I went into labor early in the morning on August 13th. It was a bright, sunny Thursday. We made it to the hospital with plenty of time to spare, my contractions still several minutes apart. I declined when they offered me pain medicine. I wanted this to be completely natural. Safe. The way my mother did it.
I was there for six hours before the doctor finally told me it was time to push. Everyone except Darry was asked to wait in the waiting room. Riley gave me an encouraging smile, Soda gave me a hug, and the rest all wished me the best. The pain had taken it's toll, but in the same, I felt completely alive. Nothing is more amazing than bringing a baby into the world.
Mariah Shaynne Curtis was born at 12:53 pm. Her blue eyes shining as she screamed. I started to cry the moment I laid eyes on my wheat blonde hair. She had Darry's eyes and nose. She was absolutely beautiful. Darry began to sob when they let him hold her. Nothing was more precious than seeing the love of my life hold his daughter for the first time.
One by one, the gang filed in, each beaming proudly as they held their tiny niece.
"She's beautiful," Riley whispered as he held her. His eyes rimmed with tears.
"Oh, don't you start crying too!" I begged, sniffling. "Look at you! The last time you held a baby you were just barely old enough!" I teased. He smiled at that before handing his niece to Soda, who cradled her protectively in his arms.
"Wow, you two make cute babies," Soda teased, a huge smile on his face. I smiled at him, overwhelmed with joy. I felt absolutely blessed to have had no complications with the delivery.
After everyone had a chance to hold Mariah, Darry carefully handed her to me. I held her close to my chest, wiping the little tears from her eyes.
"Welcome to the world, Mariah Shaynne. Happy Birthday," I cooed, smiling proudly.
We were discharged later that evening. Everyone wanted to spend the night to help with the baby, but we managed to convince them that we had things covered. What with three extra sets of hands, we were more than prepared for the weeks of sleepless nights.
I refused to leave the nursery that evening. Instead, I slept in the rocking chair next to her crib, Darcy curled happily on my lap. Against my better judgment I had allowed the cat to meet the baby straight away, and much to my surprise, she wasn't the least bit concerned about the tiny crying human.
Darry stood behind me, his arms around my shoulders, a huge, proud smile plastered to his face.
"This is our family," he said softly, hissing the top of my head. Then he walked around to the side of the chair and got down on one knee.
"Kaylly Marie, will you marry me?" he asked as he opened a small velvet box, showing me a beautiful diamond ring.
"Yes!" I said as tears rolled down my cheeks. "I'd be honored to,"
He slipped the ring on my finger and kissed me sweetly, the smile never leaving his face. I reached up to hug then, just as Mariah let out a high pitched cry.
"Oh, babygirl ,don't cry," I said softly as I picked her up and held her to my chest. She fussed for a moment, then calmed down, her eyes closing softly. I smiled and rocked her back and forth, my eyes full of happy tears. I couldn't for a single moment, have asked for a better day.
We both took turns getting up to rock Mariah throughout the night, but whenever it was feeding time, Darry would come in and drop Darcy on my chest, waking me up with her tiny purrs. I would smile tiredly and go tend to our tiny pride and joy.
A week later, the lack of sleep was clearly getting to Darry. He was grouchy and often lashed our at Soda or I for the littlest of things.
"Darry, chill, go take a nap," I shooed him away early one morning when he was going on about the amount of laundry that had piled up. Soda was taking double shifts since Darry wasn't returning to work until the following week, and we had all been too tired to worry about laundry. "I'll do the laundry as soon as Mariah goes down for her nap,"
"Fine," he grumbled as he walked back to the bedroom and slammed the door. I heard him curse when he opened the door again and tossed Darcy into the hall. I shook my head and rocked Mariah in my arms.
"Riley, come get Darcy," I called softly. Riley got up from his spot on the couch and picked the small cat up. She meowed merrily in his arms, rubbing her head against his face. "Try and keep her outta the bedrooms for a few hours. As soon as Riah goes down, I'm going to get laundry done," I explained, using Mariah's petname.
"How's she doing this morning?" Soda asked. He was hyper as ever, not showing an ounce of exhaustion.
"She's great," I said with a smile. I rocked her back and forth slowly, watching her as she stared up at the ceiling.
"You look tired," Steve said as he walked through the back door, all three dogs in tow.
"I am tired," I admitted as I patted Hero's head with one hand. He looked at the baby in my arms, his tail wagging. "Where's Two-Bit? He's supposed to walk the dogs," I asked.
"Dunno. Riley gave me a shout earlier and said he needed me to take the dogs out," Steve shrugged.
"Riley, come here," I called, standing, still rocking Mariah in my arms.
"Yeah?" he asked.
"Know where Two-Bit is?" I asked.
"No. I just know he didn't show up at 8 like he's supposed to," Riley said. "And I thought I'd stick around to take Mariah off your hands for a few hours," he added.
"Okay," I said slowly, thinking. It wasn't the first time Two-Bit fell through, but he normally had the decency to call.
"Listen, we got the kid, why don't you try to get some sleep?" Steve suggested.
"I have to clean up still. Darry's all over me 'bout the mess," I sighed as I handed Mariah to Soda. She looked at him, her eyes wide, a half smile playing on her lips.
"We'll clean," Steve offered. I smiled and thanked him.
"Give me Darcy," I told Riley. He handed me the cat and I headed towards the bedroom. Darry was sprawled diagonally across the bed. I sighed and closed the door behind me. Grabbing a pillow off the floor, I walked into the nursery and laid down on the thick carpet. I was so tired, I could have fell asleep anywhere.
I felt a cold nose press up against my cheek some time later, and opened my eyes to see a huge furry head in my face. I laughed and pushed Hero aside as I stood up. I stretched and tossed the pillow onto the now vacant bed.
"Hey," Darry smiled from the table the moment I walked into the kitchen.
"Hey," I said tiredly. He came over and gave me a hug, apologizing in the process. I smiled into his chest, my heart racing, just like it always did when we were close. Even after all those years, I still got butterflies whenever we were together.
"Soda's watching Mariah, Riley's off at the DX helping Steve with something, and Johnny's walking Hope," he said. I smiled at that. "Oh and they cleaned the house," he added.
"I know. They've been such a great help," I said with a smile.
"So, how's motherhood?" he asked, trying to keep the conversation going. I think deep down, he was trying to make up for being a jerk the last few days.
"I love it. Mariah's a good baby. She's not crying all night anymore," I said with a smile. He nodded, he knew that already, since we took turns getting up for her. "Darry..."
"Look, I'm sorry, okay? I'm not used to crying, puking, pooping babies," he said shaking his head.
"It's okay. It takes time," I said with a sad smile. It hurt me that Darry wasn't bonding with our daughter like I was. Shoot, Soda handled her better than Darry most times. "I get it Darry. You're used to teenagers filling your house, not a newborn," I said with a sigh.
"I'm sorry," he said again, this time, stomping out the back door, Hero at his heels. I sighed and walked into Soda's room, where he was holding Mariah, his eyes shining with pride.
"Hey Sodapop, I'll take her," I said with a sad smile. He nodded and carefully handed the sleeping baby to me.
"He'll come around. He just needs sleep," Soda said softly. I smiled and nodded before walking into the nursery, where I sat in the rocker, rocking sweet little Mariah until it was time for her next feeding.