EPILOGUE
Five months later
Delia
Drake had received an award for his new acoustic album and we were heading home from the ceremony. I was eight months pregnant and huge, but Drake still found me irresistible. We were in the limo and had barely gotten the door closed before he was all over me.
I giggled as he peppered my neck with kisses. “I can’t believe you still want to touch me. I look like a whale,” I said.
Drake pulled his head back and looked me square in the eye. “No, you look like the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. And you are carrying my child, which makes you even sexier.”
I smiled up at him and pulled him in for a kiss. His hand slid up under my dress and his fingers trailed up my inner thigh. I stopped and sat upright for a moment, feeling a strange sensation. I pushed Drake’s hand away and winced.
I was flooded with a warmth between my thighs that dripped all the way down my legs.
“Delia?” he asked. “Are you feeling okay?”
I felt another gush as a searing pain ripped through my back.
“Ooooh no,” I said, as I leaned up. “Oh no. Drake.”
My water had broken.
Holy shit.
I looked over at Drake as he rose up from the seat and I gathered my dress up my thighs. He opened the partition and gave the driver some directions, and before I knew it the limo was whipping a u-turn in the middle of the road.
“What do you need from me? Are you remembering to breathe? Sweetheart, tell me what I can do,” Drake said.
“I need you to call Paul. My hospital bag is in our room. The—shit!”
I drew in a deep breath as Drake ripped his phone from his pocket.
“Paul? It’s me. Yes, yes, yes, the speech was good. Listen to me, Delia’s in labor. Yes, labor. In the limo. We’re headed for the—yes. Her bag. It’s in our room, it’s—?”
“Pink and yellow,” I said. “By the—door!”
“A pink and yellow bag by the door in our room, Paul. Get it to the hospital. Yep. Thanks, man.”
Drake hung up the phone before he slid his body behind mine. He pressed his hands into the dimples in my lower back, trying to alleviate some of the pain. Fluid was still leaking down my legs as I kept them spread, my body in agonizing pain. I yelled out in the back of the limo as the driver kept calling out how many minutes we were from the hospital.
I just wanted the man to shut the hell up.
Drake kept pressing kisses into my shoulder as I braced for the contractions. They were coming a hell of a lot faster than I thought they would. My pain was mounting, and my head was spinning.
“Once we get to the hospital, we’ll get you some drugs,” Drake said.
“All of them. Every fucking one of them,” I said.
The limo pulled up underneath the emergency overhang, where there were nurses there ready to receive us. They helped me out of the car and put me in a wheelchair, but it was getting harder and harder to sit upright. They raced me into the emergency room and barreled me down the hallway as I held Drake’s hand. I was trying to stay calm and keep my wits about me, but none of this was happening the way I had read it would.
I wasn’t prepared.
I thought I was—but I wasn’t.
Drake helped me out of my dress and into a bed. Paul came skidding around the corner, holding my pink and yellow bag as well as the baby blanket I had purchased a few days ago. It was always such a relief to have Paul’s calm and quiet demeanor around, but even he was shaking and falling apart at the seams.
“Hello Delia, just try to relax. I’m going to check your dilation,” the doctor said.
My legs were spread and his fingers were inside of me before I could protest. The pain took my breath away as another contraction hit around my body. I reached out for Drake’s hand as Paul wrapped around, grabbing my other one as tears poured down my face.
“Epidural. I need—I need one of those,” I said, breathlessly.
“She’s eight centimeters dilated. This baby is coming now, and she’s too far along for an epidural.”
“I’m what?” I asked.
“Delia, look at me.”
Paul’s voice ripped me from my fear as I turned my watery gaze towards him.
“There ain’t no one in this room that can do this but you. This baby’s stubborn, just like you. And it’s gonna be beautiful, just like you. Now you hunker down, roar as loud as you can, and show us men what real strength is.”
Tears poured down my face as Paul brought my hand to his lips to kiss. He smoothed my sweaty hair back before he nodded toward Drake, then made his way for the door. Nurses were piling in with all sorts of equipment as I looked up at Drake, my eyes pleading with him for mercy.
“Help me,” I said, breathlessly, “I can’t move my legs.”
“I got you, baby. I got you, okay?”
Drake hooked his strong arms around underneath the crook of my knee and bent my leg back toward my chest. Contractions were tumbling on top of one another now, rendering me speechless. I couldn’t scream. I couldn’t cry out. I couldn’t cuss, and I couldn’t lash out. I could only allow the pain to sweep me underneath its current and become one with it. If I kept fighting, it would only prolong this agony.
I felt a nurse crook her arm underneath my other leg as my body opened up for everyone in the room. All of my inhibitions went out the window as I felt my body beginning to push. I placed my chin against my chest and bared down as hard as I could, roaring out into the room as everyone cheered me on.
“That’s it, Delia. Come on. Yell as loud as you can!” Drake said.
I shrieked out into the room as my hips began to split themselves open.
“Another push,” the doctor said. “Come on. You got this.”
I bared down again, my toes curling and my legs shaking as I squeezed Drake’s hand tight.
“I hate you!” I said, into the room.
“Come on. Tell me again. Tell me how you feel,” Drake said.
“Why the fuck did I let you touch me?” I said. “What the hell was I thinking!”
I pushed again, feeling a searing hot pain.
“I need a nurse over here,” the doctor said. “Delia, give me one last push. One more push and that beautiful baby will be here.”
“It hurts so much,” I said, with a whimper.
I felt Drake press his lips to my ear as my head collapsed onto the bed. My body overrode my exhausted state as my legs shook with pain. It felt like every molecule in my being was being burned at the stake. I was trembling as my grip weakened against Drake’s hand as one last contraction wrapped around my body.
“Show everyone how strong you,” he said, with a whisper.
I flexed my feet, angled my hips, and roared into the room as I gave one last push. I felt relief course through my veins as people started to run around the room. I felt something slide from between my legs as Drake and the nurse set me back down onto the hospital bed. I heard chairs rolling around and machines being turned on. People were running around and Drake’s eyes were locked on something in the distance. Tears barreled down my cheeks as I waited for the sound. That glorious sound I’d been dreaming about for the last two months.
And as if the heavens above parted for only me, I heard it.
I heard the sound of my beautiful little infant.
“What is it?” Drake asked. “Is it a boy or a girl?”
“You guys don’t know already?” the nurse asked.
“I think it’s a girl,” I said breathlessly. “It’s a girl, right?”
“Sounds like momma’s got a strong intuition,” the nurse said. “Because you have a beautiful, healthy baby girl.”
I leaned my head against the pillow as the nurse lowered my daughter to my chest. I smoothed my hospital gown open and laid her directly onto my skin, cradling her closely as Drake looked down upon the two of us. I stared up into his eyes, tears of joy streaming down the sides of my face.
He bent down and kissed my forehead as more movement occurred underneath me. I felt blankets being moved and things being switched out. I felt someone cleaning me up and putting my legs down onto warm, fresh bedding. I cradled my daughter’s head as she nuzzled toward my breast, her mouth puckering for food as I lowered her to my nipple. I helped her to latch on, flipping her lip up so she could drink from my aching breasts.
“She’s a natural,” one of the nurses said. “But I’ll send in a lactation consultant just in case you have any questions.”
I felt Drake sit down beside us, his hand still cradling my head. I looked over at him, watching as a goofy smile trickled across his cheeks.
“My girls,” he said. “My healthy, beautiful girls.”
“What do you want to name her?” I asked. “We never did settle on a girl’s name.”
“I have now,” he said.
“Oh really?”
His eyes panned over to mine as he sighed. He leaned up and placed a kiss to my lips, warm and wet and soft to the touch. I knew what name he was going to pick. I recognized that look in his eye. Our foreheads connected as our daughter unlatched, then I shifted her to my other breast as I settled back into bed.
“I think Helena is a beautiful name,” I said.
“You don’t mind naming her that?” Drake asked.
“Nope. Your mother was a strong woman. A good woman. A woman who was steadfast and took care of those she loved. I think that’s a good legacy for our daughter.”
After Helena was done eating, I passed her over to Drake. His large hand tapped lightly against her back, trying to burp his newborn daughter as she fell asleep on his shoulder. Her cheek was smashed into his muscles and her lips were parted while she slept. Her back rose and fell with the small breaths she was taking, cradled against the strength of her father.
I saw the love Drake had for her in his eyes. I saw the moment he fell in love with her. Neither of us would ever be the same again. Not after this moment. That little girl already had this huge man wrapped around her newborn pinky finger, and as I watched Drake settle back in his chair my eyes began to flutter closed.
I fell into a deep contented sleep. I had a career I loved, a man I adored, and now, a perfect daughter that would get the best of both of us. Life had never been better.
The End