Johnny had just gotten out of the shower; he had put his uniform on a hanger and put it into his black garment bag. He was standing in front of his locker wearing nothing but a towel. Roy came into the locker room and saw his partner.
"Hey, getting ready to leave?"
Johnny turned and looked at him. "Yeah, I have to get home."
"But tonight is poker; I thought you said you were going to play?"
"I know I said that but I don't like the idea of Min being by herself, even if I stayed my mind wouldn't be on the game and you guys would clean me out." He unfolded a t-shirt and put it over his head; he pulled it down over his chest. The t-shirt was grey with white letters that read TURNOUT COAT FLASHER.
Roy nodded; he could understand how Johnny felt when his wife was getting near the end of her pregnancy he didn't like to leave her alone either.
"All right, I'm sure the guys will understand."
Johnny pulled his jeans up and buttoned them. "I'm sure they won't, they'll probably say I'm whipped."
"Well until they are in the situation you are in they really can't say too much."
Johnny picked up a comb and pulled it threw his wet hair; he set the comb back down on the shelf of his locker. He thought of the men making fun of him, especially Chet and that annoyed him.
"I have to think about my wife Roy, and if they can't understand that then I'm sorry maybe I am whipped."
Roy creased his brow, it wasn't like Johnny to be so snappish. He walked over to the lockers, reached out and put a hand on his partner's shoulder, he could feel the tension.
"Are you okay Johnny?"
Johnny looked at his partner and slammed his locker; he sat down on the bench. "No, I'm not okay."
Roy sat down beside him. "What's wrong?"
Johnny leaned forward and wiped his hands down his face. "I feel like I'm going crazy, every time the phone rings or the alarm goes off I get this feeling deep down inside that it's going to be Min."
"Johnny she's not due for what…8 weeks?"
"Yeah, 8 weeks. If I'm like this now what am I going to be like when those 8 weeks get here?"
Roy patted his partner on the shoulder. "You have to take it easy Johnny or you really will go crazy. Min is 7 months pregnant, she isn't due for a while now you have to remember that and trust that your baby is not going to come before his time, okay?"
The paramedic sighed and nodded. "Yeah, I guess I'm just afraid that something is going to happen when I'm not there." He looked at his partner. "Were you like this with JoAnne?"
Roy gave his partner a smile. "I was worse."
"Worse?"
"Yeah, the last few weeks of Anne's pregnancy we were put on nothing but 48s, I wouldn't see her for two days at a time. I was even more of a basket case then you're being."
Johnny shook his head. "48s? Wow I bet that was nerve wracking."
"It was but I kept in contact with her and I had to realize that I couldn't be there every minute. Anne knew what to do in case I wasn't and that was a big load off of my mind. She knew I would get to her as fast as I could in case something did happen. Does Min know what to do?"
"Yeah, we had our last birth class last week; it talked about what to do if you are alone."
"Did Min understand?"
"She seemed to."
"Then that should be a comfort to you."
Johnny sighed and rubbed his hands over his face again. "I didn't expect to feel like this Roy, I thought it would be a breeze once the time started ticking down."
Roy shook his head. "It is a breeze Johnny, you just have to put your faith in that everything is going to be okay, and you'll be there when the time comes."
The father-to-be took a deep breath and let it out slowly, he turned towards his partner. "Thanks Roy, you've been a big help through all this."
Roy gave him a wide grin. "Hey that's why I'm here Johnny, I'm glad I could help."
Johnny stood up and opened his locker; he took his garment bag out and his keys and wallet. "I better go."
"Okay, tell Min I said hi."
"I will." He started to walk away but then stopped and turned back around. "Chet always wiggles his mustache when he's bluffing."
Roy looked at him with big eyes. "Really? I never noticed that before."
Johnny gave him a small smile. "He does trust me, see you later."
"Bye."
Johnny left the locker room and Roy sighed, he understood what Johnny was going through but he also knew that his partner had a lot more guts then he gave himself credit for. He had seen his partner go into a burning building to pull someone out of it; the countdown to his wife's due date was a walk in the park in comparison.
"Yeah pretty good, the doctor said I've only gained 12 pounds, she's very happy about that."
"Wow Min that's hardly anything, I gained 25 when I was carrying Johnny."
Min was sitting on the couch talking on the phone to Johnny's mother, her little belly had about doubled in size, it was very obvious now that she was pregnant. She was wearing a white maternity top that had a picture of a stork and the words LITTLE BUNDLE OF LOVE. on the front of it. She was stroking her belly gently and smiling.
"Really? Did the doctor say that was a lot?"
"No, not really. How has Johnny been?"
Min smiled. "He's been great, he felt the baby kick for the first time the other day and he looked so happy."
"When will he be home?"
Min turned around and looked at the clock on the wall, it read 6 30. "Soon, sometimes he'll stop off at the store to pick me up some vanilla wafer cookies; I've been wanting them so badly lately."
That made Gloria laugh. "Vanilla wafers? You're lucky; I wanted nothing but pickles and chicken livers."
This made the mother-to-be wrinkle her nose. "Chicken livers and pickles?"
"Yeah, weird isn't it?"
"I'm sorry Mom but that's gross, I can't even get near pickles. Johnny had a sandwich with pickles the other day I wouldn't get close to him until he brushed his teeth about 6 times, every time he got near me I could smell the pickles and it made me so nauseated."
"Really?"
"Really, he promised me no more pickles until after the baby is born. So how has the weather been? Any snow yet?"
"Not yet, but we are expecting some by Thursday, right on Thanksgiving."
Min nodded. "It won't interfere with your flight will it?"
"I don't think so." Gloria sighed. "I don't care if ten feet of snow falls; I'm not going to miss seeing you both."
"We're looking forward to it too Gloria, wait 'til you see the nursery, Johnny totally repainted it when we found out it's a boy."
"What did he do?"
"Oh I'm not going to tell you, you'll find out in a couple of days."
The front door opened and Johnny came in, Min turned around and saw him, she smiled. "And speaking of him, he just came in."
"Can I talk to him?"
"Sure, hang on a second." Min turned around and saw her husband. "Johnny, it's your mom."
Johnny draped the garment bag over the couch; he smiled at his wife and gave her a kiss before taking the phone from her. "Hi Mom, all packed?"
"Hi, yeah pretty much, are you both ready for me to come?"
He sat down on the couch next to wife and put his left hand on her leg. "Yeah we're ready; we have one of the spare rooms all set up."
"I can't wait to see you and Min."
Johnny looked at his wife. "Well you'll definitely see Min, she's getting very round." He winked at his wife and she narrowed her eyes at him.
"Johnny don't tease her, I'm sure she looks beautiful."
"She does Mom and she knows I'm only teasing her."
Min raised an eyebrow at her husband; it promised that he was going to pay when he got off of that phone.
"Uh huh, if I know Min you are going to be in trouble the minute we hang up."
Johnny looked at his wife, he saw her face. "Yeah it looks that way."
"Well then I better let you go, I'll see you both on Wednesday."
"Okay Mom see you soon."
"Love you, kiss Min for me."
"Love you too, I will, bye."
Johnny hung up the phone and gave his wife the most charming grin he could muster; she didn't look one bit happy. "I was just teasing you Min, you know that."
She crossed her arms over her chest. "Oh I do huh?"
"Yeah, or at least you should."
Min turned her head away from him. "No its okay, you don't want anything to do with your chunky wife."
Johnny leaned back against the couch and sighed. Min looked at him out of the corner of her eye and raised an eyebrow; she moved closer to him and straddled his lap. "Now I'm afraid that you have to be punished for being mean to me."
Johnny opened his eyes and looked at her. "So what did you and my mom talk about?"
"How I'm feeling, what the doctor said stuff like that; she's pretty excited about coming."
Min grabbed him by his t-shirt and pulled him up, she started kissing his lips very gently with tiny little kisses, her lips were barely touching his.
"How was your day Mr. Gage?" She moved down to his neck, her lips were still barely kissing him.
"Good, what about yours?"
Min stopped what she was doing and sighed. "Boring, I don't know how I let Bo talk me into already stopping work I'm thinking about going back."
Johnny reached down and put his hand on her belly. "Min you're 7 months pregnant, you're due in 8 weeks don't you think you should be taking it easy?"
"I will be taking it easy, all I do is sit in my office and do work."
"Sitting straight up on that hard chair of yours, that isn't good for your back."
Min sighed and touched her forehead to her husband's chest. "You are going to make me stay home, aren't you?"
"I think it'd be the best thing for you and baby."
"But I get so bored just relaxing and resting."
"There are some little things you can do around the house."
Min lifted her head. "Like what?"
Johnny thought about it for a moment. "Well, you said you wanted to organize the kitchen a little bit differently, that should take you a while."
"A couple of weeks if I take my time."
"Exactly, taking your time is the right way to go."
The paramedic put his arms around his wife and kissed her a couple of times. "I know you aren't used to being a couch potato but there is a little someone that you have to also think about, okay?"
"Okay." Min leaned forward and kissed her husband long and deep. "Did you bring me some vanilla wafers?"
Johnny raised an eyebrow. "Now how did I know you would ask me that?"
She was waiting for him to answer the question, her eyes bright like a little kid anxiously awaiting for the ice cream man to come down the street.
"They're in the bag near the door."
Min kissed him again and got off of his lap then picked up the bag. "All right!"
She climbed back onto his lap and opened the box; she took out one and took a bite. "Boy these are good." She offered one to her husband and he ate it.
"My wife and her vanilla wafers."
"It could be worse; I could be sending you out at 2 am for a hamburger or like your mom, chicken livers and pickles." Min made a face and shuddered, the combination was disgusting.
She gave her husband another cookie and he wiped the crumbs off of his face. "What are we going to have for dinner?"
"Whatever you want."
Johnny got another cookie out of the box. "You're right, these are good but I think we need some milk to go with them."
"Hey good idea!" She handed him the box and got off of his lap. "I'll go get some."
Min went through the glass doors and went into the kitchen; she got out a glass and filled it with milk. She went back into the living room and sat down beside her husband.
"I brought enough for two." She looked down at her belly. "Two and a half."
Johnny laughed and dunked his wafer; he popped it into his mouth. "Min we haven't talk about a name yet."
"I know, but I already got that covered."
Both of his eyebrows went up. "You do, how come you never mentioned that before?"
"I wanted to surprise you."
"Are you going to tell me?"
Min gave him a small smile. "Well, I kind of wanted to wait until he was born before I told you what I think his name should be."
Johnny looked at her, he wasn't too happy with waiting; Min saw the face he was making. "Please? I want to look at him first and see if it is going to suit him."
Her big brown eyes were pleading with him and he sighed. "Okay, I'll wait."
She smiled widely and gave him a vanilla wafer and milk kiss. "Thanks Johnny, I promise you won't regret it."
It was Johnny's turn to provide breakfast, he didn't want to cook so he brought a huge box of muffins and set them down in the center of the table, all of the men came out of the locker room and saw the large white box.
"Gage are you the Muffin Man?"
Johnny got out 6 glasses out of the cabinet and the gallon of milk out of the fridge; he set everything down on the table. Chet had asked the question, the mustached fireman had his arms crossed over his chest; he was waiting for an answer.
"Yeah it looks that way doesn't it?"
"I thought you were going to cook something."
Johnny shook his head. "Nah, I don't feel like cooking today I thought it would be easier to just have muffins and milk for breakfast."
Chet looked in the box, he saw a big fat chocolate chip muffin and he was fast to grab it. "You're so domestic Gage."
Johnny had a stack of napkins in his hands and he handed one to Chet. "If I was domestic I would be cooking."
Roy came in from the garage and saw the muffins. "All right, breakfast." He peeked into the box and picked up a carrot muffin. He picked up a glass and Johnny filled it with milk. "Thanks Johnny."
"You're welcome." Johnny picked up a cinnamon muffin and peeled the paper off of it.
Chet took a bite of his muffin and wiped the crumbs off of his face as he sat down at the table. "So how's your wife Gage?"
Johnny also sat down at the table; he picked up the milk and poured some into a glass. "Pregnant with a very unusual craving for vanilla wafers."
Chet started coughing and cleared his throat. "Vanilla wafers?"
Johnny nodded. "Yeah, I have to bring her a box every night."
Roy laughed and shook his head. "That's nothing; JoAnne wanted cheeseburgers all the time."
"Cheeseburgers? Vanilla wafers? How weird is that?"
Johnny wiped his mouth with a napkin. "Chet I would rather bring her vanilla wafers then have her so sick she isn't eating at all."
The rest of the men were listening to this little exchange since none of them had kids they really couldn't offer much input. Roy finished his muffin and was sipping his milk.
"Min hasn't had any more problems with being sick has she Johnny?"
"No, not since that one time I had to give her a D5W IV, even when we were in St. Thomas she was feeling really good. I thought for sure the airplane ride would make her sick or the food."
Captain Stanley got up and refreshed his coffee from the silver pot on the stove. "How was it there Johnny?"
The paramedic sat back and smiled. "Incredible, the place we stayed at had a king size bed and 24 hour room service, the hotel was right on the beach."
"Did you do much site seeing?"
Johnny turned his attention to Mike. "A little, we went to the marketplace and stuff like that but we didn't wonder too far from the hotel."
Marco grabbed another muffin from the box. "Hey I heard they got a lot of seafood there."
"Yeah we had some at the reception, they had lobsters and crabs and stuff, they steamed them right there on the beach in a big kettle." Johnny shook his head. "And you guys aren't to believe who MacGyver knows, you'll never guess."
Roy shrugged his shoulders. "Who?"
The paramedic's face broke out in a smile. "Earl Stringer."
The other 5 men all expressed their disbelief, Chet made a tisking noise. "Your friend knows that maniac?"
"Yeah, can you believe that?"
The alarm suddenly went off and the conversation abruptly ended, Johnny grabbed the milk and put it in the fridge before running into the garage.
Min and Johnny were standing at Gate 6, Gloria's plane was on the ground and they were waiting for the passengers to get off of the plane; they were standing close to the glass doors. Min was dressed in maternity clothes; she had on a purple striped shirt with matching purple pants.
"Johnny are you sure I look okay?"
Johnny was holding her hand, he turned towards her. "Min you look fine."
"I don't feel fine, I feel like a plum."
Johnny looked down at himself really quick; he had on a pair of blue jeans and a white t-shirt. "You aren't a plum."
"I just want to make sure I look nice for your Mom."
"You do."
The glass doors opened and the couple saw Johnny's mother, she still had that same short ash blonde hair she had the last time they saw her. She was wearing a grey sweater and gray pants, she saw them both and her face bloomed into a huge grin.
"Johnny…" She walked over to her son and stood in front of him.
"Hi Mom." Johnny smiled widely at her and the mother and son embraced. "I'm glad you're here."
"I'm glad to be here too." She let go of her son and saw Min, she smiled widely again, she reached out and gently touched her daughter-in-law's belly. "Hi Min."
Min smiled and hugged her mother-in-law. "Hi, how was your flight?"
"Good, how are you feeling?"
"Pretty good."
She let go of Min and stepped back, she still had a hold of her hands. "You look absolutely beautiful."
Min could feel her face grow red. "Thank you."
Gloria reached out and touched her belly again. "And how is my grandson?"
"Still there, for at least 8 more weeks."
Johnny put his arm around his wife's shoulders, he looked so proud. "I told you she was getting round."
Min lightly elbowed her husband in the side. "I'll round you."
Gloria laughed and shook her head. "Johnny be nice to your wife, you should be treating her like a queen."
Min lifted her head high. "That's right, I am the queen."
Johnny was watching the way his wife had her nose in the air, she had a snobby look on her face. "Thanks Mom, now she is going to be a royal pain."
"I am not a royal pain."
Johnny took his wife by the hand. "Come on Queeny."
The three people started walking towards the baggage area to pick up Gloria's luggage.
The couple took Gloria to their house and showed her around, she was quite impressed with how big it was especially the yard that Johnny really took good care of. They had set up the room next door to the nursery for her to sleep in. Min was helping Gloria unpack; she put the last bit of her clothes into the oak dresser and closed it.
"Do you want to see the nursery?"
Gloria turned around and looked at her daughter-in-law; she was sitting on the bed.
"I'd love to."
Min got up off the bed and took her mother-in-law's hand, she felt real affection for the older woman, the two of them had gotten to be close and Min truly felt like she now had a mother.
"Come on." She led her mother-in-law out of the room to the door that was just to the left of hers.
"Close your eyes."
Gloria put her other hand over her eyes; Min opened the door and led Gloria through it.
"Okay, open them."
Gloria took her hand away from her face and she gasped as she looked around the room. Johnny had painted the whole room a sky blue, there were clouds and a big yellow sun high in the sky. Each one of the clouds had the name of someone that was going to be an important part of the baby's life. Johnny had even painted a small fire engine racing around the clouds; there was a mini version of himself in his turnout coat and helmet waving from the back of the little fire engine. There was also a small building that represented Skidz; it even had the name in neon yellow just like the sign on the club. There was a mini version of Min standing outside of it; the little fire engine was heading towards it. The dark wooden crib was set up in the corner; there was a changing table next to it. The room was not totally done yet but it was close. Gloria shook her head; she couldn't believe her son had done this.
"Oh Min, it's beautiful."
Min smiled. "I know when he first showed this to me, I cried, I never knew he could paint."
Gloria squeezed Min's hand and touched the cloud that had Thomas Evan Gage painted on it. "I wish Evan could see this, he'd be so proud."
"I know I wish he could see the baby, but I think he will."
"What are you two doing in here?"
The two women turned around and Gloria saw her son standing in the doorway. She let go of Min's hand and walked over to him hugging him. "You did a great job Johnny, it looks wonderful."
"Thanks, I had blisters for a week."
Gloria looked at the walls once more, she wiped her eyes. "It was worth every single one."
Min was sitting on her bed, it was bed time and she was waiting for her husband to get out of the shower. She was having a little bit of a hard time breathing and she was sitting still taking some deep breaths. Johnny came out of the master bathroom a towel was wrapped around his waist, he saw his wife and what she was doing.
"Are you okay?" He walked over to her and sat down on the edge of her side of the bed.
"Yeah, just a little breathless." She had her hand on her belly and was patting it. "I think he's pressing on my diaphragm."
She got a pain and she closed her eyes against it and took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
"Braxton Hicks?"
Min opened her eyes and nodded. "Sometimes they aren't so painless."
Johnny reached out and touched her belly. "Those are just warm ups for the real contractions that'll be coming soon." He looked at his wife. "Min, are you scared about the birth?"
The young woman touched the hand that was caressing her belly. "Honestly?"
Her husband gave her a nod.
"No, I'm not."
This answer surprised the paramedic. "Really? How come you aren't afraid?"
Min smiled at her husband. "Because you'll be there, you make me feel brave." She reached up and touched his face. "I'll be just fine as long as you are with me."
Johnny smiled at his wife and kissed her. "You know I'm going to be there."
"I know." She was in her little nightgown and she patted the area of the bed next to her. "Come to bed."
Johnny got up from his side of the bed and walked over to his dresser; he took out a clean pair of black pajama bottoms and put them on. He went over to his side of the bed and peeled back the comforter and the sheet; he climbed in and laid down beside his wife.
The next day was Thanksgiving, the couple got up at 7 am and Johnny put the 20 pound turkey into the oven. Min was standing over the stove doing the cooking, Gloria had offered to help but Min insisted that she was fine. The turkey was ready at 2 o'clock and the three of them sat down to eat, it was the first time Min had been off of her feet all day. Johnny came into the kitchen to eat and noticed that his wife didn't look too good; she was a little bit pale.
"You okay?" He touched her face.
Min gave him a smile. "Yeah, just a little tired."
Johnny sat down beside her and everyone started to eat. Min was eating turkey when she got a big pain, she dropped her fork and it clanged loudly against the porcelain plate.
"Min?"
She had bent her head down a little and when her husband called her name she lifted her head and looked at him. She got another one that was just as strong and her eyes widened a little. Gloria saw her daughter-in-law and she reached out and touched her shoulder.
"Are you okay?"
Min got another pain and she started to breathe hard, her heart was racing.
"I don't know."
Johnny got up from his chair fast and crouched down beside her chair; he put his hand on her belly. "Talk to me Min, what do you feel?"
"Pain."
"Braxton Hicks?"
She shook her head. "No, they hurt more." She got another one and she closed her eyes against it.
Johnny looked at his watch. "That was about 5 minutes."
Gloria wiped her mouth. "You don't think…"
He shook his head. "It's too soon." He stood up and pulled out his wife's chair. "Can you get up?"
Min's knees were shaking as she slowly got out of her chair, she got another pain and her knees suddenly turned into water. Johnny was right there and he scooped her up. Gloria watched what was happening.
"If it isn't labor than what is it?"
"It's probably false; I'm going to put her to bed."
Min had her arms around her husband's neck a little scared, she got another one as he carried her into their bedroom and laid her down on the bed. He helped her take off her shoes and sat down beside her.
"You over did it Min, your body is letting you know that."
She closed her eyes and took his hand. "Johnny, it's too soon."
He squeezed her hand. "I don't think this is real."
Johnny reached out and stroked her belly. "Just calm down little one, your mom did a little too much today that's all."
The contractions calmed down and finally stopped, Min breathed a huge sigh of relief.
"They've stopped." She turned and looked at her husband and the saw the face he was making.
"I guess I did over do it."
Johnny touched her face, relieved that they had stopped. "I should have helped you make everything."
Min gave him a smile. "You know I love to cook, this isn't your doing it's mine I should have sat down more and rested in between courses."
"Do me a favor?"
"What?"
"I want you to stay in bed for the rest of the day and take it easy."
"But I didn't even finish eating and who's going to clean up the kitchen?"
"Don't worry about that I'll bring you your plate and my mom and I will clean up."
Min didn't really want to stay in bed but she knew she better. That little incident of false labor had frightened her and she swallowed hard. "Will you stay with me?"
Johnny could see that she had been sufficiently scared by what had happened, he put his arms around her neck and hugged her. "I will as soon as I clean up, okay?"
"Okay."
"You scared me." He whispered that in her ear and Min held her husband tighter against her.
"I scared me too, I'm sorry Johnny I didn't mean to do that."
"I know."
He let go of his wife and kissed her. "I'll be right back; I'll bring your plate."
Min nodded. "Tell your Mom I'm sorry."
"I will."
Gloria was in the kitchen waiting, she was worried about her daughter-in-law and saw her son walk into the kitchen. "Is she okay? Are you going to take her to the hospital?"
Johnny sighed and shook his head. "No Mom it was false labor, the contractions have already stopped."
The older woman breathed a sigh of relief. "So she's resting?"
"Yeah for the rest of the day, Min told me to tell you she's sorry for spoiling Thanksgiving."
Gloria smiled. "Who said it was spoiled?"
Johnny creased his brow. "What do you mean?"
Gloria picked up her plate and her knife and fork. "It isn't spoiled, it's just moving to your bedroom."
"That's a good idea, let me set up the little table and we can eat in there."
Min had her eyes closed and was caressing her belly. "I'm sorry Baby, I didn't mean to do that I really didn't. You know your Mom loves you and she can't wait to meet you but not until the time has come."
She felt a little kick and that made her smile. "I know it'll be soon and your Dad can't wait to see you either."
The bedroom door opened and Min opened her eyes seeing her mother-in-law carrying her plate followed by her husband who he had their little card table in his hands. He set it up next to her side of the bed and Gloria put her plate on top of it.
"How are you feeling Honey?"
"Better, what's going on?"
Gloria sat down on her side of the bed. "We are going to eat in here so you don't miss out on Thanksgiving."
Johnny came back into the room carrying some food and Gloria got up. "I'm going to go help him be right back."
They brought all of the food in even the pie and Johnny brought a chair for his mom to sit on, he sat down on the bed beside his wife. "Hungry?"
Min nodded. "Starving." She carefully sat up and moved close to the table, her plate was there and she picked up her fork and started eating.
The meal was over and Min burped loudly, her eyes grew wide and she slapped her hand over her mouth. "Excuse me! That was so rude!"
Johnny and his mother started to laugh. "We understand Honey; it's just us we aren't at a country club or anything."
Min uncovered her mouth. "I didn't know that was coming."
Johnny sighed and pushed his plate away from him. "That was great, I'm so stuffed."
Gloria nodded. "Everything came out great Min you really did a good job."
"Thanks, and boy did I ever pay, that was scary."
"You didn't panic and that was good." Johnny laid back on the bed, he felt like a butterball.
"I know, my book says that when the real ones come you'll know it."
Gloria also pushed her plate aside and wiped her mouth with a napkin. "They're right, you will know."
Min turned towards her mother-in-law. "How long were you in labor with Johnny?"
"Only about 8 hours. He didn't fool around, he wanted out and fast."
"Really?"
"Yeah by the time his father got there from work, he was ready to come out."
Min smiled. "How was Evan in the delivery room?"
"Excellent, he held my hand and helped me breathe. He was great you should have seen his face when Johnny came out, he looked so proud."
Johnny propped himself up on his elbows. "You never told me about that."
Gloria shrugged. "You never asked."
"Did he cut the cord?"
"Yeah he sure did." Gloria motioned towards her son. "How do you think this one is going to do in the delivery room?"
Min smiled. "He's an old pro Gloria; he's going to be just fine."
"I don't know Min; there is a difference between other people's babies and your own."
Johnny looked at his mother. "Mom I've delivered dozens of babies most of them in the back of a speeding ambulance."
"That doesn't matter Son, when it's your own that changes everything."
Johnny was lying in bed, it was almost 10 o'clock and he and his wife had turned in for the night. Min was taking a warm shower; she came out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her head and her little white robe on. She saw her husband looking very serious, it was clear that something was on his mind.
"Johnny?" She sat down on his side of the bed and reached out and gently placed her hand on his left cheek.
He shifted his gaze towards her. "Yeah?"
"Penny for your thoughts?"
"How much change do you have?"
Min smiled and caressed his face. "What's on your mind Fireman Gage?"
Johnny shrugged. "I guess I was just thinking about what my mom said about how different it is when it's your own baby. I think my confidence is a little low right now."
"You didn't seem lacking in confidence when I was having labor pains."
"I didn't think about it, I just reacted."
"Exactly, you didn't even have time to think. I know that's how you're going to be when the time really does come." She leaned over and gently pressed her lips against his and kissed him.
"I know you've been antsy lately, don't be. This baby isn't due for a while now and when he does decide to make his grand entrance, you'll be there. I don't want you to have to go to work constantly worrying about me."
Johnny reached up and touched her face. "But I do I can't help it, you and the baby mean everything to me and if something were to happen and I wasn't there…" He shook his head, he got an image of his wife going into labor alone and calling for him.
Min put her fingers to his lips. "Johnny, the doctor said I'm right on schedule, that's not about to suddenly change. The station is 10 minutes away, I promise that if something happens I will call you. You can't do this to yourself, you will go absolutely crazy."
"That's what Roy said too."
"And he was right, so just…relax, okay?"
Johnny sighed. "Okay, I'll try."
Min saw that his pensive expression didn't improve. "So what else were you thinking about?"
Johnny looked at his wife, she knew him pretty well better than he wanted to admit. "My father."
"How come Evan is on your mind?"
The paramedic gently placed his hand on his wife's round stomach. "I wanted him to see my son, to hold him and be proud of him and me."
Min gave her husband a smile. "He is Johnny, he's very proud. I know what you mean; I wanted my father to meet his new grandson too. I wanted to see a tiny baby in his arms and have him tell me what a good job I did." She leaned down and gave him another kiss. "They'll both be able to see him Johnny, I have faith in that and they're going to watch over our son."
Johnny smiled at his wife. "You're awfully good at making me feel better." He reached up and took the towel off of her head, her dark brown hair tumbled down her shoulders it had grown even longer and was now almost to her lower back. It was still damp and he played with the long tresses, curling them around his fingers while gazing at his wife with great affection.
"You're beautiful Min."
Johnny untied the belt on her robe and parted it, it slipped off of her shoulders, he was looking at her with such love that she felt a lump form in her throat. He sat up and put his arms around his wife, he kissed her long and deep and lifted her onto his lap then turned and gently laid her down on the bed.
The next 6 weeks passed smoothly Johnny's paranoia and worry disappeared, he was able to function without jumping through the ceiling every time the phone rang or the alarm went off. The holidays came and went with incident and that was a relief to the couple. The nursery was completed, now the room had a crib, a changing table, and a small dresser with a baby lamp on top of it. The couple wanted to do more but with the baby shower coming up at the end of the week they decided to wait and see what sort of gifts they were given. Min grew a little rounder adding another 8 pounds to her small frame.
Gloria had left the week after Thanksgiving and was calling the young woman almost every day to see how she was doing. The grandma-to-be was very excited about the impending birth, even thinking about returning but Min managed to talk her out of it; the last thing she needed was company. It was getting very hard to do things and every thing she did caused her to lose her breath and get tired.
Min was on their bed propped up with pillows, she had her eyes closed and was taking deep breaths. The phone rang and she reached over and picked it up.
"Hello?"
"Hi."
The voice of her husband on the other end of the line made her smile. "Hi."
"What are you doing?"
"Just sitting here with my pillows."
"Your back?"
Min nodded. "Yeah, maybe you can rub it when you get home tonight."
"Sure I can do that, but other than that how are you doing?"
"Everything is fine Johnny, I'm just resting."
"Roy told me to tell you that JoAnne will be at our house at 11 30 to start setting up for the baby shower, it's going to start at 1."
"I can't believe the whole station got Saturday off."
"Believe me it was nothing short of a miracle but we all swapped shifts so that we could be free for Saturday."
"Should be pretty interesting."
Johnny sighed. "Well its lunch time so I better go eat before Chet eats all the food."
Min laughed. "Okay Honey I'll see you at 6."
"Okay see you then, bye."
"Bye."
Min hung up the phone and leaned back against the pillows, the party was the day after tomorrow and then she would only have less than two weeks to go. She was ready for their son to be born.
Johnny was standing in front of the bathroom mirror in a pair of black jeans, he had just gotten out of the shower and his hair was sticking up. There was a blue folded up t-shirt sitting on the toilet seat and Johnny picked it up and unfolded it, he put it over his head and pulled it down. The shirt said DADDY TO BE it was a present from JoAnne that she had made for the baby shower. Min came into the bathroom, she was wearing her pink MOMMY TO BEshirt and a matching short pink skirt, she had put part of her hair up and left the rest of it down.
"Are you ready?"
Johnny sighed. "Yeah, just wait 'til the guys see me in this Chet is never going to let me live this down."
"You look fine and you are the daddy to be so they can't tease you too bad."
"Ha! That's what you think." He looked at his wife and touched her chin. "You look cute in yours, how do you feel?"
Min shrugged. "Well, I have enough energy for the party but after that I don't know."
"Your family is coming right?"
"Yeah all of them, between the station and my family we are going to be up to our eyes in people."
There was a knock on the bedroom door and Min went to get it. She opened it and saw JoAnne; she smiled when she saw Min in her shirt.
"Aww you look cute, are you guys ready?"
"I think so Jo." She turned around. "Johnny are you ready?"
"Yeah, I'm combing my hair."
JoAnne nodded. "Okay, see you out there."
Min and Johnny walked hand in hand out of their bedroom, they walked into the living room that JoAnne had kicked them out of at 11 30. It was now exactly 1 o'clock and everyone was there, they saw the couple and everyone yelled surprise.
Johnny shook his head. "What do you say that for? We knew about this, it wasn't a surprise."
Min turned and laughed at her husband. She gave his hand a squeeze and took this chance to check out the room. JoAnne had obviously worked very hard on it; they were pink and blue streamers and balloons hanging from the ceiling and on everything. The French doors were wide open and there was a wide variety of food all over the table, also decorated with pink and blue streamers. There was a beautiful blue carnation centerpiece in the center of the dining room table. Across the entryway of the house was a big sign that said WELCOME BABY GAGE.
"Well what do you think?" JoAnne was the hostess wearing a blue flowered dress, she stood beside the couple.
Min sighed. "It looks beautiful Jo, thank you so much for this."
Johnny nodded. "Yeah you didn't have to go through all this trouble just for us."
Roy walked over and stood beside his wife. "Of course we had to, it was our pleasure."
"Roy's right, we had to and we enjoyed doing it." She took Min by the arm. "Come on let me show you the cake."
"Okay." Min let go of her husband's hand and JoAnne walked her towards the kitchen.
It was now almost 4 and the party was in full swing, everyone had eaten and had were now all sitting around the couch watching Min and Johnny unwrap presents. They were almost finished, they had gotten a ton of blue clothes for the baby, he would be sufficiently clothed for the next two years of his life. Bo, Luke, Daisy and Enos all pitched in and bought Min and Johnny a stroller and a car seat. Roy and JoAnne bought them a playpen, Captain Stanley and Irene bought the couple a set of baby monitors. The couple was now unwrapping the present from Marco, Chet and Mike. It was a fairly large package and both Min and Johnny were unwrapping it. They finally tore away the paper to reveal a baby bathtub; inside of it was a big red toy fire engine.
"Hey a fire engine!" Johnny lifted it up and showed everyone.
"That's for the baby Johnny, not you." Chet called out and the paramedic shot him a look.
"Well I know that but he can share with his dad."
Min laughed. "Don't worry Chet I'll see to it that the baby plays with it more than his father."
Everyone started to laugh and the ringing of the doorbell quickly silenced everyone. JoAnne got up from the loveseat and made her way through the crowd, she opened the door and there was a man with a card and a small package. "Hi, delivery for Johnny and Min Gage."
JoAnne looked puzzled. "I can take that, thank you."
She closed the door and took the package over to the couch and handed it to Min, the young woman looked puzzled. "I wonder what this is."
Min set the package down in her lap and opened the card, there was a poem written in it.
"Roses are red,
Baby boys wear blue,
We're out of the country,
But still thought of you,
We wanted to be there on your special day,
Put this tape in the VCR and press PLAY."
Johnny creased his brow. "It doesn't say who it's from?"
Min shook her head, she tore open the package and sure enough there was a black video tape in it. "JoAnne, could you?"
"Sure."
She took the tape from Min and put it in the VCR; she turned on the TV and pressed play.
The tape began to play and Gillian came onto the screen.
Min smiled. "It's from MacGyver and Gillian."
The young red headed woman smiled widely. "Hi Min, hi Johnny, I hope our little cloak and dagger bit didn't confuse you but working for Phoenix it sort of goes with the territory. Well just like the poem says, Mac and I are out of the country, as you know Phoenix is in charge of the peace conference security, so we're in Germany right now."
The camera zoomed away to show the whole room she was in and MacGyver suddenly walked in front of the camera. "Hi Johnny, hi Min."
He had on his black jacket and unzipped it to reveal a white t-shirt, there were big black letters going across his chest that read I BRAKE FOR TEST TUBES.
"In case you were wondering if I got the t-shirt you sent me Johnny, I thought I would wear it." He smiled as he took the jacket off. "It's gotten me a lot of laughs at the Phoenix lab."
Gillian was sitting down on the couch and Mac sat down beside her.
"We put this little tape together so we could be there for you today just like you were there for us on our special day. Okay, let's get started!"
Gillian turned and looked at her husband. "Mac you know what to do." She got off of the couch and walked off camera.
MacGyver got off of the couch. "Now that she is gone, time to get down to business. I'm here today to give my good friend Johnny some last minute rules as he prepares for the birth of his son." He looked down at himself. "But hang on a second and let me put on the right equipment."
Mac walked around the couch and took out a turnout coat and a black helmet that read 51 on it; he put them on and tightened the strap under his chin. He looked very funny and all of the firemen started to laugh. MacGyver stopped what he was doing. "Hey, don't laugh at the fireman."
Everyone looked at each other and Chet pointed to the screen. "How did he know that?"
Min shook her head. "MacGyver has his ways."
MacGyver walked around the couch again and took out some big cards, he felt like a robot. "Boy how do you guys wear all this stuff?"
Johnny shook his head. "We get lots of practice."
Mac stood in front of the camera. "Okay." He moved the top card off; the card underneath it read NO SCREAMING. "The first rule is no screaming, they'll be plenty of that going on during and most likely after the birth."
Mac moved the first card to reveal the second it read NO RUNNING. "The second rule is no running; there is no place to go that your wife won't find you."
Finally he moved the second card to reveal the last sign, it read STAY CALM. "The last rule is stay calm, believe or not, you'll get through the birth just fine and in case you don't there are plenty of doctors on hand." Mac dropped his cards and smiled. "That concludes the RULES of child birth, thank you for your time." He took off his helmet and gave a little bow, he walked off camera and moved it aside to reveal his wife, she smiled. "Wasn't that informative?"
Gillian was standing by some very large wrapped packages. "Now that school time is over, it's time for the fun part. These are the things that Mac and I thought you could use for the baby."
Gillian walked near the first big package and pulled off the paper, it was a baby swing. "Tada, a swing, this will give Mommy a break and provide a lot of fun for baby."
She walked over to the second package and pulled off the paper, it was a high chair. "A nice high chair for when its time for baby to start solid food."
Gillian walked over to the last package and tore off the paper, it was another car seat. "Now I know that you are thinking that your family has already bought you one, but you forget one thing, you and Johnny have two cars, not just one."
Bo's eyes grew wide as he watched the TV. "How did she know what we bought you?"
Min turned around and looked at her brother. "Later Bo, I'll explain later."
MacGyver came back onto the screen; he had taken off his fireman equipment. "Well that concludes our little contribution to your baby shower; these gifts should be arriving in a day or two." Mac put his arm around his wife. "Take care and we'll see you soon."
Gillian smiled. "Don't worry Min; you'll both do just fine."
The couple started waving as the picture faded to black.
JoAnne stopped the tape. "Well that was nice of them."
Min nodded. "Yeah it was, that was pretty funny seeing MacGyver in that gear."
Johnny started snickering. "Yeah he did look funny I'm glad he got that t-shirt."
The couple leaned back against the couch and Johnny touched his wife on the knee. "Well Honey, we have everything we need now except for the baby."
Min sighed and touched her belly. "That isn't up to me Johnny; it's in the hands of our son."
Min was having trouble sleeping; her back was bothering her and she couldn't get comfortable but even turning over didn't help.
"What's wrong?" Her tossing and turning had woken up her husband; he sat up and rubbed his eyes.
Min sighed. "My back is bothering me and I can't get comfortable."
Johnny felt more awake and blinked his eyes at the clock, it read 1 30. "Your back? Show me where."
She turned over and touched her lower back. "Here."
Johnny reached out and massaged it. "Here?"
"Yeah."
"How long has it been bothering you?"
"Since I got up this morning."
Johnny's eyes grew wide. "This morning? Why didn't you say anything?"
Min shrugged. "It's been bothering me for weeks now but today it's been worse."
She started rubbing her lower belly, she was getting cramps, Johnny saw her rubbing that area. "Why are you doing that?"
"It's cramping."
Johnny nodded and pulled back the covers, he got up and walked over to his dresser and opened a drawer. He took out a clean shirt and put it on. Min was watching him and she creased her brow. "What are you doing?"
Johnny opened her closet door and took out her little suitcase and set it by the foot of the bed, he sat down on the bed and touched his wife's hands. "Min, I think we should take a trip to Rampart."
"Why?"
Johnny swallowed hard. "Because, I think you're in labor."
Min looked at her husband and shook her head. "No I don't think so, everyone keeps saying I'll know when it happens, my back is bothering me but that's all."
"All day? I think you're in labor, let's get dressed and go to the hospital." He pulled on her hands and that made her get out of bed and stand up.
"Johnny I don't want to make a trip to Rampart for no reason."
"Just humor me, okay?"
Min lifted her nightgown up over her stomach, she stretched up and lifted it over her head, the minute she brought her body out of the stretch she got a big pain, it started in her back and wrapped around her. She gasped and touched her stomach; her eyes were a little big as she looked at her husband.
"Braxton Hicks?"
She shook her head slowly as another strong pain hit her, she suddenly felt something warm run down her left leg, she knew instantly what it was and she swallowed hard.
"Johnny…I think you're right, let's go to Rampart."
Johnny saw the look on his wife's face. "Why do you suddenly want to go?"
Min closed her eyes briefly as she got another pain. "I think my water just broke."
END.
