twenty

Beth pants as her sucks on pieces of ice. I smooth back her hair gently, “And you’re sure you don’t want to go to the hospital?”

“If you ask me one more time I swear I will kill you,” she warns.

“Drugs would help you know.”

She turns to me, sweat rolling down her face, “What did I just tell you?”

“Got it,” I respond, sitting back down next to her. I take a towel and wipe off her brow.

“Sorry, I’m just trying to get this baby out,” she groans.

“That’s alright, I get the whole giving birth thing.”

She tries to laugh as she breathes, “Yeah, that whole giving birth thing can really get in the way.”

“What do you think of Michael?”

She leans back against the pillow, “It’s a fine name.”

“What about Marci?”

“Not right now,” she cries as a contraction hits.

The midwife Carly, who I have come to warm up to, move over to Beth and checks on her, handing her some more ice, “You can starting pushing in just a few minutes.” “Thank God,” she says relieved, pushing herself back up.

I move myself a little closer to her, holding her hand, “You doing okay?”

“I’m still breathing, which I suppose is a good thing,” she grunts out.

“Yeah, that’s a good thing,” I try to say without letting my concern show through.

“Do me a favor and go ask Gia if I ever get pregnant again to not refuse the drugs.”

“Oh, so you’ll listen to Gia but not me?”

She grabs a hold of my shirt, “Listen, I’m not going to argue with you right now but the short version is yes.”

“I will never understand women.”

“We never asked you to,” she says, trying to kill the blood circulation to my hand, “we just asked you to do exactly what we tell you to do.”

“I’m still learning,” I respond, kissing her head.

She breathes heavily, squeezing my hand again. Damn I don’t think I have the stamina for this kind of thing. I think it’s a very distinct possibility that my hand could fall off at any moment. I can see a little concern creep into her eyes and Carly gets ready.

I lean in close enough so only she can hear, “I love you in case you were wondering.”

“I love you too.”

“Alright, you ready to push?” Carly asks.

“Do I have a choice?” Beth kids as she holds her stomach.

Carly chuckles, “Not really, this baby is coming out whether you like it or not.

“In that case I’m ready.”

“On the count of five I want you to push as hard as you can alright?”

Beth nods and I change hands so I don’t pass out myself, “Okay.”

“Ready, one, two, three, four, five,” Carly counts as Beth pushes, her face contorting in pain.

“You can do it baby,” I say, trying to provide support.

“I’m trying but I don’t think anything’s happening,” she yells.

“Push again Beth,” Carly says, watching her progress.

She sighs and does what she’s told, groaning as she does. Carly smiles up at us, “I can see a head.”

Beth gives a little squeal but immediately goes back to pushing as a contraction hits her. She grunts and bites down on her lip as she tries to somehow deliver something the size of a bowling ball out of hole the size of a bottle opening.

“Here come the shoulders, you are almost there Beth,” Carly coaches.

“Thank God because I’m out of energy.”

“Give me one more push.”

Beth takes a deep breath and pushes, giving all she has left. I watch as Carly picks up this little thing covered in what looks like jelly and puts it in the towel on Beth’s stomach as it starts to wail, “Congratulations, you have a healthy baby girl. Would you like to cut the umbilical cord?” she offers.

I hesitantly take the scissors from her and cut the cord very carefully. I watch in amazement as Beth covers her mouth and she touches the baby’s hand, “She’s so beautiful.”

Carly takes her over to the small bathtub for babies and washes her off, wrapping her in a blanket and handing her to Beth’s extended arms. It’s like a burst of energy hit her as she perks up, holding the baby as close to her as possible, “She’s all ours. Can you believe it?”

“I have a daughter,” I say in awe.

“Yeah you are,” she says, kissing the baby’s hand, “You’re not upset are you?”

I shake my head, still staring at this little pick bundle in her arms, “No, I think I’m in love.”

I’m not sure if it’s the situation or the hormones but Beth lets a tear roll down her cheek, “I’m so happy.”

“You were right though, we cannot call her Bethstin.”

Beth chuckles a little, finally taking her eyes off the baby, “I am open to suggestions but I will not name her something corny like Lyric or Melody or something stupid like that. It’s too cliché’ and I will not name her something like Apple. That is not going to happen.”

“I’m on board with that.”

She smiles, “You want to hold her?”

“Me?”

“You are her father, believe me, you’ll be doing plenty of that,” she says, placing her in my arms. I look down at her as she opens her eyes, revealing the bright blue of her mother’s. Little tufts of blonde hair are starting to dry after being washed off, “She has your eyes.”

“We both have blue eyes hon.”

“She has your eyes and my hair.”

“I had blonde hair when I was born,” she points out.

“She needs a strong name.”

Beth peers over to see the baby, “What did you have in mind?”

I stare at her for a minute, “Katherine.”

“That’s pretty,” Beth coos.

“She’s going to be a daddy’s girl I can tell now,” I say, rocking her in my arms. Katherine yawns and my heart melts. I feel the overwhelming urge to protect this little angel from anything as sheer panic hits me, “She is never allowed to date.”

Beth smirks, “What are you talking about?”

“I mean it, she’s never leaving this house.”

“Here we go.”

“And she’s never going to move out and leave us, I forbid it.”

“I’ll be sure to tell her that.”

“No boys. Ever.”

She gives me this look that tells me she thinks I’m nuts, “No boys?”

“No boys.”

“How do you ever expect her to find someone special like you,” she hints, kissing my cheek.

“I was young once, I know what they think like and I’m telling you that under no circumstance is Katharine ever having sex.”

“Baby, every parent says that.”

“But I mean it.”

“Alright,” she says, humoring me.

Carly comes back in, “I have to fill out her birth certificate, have you decided what to name her?”

“Katherine Anne.”

She takes out her pen and fills in the information before signing it, “Alright, I’m going to be downstairs so I can give you two some privacy. I’ll check on you guys in a hour.”

“Thanks Carly.”

She leaves and I look at Beth, “She’s got me wrapped around her tiny little finger.”

“Believe me, she’s figure it out when fifteen years from now she’s asking for cash to go to the mall.”

“We’ll have to monitor her friends. Teach her to say no to drugs and alcohol.”

“I’m with you on that one.”

Katherine closes her eyes and drifts off to sleep as I rock her, “I’ll never be able to let go of her you know.”

Beth touches my arm, “That’s okay.”

“My whole life just changed. Our whole lives just changed.”

“I think that’s part of the guaranteed part. In fact, I think that’s the only guarantee.”

“We can do it.”

“I know we can.”

________________________________________________________________________

“Now Katherine, this is the Red Sox. You will learn to worship every game,” I tell her as I prop her up on my chest.

“Don’t corrupt a one week old,” I hear from the kitchen.

“I’m not, I’m giving her important roots for the future.”

“You’re from Tennessee, not Boston.”

“I don’t need to be from Boston,” I call back, covering Katherine’s ears so not to scare her.

“And those are the crappy New York Yankees.”

Gia comes in and picks up Katherine, “She needs to eat.”

“I’ll feed her,” I offer.

Beth comes out with a bottle of breast milk, “Let him if he wants. I haven’t been able to pry her out of his arms since the say I let him hold her.”

I take the bottle from Beth, “I’m an attentive father.”

“I like the Yankees,” Gia quips.

“Then you need to stay away from my daughter.”

“They only have how many world series to catch up to the Yankees?”

I turn the volume up so she can hear the score of the game, “You speak treason.”

“This is last year’s world series, I know how the game ended. It doesn’t mean that the Yankees don’t rule.”

“You are crazy.”

She rolls her eyes, “You just wait and see when Tyson falls for Katherine how crazy you get.”

The smile falls from my face as I panic, realizing just how much time Tyson and Gia spend at the house with is. I can see the two of them playing games up in her locked bedroom, “Oh no,” I mutter, covering her with my hand, “No boys. Beth!” I call for backup.

She rolls her eyes, “Relax baby, she’s a week old. You have years to worry about it.”

“No boys, not even Tyson.”

“Got it,” Gia says, placing him next to Katherine, sticking out her tongue.

I wait until Gia leaves to have the talk. I face Tyson, “Dude, you know I like you. You are like my own son and this is why I say with love, if you ever go near my daughter I will track you down and dispose of you.”

He looks at me and laughs, clearly unable to process anything I just said, “Glad we had this little talk.”

Beth walks back in, picking up Tyson and putting him on her lap as Gia comes in and sits down on the floor, “Oreos and milk. We have to teach her early.”

“It would help if she actually had teeth,” I joke.

“She’s grow into them,” Gia says, taking a bite of hers.

I look down at Kat, “She’s going to be great.”

“He’s got her heading to Harvard already,” Beth quips, handing me a cookie.

“You’re daddy’s angel aren’t you?” I ask her.

She can’t speak but I know she’s smiling with her eyes. That’s my baby girl. My Kitty Kat.

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