Page 89 of Brother to Brother

“Gotta see how far along she is, just a minute,” the nurse said and thank fuck, that’s when Doc breezed into the room.

“Hey, Girly. Someone told me you was ready to have this baby.”

“I hopes so,” she cried, “I really hope so!”

“Okay, let’s have a look…”

***

Seven grueling and agonizing hours later, I was holding Melody’s hand as she looked over and said, “No pain, no gain, right?” I pressed a cool cloth to her forehead and shook my head. I was scared, and I knew she was too, but she was trying to keepmefrom being afraid, too which was nuts.

Doc was looking at some kind of read out shaking his head, “Mel, I’m sorry, Honey, but we gotta take this to the OR. I gotta give you a cesarean.”

Mel dropped her head back to the gurney and groaned, “Ohhhhh, no. What’s wrong? What’s wrong with our baby, Doc?” she asked but Doc was already getting my woman ready to move.

“I think the cord is around his neck, honey. We gotta do this and we gotta do this fast, come on papa; you’re going too.”

“Well, no shit, Doc!” I cried. I hadn’t left Mel’s side. Not even once, and I wasn’t about to now that one of her biggest nightmares had reared its ugly head.

“Oh! I don’t want to do this again! I don’t want to do this again!” she cried as she was wheeled down the hall, clinging to my hand for safety.

I held it tight and told her, “I’m right here, Baby. I’m not going anywhere, you just hang tight.”

“What’s going on!?” Dragon called from up the hall.

“Emergency c-section!” I called back and we were through the doors, everything happening so fast after that.

The nurses let me stay by Melody’s side as they gowned me and I kept talking to her as they put up the drape.

“Look at me, Baby. You just keep looking at me, don’t stop. I’m right here, I’m right here…”

“It hurts!”

“I know, Mel. You just hang in there, I’m not going anywhere.”

“Oh God, just make sure our baby’s okay!”

“Chandler’s gonna be fine, and you’re gonna be fine, and we’re all going to go home as a family. You’ll see, Baby.” They put an oxygen mask over her face and I coached her, telling her to take deep breaths.

“That’s it, deep breaths.”

“Melody!” Doc called.

“Yeah?” she asked, voice muffled by the type of oxygen mask they’d put over her nose and mouth.

“Can you feel this, Honey?”

“No!”

“Good! That’s good, Honey. We’re almost there, just a little bit more okay?”

“I don’t feel anything this time! Are you cutting? Doc, why aren’t you cutting? Get him out! You have to get him out!”

I looked over the drape and oh, holy fucking shit! Mel’s insides were on the outside, my baby still in his sack laying out, Doc ripping it open and getting the cord off from around my baby boy’s neck. I felt tears sting my eyes for the first time in a long time. He was perfect, he was perfect in every way, except he wasn’t making any sounds.

A nurse took him over to a lighted table and they frantically worked on our son, and I turned back to Melody, “He’s perfect, Baby! He’s perfect!”

A high, thin wail went up from his tiny body and I swear on my colors, all my insides went liquid with relief. The nurse brought him over and laid him on my wife’s chest and we marveled at our son, our beautiful baby boy with his momma’s hair, and eyes too dark to tell if they would be mine or hers yet.

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