Page 116 of Sugar and Skulls

“Help her out of her pants Dirk. It’s almost time,” he orders. He gives her a kiss on the forehead and a quick hug before rushing out of the room.

I get Jesse out of her wet pants and settled back onto the bed. The mid-wife laid a waterproof liner on the bed for us. When she checks Jesse’s progress she smiles. “You’re at ten. Ready to push?”

Jesse shakes her head no. Terrified eyes search for mine. I calmly slide up beside her on the bed. The midwife pushes Jesse’s legs back into her chest. “Okay, Jesse, give me one nice long push.”

Jesse grabs my hand and I brace an arm behind her back to help her in a more upright position. She grunts and pushes as hard as she can before collapsing back against the pillow.

“Good job, girl,” the mid-wife praises. “All right here comes another one. Push.”

Jesse grunts and screams as she pushes with all her might.

I’m amazed at how strong Jesse is. This is much harder than I had imagined. It’s…it’s simply fucking amazing.

We go through the process over and over and I watch as my wife grows more exhausted by the minute. I glance at the mid-wife concern etched over my features. Is it normal to take this long? She smiles at me and nods. Okay, she doesn’t look as worried as I’m feeling.

She looks between Jesse’s legs. “I see a head full of dark hair, Jesse. One more big push.”

My heart full out stops as Jesse pushes, pushes, pushes and then…

the most beautiful baby emerges.

The mid-wife laughs as she grabs our daughter. The baby starts to cry loudly. My eyes reluctantly leave the tiny, gooey bundle to stare admiringly at my wife. She blinks up at me with tears in her eyes. “I did it,” she whispers.

“You did so good, baby,” I tell her, wiping her sweaty hair away from her face. The mid-wife interrupts us by laying our little girl on Jesse’s chest.

We both stare down at her. She quiets and blinks at us. “Hey, baby girl, it’s mommy and daddy,” I coo.

Jesse snickers. “Oh my god. I’m never going to get used to your baby talk.”

“Tell your mama she better watch her smart mouth or daddy is going to spank her cute little behind.” I tell our daughter cheerfully in my baby talk. I smile into her cute as fuck, tiny face.

The mid-wife laughs. “Let me get her cleaned up and then you can feed her.” She takes the baby from my wife’s arms.

Jesse pulls me down and kisses me softly. “Thank you.”

When I pull away I ask her what for.

“For giving me the most precious gift in the world. I promise I will love her fiercely.”

“I know you will. That’s why I picked you to be mine.”

The mid-wife walks over and hands me a wiggly bundle. I blink quickly, trying to avoid any tears from forming. I turn away so Jesse can’t see how weak I am over all this. I walk over to the window. The sun is setting, it casts a spectacular pallet of pinks across the sky as if God himself is saying happy birthday to my little girl. “Welcome to the world, Billie Rose.”

The baby pulls her hand to her mouth sucking wildly at her fist. We decided to name her Billie for Bill. It’s also a strong name for a girl. The Rose will keep her sweet and balanced.

I walk her over to my wife and set her gently in her arms. She positions the baby to her breast and Billie latches right on. How can she be so hungry already? I brush my hand over her fine baby hair. She has Jesse’s blue-black hair and my blue eyes. I have a feeling I’m going to have to beat the boys off her.

Once the mid-wife gets everything cleaned up and the baby thoroughly checked out and weighed she leaves the room to let our family take turns seeing our new arrival.

The first in the room is Bill, Candice, and the girls. Ally and Katie go on and on about being aunts and how they are going to paint her nails and braid her hair. Bill is quiet as he takes everything in. His eyes shine bright with unshed tears as he watches Jesse holds Billie in her arms.

Before they leave to make room for the next bunch, Bill leans over and whispers something in Jesse’s ear. She laughs and sniffles a little.

“What did he say?” I ask after he walks out.

“He said he owes you big time but last time he let you have whatever your filthy heart wanted you chose me. He said this time you would probably want to be president of the club and he’s not ready to give that up just yet.”

Hmm, not a bad thought. I shift my head from side to side. Jesse narrows her eyes at me before smacking me in the arm. “Okay, okay. I have everything I need right here.” I wrap my arm around my girls.

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