March 17th 2021

Chapter 76
Our Wait For Him

To be in the room with her friends, by their side as the work would begin to bring their baby boy into the world, Maya felt just… determined, devoted. Here they were, the two of them, and they were going to experience it all for the first time. She didn't know what it was, if it was that she'd known them both for so long and had seen them as kids, or near enough to it in Dylan's case, and that they still felt a little like that to her. It made her get so protective of them. They could do this, they would. They were no different than her and Lucas when they had welcomed their own first child.

But they were Riley and Dylan, they were… her sweetest friends. It became so important to her that they get to the other side of this, and just… Riley was not as easily distracted as she'd once been, she had grown into someone so very aware of the world now, allowing her to help others to see it as well. And Dylan, oh, Dylan. There just wasn't anyone else in the world like him. Except maybe his half-sister. His love and kindness made him someone so open, daring to the point of becoming the catalog of scars he'd been when she'd met him, each one an adventure. Today he was about to be a father, and his heart was expanding with the demand of his love. She'd only briefly seen him before he'd escorted the Matthews to the waiting room, and she'd had one thought and one thought alone. That man is going to pass out before this is over.

"Are they out there?" Riley asked, breathing out what she felt in her body, as Dylan returned to join them. He walked up to the bed, took his wife's hand in both of his. That smile… Whichever one this baby boy got, his father's or his mother's, it could only be the most joyful one in the world.

"In the waiting room, yeah," Dylan promised, bringing her fingers to his lips. "How are you? Do I need to get someone?"

"If there's people to get, I'll go," Maya cut in, and Dylan turned a nod to her. Yes, he had to be here, and he would be. "If there's anything," she reminded Riley.

"You'll get it, I know," Riley nodded. Her one hand was held by her husband, but with the other she was locked with her best friend, and she gave Maya's hand a squeeze, kept her gaze.

It meant so much to her that she was here today, that she would be, in this moment. Maya was trying so hard to keep it together, but oh was she ever feeling that rumble of emotions right here and now. This moment felt so beyond anything she'd ever dreamed of, and it was barely beginning. When the baby would actually be here, that would just be… something else entirely. And then when they got to be together, each of them with their children… No tears would be secure in her eyes. They would fall, every last one, and go merrily on their way.

"Don't give me your drawing hand, okay? When I have to push?" Riley specified.

"Concerned for my bones?" Maya laughed.

"Honestly a little… Actually, a lot…" Riley admitted.

"We might need to switch sides then," Maya turned to Dylan. "That okay with you?"

"She can break both my hands, I'm good," Dylan nodded. So, they both let go, moved to circle the bed and switch places. When they met in the middle, Maya stalled her friend with a hand to his chest, mimed breathing and got him chuckling as they continued on their way. Here, Maya was able to give Riley her left hand, as she would, when the pushing would start.

This took a while longer still. They'd been so sure, with how everything had started, that this would all happen relatively fast. Instead, little Nicholas made them all wait a while more, to the general discomfort of his mother and the breathless anticipation of his father. More than once, they would be so sure it was time to take that next step, and each time they would be told they weren't quite there yet.

"How can it not be…" Riley asked after the third time, sounding on the edge of desperation. "I swear, I'm there, I- Can we get Nadine down here? She'll know, she's great…"

"Pretty sure your doctor's been teaching Nadine," Maya stated.

"She has?" Riley breathed. Maya nodded. "Oh… Alright…" she settled back down. As she did, Maya and Dylan shared a look. His seemed to ask if that was true. Maya nodded. In her head, she'd have to admit that she was about 90% that was who Nadine had been telling her about. She wasn't about to shoot down this bubble of reassurance she'd just pulled her friends into. For now, it was helping, and that was good enough.

Time moved along, and much as it felt like a snail's pace to Riley, Maya and Dylan both did their best to keep her motivated. Dylan was giving off strong coach vibes, which really felt like the kind of thing that would only work for someone who was open to it, which thankfully Riley was. It put her in touch with her inner beastie, and that was just the thing she needed right now. Maya, for her part, would keep her updated with whatever messages Lucas was sending her way. August had arrived. Nando had sent flowers and balloons. Farkle and Isadora were on their way, as were Riley's grandparents, her uncles and her aunt. Shawn was coming. All their friends in Houston and Austin were getting here as soon as possible.

"They're all coming to meet you, bud," Maya addressed her friend's belly. "Time to come out and say hi, oka-woah!" she startled back as Riley gave a cry of surprised pain. "Do you know what, I think this might be the real one this time!" Maya nodded firmly before moving to get someone.

This was it, for real now. It was time to push. Maya was thankful for that extra bit of adrenaline in that moment, feeling what was coming for her friends, because when Riley started to squeeze her hand… Yeah, she was kind of glad she'd swapped sides with Dylan. The beastie was strong, and right now she'd never been stronger.

Much as she'd like to say that a small part of her had known this would be the day, Maya really had not known. She'd woken up that morning with only one thing on her mind and it was her husband's birthday and this dinner for him. Her day was going to be so much preparation, to celebrate his birth, and instead she was here, urging her other best friend on, her best friend from New York, all so that they might celebrate the birth of another. She'd been close to a lot of these moments over the years, more than it felt regular for most people to be. They had all been special in their own way and this one… There were no words.

"Alright, the head's out, come on now," the doctor informed them, and both Maya and Dylan received this information by turning to look at Riley again, piling on new encouragements. She was so close, he was so close. "There's a shoulder, now here's the other, and…" And he was out, and after a few tense seconds, weighed in anticipation, they heard his cries.

Riley was elated, exhausted. Maya was crying all over her laughter. Dylan promptly fulfilled his own prophecy and passed out… into a chair which had been placed behind him.

"And that's what that was for," Maya pointed with a satisfied nod, while Riley could only wait to see while a nurse went and brought him around. He looked confused for a moment, not knowing how he'd ended up there until he pieced it back together. "Yeah, just stay right there, OrlanDad," Maya smirked, right before he was brought his newborn son to hold.

The moment they put him in his arms, there was absolutely no chance he'd faint again. The boy was crying his new lungs out, though he'd soon settle down. That time was spent with Dylan looking at him, taking it all in. Here were fingers, here were toes. He was barely born and there was a reasonable coverage of dark hair on his head.

"How is he?" Riley asked, looking on like she'd never ever take her eyes away. Dylan made certain that he had him secure in one arm before he pushed himself back on his feet, all the better to take the step forward and pass the baby into his mother's arms.

"He's like you," Dylan informed her, and the way his wife smiled, even Maya could understand what that meant. He was perfect, and no one would convince him otherwise.

Maya's eyes were like cameras. So was her actual camera, as she did her best to discreetly chronicle this moment for them, but with her eyes she knew she was storing away images she would later reproduce, with pencil or paint, in whatever way she felt inspired to do it. To see Riley as she received her son, as she saw him up close for the first time, it felt familiar for her own experience as a mother as much as it did for how she had known this woman since they'd been small children, and she never wanted to forget it.

"Are you looking for something?" she asked after a while, seeing the way she was looking at him now, almost considering him.

"I just need to know it really actually suits him… You pick a name without seeing someone, what if you get it wrong?" she explained. Dylan came to lean in and look at the baby with her. Maya quietly snapped photos and smiled, especially as she could see their faces settle into knowing smiles of their own.

"That's him alright… That's our Nicky," Dylan declared, taking his son's little hand as his head rested temple to temple with Riley's. She looked so taken with him, and it really didn't matter to her anymore how much longer they'd had to wait, when all those uncomfortable days got them to this point.

"Why don't I give you guys some time?" Maya quietly told the new parents. "I'll go let everyone know the good news, okay?" Riley looked over at her like she wanted to let her hold him first, but Maya shook her head. "You keep him right now, trust me. Hold on to him."

"I will," Riley breathed back a few tears. "Come here though," she insisted, and Maya came back up, knowing what she was after. She carefully hugged her, minding the baby. "Thanks, Peaches."

"Anytime," Maya promised, kissing the side of her friend's head, sweat be damned.

She took one more photo as she was on her way out, capturing the scene from a distance, before quietly opening and closing the door around her. Now in the hall, the air felt different, sent a waking chill through her. She took a breath, felt new happy tears rolling out. She let them come. They were to be counted, each one, for what they represented here today. Nicholas Orlando was in the world.

Maya found a waiting room much fuller than the one she'd last seen. There were still plenty of people who had not arrived yet, for the distance they needed to travel or the constraints of this being a weekday afternoon. But those who were here now received the news of the baby's arrival as it deserved to be received. As the new grandparents and the new uncles crowded closest around her, Maya presented them with the first images, at their request. Oh, how they had waited to see him, but for now they would leave him to his mother and father.

TO BE CONTINUED

See you tomorrow! - mooners