“Jeff, come on over to the right hand side of, Ari. You might want to take her hand.”
Jeff let out a laugh. “I think I’ll pass.”
I snapped my head at him, and he stopped laughing.
“I’m only kidding, baby.” He took my hand and kissed the back of it.
My mother was on the other side of me, stroking my head.
“Are you really sure you couldn’t just push him back in enough for me to get the epidural?”
Dr. Wyatt just laughed and winked at me.
Does he think I’m kidding?
“Alright, Ari, I need you to give me a good strong push when the next contraction starts.”
***
Motherfucker. If I was told to push one more time, I was going to scream.
“One more good push, Ari, and I think we’ll have it.”
I leaned up and pushed as hard as I could.
“Shit,” Jeff muttered.
I realized I was squeezing the hell out of his hand.
Good. I hope it broke.
Then, I felt an instant relief.
“Here, Jeff, time to cut the cord.” Dr. Wyatt said.
Lying back down, I looked up at Jeff and saw he was crying. The moment I saw him cry, I started to cry. The nurse laid a towel on my stomach and then placed our son on me.
He was perfect.
I glanced at my mother, who was crying like a baby. Then, I turned my head back to Jeff. He looked white as a ghost while he watched whatever Dr. Wyatt was doing.
Then he looked at me and our son.
He leaned down and kissed me so sweetly.
“I’m so proud of you, Ari. You did it baby.” He looked at our son and smiled.
The nurse leaned in to scoop up our son, and then she walked with him over to a table.
“Can I go with him?” Jeff asked me.
“Of course!”
I watched as they did what they needed to do to our son. I glanced down at Dr. Wyatt. who looked up at me.
“You had a third-degree tear, Ari, so you’re going to be pretty sore. I’ll have them give you something for the pain, and they’ll explain how to take care of everything before you leave the hospital.”
He stood up, walked over to my side, and smiled.
“Congratulations, Ari, and you as well Susan. You have a beautiful, healthy baby boy.”
After I thanked Dr. Wyatt, I wondered why I wasn’t feeling any pain. One of the nurses came over and helped me to slowly sit up. I started to move.
“Holy shit.” There’s the pain.
“I’ll get your pain medication, Mrs. Johnson.”
I smiled at her. “Thank you, and please call me Ari.”
***
I watched as one of the nurses walked up to Jeff, who was standing next to me now. She placed our son in his father’s arms for the first time. Jeff had tears rolling down his face, and I couldn’t help it, I started crying again.
Then, Jeff cleared his throat and spoke to our son for the first time.
“Luke, I am your father,” Jeff said in his best Darth Vader voice.
My mother and I both busted out laughing.
“So, we agree on his name?” I asked.
“Yeah, baby, we agree on the name. Luke, it is.”
Jeff kissed Luke on the forehead and then turned to hand him to me. The moment Jeff placed him in my arms, something happened. Something inside me changed.
I looked into those beautiful eyes, and it was like he was looking into my soul.
“Hey, little bit. Well, I hope you’re ready for a ride, baby boy.”
He just stared at me, and I stared back at him. He was perfect. He had a perfect nose, perfect lips, and perfect ears. I pulled back the blanket, counted all of his toes, and then looked at every finger. I kissed both of his hands and then looked up at Jeff. He quickly wiped away a tear that was running down his face.
“Are you happy, Ari?”
“I’ve never been so happy in my life. What about you?”
“I feel like I’m on cloud nine, and I’m scared to death to wake up if this is a dream.”
My mother laughed, and we both looked at her.
“Enjoy it no. In a couple days, you’ll wish it was all a dream when he wakes you up every two hours.”
The nurse, who was standing there, started to laugh.
“Oh my gosh, Mom, really?”
My mother moved to stand next to me, looking down at my little man.
“He truly is beautiful, Ari and Jeff.” Shall I have the others come in? You know your father is probably about to die.”
“Sure,” I said with a smile.
My mother left the room, and the only person who came back in with her was my father. He walked up to Jeff and shook his hand before he came to stand next to me. He gave me a kiss on the forehead and looked down at Luke.
“Daddy, meet Luke Drew Johnson.”
“Mon petit-fils belle.”
“Yep, you’re beautiful grandson.”
“Et ma belle fille.”
“I love you, Daddy.”
“Mom, would you like to hold him next?”
“Oui, I would.”
My mother held Luke while my father looked on.
Jeff leaned down and whispered in my ear.
“Are you hungry, baby? Do you want me to go get you something to eat?”
Oh, I could have jumped him and started kissing him that very moment. Just the fact that he asked if I was hungry turned me on.
“I’m so hungry that I’d eat my horse right now if I could.”
***
Gunner, Ellie, Josh, and Heather all came into the room and took turns holding Luke after I made them all wash their hands twice.
Jeff was back with Rudy’s Bar-B-Q. Oh my gosh, it smells so good.
I’d been hinting to everyone for the last hour that I was exhausted. I finally ended up just telling everyone to get the hell out.
“Are y’all driving back to Mason tonight?” I asked.
“Yeah, I think so unless y’all want to crash at my place,” Heather said.
Gunner looked at Ellie and smiled. “I think we’ll just head to a hotel tonight. I’m too tired to drive. Oh, wait. Shit, we took your truck Jeff.”
“No worries, Gun. I got your truck keys from your dad, and I followed Heather here in your truck. I figured you were going to need it,” Josh said.
Gunner walked up to Josh and slapped him on the back.
“Dude, you rock.”
***
When the last person was out the door, Jeff collapsed onto the sofa that pulled out into a bed. I would have thought he had just given birth to an almost eight-pound baby. He fell asleep in less than two minutes. The nurse walked in, looked at him and smiled.
“It’s from worrying about you. It totally wears them out.”
“Uh huh.”
She let out a giggle. “Do you want me to wake him up, so I can open the sofa bed?”
“Nah, he’s alright.”
“Ari, I’m going to take Luke for a few hours to the nursery. When did you feed him last?”
“Just a few minutes ago.”
“Great. I want you to get some sleep, okay? If you need to get up, make sure wake up your husband or call me.”
The moment she left the room, I closed my eyes. I drifted off into a deep sleep, dreaming about Jeff and Luke riding by the river while I followed behind them. Right behind me was a little girl, a bit older than Luke, riding on a white stallion. She had brown curly hair and emerald green eyes. When I turned around to look at her, she smiled at me, and I felt my whole body get warm. A feeling of complete peace took over.
“Don’t worry, Mommy. I’ll never leave y’all.”
My little angel would always be with us.
CHAPTER FIFTY-EIGHT
HEATHER
Josh and I decided to head back out to Mason the day after Luke was born.
After we’d left the hospital, we had gone back to my apartment and did nothing but make love and talk until three in the morning. We woke up the next morning, went out for breakfast, and planned on heading out to the ranch. I had never in my life felt so complete and happy. It was the happiest I’d been since my parents passed away. Being with Josh was beyond amazing.