Casey lay propped up in bed, baby name book in hand. It was crunch time. Two weeks until the due date and still no name. Who knew that choosing a name for one little baby could be so hard? They had thrown names around for months with no success and Casey was starting to panic. Baby Girl Venturi just didn't cut it, but at the moment, that's exactly what she was.
Casey looked up when she heard the door open and what greeted her eyes was a sight she knew she'd never tire of. There was Derek, standing in the doorway. He had surprised her two weeks ago by asking her to meet him after his therapy session at the park that was located adjacent to the hospital. They had come to spend a lot of time there the last few months, even adopting a bench that was located beside the duck pond as "theirs". They would come there often and sit on the bench, feeding the ducks and talking. Casey was passing the time that day, feeding the ducks and people watching, when suddenly she heard a loud whistle. Looking up, she had saw Derek strolling towards her with a blanket in one hand and a picnic basket in the other. There where no crutches, no cane, nothing but Derek walking towards her as if on a mission. She had remained seated, as if glue to the bench, when in actuality, she was afraid that if she stood she would find herself on the ground, her shaking legs unable to hold her up. Derek walked up to her and dropped everything, pulling her into his arms as she began to sob. After all this time, it was almost unfathomable to her to see him independent of any device to aid him. He held her as she cried, rubbing her back and holding her close, whispering in her ear that they had made it, that there was nothing that could hold them back. He had finally convinced her that she had to calm down because all the emotion couldn't be good for the baby. He had then told her that Tori had released him and he would be working out on his own from now on. It was truly an amazing moment.
She was brought out of her thoughts as she felt the bed dip and Derek crawl towards her. She rested the book on her stomach and pulled him down to meet her face. Derek closed his eyes waiting for the kiss he was sure to come, but instead was greeted with, "I won't kiss you again until we name this baby!" His eyes flew open and looked at her questioningly. "I'm serious Derek; I can't stand the thought of going to the hospital and bringing a nameless child into the world."
Derek grinned and pecked her on the lips. "Well personally, I think the no kissing thing is a little harsh, and besides, I've told you lots of names I like."
"I know you have Derek, but unfortunately, they've all belonged to girls you've dated at one time or the other. You have to be reasonable."
"Listen, I'm sorry I was such player, but our daughter can't be penalized for it. I told you I love the name Tori and it means something to us also. Who knows if we'd be here in this moment is it weren't for her help?
"Listen, Tori means a lot to me too, but how many times must we go over this? What is Tori short for?"
"Victoria."
"And another nickname for Victoria is?"
"Vicki."
"And I will not have my daughter share any semblance of a name with Icky Vicky."
"Alright, but what you're going to end up with is a daughter named Bertha or Agnes."
She shoved him playfully and hit him over the head with the book. "What you're going to end up with it a bad back from sleeping on the couch if you don't help me find a name."
"All right, all right! Are you positive it can't have anything to do with girls I've dated?"
"Absolutely!"
"All right then, but you'll be missing out on a really great name."
"What?"
"No, forget it! The couch doesn't sound to enticing and I certainly don't want to be beaten over the head with a book again. But," he said with his trademark smirk, "you're really missing out."
"What is it?" she said becoming very irritated.
"I said…"
"No, I said, tell me now or it's my book over your head."
He grinned and pulled her close, kissing the top of her head. "All right, but no matter what, I want no retaliation whatsoever. A simple no will suffice. Understood?"
She nodded her head and he continued on. "All right, hear me out before you say anything. Now I understand that normally these names wouldn't count since technically I've kissed both of them, but how about combining Kendra and Emily's names together to form one name, like, say maybe Kenly? You may think it's stupid, but I think it's important that she have a name that means something to us and hopefully one day to her too." Derek braced himself for her reply but nothing came, because she began crying immediately. "Come on Case, it's not that bad is it? I didn't mean to make you cry. Listen, you pick any name you want and I'll agree! I just can't take this anymore, and the stress is so not good for the baby!"
Finally after regaining her composure she began to shake her head. "No, no, it's not that! It's just, that may be the greatest idea you've ever had! Derek that is absolutely the most perfect name I have ever heard in my life. Under that macho exterior lies the heart of a sensitive man!"
"Ssh, not so loud, I don't want anyone to hear. The sensitivity stays between me and you understood? And besides, I want to make one thing absolutely clear, the greatest idea I ever had in my life was to fall in love with you."
"Fine, but whether you want to let it show or not, that softy side of you can't stay hidden. But there is one more thing; we don't have a middle name yet."
Derek began shaking his head, "Oh no, that's your job. I was lucky to come up with one, I'm not trying another."
She smiled and simply said, "Samantha."
"Samantha? Wow Case, it's perfect. Sam will be absolutely thrilled. I don't think there's a person in the world besides us that worries about you and this baby more that Sam. It's a good thing I'm not the jealous type!"
"So it's settled, Kenly Samantha Venturi!"
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Derek had snuggled up to Casey that night, since it was much harder for her to snuggle in her condition. He was awakened when he felt her slip from his arms and out of the bed. Jumping out of bed he began racing back and forth running his fingers through his hair. "Is it time? Is the baby coming? What do we need to do?"
"Calm down Derek, my back is just hurting. You know I can't get comfortable anymore, and besides I can't sleep." She said sounding a bit sad.
"Hey, what's the matter? Why such the sad face?"
That was all it took and Casey was on the loose. "Do you realize in a very short amount of time we are going to be bringing another human being into this world. How in the world are we going to manage that? I'm obsessive and over analytical and you're well, you're Derek. Need I say more? Can you imagine what a combination of us will turn out like. We're going to be failures, I just know it!"
Slowly and calmly he took her by the hand and guided her to the chair that sat under their window. Pulling her down to sit on top of his lap, he gently pulled her head onto his shoulder and began stroking her hair. "Casey, failure is not in your vocabulary. You're the strongest, smartest, and may I add, most beautiful person I know. Just on your genes alone she'll be perfect. Plus, I didn't think I'd turned out that bad."
Looking up she shook her head, "No Derek, I'm sorry, there's nothing wrong with you. But I was just laying there trying to envision what she was going to be like, and suddenly the most extreme case of panic overtook me. I'm sorry, it's just that my back has hurt all day, and my stomach hasn't felt that good. I guess I'm just cranky. But sitting here in your arms makes me feel so much better."
"I know its scary Casey, but I've never been more excited about anything in my life." Just as he was about to kiss the top of her head, he felt something and jumped up, nearly dumping her in the floor in the process. "What was that?"
Looking up at him with her big blue eyes and a complete look of terror on her face she replied, "I think my water just broke."
Derek immediately began pacing the room again, running his fingers through his hair and muttering to himself. Casey just stood there looking down at the puddles of water forming below her. It was if neither one of them had any sense about them at all. Suddenly she felt a sharp pain course through her body, nearly taking her to the ground. Bending over she held onto the arm of the chair for support. This brought Derek out of his manic mode and he was quickly beside her, helping her to sit down.
"What do we do now?" He asked the panic still evident in his voice.
"I don't know, call the doctor I guess. He's on speed dial, number 18."
Derek grabbed the phone and was soon trying to make a coherent sentence to the doctor. "Hello, this is Casey, I mean, Derek Venturi. My water, I mean, Casey's water just broke and she's starting to really hurt."
Casey couldn't hear what the doctor was saying but he must have asked how she had felt that day because the next thing Derek said was, "she said her back has hurt all day and that her stomach hasn't felt that great either." Derek listened intently and then his eyes became as big as saucers. "You mean she's been in labor all day?" There was another slight pause and then a, "all right, we'll be right there."
Derek hurriedly went to help Casey up. "It's show time, Baby! Ready or not, here she comes!"
Casey could see the excitement in his eyes and immediately began crying; because, in spite of her best efforts all she felt was total fear. How could she not be excited? She was having their baby and all she could think about was how scared she was and how it wouldn't bother her at all to carry her around for the rest of her life. Suddenly, she started trying to put a cohesive thought together and asked him to get her a change of clothes and her packed suitcase from the closet.
Soon they were on there way to the hospital.
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Fourteen hours! Fourteen long, painful, agonizing hours with no baby and Casey was beginning to lose it. Derek was being so sweet that it just made it that much worse. How could he be so calm and reassuring when all she wanted to do was pull her hair out, and then for good measure start on his.
All their family and friends had arrived and would occasionally open the door to see how things were going. Rational Casey knew that they just wanted to make sure that they were okay, but hypersensitive, hormonal Casey felt like she was inconveniencing them by taking so long.
"Babe you're doing great! It won't be much longer and she'll be here!"
"Easy for you to say, this has been the absolute longest day of my life, and quite frankly, I don't see a light at the end of the tunnel Derek!" No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't keep from getting upset. Her head was starting to throb and she felt like she was going to pass out.
"Case? Casey! Casey, are you okay. Come on Baby, talk to me." Derek began to panic as he saw her eyes roll up into her head. He ran out to get the nurse and soon there were an army of people getting ready to move Casey. "What's happening, what are you doing?" he asked, no longer trying to act cool. He was in panic overload and he wanted answers now!
The doctor looked over at Derek and as calmly as he could he answered, "I'm sorry Derek, but Casey blood pressure has skyrocketed. We've got to get her prepped immediately for an emergency C-Section."
"Oh my God, oh my God…" he kept repeating over and over again. Trying to regain his composure he asked, "We're do we go?"
The doctor put a hand on Derek's shoulder and said, "We go to the O. R. and you go to the waiting room. We'll let you know something as soon as we can."
"No way! There is no way Casey's going anywhere without me. She needs me, but more than that, I need to be with her. Do you realize what we've been through in the last year? I can't just go sit in a waiting room while my whole life is somewhere else fighting for her own life. Please, you've got to let me go!" Derek was begging. He knew that he was crying and that he sounded like the most pathetic person in the whole world, but he didn't care. All he wanted was for all this to go away, for Casey to wake up and Kenly to join them screaming her lungs out.
"I know how difficult it's been for the two of you, but right now the best thing you can do is to go wait and let us do our job. I promise it's the best thing you can do for them at this point."
"Please let me know something as soon as you can. I don't think I can take much more of this Doc."
"I promise I'll come out personally, as soon as everything is settled and over."
Derek walked into the waiting room and slumped into a chair. He was immediately surrounded by a multitude of people all asking the same question. "What's happening?"
Derek explained to them as best he could and then asked them kindly to leave him alone.
Derek had his head down and he could see everyone backing away. All but one, that is. He soon felt strong arms around him. Looking up he saw Sam, with tears running down his cheeks, seemingly holding on to him as much to find comfort for himself as to give Derek the comfort he knew he needed.
"Derek, it's all good, Bud. Trust me, you haven't come this far to not get your happy ending. You know that saying, 'good things come to those who wait'. And what could be better than this?"
"I'll tell you what, holding Casey in my arms every night for the rest of my life. I can't do this on my own. Casey has to be alright, she's the responsible one!"
Sam smiled and sat down beside him. "Have faith Derek. Knowing all you've been through, who would have thought you'd come this far. Have faith, Derek, have faith."
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Forty-five minutes later the doctor came out. Derek ran over to him and held his breath, waiting for the words that could change his life for ever.
"Congratulations, Derek! You have a beautiful daughter. She's 6 pounds 10 ounces, and 19 ½ inches long."
Derek finally let out the breath he had been holding and wiped the tears that were streaming down his face. Very quietly, with great fear he worked up the courage to ask, "And Casey? How's my wife, doctor?"
"Casey is resting peacefully. She had a really rough time of it but in the long run she'll be no worse for wear. She should be waking up in an hour or so. Would you like to see your daughter while you wait?"
"No! I just want to go see Casey. The first time I see my daughter will be with Casey. Could you just tell me where my wife is and I'll go sit with her and wait." Turning around to look at his family and friends, he began, "Thank you so much for what you mean to us. We couldn't have done everything without you, and I know how much you all want to see the baby, but could you please just hold off until we see her. I really want us to be the first ones."
He left to find Casey with a chorus of we wouldn't have it any other way and of courses behind him.
When he entered her room, he was taken aback. She was so pale that he wondered for a second if the doctor had told him the truth when he said everything would be okay. He sat there for over an hour, just holding her hand, kissing her forehead and telling her how much he loved her. Finally, he saw her eyes flutter open and she looked at him confused. She felt her stomach and began to panic as she couldn't find the familiar bulge that had been her constant companion for so many months. "Derek, what happened? Where's the baby? Is she okay?"
Derek did his best to calm her down. "Ssh, Case she's fine, while you, on the other hand, gave us quite a scare. But everything's perfect, especially the baby."
"What does she look like? Does she have hair?"
"I wouldn't know."
"What do you mean you wouldn't know? Haven't you seen her yet?"
"No, I wanted our first time to be together. I'll ring the nurse and tell her to bring her in."
Soon there was the nurse wheeling in a small bed with the most beautiful baby they'd ever seen. "Would you like to hold her?" the nurse asked.
Casey nodded her head, unable to make words come through her tightened throat. Soon she was cuddling their baby in her arms. They were awe struck. They had talked about this day for months, but nothing prepared them for this moment, for the complete feeling of love and joy. They wondered if anything could ever feel this good again.
Soon they were interrupted by a knock on the door. George poked his head in and sheepishly said, "I hate to bother you two but the natives are getting restless out here and there may be mutiny if they don't get to see the baby soon."
Derek laughed and motioned for them to come in. Soon there were oohs and ahs a plenty with all admitting that they were sure that they had ever seen a more beautiful baby.
"So do we have a name? Or is it really Baby Girl Venturi?"
"Actually," Casey said, tearing her eyes away from the baby, "we finally settled on one last night. Kendra and Emily, could you both come over here."
Kendra and Emily made the way through until they were standing beside Casey's bed.
Smiling up at them she began, "I hope I can get through this without crying. You two are the absolute best friends a girl could have. And if it's all right with you, we'd like to name her Kenly, taking the first syllable of your name Kendra and the last of yours Emily." Immediately, the girls began crying saying they were honored and they would be the best aunties in the world to their namesake.
"And you, Sam, come over here." Taking his hand she began, "You're more than a friend. You're family and you've been our lighthouse in a year of storm. We'd like her middle name to be Samantha. Okay?"
Sam tried to get the words to come, but nothing did. Wiping his eyes he shook his head yes and leaned down and kissed Casey on the forehead.
Derek finally broke the moment when he said, "Listen, I'm so glad you all came, but it's been a really long day, and I want Casey to get some rest. If it's all right, maybe you could all leave and come visit tomorrow," and with a grin he added, "in shift."
They all left after giving them their best wishes and goodbyes and then suddenly, it was just the three of them again.
Casey offered the baby to Derek, "Don't you want to hold her?"
Shaking his head yes, he lifted the tiny baby from Casey's arms and cradled her carefully. The baby yawned and opened her eyes and what Derek saw took his breath away, Casey's eyes. Casey's eyes were what looked up at him and he knew then and there that no matter what happened from there on out, life was good. There was nothing that could undo the euphoria that coursed through his body. He had used the word time and time again, but it seemed like the only word to describe such a moment, perfect.
Casey looked over at the two most important people in her life. They had made it. Through the raging storm that had blown through their lives to this point, the most amazing moment of their lives. They had survived it and were better for it. How much sweeter was this moment after facing such bitterness in the past. She reached over and stroked the top of her daughters head and looked at Derek. Their eyes met and connected in a way that only they could and suddenly, she was taken back. Back to a time all those years ago, when they had been forced together by her Mom and George's marriage. Never in a million years could she have guessed that that moment would lead to this one, never would she have guessed that a life with Derek would ever be this good. Perfect.
Only the epilogue left!