Steve
"Are you alright?" I asked softly, glancing over at Tessa. She nodded, rubbing her bump. We'd just gotten off of the phone with the doctor and her obstetrician had told her that for the safety of the baby her labor needed to be induced. We were on our way there now, luckily we finished moving everything in yesterday and just finished getting the nursery together. I reached over to take her hand in mine, I knew she was scared- hell I was too.
We pulled into the parking lot and I quickly went around to help her out of the truck. It was times like this I was glad I had a truck and not a car- I'm not sure she'd be able to get in or out of it. We went in quietly, the doctor had been able to fit us in and we literally knew nothing about inducing labor.
"Theresa?" The receptionist called. We stood up and she smiled, leading us to one of the examination rooms.
"The doctor will be in in one moment." Tessa nodded and a couple minutes later her doctor came in, Dr. Roy Hilliard.
I personally hated the fact that she had a male obstetrician, but it didn't matter to me- it was what made Tessa comfortable.
"Hello hello! Thanks for coming in so quickly." He said, taking a seat in his office type chair.
"So, I know you're almost a week and a half past your due date and to reduce the risk of stress of you and the baby I think it's best we induce labor. There's two ways you can do that, one is rather painful and it involves me sweeping the membranes away, but most women experience pain and I don't like using that method. The one I'd like to use uses pills, they're inserted into your vagina and they release hormones to jump start the labor. They need to be inserted every 12 hours," He looked at me and I nodded,
"Show me how to do it and I will Doc." He nodded and went to grab a bottle and Tessa gripped my hand in hers tightly.
"I love you baby… You can do this."
The doctor came back and showed me how to put the pills in and he smiled,
"Okay so now we wait. It could take a couple hours or a couple days still. When you go into labor, head back here to the hospital and we'll get started! I'll see you both soon." He said before leaving us. Tessa took my hand and I helped her up from the bed, going to the receptionist to pay before going back out to the truck. Olivia and Two-bit had babysat Julian for us- we were going to Olivia and Two-bit's place for dinner tonight.
I got along alright with her father but I couldn't stand her mother. She always made Tessa feel like shit and did her absolute best to make both girls miserable. When Tessa was pregnant with Julian her mother kept commenting on her weight, and when she didn't lose the baby fat right away her Mom convinced her I was going to leave. She also convinced Olivia (who was a virgin when she met Two-bit) that if she didn't put out he'd get bored and leave.
Thankfully both girls were trying their hardest to make sure they didn't become like their mother. We drove to Two-bit and Olivia's place, they were having the dinner at their house tonight. When we pulled up we were both relieved that we were here before her parents.
"Babe? Did you want Two-bit and Olivia to be the baby's god parents?" I asked and she nodded,
"Yes, let's keep it the same for Julian and our baby." She said, rubbing her bump. We went out and knocked on the door. Two-bit came and opened it smiling,
"Hey, we were just playing castle," He said and I grinned,
"He loves that game." We went in and Olivia looked up from where she was having a tea party with Julian and waved, so I went with Two-bit and sat with them and Tessa sat on the couch,
"How was your appointment?" Olivia asked, looking up at Tessa.
"It was alright, I'm on pills so that it'll help jump start the labor but that could take anywhere from hours or days."
"Oh, I'm sorry hun, I know it can't be easy." Tessa nodded and Julian eagerly climbed to sit into my lap, snuggling into my side. I smiled and kissed his head softly, rubbing his back,
"Would it be okay if I joined your tea party?" I asked and he nodded, giggling,
"Yes dada!" I grinned and got a cup and pretended to sip from it,
"Wow, this is very good tea." I said and he giggled,
"Da queen make it!" He exclaimed, pointing to Olivia.
She grinned and I smiled, "Well thank you Queen." We continued having a tea party before Julian yawned and Olivia smiled,
"Did you want to have a nap baby?" He nodded and curled into my torso, gripping my shirt. I smiled gently at Olivia,
"Don't worry about putting him in bed, I'll just keep him with me," I said, moving to sit beside Tessa and Olivia came over carrying a blanket to cover him with. Julian was my pride and joy, and Tessa was right. I was being too hard on him- I mean he's only three years old.
"So your adoption interview went good?" Tessa asked and I could tell she looked exhausted,
"Yeah it went good. Did you want to go and lay down hun?" Two-bit asked, and I figured that she would say no. But so did everyone else, "Tess, come on, I'll help you to the guest room. You're going to need all of the sleep you can get okay?" She nodded and he helped her up, bringing her to the guest room.
"We signed up with two agencies… One was the national adoption agency and the other was a private agency… The interview was with the private agency. So we're hoping that because it's private… We get a baby faster."
I nodded, "Well that's good, I mean it will hopefully be faster for you guys, there's nothing worse than waiting." She nodded and Two-bit came back out, sitting beside Olivia.
"Are you ready for my Mother?" She asked, looking at us. I sighed and shrugged,
"Like usual I won't say anything- unless she starts attacking Tessa, or you for that matter." I said and Two-bit nodded in agreement.
"I've had enough of your mother picking on you both and I'm getting tired of you letting her walk all over you. She's your mother, I get it, but at the same time she shouldn't be treating you like this." Two-bit said and Olivia sighed,
"I know. But you realize that without our mother our children won't have grandparents."
"We still have my mother." Two-bit said pointedly and she sighed.
"Look, it's gotta be hard but your Mom treats you both like shit and always puts you both down. I never really had a mother, but based on Two-bit's Mom and the Curtis's Mom… Your mother shouldn't make you hate yourself or be self conscious. You both deserve to be treated better and that's why it bothers us." I said. Both Olivia and Two-bit gave me a sideways glance. I sighed,
"Yes, Tessa has made me more sensitive." They smirked and then the door opened, her parents coming in. Olivia quickly jumped up to hug them and take their coats,
"Hello Keith, Steven." Mr. Hall said. Out of everyone in the gang, Two-bit and I were the only ones that didn't call our in-laws Mom or Dad. Mr. and Mrs. Hall insisted that we don't actually. We both nodded and said hello, and Mrs. Hall came around from behind the couch.
"It's not good to be treating Julian like a baby. Especially with the new one on the way. He's three years old."
I rolled my eyes, "Alright Mrs. Hall."
Both Two-bit and I were still not acceptable to the Halls, based on the fact that Two-bit asked for Olivia's hand in marriage and Mr. Hall said no (he went ahead and asked anyways obviously) and I didn't even bother asking them for her hand in marriage, I just proposed.
"Give him to me. I'll put him to bed for you." She said sternly and I narrowed my eyebrows,
"My son is fine here, thank you." She huffed and went into the kitchen. Two-bit rolled his eyes and I nodded in agreement. Two-bit turned on a hockey game and Mr. Hall was quiet and we all watched the game while Olivia was in the kitchen with her Mom. About an hour later Tessa came out of the guest room, rubbing her eyes. She looked refreshed but still tired. I leaned up to kiss her, Julian was also just waking up.
"How did you sleep?" I asked, using one arm to help support her as she sat on the couch.
"Well, not as good as when I'm in your arms," She admitted quietly, "Two-bit, thank you for letting me nap."
"Of course Tess." Her parents came back out to the living room and her mother looked at Tessa,
"Have you brushed your hair today?"
"I just got out of bed. I haven't had the chance to brush it yet." She said. I wondered why it even mattered, it was only family here. Mrs. Hall sighed and I took Tessa's hand tightly.
Julian looked around sleepily before seeing Tessa, and he smiled sleepily at her, adjusting so he was cuddling against her. She rubbed his back and kissed his head,
"Did you sleep good?" She asked, stroking his cheek. He nodded and yawned,
"Ya Mama."
"Yes." Mrs. Hall corrected, "Yes Mom."
I grit my teeth, "He's only three. Let's cut back on the correcting." I said, knowing it makes Julian shy to talk with his Grandmother constantly correcting him. He's told me that he doesn't like staying with her during the day because of that. I'd be damned if I let Mrs. Hall bully my wife and my son.
I knew Julian really appreciated it, though he probably didn't really understand what I said, because he reached to hold my hand against him. Tessa sighed and looked at her Mom,
"We were at the doctor today, they're trying to induce labor."
"Oh thank god. You're about ready to pop sweetie." She said and I started wondering if she was bi-polar or something.
"Did you figure out your work out plan for once the baby is born?" She questioned and I shook my head,
"She doesn't need a work out program."
"He's only saying that so no one else will want you." She retorted to Tessa who looked ready to cry and I grit my teeth,
"I've had enough. I've had enough of you bullying my son and my wife. And until you start respecting the both of them you won't be hearing from us nor will you be welcome in our place. I don't know why the fuck you think it's okay to treat your daughter like this but this is bullshit." I said, picking Julian up and resting him on my waist, helping Tessa up,
"My wife and my son are absolutely perfect. If you weren't so shallow and you spent time getting to know Julian you'd learn he's a fantastic kid. You'd also fucking know that Tessa is extremely self conscious thanks to you. Her looks and weight don't matter to me. I didn't fall in love with her body, I fell in love with her personality. I don't want you at the hospital when my child is born." I said, fishing the keys out of my pocket, looking at Olivia and Two-bit,
"Thanks for letting Tessa nap and watching Julian." With that we walked out, and I buckled Julian into his car seat before helping Tessa into the truck. Once she was buckled in she started to cry. I stood beside her and hugged her as best as I could,
"I love you… I love you… I'm sorry I lost it but I'm so tired of her treating you like garbage." I said, kissing her head. She wiped her eyes and sniffled,
"I'm… T-Thank you for sticking up for me," She said, hiccuping. I kissed her forehead,
"I'll always stick up for you babe." She sniffled and kissed me softly. I kissed her back before starting the drive to the farm. When we got there Presley was sitting on the front porch with her Mom while Soda and one of her brothers ran around the front yard playing with the twins and their dogs. I got out and helped Tessa out and then unbuckled Julian, going up to the porch with Tessa,
"Sweetheart are you okay?" Presley's Mom asked and she tried to smile and nod, but her Mom was having none of it. "Nonsense. Come, let me get you some tea. Sit down sweetie," She said. But instead of it being commanding like Tessa's mother, it was soft and comforting. Tessa sat on the swing and Presley took her hand.
"Hey Julian! I need a little back up!" Soda called, he was on the ground and the twins were on top of him. I put him down and he giggled, going over, but instead of helping Soda he just joined in on wrestling him to the ground. Presley's Mom came out and sat on Tessa's other side with a mug full of tea.
"You don't need that kind of negativity in your life sweetie. You are part of our family now," She said, wrapping her arms around Tessa and stroking her hair softly.
"Thank you," Tessa whispered, and Presley grinned,
"I guess I'll share my Mom with you." Tessa giggled and sniffled, wiping her eyes,
"Thank you so much for letting us move in here, it's been so much off of our backs… Steve's spending more time with Julian and we couldn't be happier." Presley smiled and kissed her cheek,
"Of course sweetie. I got this house handed to me, I know not everyone is that lucky. But it'll be nice to have someone else in the house while Soda's on business trips and horse auctions." Tessa smiled and nodded in agreement.
A pretty sweet looking Range Rover pulled into the driveway and I saw Pony in the drivers seat and I noticed Audrey in the passenger seat.
"They took the girl's apple picking," Presley said, waving. Just as they were getting out of the vehicle I heard Tessa gasp. I whipped my head around and I saw her flinching, moving awkwardly. I immediately ran down the stairs to get her overnight bag and her pillow, when I came back up she was gritting her teeth and her hands were on either side of her bump,
"Okay babe, breathe with me," I said, kneeling in front of her, taking a deep breath. Presley was also by her side, and Presley's Mom was keeping track of the time between contractions.
Once they were about twenty minutes apart I helped her into the car, laying her down in the back seat. Soda took the keys from me and started driving while I helped support her in the back seat.
The drive felt like forever and I wasn't even the one in labor. When we got there everything was a blur. We signed her in and we were brought into a waiting room where they had her situated in a bed to wait for her to be fully dilated. Soda had offered to call our family and I nodded, I knew I couldn't leave her alone.
It was almost five hours before she was fully dialated and then another two hours in the delivery room. However my wife took it like a champ and she didn't scream once (though it felt like she broke my hand).
"Congratulations!" Doctor Hilliard said when we heard a baby start to cry, "It's a girl!" Tessa laid back, tears running down her face. The nurses took her and started taking down her weight and cleaned her off before handing her to Tessa. She sniffled and kissed her head, resting her head on hers gently. I took my cell phone out and got a picture of the two of them. I sat beside her, gently stroking my daughter's cheek. We hadn't really talked about girl's names, that was one thing we couldn't decide on.
"Natalie Sophia Randle," Tessa whispered and I wiped my eyes.
"Babe… Are you sure?" I sniffled.
"Yes I'm sure, I know your Mom meant the world to you Steve, the least we could do Is honour her." I sniffled again and kissed her softly. She smiled and gently stroked my cheek, before gently handing me Natalie. I kissed her head,
"She's perfect," I whispered, looking her eyes as she looked around curiously.
"Did you want to take her out to meet the family?" She asked and I kissed her,
"Why don't we wait until they transfer you to your room and we'll have them come and see her?" She nodded in agreement and I gently put Natalie back on her chest. The nurse came over smiling,
"Have you two decided how you'll be feeding Natalie?" She asked and Tessa nodded,
"I'm going to breast feed," Tessa said, and the nurse nodded,
"Okay, now I know this is your second child so have you breastfed before or will this be your first time?"
"This will be my first time, we used formula with our son."
"Okay, I could show you if you'd like."
Tessa nodded and moved her breast out of her night gown. The nurse guided Tessa through every step and Natalie took her boob happily.
"Now there will be times that your baby won't want your nipple, and you just need to try your best to have her take it. And once your doctor suggests you'll need a pump to start monitoring what she eats. But your doctor will come in and speak with you about this topic in specifics and give you some hand outs."
"Okay." Tessa agreed, looking down at Natalie as she ate.
"Once she's done eating we're going to transfer you to a room okay?" We nodded and once Natalie was done eating and she burped the nurses moved Tessa's bed to a private room,
"Oh… I think we're in the wrong room." I said, noticing that no one else was here.
"Theresa Randle, right? Your chart says P347."
"What? We were supposed to be in a semi private, that's all that insurance can cover."
"The bill has already been paid and you were upgraded to a private room."
"That's… That's not possible. Do you know who made the payment?"
"Well.. The receipt says E. Cade."
"Okay… Thanks." I said, and we sat quietly while Natalie slept. She was so precious, and perfect. She already had a head of hair, dark brown hair that resembled mine.
"Did you want to go and get them now?" She asked and I nodded, walking over to see the gang. Everyone was there, most of them didn't have their kids.
"Hey y'all… Did you want to come and meet your niece?" They all grinned and I noticed most of them had balloons that said "It's a girl!" And most of the girls were holding gift bags. I smiled and lead them into the room and Tessa looked up grinning,
"Hi guys… This is Natalie Sophia." The guys all looked at me grinning and I shrugged,
"It was her idea." I said grinning and they all started taking pictures.
"Here, we got this for you guys," Darry said, and everyone placed a bag on Tessa's bed. I sat beside her, holding Natalie as she slept.
"You guys shouldn't have…" Tessa said quietly and Soda smiled and shrugged,
"It's too late, we already did." He said playfully and she started opening the bags. The guys had gotten us some girls clothes, teddies, bibs, and hats.
"We know that you only have Julian's old stuff so we wanted Natalie to have her own clothes."
Tessa sniffled and wiped her eyes, "Thank you guys so much…" Two-bit smiled and kissed her head,
"Of course."
Once everyone had visited for an hour or so everyone started heading out, before I cleared my throat,
"Johnny? Elena?" They smiled and waited for everyone to leave and I swallowed hard,
"I just… I just wanted to say thank you… Thank you very much."
Elena smiled, "Of course guys, don't worry about it."
We smiled and they hugged us both and left. I gave Natalie back to Tessa and she moved her night gown to start feeding her.
"She's perfect baby… Absolutely perfect." I whispered, kissing Tessa softly.