Page 110 of Heartless

“Okay, are we ready?” Dr. Patterson asks.

MJ breathes heavily again and blows it out through her mouth. She reaches for my hand, and I ignore the stinging sensation of the scratches she’s already left behind.

“Yes, I’m ready, Dr. P.”

“Good. Then let’s get going. Show us what you’ve got. Three. Two. One. Push,” he encourages.

MJ squeezes my hand, bares down, and pushes hard.

“There we go!” Dr. Patterson announces.

“Oh, my goodness. Your baby is so beautiful,” Kaia whispers, moving from the head of the bed where she held position down to the foot of the bed.

A little wail releases into the room, creating a shout of joy among the nurses, the doctor, and Kaia.

“What do we have?” MJ asks, looking at me with hope-filled eyes.

Curls are plastered against her forehead and temples by the sweat that she’s released during labor. Sweat beads dot her upper lip, and my wife is generally exhausted.

Dr. Patterson asks, “Dad, do you want to pronounce the gender of your baby?”

Pressing a kiss to MJ’s forehead I answer, “We have a beautiful baby girl.”

“We do?” she asks as tears spring to her eyes.

“Yes, baby. We do.”

I bend down to kiss her once more.

“Dad, are you cutting the umbilical cord?”

Proudly, I take my place beside Dr. Patterson and take the scissors from his hand. He shows me where to begin cutting, and I position the scissors and do exactly as he tells me to do.

Once I’m finished, I take my place at MJ’s side again and take over the damp cloth that Kaia previously used to wipe away the sweat. The nurses take the baby to the other side of the room to clean her up.

Kaia, our baby’s godmother, instantly moves with the nurses.

“All right, Mama,” Dr. Patterson announces. “We’re getting ready to have you push again so that we can expel the afterbirth, okay?”

MJ nods again and looks at me.

“Just breathe. You’re going to be just fine.”

She closes her eyes and takes my hand into hers. Again, we go through the stages of having her push while she expels the afterbirth. I talk to her in sweet whispers while the doctor stitches her up from where she tore just a little.

“I worried for such a long time about us, including after you came back home,” I say.

“Why?”

“Worried that the anxieties would return and take over. Worried that anything could happen that might cause you to slip into depression. There were so many things, and we were new at building a family. I didn’t want to lose you again.”

“You weren’t at risk of that, Onyx. I had no plans of giving up my marriage. I vowed to stand beside you, and that’s what I meant.”

“I don’t think that I could ever ask for more in life than having you at my side. You make every day worth living, MJ.”

“So do you, baby,” she says as she kisses my lips.

“Well, here’s your beautiful little girl,” one of the nurses announces, bringing our baby to us.

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