Thank-you for the reviews on the last chapter they were greatly appreciated. Thank-you all so much*
TWO MONTHS LATER:
Our time in Hawaii was beautiful celebrating the first week with our family, celebrating Joe's 33rd birthday and getting married having the most beautiful wedding I have ever seen in my life. Marrying Joe was the best day of my life and it was everything I wanted it to be. I am happy to say that I am Mrs. Audrey Anoa'i, I thought about hyphenating my last name with his but I chose to take on his last name as my own. The second week in Hawaii was just the two of us celebrating our marriage and enjoying the island on our own from hiking volcanoes, watching Sea Turtles in the reef, enjoying nightly Luaus and spending time on the beach, watching the sunrise and watching it set. It all happened too fast and we were back in New York but just for a short time. We were back in New York for about a week before Joe and I found a house online in Pensacola that we thought was beautiful so we made a trip to Pensacola to see it in person. The pictures we saw online didn't even do it justice it was even more beautiful in person with 4 bedrooms, one being a beautiful master bedroom with a beautiful master bathroom with a shower, Jacuzzi bath tub, beautiful walk in closets, a living room, family sitting room, laundry room, an office, a beautiful kitchen with granite counter tops and tiled floors, stainless steel fridge and oven. There is a dining room for us to use for more formal dining settings and a fenced in backyard with an in-ground pool and enough space for a swingset for the baby when he arrives. It was amazing, we put a bid on it and in a couple days it was accepted and we had a beautiful house in Pensacola with the best part of it being just a few houses down from Joe's sister's house and a block away from our parents. We have been living in Pensacola for a month now and we are still getting settled in.
Other than moving to Florida Joe has been undergoing his treatments for his Leukemia so it's been hard on both of us as I am not allowed around him after he gets a treatment for a couple days but it really also takes a lot of out him, he's nauseous and tired so he spends the first couple days sleeping in the guest room. They have been talking about him possibly getting chemo as well as the radiation is not the main treatment. He has the best doctor on his case and his medical bills are being paid for by WWE. It's just been a long couple months with him getting his treatment but he has chosen to not start his chemo until after we have the baby which isn't for another 3 weeks at least but between his treatments and getting settled into our new home we have been planning our baby shower while Joe has been working on the baby's nursery while he was feeling his best. Our baby shower is officially today and that's the day Joe told me I could see the nursery he's been working on. I am pretty excited about seeing it. I'm in our bedroom getting dressed for the day trying to find something to wear, I promise myself if I ever get pregnant again I will make sure my ending months are NOT during the Florida summer months it's been unbearable.
I put on a white off the shoulder with black polka dots maternity dress to wear as I feel a little bit of pain in my stomach, I hold my breath before I breathe through it. I'm pretty sure it's just a Braxton hicks contraction, I have had them a lot lately in fact we were just at the hospital last week because I thought I was in labor but it turned out to just be Braxton Hicks. I don't want to hurry to the hospital if I'm not really in labor. "You okay?" asks Joe as he comes into the bedroom that we chose to paint a pale yellow giving off a nice peaceful feeling.
"Yeah, I was just having a little bit of pain nothing serious."
"You sure? You've been having those pains consistently since last night. Maybe we should blow off the baby shower and go to the hospital to make sure everything is all right."
"Joe," I say looking at him dressed in a black polo shirt with blue jeans and his hair pulled up into a bun, it's looking a little thinner since his treatments but his beard is growing in pretty thick. I like it and since he's not on tv he's decided he wants to grow out a beard. It looks good on him and fills out his face although I miss those dimples. "I'm fine, everything is fine. We don't need to go to the hospital."
"Well, if they come more often and start to hurt more we are going to the hospital baby shower or not," he says.
"All right," I say brushing through my hair. "Can you help me put my sandals on? I haven't seen my feet for a while now and putting my shoes on is exhausting, I'm exhausted," I say.
"Well, we are winding down to the end of this pregnancy," he says, "so we're almost done."
"Thank God, I can't wait to see our son but Joe you are not allowed to ever get me pregnant in December again. We can get pregnant in the summer months so that I am not pregnant over the summer." He lets out a laugh as I sit down on the bed for him to help me. "I'm serious this is too hot for me, my feet are swollen and I am a hot mess literally."
"I think you're beautiful," he smiles as he puts my sandal on for me. "Absolutely beautiful, but you know we need to get pregnant when we can if we can."
"I know," I say knowing that his doctor told him with the high levels of radiation he has been receiving he may not be able to make a baby again. I am fine with our son but I wish and hope that one day we can have another baby but it's all up to God and what he chooses to do in our lives the main goal is just for Joe to go into remission we can worry about the rest later. "Thanks, Baby," I say with a smile as he straps my last sandal and helps me up off the bed.
"You're welcome," he smiles, "are you ready to see the nursery?"
"I've been ready," I say with a smile, "can I see it before the baby shower?"
"That's the plan," he says before I take his hand, lacing our fingers together before we walk to the room across the hall from ours. The white door is shut and Joe puts his hand on the door knob. "You sure you're ready?"
"I'm sure," I say with a smile.
"All right, close your eyes." I close my eyes and I hear him open the door before he guides me into the room. "All right," he says, "you can open your eyes now." I open my eyes and I am amazed by the sight before me. The room is painted grey with silver and gold stars all over the room. Above his white wooden crib is a little boy sitting on the moon with the baby's name on the wall. His crib bedding grey and light green with stars on the blankets with a star mobile hanging over the crib, on top of his dresser is a shadow box of Jordan's ultrasound picture with a blue and pink heart with a baby inside of it representing Jordan at the time of his death. I nearly broke down in tears the day Joe gave me that gift but I wanted it to be in the nursery. There is a cubicle with stuffed animals sitting on top of it with Twinkle Twinkle Little Star painted over the cubicle. There is a cream colored rocking chair in the corner with a giant elephant stuffed animal sitting next to it. His changing table has all the important essentials and then Joe takes me over to the closet to show me his clothes hanging in the closet and his little Jordan booties and sneakers sitting in an organizer in the closet. I smile at the wall art around the room one that says you are our BIGGEST and most AMAZING adventure! You LITTLE one are so LOVED! Then there is another one that says I see the moon, the moon sees me, the moon sees the one I long to see, so God bless the moon and God bless me and God bless the one I long to see. It seems to me that God above created you for me to love. He picked you out from all the rest because he knew I'd love you best. "What do you think?"
"It is amazing, I love it, it's perfect," I say.
"I'm so glad," he says wrapping me up in a hug. "You think he's going to love it?"
"I think he might," I say with a smile. "I know I do. Thank-you, Baby." I give him a soft kiss on the lips. I break it with a smile, "I love you."
"I love you too," he says, "and I figure next week we can pack your hospital bag and I can work on getting the car seat in the car."
"It shouldn't be that complicated," I say.
"I don't know, I just want everything to be perfect."
"It already is," I say, "you're going to be an amazing dad."
"Thank-you, and you're going to be an amazing mom," he says with a smile before he kisses my lips again. "All right, it's time to go to this baby shower so that our baby can be showered in love. He is already so spoiled."
"Just well loved," I smile.
A few minutes after leaving our house we arrive at my parents' house for our baby shower. I haven't told Joe that my contractions are coming more frequently maybe about every 20 minutes which is enough time for me to enjoy my baby shower. My parents' backyard is decorated for the baby shower with lots of blue and grey balloons everywhere on the patio, tied to chairs, a table with lots of gifts for us and the baby. I don't know what was left on our registry as Joe and I bought the baby a lot of things already. The food is a combination of island food and Italian food for my family and for Joe's family. We greet our friends and family when we arrive. "How are you feeling today, Audrey?" asks my mom.
"Ready to have this little guy," I say rubbing my stomach. "I feel like it's going to be really soon. I can't take this heat anymore."
"I know, it won't be long," she says with a smile. "And you're going to breast feed him?"
"Definitely," I say. "I'm going to try not that I have anything against formula feeding I feel better breast feeding him, it's healthier but it all depends on if I can produce milk and his appetite I mean after all this is Joe's baby I am sure he will be an eater."
She laughs and says, "Yeah, I'm sure. I wish you would tell us his name."
"It's a secret until he's born all we can tell you is his initials are MAA."
"That's no fun it can be anything," she says. "If you would have given us his name we would have been able to put it on the cake." I look at the cake and see it decorated with white frosting, blue border with the moon and stars in the corner and blue writing that says Welcome Baby Boy.
"I think the cake looks just fine," I say with a smile as Joe brings me a plate of food. "Thanks, Baby but I am not really that hungry. I'm still having those pains."
"What pains?" asks my mom.
"Just contraction like pain but I'm sure it's nothing," I say.
"Remember what I said, Audrey."
"I know if they get closer then we will go to the hospital, but I am fine right now," I say, "let's enjoy this and celebrate our baby boy."
"Okay," he says. We take a seat to eat and once we are done eating the games begin with seeing how big my stomach is, then the baby food game where you feed someone baby food blind folded followed by guess what's in the diaper. There's a guessing game going on how much he will weigh and when he will be born. A lot of people are guessing he will be at least 8lbs and someone guessed he will be born on August 10th. We will find out soon enough as my contractions are getting stronger and closer together by the time we sit down to open our gifts from our friends and family they are at least 5-7 minutes apart.
We are about halfway through opening our gifts that have consisted of cute little outfits and much to my dismay 49ers onesie, hat and booties, pacifiers, bottles, a breast pump, teethers, rattles, blankets, sleepers, onesies, burp cloths and so much more. I bend over to pick up the next present and feel a gush of liquid between my legs. "Joe," I say. "I think my water just broke."
"What?" he asks. "Are you sure?"
"Yeah, I think the baby is coming," I say. "I'm in labor."
"YOU ARE IN LABOR?!" asks my mom, "you're not due for 3 more weeks."
"I don't think the baby wants to wait for 3 more weeks," I say standing up to see the proof that my water did break.
"All right," says Joe, "let's not panic, let's get you to the hospital."
"But I don't have a hospital bag packed and I don't have his coming home outfit," I say. "I am not ready."
"You may not be ready," says Joe, "but he's ready. We will take care of that later. Right now we need to get you to the hospital."
"Okay," I say. "Okay."
"All right," says Joe, "my son is coming! MY SON is COMING!"
"You all right to drive her, Joe?" asks my mom.
"Maybe someone else could drive so I can work with Audrey on her breathing."
"I'll drive," says Dean Ambrose.
"Okay," says Joe.
"And we will follow behind," says my mom.
"Us too," says Monica. "Our grandson is coming. I can't wait for another one."
Joe gets us into Dean's rental car as Dean gets into the driver's seat. Joe sits in the back with me and works with me on my breathing on our way to the hospital.
When we arrive at the hospital we check in and they send us up to labor and delivery. I am taken to an examine room right away. They hook me up to the monitors and to check on the baby's heartbeat. The doctor comes in shortly to check on me. "I heard that you might be in labor," she says as she gets herself prepped to examine me. "And your water broke?"
"It definitely broke," I say as she comes over.
"Let me see, you still have 3 weeks to go," she says taking a seat, "but he could be early." She helps me put my legs up and takes a look, sticking her hand inside of me, I wince. "Well, I think it's time to get you to the delivery room, that baby boy is RIGHT there, you're 10 cm dilated. This is going to go quick. There is no time for the epidural. We are going to get you to the delivery room and have you start pushing."
"Wow, I didn't know it was going to go THIS fast."
"Every woman is different," she says, "Some can go fast and others can go long. Every woman and every pregnancy is different so let's get you to the delivery room."
"Joe," I say, "we are having our baby."
"I can't believe it," he says before he leans down and kisses my lips softly. "This is it. I'm going to go tell our parents. I will be right back."
"Okay," I say before he runs off to the waiting room to tell our parents as they wheel me to the delivery room and start to prep me for giving birth.
Joe runs back into the room and to my side as the doctor preps herself to deliver our son. I watch as the nurses start to get everything together with the incubator, the aspirator, the blanket. Everything is ready for him. Joe takes my hand and kisses the top of my head. "All right, Audrey, I'm going to tell you when to push and when to stop. Hopefully within a few minutes your baby will be here but sometimes pushing can take up to an hour but like I said this is going to go fast." I nod as I hold onto Joe's hand filled with excitement and joy to finally meet our baby boy. "All right, Audrey, give me a big push." I squeeze Joe's hand as I push. "All right, stop," she instructs. "And push," she says again before I push again. "Good you're doing good," she says.
"You got this Baby Girl," says Joe before he kisses the top of my head and he works on my breathing with me as I push and stop and push.
"Okay, give me one big push, Audrey." I give a big push and suddenly I feel the worst pain of my life and a burning sensation between my legs. "His head is right there, you're crowning, push again." I give her another push and then another push before I feel him between my legs. "His head is out," she says, "dad, do you want to see?" she asks.
"Yes," he says. Joe looks down and I see the tears in his eyes, "Beautiful, and that's a LOT of hair," he says. "He has a lot of hair," he says to me. "And he is so beautiful."
"All right, Audrey, push again," she instructs. I push again and keep pushing until the sounds of my son fill the room. "It's a boy!" she says, "It's a boy."
"Oh my God, he's beautiful," says Joe with tears in his eyes. "We have a son!"
The nurse lays him on my chest as I give birth to my placenta. Tears fill my eyes as I see him, he is beautiful, a mini Joe for sure with a head full of black hair. "Hey, Baby Boy," I say holding back from breaking down. "Hey," I say. "He's beautiful," I say. "We did good, Joe."
"Yes we did," he says smiling down at the tiny well not so tiny life we created before the nurse takes him to clean him up. She rubs him down, weighs him and wraps him up in a blanket, puts a blue cap on his head before she hands him to me.
"Congratulations," she says with a smile, "he is a healthy baby boy. His vitals are good and he was 7lbs 11 oz. and 20 ½ inches long."
"Thank-you," I say with a smile as I admire our son. July 31st, 2018 I became a mother. It was three weeks early but he is perfect. He sleeps in my arms as I hold him and Joe leans down looking at him with pride. "He is so beautiful, so perfect."
"He really is," says Joe. "We did it Audrey, we have a baby."
"I can't believe it. I'm a mother now," I say. "And you're a father and our child is beautiful. Hey there little guy , welcome to the world. Your daddy and me are so happy to finally meet you. We have waited for so long to meet you. You're perfect and we love you so much already. We are going to do everything to give you the world and make sure you know how much we love you." I lean down and kiss his cheek and he lets out a little grunt. "Look at those fingers, they are so long."
"They are, I think he takes after his daddy," he says with a smile. "Can I hold him?"
"Sure," I say with a smile as I hand him to him. I smile as I watch my husband and our son. I know that he is going to be the best father to him. Joe is really good with kids so I am not worried about how well he is going to do with our son.
"Hey there little guy, I'm your daddy and I can't even put into words how much I love you. You're so perfect. I have prayed for you for so long. I hope I don't mess this whole thing up but I am going to try to be the best daddy to you that I can, show you how much I love you and I will always be here for you. Welcome to the world , Baby M. I love you so much, I prayed for so long to hold you in my arms to see your beautiful face. I have so many hopes and dreams for you. You're never going to want or need anything. We are going to give you the world," he says as tears fill my eyes. "I love you, M," he says before he kisses his head softly before handing him back to me so that I can try to nurse him. He latches right on and starts to eat. When he finishes Joe asks me, "are you ready for everyone to meet him?"
"Yeah, I'm ready," I say with a smile. "I know our moms are dying to meet him so bring them in."
"All right," he says. He kisses my lips softly and then kisses the baby's forehead before he leaves to get our family.
A few minutes later the room is filled with his parents, my parents, my brothers and his sister. "He doesn't look that big," says Monica.
"7lbs is big for a baby born 3 weeks early," I say with a smile, "so he was a pretty big boy. It didn't hurt as bad as I thought it would but it all happened so fast."
"That was a fast delivery," says my mom. "So can we see the beautiful baby?"
"Yeah," I say as Joe stands next to me, "and wait until you see his hair, he has SO much hair."
"He really does," says Joe with a proud smile. "So everyone we want you to meet Matthew Alexander Anoa'i," he says with a smile as I show him to everyone.
"Aka mini Joe," I say with a smile.
"He looks JUST like Joe did when he was a baby except I think he has your nose Audrey."
"Yes, that's a Romano nose if I have ever saw one," says my dad making me smile.
"Matthew?" asks Monica.
"Matthew," I say with a smile, "we chose Matthew for a couple of reasons. One we wanted to name him after Matt because I know how close Joe and Matt were. We wanted to give him his Uncle's namesake and two because Matthew means Gift of God and after we lost Jordan Matthew was a gift and blessing to us so we really liked the name Matthew. Then Alexander was our third choice for a boy's name and it means defender of the people. So we agreed on Matthew Alexander but we want him to be called Matthew not Matt or anything else just Matthew."
"That's beautiful," says Monica, "can I hold him?"
"Yes," I say before I hand him over to her. Matthew gets passed around our families meeting the people we care about most and he doesn't even bat an eye. He's perfect and sweet everything I wanted him to be.
*A/N: So what did you think? What about them naming the baby Matthew, do you think everything will go smoothly or do you think they are both in for an exhausting time when they bring the baby home? Please review and thank-you for reading.