Chapter 4

Unexpected Surprise

A few hours later, Jim found me on the couch, staring at the fire burning the wood slowly into black, dusty ashes.

He wrapped his arms around my shoulders and rested his chin against my shoulder.

"Can't sleep?" he asked, kissing my neck gently. I closed my eyes and sighed.

"You guessed it," I said, leaning my head against his.

"Well, I could call in a moving crew to move in all the baby supplies. You and I could just spend the day together," Jim offered. I could feel him shrug his shoulders.

I gasped and turned my head to look at him. "Why would you do that?" I asked. "I thought you wanted to do this," I insisted.

"Yeah, but with you only getting a few hours of sleep and then putting yourself to work, I'm not so sure if that's good for the baby or you," he said, shaking his head.

"We are both troopers. I have been waiting for this day for months now. I am not going to give it up just because I lost a few hours of sleep," I told him, looking back at the fire.

"I dunno Mel…" Jim hesitated.

"I'll take a nap if it makes you feel better," I told him, turning my head to meet his worried gaze again. He stared at me for a moment then he sighed.

"Deal," he said. He sat up and walked around the couch. Then he scooped me up suddenly in his arms, being very gentle.

I laughed a little. "How does it feel to carry your son for the first time?" I said, giggling quietly as he walked towards the stairs.

"It's a little harder I'll admit," he said as he began to climb the stairs. "I better get used to it though. Besides, he will grow up so fast I won't have that opportunity much longer," he said, looking down at me and smiling. I smiled gently then looked away, knowing that the last part was absolutely true.

He set me on my feet and opened the door then led me to the bed. He tore the covers down and helped me in, folding them back over me.

Very tenderly, he leaned down to kiss me. I wrapped my arms around his neck as our lips moved in sync.

"Why don't you take a nap with me?" I insisted, raising my eyebrows and smiling. I could tell that it was an irresistible invitation to him as much as it was an irresistible offer to me. He leaned down to kiss me again and then broke away.

"You need your sleep," he said leaning back up to walk towards the door. I giggled, knowing he knew what I meant by taking a nap.

"I love you," I whispered to him.

"Just as I love you," he told me, smiling his sweet smile. Then, he shut the door behind him.

Suddenly, I was very tired and as soon as I closed my eyes, I was dreaming again.

This time, it was Jim. He was standing in a room next to a crib. And as I looked around, I realized that it was the baby's room. He was gently moving his arms left to right and humming a soft tune.

Then, Jim turned around and my heart sank at what I saw. In Jim's arms, Sam was cold and lifeless. My baby was dead.

I awoke suddenly, finding myself in a cold sweat. Tears were running down my face and I couldn't help but begin to sob.

I laid there for a few minutes, quietly crying so that Jim wouldn't rush up to see what was wrong. Then, after my eyes were dry, I crawled out of bed.

But, something was wrong. I felt lighter. I walked towards my mirror and gasped when I realized that I no longer had a bulging stomach. I lifted up my shirt and found a scar slashed across my stomach. Evidence from a C-Section. An agonized scream escaped my lips before my eyes snapped open.

This time, I threw my covers back and was relieved to find that my bulging stomach was no larger or smaller than it had been. I stroked my belly softly, holding back tears.

I glanced over at the clock and it read one-thirty. The moving trucks were due to be here at one. I rushed out of bed, slipped on some sweats and a baggy t-shirt then I pulled my hair back into a ponytail. I made my way downstairs to find the door open and movers hauling a large box through the doorway. I realized that I was in their way when they began to move towards the door. I quickly slid past them and made my way to the kitchen where Jim was stirring glasses of lemonade.

"Morning Sleeping Beauty," he said, placing individual straws into the glasses. He walked around the counter and cradled my face with his hands. Then he leaned down to kiss me.

"Are those going to the workers?" I asked, pointing to the glasses.

"Yes, but I can carry them sweetheart," Jim said, reached over to grab them. I snatched them out of his hands.

"If I can't help carry boxes, I can at least carry two glasses of lemonade," I said.

Jim smiled and kissed me on the forehead then I turned and left him. I found the two workers beginning to unload another heavy looking box.

I walked across the lawn and met them on the sidewalk.

"Why don't you two take—." Suddenly, a sharp pain twisted down below and the lemonade glasses slipped through my fingers and crashed on the ground.

The pains had me gasping and breaking out into a sudden sweat.

"Ma'am, what's wrong?" one of the workers asked as I was bellowed in pain.

"Dude, she is in labor!" the other worker said, reaching out to help. "Go tell her husband. Now!" the worker ordered as he helped me towards the car. Luckily the car doors were open and he helped me inside.

The pains only grew worse and I screamed in pain. Jim came sprinting out of the house with keys and he was inside the car in less than five seconds.

"Just finish unloading!" Jim ordered, slamming the door and plowing out of the driveway.

I practiced the breathing techniques that I had often watched on TV shows and found that they didn't actually help. I screamed in pain as my contractions grew more and more painful.

Throughout the ride to the hospital, I heard Jim constantly saying words of encouragement. I wanted to spend this time with him, remembering what the ghost Sam had said about my fate in child birth. I kept my eyes locked on Jim's face the entire ride and luckily, his voice and face helped distract me from the pain for just a split second at a time.

He pulled out his cell phone and dialed. As I was trying to concentrate, I heard bits of Jim's conversation. It seemed like he was arranging a pick up for me at the hospital.

Jim screeched to a stop in front of the hospital doors and he was out of the car before it had even stopped rolling. He was at my door in two seconds and he helped me out onto a rolling bed a blonde nurse had provided.

As we were rushing inside the hospital, I realized with a jolt that I only had moments left. I found Jim's hands resting on the metal bar and I squeezed his wrist. He looked down at me as we ran through the hallways and smiled, sweat dripped from his forehead.

For a moment, I forgot everything. I forgot my arriving child; I forgot about my expected death, I forgot about everything around me, including the devastating pain that shocked my entire body. I focused only on his smile. On his face was where I had found my peace for my remaining seconds.

"I love you," I spoke to him in a gasp, then letting out a wail as the pain arrived again, seeming to seek revenge for being forgotten in those last seconds.

"I love you, Mel. With all my heart," Jim spoke, leaning down to kiss my clammy forehead.

The nurses shoved through two doors and pulled the bed beside another one. They quickly lifted me onto the second bed then shoved the other one away.

"Deep breathes, ma'am. It's going to be alright, just breathe," the nurse spoke to me soothingly. They had quickly changed me out of the sundress and into one of those hospital outfits before my doctor had come in.

"Alright, are you ready to deliver a baby?" Dr. Reeves asked, pulling on rubber gloves while the nurses tied on his mouth mask.

Jim squeezed my hand and wrapped his arms around my shoulders. The doctor walked around to the edge of the bed and propped my feet up on two cold metal foot rests. Then was when I began to feel dizzy.

"Alright, Mel. I need you take a deep breath then give me a nice strong push, ok?" the doctor spoke. I nodded.

I sucked in a deep breath, as Dr. Reeves had ordered, then followed through with the rest of his order. The pain was horrifying. It felt as though my body was being ripped in half.

"Very good. Now I need a few more of those. I need you to take a deep breath and push again," he commanded. I did so and the pain grew worse.

I heard Jim speaking soothing words in my ear and that helped a little.

I realized that the room had begun to seem fuzzy and I was growing tired and voices began to echo in my ears. My head lolled to the side and rested on Jim's arm. This was it. But I had not delivered my baby.

I knew I had to deliver Sam or else neither of us would live. I continued to push, ignoring when the doctor had said to take a few more deep breaths and ignoring the excruciating pain. The room began to go more fuzzy and I began to feel numb. Soon, I couldn't feel anything and I heard the most beautiful sound in the world.

I heard Sam cry and the claps of nurses. It was time. I attempted to turn my head and look at Jim who was smiling excitedly.

"I love you, I love you, I love you," I whispered softly as the room began to darken and my fingers slipped from his.

"Mel?" Jim spoke, touching my cheek with his hand. "Dr. Reeves!"

I felt my eyes roll back into my head as I whispered "I love you" one last time before the darkness drowned me.

Wow, it's been an extremely long time since I had posted any new chapters! I'm sorry, but as before, I have been so caught up with school work! I finally finished this chapter though and I hope you enjoyed the birth of Sam!