Mark's jaw dropped. Taylor was I labor? She wasn't due for around another month!
"Come on, I'm going to drive you both to the Emergency Room," Benny said hastily. Mark followed him out to the Range Rover. The ride to the hospital was a blur to Mark. All he remembered was Taylor squeezing his hand and cursing every time she had a contraction. Mark finally comprehended what was going on when Dr. Lills came into the hospital room to talk to the couple.
"Okay, Taylor, looks like you're dilated about two centimeters. I'll be back to check on you soon," she explained. "You can get up to walk around the room if it'll help with the pain." Taylor nodded.
"Thank you doctor," said Mark.
Half an hour later, Mark asked Taylor, "Do you want to get up and walk around a little? Maybe it'll help with the pain some." Taylor nodded quickly, and Mark helped her up. They started walking when she got another contraction. She wrapped her arms around Mark's waist, and buried her face in his chest.
"It hurts so much Mark! Make it stop. Please make it stop!" she sobbed into his chest. Mark gently stroked her back.
"It's okay," he murmured. "It's okay. Think about this Tay, you're about to have our baby. You're about to have our son."
Taylor was in labor all night. Mark faithfully never left her side for one second. At 7:15 the next morning, Doctor Lills came in, and told an extremely frustrated Taylor that she could start pushing.
"Ready Taylor?" asked Dr. Lills. "Okay push!" Holding on to Mark's hand for dear life, Taylor began to push with all her might. She let out a cry of defeat, and fell back against the pillows behind her. After pushing quite a few more times, Dr. Lills told Taylor, "Okay, you're doing great. I want you to push with all your might, and you're done. Ready? Push!" Taylor pushed with all her strength until she heard the sound of a baby crying fill the room. Mark got up to cut the umbilical cord, and quickly returned to Taylor's side. A small bundle wrapped in a blue blanket was carefully handed to her.
"Hi honey," she cooed. "Look at you. You look like your Daddy. Here Mark, you hold him." Mark was a little nervous to hold his son, because he thought he was going to drop him, but listened to his wife.
"He's so small," he said in complete amazement. He had helped create this! The nurse in the room smiled.
"So, have you two decided on a name for him yet?"
Several hours later, the nurse, Sheri knocked on the door to Taylor's room. Mark was watching TV, and Taylor was making up for the lack of sleep she had suffered through the night before. The doctors had taken the baby away to run some tests, because he was born early.
"Mr. Cohen, your friends are here to see you," Sheri said. "Would you like me to send them in?" Mark got up, and shook his head.
"Umm, no. Taylor's asleep, so I'll go out to see them." He gave Taylor a quick kiss on the cheek, and went out to the waiting room to see his friends.
"Hey Daddy!" Mimi exclaimed as soon as Mark entered the waiting room. Hugs and congratulations were exchanged.
"Where's Taylor?" asked Roger.
"She was up all night, so she's asleep and pretty doped up from all the painkillers. You can go see her though."
"Me? Why me?"
"Because you're her brother, so if you wake her up…she won't hesitate to yell at you." Roger rolled his eyes while Mimi snickered.
"I've had years of experience with Taylor's temper. I'll let her sleep."
"Smart man," Joanne said. "Okay Mark Cohen, tell us about your son. You and Taylor have been shockingly good about not telling us his name, so spill!"
"Alright, his name is Matthew Christopher. He is seven pounds three ounces, fourteen inches long, and was born at 7:48 this morning. They took him to do some tests, because he was born a month early, but the doctor said that he appeared to be pretty healthy."
After talking to his
friends for nearly an hour, Mark went back to Taylor's room to
check on her. Taylor looked like she had just woken up.
"Hey,
where were you?" she asked sleepily. Mark eased himself into the
chair next to the bed.
"Everyone came by to see you, but you were asleep. We talked for about an hour, and they went home. They're either going too stop by tonight or tomorrow." Taylor gently stroked Mark's cheek.
"You look tired sweetie. Why don't you go home, take a shower, and get changed? You look really out of it. Go home for a little while." Mark looked reluctant to listen. "I'll be fine, don't worry about me. At least go home to shower and change."
"Fine, I'll be back in about an hour and a half. Love you." Mark kissed Taylor tenderly on the lips.
"Love you too."
Soon after Mark left, Taylor heard a soft knock o the door to her room. She smiled when she saw Benny standing in the doorway. He came in, and gave Taylor a hug.
"Hello Taylor," he said.
"Hi Benny."
"How are you feeling?"
"Pretty good. I want to thank you for finding me last night. I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't shown up."
"Don't worry about it." Benny pulled an envelope out of his pants pocket. "Umm, here Taylor. This is a gift for you guys from me." Taylor took the envelope, and opened it. She gasped, and her hand flew to her mouth.
"Benny, this is way too much." Inside the envelope was a check for $2500. "This is too much. I can't accept this." Benny pushed Taylor's hand away from him.
"Please, take it, Taylor. Use it to save up for something fun. Use it for your son." Taylor leaned over, and gave Benny a huge, warm hug. The sound of someone clearing their throat caught their attention. Taylor turned around and froze. The color drained from her face.
"Dad?" she asked.
A/N: First off…sorry! I'll be back on July 16th, and one of the first things I'll do once I get settled is update. I didn't realize that I'd be leaving you with such a major cliffhanger until a few hours ago! SORRY! There are 9 chapters to this story. Chapter 8 is short, but I'll make it up to you in Chapter 9. please check out Off-Set. If you don't know what it's about, it's a behind-the-scene in Rent type sequel (the first one was Rent, but you'll have to read Off-Set to find out what this one's about!). Includes Idina, Taye. Here's a hint at what it includes: Idina and Rosario trying to get Wilson to get a MySpace with a "sexy drag queen username", slight fan fiction bashing, Idina and Adam "fighting", oh, and the best part: REVENGE OF THE FROSTIES! (Watch the Life Support scenes on the commentary in order for that last part to make any sense, or just ask me, and I'll be more than happy to tell you) and those are just a small taste of the chaos! Sorry this is so long, please review! I'll have a little internet access in the hotel in Boston and Scranton, but only a little. See you in 10 days (Lord help me please!)
Tina101
