Page 30 of Brighter than the Boss
Natalie crunched back up, bearing down again and Cain's focus was back on her. Ivan continued to stare, frozen in dismay, standing at the perfect vantage point to see the baby's head.
"Babe?" Esa was looking at Ivan, trying not to laugh. "You wanna go make sure we don't float away?"
Ivan finally snapped out of his trance with a start, his cheeks twinged pink. "Yeah, sure. On it."
Then he jogged back out of the room, shaking his head.
Esa, Bailey, Shasta, Hessa, Brinley, Sage, and I all looked at each other and burst out laughing. "Men..."
The contractions came faster and faster, Natalie doing what mothers do best: handling the situation the best she could. She pushed, Dave wiped the sweat from her forehead, and Cain kept up a steady stream of encouragement. If I didn't know better, I would have assumed he'd done this before.
"Her aura just went red," Sage called out. The rest of us looked lost, but she wore a radiant smile as she looked down at Natalie.
"Aaarggghh..." Natalie let out a guttural roar, her face turning bright red.
"That's it! Push, Natalie!" Cain suddenly vibrated energy, his focus completely on the miracle occurring right in front of him. "The head's out. Breathe and then push like you've never pushed before."
I recognized the command in his voice. Everyone jumped to do his bidding when he used that voice. Goose bumps rose on my arms and I knew this was it.
Natalie bore down again and Cain's arms were moving. Then a purple, slippery baby was in his hands, only there for a second before he placed the baby on Natalie's chest. Because I was holding her upper body, I was mere inches from the miracle, seeing the moment the baby boy (um, hello, the sex was obvious) opened his mouth and let out a strangled cry. His eyes blinked, completely unfocused, taking in his first glimpses of the outside world.
Tears filled my eyes and I watched Natalie and Dave's faces both turn from stressed-out fear to blissed-out joy. Hessa leaned over and wrapped a towel around the baby, the parents oblivious to everything but the sight of their child. Esa and Bailey hugged each other and swayed, both crying silently. Shasta had her hand on Brinley's back, rubbing soothing circles while they fought back tears.
I glanced up, feeling my own tears slide down my cheeks. Cain caught my gaze and didn't look away. Hours of conversation passed between us in those moments. We both wanted, hoped for, and accepted that this heavy emotional moment together wouldn't be our last. Originally forced together by absurd circumstance, after today we were choosing to be together.
Or maybe we were both just overwhelmed by recent events.
That wasn't the case, I was sure of it. We were finally on the same page.
No doubt the words would need to be spoken at some point. Later, much later. For now, the pure emotions were enough to bind us together better than any of our previous conversations.
The tsunami was here.
In the form of salty tears and beads of sweat, our combined human emotions swelling and rising, unable to be tamped down. Here, we were humans, participating in a miracle. No wave, big or small, could wash that away.
16
Cain
Shasta continued dishing out instructions (who knew there was an “after birth”?!) like her life depended on it. Which I guess Natalie's and the baby's did, but she was weirdly focused on barking out orders. People handled stress differently, I knew, but I for one, was grateful to have her there. Between the two of us, I think we'd actually done it.
Kai brought hot towels and I tried to clean up Natalie. That was awkward as hell, but I kept trying to remind myself that it was no different than all the other first aid I'd rendered on the beach for years. No one made a move to clean the baby, so once I was done with what I could do for Natalie, I took a clean towel and held out my arms.
The new mama could barely take her eyes off the squirming, howling baby. She finally held him out to me, a lifted brow telling me the instinctual mama bear was already alive and well. I nodded, promising to take care of him. I lifted the baby carefully, supporting the head and cooing at him as I took him away.
Sunny materialized at my side as I made to walk away to the bathrooms. I didn't know exactly what had passed between us after the baby was born, but as soon as we were out of this current crisis, we were gonna talk about it. And she was never leaving my side again. I'd gotten so comfortable with her there, giving me that little smile of hers that told me she trusted me and believed in me. I'd have to work something out so she didn't report to me, but no matter what, we were going to explore this thing we had, and we were going public with it.
"Dave, you want to come help us bathe your son?" She held a hand out to the new father, thinking of everything I forgot, as usual. He jumped up and followed us after placing a kiss on his wife's forehead.
The Beach Squad clamored around Natalie and I knew if she didn't say no firmly, those girls would have her up in a chair, makeup and hair photoshoot ready by the time we came back with her son.
Between the three of us, we got the baby washed, dried and wrapped in our softest towel. The lifeguard lobby bathroom sink hadn't exactly been made for this in mind, but we got the job done. Apparently, Sunny knew how to do that swaddling thing, giving babysitting in high school credit for her genius. Shasta accosted us as soon as we came out of the bathroom, informing us that the baby needed to start breastfeeding. Dave rushed him over to Natalie, who was indeed sitting gingerly in a chair, surrounded by the girls.
Ivan had come back into the room and was barking orders at the remaining lifeguards, getting supplies ready to get in the boat.
"What's the status?" I asked as I rushed to his side.
Ivan spared me a quick second look, then went back to loading a bag full of flairs and emergency lifejackets. "Water has completely flooded the parking lots. It's a few feet from our level. I think it's slowed down, but if we're betting it'll keep rising, we need to leave as soon as possible." He glanced over at Natalie. "She okay to move?"
