July 5th
"Rick...Rick..." It took several nudges in the ribs to rouse him from his deep sleep.
"Whassup?" He mumbled thickly.
"I think it's happening!" Michonne giggled.
"What..."
"My water just broke!" She said it slowly to allow his sleepy brain to catch up.
Almost as soon as Rick had fallen asleep the night before, Michonne had began to have what she assumed were Braxton Hicks contractions. Around three hours ago she'd realised they were getting more painful and closer together, and approximately two minutes before waking her sleeping boyfriend she'd felt an unmistakable warm gush of water that soaked her pyjama shorts.
"Really?" He jumped out of bed. "What do we do?"
"Nothing yet." Michonne rubbed at her bump. "Remember the Lamaze classes? We go to the hospital when they're every 3 minutes." She pulled on a sundress, they'd been warned how hot the hospital would be and she already felt like she was melting even inside her apartment with the a/c as high as it would go.
"Ok." Rick was waking up properly now and realising exactly what was happening. "And what are they now?"
"About every four..." Michonne closed her eyes and shuddered as she breathed deeply.
"Is this one?" Rick dived to her side of the bed to rub her back. "Are they bad?"
"Getting worse." She exhaled as the contraction ended.
"Ok... right...are the bags packed?" His voice was still slow with the remnants of the deep sleep he'd been in.
"Rick, they've been packed for weeks." She smiled. "Just go and find my sandals and get ready to leave." She tried to remember the breathing exercises they'd spent weeks going over in their classes as another surge concentrated it's efforts on her abdominal muscles.
"Are they getting closer together." Rick re-entered the room with her shoes, he bent down in front of her to slip them on her feet. She nodded, her head back as she tried to breathe through the pain and remember to push the button on her phone timer. "Isn't it a bit early?"
She shook her head as she let the contraction pass. "Only four weeks early, she'll be fine." He helped her to her feet. Neither of them spoke for a moment as they stood staring at each other in the dimly lit bedroom.
"Fuck!" He laughed. "It's happening."
"It's happening!" She giggled nervously. "I'm not ready!"
"You are." He kissed her forehead. "You're amazing."
Their eyes both gravitated towards the app on her phone, the big red button for her to push every time a contraction started and ended and the instructions that had just appeared in a pop up bubble: 'time to head to the hospital.'
They headed down to get into the car and Michonne called Doctor Carson en route, arranging to meet her at the hospital. The next few hours passed in a hazy blur for Michonne as the nitras oxide gas took the edge off the pain, but meant that she wasn't fully in the room. She just remembered fleeting conversations, the doctor telling her to mobilize and Rick by her side holding her hand, rubbing her back and trying to tie back her braids as she became boiling hot.
Eight hours after arriving at the hospital, the contractions suddenly intensified. Michonne struggled to verbalise the pain to Rick, she squeezed his hand tight as she involuntarily let out a huge wail.
"Shhhh shhhh..." He soothed, rubbing circles at the base of her spine. "You're doing so well honey."
"I think it's time to start filling up the tub." The nurse smiled, pulling on a pair of latex gloves. Michonne nodded as the huge bath tub started filling with warm water.
"You want me to find your bikini." Rick held the bag open and began rooting around inside. Michonne shook her head.
"Just get this off me." She raised her arms so he could lift her oversized t-shirt over her head. Rick smiled. Labor looked good on Michonne, he sensed it was the wrong time to tell her she looked sexy, but he couldn't take his eyes off her.
It wasn't long before the doctor confirmed Michonne was fully dilated and ready to start pushing.
"Ok Michonne." She said. "You're going to need to bear down with the next contraction, ok? But don't push unless you feel the urge."
Michonne nodded, the room zoned out around her as she focused her mind on what was happening inside her. The pain was overwhelming, but somehow her body knew. From somewhere in the room she heard instruction, push...hold...keep pushing... she felt her baby move through her body and begin to make her way into the world.
"You're doing it baby." Rick whispered as he pressed his forehead to hers. "You're doing it. She's almost here."
"Ok Michonne, I can see the head. She has a full head of hair." The doctor smiled. "You're doing so well. The next contraction I need you to bear down again, slowly push ok?"
Michonne nodded, another wave of pain consumed her, but this time she knew her daughter was on her way.
"She's here!" Rick kissed Michonne before looking over at their daughter being brought up from the water.
"Is she ok?" She panted. He nodded.
"'Michonne." He said through tears. "She's so beautiful." He helped Michonne turn around. "Oh my god."
"She is beautiful." Michonne let out an exhausted laugh as they handed her the most perfect little baby she'd ever seen in her life. She let out a cry. "Oh hey baby girl! It's mommy." She smiled as her own tears fell from her eyes and mixed with the water.
"Have you picked a name?" Dr Carson asked softly.
"I think we have?" Michonne looked at Rick who smiled and nodded his confirmation. "Elodie."
"I like that name." The nurse put a hat on their little girl who still had her face pressed to Michonne's chest. "Elodie Hawthorne?"
"Elodie Hawthorne - Grimes." Michonne said as she turned to Rick again. "You're in it for the long haul now, pal."
"I always was." He whispered as he stared in awe at the two girls he was going to share his life with. He kissed Michonne on the cheek as he wrapped his arm around her shoulder to stroke their daughters velvety soft hand. The Doctor took Elodie away to check her over and weigh her, and the nurses helped Michonne back to the bed.
"You ready for your first cuddle, daddy?" A nurse said, a freshly dressed Elodie in her arms.
"You bet!"
"Why was I so scared?" Michonne whispered as Elodie lay sleeping in her arms. Her perfect lips pouting and mimicking the sucking motion she'd been doing a few minutes prior.
"I don't know." Rick smiled. "I think we're lucky, she got your nose...your eyes..."
"...she's got your lips and those little cheek dimples you always try to hide because you don't realise how cute they are."
"She's perfect. Do you think they'll be talking about her? About how beautiful she is. She's surely the most beautiful baby born here this week, right?"
"Probably ever." Michonne yawned.
"Now..." Rick extracted Elodie from Michonne's arms. "...she won't need feeding for a couple hours so you need to get some sleep."
"I'm not tired." She protested, though in truth she was exhausted, she just didn't want to miss a single second of kisses and cuddles.
"You should try and rest. I've got her." Rick sat back in the chair cradling Elodie against his chest. Michonne couldn't stop staring, she didn't think it was possible for him to look more handsome, but seeing her newborn daughter sitting against his broad chest certainly took the prize. "I have her diapers here, pacifier if she needs it, and about a hundred kisses I plan to give her when she wakes. We got it." He gently nuzzled her hair with his nose, inhaling her scent the way Michonne had been doing for the past hour.
"I love you." She smiled. She hadn't said it before, neither of them had, but it was true.
"I love you too." The words fell from his lips so effortlessly he wondered why he hadn't said it to her yet.
Michonne tried to feel for Elodie next to her as she woke up, sitting bolt upright when she realised that she wasn't in the crib.
She felt a rush of relief remembering she was in Rick's arms. He was stood in front of the large window - it was similar to the view they'd shared together on new years eve - he was moving slowly from side to side in a rocking motion. She felt her chest fill with a rush of love. How could this random man and accidental pregnancy wind up being the thing that would make her feel complete.
She could barely make out what he was saying, it took a while to realise he was singing. She hadn't heard him sing before, his voice was soft, his accent still prominent. But it was sweet.
My father wasn't around
I swear that I'll be around for you
I'll do whatever it takes
I'll make a million mistakes
I'll make the world safe and sound for you.
