Chapter Fifteen

"It's a boy!" came a voice triumphantly through the phone. I shrieked, and Jake came running, an open jar of tomato sauce in hand, a tea towel over his shoulder. I giggled as the phone clicked off.

"You worry too much. It was Nathan," I explained. He sighed in relief.

"Don't shriek like that, it scares the hell out of me. What did Nathan say?" he asked.

"A boy. Eight pounds, three ounces, Haley's fine. Where's Jenny?" I asked.

"She was in her chair when I was downstairs. Kind of immobile. How are you feeling?"

"Jake I'm bored," I said in irritation.

"Peyton…" he started gently.

"No! I've been lying here for four and a half months! I can only take a shower every three days so I'm filthy, daytime television is really bad, you have to take care of Jenny all the time and I'm freakin' huge!" I whined.

"You're beautiful. And taking care of an almost two year old is nothing compared to getting a baby out of you. I'm fine, and it'll be over soon," he soothed.

"Not soon enough. Why does Haley get to be so good at this? She delivered exactly on her due date. She never had to go the hospital in between, just the doctor. She was always glowy and cheerful and perfect," I said.

"Yeah in public. I've talked to Nathan," he said. I smiled in spite of myself.

"I want to do stuff," I said, refusing to give in.

"Like what?

"Not be pregnant. Go outside, walk, drink, have coffee, do stuff… you know with you," I said. He smiled.

"I want you to do all those things too, but it's going to be a while yet," he said.

"I can't last two weeks. Ooh, let's have sex to go into labour like on Friends! And then I can have the baby tomorrow and get drunk the next day and run around the hospital three times!" I said brightly.

"You do realize that you can't get drunk after the birth because of breast feeding, right? And I'm not going to have sex with you to bring you into premature labour, believe it or not that isn't such a good idea," he said. I wrinkled my nose at him as Jenny began to scream for her Daddy.

"Haley?" I said into the phone ten minutes later.

"Peyton! How are you?" she asked.

"What? How are you? What's he like? Did it hurt? When do you get to go home? Has anyone gone to visit you yet?" I asked eagerly.

"Oh, he's beautiful. A bit red, but all soft and so tiny, even though he's a big baby. Well we did that painkiller thing, but it was still pretty bad-the pushing and such. He has dark hair and blue eyes like Nathan's, and they already think he'll be tall," she said happily.

"I'm happy for you Haley. You and Nathan. Have you fed him yet?" I asked.

"Once. It hurt like hell. But he's so cute. I love him," she said.

"That's great. Jake's coming to see you. I would, but they won't let me, apparently it'd be bad for me. So come by as soon as you can, okay?" I requested. She'd spent almost the entire four months with me, minding Jenny while I rested and talking to me as much as she could.

"Of course. Your house first. How are you feeling?"

"Huge," I said gloomily.

"I understand that one. I know this is going to sound evil, but I'm so glad I'm not you right now," she said.

"I wonder if I'll have a boy too? I sort of hope so," I said. I already had a girl.

"Yeah, that's be cool. Then they could be best friends when they grow up, and we can buy the same clothes for them, and…"

"Haley that's just tacky," I said, laughing.

"You say this to a woman just out of labour!" she admonished.

"Yeah, well…" I said, bursting into laughter again. "Anyway, still thinking more than one kid?"

"Yeah. I don't want him to grow up alone, even if he has yours. But the sad thing is, I always hated how Taylor was four full years older-I always wished for my siblings to be really close to me in age," she said.

"So you want another in like two years?" I said in surprise. The thought had never crossed my mind.

"Yeah. And hey, you should too-then we could do it again, it's be awesome," she said.

"Like that'll happen again," I said.

A week later, exactly a week before my due date, I went into labour. It was February 22nd. By that same evening they'd performed a successful cesarean section.

Jake wasn't allowed to come into the room but as soon as it was out, a Doctor went into the hall and told him he had another daughter and that I was well. Much later, after I was sewn up again, he came in and they brought her to me.

At once I understood Haley. Because she was red and wrinkly. But her button nose, her closed eyes and her tiny mouth were perfect. Her baby feet, clad in the feet of her sleeper, were smaller than my hand.

It was the only love at first sight I'd ever experienced.

"We did good, huh?" I said, wiping a tear from my eye.

"You did good," he said, kissing the top of my head.

"You too. I love you so much," I confessed tearfully.

"I love you. And her. She's as beautiful as Jenny," he said.

"When Nikki gave birth to Jenny, did you love her just as much?" I asked.

"No. I've always loved you best," he said. I smiled.

"I hope we never have to see her again," I said.

"Me too. And Jenny, and this one. Are you sad that it wasn't a boy?" he asked. I'd had a slight preference for a boy, because Haley had had one and because we already had a girl.

"Over her? Are you kidding? She's perfect," I said, kissing the tip of her nose. She stirred, yawned and opened her eyes. I saw my first glimpse of them-they were dark blue, like all baby eyes.

"This turned out good," he said suddenly.

"Yeah. And I never, ever thought it would."