‹ Prequel: It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.
Sequel: 'Till Death ›
Second City.
nine months.
With Jonathan close on his heels, Dan jogged through the wide hallways of Northwestern Memorial Hospital. His heart was racing, his breathing was ragged and he was sure he would pass out from nervousness before he even reached Bristol’s room. Halfway through the second period when the message of her labor had been relayed to Dan as he sat on the bench, his first reaction was leave right then but she had wanted him stay and that’s what he did. In record time he showered and dressed; avoiding the reporters as they spat questions at rapid fire.
If it hadn’t been for his captain, Dan would have run right past her room. His thoughts were scattered as he tried to comprehend the fact he was about to become a father. The idea hadn’t truly set in until he saw the lights of the hospital—the decorating of the nursery just seemed like another room which needed to be painted under Bristol’s orders.
His heart melted when the heavy door clicked shut behind he and Jon. Bristol lay on her left side with her eyes tightly closed and her fingers clamped around Patrick’s hand. She was having a contraction—a painful one from the looks of it. He wished he could take her pain away; watching her wither and squirm in intense pain made Dan’s heart utterly break. When her eyes finally opened she cried out her husband’s name as she let go of Patrick’s hand. Deep nail marks were indented in his skin and Patrick pushed the hair off her sweaty forehead. No more than fifteen minutes ago did the doctor break her water to help speed up her labor. Within the hour she’d be able to have an epidural.
After the contraction passed, Dan replaced Patrick in the plastic chair beside her bed. He was about to ask her how she was feeling but the question seemed redundant and he kept the thought to himself. Dipping down he placed a kiss to her moist lips. For the first time in almost two hours she smiled, thanks to the sight of Dan. Lifting a hand Bristol wiped the blood from his eyebrow which was a result of the fight he had gotten into with Adam. No matter how strong the contractions were, Bristol was sure to keep eyes focused on the game. She found it helped with pain management, placing her concentration somewhere else.
The fight took place with three minutes left in the third. He would have done it earlier but with the major for fighting he had been slapped with allowed Dan to hit the showers before the game even ended. Adam looked worse; his nose had been busted and bled all over the ice. In the locker room he ignored the doctors’ requests to stitch up the gash on his brow but being beside Bristol was at the top of his priorities list.
“You should have a doctor look at that.” Bristol joked. She took a sharp intake of breath as another contraction ripped through her. Pausing for a second, she let out deep even breaths, trying to relax her body. At the moment she wanted to strangle the nurse who told her relax—it was easier said than done. “You did good tonight, baby. I watched the entire game, not missing any of your shifts.”
Flattered by her dedication to his career, Dan kissed her forehead and took her hands in his. “Right now you can forget about the game and focus on having our baby.” Closing her eyes, Bristol let of a soothing breath and nodded. Whether they were ready or not, she and Dan would be leaving the hospital as parents. A word Bristol was not yet use to when describing herself.
Around eleven that night, an hour after Dan and Jon had arrived, a team of nurses strolled in the room bearing a rather large needle and iodine. He helped Bristol sit up and toss her legs over the edge of the bed and held her tight as they prepped her back. Patrick thought he was going to pass out as the long needle punctured Bristol’s back and administered a large dose of a powerful pain killer. Just in case he was to fall back, Jon stood behind him ready to catch Pat.
For the first time Dan felt helpless. He couldn’t help but feel somewhat less of a man as he watched Bristol sleep through her tenth hour of labor. It amazed him how he would often cringe while being stitched up but she pulled through each contraction like a champ. She had only cried once, when they stated lasting longer and coming more frequently. The sun was low in the horizon and Jon and Patrick had left after much help in soothing and talking Bristol through. With a game in LA the next night, the boys had already taken off from Midway airport. Jon and Pat flew commercial. While the game was the least of their worries at the moment, Dan had to kick them out the door sometime around three AM. Stan had called Dan, telling him not to sweat. His position would be filled with a guy from Rockford and gave his blessings to the first time parents.
The phone calls had made to friends and family when the time seemed earlier enough. If Dan knew his mother, she was probably pacing her front room, the phone in hand waiting to hear the news of the birth of her granddaughter. Bristol’s parents had showed up to the hospital thirty minutes after getting their call. They were down in the cafeteria grabbing a much needed coffee for Dan. He was nervous to even blink an eye—afraid he would miss a precious second of the joyful moment.
•••
“C’mon Bristol, just one more.” Holding back his own tears as Bristol’s long nails dug painfully in to his hand, Dan encouraged his wife. It had taken fifteen long hours and Bristol realized contractions were easy when it came to childbirth. She was tired, winded and on the verge of breaking down as sharp pains clawed at her lower half. Her eyes were closed tight and her lungs were empty of air as she did just as she was told. She wanted it all to be over—the only thing getting through the last few minutes was the thought of holding her child.
Without his soft voice and encouraging words, Bristol would have given up only halfway through. Falling back in pure exhaustion, she burst out in happy tears as the sound of a baby’s cry echoed in the large room. Dan wrapped his arms tightly around her and felt as Bristol gripped his hair with a shaky hand. He placed kisses on her lips, never so proud in his life and in amazement over the commission Bristol had just done. There no one he had more respect for. The nurses whisked their daughter away after Dan cut the umbilical cord to be weighed, cleaned off and checked out.
Dan wiped the tears from her eyes with the pad of his thumb as Doctor Holt walked over to the waiting couple with a bundle in his arms. Bristol reached out with steady hands as the doctor placed her gently in her arms. “Congratulation Mr. and Mrs. Carcillo, you have a beautiful and healthy baby girl.”
Holding their daughter against her chest, Bristol smiled down at the bewildered girl as hot tears streamed down her cheeks. “She’s perfect,” Bristol blubbered as she ran a hand over the silky head of dark hair. Kissing her forehead, Bristol felt her heat flutter as Kristen grabbed her mother’s thumb and hold tight. Her small bottom lip quivered as she opened her eyes briefly to reveal bright blue eyes.
“She has your eyes.” Dan said. Neither was paying attention to the nurses as they scurried around the room to clean up. They were too wrapped up in the moment, having waited nine long, anxious months to finally hold their daughter. There were no words to describe the moment as they lay there as a family. After all the years Dan had thought it wasn’t something he wanted, he couldn’t be any happier as Bristol passed their blessing to him.
Wiping the tears from his own eyes, Dan peered down at the sleeping Kristen never feeling so sure. He filled with a love he never knew existed until he swept a finger along her tiny, flush cheek. There was no sight more precious, Bristol concluded, as she watched her husband gaze over their daughter. Turning on her side, Bristol reached out to fix the small pink hat adorning Kristen’s head. “Do you know what today is?” Just the thought was enough to being Bristol back to tears. It was more than a just her daughter’s birthday; February 24th.
“What?” Dan asked, feeling Kristen’s chest rise and fall against his.
“Kris introduced us a year ago today. Outside the locker room after the game against the Coyotes. Turns out I was wrong; there was more to you than just two missing teeth and a hundred penalty minutes.”
“Twenty-seven,” Dan smiled. “One-hundred-twenty seven.”
If it hadn’t been for his captain, Dan would have run right past her room. His thoughts were scattered as he tried to comprehend the fact he was about to become a father. The idea hadn’t truly set in until he saw the lights of the hospital—the decorating of the nursery just seemed like another room which needed to be painted under Bristol’s orders.
His heart melted when the heavy door clicked shut behind he and Jon. Bristol lay on her left side with her eyes tightly closed and her fingers clamped around Patrick’s hand. She was having a contraction—a painful one from the looks of it. He wished he could take her pain away; watching her wither and squirm in intense pain made Dan’s heart utterly break. When her eyes finally opened she cried out her husband’s name as she let go of Patrick’s hand. Deep nail marks were indented in his skin and Patrick pushed the hair off her sweaty forehead. No more than fifteen minutes ago did the doctor break her water to help speed up her labor. Within the hour she’d be able to have an epidural.
After the contraction passed, Dan replaced Patrick in the plastic chair beside her bed. He was about to ask her how she was feeling but the question seemed redundant and he kept the thought to himself. Dipping down he placed a kiss to her moist lips. For the first time in almost two hours she smiled, thanks to the sight of Dan. Lifting a hand Bristol wiped the blood from his eyebrow which was a result of the fight he had gotten into with Adam. No matter how strong the contractions were, Bristol was sure to keep eyes focused on the game. She found it helped with pain management, placing her concentration somewhere else.
The fight took place with three minutes left in the third. He would have done it earlier but with the major for fighting he had been slapped with allowed Dan to hit the showers before the game even ended. Adam looked worse; his nose had been busted and bled all over the ice. In the locker room he ignored the doctors’ requests to stitch up the gash on his brow but being beside Bristol was at the top of his priorities list.
“You should have a doctor look at that.” Bristol joked. She took a sharp intake of breath as another contraction ripped through her. Pausing for a second, she let out deep even breaths, trying to relax her body. At the moment she wanted to strangle the nurse who told her relax—it was easier said than done. “You did good tonight, baby. I watched the entire game, not missing any of your shifts.”
Flattered by her dedication to his career, Dan kissed her forehead and took her hands in his. “Right now you can forget about the game and focus on having our baby.” Closing her eyes, Bristol let of a soothing breath and nodded. Whether they were ready or not, she and Dan would be leaving the hospital as parents. A word Bristol was not yet use to when describing herself.
Around eleven that night, an hour after Dan and Jon had arrived, a team of nurses strolled in the room bearing a rather large needle and iodine. He helped Bristol sit up and toss her legs over the edge of the bed and held her tight as they prepped her back. Patrick thought he was going to pass out as the long needle punctured Bristol’s back and administered a large dose of a powerful pain killer. Just in case he was to fall back, Jon stood behind him ready to catch Pat.
For the first time Dan felt helpless. He couldn’t help but feel somewhat less of a man as he watched Bristol sleep through her tenth hour of labor. It amazed him how he would often cringe while being stitched up but she pulled through each contraction like a champ. She had only cried once, when they stated lasting longer and coming more frequently. The sun was low in the horizon and Jon and Patrick had left after much help in soothing and talking Bristol through. With a game in LA the next night, the boys had already taken off from Midway airport. Jon and Pat flew commercial. While the game was the least of their worries at the moment, Dan had to kick them out the door sometime around three AM. Stan had called Dan, telling him not to sweat. His position would be filled with a guy from Rockford and gave his blessings to the first time parents.
The phone calls had made to friends and family when the time seemed earlier enough. If Dan knew his mother, she was probably pacing her front room, the phone in hand waiting to hear the news of the birth of her granddaughter. Bristol’s parents had showed up to the hospital thirty minutes after getting their call. They were down in the cafeteria grabbing a much needed coffee for Dan. He was nervous to even blink an eye—afraid he would miss a precious second of the joyful moment.
•••
“C’mon Bristol, just one more.” Holding back his own tears as Bristol’s long nails dug painfully in to his hand, Dan encouraged his wife. It had taken fifteen long hours and Bristol realized contractions were easy when it came to childbirth. She was tired, winded and on the verge of breaking down as sharp pains clawed at her lower half. Her eyes were closed tight and her lungs were empty of air as she did just as she was told. She wanted it all to be over—the only thing getting through the last few minutes was the thought of holding her child.
Without his soft voice and encouraging words, Bristol would have given up only halfway through. Falling back in pure exhaustion, she burst out in happy tears as the sound of a baby’s cry echoed in the large room. Dan wrapped his arms tightly around her and felt as Bristol gripped his hair with a shaky hand. He placed kisses on her lips, never so proud in his life and in amazement over the commission Bristol had just done. There no one he had more respect for. The nurses whisked their daughter away after Dan cut the umbilical cord to be weighed, cleaned off and checked out.
Dan wiped the tears from her eyes with the pad of his thumb as Doctor Holt walked over to the waiting couple with a bundle in his arms. Bristol reached out with steady hands as the doctor placed her gently in her arms. “Congratulation Mr. and Mrs. Carcillo, you have a beautiful and healthy baby girl.”
Holding their daughter against her chest, Bristol smiled down at the bewildered girl as hot tears streamed down her cheeks. “She’s perfect,” Bristol blubbered as she ran a hand over the silky head of dark hair. Kissing her forehead, Bristol felt her heat flutter as Kristen grabbed her mother’s thumb and hold tight. Her small bottom lip quivered as she opened her eyes briefly to reveal bright blue eyes.
“She has your eyes.” Dan said. Neither was paying attention to the nurses as they scurried around the room to clean up. They were too wrapped up in the moment, having waited nine long, anxious months to finally hold their daughter. There were no words to describe the moment as they lay there as a family. After all the years Dan had thought it wasn’t something he wanted, he couldn’t be any happier as Bristol passed their blessing to him.
Wiping the tears from his own eyes, Dan peered down at the sleeping Kristen never feeling so sure. He filled with a love he never knew existed until he swept a finger along her tiny, flush cheek. There was no sight more precious, Bristol concluded, as she watched her husband gaze over their daughter. Turning on her side, Bristol reached out to fix the small pink hat adorning Kristen’s head. “Do you know what today is?” Just the thought was enough to being Bristol back to tears. It was more than a just her daughter’s birthday; February 24th.
“What?” Dan asked, feeling Kristen’s chest rise and fall against his.
“Kris introduced us a year ago today. Outside the locker room after the game against the Coyotes. Turns out I was wrong; there was more to you than just two missing teeth and a hundred penalty minutes.”
“Twenty-seven,” Dan smiled. “One-hundred-twenty seven.”