The young doctor smiled. “Then my work here is finished. I’ll be by to check on you later.”
“Thanks, Doc,” Will said.
“You got it.”
“Phew,” Cameron said on a long exhale when they were alone again. “Thank God for drugs.”
“I was just thinking the same thing.”
After the epidural, Cameron was able to get some much-needed rest before her labor reached the next stage two hours later. Suddenly, everything seemed to happen much more quickly.
“Would you mind asking your mom to come in?” Cameron asked, looking at Will with eyes gone wild now that the big moment had arrived.
“I’ll get her.” Will fetched his mother from the waiting room. In the one minute he’d been gone, Cameron’s legs had been hoisted onto some contraption, and the energy in the room had changed considerably. Suddenly, he couldn’t move or breathe or cope with the wave of fear that threatened to drag him under.
If anything happened to her, he would die. It was that simple.
“Will.”
His mother’s voice reached him through the panic.
She took hold of his arm and looked up at him. “Breathe.”
He forced air past the panic. Cameron needed him. This was no time for a meltdown. The doctors had told them it was perfectly safe for her to have a baby. He needed to have faith in their expertise.
“Will.” Cameron reached out to him again as if she knew what he was thinking. She probably did. Her family history had weighed heavily on both their minds throughout her pregnancy.
Will went to her. “How can I help?”
“Get behind her and support her back and shoulders,” the doctor said.
He was a stranger to them, which was another source of stress. All their careful planning was for naught, because she was about to give birth hours from the hospital they’d chosen and the doctor who’d followed her pregnancy. However, this doctor had consulted with that doctor, was up to speed on Cam’s family history and was going to deliver their baby whether that had been the plan or not.
Over the next hour, he tried to stay calm while Cameron fought an epic battle to deliver their baby.
“Talk to me,” she said on a break from pushing.
“I’m here, love, and you’re doing so great. Does it hurt?”
“No, just a lot of pressure.”
“You’re getting so close, Cam,” Molly said as she ran a cool cloth over Cameron’s face.
“Thanks for coming in,” Cameron said. “You’re the closest thing to a mother I’ve ever had.”
Visibly moved by Cameron’s statement, Molly said, “I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.”
“How’d you do this ten times?” Cameron asked.
“Ten times?” the doctors and nurses said as a chorus.
Even Will laughed at their reactions. “I’m number two of ten, including two sets of twins.”
“Wow,” Dana said. “That’s amazing.”
“The last five fell out,” Molly said, making them laugh again. “It’s the first five that were a real bitch.”
Soon it was time to push again, and Will lost track of time as he stayed completely focused on Cameron. Like fathers everywhere, he felt like an incompetent wimp in the midst of her heroic effort.
At three forty-six in the morning, a lusty wail alerted them to the arrival of their baby.
“You have a son,” the doctor said. “And he’s beautiful.” The doctor wrapped his red little body in a blanket and handed him over to his sobbing parents and grandmother.
“Oh, look at him,” Molly said. “He’s perfect.”
Will couldn’t stop staring at his scrunched-up little face, the smattering of dark hair on his head, the little pink lips and the tiny tongue that quivered when he cried. He was the most miraculous thing Will had ever seen.
“Hi, little man,” Cameron cooed to him.
He immediately stopped crying.
“He knows your voice,” Dana said. “Keep talking to him.”
“This is your daddy. Say hi, Daddy.”
Will wiped tears from his face. “Hey, buddy. It sure is nice to meet you.” He reached around Cameron to free the baby’s arms so he could shake hands with his son. He had a son!
“Do you guys mind if I get the grandfathers?” Molly asked. “Patrick must be beside himself by now.”
“Please do get them,” Cam said.
“Before I go, does he have a name?”
Cameron looked back at Will, and he nodded.
“His name,” Cameron said, “is Chase Murphy Abbott. Chase was my mother’s maiden name.”
“Oh, I like that. It’s a beautiful tribute to your mother, and you’ve made it so all our baby grandchildren have C names.”