Irish

WE’RE IN THE HOME STRETCH and Doctor Sanchez has told us that Whitney could go in to labor any second. I know that she’s been having contractions on and off for the last two days or so, but she hasn’t seemed alarmed by them. So, I’m going to follow her lead and we’ll go to the hospital when she feels she needs to.

Today has been very hard on her. I know her contractions are getting closer together and stronger. Whitney hasn’t said a single word to anyone about the amount of pain she’s been feeling from her contractions, but I’ve been timing them. So far they’re about a half hour to an hour apart. I have to go run some errands, so I’m making sure that she has more than one person with her. The girls are going to go keep her company.

Walking into the clubhouse, I see Pops and he walks immediately in my direction. I know that he’s been waiting to talk to me about the crib and furniture for the nursery. Looks like today is the day we have that conversation. I haven’t been avoiding him, I’ve just been really busy.

“How are things goin’ Irish?” he asks, and I know he’s asking about Whitney and the baby.

“Her contractions are about a half hour or a little more apart right now.”

Pops whistles because he knows that I could be called away at any second. For a second we each get lost in our own thoughts. Personally, I’m thinking about how much life is going to change when we add another baby. It’s going to become more hectic, but in a good way. I’m so excited that our little man is so close to being here.

“Now, we put the crib and everythin’ in the nursery last week. Is there anythin’ else that needs to be gotten for the baby?”

“I honestly don’t even know. I haven’t been in the nursery since we put all the gifts in there from the baby shower. There wasn’t goin’ to be a chance that I ruin this for my girl. She doesn’t want to know what we’re havin’ and I’m not goin’ to ruin that.”

“When are you takin’ her on a honeymoon?” Grim asks.

“I don’t know. I’m sure she’s not gonna wanna leave the baby anytime soon after she has him. So, maybe we won’t take one. We’ll just have someone watch the baby for a few hours when she gets cleared or somethin’.”

“You need us, we’re here for you,” Grim tells me. “Now, what did you have to do today?”

“I was just checkin’ in to see what we had goin’ on today. Then I’m headin’ back home.”

“We’re not doin’ anythin’. You go home and be with Whitney. If we need you, we’ll call,” Grim says, sending me on my way back home.

Pops follows me over to see his niece for himself. When we walk in the door, Whitney is on the couch. I’m surprised she’s sitting right now. She’s been on a cleaning spree and you can pretty much eat off the floor right now. I want her to slow down, but there’s no telling her that. We’ve had multiple disagreements over it.

“You mind if I go take a look in the nursery?” Pops asks.

“No, go ahead,” Whitney tells him, barely looking up from her book.

Sami follows Pops in there so she can go through things with him. She’s been in there a few times organizing things and getting it all set up for when our son gets here. There’s been a hint or two from her that she also has another surprise from me when the baby gets here. Apparently, it’s in the baby bag wrapped up and I can see her excitement about it.

Looking at Whitney, I see her face change a little and I know that she’s having another contraction. I look to Bailey and she tells me it’s been a half hour since the last one. Whitney still isn’t saying a damn word to anyone about them. This woman is going to drive me crazy!

We all spent a lazy day at the house. Whitney obviously didn’t want to do anything. I wasn’t going to leave her side, and neither was Sami. Bailey and Pops have stayed here too. I think that Pops is going to be staying the night in case something happens. If you ask me, it’s now just a matter of time before Whitney tells me it’s time to go to the hospital.

Whitney and I are getting ready for bed when I hear her yell out. I run into the bathroom to see that she’s bent over in pain and there’s a puddle between her legs. As soon as she hears me enter the bathroom, she looks up at me and I can see the tears shining in her eyes.

“I think it’s time to go babe,” she tells me. “Can you get me a change of clothes while I get cleaned up a little bit please?”

“Anythin’ else baby?” I ask her.

“No. Just yell for Sami and Pops. He’s drivin’ us to the hospital and Sami wants to go.”

“I got it.”

Running into the hallway, I yell for Pops and Sami. Bailey already took Cassidy home with her. We knew it was just a matter of time and she didn’t want us to have to worry about what to do with her when we had to rush out the door. Pops and Sami come running in to find out what’s going on, so I tell them her water broke and that we’re going to the hospital now.

By the time I get back in the bathroom, Whitney is cleaned up and ready to get changed. I help her in her new clothes and we’re out the door. My nerves, excitement level, and fear level are ratcheting up higher and higher the closer we get to the hospital. I only went through this when Vicky had my daughter, and I didn’t care about her. I’m so in love with Whitney and I don’t know what I’ll do if something happens to her or the baby.

When we pull in the parking lot of the hospital, Pops pulls right up to the door. Doctor Sanchez is there waiting for us with a wheelchair. We get my girl loaded up in it and I follow them up to the maternity ward.

Quicker than I thought possible, they have Whitney changed into a gown and hooked up to a bunch of different machines. Instantly we can hear the baby’s heartbeat in the room and I calm down just a fraction. I won’t be completely calm until he’s here and I know Whit is good. I hope that she isn’t in labor forever like I’ve heard happens to some women, but it’s mother nature working here so who knows.

Whitney

I don’t remember labor being this painful. Then again, Carl made sure I had drugs so I wouldn’t complain or some shit like that. By the time I finally decided to go to the hospital, I was too far dilated to have anything. Looks like this baby is all natural. I’m okay with that though. The pain increasing just means that our little bundle of joy is ready to make an appearance in the world. I’m definitely ready to hold him or her in my arms.

“Whitney, it looks like you can start pushing,” Doctor Sanchez finally tells me.

“Thank God!” I mutter out.

It’s only been a few hours, but with nothing to take the edge off the pain, I’m exhausted. Irish has been amazing and stayed by my side the entire time. Even when Pops or Bailey asked him if he wanted to step out of the room, he declined their offer. A few times, I thought he was ready to make a beeline for the nearest exit, but he cuddled around me and it was like he recharged himself for the next stretch.

“Are you ready guys?” Doctor Sanchez asks after making sure I’m ready to push and have the baby delivered.

“We are,” Irish tells her.

He’s at my side and helping me bare down to push our baby out. Irish counts right along with the nurse on the other side and helps me lay back in between contractions so I can gather a little bit of rest for the next round of pushing. While I’m resting, he’s mopping my face with a wet washcloth and seeing if I want any ice chips. During this time, I’m gathering strength from him.

“Here comes another one Whitney,” the doctor says, and Irish gets back into holding me up to push again.

Towards the end of that contraction, the doctor tells me to stop pushing. From the feeling, I bet the baby’s head is out and that’s why she doesn’t want me pushing right now. So, I stop and relax until she tells me what to do.

“Next contraction, give me a good push and we should be meeting your baby,” the doctor tells us. “Ready?”

I lean forward so that I can start pushing. All of a sudden, I know that our son or daughter is in the world. A few seconds later, I hear the most beautiful sound in this world with the baby’s first cry. Tears are streaming down my face and Irish’s face. He’s not trying to hide his emotion at all. For that I’m thankful, he’s being real and not hiding a damn thing from me in this moment.

Irish cuts the cord and then follows the baby over to get cleaned up and go through the tests that are performed on every new baby. He’s watching the baby like a hawk. I still don’t know what we had and I’m sure that Irish planned it this way. He wants to be the one to tell me and he’s not going to let anyone take this away from him.

“Whitney, I’d like you to meet our son,” Irish tells me, handing me the baby finally.

I look down at him and he’s the most perfect little boy I’ve ever seen in my life. He looks just like Irish already and I know he’s going to be a heartbreaker when he gets older. Girls aren’t going to stand a chance and Sami is going to have her work cut out for her. Irish told me that she said no one better break her little brother or sister’s heart or she’d be breaking their face.

It takes a little while and everyone starts coming in my room to meet the newest member of our family. Sami takes the baby from my arms and I can see the love she has already for her baby brother. She’s not going to be giving him up any time soon.

Just before everyone came in the room, Irish and I decided on a name for our son. He looks down at me and silently tells me that it’s time to announce his name to everyone. I tell him to do the honors and he smiles down at me, gives me a kiss, and then faces the room.

“Everyone, I’d like you to meet Austin Michael.”

They all offer us congratulations and hugs before they start to slowly make their way out. Pops, Joker, Bailey, Sami, and Cassidy are the only other ones in the room with us right now. Pops finally managed to get Sami to hand Austin over to him and he’s sitting in the corner talking softly to him. I almost want to know what he’s saying to him, but I don’t even bother asking. This is his moment with my son and I’m going to let him have it.

Today is the day that we get to go home. Irish and I are so excited that we get to make our family whole again. Yeah, Sami and Cassidy have been to the hospital but it’s not the same thing. As of today, we’ll all be under one roof and trying to work a schedule out that works for everyone. Cassidy is pretty much on one and we’ll just have to work Austin’s around hers. I don’t want to get her off track when we really just got her back on a set schedule. But, we’ll see what happens once we get back.

“Ready to go babe?” Irish asks, carrying the car seat and a box in with him.

“Yeah. Just have to get Austin dressed and then the doctor needs to give me the discharge paperwork.”

“This is from Bailey. She couldn’t give it to you at the shower because you didn’t know what we were havin’ and I didn’t tell her.”

I open the box up and find the cutest little outfit. There’s a pair of jeans, a onesie saying ‘Future Prospect of The Wild Kings MC’ on the front with ‘Property of Irish’ on the back. Included in the box is a little pair of shoes that look like boots and a bandana. It’s the same color as the main one his daddy wears when he’s riding.

There’s no way I can stop the flow of tears. This outfit is so cute, and I’ve heard talk that it’s the same thing that Ma used to do when she was alive. Bailey just made an addition with the bandana to the ensemble. Irish wipes away a few tears and brings Austin over to me. He’s already changed his diaper and now I can dress him and put him in the car seat.

As I’m doing this, a nurse brings all of our paperwork in. Along with a card for Austin’s first doctor appointment and my six-week checkup. Irish reads over the discharge papers as I finish up with the baby. Once he’s in the seat, I get in the wheelchair the nurse wheeled in and she leads us out of the room. Finally, we’re on our way.

Irish is silent the entire drive back to the house. If I had to guess, I’d say he’s nervous about me finally seeing the nursery. The entire decoration of it is on him. He chose the colors, the furniture, any decoration on the walls and shelves, and the mobile for the baby. When he said he wouldn’t let the surprise for me be ruined, he meant it.

Pops, Bailey, and Sami are patiently waiting for us outside. I don’t see Cassidy though and my heart breaks a little bit that she’s not here. Irish looks at me and I know he can read the thoughts going through my head right now. He reassures me that she’s in the house with Grim and Joker. Rage is here too putting a few final touches on the nursery.

Irish carries the baby in the house and leads me directly to the nursery. He knocks on the door and Rage tells us to come in. As soon as I get a good look at the room, the waterworks are flowing again. The walls are painted a soft blue. His crib sits on the far wall between the two windows. The crib is handmade and absolutely gorgeous. As I get closer, I can see there’s carvings in the crib. Its little motorcycles ridden by a teddy bear and the Wild Kings colors are in the ends of the crib. In the other corner there’s a matching toy box. There’s a changing table and a rocking chair in here too. We don’t need a dresser in this room because it appears that Rage built shelves in part of the closet. This room is absolutely amazing!

“I love it!” I tell them all. “Thank you so much for making this room as wonderful as it is Rage.”

“Anytime Whitney,” he says, heading out after looking at Austin.

“Irish, you’re present is in here too,” Sami says, walking in behind us.

“Where?” he asks, looking around until he sees it hanging on the wall by the door.

I move closer and see that it’s the ultrasound picture saying we’re having a boy. The picture frame is custom made and I look at Irish as he takes in all the details. Carved in the frame’s sides are the same motorcycles being ridden by bears. The top and bottom of the frame says ‘Future Prospect of The Wild Kings MC.’ There’s tears in his eyes as he pulls Sami in for a hug. He whispers to her and I know he’s thanking her for the amazing gift she just gave him. The picture he protected for four long months will now be preserved and he can look at it any time he wants. Everyone has made this nursery as special as it can possibly be, and we’ll never be able to thank them enough for their love and support.