Here we have it, the final chapter of Call Off the Search to Your Soul! I thank each of your for reading my story and I'm excited for you guys to read the work I've put into the sequel so far.
Time froze momentarily when I asked her to repeat what she just said. We were standing in the kitchen, and she was making some oatmeal. I had been rummaging through the pantry to find my Muesli cereal when I heard her shriek.
"You idiot, I'm in labor" came Meredith's slightly raised voice as her hand moved to her belly and she winced in pain.
I immediately flew into action mode and was quick to guide her to the couch.
"Okay, just breathe. We've got this." I reassured her as I sat beside her on the couch and kissed her forehead. My mind was going a million miles a second. What do we need to bring? Should I call an ambulance or just take her to the hospital myself? What if somethings wrong and it's not labor but the baby is in distress?
"We need to… OWWW… get to the hospital NOW" she said in-between what I assumed were contractions.
"We're going. We're going. I just need to grab my keys, the overnight bag. The baby's car seat. Blankets." I was going through a check list in my mind.
"Derek, we don't have time to think. I'm in… PAIN" she winced at the end.
I ran into the kitchen and grabbed my keys, ran back to the bedroom, and grabbed the overnight bag and our daughter's car seat.
"I'm running this to the car and then I'm coming back in to help you. Do not move." I told Meredith. Where were her roommates when you needed them. An extra hand would be amazing right now. I also, should have been smart enough to install the car seat weeks ago when we received it.
"Hurry up" she yelled
I was hurrying. I had never run so fast before in my life and made my way back in to help her to the car.
"We're going to have a baby" I told her excitedly as I all but picked her up to help her out of the house and into the car.
She smiled through the pain and agreed.
I was so nervous the entire ride to the hospital. I was scared to go over every little bump in the road and Meredith kept yelling at me to speed up.
I left the car parked at the front of the hospital and ran to her side to help her out of the passenger seat.
"I need a wheelchair" I yelled to people standing around the front doors of the hospital. They seemed unbothered like this happened everyday.
"I can walk, I can walk, just owwww… help me" she whined.
I did my best to support her. "Hello, I need a wheelchair now" I yelled out again and luckily two nurses came running out of the hospital with a wheelchair for Meredith. They wheeled her in and told me not so nicely that I needed to move my car. I did that as quickly as possible to only be met with a clip board full of paperwork.
"You her husband? I need you to fill these out." The same nurse who unkindly told me to move my car practically threw the clip board at me.
"Oh, um yeah. Got it" I told her. My mind was in overdrive but I picked up the clipboard.
"Where is she? I need to be in the room" I told the nurse impatiently.
The nurse smirked "407. Make sure you get these filled out and back to me ASAP. I know where you are" she told me.
I rolled my eyes and ran in what I assumed was the correct direction only to realize I needed to go the opposite way. The nurse was laughing at me. She seemed to get her kicks from new dads freaking out all over the hospital.
"Meredith, I'm here I breathed" as I heard her screams from the doorway.
"This is going to be a short labor. This baby is ready to come out now." The nurse evaluating Meredith told me.
"But I thought labor was hours to days long. She just started having contractions." I blurted
The nurse shook her head "Your baby is ready. I think he or she will be here within a couple of hours at most."
"Derek" Meredith shrieked looking terrified.
I quickly made my way to her side and brushed the hair back from her eyes "Hey, you've got this" I whispered before holding her hand in mine and kissing her forehead
"Fuckkkkkk" Meredith screamed as another contraction hit. She was dripping sweat.
"Can you give her something to help her."
"No, I don't want drugs. Just…. I can….. owwwww…. Do this."
"You can" I agreed beaming at her.
"Alright Meredith, let's have a baby." The doctor said coming into the room with a smile on her face.
"Derek don't leave" she told me seriously.
"And miss this? Never." I assured her as our hands interlocked.
M&D M&D M&D M&D M&D M&D M&D M&D M&D M&D M&D M&D M&D M&D M&D
Childbirth was everything they explained it is and somehow nothing like they explained, but the nurses told me that I was lucky. I delivered Emma Ellis Shepherd in only 4 hours today on May 25th at 3:23 pm. She is everything I could have ever dreamed of and so much more.
I am in complete awe looking down at our little girl. Perfect is an understatement. She is tiny only 5 lbs 9 ounces, 19 inches tall and a head full of black hair with blue eyes. Derek can't take his eyes off her. Sometimes, I'll look over at him and his eyes are filled with unshed tears. We've been taking turns holding her and it is completely surreal that she is finally here with us now. In the matter of a few hours our lives have completely changed. I don't even care that we're stuck in this stuffy hospital room, this is truly the best day of my life.
Derek's parents are so happy to hear about the arrival of their new granddaughter and Thatcher and Susan are on their way over with Lexi now. I'm excited to start introducing her to her family but I also want to savor every second with her. I'm feeling incredibly emotional probably because my hormones are all over the place and because I'm not sure what I did to deserve something so pure. It seems like everything has truly come together since I told Derek about accepting admission to Columbia. His parents are only 30 minutes from campus, and they generously offered to let Derek and I live there for as long as we needed. Derek and I talked it over and it isn't ideal, but it does take a huge weight off our shoulders. Christopher is retired and wants to help care for Emma while we're in classes just like he's doing now with Scout. Carolyn also announced her retirement recently and can't wait for endless 1:1 time with her new grandchildren. We figured our first semester we would need all the help we could get taking on a new school and a new baby.
I looked over at Derek whose eyes were mesmerized with our new daughter. He caught my gaze and offered me a smile.
"What is it?" he asked softly knowing there was something on my mind.
I blinked back a few tears "I just… who knew that a one-night stand could lead to all of this?"
Derek beamed at me and kissed me forehead. "This is everything." He told me
I laughed "It is. She is everything."
AN: Okay friends, THE END. Except, JK we have a whole new adventure to start with what happens next. I will post the sequel in the next few days. I want to make sure all the readers have time to finish this story before I post the next one. To give you guys a sneak peak, our next story begins about 3 and half years in the future. We'll be navigating life with an almost 4-year-old and I plan to do several flashback chapters to give tidbits into what life was like for Meredith and Derek prior to where they are now. Thanks for reading and as always, please review! It means a lot of all of us out here writing to know that readers are connecting to the story and enjoying it