* I am not affiliated with NBC or James E. Reilly. I am simply borrowing the characters.

C H A P T E R     F O U R T E E N

It's time

"We're home." Ethan said softly nudging Gwen awake.

Gwen yawned. "I'm about ready to go to bed. I'm so tired."

"You've been up all day. It's time for you to take a long rest."

"Mm. That sounds nice." Gwen replied. She went to open the door when a sharp pain hit her stomach. "Oh!" She cried.

"Gwen, what is it?" Ethan asked alarmed.

"The baby." Gwen said breathless. "My water broke!"

Ethan sat still in shock. The baby, the baby, the baby, he thought. He suddenly jumped. "The baby! We need to get you to the hospital."

Gwen began the breathing exercises she had learned in Lamaze class. "Hurry, Ethan. We've got to go to the hospital!"

Ethan started the car and began to zoom off. Suddenly he pressed the brake. "We still have another passenger." He said looking back.

Gwen looked back as well. "He'll just have to come along. Our child isn't going to wait."

Ethan agreed. "Yeah, let's go," He said as he sped out of the parking lot.

Ethan felt lucky, for every light on the street that he passed through was green. Thank you God Ethan thought. The sooner we get to the hospital, the better.

Gwen's contractions increased in intensity. She often cried out in pain. "Hurry Ethan!" She said again as she grasped the dashboard. "Hurry!" She cried urgently.

Ethan floored the gas. "We're almost there." He assured his wife.  Ethan reached for his cell phone and dialed their doctor's number. "Gwen, tell him we're on our way." Ethan instructed.

Between breaths and countless cries of pain, Gwen told the doctor that she was in labor. "They'll be expecting us." She said as she throwing the cell back at Ethan.  

"Okay." Ethan said, the sweat forming on his forehead and upper lip. "So far, so good."

Ethan spoke too soon, for his namesake began fussing in the back seat. After another yelp of pain from Gwen, Little Ethan responded with a whimper.

"Oh no," Ethan said. "Shh- buddy. It'll be all right." He said trying to comfort his godson. It only got worse. Little Ethan gave a shrill cry and pounded his fists up and down in frustration. "It's okay, buddy. We'll get you out of that car seat soon." Ethan said. Little Ethan only cried harder.

Ethan felt a knot forming at the base of his skull. He grit his teeth together and even began doing the breathing exercises with Gwen to calm himself down. He made a sudden wide turn into the parking lot of the hospital.

"We're here!" He called as he quickly opened his door and jumped out. He ran to the other side and opened Gwen's door. "C'mon honey." He said. With her husband's help, Gwen got out of her seat. Ethan then ran to the door of the backseat to get Little Ethan. Once he had little Ethan in his arms, Ethan placed his free arm around Gwen and helped her into the hospital. Luckily, a nurse was waiting for them with a wheelchair. They were taken swiftly to a room separated by a curtain. Another expectant mother was there, breathing hard and sweating profusely. Ethan looked as pale as the other expectant father.

"Hi." The man said quietly, greeting Ethan and Gwen.

"Hello." Ethan replied. Gwen said nothing, for she was determined to lay on the bed. Once she got herself situated, she responded with a winded, "Hi."

"This your first?" Ethan asked the father-to-be.

"No, our second. This must be your second too."

"Oh no." Ethan said. "This little one is my godson."

"I'm sorry. My mistake. He just looks so much like you."

Gwen grew tense and started breathing harder. "Ethan! Where's the doctor?!"

"I don't know, honey. He should be on his way. I'll check with the nurse." Ethan left the room with Little Ethan in his arms and headed to the nurses' station. Unfortunately, the only person there was the secretary. After she offered to page the doctor for Ethan, his cell rang.

"Hello?" He answered.

"Ethan, where are you? I expected you guys to be home by now" said Theresa.

"Oh, Theresa. I meant to call you. Little Ethan's with me at the hospital"

"What happened?" Theresa asked concerned. "Is he hurt?"

"No, not at all. Little Ethan's fine. Once we got into the parking lot, Gwen started having labor pains."

"Oh my gosh! Is she all right?"

"So far, I think she is. I'm trying to get the doctor to look at her."

"I'm sure everything will be fine." Theresa reassured Ethan. "You're probably very worried."

"Yeah." Ethan agreed. "I am."

"Look, maybe I should stop by the hospital and take Little Ethan off your hands. You have enough to worry about."

"That sounds great." Ethan said relieved. "I bet this guy is ready to go home."

"Okay. I'll be there in a little while. Talk to you later."

Ethan hung up and sighed. He returned to the room and was relieved to see the doctor examining his wife.

"Doctor," Ethan said as he entered the room.

"Mr. Winthrop." The doctor nodded his greeting.

"Is my wife okay?" Ethan asked.

"She's doing great. We're just going to have to wait awhile. In the meantime, I want you to comfort your wife, and make her as comfortable as possible. Just press that button overhead if you need a nurse's assistance."

"Thank you Doctor." Ethan said gratefully.

"You're very welcome. I'll be back in awhile to check up on her."

Ethan took a deep breath. I'm going to be a daddy soon. He smiled.

~*~

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