Chapter 52

Our Little Family

"Blue Does"- Blue October

Kyle (POV)

I tossed and turned in my sleep until I gave up and awoke to an empty bed. It was an unusually warm night and I hadn't slept well at all. I glanced at the alarm clock that read 4:17 in the morning. I felt the sheets beside me and found that they were cold and damp.

"Amanda?" I whispered into the darkness of the bedroom.

"In here," she mumbled from the bathroom.

I got up from the bed and stumbled towards her.

"What are you doing?" I yawned as I rubbed my eyes and leaned on the door frame.

"My water broke, I was just getting cleaned up," she said simply as she finished drying off her hair with a towel.

"Your water broke?" I questioned, folding my arms across my chest. "Why aren't we going to the hospital? Why didn't you wake me?"

"My contractions are still far apart, we have time," she shrugged as she passed me and made her way to the closet.

I shook my head and pinched the bridge of my nose. "How far apart exactly?"

"Well the first one came around two just after my water broke. Than there wasn't one until after I had gotten out of the shower, just before you woke up," she explained as she came out of the closet in a pair of yoga pants and a long sleeve shirt.

"I would feel a lot better if we went to the hospital," I said calmly.

"You might want to get dressed first," she joked, causing me to look down at myself. All I had on was a pair of black jogging shorts.

I sighed and snatched a clean pair of dark blue jeans and a gray t-shirt from the dresser. As I dressed, Amanda busied herself by taking the sheets off of the bed and tossing them in the hamper. Then she double-checked what she had packed in her overnight bag for the hospital.

"Did you put the car seat in the car?" she asked as I crept with her down the stairs.

"Yes," I nodded.

"What about the camera?" she asked.

"Its in the bag," I assured her. "I'm just going to let Nathan know we're going to the hospital, than we can go."

I gently knocked on his door before I entered. He was in a deep sleep sprawled out on his bed with the blanket kicked to the end of the bed.

"Nathan," I whispered as I shook his shoulder. "Nate, wake up."

"Hmmm?" he grumbled as he flipped onto his back.

"Amanda's water broke, I'm taking her to the hospital. I'll call you a little later and give you an update."

"Okay, congratulations," he mumbled still half asleep.

I chuckled as I left his room. I made sure to leave the keys to Amanda's car on the counter in the kitchen along with a note.

"Ready to go?" I asked, still amazed by how calm she was.

"Yep!" she smiled as she screwed on the cap to her to-go mug that she had filled with hot tea.

I helped her into the car and tossed her bag in the back seat next to the car seat. As I drove I held one hand on the wheel and the other hand was holding hers.

"Oww," she groaned, sitting forward slightly as she rubbed small soothing circles on her stomach.

"Are you okay?" I asked, stroking my thumb across her hand.

"Yeah, just a contraction," she said, sitting back as the pain subsided.

I made a mental note of the time, 5:22. The contractions were still pretty far apart. We pulled into the parking lot of the hospital and I was able to park fairly close. I helped her out of the car and led her into the hospital. Once inside I snagged a wheel chair for her and wheeled her up to the maternity ward. I stopped by the nurse's station and explained to them what was happening.

"Hello, Dr. Trager, you're here early," Nurse Kasey greeted.

"Well, my wife here is having our baby," I smiled

"Oh, Oh!" she squeaked realizing the seriousness of the situation. "Jason, will you get Dr. Trager and Mrs. Trager into a private room?"

He nodded and took over the wheel chair for me and strolled her away to a room around the corner. I stayed behind to fill out a few registration papers.

"Dr. Trager, which doctor should I page for your wife?" Nurse Kasey questioned.

"Dr. Robins," I said peering up from the papers I was filling out.

She nodded. I finished the paper work and handed them too her before I slipped away and down the hall to Amanda's room.

"How are you holding up?" I asked, taking a seat on the edge of her bed.

"I'm fine," she smiled.

"Amanda, I'm just going to place an IV and start some fluids," Nurse Jason explained as he gathered an IV kit.

"Her veins roll," I warned, knowing all too well how hard of a time it was for her to have her blood drawn. I also knew she didn't like needles so I held her free hand in both of mine.

"Just a pinch," he warned and she winced as the needle pricked her skin. "There you go, all set."

He had already set up all the monitors and made sure she was comfortable before he left the room.

"Do you need anything?" I checked, brushing away a few stray hairs.

"I think I'm just going to rest," she mumbled

I shifted to the empty chair beside her bed and occupied myself by reading a few articles on my phone. An hour passed before she had another contraction. I made note of the time again, 6:37.

"Are you okay?" I asked, sitting forward to rub her back.

"Yeah, yeah just a little worse than the last one," she sighed, leaning back into the bed.

She was able to drift back to sleep once the pain waned away. I went back to looking at articles on my phone. I couldn't help but let my thoughts drift. I thought about how in a few hours Sophia would be here, we would have our first daughter. I smiled to myself, I would not only have a son but after today I would have a daughter too. I leaned my head back onto the headrest and slowly sleep over came me. I awoke a little while later to the sound of Amanda talking with Dr. Robins.

"Well look who decided to join us," Dr. Robins teased as I stretched the sleep out of my muscles. "Amanda it looks like you're only about three centimeters dilated so we do have some time."

I glanced at the clock that hung in every room; it was a little after nine in the morning.

"Your contractions are still a little over an hour apart," she noted in the chart.

"An hour and fifteen minutes," I clarified with a smirk.

"Right," she rolled her eyes at me, knowing all to well how detailed my charts were when I was on her service.

"I should go make the phone calls," I excused myself and found my way down to the nearest waiting area where it was acceptable to make calls.

I first called Nathan and checked in with him. Since today was Saturday he didn't have to go to school however he did have training with Foss. It wasn't a problem for him to bring Brice with him though; Brice seemed pretty keen on the idea of spending the day with Foss and Nathan. I let him know that I would call him when he and Brice should come to the hospital.

The next phone call was to Nicole and Stephen.

"Hello?" Nicole answered.

"Good morning mom," I chuckled. "Amanda and I are at the hospital, her water broke this morning."

I could hear her tell Stephen the news and than telling me they would be there in the next hour. I explained to her that it was going to be a while however she didn't care. After that I called Carol.

"Good morning Carol," I greeted

"Oh hello, Kyle, how are you today?" she asked politely

"I'm great, it looks like Sophia is making her arrival today," I grinned and she did the same thing Nicole had: she immediately told David the news and said they were on their way.

I decided it would be best to wait to call the rest of them considering that Nicole and Carol jumped to come spend the day at the hospital. I knew that we still had at least five hours before Sophia would be here. I didn't want the entire family here to just sit in the waiting room.

"My parents, your mom and David are all on their way," I said as I entered Amanda's room again.

"They do know that it's going to be a while, right?" she inquired.

"Yeah, but you know how they are," I chuckled, sitting down in my chair again. "I stopped by the gift shop and picked up a few magazines."

"Oh really? Let me see!"

We spent a few hours looking at the magazines and watching a little TV. In that time Amanda had four contractions, which meant that they were coming closer together. Still not close enough for concern but closer. Stephen and Nicole arrived first and not long after David and Carol came by. We were able to all reside in the room for a little while until Dr. Robins came back for another check and made the Grandparents evade the room.

"How far are we now?" I asked

"Well, about five centimeters now," she announced.

"So you're about half way there," I explained to Amanda.

"How are you feeling now?" Dr. Robins inquired.

"Just a little uncomfortable," she paused, "The contractions are still manageable though."

"As you know, we can't have the epidural administered until you're seven centimeters," she reminded. "But we're close, so I'd say in the next couple of hours you'll be ready to push."

She left saying she would be back to check again in an hour.

"Ahh!" she groaned, placing her hand on her stomach. "Oooww!"

"Contraction?" I guessed as she squeezed my free hand and nodded vigorously. "Deep breaths,"

"They're getting worse," she moaned.

"Here," I said, motioning her to sit forward as I plopped down behind her and began to rub her back and shoulders.

"That feels good," she sighed, leaning back into me.

It wasn't very long until Dr. Jones the anesthesiologist came by to administer the epidural. By that point I knew it was time to have Nicole call the rest of the family.

"This would be the time when you, Dr. Trager, go get changed into your scrubs," Dr. Robins ordered.

"Are you going to be okay?" I asked, making sure her last contraction eased.

She nodded and I left and quickly got changed. I was back just in time for the next contraction. I had given the camera to one of the interns who I knew wasn't allowed to assist in the delivery, only observe.

"Alright, it sure is a beautiful day to deliver a baby, everyone ready?" Dr. Robins announced as she prepared herself for the delivery. "Okay, now Amanda on the next contraction I'm going to need you to push."

Amanda nodded and I stood by her side holding her hand in anticipation for the contraction.

"Here we go. Push!" Dr. Robins ordered. "Keep going, keep going, good."

"You're doing great, Amanda," I encouraged as she fell into me.

"All right Amanda, you have to push again," Dr. Robins harked.

She groaned and grunted through the contraction.

"You're doing fantastic, Amanda, I can see the baby's head," Dr. Robins encouraged. "Alright, just one more, almost there!"

"Aaahhh!" she moaned pushing harder.

"Almost there, Amanda," I cheered.

"I see two beautiful shoulders," Dr. Robins announced. "Just one more push."

After that last push, that was when we heard it, the first cries of Sophia entering the world. She was here; this little child who we had been anticipating for the past nine months was finally here. All the worries of my future didn't matter, what mattered was this little girl. I watched as the nurse swept her off to clean her up.

"You did it!" I was grinning as I kissed her. "You did it! I'm so proud of you!"

"Dad? You want to hold your daughter?" one of the nurses who had cleaned her up asked me.

"Of course," I jumped taking her in my arms.

"Hey there, hey little Sophia," I cooed, soothing her cries as I took her in. She was my daughter, she was part of me and Amanda.

"She's beautiful," Amanda remarked, as I handed her over to her mom. "Hey Sophia,"

I kissed Amanda's temple and gazed down at our daughter. She was indeed beautiful; she had dark brown almost black hair and amazing blue eyes. Amanda looked up at me with a smile and tears in her eyes.

"I love you," I whispered.

"I love you too," She replied with a kiss.

After the nurses and doctors were finished and everything was cleaned up, Amanda and I were left to be with Sophia.

"I think we did a pretty great job," I chuckled as I paced around with Sophia in my arms. "You are the most beautiful little girl I've ever seen."

"Looks like someone already has Daddy wrapped around their finger," Amanda teased. "You should go get Brice, I'm sure he's jumping to see his sister."

"Alright," I smiled softly as I handed Sophia back to Amanda. "I'll be right back."

I quietly shut the door on my way out of the room. I stood there for a moment really taking in what had happened I was now a father of two children. When I had gone to bed last night Brice was my only child, however now there is this little girl who is completely reliant on Amanda and myself. I grinned to myself as I strolled to the waiting area, which consisted of my entire family.

"Five pounds four ounces and she's beautiful." If I was grinning before I was beaming now. My family gathered round with several pats on the back and congratulatory hug.

"So what do you say, Brice, want to come see your new sister?" I suggested, crouching down to his level.

"Yeah!" he cheered.

"Then lets go!" I chuckled taking his little hand in mine and leading him to the room. I stopped short just outside the room and knelt down to him. "Now, Bri, you have to be very gentle and quiet with Sophia, okay? She's very delicate."

He nodded.

"Hey sweetie," Amanda greeted softly; I could tell she was pretty worn out. Brice hesitantly made his way over to Amanda.

I plucked him up off of the floor and sat on the edge of the bed with him on my lap. Amanda and I watched as he peered into the bundle of pink blankets that Sophia was swaddled in.

"She's so…small" he finally spoke.

"Do you want to hold her?" Amanda asked and he just nodded, trying his best to be calm and quiet.

Amanda eased Sophia over to him and I helped him support her.

"Support her head," I reminded.

"Hi Soph, you've been in Mom's stomach for a pretty long time," he told her and I couldn't help but laugh softly. "Everyone's pretty excited to see you, Soph."

I shared a glance with Amanda; she had tears in her eyes again as she reached out for my hand. This was our family. Her, me, Brice and now Sophia, we were a family. In that moment nothing else mattered but the four of us, our little family.

AN: Hello everyone! I had a lot of fun writing this chapter. I don't have much experience with deliveries, other than the story my anatomy teacher retold, to us students, of her own experience. Hopefully though I was able to make it…believable? I guess would be the word. Anyway let me know what your thoughts, comments, suggestions, its all appreciated! Thank you for reading!