Emma laid back. Her back had been hurting all night. Beside her Ethan's soft snore's filled the otherwise quiet room. She tried not letting her pain disturb her husband, but the truth is, when you're 8 months pregnant sleep was no longer an option anymore. Emma laid back against her memory foam pillows. The king size bed seemed so much smaller now. She closed her eyes thinking back to when Sutton was this pregnant, she finally realized now all of her sister's complaint's. Ethan rolled over and his hand slid across her belly. For a minute, she just laid there, but it wasn't long before a sharp pain raged through her lower back. She jolted and groaned, "Em, are you ok?" Ethan's sleepy voice broke through the silence.
Emma looked over at him, "Uhh, yeah. I'm fine." She said rolling her side. She pressed a hand to her lower back applying pressure to the achy parts of her backs. Ethan's hand replaced hers and rubbed her gently.
"Are you sure? You don't look fine." He said gently rubbing his hand in circles.
Another sharp pain struck her and she about keeled over in agony. Ethan sat up, "Honey. Are you in labor?"
His words shocked her, she hadn't even thought about labor. She shook her head, "No, it's not time yet." She said thinking about the unfurnished nursery. Even though they knew the sex of their baby, they had been lacking on the babies room. "We don't even have the crib up yet." She groaned as another pain struck her.
Ethan helped her sit up, "Come on, let's get you in the car." He said calmly. She leaned into his embrace and slowly made it down the stairs, stopping halfway to let another contraction pass. She leaned into his body and he gently rubbed her back, knowing there wasn't much he could do to soothe her pain.
Since Emma's pregnancy announcement, Ethan had traded his jeep and motorcycle for a more sensible SUV. Now he was helping his wife into the car and covering her with a blanket. The cold February morning bit through their closed garage. Ethan slowly opened the garage door and pulled out of the driveway, barely even following the traffic laws to get his wife to the hospital in time. Meanwhile, he served through the lanes of early morning commuters headed of to work, Ethan dialed his mother-in-laws number, "Ethan? Is everything okay?" Kristin's voice was quiet. It wasn't like Ethan to be calling her at 5:30 in the morning.
"Kristin, everything is fine. But Emma is in labor. We are headed to Chelsea Creek Memorial." He said into the blue tooth piece that came with his car.
On the other line, they could hear her gasp. A wave of contractions washed over Emma and she groaned, "Oh sweet heart. Keep breathing. I'm getting dressed and I'll call you when I get there. I'll call Laurel too."
"Great! I'll call Sutton, but I don't know if she'll hear her phone this early in the morning." Ethan said as he merged into the right lane, pulling into the hospital's entrance.
Sutton had just spent 20 minutes reading Kendall the same bubble guppies book. The four year had woken up three times that night complaining that her tummy was hurting. She looked at Thayer who slept soundly. She rolled her eyes. Even though it was generally Sutton that Kendall went to when she woke up in the middle of the night, it'd still be nice if daddy took over the middle of the night wakings. Her phone had ben on silent, but the bright light of her screen lit up the room. She sat up and looked at it, Ethan. She shook her head, confused, but she grabbed her phone, "Hello?" She said slowly.
"Sutton, hey I'm sorry to wake you." He said. Beside him Emma rested her head on the window clearly in agony.
"It's fine. Kendall woke me up actually." She said, "What's up? Are you ok?"
"Yeah, I'm fine, it's just Emma is in labor." He said pushing open the driver's side door. He ran around the car and opened her door. She slid into his body and he held her weight.
"What?" Sutton said standing up. "Now?"
Ethan laughed, "Now. Look you don't have to come down right away. But we are at Chelsea Creek Memorial. I'll text you a room number when we get one." He said.
Sutton was already half dressed by the time he'd finished his sentence, slipping on a pair on worn Tom's. She looked at Thayer who was still sound asleep. She contemplated just letting him sleep and leaving a note on the kitchen table for the morning. "I'm on my way, Ethan. Tell her not to have the baby until I get there." She ended the call and pushed the door of her bedroom open and walked up the stairs. She wanted to bring Kendall along, but decided it was better to let her sleep. She pushed her daughter's door open. The room was cold, the soft whir of the overhead fan was the only noise aside from Kendall's soft breathing. She looked at her own baby, remembering back to the night when she went into labor with her. She couldn't believe that four years had passed by already. She sat on the floor beside her sleeping kid. She pushed the long brown hair off of Kendall's face and pressed a kiss to her nose. She sat in that moment for a while drinking in the innocence. Not even an hour ago, Sutton wanted to strangle her daughter, "More milk, mommy." she complained, "Read one more story mommy. Cuddle with me mommy." she had cried a few crocodile tears but it killed Sutton every time. She suddenly missed those middle of the night nursing sessions, rocking an overly tired infant back to sleep. She felt like she had taken those moments for granted, still being so young and self-absorbed. She kissed her daughter again and stood up, "Sweet dreams my love." She said quietly as she slipped from the dark room to the light of the hallway and down the stairs. She grabbed the coffee cup shaped note pad from the fridge in the kitchen and jotted down her note for Thayer. Then she slipped back into her room, grabbed her purse and her keys, kissed Thayer's temple and whispered, "I want another baby." Before she slipped out of the house and into the cold dark night.
Sutton pulled her car into the only empty space she could find. She ran into the hospital and down the hallway. She drew in a sigh of relief when she saw Kristin. "Mommy!" she said. The hospital was pretty empty, at least on the maternity ward, Kristin and Laurel sat in an empty waiting room. Laurel was half awake, her head rest in her hands.
Kristin stood up and wrapped her arms around Sutton, "Oh baby, you're here!" She said giving Sutton a squeeze.
"Where is she?" The 22 year old asked looking around the room for Ethan.
"Room 219. I think they have her resting now. But she's doing well." She said turning on her heel. She ran back down the hallway for the room. When she saw it she pushed open the door. Emma looked up at her and smiled. "Hey, you." Sutton said smiling, "I heard your having a baby." She said moving to the side of her sister's bed.
Emma reached up for her twin's hand, remembering the desperate connection Sutton had wanted when she was pregnant. She wrapped her fingers around her sisters, "It hurts." she moaned.
Sutton smiled and nodded, "It hurt's like hell, but it's so worth it, I promise."
Emma looked at Sutton, "how did you make it through this?"
Sutton shook her head, "Sheer will power and love for my daughter. And you'll get through it too, because the moment you see that babies sweet face, it will all be worth it." She said squeezing her hand.
Emma closed her eyes as another contraction washed over her. Hours passed by before anything major happened, but it seemed like a mix of pain and boredom for Emma who was taking this child birthing way worse than Sutton had. Though, Emma had decided to forgo an epidural when Sutton practically demanded it upon arrival. By mid-afternoon, Alec, Rebecca, Thayer, Mads and Kendall had all showed up to witness the birth just as they had for Sutton four years ago. When the doctor came in the room announcing that it was time for Emma to start pushing, panic washed over. She looked to her sister for guidance and support. Sutton sat by her side, coaching her and telling her that she could do it. On the other side, Ethan too held her hand and brushed the sweaty hairs off her face.
It felt like Emma pushed for hours, only for the room to silence with a scream. A sweet, screaming newborn that Emma had just brought into the world was looking back at her. Emma relaxed and looked at Sutton, "Thank you." She said breathlessly. Then she looked at Ethan, "We did it. We made a baby." she said.
"We made a beautiful baby." He said kissing her lips. It was a little while before the tiny baby, wrapped in a blanket and a cap, was placed in Emma's arms. She looked down at the baby and then back at Ethan, "Ryleigh Nicole Whitehorse." she said simply. The name they'd chosen for their daughter a month ago.
She was so tiny. Ethan looked at the baby, still unable to fathom that this was his baby. He'd created her and she would forever call him daddy. His finger lightly brushed across the babies soft cheek, "Happy birthday, Ryleigh." He said softly, "I love you."
Emma looked at Ethan. The look in his eye said that Ryleigh was going to be a daddy's little girl. She never had a daddy growing up, and the only wish she had for her daughter aside from sound health and happiness was for her to get to be in her father's life. She kissed her daughter's nose, "Happy birthday indeed." She said smiling.