Page 83 of Baby By my Best Friend's Daddy

“Yeah, we’ll come get you when she’s ready. Did anyone call the father?”

“Oh, no,” Celine gasped. “I’m not it.”

Mindy wheeled me down the corridor toward the maternity ward. Another contraction ripped through me, and I cried out.

By the time I was in a bed, dressed in the stupid hospital gown that showed my ass, Sarah was with us.

“Let’s see what we have here,” she said and ducked between my legs. “If we’re lucky, we still have—no, we don’t. Beck, honey, you’re already crowning. We’re having this babynow.”

“Landon isn’t here yet,” I gasped.

“He’s going to have to see the aftermath because this girl is in a hurry to meet us. Okay, I need you to push when the next contraction hits. Are you ready?”

“No,” I cried out.

It turned out that I didn’t have to be ready for my body to decide what was going to happen. The next contraction came down on me like a ton of bricks, and I did what Sarah told me to do. I pushed.

“Again!” Sarah cried out.

I did, and then she smiled. “We’ve got a head. Okay, breathe through this one, okay?”

I nodded, trying to catch my breath.

The door burst open, and Landon flew in, a hospital gown half over his shoulder, his eyes wide with panic.

“I’m here, I’m here. Where are we?” He ran to my side and grabbed my hand. “Hello, sweetheart.”

“Landon,” I wailed. “I can’t do this.”

“You absolutely can,” he said. “We’re doing it together.”

“Okay, get ready to push,” Sarah said.

When the contraction racked my body, I did what I had to do. My body understood, and I gave it all I had. The baby slipped out of me, and I fell back against the pillows. A moment later, the sounds of a baby’s first gasp and cry filled the room.

“Is that it?” I asked.

“Almost,” Sarah said. “Just the afterbirth, but you’re through the worst. Papa? Do you want to do the honors?”

A nurse let Landon cut the umbilical, and I was vaguely aware of them cleaning my baby while Sarah helped me through the last bit.

When it was finally over, they brought my baby to me, swaddled in a pink blanket.

She was tiny.

“Oh my God,” I said, and tears ran down my cheeks. “She’s so beautiful.”

“She’s so small,” Landon said.

I lifted a trembling hand and drew a finger down her perfect cheek. She opened big blue eyes—Landon’s eyes—and blinked.

“Hey, baby,” I cried.

“Alyssa,” Landon said. “After my mother, if that’s okay.”

“Of course,” I said. “Alyssa Naomi.”

Landon nodded, and I looked down at the little bundle of perfection we’d created.

---