Still gonna dedicate this story to whoever figures out the ending! Who's gonna get it?? Enjoy this second-to-last chapter!
"Merry Christmas, guys," Glory said, as she opened the front door of the Davis manor, and Mark, Maureen, Joanne, Jennifer, and Aida walked in on Christmas Eve morning. Stephanie came forward and hugged Jennifer, Joanne, and Maureen, and Glory hugged Aida happily.
"Merry Christmas, Glory," they replied.
"How are you doing?" Aida asked, giving Glory a concerned look.
"I'm OK," Glory said, smiling appreciatively as they went into the living room and sat around the Christmas tree. "My knees and back are bugging me sometimes, but other than that, I'm good. I'm ready for this guy to come, though."
"Aren't you, um, due in the next couple of days?" Aida asked, with only a slight hesitation. She was much more comfortable talking about Glory's unexpected pregnancy now than she had been when she'd first found out about it three months ago, after Glory had passed out and had been taken to Bellevue Medical Center. Now the girls were even closer because of the anxious arrival of Cole's baby.
"Yeah," Glory said. "Luckily, the teachers were able to send my homework home with you, eh? You're the only reason I'm not failing."
"So go ahead and say it," Aida said, grinning at her.
"Say what? Oh, OK," Glory said, and she feigned worshipping Aida from Monty Python. "You are the best. You are the queen and I'm just a blood peasant unworthy of your presence, who does your bidding."
"Bloody peasant," Aida teased.
Glory grinned. "Well, as long as your 'bidding' doesn't involve me attempting to get off this floor by myself, then I'm fine with your bidding."
Aida laughed and held out her hand, which Glory took and Aida lifted her up to her feet.
"Sweetie, Doctor Rush said you're supposed to stay off your feet," Stephanie said.
"Mom, don't you think my jail cell of a bedroom has been put up with enough?" Glory asked. "Come on, it's Christmas Eve."
"Oh, all right, but you take whatever blame Doctor Rush hands out," Stephanie said. She noticed a pale look on Glory's face. "Honey, I said it's OK. Sit down."
"No, Mom, that's not it," Glory said. She locked eyes with her mother. "My water just broke."
"Just breathe through the pains, Glory," Aida said soothingly, standing at Glory's right shoulder. "Just breathe, chica."
"I can't," Glory panted, as she lay on the bed, waiting for the contraction to be over. "I want this to be over, Aida. It hurts so fucking badly…"
"I know, sweetie, I know," Aida said, casting Roger and Stephanie a worried look.
"No, you don't know," Glory cried, tears streaming down her face. "You're not in labor! This is too much! I want drugs, Doctor Rush! I want drugs!" She looked at the doctor painfully.
"Glory, honey, you told Doctor Rush you didn't want drugs," Stephanie said gently. "She would have given you an epidural a long time ago, if you'd wanted it then. But it's too late now."
"Why the fuck is everything always too late for me?" Glory demanded furiously, as she was overcome with another contraction. She squeezed Aida's hand tightly and breathed through it. When it was over, Glory sank back against her pillows, breathing hard and sweating. Roger put a hand to his sweating face and walked out of the room, after casting Glory an apologetic look.
"I'll go get him," Mark said, and he went out into the hallway after Roger, glad to have an excuse to get away from the drama of the delivery room. Maureen, Joanne, and Jennifer, on the other hand, were not going to leave their niece to go through the pain alone for one second.
"Roger, are you OK?" Mark asked, following Roger down the hallway.
Roger didn't get very far. He was only just before the next room, when he sank against the wall and started to hyperventilate. Mark put a hand on his shoulder and looked at Roger.
"Rog?" Mark asked.
"I'm sorry, Mark," Roger said, tears in his eyes. "I just can't stand to see my little princess in that much pain. I want to do something about it, but I can't, and I hate that."
"I know it's hard," Mark said, "but let's go back in there and be with her, Rog. She may have cussed you and Steph out already, but you know that's just raging hormones. Go be with her. Coach her along, since Cole can't. She'll thank you after it's over."
"Dad!" Aida yelled, coming out into the hallway. "Would you and Uncle Roger get back in here now, for goodness sake? We've got a baby happening here!"
Roger and Mark looked at each other and nodded and went back into the room. Glory, already tired from her ordeal, was being held up by Stephanie and Aida, and Maureen, Joanne, and Jennifer were also by her side, speaking words of comfort. Glory was crying and sobbing and clinging to Aida and Stephanie for support. Doctor Rush, who was at Glory's feet, looked up at her.
"Glory, you're fully dilated," she said. "It's time to push. Push, Glory."
"I can't," Glory sobbed, shaking her head back and forth.
"Yes, you can," Aida said encouragingly. "You can, you can!"
"Come on, sweetie, push," Stephanie said to her. "You can do it, honey."
"Push, Glory," Doctor Rush repeated. "Ten seconds, come on."
Glory finally did as she was told, as she squeezed Aida and Stephanie's hands so tightly, they were going numb.
"Good. Good, Glory," Doctor Rush said. "The baby's crowning. Give me another big push, Glory."
Glory pushed again and she let out a loud cry of pain. Mark, who was standing aside by the door with Roger, noticed him wobble slightly and grabbed him by the shoulders to steady him. It didn't help much. Roger vaguely noticed that Mark was paler than usual, too.
"OK, his head is out," Doctor Rush said. "Don't push for a second, Glory. Breathe through it." Doctor Rush did a breathing exercise and Glory copied her obediently, as Doctor Rush suctioned the baby's mouth and nose. "OK, give me one more big push, Glory. Make it a big one! Big one!"
"I can't," Glory panted. "I want drugs, Doctor Rush! I WANT DRUGS! Oh my fucking God, I WANT COLE!" Her voice cracked and died, as she sobbed some more and surrendered to her tears again.
"He's watching Glory," Aida said, thinking quickly. "He's watching you give birth to his son. So give one last big push for him, come on!"
Aida and Stephanie lifted Glory up, and Glory could almost imagine Cole sitting behind her, rubbing her back and speaking soft words of comfort to her, as she squeezed her eyes shut and gritted her teeth, as she pushed with all her might, willing her son to be born. She screamed as Doctor Rush helped the baby out, and then the pain ended. Glory sank back against her pillows, exhausted.
As Doctor Rush lifted the screaming child onto Glory's chest and Aida cut the cord in Cole's place, a small commotion distracted the five women surrounding Glory. Roger had fainted.
Stephanie went over to him, her mouth hanging open in surprise, and kneeled down on the floor next to him. She gently slapped his face and Jennifer brought over a small glass of water and poured it on his face. A few seconds later, Roger came to.
"Are you OK?" Stephanie asked, looking at him, alarmed, but also trying not to laugh.
"Um… yeah, I think so," Roger murmured. "I didn't really…?"
"Yeah, you did," Doctor Rush said, coming over to him. "Did you hit your head on anything on the way down?"
Roger shook his head. "No, Mark kind of… caught me," he admitted sheepishly.
"Then you're OK. No worries, Stephanie." Doctor Rush smirked at Stephanie, her eyes twinkling.
Stephanie laughed and took Roger's face in her hands and kissed him. "Heart of a lion, you've got," she said.
Roger smiled weakly and went over to Glory as the nurses brought the newborn boy over to her, wrapped in a blanket with a blue cap on, and they placed him in her arms.
"21 inches, 7 pounds even, 5:25 P.M., December 25th, 2007," the nurse reported. "He's a perfect ten on the APGAR scale. Congratulations."
Glory smiled wearily at everyone surrounding her. "Thank you," she said. "Thank you all. I wouldn't have gotten through this, if it hadn't been for all of you; especially you, Aida and Mom. Thank you so much."
"You're so welcome, Glory," they said together.
"He's beautiful, Glory," Aida said.
"He is," Glory agreed, and she started to cry again. "Just like his dad was." She looked over at her father. "Dad, are you OK? You scared me."
"Yeah, I'm fine," Roger reassured her. "Don't pay any attention to me. This is your day, princess. And…"
Glory looked up. "Yeah, Dad?"
"Cole would have been proud."
Glory smiled. "I know," she said.
"So what are you gonna name him?" Maureen, Joanne, Jennifer, and Aida asked eagerly.
"Oh," Glory said, feigning uncertainty. "Um, I don't know… I was thinking… you know… Cole."
Glory could have sworn she saw everyone look at each other, as if they'd known all along. "Cole what?" Maureen and Joanne asked.
"I'm not sure," Glory said, surveying the two of them for a long moment. "I definitely want him to be Cole, so he has something to remember his father by. But what should his middle name be?"
"How about Charlie?" Aida asked. "It means 'manly', which, judging by that set of lungs he had earlier, he's got plenty to show us all."
"I like James, actually," Glory said. "I have no idea what it means, but it's got to be something to do with faith and believing in God, right?" She looked at the others, who nodded. "And that's all I feel has gotten me through everything that has happened these past several months is faith. So I think Cole James Bennett will suit him just fine, don't you guys think so, too?" The others nodded. Glory looked down at the little baby boy in her arms. "What do you think, baby boy? Do you want to be Cole James Bennett?"
The newborn hiccupped and burped. Glory laughed. "I think that's approval enough for me," she said, and she kissed his silky blonde hair.
OK, so I could be REALLY MEAN and not update this until tomorrow, in order to give you guys a chance to guess what the ending to this story is gonna be! But I can't! I can't wait until tomorrow to update this again, so the FINAL chapter will be up by the end of tonight! Don't forget to review, as always!
Until next time, lots of love,
Renthead07