Pain. Searing, cramping, breath-stealing pain ripped through Kat’s stomach and back. “Something’s wrong.”
Wes shoved a nurse out of the way and took her hand, brushing the damp hair from her head. “I’m here, my love. Everything’s fine. I have you. The nurses have you.”
“I have you,” Dr. Ryland said as she entered the room. “Relax. Remember everything we talked about. We’ve got a plan. The baby will need to be born today since your waters broke.”
“I should’ve stayed in bed. I shouldn’t have been up and around so much.”
“You did nothing wrong. This baby knows it has such amazing parents that he or she wants to meet you and just can’t wait.”
“So he’s as patient as Kat?” Wes teased, and Kat knew he was trying to lighten the mood.
A blue paper blanket was flung over Kat and her knees were raised. Wes stroked her head and kissed her cheek and whispered into her ear how much he loved her, his warm breath soothing her in between contractions.
“I’m afraid it’s too late for an epidural, hon. I told you this baby wanted out now. You’re lucky. Most new mothers are in labor for days. Someone up there is watching out for you.”
She looked to Wes. “I think your mother is watching over us.”
“I think you’re right,” he said in a choked voice.
Another sharp pain ignited from her center and wrapped around her stomach to her back. “Ohhhhhhh!”
“Don’t push yet,” Dr. Ryland warned. “I’ll tell you when.” She turned to a nurse and told her something then covered Kat’s legs. “Bring in some heated blankets for Mom, please. She’s cold.”
Kat breathed as the contraction faded. A glass box with machines was wheeled into the room. A lamp cut on over at another table. All of it looked frightening.
“Don’t you worry. These are only a precaution. The baby’s heartbeat is strong. A little in distress at the moment, but I think that’s because Peanut is anxious to be born.” She busied herself doing something at Kat’s feet behind the paper. “I assume you’re not going to call the baby Peanut. What are your top contenders at the moment?”
“We have a list, everything from Charlotte to Genevieve.”
“Jonathan to Barack,” Wes added.
“I think when you hold Peanut, you’ll know what name works.” Dr. Ryland kept talking as if it were a normal day. She kept them calm, and Kat knew they’d made the right choice not to use the specialist. Sometimes a doctor with a soft touch meant more than all the years in the world of schooling.
Two hours of labor passed, and Kat thought she’d collapse at any moment. Her hip throbbed, and her muscles spasmed with weakness. “I don’t know how much longer I can do this,” she moaned. “I didn’t know it would be this hard.”
“I wish I could do this for you,” Wes offered.
“No you don’t, trust me,” Kat teased, but another contraction took her breath and she squeezed his hand.
Dr. Ryland shot her head up over the paper and smiled. “Okay, after this contraction, take several deep breaths. On the next one, you’re going to push until I say stop.”
The contraction hit hard and fast and then faded. Kat took three deep breaths, and another one came right on top of that one. The sensation to push was unbearable, and she bared down.
Her breath held in a knot that matched her belly, but she didn’t care because her baby would be here soon.
“Okay, one more, Kat. You’ve got this.”
When the next contraction came on, she pushed again.
“That’s it. Okay, stop pushing.”
Wes kissed her head, cheek, nose. “You’re doing so well, my love.”
“Okay, get ready. One more big push, and your baby will be here.”
She was so weak, she wasn’t sure she could, but knowing their baby was right there gave her enough strength to do what she had to do so she pushed again.
“Great job. You have a beautiful baby.”
Silence.
No cry. No whimper.
“Is Peanut okay?” Kat called out, her eyes growing weak and her head spinning.
“Nurse,” the doctor called out.
The room erupted, and everyone closed in around her child, ushering toward the light. A light that faded. Kat clung to stay awake, to see her baby, but her eyes rolled back into her head and the world went dark.
“Our special neonatal doctor is taking a look at Peanut.” Dr. Ryland said returning to below the blue paper blanket to finish working on Kat.
Her eyes slid closed and her head rolled to the side. “Dr. Ryland!” Wes’s pulse hammered against his neck. “Kat!”
The heart rate monitor dinged and rang and squealed with warning.
Dr. Ryland abandoned her work and went to Kat’s side. With a balled fist she rubbed her chest.
A gurgle followed by a baby’s cry provided an ounce of relief, but Wes’s hands shook, his body shook…his heart shook. Kat lay lifeless in the bed.
Dr. Ryland directed the nurse to inject something into her IV, and then she told the nurse to go call another physician. “She’s exhausted, and her heart took on a lot the last few weeks. I’m sure she’s going to be fine, but I’m calling in a specialist to check her out.”
Wes looked to the baby he had yet to meet being wheeled away and then back to Kat. His feet faced one direction, his body in another, and his heart ripped in two. He looked to Dr. Ryland.
“I promise to give you an update on Peanut in a few minutes. Stay with Kat.”
He watched the doctor leave as another walked in and began assessing Kat, all while he stood by helpless. His thoughts raced. His pulse hammered. The pumping in his ears was louder than the heart rate monitor’s bleep.
The monitor dinged faster. The doctor hovered over her. Nurses blocked his view. Everything spun, and he was left still in the center.
The dinging slowed, people slowed. A nurse stepped aside, and Kat’s eyes fluttered open. Relief flooded him. Dots filled his vision. Dizziness spun his head until he didn’t know floor from ceiling. He fell against the wall. A nurse rushed to his side.
“Sir? You okay?”
Dr. Ryland entered and knelt by his side. “It’s okay, Wes. Kat and Peanut are going to be just fine. Peanut is stable and breathing independently. Mama is coming out of it.”
Her words were like honey on medicine. He heaved in a breath.
“That’s it. Breathe deeply.” Dr. Ryland smiled at him. “You both did so great.”
In that moment, he thought he could hug the woman, but instead he clawed his way up to stand.
Dr. Ryland and the nurse were immediately at his side. “Move slowly now.”
Kat reached for him. “I’m okay, love.” She smiled. “I had a vivid dream. A woman, she said she was your mother, told me to tell you hi.”
Wes looked to the doctor. “What’s in that IV?”
Kat let out an exasperated breath. “It wasn’t a dream. I wanted to float away, but she pushed me back to you and Peanut.”
He took hold of Kat’s hand and held it to his chest. “You sure she’s okay?”
“She’s just fine. Her heart is recovering, and it’s beating strong. We’ll run more tests later, but I think Mom is exhausted, and now that baby is out, she’ll recover quickly.” The doctor— Wes had never even caught his name—exited, leaving Dr. Ryland, Kat, and himself in the room with one nurse.
“How’s my baby? Is it a boy or a girl?”
The door opened, and in rolled a baby inside a plastic bin.
“You’ll find out in just a minute.” Dr. Ryland smiled and waved over the nurse with a baby wrapped in a pink blanket.
“It’s a girl?” Wes asked.
“Are you disappointed?” Kat asked.
“No, never.” Wes reached for his daughter. The tiny thing could fit in the palms of his hands. “She’s so tiny. Is she healthy? I mean, any known issues?”
“Based on her looks, none are apparent. We’ll be running some tests but might not know for sure about developmental delays until a later time. For now, though, I can safely say she is breathing and, although she had a low Apgar at first, all seems well now.” Dr. Ryland stepped away. “If you don’t need anything right now, I’ll leave you two to enjoy your daughter.”
“Wait. There is one more thing I need.“ Kat twirled her engagement ring around and eyed her daughter asleep in his hands.
“What’s that?”
“I know it’s not in your job description, but can you help us find a minister or officiant? I want to get married right now. With our baby girl in our arms.”
Wes shook his head. “Your mother’s going to have a fit.”
Kat shrugged, not taking her eyes off their daughter. “We’ll have a formal wedding later. Right now, I want us to be family. You, me, and Allie,” Kat whispered.
Wes passed his daughter into Kat’s arms. Tears gushed from his eyes. He swiped them away but clung to Kat. “My mother’s name? I don’t remember telling you what it was.”
She blinked up at him. “You didn’t. My dream. She told me.”
“I think I can help with that.” Dr. Ryland left the room.
Wes stood there, stunned, as he tried to take in what Kat had just said. There was no other explanation. She couldn’t know his mother’s name any other way. Kat had met his mother. His throat tightened and he thought he could fall to the floor, but instead of giving into his fear that he had almost lost Kat, he looked down at his soon-to-be wife and their new daughter and gave silent thanks to his mother for both.
Dr. Ryland returned a few minutes later with a minister in tow. She not only delivered their child, but she stood as witness to their wedding. Their friends piled into the room, and at that moment, Wes knew the rest of his life, although no doubt full of challenges, would be the best chapter, not because he was traveling the world with Kat, but because he shared the biggest adventure of all with her. Raising their child.