Page 149 of Stay for Me
“We’ll talk about this soon.”
My chest heaves, and I feel the twinges start. “How much more?” I ask, exhausted and sweaty.
“One more big push to get the head out and then the shoulders. The baby is right here.”
“Take my hand, Brenna,” Jacob says, determination fluttering in those green eyes. “I’m here.”
I take a few deep breaths, wanting this to be over. It’s been nine hours of labor, and I’ve been pushing for twenty minutes. I want to sleep, but more than that, I want to hold this little baby that came from the night of his premiere and caused a very, very fast engagement period.
“I’m ready,” I tell the doctor.
My jaw clamps tight, and I scream through my teeth as I push with all my strength. My fingers tighten, drawing whatever strength I can from him.
“You’re right there, baby. Right there.”
“The head is out. On the next contraction, push.”
I barely have enough time to catch my breath before the next one hits. I hold Jacob’s hand, thinking of all the moments we’ve had. The time by the creek fishing. The lunch date we shared when I realized I liked him. I think about the dinners at the house, our first kiss, and the Ferris wheel. All of the moments, which are strung together with love, that have brought us to this moment. Where we made a baby. Our baby who symbolizes all the beauty that has come from times of struggle.
I push harder than I did before because a feeling of renewed strength fills my body.
“That’s it, baby! You’re doing so good!” Jacob’s voice is heavy with awe.
My throat is raw, and I cry out again.
And then, I hear him gasp.
The pain is gone, and I lie back, feeling empty and beaten and triumphant.
“You did it.” Jacob kisses my cheek. “You did it, beautiful.”
The loud cry comes from the tiny baby a second before the doctor places him on my chest.
“Is he okay?” I ask.
She nods. “He’s perfect.”
Jacob’s arm wraps around me as we both stare down at our tiny little boy.
“Jacob,” I say, looking up with blurry vision. “He’s so tiny. I forgot how tiny they are. We have a son.”
“We do. And you have made me the happiest man in the world.”
We kiss softly, both our hands touching our son in some way.
The nurse comes back to clean him up a little more and do some tests. Jacob hovers over him, so protective already. They walk back over, placing him back on my chest.
“We need a name,” I say for the millionth time.
This has been the great debate at the Arrowood house. Sebastian wants us to go with Mason, which is Jacob’s character in theNavigator. Melanie wants to name him Eric so that we have aLittle Mermaidtheme or something. I want the name Caleb, but Jacob, he’s the one who has me completely freaking baffled. Thankfully, he’s not wanting a ridiculous name like Apple or Compass. He doesn’t have a name he loves at all.
“I don’t have any ideas. Nothing comes to mind that we can agree on.”
“That’s fine, but we need to come up with something. We have to agree at some point.”
He chuckles once and smooths a palm over our baby’s peach-fuzz hair. “We need a strong name then.”
“Caleb isn’t?”
