Birth
Ryan grit his teeth as another scream tore through the house. His hands gripped his hair tightly and his face was hidden in his palms.
He could feel Seth pumping his foot up and down and peered around to see that his face was extremely pale, his eyes squeezed shut.
Todd was muttering to himself. Something about how he couldn't believe what these strangers were doing in his bedroom.
Ryan couldn't believe it. He felt nothing but concern for his little sister. Albeit she wasn't properly his little sister but she was close enough.
What if something happened and the baby needed medical help. He knew that Patrick had turned out to be a midwife but that didn't mean anything. He could be a really bad midwife that didn't know properly how to do his job.
He swore to God that if anything happened to the baby because the guy didn't know what to do, he would go Kid Chino on his ass all the way.
He could hear Sandy's soothing voice through the walls. Ryan focussed on the words and let them wash over him. He could feel his nails digging into the skin where he was clenching his fists so hard.
He glanced at his watch and a surge of panic went through him when he saw how much time had passed since the labour had started. Was something wrong?
Dawn had always told him that her labour with him had gone on for 12 hours but that was because he'd got stuck. Was the baby stuck? He'd had to go into an incubator afterwards because he'd had trouble breathing and regulating his temperature. But Sophie wouldn't be able to go into an incubator.
He was pretty sure that Patrick and Todd didn't have one of those lying around.
A sudden cheer from the other room made his head snap up. He looked over at Seth, a grin growing on his face.
Seth looked back at him, excitedly.
"Dude, I have a sister," he smiled delightedly at him and Todd.
Ryan swallowed. He tried not to think about the "I."
No, he'd been living with the Cohens for 4 years now. It was just a slip of the tongue. Seth had meant "we". The Cohens did think of him as a part of their family and that meant the baby would think of him as a brother.
He cast his worry aside when he heard Sandy's voice calling them. He followed Seth out of the room. Sandy wouldn't be calling him as well if he didn't think of him as part of the family.
They both entered the dimly lit room.
Ryan didn't know what to expect. He had always been the youngest sibling, he didn't have any experience with new born babies.
Vaguely he thought of Theresa and Daniel. If Theresa hadn't lied, he would have lived through this with Daniel and the baby would have been like his own. He made a mental note to call Theresa to see how she was.
The sight of the baby took his breath away. She lay, snuggled in a blanket and asleep in Kirsten's arms.
Kirsten looked exhausted but so happy. Ryan smiled at her and she beamed back at him. Sandy stood to the side and was looking in amazement at the tiny baby.
Oddly enough, it was Ryan who spoke first.
"Congrats guys," he breathed out and Kirsten gestured him over.
"Do you want to hold her?" she asked and Ryan looked around at Sandy, the mixture of eagerness and fear on his face.
She laughed at the look on his face. "Don't worry, she won't break."
Sandy immediately moved forward and pulled up a chair for him to sit on and took the baby from Kirsten to gently hand over to Ryan.
Ryan took her gingerly and Sandy helped him support her head in the crook of his elbow.
Ryan smiled down at her. Her mouth moved slightly and Ryan grinned at Kirsten. He'd done some reading on the internet when he'd found out Kirsten was going to have a baby. He'd found that babies learnt a lot when they were asleep and that included how to breast feed and they often made the motion in their sleep.
He wanted to be the best big brother ever and if that meant researching on babies, he was ready to do it.
During the previous months, Sandy had joked about the two boys changing nappies. Seth had looked disgusted but Ryan really didn't mind.
Sure, it was gross but the baby was so helpless that he wouldn't mind. He wanted to be there for her as much as he could.
He wondered how Trey had felt when he'd been born. He would have only been about four or five but still, Trey had been a good brother when he'd been younger.
He felt her tiny hand grip his hand, that was another thing he'd found out. Babies had a reflex action that meant if something touches the palm of the hand, they'll grip it. He let her tiny hand grasp his finger and rubbed his other fingers over the top of her clenched hand.
Her eyes drifted open and he smiled at her little scrunched up face. She released his hand and he used it to brush a finger over her face. He half expected her to cry and was pleased when she didn't.
He rocked her slightly, remembering mothers doing that when he'd seen them in cafes when they didn't want their babies to begin crying.
The blue eyes watched him and she still didn't cry. She raised a finger to her mouth and Ryan whispered gently to her, forgetting the presence of the Cohens.
It wasn't till Seth began asking how on earth he knew how to do that that he remembered they were in the room. He shrugged.
"She's just pleased to be with her big brother," Sandy commented.
Ryan looked up at him in delight.
This little baby stood as his chance of feeling completely accepted in the family. She didn't know about Dawn or Chino. He'd been part of the family longer than she ever would be and so to her she was her big brother.
Besides, she'd see a lot more of him than she'd see of Seth and he would make sure that she knew just how much she meant to him. He could love her enough for both he and Seth put together.
The End