Page 98 of The Wedding Hoax

“Yes, sweetheart. You are.” Harry smiled before he kissed my forehead. “You’re having our little guy.”

“Can I have the epidural now?”

“Yeah. Yes. Of course. I’ll go and find the doctor.” Harry smiled again, even though he seemed flustered. “Shit. I think I forgot the go-bag.”

“That’s okay. You can always go back and get it. Or have someone else pick it up and bring it over.”

“Right, right.” Harry let out a shaky breath. “We can deal with that later.”

“One thing at a time.”

“One thing at a time.” He nodded. “I’ll go get your doctor first. And then the rest.”

Harry disappeared, and I closed my eyes, trying to focus on something other than the contraction pain.

It was interesting seeing Harry rattled like that.

It was a pretty rare look for him, since he always seemed to be in control of every situation, even when he wasn’t. Even during our wedding photography disaster, Harry had kept calm, trying his best to come up with a plan on his feet.

But right now?

Right now, his nerves were so shot that if someone bumped into him, he might’ve imploded on the spot.

I smiled to myself, amused at the idea of an oh-so-rattled Harry O’Donnell.

A few moments later, he returned to the room with the doctor in tow. She offered me a bright smile just as a second doctor walked into the room behind them. I watched as the doctors spoke to each other, and before I knew it, they were helping me roll over on the bed. The anesthesiologist delivered the epidural, and I took long, slow breaths.

And soon, everything melted into blissful numbness.

I couldn’t feel much of anything anymore, at least not physically. Emotionally, though, I was struggling to keep it together. Without the physical pain to focus on, the only thing I had to think about were the million things that could go wrong at any point during the delivery.

Harry was right beside me the whole time, holding my hand. I gripped his hand in return, probably too tightly, as fear flooded my system.

What if something went wrong? What if I wasn’t strong enough for this?

Harry kept his attention on me, his calm demeanor having returned. With every push, I looked to him for support, taking heart when there wasn’t any worry or concern on his face. It was hard for me to keep track of what the doctor and nurses were saying, but I didn’t have to.

Because all I needed to do was look at Harry, and I knew everything was going to be just fine.

* * *

“There you are. There’s my little guy,” Harry cooed as he rocked our baby back and forth.

I watched them through sleepy eyes, my body now feeling extremely tired after the delivery. The doctor had offered me the chance to hold the baby first, but I was so tired I could barely move my arms. I was afraid I’d drop the baby, so I was happy enough to watch Harry hold him for now, anyway.

“Lucas, are you being good for your daddy?” I asked, half-asleep.

“Lucas?” Harry asked, then paused for a moment.

And then his eyes creased with a wide smile. “Lucas. That’s the perfect name for him.”

“I can hold him now.” I felt my strength returning, and I reached for the little bundle. Harry carefully handed him over, and I brought him up to my chest.

I stared into my son’s blue eyes, moving my hand over his perfect face.

I was officially in love.

“Hi, baby. You’re perfect.” I smiled down at him, right on the verge of breaking into tears. “And you smell so good. That new baby smell is a real thing, huh?”

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