends and family. They all turned their attention to me, happy smiles on their faces.

  Well, I should say that they turned their attention to Faye and William. I had a feeling those two were going to be the real stars of the evening.