Mace, everything is going to be okay though.”
“I’m scared to bring our daughter into this world. I want to keep her in my stomach, protect her from everything.”
I turn my head in her direction. Tears are sliding down her cheeks. Reaching up I wipe them away. “We’re going to do our best to keep her safe, it is all we can do.”
Macy sniffles, “I don’t ever want her to feel the pain that we felt. I never want her to feel that, that helpless feeling, the feeling of losing your best friend.”
I don’t say anything for a few minutes because I understand, damn, do I understand. We both lived it and almost didn’t survive it ourselves. The important part is that we did though.
“All we can do is love her, do our best to always make sure she’s safe.”
Macy reaches for her hand and places it on her belly. “Promise me?”
“Promise.”
After a while Macy falls asleep while I sit and think about how strong Macy has been through this all. Think about how I hope our daughter takes after her momma and never lets anything get the way of what she wants. How much fight she’ll have to make it through what life throws at her.
Macy finally gets a few hours of sleep. Mid-morning she calls her parents and sister to tell them that she’s in labor. Her mom tells her that she’ll be on her way just as soon as her dad gets home from work. Madison promises to catch the first flight in. We haven’t seen or heard from her much. She’s been busy, I assume. We used to talk every day but not lately.
I send a text to Alexa and Cash giving them a heads up about Macy. Cash sends his best wishes and tells me he’ll visit as soon as he can. Alexa texts back and says she’s going to catch a ride with Macy’s parents to come see the baby.
The doctor checks Macy and tells her it’s time to start pushing. Macy nods and looks over at me.
“It’s all good, you got this.”
Macy nods again as everyone starts doing what they need to do to deliver the baby. Another hour ticks by as Macy pushes and pushes and pushes some more. I’ve been called more names than I could ever imagine coming out of Macy’s mouth. At one point one of the nurses gives me a sympathetic smile. I just shrug and go back to wiping Macy’s forehead.
“Okay, Macy, the next contraction give me everything you got.”
“Alright,” she answers through clenched teeth.
When she starts to push the next few minutes happen so fast I almost miss the baby coming out. I glance down at just the right second to see the baby’s head come out. It’s the most disgusting and beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. How in the hell can Macy’s tiny body deliver a baby is beyond me.
The nurse puts a blanket on Macy’s stomach preparing for the last step of the delivery.
“This should be it. Push once more and hold for the count of ten and we should have a baby.”
Macy places her hands under her knees, chin tucked to her chest and she bares down with everything she has. “Okay, here comes the baby.” The doctor stands and places a small cloth over the top of the baby’s head as she makes her way into the world. The doctor places the baby on the blanket congratulating Macy for a job well done.
I’m frozen in place. I can’t believe this just happened. I watched my daughter being born into this world. Macy places a hand on the side of our baby’s face and cries. Taking a step forward I place my hand over top of Macy’s.
“You did it.”
Macy glances up at me, tears pouring down her face. “No, Landon, we did it.”
Once the room is cleared out, the baby is washed and fed we have a few minutes of alone time. Well, not really alone now that our daughter is here but time to ourselves. Macy has the baby tucked in the crook of her arm staring down at her. “We need a name.”
“I thought we already had a name?”
“We do but I don’t think it fits.”
I look down at our daughter. The name we picked out doesn’t really fit but we both love the name. “How about we keep it for a middle name?”
Macy nods, “Yeah, okay.”
“Any suggestions on the first?”
She shakes her head. “Nope, not a clue.” She giggles.
I shrug, “Me