“Milo!” Hearing my wife screech at the top of her lungs from the hallway doesn’t send me into the same panic it did yesterday. Nurses on the maternity floor barely glance in my direction recognizing me. I might be famous, but my wife is infamous around here since I knocked her up. Diana peeks her head out from the door and I run like the wind afraid of missing anything. I spin the wedding ring on my finger loving the heavy feel of it on my hand. Minutes earlier I was sent from her room and told not to come back without her favorite protein packed ice cream. Like an avenging ice cream angel I bring her favorite brand Halo and a spoon.

“Piper, darling.” Her face is beat red and her hands are clenched tight. I place the market bag on the nightstand next to the bed placing my cool palms over her cheeks. She’s panting through another long contraction. She can’t have the ice cream anyway since she’s in labor now, but I don’t tell her that. I leave that news to her lucky obstetrician.

“I hate you.” The growl is feral sounding

“Good thing we’re not due for a full moon anytime soon.” I kiss her forehead and help her sit up to massage her back the way she likes. Up until labor she was ravenous for me to touch her, now I’m lucky she doesn’t gut me when I turn away.

“Piper!” Diana scolds brushing back the dark hair clinging to her face. My beautiful wife looks slightly crazy in a preganant haven’t slept in twenty-fours kind of way. She might not like it but I think she’s a goddess all rounded belly and a rigid spine of strength. Frankly, it makes me hornier than it should right now and I have to think unsexy thoughts to calm myself down.

“How could he do this to me?” She curls up into Diana’s arms pushing me away. Piper lost her center of gravity sometime ago and not even her legs fully bend to curl up. A lesser man might have felt useless or insulted but I don’t. Fun fact about my wife, she has no tolerance for pain. It makes her crazy, irrational, and I become public enemy number one. When she sprained her ankle halfway through her pregnancy I made her stop managing the gym hiring a temporary person to work with Jax when the doctor put her on bedrest. Let’s just say I’m good at ducking pillows, tv remotes, and projectile envelopes of mail made into paper airplanes.

“Honey, you’re having a baby. We’re having a baby.”

Piper husks, “No Milo, I’m having this baby. You’re smoking a cigar while I push out a cantaloupe from a button hole.”

“Lovely darling.” I rub her hand, but it’s snatched it away to smack me.

“Piper it’s not that bad. Think of the little bundle of love you’ve been waiting for?” Diana coos rubbing her belly. I might be concerned when, not if Piper’s head starts twisting around like a demon from the movies.

“Get. It. Out.” Piper eyes me over her friend’s shoulder and I smirk. Of all the requests this one I can’t help her with.

“That’s not what you said nine months ago.”

“I was drunk.”

“On proseco?”

“It was our honeymoon.” She wails as another contraction takes over. The three of us coach Piper through the cramps, Diana does the breath and I count the time on my watch.

“You’re right and it was best honeymoon ever.” I sit next to her on the bed holding her hand letting her squeeze it until her strength gives out. I nod at Diana to give us a minute. Piper’s wrath is a part of the pregnancy neither of us expected so soon. She’s not mad and I bet once this is over I’ll have days of another hormone rollercoaster filled with tears to kiss away.

“I’ll go get the doctor, sweetie.” Diana leaves and Piper leans into me, her mini freak out over for the moment.

My other hand rests on her big belly that holds our child. No matter how much I’ve studied the human body it’s an amazing creation capable of bringing life into the world and healing. Piper is consumed at the moment with birthing our legacy. I doubt she would appreciate my thoughts on human physiology right now.

“Can we go back?” She whimpers pulling me closer. I would do this yo-yo with her forever confident we have the forever kind of love.

I kiss her forehead teasing. “Of course we can. I want at least three more babies.”

She tenses and the contractions are close now.

“Milo!” Piper returns to pregnant volitility. I know my wife loves me. I love her equally as much.

“I love you. I don’t care how many babies we have. This can be our only and last, it doesn’t matter because I have you sweetheart.” I’m man enough to say we both tear up and kiss tasting salt and gratitude on our lips.

The doctor appears completely oblivious to our exchange snapping purple gloves on his hands. “Alright, let’s see how far dilated you are now, Mrs. Lazare.”

Piper’s face pinches and I rub her back easing her into position so the doctor can check her out. In the beginning I foolishly thought I’d be right in there doing this for her, but I’m not. I’m her support, her rock and I wouldn’t change it for the world. Although I can’t say the house wasn’t properly stocked incase this baby was born during a Nor’easter. I like to be prepared unlike the stack of mail in my office collecting dust since I got my residency status approved. Piper will have a field day when she’s up to organizing.

“Dr. Lazare when was your wife’s last ultrasound.”

“About two weeks ago. She was having an episode of low blood sugar and put on bed rest until the conclusion of the pregnancy.”

“Gestational Diabetes?” He asks and I nod. We had gotten pretty practiced and checking her blood.

“I’m right here Milo.” Piper grumbles through another contraction. She’s muttering about blood sugar and vampires and I pat her hand reassuring. This is doctor talk between colleagues and I don’t want to worry her as vulnerable as she might feel in the moment waiting for our baby.

“Are you concerned about fetal distress?” I know I am having been here twenty hours and counting with no talk of c-section just yet.

“Hmm.” The doctor feels her belly and then takes a gander between her legs which has me feeling protective and growly.

“How’s our baby?” Piper bites her lip and I kiss her reassuringly.

“Our baby is fine sweetheart.” I believe it but I won’t dismiss the reality of worry that gnaws at my stomach. In all of our ultrasounds the technitions couldn’t see the sex of our baby. Piper smiled each time happy to see an active heartbeat and healthy growth measuments and I felt guilt because I hadn’t realized how much I wanted to know. Disappointment filled me at first because I wanted to decorate the nursery like crazy. We finally stopped asking and prayed for a healthy happy baby. The lack of control bothered me more than I wanted to admit.

“I think there’s two.” The doctor replies.

“Two what?” Confused, I keep massaging Piper’s neck watching her focused breaths. Her beautiful breasts have plumped nicely during her pregnancy and my hand slips down the side of her rib cage grazing them tenderly. He cheek turns to my arm and her lips kiss me while lines of exhaustion grace her face.

“Milo.” She whines desperately paying neither of us any attention.

“Shhh, you got this sweetheart. You’re doing great. I love you.” I coach her through the pain.

“Of course you love me, you got me to agree to push out a watermelon from a peach pit.” She grunts and I kiss her quickly.

The doctor wisely holds back a chuckle.

“Mrs. Lazare.” Piper squeezes her eyes shut and we have to nudge her to pay attention. My poor wife can’t do this forever but I want her to be the decision maker what we do next within reason.

The doctor speaks again, “I want you to bear down as hard as you can through this next contraction.”

The next ten minutes are life altering, and amazing all at once. I would never grow tired of hearing Piper’s married name as our doctor directs her through the pushes. Diana returns in time to play catcher for our squalling son Dmitri. His dark head of matted hair and squalling lungs made my chest hitch with pride.

My boy.

My son.

We are far from done. As luck would have it, I had a backup name for a baby girl. Who knew we would have to use them both on the first try. A nearly identical face to match her brother senior by only a few minutes and equally as pink and loud.

My little princess.

My daughter.

I have a feeling Danika will be just like her mother wrapping me around her little finger and leaving me hopelessly in love.