Chapter 10

He was standing in the hall for about a minute before he felt a hand on his back. He turned to look whose hand it was. No one he knew would ever put their hand on him like that. Except Erica. "Ruth." He said in shock, partly because of the recent events and partly because Ruth Martin had her hand on his back as if to comfort him.

"Jeff called. We came as soon as we could."

"We?" He said, quickly noticing the two men standing down the hall. "Thank you Ruth, but I don't think it's a good time to go at it with the two of them."

"They're here for support, nothing else."

"I'm sorry if I don't believe that Ruth. Jake and Tad could care less about me or what I'm going through. If you wouldn't mind, I'd like to focus on Erica and our son."

"Of course. They're going to be okay. They're in good hands."

It had only been a few minutes since Erica went into surgery, but a Jeff was already walking down the hall. "Your son is doing extremely well for 34 weeks. 5 lbs. 3 oz. and 20 inches long. He's breathing on his own and the APGAR score is an 8. And Erica is doing good. No seizures and minimal bleeding. Dr. Madison is getting ready to close."

"Can I see my son? Where is Dylan?" David asked, already moving toward where Jeff came from.

Jeff put his hand on David's chest, holding him back. "He's being assessed in the PICU. You'll be allowed to see him in a few minutes, as long as he's stable."

"You'll come get me as soon as Erica is out of surgery and in recovery?"

"Yes."

"Thank You Jeff." David said, shaking his brother's hand.

"No problem. I'm going to get back in there." Jeff said before leaving David and a close by Ruth.

"See, I told you everything is going to be fine. Your son is here and Erica is doing good." Ruth said as she moved next to David again.

"Yes, although I won't believe it until I see it for myself. And my son is here. I'm a father."

"Congratulations David.

"I'm going to go to the PICU and see if I can see Dylan. If you hear anything can you make sure someone tells me?"

"Sure David. Go and see your son. We'll be here if you need anything." She said referring to her, Jake and Tad.

"Thanks." He said before almost running to the nearest elevator.

"We're out of here mom." Tad told his mother

"The two of you are staying right here."

"The kid is fine mom. Erica's going to be fine. I'm going." Jake said.

"Joseph Martin Jr., you will stay right where you are." Ruth demanded of her youngest. "You'll stay here until your father comes out and gives the all clear." He stopped, standing still and not even bothering to look up at her. He didn't want to piss off his mother on David Hayward's account.

"I guess we can wait a little longer." Tad added.

David made it up to the NICU in what was probably a record time. He hadn't every really been here. He'd walked by it a few times but to actually look and see what was going on, never. One of the doctors recognized him and headed out to talk to him. "Dr. Hayward? I'm Dr Peters, your sons' physician." The woman started.

"He's still doing good, right? Jeff, he told me all the things you want to hear. Do you have any I don't want to hear?"

"No. Everything is just as it should be for a half hour post partum. Would you like to meet him?" The doctor replied. "Stupid question I know." She said after he wasn't able to respond.

He followed her over to one of the beds holding an infant. The baby, who he knew was a boy, his son, was so small. He was pink, which was good and he had soft head of brown hair, Erica's hair. He couldn't see his eyes because they were shut, he was sleeping. "You can touch him. Hold him. Just make sure to watch his monitor leads. If you need anything else just ask anyone."

"Thank you." He finally managed to get out. He put his hand inside the bed and placed it softly on Dylan's head. He moved his thumb lightly through the baby's hair. "I would hold you, but I think that your mother should be the one to do it first. You'll see her in a little bit. She's busy right now." He put his other hand on the baby's chest, as lightly as he could. The feel of Dylan's fast fluttering heart made David's skip a few beats. It was so fast but it was perfect. He was perfect. The only problem was he was half Erica and it killed him, not knowing what was going on with her. "I'm sorry you had to come here early. It would have been a lot better if you were in your mommy for another couple of weeks but I guess it was supposed to happen that way Your mommy didn't feel good, so I brought her here. Your grandpa said it was time for you to come out, so he got you out. And now here you are. Your mommy is going to be so happy to see you. She's so beautiful. You look a lot like her. You're going to love her, everybody does.

"David." A voice whispered in the quiet room. David hesitated to take his eyes off his son, but he knew who it was.

"Joe, tell me she's fine." David said, his head not even all the way around.

"Everything went well. She's in recovery."