Page 94 of Burden to Bear

After letting my parents know that my water broke and Brock was taking me to the hospital, they promised they would be on the road in less than five minutes.

My next call was to Susie. She knew as soon as she saw my name on her display what the call was about. “Is the baby coming?”

“The baby is coming,” I confirmed. “I’ll be at the hospital in ten minutes.”

“I’ll let everyone here know what’s going on, and I’ll meet you there shortly,” she informed me.

“Sounds great, Susie. See you soon.”

Before I knew it, I was at the hospital, on the labor and delivery floor, and hooked up to a monitor in my very own room. The contractions had become increasingly more painful, but I was doing my best to look on the bright side. As it turned out, by the time Brock and I had arrived, I was already nearly six centimeters dilated. Apparently, my labor was progressing fast for a first-time mom.

The discomfort I felt increased as time went on, but I’d planned to have an all-natural labor. Fortunately, I had Brock with me, and he didn’t hesitate to step up to help me through. He rubbed my back, fed me ice chips, and allowed me to drape my arms over him to hang on whenever another contraction hit.

He was the only reason I remained as calm as I did throughout. Because where my energy was focused on the baby, Brock was focused solely on me.

I had no concept of time. All I knew was that I had to have been in the hospital for roughly two hours at one point, because my mom came waltzing into the room. “Oh, Mia, I thought I was going to miss it.”

“I’m so glad you’re here, Mom.” My voice was strained, tears filling my eyes.

Susie had arrived before my mom did, but she didn’t stay in the room with me. She came in, stayed for a bit, and wished me luck, promising she wouldn’t be leaving until she got word that the baby had arrived and whether she was an aunt to a niece or nephew.

It was quite some time after my mom arrived when things changed again for me. I knew I had to be in the homestretch, because the contractions felt as though they were coming one right after the other. I couldn’t catch a break between them.

And the pressure.

The pressure had gotten so bad, the urge to push undeniable. “I think I need to push,” I announced to anyone who was willing to listen.

My mom was on one side of the bed, Brock on the other. If there was one thing I was glad I’d done, it was sharing the truth about my relationship with Brock with them roughly two weeks after things became official between us. It was safe to say my family already adored him, and in one brief moment of clarity I’d had in the midst of laboring, I saw the way my mom looked at Brock. She wore such an appreciative and proud smile as she took him in while he took care of me.

The next thing I knew, I was being instructed to push. Brock held one leg in his hands as my mom held the other. A nurse counted, and the doctor offered encouragement and instructions. Everyone in the room just seemed to know what to do, and there was something about that which brought me such a sense of peace.

My baby was going to be okay.

I was going to be okay.

In what the doctor and nurses insisted was a rare feat, twenty minutes after I’d started pushing, I delivered my son. He was the most beautiful thing I’d ever laid my eyes on.

From the moment he was placed squarely on my chest after his delivery, all the worries I’d had about the day-to-day things in my life had vanished. The only thing that mattered to me now was this little boy.

He was mere minutes old, and he’d already changed my whole life.

TWENTY-SIX

Mia

“We’re so proud of you.”

Strong, protective arms I’d relied on nearly all my life were wrapped around me. “Thanks, Dad.”

My father loosened his hold on me, took half a step back, and placed a hand on each of my shoulders. “You’re doing a fantastic job.”

I inclined my chin down slightly with understanding and acceptance. “I’m trying.”

“That’s all that matters,” my mom chimed in. She was standing beside my father, and she was holding my son in her arms. “You might not feel like it’s enough, but I promise it is. We tried with you. We tried with Albert. And we questioned every decision we ever made when it came to the two of you, but look where we are now. It’s going to be the same for you with Milo.”

I smiled.

Milo.

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