Epilogue

Matthew

July 17 (Two weeks overdue.)

“I think this is it,” Karrie says from the couch.

At this point, it’s almost like crying wolf. We are sitting in our house that I just bought. That’s right, our house. We went on to win the Stanley Cup, a feeling that’s beyond words. While we were in the playoffs, the house next to Mom and Cooper happened to go on the market. I did the only thing I could. I put in an offer without even seeing the house, without even telling her. That didn’t go off well for a couple of reasons. One, she was pregnant and hormonal and honestly she hated everything about me at that point. Well, except for my dick. That she took full advantage of. It seems those hormones were in full effect when it came to sex.

Once we finished, we packed up our stuff and came down to what she is calling our weekend cottage. Except it comes with ten bedrooms, fifteen bathrooms, a movie theater, game room, and a home gym. We got here with just three weeks to spare till her due date. She brought her file with her and luckily she fell in love with the ob-gyn here. What I wasn’t counting on was for my house to be a revolving door. My sisters are always here. Allison comes over for coffee every single morning, regardless of if we are up. My brother even comes over, which is huge for him since he is deep into hockey training. Vivienne came down and is now here till the baby comes out, along with Doug, who bought a house around the corner.

“I’m serious, Matthew, I think this is it.”

I look over at my wife—oh yeah, that, too. We didn’t have the big wedding everyone wanted. That’s going to come later, and I couldn't give a shit. I just wanted her with my name and ring before she gave birth to my child. She might have fought me a tad. Thankfully, I never threw out those cuffs.

“Babe, the doctor said she’s inducing you tomorrow.” I turn back to the television while she gasps. I look back to see her looking down at the water that is now seeping into the couch. I jump up, my hands going to my head. “Holy shit, this is it.” I start to jog upstairs to get the bags out of our closet. I run to the nursery that my mother set up for us as her present to us, grabbing the bag that Karrie packed for the baby. I’m about to run back downstairs when she waddles up the stairs. I love her to death, but this baby is huge. She looks like she has five babies in there. “Where are you going?” I ask her, yelling while I’m watching her walk to our bedroom.

“I’m taking a shower. We had sex tonight. I need to clean up.”

“Karrie, you can’t be serious right now. Your water broke. It’s leaking all into our couch, which we will need a new one now. Vivienne!” I yell down the hall toward her wing.

“Matthew, it will take me five min—” She stops talking while she holds her stomach.

My heart beats fast. “Oh my God, do you need to push?” I ask her, dumping the bags on the floor, getting my phone out, about to call 9-1-1 when she opens her eyes and looks at me. “We should time the contractions. I’ll be back.” She walks away, taking off the big shirt she is wearing. “I can’t wait to be able to see my vagina again. And toes.”

“Vivienne!” I yell again, louder this time.

“Mon Dieu, qu’est-ce qui se passe?” My gosh, what is going on, she says in French.

“The baby is coming.” I pick up the bags. “Her water broke.”

Vivienne starts jumping up and down and running back to her room.

“What is wrong with everyone? We need to get to the hospital.” I pull out my phone, calling Cooper. He answers after one ring. “Her water broke.”

“Where are you?” he asks right away, telling Mom that Karrie’s water broke. I hear rustling and yelling from his side of the phone.

“I'm home. I’m still fucking home. She had to take a fucking shower.”

“A shower?” he asks me. “But her water broke. Should we call an ambulance?” he asks while Karrie yells from the shower.

“I'm having another one.”

“She’s having a contraction in the shower,” I say, hanging up the phone, running into the bathroom while she is getting out. “Should I call someone?” I ask her.

“I think I’m okay. I just have to get dressed,” she says while Vivienne knocks on the door and comes in. I stand in front of Karrie to block her nakedness from her. They both laugh. “We’re women. We see each other naked all the time. Stand down,” she says while she throws on a summer dress. “You think I should put panties on?”

“You're leaking all over the fucking place, Karrie, you need Depends,” Vivienne says, walking around the wet on the floor. “Oh, you look really pretty in that dress,” she continues.

“Can we just please get in the car and go to the hospital?” I beg, running my hands through my hair. My palms are now all sweaty.

“Matthew, Karrie.” I hear Mom’s voice while she comes up the stairs, knocking on the door before walking in.

“Oh, Karrie, you're glowing,” my mother starts and soon has tears streaming down her face. “Are you okay?” She walks to her.

“Can we all just get in the car?” I say with my teeth clenched together.

“I swear one of these days that vein in his head will have eyes.” Vivienne laughs at me. “He might give himself an aneurism standing there right now.” She walks past me out of the room, picking up one of the bags.

“I’m having another one,” she says while Mom holds her hands and starts breathing with her. “How far apart are they?” she finally asks when she can talk.

“I have no idea. I keep forgetting to check.”

Mom looks at me while Karrie glares. “Matthew, you have one job,” Mom says to me, walking past me, holding Karrie’s hand. “Now can we go?” she asks me.

I’ve been trying to get these people in the car the whole time. By the time we get downstairs, she has another contraction.

“I think they are a couple of minutes apart,” Mom says as we walk out of the house to what looks like a parade in our driveway.

There’s Vivienne sitting in our truck, with Cooper in back of our truck, Allison is behind Cooper, Doug is behind Allison, my aunt Meghan in behind them all.

Mom helps Karrie get into the car that now has white garbage bags all over the seats. “It's to catch the water,” Vivienne says from the front seat.

“Here comes another one,” Karrie says while she breathes, this time huffing more. “That one really hurt.” She looks at me with tears in her eyes. “Matthew.”

“I’m here, baby, I’m right here.” I pick her up, setting her in the back. “Vivienne, you need to drive so I can sit in the back with Karrie.”

Vivienne climbs into the driver’s side. “Allons-y,” Let’s go, she says, waiting for my mother to close the door and jog back to Cooper’s car.

“The address is already saved in the GPS,” I tell her while I put my arm around Karrie’s shoulders. My heart is beating so fast I can’t seem to slow it down. I’m a nervous wreck. I’m a sweaty nervous wreck. My leg starts to move and my thumb starts drumming my leg.

“I think another one is coming,” she says, sitting up panting. “Hehehe hooo hooo, hehehe hooo hooo,” she chants out just like the class we took.

“Vivienne, step on it,” I say from the back.

We make it to the hospital, pulling up to the curb. I don’t even have my door open before I see Cooper running from inside with a wheelchair, with a security guy following him. I get out, walking around the car, grabbing Karrie, and carrying her to the chair. Cooper lets go of the back of the wheelchair, giving me the reins.

“Proud of you, son.” He slaps me on the shoulder, going back to the car to park it.

I push her into the hospital, all the way up to delivery. The second I step out of the elevator a nurse is here to greet us. She tells us to follow her, bringing us into a room with a bed, a couch, and a rocking chair.

“Okay, folks, I need Mommy to get undressed and put on the gown. I need your insurance papers as well.”

I grab my wallet and open it, giving her my papers and Karrie’s.

“Perfect. I’ll go put this in and will be back in a couple of minutes. When did her water break?”

“During Top Chef,” I answer her, watching her eyebrow shoot up.

“Okay, and what time was that?”

“I have no idea. It’s on our DVR.” I shrug, looking over at Karrie, who is now moaning. I rush over to her. She is bent over, rocking from side to side.

“She’s in active labor,” the nurse says, pressing the button at the door. Another nurse comes in. “This is Karrie Cooney.”

“Grant,” I say from beside Karrie. “Her last name is Grant. We just haven’t gotten the paper yet.” I rub her back while she moves from side to side.

“Okay, my name is Sherry. Mr. and Mrs. Grant, how about we get her on the bed and see how we are doing?” the second nurse who came in says, walking to the other side of Karrie, helping her stand up.

Karrie sits on the bed and throws her legs up. “I need drugs,” she says to Sherry. “It’s on my birth plan. I want drugs about now.”

“Babe,” I say quietly beside her, “you said you didn’t want it.”

“Really, Matthew, my vagina feels like it’s being lit on fire with a blow torch, because of you and that big ass head of yours.” She looks at the nurse. “Drugs?”

“Okay,” she says, putting on gloves. “I’m going to go in and see how far along you are, okay?”

Karrie opens her legs while the nurse checks her.

“Five centimeters, almost six.”

“So when do the drugs get here?” Karrie asks, stopping when a contraction rips through her. Out is the sweet girl who was taking a shower. In is someone I have never seen. I’m pretty sure her voice has been replaced by the woman from the Exorcist. “I hate you,” she hisses out. “You and that big head of yours.”

Sherry comes over to me. “Just remember she loves you, just not right now.” She smiles, looking back at Karrie. “I'm going to attach you to the monitor to make sure the baby is okay.”

That makes Karrie sit up. “What do you mean make sure the baby is okay? What’s wrong with the baby, Matthew?” She starts crying. “The baby.”

I walk to the side of her bed. “Nothing, they just want to check and see if the baby is doing okay.” I rub her head while the nurse asks her to lift up to put the elastic thing around her waist while she squeezes the gel on it, tying it around her waist. The sound of our baby fills the room.

“Now this machine will tell us exactly when you have a contraction as well as your baby’s heart rate while you have the contraction. Okay?” Sherry asks while Karrie nods her head, watching the numbers on the machine.

“Another one is coming,” she says, this time her moan louder and longer than before. “Are the drugs on their way?” she asks when she can finally breathe normal again.

“We just have to monitor you for a bit to see how fast you are dilating.”

“I don’t want to do that. I want drugs,” she hisses out but doesn’t say anything else because her moaning starts again. This time she grabs my hand, squeezing it. For a small girl, I’m pretty sure some fingers will be out of place when she’s done.

“That wasn’t even a minute apart,” Sherry says. “Okay, you know what, honey, I’m going to check you again.” She puts on another pair of gloves, checking her. “Okay, Karrie, I need to call the doctor. You're about nine centimeters. We are having this baby any second.”

“Wait, I didn’t get drugs yet,” Karrie keeps saying.

Sherry presses a button behind Karrie while Karrie has another contraction.

“I have so much pressure,” she says when she can finally talk.

“Totally normal.” We hear from the door when Karrie’s Dr. Noelle finally comes in. “Hey there, Karrie, how are you doing?”

“How am I doing? I need drugs, Dr. Noelle. Please.”

She smiles at Karrie, holding out her hands to put the gown on that Sherry is holding out for her. She puts gloves on, sitting on a stool in front of Karrie’s bed. A baby bed comes in while she puts the stirrups up, telling Karrie to put her feet in them.

She lifts the gown and I try not to gasp out loud, but I can’t help it. I see hair. “Okay, Karrie. This little one really wants to meet his mom. I’m going to have you push a bit, okay? When the next contraction comes, I want you to bear down and push out.”

“I can’t do this,” she says, shaking her head. “I want a cesarean. I changed my mind.”

I grab her hand, scooting down beside her. “Babe, look at me.” Her head turns to me, tears in her eyes. “You can do this.” One arm goes over her head. “You can do this. I know you can.” Her head shakes from side to side. “Come on, baby, push.”

Sherry stands on her other side, counting to ten.

“That was great,” Dr. Noelle says. “Let’s do it again, okay?”

“It burns. It burns so much,” Karrie cries out. “It hurts.”

“I know it does, baby, and I’m so sorry,” I tell her. “You have to do this for the baby.” Because if I say for me I will probably never have another child.

“Okay, now push,” Sherry says, grabbing one of Karrie’s legs, bringing it back. She puts her chin to her chest and pushes with all her force while Sherry and I count to ten. I look down and see that the baby has half his head out.

“The head is almost out,” I tell her with tears running down my face. I will never forget this moment.

“I’m tired, Matthew, so tired,” she says in a whisper.

“Okay, how about we give one more push,” Sherry says, looking at the doctor, who nods. “Big push, Karrie.”

“I don’t think I can.” She closes her eyes. “It’s too much. It hurts.”

“You are the strongest person I know. You can do anything,” I tell her right before Sherry yells out.

“Push, we need her to push.”

My head snaps up at her urgency. I think Karrie heard it also, so she grabs her legs and pushes hard.

“Stop pushing,” Dr. Noelle says. “Okay, the shoulders next and it’ll just slide out. Push.” And she does, she pushes till the doctor says, “Meet your baby.” She places the baby directly on the towel that Sherry placed there.

Karrie lets go of my hand, holding onto our child. Her sobs fill the room. “My baby,” she says while I bring her head to my lips, kissing her and looking down at my child.

“We have a boy,” Dr. Noelle says. “If you will do the honors,” she hands me the scissors, “in between the two white clamps.”

I cut my son’s umbilical cord.

Sherry takes my son from Karrie’s chest, bringing him to the crib while she takes his heartbeat and his cries fill the room. Loud, angry cries.

“Go see him,” Karrie says from my side, the doctor still between her legs. Walking over to the crib, I see his arms moving around while the nurse is putting a diaper on him and putting his name tag on his ankle.

I grab his small hand with my finger. He wraps it around the top. “He’s so beautiful.” He stops crying the minute he hears my voice. His eyes blink open slowly. “Hey there.” His feet start to move now.

“We have a big boy, almost ten pounds. Good job, Mom,” Sherry says while she puts a hat on him. “I’m going to wrap him up now so we can take him to go feed,” she tells me while she wraps my son up like a burrito.

The nurse that met us at the elevator comes in. “Okay, I hate to crash the party, but I have a waiting room full of people pacing back and forth. Someone needs to go and tell them that this is a hospital and not a reception party.”

I smile, thinking about the amount of people that must be outside. “Do you want me to stay or go and tell them?”

“You better go before they get some drones to fly in here,” she says while the doctor finishes, taking off her gloves.

I walk to kiss her right when the doctor hands her the baby. “Here’s your son.”

Karrie grabs the baby, kissing his face. “He looks exactly like you.” The baby’s hands poke out from his blanket. “I love you,” she tells him, “so, so much.” She kisses his face, and he starts to fuss again.

“How about you try to nurse him and see if he’s hungry?” Sherry says while Karrie presses the button on the bed to sit upright. “Now make sure that he latches on properly or you’ll be getting cracked nipples.”

“Are you hungry?” Karrie asks him while she takes her breast out, placing him the way Sherry tells her to. In a matter of seconds, my boy is latching on. “He’s definitely his father’s son.” Her tired eyes meet mine. “Go tell the family.”

I kiss her lips before walking out of the room.

Walking into the room, it goes dead silent. My mom sits down next to Cooper, who has his feet crossed at the ankles and his head down. Doug sits in the corner of the room, watching the golf game that’s playing. Allison and Vivienne are sitting side by side. My Aunt Meghan and Uncle Tom sit up.

“I have a son.” My voice cracks as I say it.

My mother gets up and walks to me, wrapping her arms around my waist. Allison is the next one who comes to me. The last one is Cooper, who grabs me by my neck, bringing me to him. The four of us hug with Zoe and Zara standing by Cooper’s side.

“Okay, enough,” Vivienne says. “Let me see a picture,” she asks while I let go and grab my phone, showing her the pictures I took while he was getting weighed. “What’s his name?”

“Karrie and I decided that we would name him Cooper Douglas Grant,” I say, looking at Cooper. “Two of the strongest men we know.”

Doug asks to see Karrie. I nod and tell him where she is.

“So what do you think, Grandpa, good name?” He doesn't have to say anything at all because I know in that moment that everything is something so perfect!