Sweet Child O' Mine

Grace had patiently waited an extra two days after her due date. It was Christmas Eve and Grace was at Johns house for the Maine's X-Mas Eve dinner. Their little boy was being stubborn and has decided to take his sweet time coming into this world. Grace was in the kitchen making cookies for the boys. Even though she was huge and didn't really want to do anything besides lay on the couch, she wanted to stick to her yearly tradition, baking cookies. She had done it every year that she could remember into her childhood. A sharp pain hit Grace in the stomach, she clutched at her stomach, bending over in pain. A few minutes later another one and thats when her water broke.

“JOHN!” Grace screamed.
“What baby?” He said as soon as he entered the kitchen.

Grace was holding her stomach, pain written on her face and a small puddle under her feet.

“My.. Wah-ter.. Broke.” She said slowly through her teeth.
“Oh my god, c'mon, I'll take you to the car.” He said walking over to her and putting his arm around her.
“Kennedy, it's time!” He yelled as they walked slowly out of the kitchen.

Kennedy ran downstairs with a small suitcase in hand. He followed them out to the car and put it in the backseat and climbed in after it. Grace was breathing heavily in and out trying not grunt out in pain. The contractions were hurting her badly. She knew it was going to be painful, but not this painful. John made sure she was comfortable in the front seat before getting in and starting the car. He pulled out of the driveway and took off towards the hospital.

“Drive faster John!” She said with anger behind her voice.
“Baby, I know you're in a lot of pain, but I don't want to get pulled over.” He paused. “The hospital isn't that far.”
“Jonathan Cornelius!” He just shut his mouth and kept driving.

They pulled into the emergency room entrance and Kennedy and John got out of the car right away. Kennedy made his way to the drivers side while John helped Grace out of the car. He helped her through the automatic doors and got her into a wheel chair. She was grunting in pain and gripping the arm rests as hard as she could.

“Excuse me, she's about to have her baby and I couldn't get a hold of Dr. Adams.” John said to the nurse.
“Oh! Yes, follow me!” The nurse came out and took the wheel chair handles from John. She gave a light start pushing and began walking briskly through the hallway. John was holding Grace's hand, he was afraid she was gonna rip it off, she was holding onto it so tight.
“Honey, when's your due date?” The nurse asked Grace.
“It was suppose to be December 22nd.” Grace said,
“A Christmas miracle.” The nurse said.

Grace managed to smile through her pain and John squeezed her hand lightly. A smile on his face as well. He was a mess of emotions, he was happy, he was joyful, he was nervous, he was anxious, he felt everything at this moment. They finally made it to the labor department and in a matter of minutes Grace was in a hospital bed in the birthing room. The nurse got a hold of Dr. Adams and he was on his way. They got her situated and checked everything out. She was 4.5cm dilated already and Dr. Adams gave the ok for the nurse to administer her epidural. Grace couldn't help but moan and groan in pain while she waited for the nurse to come back. Her contractions were not really close together, but they were close enough where she wasn't getting a break in her pain. John sat by Grace in a chair, letting her squeeze the life out of his hand. He didn't care, he wished anything that he could take some of the pain away.

“John, you better not leave my side.” Grace said through her teeth, right as a contraction hit. She let out a small scream.
“I wish I could take this pain for you baby. I'd give anything for you not to be hurting.”
“It'll all be worth it, I keep saying it to myself.” Grace said calmly.
“Grace Everhart, you're the best thing to happen to me and I'm overly greatful for the mistake we made that lead up to this point. I love you.” John said looking into her eyes.
“I love you too.” She whispered.

John kissed her on the forehead and then a gentle kiss to her lips. The nurse finally made her way back into the room.

“Okay sweetie, you're gonna have to sit up and try to lean forward a little bit.” The nurse motioned to John to help out. She grabbed her left arm and John took her right. Helping her sit up and lean forward.
“You're going to feel a slight pinch in your back when I give you the epidural.” The nurse said calmly.

A contraction hit Grace pretty hard and she screamed out, “Give me the fucking epidural!”

After the pain subsided a little, the nurse finally administered the shot. It wasn't a small pinch in the back, it was huge one. Grace yelped out loud in pain. The nurse told her to lay back down and one again checked how far she had dilated. She had only gone up half a centimeter.

“Five more to go, sweetheart.” John said after the nurse had left.

John was glad she wasn't in a lot of pain anymore, she was finally able to get comfortable in the hospital bed and she quickly fell into a light sleep. John didn't let go of her hand, he sat there watching the minutes go by on the clock. He decided it was a good time to send out the mass text to everyone. He took out his phone and sent a mass text to everyone on the baby calling list, “The stork is coming, baby boy is on the way.” The nurse came back in and woke up Grace. She had dilated to 7cm now.

An hour later, her mother, John's parents, the band and Julia were all at the hospital waiting for their precious baby boy to finally come in to the world. Her mother and John's parents were in the room with Grace and John at the moment. Grace was only in minimal pain, she felt every contraction they just weren't as painful before, thankfully because of the epidural. She was feeling nervous, but oddly calm. She peered up at the clock and it was a half hour past eleven.

“Thirty more minutes until Christmas.” Grace said, lightly squeezing Johns hand.

Her mother kissed the top of her head. Twenty minutes passed by with small conversation and the Grace felt the pain slightly coming back, her contractions were becoming very close.

“Mom, can you get the nurse?”
“Sure thing, sweetheart.”
“I think it's time we left to the waiting room, we'll be out there waiting for the cue to come see our grandchild.” John's father said, his mother nodding. They hugged Grace and their son before exiting the room.

Dr. Adams came in, he had just gotten to the hospital. He had been out of town with his family and drove four hours to get here.

“You're here!” Grace said excitedly, then grunted in pain.
“You ready to have this baby?” He said.

Grace simply nodded.