Epilogue
Oliver
“There's not enough time!” I wailed as Philip weaved in and out of traffic, heading to the hospital. The building was within sight, but that didn't matter, this baby wasn’t staying put any longer.
“We should have left hours ago when the contractions first started,” Philip said.
“I know. I'm sorry. I thought we had more time. Labor with Christopher took forever.” I clenched my jaw, tried to breathe evenly as another contraction swept through me. The uncontrollable urge to push beat down on the pain that was currently ripping my pelvis in two.
“We're not going to make it,” I said.
Philip whipped the car into the valet parking area of the hospital. He barely had it in park before he rushed out and came to the passenger side, shouting at the people outside. I didn't even notice the movement, the rushing, the yelling. I was trying to concentrate on not giving birth to our daughter in the front seat of a car.
I already had my pants around my ankles. Mckenna decided that she wanted to make an extreme entrance.
Philip and someone else lifted me out of the car and laid me on a gurney. I let out a sigh of relief, assuming they were taking me up to an operating room or somewhere sterile so that I could have my baby girl there. But that wasn't the case, there wasn't enough time.
I groaned and pushed as the final contraction tore through me. I heard Philip at my side, telling me I was doing a great job that everything was fine. We were outside on the curb, within ten feet of the hospital doors, but we were still outside.
Our daughter wailed, piercing our ears with her newborn cry. It was the sweetest thing I'd ever heard. Someone had a towel or a blanket or something, and they wrapped her in it and placed her in my arms. I looked to Philip, tears pooling his eyes.
“You did great,” he said. “That's our baby girl. That's her.”
“Yes, it is,” I said. “She made one hell of an entrance.”
***
Two hours later, we were cleaned up and in a hospital room, finally. Our baby girl weighed eight pounds, six ounces. She had all ten fingers and all ten toes. I held her in my arms, and Philip sat beside me on the bed.
“I can't believe she's here. Seems like just yesterday that we got that positive pregnancy test,” I said.
Philip sighed. He didn't really like to think about that day, even though it was both good and bad. His father was currently in the county jail awaiting trial. He hadn't been able to post bail, and no one had been willing to post it for him, so there he sat. Philip’s mom had been cleared of any wrongdoing. She'd been lied to, just like everyone else in the town. Since her eyes had been open to the crimes her husband committed, she’d started paying more attention to those around her, including Philip, Christopher, and me.
“Are you sure you're okay for visitors?” Philip asked.
“Yes,” I said. “I'm ready to show her off. Although I still might hold her the entire time.”
He chuckled. “That’s fine. Mom's downstairs with Christopher. Kayden’s coming up later.”
Kayden and Jackson had moved in with us a few months back and we'd opened the daycare a few weeks after. We were currently only watching six children, since I’d have a new baby to look after. But as soon as we were ready, we'd open it up to more kids. We'd even had a few people in the area express interest in working for us.
Philip kissed my temple. “I love you, Omega.”
I turned and looked up at him. “I love you, too, Alpha.”
There was a knock at the door, and Christopher and Cheryl entered the room. Christopher came in timidly, eyes wide.
“Come on in, buddy,” I said. “Come meet your little sister.”
He grinned and rushed over to the bed.
“Gentle now,” I said. “Daddy’s still a little sore and sister is really tiny.”
Philip’s mom put a vase of flowers on the table. “I'm going to grab a coffee,” she said. “Let you guys have a few moments together.”
“Okay.” I smiled at her. “Thank you.”
She smiled back. “Thank you. She's beautiful,” she said.
Christopher stood at the side of the bed and stared at his little sister. “When can I play with her?”
Philip chuckled. “It'll be a little while. She's very tiny. It's going to be a bit before she can even set up for crawl or walk. But you could talk to her and read to her.”
“I can show her all of our cool stuff at the house. All of my blocks and Legos.”
Philip squeezed me tighter. “That sounds great buddy. You’re going to be a great big brother.”
The End