HARRISON HAD NEVER experienced such perfection in his life. It had been six months since he had invited Riley to come live with him, and he hadn’t regretted a single moment. Together, they had turned his second office into the baby room. They had divulged their secrets to one another over time and had found that they had far more in common than they’d initially believed. Harrison had even gone into detail about his past, no longer afraid to let Riley in as he once had.
Riley herself had been unbelievably open with him, and he had taken in every word, never judging and never giving her a reason to be afraid of him. On more than one occasion, he’d told her to just take things one step at a time. There was no hurry, not anymore; they had all the time in the world.
Now, they sat together on the couch. Riley’s legs were draped across his own, and she was eating her favorite movie snack: buttered popcorn with candy-covered chocolate and cheese. He’d never known anyone to have such eclectic tastes, but he supposed it was true that being pregnant came with certain cravings that he would never understand.
“You still like that junk, don’t you?” he asked teasingly.
“How could you not like this?” She laughed. “It has popcorn, butter, candy, and chocolate. And you can’t forget the cheese! It’s basically all the best food groups packed into one delicious... oh! Oh shit...” Riley gave Harrison a brief look of panic as she swung her legs off of his and sat up. One hand went to her belly.
“What?” He pressed a hand over her own. “Riley... what is it?” He didn’t have to ask, though; he knew.
“The baby... I think it’s coming...”
“Okay, come on. Car, now. Let’s go! I’ll grab the keys, start going.”
Harrison felt faint with excitement as he rushed over to the counter and grabbed the keys off the wall. Then he dashed to Riley and supported her all the way through the door, down the hall, and into the elevator. She was breathing in hard, uneven puffs, and her face was much paler than it normally was; Harrison’s heart pounded even harder.
Once the elevator dinged to a halt, he guided her into the parking lot and to the car. “How much time? Riley, how much time?”
“I don’t know!”
“Okay, just breathe like they taught you in that breathing class, remember?” He barely knew what he was saying –how could he think properly?– as he opened the passenger side door for her and helped her in. Then he rushed to his side and snapped the seatbelt in place. He grabbed his phone and made a quick call to the hospital, letting them know that Riley was on her way and so was the baby. Then he hung up and tore out of the parking garage.
“Oh my god, Harrison, it hurts!” She was clutching at her belly, her lower lip bloody from where she was chewing on it.
“I know, I know. Breathe, Riley, it’ll be okay. We’re not even ten minutes away.”
“Ten minutes is too far! Drive faster!”
Bracing himself, Harrison slammed on the gas and made it to the hospital’s emergency department in less than eight minutes. He parked right next to the doors and ran around to Riley’s door. Several nurses and a doctor who had been notified of Harrison’s call, came out to greet them; Harrison was pushed off to the side as Riley was eased into a wheelchair and rolled inside. He followed as closely as he could, tears of his own shimmering in his eyes.
He, Harrison McCoy, was going to be a father.
––––––––
HE SAT OUT IN THE WAITING room with his head lowered, both hands clasped at the nape of his neck. Every time Riley made a sound, he looked up; his heart broke for her, and he couldn’t imagine the amount of pain she was in; as much as he wanted to be with her, she had screamed at him to get out and stay out until the baby was born. Hurt and terrified and excited and full of joy all at the same time. He’d left without a fight; although less than an hour had gone by, he felt as though he’d been sitting in this chair for a lifetime or more.
The sound of a child screaming and crying, sudden and out of nowhere, was enough to get Harrison on his feet. He started toward the door, then paused. Just as he did so, a nurse opened the door and looked out at him; she was grinning.
“Mr. McCoy? Come on in; your daughter wants to meet you.”
“My daughter?” He was just about breathless as he entered the room.
The tears did fall, then, when he saw Riley there in the hospital bed with a small bundle of blankets in her arms; within those blankets was his newborn daughter. “Wow...” was all he could manage.
“I know... she’s beautiful, Harrison...” Riley smiled at him through tears of exhaustion and love. “Do you want to hold her?”
Speechless, all he could do was nod. He held out his arms and repositioned himself so that he was sitting with Riley on the edge of her bed. There was no word or phrase in the world that could describe how Harrison felt as soon as his daughter settled in his arms. He held her close, supporting her head and body. And when he looked into her eyes, she looked right back at him, her little arms reaching for his face.
“She’s so beautiful... how the hell did you even do this?”
Riley laughed tiredly and touched their daughter’s cheek. “Love I guess. I don’t know, I just did it.”
He smiled down at her, pressing a kiss between his daughter’s eyes. He couldn’t believe that he was holding his daughter, a small, stunning little person that he had helped to create. In that moment, Harrison knew there couldn’t possibly be anyone happier in the world than him.