Some Say This Can't Be Real.

Of course I'd always be in the middle of a great dream when my phone would wake me up. I grumbled and rejected the call, trying to go back to sleep. Seconds later it started ringing again. Cursing, I repeated the cycle and rejected the call. When it rang again, I decided to answer it.

“What!?” I snapped. “It's fucking five-thirty in the morning.”

“Leana's in labor,” Valary's worried voice came over the phone.

“What?” I sat bolt-upright, oblivious to Zack sleeping next to me.

“She called me from the hospital, and asked me to call you too. She wants us there, and I'm already on my way.”

As she was talking, I was already up and trying to get dressed. “Shit. Alright, I'm on my way.” I dropped the phone from between my shoulder and ear and finished getting dressed. “Zacky? Baby, wake up.” I called to him.

He grumbled and rolled over. “What?” he asked sleepily.

“Leana's in labor. I'm going to the hospital to meet Val.”

“You want me to come?” he asked, sitting up like I had a few moments earlier.

“Get some sleep. I'll call you in a few hours,” I said, knowing he was still exhausted from the night before. The band was doing last minute press stuff before the release of the record in a few days, and he was out late, having went to bed about two hours ago. I gave him a kiss goodbye and ran out of the apartment to my car. I sped towards the hospital, thankfully not catching any traffic because it was Saturday.

Valary was standing outside, also looking like she got dressed in a hurry. Like myself, she too had bed-head. I greeted her before we went inside to ask about Leana. While the nurse was leading us, she explained that Leana had called 911 herself because her water had broke. She still wasn't fully dilated, but getting close to it. Two hours at the minimum if they had to put a time to it. She was also just over a week before her due date, but still easily full term.

In the room, Leana was laying in the bed, looking exhausted with a few strands of hair matted to the sides of her face with sweat. She didn't appear to be in pain or anything at the moment, but we knew she wasn't very far into labor. The nurse did a few tests and asked a few questions before leaving us with her.

“How're you feeling?” Valary asked.

“I'm feeling fine. Contractions are about ten minutes apart, and they said I was seven centimeters dilated. Not a lot of pain, just discomfort when the contractions come.”

The three of us talked and talked for who knew how long. Contractions would come and go as normal, slowly getting closer together. Periodically the nurse would come and do the same few tests to see how much her labor was progressing. Michelle came in just before eight when Valary finally got a hold of her. It was nearing nine AM when we got our first signs of life from the guys. Matt called his wife, and around nine-thirty, Zack called me. We explained that everything was going well, and were keeping it as a girls only deal for now.

It was getting harder to watch when Leana's contractions looked like they were getting painful, and way more frequent. As 10:00 rolled around and the nurse came in again, she said that we should bring her to the delivery room and get her ready to deliver the baby. Through the whole ordeal, I was just watching in amazement, patiently waiting for the day when I would be in Leana's position. I wanted to have a baby so bad, but I was scared to bring the idea to Zack.

We eventually convinced Leana to get an epidural so she wouldn't be in as much pain as she was. While giving it, the nurse said it wouldn't be much longer. “She's fully dilated, and will be ready to push really soon,” she explained to us. “Honey, just hold off right now until the doctor gets here, and then we can deliver this baby.”

The twins stood on one side of the bed while I stood on the other side. All of us were comforting her and helping her breathe and stay calm. The doctor came in, prepared himself, and then took his place where he needed to be. “Alright, you're doing good, Leana. The baby's in position, and the head is right where it needs to be. On your next contraction, you're gonna start to push.”

The three of us were getting excited for her. She held mine and Valary's hands tightly as she got her breathing under control. She yelled out in pain and exhaustion when it came and held her breath as she pushed. The cycle repeated a few times, and Leana was starting to lose her strength to keep pushing. Time seemed like it didn't want to progress, and we were fearing that this baby didn't want to come out easily. The doctor, the nurse, and the three of us cheered her on for one final push with everything she had, and the following moments became a blur for everyone until an ear piercing infant scream filled the room, mixing with the sounds of the doctor and nurse's voices. Leana laid back, gasping for air until she caught her breath. The four of us just exchanged glances and smiles.

“Congratulations, Lea,” Valary said, brushing the hair from her face.

“Ten forty-seven AM on July twenty-fourth. Seven pounds, fourteen ounces,” the doctor said before approaching us with a small bundle. “Mrs. Sullivan? You have a perfectly healthy baby boy. Congratulations.”

He handed the baby to Leana, and she lit up like a kid on Christmas morning. We watched her as she looked at her child. He cooed and whimpered softly while she spoke to him. “Hi, sweetie. Mama's so happy to finally see you.”

“What are you gonna name him?” I asked, finally looking down at the infant. He already had a small bit of dark hair on his head, and just once he opened his eyes, revealing the same lively crystal blue that Jimmy had. “God, he looks just like him,” I said as a few tears fell down my cheeks.

“I know it's too obvious and not original, but I think I'm gonna name him after his father. It would only seem right to do so,” Leana said.

The three of us agreed before the doctor came back wanting to finish everything up. The nurse brought the baby to the nursery while the doctor and another nurse moved Leana to a regular room. I stepped outside to call Zack. He answered right before it was about to go to his voice-mail. “She delivered about a half an hour ago. A healthy boy, and both mom and son are doing okay.”

“That's good. Tell her I said congrats.”

“I will. I'm gonna see if they need anything else around here, and then probably head home. Valary and myself are pretty tired. I'm gonna call Johnny too.”

I hung up the phone and called my brother. I hadn't been in touch with him yet, so I'm sure he didn't even know what was going on. He finally answered his phone, sounding groggy and cranky. “What?” he grumbled. “It's before noon, you know I'm never up before noon if I'm out late the night before.”

“Sorry, bro. I figured I'd call and tell you that Leana had her baby.”

He suddenly sounded more awake. “She did!?”

“Yeah. About a half hour ago. It's a boy, and mom and son are doing just fine.”

“That's good to hear. Tell her I said congrats.”

“I will. You can go back to sleep now. Val, Michelle, and myself are gonna be leaving soon. We've been up since before dawn.”

I hung up with my brother and went back inside, following Michelle to the room where they moved her. Val was talking with her, and we asked if she wanted us to stay after suggesting that she should try and get some sleep. She had her phone nearby, and we said to call if she needed anything before relaying our congratulatory messages and saying goodbye. My eyelids were heavy as I drove home, and thankfully it wasn't a long drive. I didn't even bother to change before flinging myself into bed. Zack was just getting finished in the shower, and was surprised to find me face down on his bed almost asleep.

“Baby, get something comfortable on,” he said, resting his hand on my back.

I groaned something that was incomprehensible to both of us before he just said 'ok' and left the room.