Chapter Thirty: The Final Chapter

I thought everything would move fast once labor started again, seeing as how fast it happened the last time. But everything went slowly. I was still in my room, Jack was still next to me, and Dr. Fields came to check on me once in a while. The only difference was, I had contractions. And boy were they painful.

"How's it going?" Dr. Fields asked.

"I'm ready to go," I said. "I've been at four centimeters for hours now. I have to be at least five, six centimeters."

Dr. Fields felt my cervix. "Well, you're still at four."

I groaned and threw my head back. "So how long could it be?"

"A few hours, at the least."

I was having pretty bad contractions, about five minutes apart. "Cora better get out here before I kill her." I screamed again.

"I'm so sorry, Rose." I knew Jack hated seeing me in pain.

"I'm sure this'll all be worth it," I said, and then I got another contraction. I squeezed Jack's hand and leaned my head against his chest.

Hours and hours had passed, and nothing had happened. Dr. Fields came back to check on me. "I can't do this anymore. Please tell me I'm not still four centimeters."

"You're not," Dr. Fields smiled. "Ten centimeters."

"Oh thank god," I cried.

"So we're going to take you to the delivery room." Dr. Fields turned to Jack. "Mr. Dawson, are you planning on coming?"

"Absolutely," Jack smiled, kissing my hand.

"Okay, so we'll get you a gown, and then we'll go."

They wheeled me to the delivery room, while I was in the middle of a contraction. They had gotten so much worse.

We had arrived in the delivery room and Jack had a firm grip on my hand. "Okay, Rose, time to push."

I was struggling. "I can't do this," I cried. "I can't do it, Jack."

Jack climbed on the bed behind me. I leaned back against him and held his hands. "You can do this, Rose. Now come on, push."

I leaned my head against his chest as I pushed and screamed. I pushed and pushed. I pushed for a long time, and it seemed like nothing was happening. "One more, Rose."

I pushed one more time, and finally, the best, most beautiful thing in my life was born. But she wasn't crying. "Why isn't she crying?" I asked. Dr. Fields carried the baby over to a small table. "Jack, go with her."

The minutes after she was born were the longest of my entire life. Jack was watching nervously as Dr. Fields was working on the baby. I couldn't do anything but lay there and worry about her. What was going on? Why wasn't she crying? Would she be okay?

I wanted to ask my questions, but distracting the doctors while they were trying to help her seemed stupid. I wanted to cry, but I was too scared to. I wanted to ask Jack what was happening, but I was too scared to. All I could do was sit there, frozen, worrying about her.

Finally, I heard a cry. Tears rushed freely from my eyes out of relief. "Rose, she's fine," Dr. Fields smiled. She carried the baby back over to me and lay her down gently on my chest.

I looked down at her as she lay on my chest. She finally stopped crying as I held her against my chest. She held my thumb in a tight fist with one hand and my gown with the other.

I thought I knew what it would feel like to have her with me. But what I felt was indescribable. I was so in love with her. I looked at Jack, who was also crying. He sat next to me in the bed and kissed the top of my head. "She's so beautiful."

"She's perfect," I smiled. I kissed the top of her head. She was so small. I was so huge by the end of my pregnancy that it was hard to believe the baby would be so small! I looked up at Jack a few minutes later. "Do you want to hold her?"

Jack smiled, and I handed him the baby. "Hi," he whispered. "I'm your daddy."

The baby slept for a while in my arms, and Jack sat next to me. "She's worth it all," I whispered. "All the pain and fear and everything. She's worth it."

All of a sudden, the baby started to fuss, and then cry. "I think she needs a diaper change," I whispered.

"Oh, I got it," Jack smiled. He picked her up and carried her to the changing table.

I smiled. "You're really that eager to change her diaper?"

"Well, I've been practicing," Jack smiled. He picked up the baby and changed her diaper. The whole time, he was smiling ear to ear. That was another moment when I knew that he was the most wonderful man in the world. "Okay, time to go back to Mommy."

I reached my arms out to take her. I held her in my arms, stroking her little chubby arms and tummy and her little legs. She held one of my fingers in her tight grasp.

Jack sat next to me on the bed. I had my head rested on his shoulder, and he stroked the top of her head, where there was some golden hair. She looked up at me with beautiful blue eyes that I recognized from Jack. "I love her so much," he whispered. He looked at me. "I love you both so much."

"Me too," I whispered back. I looked up at Jack and gave him a kiss. "She looks just like you."

"Are you kidding? She's beautiful. She's all you," Jack whispered, and I smiled. "That nose and those little lips? They're yours."

"Well, her blonde hair and blue eyes are from you," I looked down and memorized each little feature on my daughter's beautiful face.

There was a knock at the door. "Come in," Jack said quietly.

Nina, Michael, and Gabby all entered the room. "Is that our granddaughter?" Michael asked.

"Oh, she's beautiful," Nina smiled. "Can I hold her?"

"Of course," I picked her up and handed her to Nina.

She smiled as she held Cora in her arms. "Hi, sweet girl. I'm your grandma."

Gabby sat down. "So what's her name?"

I looked at Jack, motioning for him to tell them. "Cora."

"She's beautiful," Michael smiled. "Can I hold her?" He asked Nina.

"I don't want to give her up," Nina laughed. "Oh, she's so cute!"

I smiled and rested my head on Jack's shoulder, closing my eyes. "Do you want to take a nap? You must be exhausted."

I shook my head. "That's okay."

I held Jack's hand as Cora was passed around. She was so beautiful, so perfect. She and Jack were the two best things in my life, and I didn't know how I got so lucky.

My heart ached without having Cora in my arms. I'd been without her for only two minutes since she was born, but I missed her. It felt strange to feel that way.

I felt so overwhelmed with emotions for her that I literally wanted to cry. Everything about her was so perfect. She had the softest blonde hair, the most beautiful eyes, the softest skin, the cutest yawn and different faces, the strongest grasp, and the most adorable little body.

She was only a few hours old, but I already knew so much about her. She loved laying on my chest, and she would fall asleep immediately as soon as I put her there. She had that intoxicating baby smell. Whenever she started to cry, Jack could coddle her almost immediately. She loved to hold my finger in her tight little grasp while I was breastfeeding.

"Here, I'll hand you back to your mommy," Gabby smiled, and she handed Cora back to me. I reached out my arms and held her. She yawned and closed her eyes.

Michael, Nina, and Gabby had left, and now it was just the three of us. "So I have a quick confession to make," I said.

"What is it?" Jack asked.

"So, I've been keeping a diary." I looked at him, down at Cora, and then back at him. "One day, she's going to ask how we met and what our life was like once I came here, and she'll be able to read it."

Jack smiled. "That's a great idea."

"There's only one problem."

"What is it?" Jack asked.

"I was basically delirious from passing out at the wedding to like, three months ago," I smiled. "I need you to write that part."

Jack nodded. "Of course." We both looked down at Cora. "Did you always keep a diary?"

"Not before I met you," I looked up at him and smiled. "I started when we came back here. Before you, I didn't have anything to write that I would ever want to revisit."

Jack didn't say anything, but I could tell my words had struck a chord with him.

"Today has been the best day of my life," I said quietly.

"Mine too," Jack smiled. "Well, top five."

"What were the other four?" I asked.

"The day we met, the day we got together, the day we got married," Jack paused. "Well, the first half anyway, before you were rushed to the hospital. And the last one was the day you told me we were having a baby."

I smiled as Jack gave me a kiss. I looked at him for a moment before looking back at Cora. "I thought about her a lot and imagined what she would look like and be like, and she's even better than I imagined."

"She couldn't be more amazing," Jack whispered. "It's just the three of us."