"Where the fuck is Troy?" Gabriella Bolton roared.
"Please calm down miss-"
"SHUT UP, I WANT MY HUSBAND."
"I'm here, Gabby."
Gabriella's eyes filled with tears as she stared into her husband's shock blue eyes. "I don't want to." She mumbled, and he smiled slightly, kissing her forehead softly.
"I'd do anything I could if I could take the pressure for this off you." He told her sincerely. "You know I would."
Gabriella reached down, grabbing his hand and holding it to her stomach. He smiled widely as he felt the baby boy in his wife kick. "I want our baby out, but I'm scared." Gabriella moaned, leaning against the hospital bed. "I know it's going to freaking kill, and I don't want to do the painful part."
"I'm going to stay with you." Troy resolved, and she nodded.
"You better."
A nurse burst into the room. "Sorry to interrupt, I need to check Mrs Bolton." She glared at Gabriella slightly, and Gabriella grinned, recognising the nurse she'd previously shouted at. The nurse set about getting ready to check Gabriella, and then smiled when she did. "You're almost ready to deliver soon Mrs Bolton, you're nearly at nine centimetres."
"How long?" Gabriella squeaked, and the nurse shrugged.
"Just soon."
"Is everything going smoothly so far?" Troy asked, concerned, and the midwife nodded reassuringly.
"It's all going perfectly. I'll be back in twenty minutes to check on Mrs Bolton." The midwife flashed a tight smile at Gabriella before exiting, and Troy turned to Gabriella in disbelief.
"What the hell did you do to that poor woman?" He asked, and Gabriella shrugged innocently.
"In my defence, if she doesn't want to deal with hormonal women who want their husband, partner, boyfriend or whatever, then she's in the wrong career." Troy shook his head, and a look of panic suddenly arrived on Gabriella's face. "Shit, did you call our parents?!"
"Oops." Troy said quickly, grabbing his phone as he turned and left the room, dialling as he went.
Gabriella shook her head at her husband's forgetfulness before suddenly tensing up in pain as another contraction hit her. She stuck her arm in her mouth, muffling her moans in pain as she desperately tried to make it through the painful contraction.
As the piercing pain faded for the moment, Gabriella found her mind wandering back to nine months ago- the first night of her honeymoon. After the wedding, Troy and Gabriella stayed in a local hotel for three nights (as the wedding was in Alberquque and not LA, where they lived) before jetting off to Hawaii for three weeks. It was not basketball season, so Troy was free of practice, and Gabriella had just finished a big case that meant she was able to take time off as a 'wedding gift' from the firm, in which she happened to be one of the boss' favourites.
After arriving in Hawaii, the newlyweds had dumped their bags in the rented villa and immediately christened it. After picking themselves up from the bed after round two an hour later, they'd showered together and gone to dinner, celebrating their fourth night as a newlywed couple with a fancy dinner and wine before going home for round three.
The rest of the holiday had been relaxed, excited and fun filled all at once. They'd hired a boat to take them over the waves for an exploring trip and a picnic, they'd swum with dolphins, they had gone shopping. By the time they set foot back in LA, they were tanned to the extreme and loving married life. Then they'd found out Gabriella was pregnant, and they'd been ecstatic and cautious at the same time. They were scared due to their last experience, but the doctor had reassured them countless times, and they'd visited the hospital whenever they panicked, which had been a lot.
"They're on their way." Troy announced as he re-entered the room. "My mom and dad are on their way over from the hotel, and your mom and dad are just paying the bill for their lunch. Maria said that I interrupted just as your dad was handing over his credit card."
"So they'll be here in ten minutes or so?" Gabriella asked, and Troy nodded.
"How are you feeling so far?" He asked, and Gabriella winced and she was hit with another contraction, a blinding pain that felt like it was killing her.
"I think these are getting closer." She spat out between gritted teeth. "And they hurt."
"I'm getting the midwife." Troy reached over, kissing her forehead before running through the door. Half a minute later, he'd returned with the annoyed midwife, who checked Gabriella over immediately.
"You, Mrs Bolton, are ready to deliver." She announced, and Gabriella groaned.
"Ahh fuck."
*
"One more push, baby!" Troy begged, and Gabriella's eyes pricked with more tears. She was covered in layers of sweat, and she'd cried so much her eyes were stinging as if she'd been sprayed with mace. She'd never felt more ugly in her life.
"I can't." She cried, and Troy gathered her in his arms.
"Yes you can." He told her, catching her face in his arms and smoothing back the messy curls. "Just think, the sooner this is over, the sooner we can hold our son in our arms."
"God, I love you." Gabriella cried, grabbing onto Troy's hand for dear life and squeezing as she felt the contraction hit her.
"I love you too." Troy's words echoed in her ears as she glared up at the midwife.
"Big push Mrs Bolton!" She called encouragingly, and Gabriella threw her last bit of energy into pushing her son into the world.
Seconds later, a cry was heard through the room and the midwife took the baby and handed it to the nearby assistant to clean. "You have a son." She announced. "But you knew that."
"1.03pm." Troy whispered. "This is my new favourite time."
"Here you go." The assistant passed Gabriella a doll sized human being, and she fell in love with the bundle of flesh the moment she set eyes on him.
"He's beautiful." She breathed, and Troy placed an arm around her, staring down at their baby with the adoration and love she was sure she was staring with too. A flash illuminated the room, and the midwife held up a polaroid.
"I give these to all new parents for the first picture for you." She smiled, handing Troy the developing picture. "Would you like to cut the cord?" She asked, and Troy nodded, leaving Gabriella's side.
"I'm never going to let you go." Gabriella whispered.
"Yes you are, to give me a hold." Troy smiled, and Gabriella rolled her eyes, looking back to their baby.
"You can hold the next ones first." Gabriella grinned.
"Thinking that far ahead?" Troy teased, and she shrugged.
"Gotta give him those brothers and sisters."
"You wanted the injection to get the placenta out, is that correct?" The midwife asked, and Gabriella nodded.
"After that, it's time for this little one to meet the grandparents." She grinned, staring down at her baby's sleeping face.
A few minutes later, Troy's and Gabriella's parents were in the room, watching in awe as Troy held his son to him, and smiling the smile that only new grandparents had.
"So what's his name?" Lucille pressed, and Gabriella looked at Troy, nodding to tell them the name. Troy smiled down at the baby now dressed in a diaper and a vest and wrapped in a blue blanket.
"He's called Harvey… Harvey Alexander Bolton."