Chapter 50
Jake shut his eyes briefly and shook his head slightly wondering who was going to win this battle of stubbornness. He had his money on his wife.
Sam started bearing down again with the next pain, the groans almost becoming screams as she tried to push her child into the world.
The doctor shouted some instructions at the nurse who picked up the phone and said something Jake didn't understand into it. The room was filled with nursing staff almost immediately.
"What's wrong?" Jake's heart stopped with fear.
"Nothing, Mr. Ely," the doctor assured them. "Your child should be born soon."
Jake glanced up at the clock and saw it was getting closer to midnight. He knew Sam wouldn't make it and would be terribly disappointed.
"Go ahead and push all you want now, Samantha," the doctor told her, but Sam was already doing it.
"Come on Bryan," Sam was chanting as she bore down and Jake knew she was talking to her child, not his brother. If sheer will could get this baby born, Sam would do it.
He glanced at the clock again and saw it was just past midnight.
"First baby of the day," one of the nurses said.
"No!" Sam collapsed back against the bed. "No!"
"Come on, Brat," Jake encouraged her. "Just a few more."
"No!" Sam started sobbing, ignoring the encouragement of everyone in the room.
Jake was talking to her, trying to get her to start pushing again, but nothing he was saying was registering with her. She lay back, ignoring the pains gripping her as she cried.
"If you don't start pushing out this baby, he's going to die," the doctor snapped at Sam. Sam's eyes bore into those of the doctor's.
Almost defiantly, Sam started to push again with everything she had. Jake held her as she did, crooning to her. She pushed as hard as she could, took a gasping breath and kept pushing until her son slid from her body.
The doctor handed the baby to the nurses who cleaned him up as little Bryan screamed in protest, then the nurses handed the baby to Jake who looked so scared that he might drop him.
Sam was crying. Everyone in the room thought it was the natural response of most mothers to the birth of their child. Only Jake knew Sam was crying because she didn't have the baby on Bryan's birthday.
Suddenly Sam started screaming out her pain.
"Bryan, oh Bryan," she screamed as she sobbed, shocking everyone except Jake.
"Sam, he understands," Jake tried to calm her. "It was just a few minutes past midnight."
Jake's words didn't calm Sam and the doctor looked worriedly at him. He still had the baby in his arms as he tried to calm Sam down.
"What was the time of birth, Dr. Sparks?" one of the nurses asked as she filled out the information.
Jake flicked his gaze to the doctor's who met his gaze with hers.
"11:59," the doctor murmured and Jake gave her a nod.
"Are you sure?" the nurse asked, looking up at the clock.
"I'm very sure," the doctor said more forcefully. "The clock is off."
"Brat, did you hear?" Jake whispered to his wife who was crying silently on the bed. "The clock was wrong."
"What?" Sam's eyes flew open. Her brown eyes locked with Jake's dark brown eyes.
"Bryan's son was born on his birthday," Jake said, holding out the baby to her.
Sam burst into tears again and hugged her child to her as Jake kissed her forehead. He turned slightly to give the doctor one last look and she nodded back at him before leaving the room.
"What are you going to name this big boy?" the nurse asked.
"Bryan Edward Jacob Ely," Sam stated, looking up into Jake's stunned face.
"Oh Sam," Jake brushed back Sam's hair, his eyes telling her how much he loved her.
"I love you too," Sam lifted her face to his for a kiss.
Then she turned to the nurse.
"Make sure you spell it B-r-y-a-n," she said.
"Yes ma'am," the nurse teased, leaving the couple alone.
