CHAPTER EIGHT
“Do you need me to drive?” Lori asked.
Grayson sat frozen behind the steering wheel, the engine idling in the parking lot. “No, you’re in labor. I should drive.”
“Cool,” she said in the lightest voice she could manage when a massive contraction was currently gripping her stomach and back and every other part of her it could reach. Waiting until she thought she might be able to speak again without the words coming out through clenched teeth, she finally said, “Then maybe we should head to the hospital now.”
But instead of putting the car in gear, he said, “This wasn’t the plan. We have everything arranged with the hospital at UCSF. You love your obstetrician there. We have a birth plan.”
Sophie had warned her about how even the calmest man tended to lose it once labor started. Actually, many of her sisters-in-law and cousins had told her the same thing—their strong, steady husbands had fallen apart when they’d given birth to their first child.
“I love that already our daughter doesn’t play by the rule book and is ready to come a few weeks before her due date.” Lori put her hand over Grayson’s and squeezed it. “I’m not sure, however, that it means she needs to be born in a car.” She hit the button on his phone that would give them the directions to the nearest hospital in Monterey as they drove. “Just do what the nice robot voice says, and we should be there in thirty minutes.”
Thankfully, he finally put the car in gear.
She hoped a half hour would be fast enough. Sure, having a baby in a car in Carmel would be a heck of a story to tell. But though she’d always been a showman, Lori would be perfectly happy to toe a more tried-and-true line with doctors and nurses nearby when it came to giving birth to her first child.
Not, of course, that she was planning on saying any of that to Grayson. Though he’d had a great epiphany about resilience on the beach, there was no need for the universe to force his hand this quickly. A nice, easy, simple birth would be fantastic. For both of them.
She couldn’t help laughing out loud at the thought. So few things in her life had been nice, easy, or simple that it was preposterous to think her labor and delivery would fall under any of those categories.
As if to prove her right, another contraction hit, morphing her laughter into a groan.
“Lori?” Grayson nearly slammed on the brakes.
“I’m fine.” She puffed the words out in the Lamaze breathing rhythm that she’d learned during the prenatal classes she and Grayson had attended. “Just keep driving.”
Though she’d intended to be as stoic as possible, she needed to grab his arm and clamp down tight to make it through the next contraction.
“Don’t worry, sweetheart.” Grayson’s voice was suddenly strong and clear again. She’d been the steady one in her pregnancy up until now, but from the renewed strength in his voice, she knew that it was now okay for her to fall apart. Her husband would be there to pick up the pieces if she needed him to. “I’m going to get you to the hospital with plenty of time to spare. Everything is going to be fine.”
“I know.” And despite the brutal pain now coming at ninety-second intervals, she truly believed him. As always, she’d never felt safer, or in better hands.
Using the car’s hand free speaker, he called the hospital. He calmly explained that they were five minutes away and that she was having near-constant contractions. When the administrator asked for more information, before either of them could give it, Lori was hit with the most overpowering pain so far.
Her moans said it all. The administrator informed them that an obstetric nurse would be waiting out front.
Lori closed her eyes on the next contraction and didn’t open them again until they were parked in front of the hospital and Grayson was helping her into the wheelchair the hospital had provided. By the time the nurse had wheeled her inside the maternity ward, Grayson had supplied Lori’s name, age, expected due date, and other vital information.
“As soon as you’re up on the bed, we’ll see how far along you are.” The nurse was cheerful, but thankfully not in a fake way that made Lori want to punch her. She had obviously been doing this for many years. It was comforting to know that whatever happened today, this nurse would have seen it and handled it before.
Grayson had barely finished helping Lori strip out of her clothes, put on the hospital smock, and get onto the bed, when a sound she’d never thought she’d make came out of her mouth. It hadn’t hurt this bad when she’d broken her arm at fifteen and the bone had come through her skin!
The nurse nodded as she took a quick look. “Looks like your baby is ready to say hello.” She pulled off her gloves, then reached for the phone on the wall. “Could you please let the doctor know we’re ready for him in room four?”
“We’re about to meet our little girl.” Grayson’s hands over hers felt like they were the only things tethering her to the earth. “I love you so much, Lori.”
She wanted to tell him she loved him too, wanted to thank him for giving her more happiness than she’d ever dreamed of. But as another contraction hit—one that made her want to bear down like nobody’s business—what came out instead was a string of curses.
“You sound just the way I did when I had my three daughters,” the nurse said, a hint of laughter—and empathy—in her voice.
“Three?” Though gritting her teeth, Lori couldn’t hold back her incredulous response. “You willingly did this three times?” Sure, she’d often talked about having a house full of kids. But that was before she had felt this.
“I know it might be hard to believe right now, but I promise it’s all worth it. Ah, here’s the doctor.”
“Hello, Lori, Grayson. I’m Dr. Mishrani.” The man had a warm, friendly smile that instantly comforted her, despite the searing discomfort she was in. “How are you feeling?”
“Like I’m being torn in two!”
Grayson gripped her hands tighter and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “You’re so strong, Lori. The strongest person I know. You can do anything. And I’m going to be here for you every single second.”
She’d never appreciated the warmth of his touch, the rock-steady confidence in his gaze, more than she did now, when she needed it most. And yet, she still couldn’t keep from begging the doctor, “Please make the pain stop!” She’d once danced the final half of The Nutcracker with two broken toes. That had been nothing compared to this.
Settling onto the stool between her feet, the doctor did a quick check. “You are fully dilated and ready to push, which means that you will be feeling much better very soon. In fact, the next time a contraction comes, I want you to bear down with all your might for five seconds, which I will count down for you. Okay?”
Already feeling everything inside of her tighten and cramp, without replying, she started to push for all she was worth.
“One.”
Lori swore nothing had ever been so hard before!
“Two.”
Why had she thought having a baby would be no big deal?
“Three.”
She was going to break a tooth if she gritted her teeth any harder.
“Four.”
Somewhere in the back of her head, she could hear everyone chanting, “You’re doing great! Keep pushing!” But she couldn’t respond, not when every ounce of her focus was on getting this baby out of her.
“Five!”
The last thing she expected to hear next was a loud wail. For a moment, she thought it was coming from her own mouth. After all, she’d never in her life been through anything that difficult.
But then she realized…it was their daughter. A little girl with lungs she wasn’t afraid to use.
“She’s absolutely perfect,” the nurse said after she did a quick newborn health check, counted fingers and toes, then swaddled the baby in a small white blanket with blue and red stripes down the side.
Full to the brim with more joy than she’d ever known was possible, Lori reached out. “Please, let me hold her.” The moment the nurse laid the baby on her chest, her little girl started rooting around for her first meal. When Lori bared her breast, the baby easily latched on, drinking with a rapturous look on her pretty face.
“She’s beautiful, Lori. Just like her mother.” Grayson looked both joyous and overwhelmed. “Looking at the two of you—I’m falling in love all over again.”
He reached out to stroke over their baby’s hand, and when she curled her tiny finger around his, Lori’s throat grew tight.
“I want to have a dozen more just like her,” she whispered, the pain already forgotten.
Almost forgotten, she thought as she shifted her hips slightly and winced.
The doctor cleared his throat, and Lori looked up in surprise. With her entire world centered around her daughter and husband, she’d forgotten there was anyone else in the room. From the look on his face, Grayson seemed just as surprised by the interruption.
“Lori, Grayson—congratulations. Your daughter is absolutely lovely. And Lori, if you don’t mind me asking, are you an athlete, by any chance?”
“I’m a dancer.”
“Ah, that explains why you are so strong. You barely needed a full five seconds of pushing. I must say, you’ve convinced me that my wife is right when she says ballroom dancing classes will do my health some good. In any case,” he said, looking down at her chart, “you should heal up nicely. Your chart says the baby is thirty-seven weeks, but she’s a perfectly healthy seven pounds and already seems to be nursing without trouble. The nurse will be back soon to take her for a little wash. If you have any questions or concerns over the next week, here is my card with my contact information.” He set it on a nearby console table that was stocked with diapers and more blankets. “Don’t hesitate to call, day or night. I’m very pleased that I was able to be here with both of you today.” He shook their hands, then left the room, closing the door behind him.
“Can you believe we made her?” Lori moved the baby to her other breast. “Isn’t she amazing?”
“I’ve never known anything more amazing.” Grayson carefully sat on the edge of the bed so that he could be close to both of them, stroking the baby’s cheek as Lori nursed her.
Lori kissed her daughter’s forehead. “Now, about a name.” When he groaned, she held up her hand to forestall his protests. “I know you’re not the world’s hugest fan of the names that I come up with for our animals.” Which was why they had agreed to not even discuss baby names until their daughter was born. “Although you’ve got to admit that Carmelo is a pretty inspired choice for our new puppy.”
“Was that just today?” He ran a hand through his hair. “It feels like a lifetime ago.”
“Crazy, right? When we woke up today, little miss was still in my belly. And now here she is, loud and proud and perfect.” The baby had fallen asleep nursing, so Lori lifted her into Grayson’s arms.
He looked nervous for a moment, at least until he was cradling their daughter. Lori swore he was already the best dad in the whole wide world as he softly whispered, “I’ll never let anyone or anything hurt you.”
Witnessing the love overflow from his heart straight to their little girl made Lori choke up again.
Suddenly, he went still, his eyes meeting Lori’s. “Mary. Her name should be Mary.”
Finally, Lori’s tears spilled over. Shifting the baby slightly to one side, he leaned down to kiss them away. All this time that they hadn’t been able to decide on a name, it was because they’d been overlooking the only one that would ever have been right. Of course they should honor the woman who meant everything to Lori, her seven siblings—and everyone else who was lucky enough to be loved by Mary Sullivan.
“Mary is the perfect name for our baby.”