CHAPTER 83:
Another hour had passed and AJ was still in the process of pushing as Roman was recording. "Come on April you can do this!" said Dr. Su. "No I can't I'm too tired!" said AJ as a nurse dabbed her forehead. Dr. Su looked up at AJ again. "You're crowning now. I can see the head April, you're almost there!" said Dr. Su. "I'm so tired" said AJ. "Whoa baby, this is amazing" said Roman. "No don't film that!" shouted AJ as she began to sob. "It's so fucking disgusting down there!" "No baby, I can see its hair" said Roman. "Wow AJ there's a ton of hair on them! It's so amazing!" "God I am so tired" said AJ. "I know April but I need you to still keep pushing" said Dr. Su. "So you're going to have to stay really focus for me ok?"
AJ nodded as resumed pushing and Roman kept the camera rolling. "Ok you can stop now" said Dr. Su as she suctioned the baby's nose and mouth. "Oh My God April, the head's out" said Roman. "I can see part of its little face and its grey." "Mr. Anoa'i that's vernix" said a nurse in the background. "Perfectly normal." "Oh and there's some blood on them" said Roman. "Leati!" shouted AJ. "Yes?" said Roman. "That's so gross! Just please, come over here I need your hand" AJ said. Roman walked over to AJ's side. "Would you like to touch your baby's head?" asked Dr. Su. AJ nodded as her hands were guided to gently touch the top of it. "It feels…so unreal" she said. "Are you ready?" asked Dr. Su. "Here" said Roman as he handed the camera to a nurse. "Will you finish filming it for me?" "Sure" said the nurse with a smile. Roman stuck out his hand for AJ to take. "I'm…ready" she said. "Ok April, I need you to give me one last push and it make it really powerful ok?" said Dr. Su. AJ nodded again as she resumed pushing for one last time.
"Come April you can do it" said Dr. Su. "I am!" shouted AJ. "Oh my God this stings so much!" "Keep going April you can do it!" said Dr. Su. "I can't! I can't do this anymore! I quit!" shouted AJ as she sobbed. "Look at me baby" said Roman. "I love you no matter what and I need you to do this for us ok?" "I can't do it anymore!" sobbed AJ. "I'm so tired." "Just one more tiny push" said Dr. Su. "You're almost there. I promise." "Baby I know you can do this ok?" said Roman. "I've seen you do so much even before I met you. I love you so much April." He kissed her forehead. "You can do this. I know you can. I believe in you and that hasn't changed and it never will." "I love you too Leati" AJ said tearfully.
"Just one more push" said Dr. Su. AJ held onto Roman's hand even tighter, so much so that the circulation in it was beginning to cut off. "Careful honey…I still need these hands for work" Roman uncomfortably said. She resumed her pushing for next several moments. "There we go" said Dr. Su as she began to suction the baby again. Sounds of crying began to fill the room. "Happy birthday sweetie" said Dr. Su as she held up the baby for AJ and Roman to see.
"Oh my God baby it's a girl!" said AJ tearfully with a smile. "Yes she is" Roman said as he began to tear up. As the baby continued to cry, the doctor asked for Roman to cut her cord. Afterwards, the baby was whisked away to the table to be checked out. "Congratulations April and Joe" said Dr. Su with a smile.
"I love you April" said Roman as he kissed AJ. "You did such a great job." Roman took the camera back from the nurse and began to watch the nurses tend to the baby girl. "The time was 8:54am" said one nurse. "5lbs, 6oz and she's 18 inches long" said another nurse. "Hi there little girl" said Roman as touched the baby's right hand. The baby quickly grasped at his finger, causing Roman to tear up even more. "My God April she is so beautiful" said Roman "She's so perfect". The nurses began to draw a small vile of blood so that it could be sent off to the DNA lab which caused the little baby girl to begin crying more. "She's so perfect" Roman repeated.
One nurse finished taking the baby's footprints as another began to listen to her heart and a third rushed the sample off to the downstairs lab. After a few minutes, Roman turned off the camera and he walked over to AJ. "She's very beautiful" he said. "She is?" asked AJ. "Yes" said Roman. "Just like her mommy". AJ smiled as the nurse brought over the baby for them to hold. "You may hold her for a minute but then we gotta bring her to the NICU to make sure she's ok" said the nurse. AJ held her daughter first who had then just begun to open up her eyes for them for the first time.
"They're…gray" she said. "They're just…like yours". "Eye color can change though" said Roman. AJ looked back at her daughter when the nurse came back over to take her. "I'm sorry" she said. "It's protocol." "I understand" said AJ sadly. She didn't want anyone to take her baby from her but she knew that they had to given that she was a preemie. "I hope she'll be ok" said AJ. "I really hope so too" said Roman. He took her hand into his. "I'm right here" he said. AJ looked down at his hand to notice there was some discoloration. "Leati they're purple" she said. "Its ok" said Roman. "I'm starting to get some of the feeling back." "My goodness I am so sorry" said AJ. "Don't be" said Roman with a smile. "What you just did was the coolest thing ever." AJ took a deep breath and began to silently pray that her daughter would be alright as well as turn out to be Roman's too.
About 90 minutes had passed when the nurse wheeled the baby back in with an envelope in her hands. "Here you Mrs. Anoa'i" she said. "She passed her APGAR with an 8 and all of her reflexes are good but she might develop a little jaundice later on and if so, we'll have to put her in a special incubator where she'll be under a UV light." "A UV light?" asked AJ. "Yeah but she will have her eyes covered so it doesn't bother her" said the nurse. "So we'll be monitoring her very closely in case she develops that. Do you plan on breastfeeding?" "Yes" said AJ as she began to hold her daughter again. "And here you go Mr. Anoa'i" said the nurse as she handed him the envelope. "We put a rush on that lab work for you and we triple checked the results to make sure that they were completely 100% accurate." She turned around and left after saying another nurse will join them shortly. "Well I guess this is it" said AJ. "I just want to let you know that no matter what this paper says, that I will still love you both" said Roman. "She is my daughter too, no matter what the results say."
AJ nodded as Roman began to open the envelope. He carefully scanned the paper. "Well…what does it say?" asked AJ. Roman looked up and smiled. "She's my daughter!" he said. "She's mine!" "Oh My God!" said AJ as she put her hand on her mouth and began to have tears of joy. She took ahold of the test results as she couldn't believe it herself. Her smile widened as she took a look for herself to see that her daughter really was Roman's. "Thank God!" Roman began to hug AJ as he picked up his daughter for the first time. "You're really my beautiful daughter" said Roman as he took a seat while holding her. At this time, the baby began to blow bubbles. "Aww look at her Leati. She's so cute" said AJ. "Yeah, now I get to protect her from all the bad boys that are out here" said Roman. "She was always yours" said AJ. "Regardless".
"Roman gently kissed the forehead of his daughter. "She looks just like you. She has my eyes but she looks exactly like her beautiful mother." This caused AJ to smile. Roman continued to hold his daughter close to him, not wanting to let her go. "I love you sweetheart" he said softly. "I love you very much that words cannot even begin to describe so." AJ watched Roman as he continued to fall more in love with his daughter. She could see the pure happiness in his eyes which warmed her heart. They were both so very relieved to finally hear that she was his and not John's and that their daughter was going to be ok. Roman began to speak to her in Samoan which peaked AJ's curiosity. She wanted to know what he was telling her but she decided to let them share that moment together.
"What should we name her?" asked AJ. "Alia" said Roman. "Alia Jiselle Anoa'i". "How about Alia Jiselle-Josephina Anoa'i after her father?" AJ said. "Yes that's perfect" said Roman. "Yeah and the initials they spell out AJ" said AJ. Roman smiled as he held his newborn daughter. "Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday dear Alia Jiselle-Josephina Anoa'i. Happy birthday to you" he sung as he kissed her once again.
A/N: Yay one baby is finally here, but there's still another one to come :-). Reviews are always welcome :-)