Part 10: The Delivery

See Part 1 for disclaimers

Clint and Natalie walked back into the house with Clint cussing out his car which had refused to start. "Stupid foreign piece of crap!" Natalie would have been amused if the situation had been any less serious, but instead she was freaking out, though she tried not to show it. "Dad, they're only two minutes apart now!" Her voice betrayed her panic, and he was at her side in a second, guiding her to sit in a chair.

Just then, Joey walked in and Clint was at him in a second. "Where is your car? I need your car now!" Joey held up his hands. "My car's in the shop; I just got a ride home with a friend. Why? What's wrong?" "Damn foreign jobs! From now on we buy American!" Clint's face was red and a vein was popping out in his forehead. "Dad, what's going on?"

"I am about to have this freaking baby, that's what's going on!" Natalie screamed, having been driven to the edge by all the screaming. "And I don't really want my father or brother delivering it, but apparently we have no choice in the matter, so get over here and help me!" They looked at each other. "She was talking to you," they said simultaneously. Natalie screamed in frustration, and they both rushed to her side.

"Where are the servants, anyway? I know for a fact Tabitha said she'd had a baby and would help me anytime I needed it." "I kind of gave them the day off today." Natalie groaned. "Great idea, Dad." She scowled at him. "I'm sorry!" He sounded so apologetic that Natalie immediately felt bad. "I'm sorry Dad; hormones, ya know?" He smiled and kissed her forehead as he picked her up and carried her into her bedroom, lying her on her bed.

"Come on Joey, looks like we're delivering this baby ourselves." He swallows hard, terrified. "I'm suddenly glad I had to deliver that baby back in '83." Natalie and Joey both said, "What?" He shook his head. "You'll never hear it from me, but let's just say I've had a little birthing experience." Natalie looked the tiniest bit relieved that someone there knew what they were doing.

Thirty minutes later, Natalie was about to have the baby and Joey was freaking out. "It's okay; it's gonna be okay!" He'd been doing that for the last fifteen minutes, and Natalie had had enough, so she yelled, "How would you know that? When was the last time you had a baby? You men suck, you're all such big babies!" She paused to breathe, and Joey sputtered. "What'd I do to you?" "Oh, what'd you ever do for me?" His mouth fell open. "Oh, great time to bring that up!"

"Stop the bickering, you two! This baby is about to be born and I need all of your attention on bringing him into the world, okay Natalie?" Natalie nodded. "Now, when I tell you to I need you to push with everything you've got in you, okay baby? Now!" Natalie pushed as hard as she could, screaming in pain, and then a baby's plaintive wail filled the room.

Clint cleaned the baby and handed him to Natalie, smiling widely. "Here's your son, sweetie. You done good, honey," he said, kissing her forehead. "You done good." She smiled and looked down on her son's scrunched up face, laughing at how loudly he was crying. "He has the Buchanan lungs, that's for sure," Joey said, brushing her hair out of her face. She smiled softly and kissed the baby's forehead.

Natalie kissed Clint's cheek. "Thank you, Dad. I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't been here." "No thanks needed. So, what are you going to name him?" Natalie smiled softly. She had spent months trying to come up with a name, but nothing had ever seemed to fit. Suddenly though, she knew just what she wanted to name him. "Shane Michael Buchanan," she said quietly, trying it out. "Sounds great, doesn't it?"

Clint smiled and kissed the top of her head. "It really does."

TO BE CONTINUED