Chapter 7

Wendy's POV

With Kenny's slow driving, we eventually made it to the hospital. The doctor told me I'm only 7 centimeters dilated so the baby isn't quite ready yet. She may not be, but I damn sure am! "Why is this taking so long?" I cry out to Kyle.

"Relax babe, she'll be here before you know it." Kyle gently tells me as he wipes sweat from my forehead.

"Easy for you to say! You're not the one going through labor pains!"

"You're right. I would trade places with you in a second. I hate to see you in pain." He gives me a peck on the lips.

"You're so sweet!"

"I'll come back later." We look over and see Nichole standing at the door. I look at her in shock.

"Nichole? You're here!"

She nods. "Kenny called me." She looks at Kyle. "Kyle…" She says coldly.

"Hi Nichole." He moves away from me so Nichole can sit down next to me.

"Have you called Stan yet?" She asks.

I shake my head. "Not until the baby is here. It's not his place to be here for the birth."

"It's not his place, but you want him to believe he's the father?"

"Please, not NOW! OH MY GOD!" The contractions are getting stronger and extremely painful.

Nichole heads toward the door. "I'm going to get the doctor and call Stan!"

"Nichole, no! OH GOD!" I call out to her, but she's already gone. Kyle rushes to my side and I squeeze his hand. "God, this hurts!" I say as I breathe really hard.

"Stay calm babe, it will be over soon."

Within minutes, Dr. Charles and her nurse come into the room to examine me. She informs me that I'm ten centimeters dilated and it's time for me to push. I'm now pushing, but the baby still isn't here and I'm ready to give up. "Come on Mrs. Marsh, push!" Dr. Charles tells me. "Almost there, I can see the head!"

"You're doing great baby!" Kyle says as I squeeze his hand.

"One more push Mrs. Marsh!" I do what the doctor tells me and suddenly, I hear the sound of a baby crying.

"Is that our baby?" I ask as I start tearing up.

Dr. Charles smiles and nods. "Yes it is! Congratulations!" She places the baby girl in my arms.

"She's beautiful!" I say as I look down at this beautiful baby that Kyle and I made.

"I'll get her cleaned up for you." The nurse takes her and weighs her and cleans her up. She looks at Kyle and smiles. "Here you go, Mr. Marsh!"

Kyle looks at me nervously, then at the nurse. "Umm…thanks!" He looks down at the baby and rocks her. I notice not only is he smiling, but he's also crying.

"Kyle?"

"Yeah?"

"You're crying…"

"Sorry." He wipes his eyes. "I just can't believe this beautiful little girl is mine." She starts to get fussy. "Shh!" He puts her over his shoulder and rubs her back and she immediately quiets down.

I can't help but smile. "You're a natural!"

"You think so?" He hands her to me.

I nod and then look down at her and notice she has green eyes. "She looks like you…"

Kyle nods in agreement. "I know she does. I wonder if she'll have my hair color too."

"I hope so. I wasn't expecting a bald baby!" I chuckle.

"Have you decided on a name?"

"Oh no! Stan and I never talked about that. Any suggestions? It's only fair considering that you're her real dad."

Kyle thinks for a moment. "I've always liked the name Leah."

"Leah Marsh…that could work."

"Yeah, it could…" I detect a little disappointment in his voice when he says that.

"It's settled…Leah Marsh! We'll come up with a middle name later. Thanks baby!" We start kissing each other.

"Now wouldn't this make a cute family photo?" We look and see Kenny and Nichole at the door. Kenny has the biggest smirk on his face.

"Dude!" Kyle glares at him.

"You guys aren't doing a good job of being discreet, you know?"

"Don't you know how to knock?"

Kenny nods. "We did, but you two were too preoccupied to notice!"

"What can we do for you?" I ask them.

"Stan is on his way." Nichole informs me. Shit! I forgot she was going to call him.

"What did you tell him?"

"I just told him you were rushed to the hospital in labor and he said he was on his way."

"Oh boy!"

"You better have a good story." Kenny smirks.

"We will!" Kyle tells him.

Nichole walks over to me and looks at Leah and smiles. "Can I hold the baby?"

"Of course!" I look down at Leah. "Leah, meet your Auntie, Nichole!" I say as I hand Leah to Nichole.

"Leah? Such a beautiful name! She's so beautiful!" She looks at me. "She also looks like Kyle. I told you that could happen."

I roll my eyes. She would bring that up. "I know, but we have it covered."

"How long do you expect Stan to buy that?"

"As long as we need him to. Which will be forever!" I look over at Kyle who nods in agreement. We're on the same page so there's no reason for Stan to find out.

Stan's POV

As soon as Nichole called me, I literally dropped everything and rushed to the hospital. There's no way I'm missing the birth of my daughter! Once I find out what room Wendy is in, I run towards the room and enter. I see Kyle, Kenny, and Nichole are there and they look at me. "Am I too late?" I ask.

They step aside and I see Wendy holding a baby. Man, does look pissed. "Yes, she's here."

I can feel my heart sink. I really wanted to be here. "Oh no! Wendy, I'm so sorry!"

"You're always sorry…"

"This is even worse than me missing the appointments! It's the birth of our first child! I promised to be there and I let you down!" I try to take her hand, but she moves it away.

"You just had to go to work today…"

I sigh. "Why didn't you call me the moment you realized you were in labor?"

"Don't you dare try to turn this around on me!" She snaps.

"I'm just asking because I'm wondering how all of them found out before I did."

"It's simple. I was hungry and wanted to get food. I called Nichole and we met at the bar where Kyle and Kenny work at for lunch. I went into labor at the bar and Kyle and Kenny offered to bring me to the hospital and Nichole called you. You didn't get here in time so Kyle and Nichole stayed with me the entire time."

Now I really feel like a jerk. My friends had to step in where I failed my wife. God, I suck. "Oh…but you were supposed to be on bed rest."

"I wanted to get out!" She yells. I guess I better stop talking since she's getting so angry.

"Sorry, no need to get upset."

"I think we should give Stan, Wendy, and Leah some privacy." Nichole says to the others.

I raise eyebrow. "Leah?" I turn towards Wendy.

Wendy nods. "I decided to name her Leah."

"You named her without me?" Wendy nods again. I can't help but to feel hurt. "You should've waited for me and we could've decided together."

"It's okay, Nichole helped me pick a name!" She says proudly.

Nichole's eyes widen. "Wendy, don't tell him that!"

"It's okay Nichole. You're her godmother. I appreciate you helping out." I smile at her.

"No problem. Like I said, we should give you some privacy." She tries to make her way towards the door. She seems really anxious to get out of the room.

"Thanks again." I look at Kyle and Kenny. "Thank you for getting my wife here safely." I turn to Kyle. "You helped bring your goddaughter into the world. Thank you, thank you, thank you!" I hug him.

"No problem dude. I was happy to be here. I love that little girl so much already!" He smiles just before leaving. That was kind of odd…

Once we're alone, I look at Wendy. I can tell she's still angry with me. "Can I hold my daughter?" I ask nervously.

"I guess." I take Leah from her. I smile at her.

"She's so beautiful! I love her green eyes."

"Yeah. Doesn't she remind you of my dad with those green eyes?"

"You think so?" I examine Leah. I guess the green eyes skipped a generation. "I guess I can see it a little bit." I look at Wendy. "Again, I'm sorry I didn't make it in time."

"Let's talk about that!" Uh oh! "I have plenty of things I need to get off my chest about your behavior!" Here we go again…