-1Chapter Ten
"Where's Michael?" Lauren called out as Phyllis entered the busy hospital room. The entire hospital was in a state of controlled chaos with electricians struggling to get the power back on before the hospital's backup generator gave out. When they had arrived earlier, the Emergency Room had looked more like a war zone with all of the car crash victims waiting for medical attention. This definitely was not the best of nights to be bringing a new baby into the world.
"I just got off the phone with him, he's on his way." Phyllis assured her as she moved to the side of Lauren's hospital bed and reached down to hold her hand. She squeezed it reassuringly. "He'll get here in time, don't worry." Lauren offered her a weak smile. Phyllis moved to pull her hand away but Lauren grabbed a hold of it and squeezed as she was hit by another powerful contraction.
"Oh God, it hurts!" Lauren cried out in pain. Phyllis wiped the sweat from her brow and encouraged her to try and control her breathing, but it wasn't helping.
"Where's the doctor? I want an epidural." Lauren pleaded, sweat and tears streaming down her face. A nurse who was checking the fetal heart monitor heard Lauren's request and moved closer to the bed.
"I'm sorry Mrs. Baldwin, it's too late for you to receive epidural anesthesia . You're almost fully dilated." the nurse smiled down at her sympathetically. "But that's a good thing! The doctor will be back shortly and if the baby is crowning, you can start pushing."
"But it's too soon! What if he's not big enough yet?" Lauren asked fearfully as she glanced at the fetal monitor to check if the numbers were holding steady. She was just so terrified that something would happen to the baby, it was all she could think about.
"You're only two weeks ahead of your scheduled due date, Mrs. Baldwin. Chances are your baby will be perfectly healthy. He may just have to spend a day or two in an incubator." A look of distress crossed Lauren's face then as she thought about her tiny baby in tubes. Phyllis gave the nurse a look that told her she should try and be a little more comforting if she knew what was good for her. "But we'll cross that bridge when we get to it, dear." The nurse continued, "For now let's just concentrate on getting this baby out into the world."
"Okay." Lauren nodded then squeezed her eyes shut as she tried to get through another contraction. She had forgotten how painful this was. Lauren tried to concentrate on what the end result would be, the utter joy and elation of holding her baby in her arms for the first time. She could handle a little pain.
"Ahhhh! Oh God, oh God, oh God!" Lauren screamed out in agony. She felt like she was being ripped in half. Phyllis tried to comfort her, but she knew she wasn't being very helpful. She was terrified herself, thinking about how she too would be going through the same thing in a few weeks time. She didn't know if it was from sympathy pains or the fact that Lauren was once again squeezing the hell out of her hand, but Phyllis felt tears running down her own face then as she desperately tried to comfort her friend.
"Shhhh, it's gonna be alright. Just try and breathe Lauren, breathe through the pain. That's it." Lauren released the breath she was holding in and then flopped back against the pillows in exhaustion. There were tears in her eyes.
"Why isn't he here yet?" Lauren asked Phyllis quietly.
"Do you want me to go and call him again?" Phyllis offered, already starting to move towards the door.
"No, it's okay. Don't leave." Lauren said in a panic. "I don't want to be alone." Phyllis's heart broke for her.
"Hey, he'll be here. Alright?" Phyllis smiled at her warmly "You and this baby mean the world to him, wild horses couldn't keep him away." Lauren smiled up at her, trying to reassure herself that Phyllis was right. Lauren braced herself as she was rocked by yet another painful contraction.
"Oh my God, I need to push!" Lauren screamed as she started baring down. The nurse rushed to the foot of the bed to check and see how far along Lauren's labor was progressing.
"Okay, the baby's head has started to crown. It won't be long now!" This nurse was just way too dn chipper, Lauren thought to herself. "I'll go get Dr. Thompson"
"Phyllis," Lauren sobbed as the nurse left the room. "Where's Michael? Where's my husband!"
"Am I being paged?" Came a voice from the doorway.
"Michael!" Lauren cried out in relief, holding her arms out to him. He swiftly made his way to her and held her close. Lauren buried her face in his neck and cried. "I was so afraid you weren't gonna make it in time."
"Are you kidding?" Michael said as he eased himself out of her arms and helped her lay back against the pillows. "Wild horses couldn't have kept me away!" Lauren grinned up at Phyllis.
"Told ya so." She teased. Michael was about to ask what the joke was when the Dr. Thompson entered the room.
"So I here that baby Baldwin is ready to make his, or her, grand entrance." She said as she smiled pleasantly at Michael and Lauren.
"Okay, Michael's here now so I'm gonna head out to the waiting room." Phyllis said as she headed towards the door.
"You don't have to leave, Phyllis. Don't you wanna stay and see your godchild be born?" Phyllis turned around and from where she stood near the door she could see more of Lauren than she ever needed to.
"Uh, no I think I'll let you two handle this on your own." Phyllis said, still staring at Lauren. It was like a car accident, she just couldn't look away. Phyllis knew the same thing would be happening to her body in a couple of weeks and it scared the crap out of her. "Good luck!" And with that Phyllis tore her gaze away from the scene in front of her and headed out the door. Michael turned his attention to his wife as she began screaming her way through another contraction.
"It's okay, sweetie. It's gonna be okay. Just breathe with me." Michael soothed, letting her squeeze his hand and kissing her forehead gently. "Isn't there anything you can give her for the pain?" Michael asked in between contractions. He couldn't stand seeing Lauren in so much pain, she looked completely warn out.
"Sorry, no." Dr. Thompson said sympathetically as she sat down at the foot of the bed. "Her labor has progressed too far along for that now, it's time to start pushing."
"Oh, thank God!" Lauren screamed as she was hit with another contraction.
"Okay, Lauren if you have the urge the push, go for it." And Lauren did just that. "Good, good. That's it!" Dr. Thompson said encouragingly. "A few more pushes like that and we'll have ourselves a baby."
And she was right. Fifteen minutes and a few painful pushes later, Dr. Thompson was encouraging Michael to look over the sheet to see his baby's head. Michael did just that and was in awe of what he saw.
"Lauren, the baby! I can see the baby." Michael told her excitedly.
"Yeah, that's great honey." Lauren said through gritted teeth as she concentrated on pushing her way through another contraction. The pain was excruciating!
"That's it, Lauren. One more big push and that's it!" Michael moved back up to the head of the bed and stroked Lauren's face comfortingly.
"Come on, sweetie. Let's meet our baby." And with that Lauren bared down with all the strength she had left and pushed with all her might. Michael felt tears well up in his eyes and watched in awe as Dr. Thompson pulled the baby out from underneath the sheet.
"And it's a girl!" The doctor declared, holding the baby up for Michael and Lauren to see as she worked on cleaning out her airway.
"A girl? Lauren, it's a girl!" Michael said to her ecstatically. Lauren was exhausted but she smiled happily at him through her tears of joy.
"We have a daughter." Lauren said in awe. Then her expression turned serious. "Why isn't she crying?"
"Don't worry, sometimes it just takes a second." A nurse handed Michael a pair of surgical scissors. "Daddy, would you like to cut your baby girl's cord?" Dr. Thompson asked him pleasantly. Michael nodded slowly and took the scissors from the nurse, his hand was shaking. Once it was done, Dr. Thompson handed the baby over to one of the nurses who took the quiet infant over to the other end of the room.
"Wait, I wanna hold her!" Lauren called out desperately.
"In a minute, we just need to get her checked out and cleaned up. Then she's all yours." And then the sound of their baby's angry cries filled the small room.
"Wow," Michael gazed at Lauren with so much love in his eyes. "Have you ever heard anything more beautiful than that?" Lauren smiled up at him with tears in her eyes.
"No." she said simply. They both watched anxiously as the nurse walked towards them holding their wailing baby girl in her arms. She was swaddled securely in a white blanket with a tiny pink hat on her head. The nurse moved to place the baby in Michael's arms and he quickly glanced at Lauren, silently asking her if he could hold the baby first. She smiled lovingly at him and nodded. Michael carefully took the baby in his arms, careful to support her small head.
"She's so tiny." Michael whispered as he gazed at his daughter, trying to take everything in at once. Her perfect little nose and rosebud lips. She was pink and wrinkly and adorable, with a smattering of chestnut brown hair poking out from underneath the small hat. And her eyes, Michael couldn't stop looking at her eyes. They were beautiful. She was blinking up at him curiously as her crying slowly began to subside.
"Hi there," Michael said softly and he could swear she understood him. "I'm your dad." God, he loved the way that sounded. The baby gurgled up at him, her tiny hands trying to get loose from beneath the blanket she was swaddled in. Michael carefully freed one and took her little wrinkly hand in his larger one, counting five perfect tiny fingers. And that's when it hit him. He was in love. He was hopelessly, unconditionally in love with this perfect little baby girl whom he had just met. And with that love came the most fiercest urge to protect her at all costs. To devote his life to making her happy.
"Hey, baby hog. Are you ever gonna let me hold our daughter?" Lauren teased playfully as she fought off sleep in favor of watching Michael fall in love with their beautiful baby girl. She hadn't wanted to interrupt, but she was anxious to do some bonding with the baby herself.
"Sorry." Michael chuckled as he carefully bent down and placed the baby in her mother's arms.
"Hey there, sweetie." Lauren softly cooed to her daughter as she stroked her tiny face and marveled at how unbelievably soft her chubby little cheeks were. Lauren smiled up at Michael with tears in her eyes that matched his own. "Michael, she's perfect."
"I know," Michael agreed wholeheartedly. "She looks just like me." He teased.
"Oh, shut up you!" Lauren admonished him playfully then looked down at their daughter once more. "Well she definitely has your eyes, which is what I was afraid of." Michael looked at her quizzically.
"Why?"
"As if those big brown puppy dog eyes aren't adorable enough on you, now I have a little girl that I'll never be able to say no to either." Michael laughed warmly at that and bent to give Lauren an affectionate kiss.
"I love you so much." Michael said fiercely and Lauren had a feeling he was talking to both of them.
"And we love you." They exchanged goofy, love struck grins and gazed down at their baby girl once more. Lauren had never felt so content, so at peace with life. Sitting here holding her daughter with the man whom she adored. Her life was as close to perfect as it gets, and Lauren was determined to keep it that way.
"Michael?" He tore his gaze away from the baby and looked at Lauren questioningly. "I know we had settled on the name Brianna Belle if the baby turned out to be a girl, but how do you feel about the name 'Emma'?" Michael raised his eyebrow at that, realizing the deeper meaning behind Lauren's name suggestion. It was because of what happened to Emma Gibson that Michael risked everything, his career, his freedom. By naming their daughter after the woman, the name would take on a new meaning in their lives. One of happiness and joy, rather than angst and sorrow. It would also help to remind Michael of everything he risked losing by covering for his mother, a mistake he was determined never to make again.
"It's a beautiful name," Michael nodded finally. Lauren smiled up at him in gratitude, knowing that he appreciated her reasoning for the name change. "Emma Baldwin," Michael let the name roll off his tongue as he again took his daughter's tiny hand in his. "I like it."
"Emma Gloria Baldwin." Lauren corrected. Michael looked up at her in surprise.
"Lauren, you don't have to that. I'm fine with it." He assured her. Yes, he had been upset with her at first for getting rid of Gloria without telling him, but he was over it now. He'd lived a lot of years without having his mother in his life, he'd get used to not having Gloria around anymore. Eventually.
"Yes, I do." Lauren declared firmly. "I had no right to take your mother away from you." She admitted sadly, tears of regret in her eyes. "At least let me give you this." Michael took her face in his hands and kissed her deeply, letting her know without words that he didn't blame her at all.
"Alright then," Michael said as he reached down and picked the baby up again. He sat down on the side of the bed so that Lauren could see their now sleeping baby girl as well. She looked like an angle. "Emma Gloria Baldwin it is." Michael declared proudly. "A fitting name for the first female president of the United States, dontcha' think?" Lauren chuckled sleepily as she lay her head down on Michael's shoulder and gazed contentedly at their beautiful baby girl.
"It's perfect."