By the time we got to Emma and Garrett’s place, Emma was sitting on the porch with Ellie.
Heather and I ran up, and I fell to my knees next to my very best friend, who had a huge pregnant belly. I could look at Ellie from behind and never known that she was pregnant, but when she turned around, she was all baby in the front.
“Hey, baby, how are you feeling?” I asked.
“Fine, Emma here is distracting me with a story, so I’m okay.”
Emma who rolled her eyes, and I let out a giggle.
“Ellie needs to take some deep breaths, girls. Can you stay with her while I go in with Garrett? He’s about to beat the hell out of my grandson.”
“Ah…okay.” Heather said.
I looked at Ellie as she shrugged her shoulders.
“Ells, are you okay?” I asked.
“No, I want to have the baby in Austin, but I don’t think I’m going to make it, so we have to go to Fredericksburg.”
“Alright, babe. Why are we just sitting on the porch? And why is Garrett about to beat the hell out of Gunner? I think we should probably be on the way to the hospital, honey, don’t you?”
Ellie let out a laugh. “Yeah, I think we should...oh shit, here comes another one.”
I looked at Heather. “Can you go into the house and see what the fuck is going on?”
Heather nodded and went inside.
“Ellie, baby, just take deep breaths. Come on, let’s walk over to Gunner’s truck. Can you get into the truck?” I pulled her up and held on to her as we made our way to Gunner’s truck.
“Yep,” Ellie said between breaths.
“Is your bag in the truck, Ells?”
“Yeah, I put it in there the other day because I was worried I’d forget it.”
Sounds like Ellie.
I helped her into the truck. “Do you need a pillow or anything?”
“Nope, I just need Gunner. Please, Ari, can you go get him? I can’t breathe.”
I smiled at the thought of how only Gunner could calm Ellie down.
“Okay, baby, I’m going to go get his ass right now. He’ll sit back here with you while Jeff drives. Heather will follow us.”
“Sounds good, but I really think we need to hurry.”
I jumped out of the truck and started to make my way back to the house. Jeff came walking out with Gunner, and I stopped dead in my tracks.
“What the hell happened?” I asked, confused.
Gunner was holding a bag of ice to his head. When he pulled it away, he already had a huge black eye.
“Stupid bastard passed out and hit his eye on the table,” Garrett said as he threw his head back and laughed his ass off.
Gunner turned and looked at him.
“Thanks, Gramps, thanks a lot.”
“Okay, boys that’s enough. Gunner get in that truck with Ellie.” Emma said. She turned to Heather. “I called Grace and Jack, and they’re leaving from Austin and will meet us at the hospital.”
After we got Gunner in the truck, Jeff and I jumped in.
Ellie turned to Gunner. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
Jeff looked over at me and smiled. I’d never known Gunner to be nervous or scared of anything. I thought back to when I’d gone into labor and how Jeff reacted. Jeff reached across and grabbed my hand.
I turned around to see that Ellie had her head on Gunner’s chest. He was softly singing to her. My heart started pounding. Ellie was about to have the baby she so desperately wanted.
As Jeff drove to the hospital, I looked out the window at the beautiful country side. Then, I thought about Heather.
Something was very wrong, and I needed to talk to her as soon as possible. Right now Ellie and the baby were my main concern.
“Gunner, will you please stop singing?” Ellie asked.
“Sure, baby, but I thought you loved it when I sang to you.”
Jeff and I looked at each other.
“You’re driving me fucking nuts with that song. Just please stop.”
I let out a giggle. Jeff smiled as glanced at Ellie and Gunner in the rearview mirror.
He reached over and turned his iPod on. Keith Urban’s “A Better Life” came on.
“Yes! I love this song.” Ellie called out.
Jeff looked straight ahead and let out a small laugh.
“Let the fun begin,” he said as he squeezed my hand.
CHAPTER SIXTY-ONE
GUNNER
Ellie seemed to be so much more relaxed after they gave her the epidural. My mom and dad made it, and they were in the waiting room with Gramps and Grams.
Of course, Gramps and dad laughed their asses off when Gramps retold the story of me passing out and hitting my eye on the table.
I tried to explain many times that I’d tripped and got knocked out when I hit the table, but it didn’t matter. Gramps changed the story every time he told it, and he’d already told three nurses, a doctor, and one intern.
A young guy walked into the room with one of the nurses. I smiled at both of them while they walked up to Ellie and looked at me.
“Mr. Mathews, Mrs. Mathews.”
“Please call me Ellie.”
“Ellie, it is,” The young guy said.
He couldn’t have been but a few years older than me.
“Gunner,” I said as I reached out and shook his hand.
“I’m Dr. Johnson.”
Ellie let out a laugh. “Hey, that’s my maiden name!”
I took a step back. “You’re the doctor? Like as in the doctor who’s going to deliver little bear?”
“Little bear? Is that what we call the baby?” Dr. Johnson asked.
“How old are you, dude? Have you ever even delivered a baby before? Are you even out of medical school?”
“Gunner!” Ellie said as she gave me a dirty look.
Dr. Johnson let out a laugh. “Well, Gunner, I’m thirty-three years old with three kids of my own. Yes, I’ve delivered my fair share of babies. And I’ve been out of medical school for five years now.”
Ellie shot me another look.
I sat down in the chair and just stared at the doctor.
“I’m sorry. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. You just look really young. Please forgive me.”
He let out a laugh and looked at the monitor.
“Ellie, can you feel the contractions at all?”
“I can feel pressure.”
“Okay. Well I’m going to take a look to see how you’re coming along, okay?”
Ellie nodded her head.
After a few minutes he stood back up and smiled.
“Ellie, are you ready to get this show on the road?”
Ellie smiled. “Yes.”
“Then, let’s get little bear out and into the big world, so he can meet his mommy and daddy.”
I jumped up. “What? Now? We’re going now?”
Dr. Johnson looked at me as he took a few steps toward me. “Dude, it’s going to be alright. Take deep breaths and just be there for your wife. I’ve got the baby part down. I wouldn’t want you to pass out again.” He winked at me before he turned to the nurse and started talking to her.
Damn it, Gramps. What? Is he just walking around telling everyone?
***
For the next three hours, I stood next to Ellie while she exhausted herself from pushing. Finally, at two minutes after four, I heard the first cries from our baby.
“Well, your little bear is a girl. Congratulations, y’all.” Dr. Johnson said as he held up our baby for us to see.
When I looked at Ellie, she was crying. I felt the tears rolling down my face as I looked over at little bear. She was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen in my life.
Dr. Johnson asked, “Mr. Mathews, would you like to cut the umbilical cord?”
Speechless, I just nodded my head with a smile.
***
A nurse took the baby over to a table to clean her up. While the doctor was fixing up Ellie, she kept looking around him to watch the nurse was doing.
After the doctor was done with Ellie, he helped her to sit up.
The nurse came over, holding my sweet baby girl.
“Dad, your daughter would like to meet you face to face.”