Who Knew Then? (What We Know Now?)

Kassidy

“JESUS CHRIST JARED YOU NEED TO GET HERE NOW!” I hollered into the phone as another contraction hit me hard. I’d been waiting for Tanya to pick me up to take me to the game when the first one had hit, feeling much like a pain I’d experienced a few days ago, so I hadn’t thought anything of it. The second one I’d moved funny and had contributed it to that, but now I knew what was going on and the contractions hurt like hell. We’d left near the middle of the first period, and we’d had to watch on TV and wait for the intermission to call him and actually get a hold of him to get his ass down here.

“I’ll be there as soon as I’ve… got my gear off,” I could hear him struggling to undress from his equipment and hold the phone up at the same time, which almost made me chuckle.

“Please hurry Jare,” I nearly whimpered as the next contraction hit me, knowing it could be very soon.

“I’ll be there baby – just remember to breathe, okay? I’ll be there in ten, I’m just pulling on my pants,” he told me, and this time I did manage a laugh. Only Jared would announce that on the phone. In the month and a week I’d been back in Raleigh we’d picked up basically where we left off – except on a good note. It had felt so natural to be back with him, I’d almost forgotten why we’d been apart. And the scrapbook Lindsay had helped me make for myself had captivated him, he spent hours pouring over every note, picture and detail, and looked through it almost nightly, even though I was sure he knew it off by heart already.

“Okay Jare,” I hung up, not wanting him to get caught driving and talking on his cell, because he’d end up with a ticket and be delayed even more. Another contraction hit me, making me groan and squeeze Tanya’s hand again.

“Okay, just breathe with me Kassy, it’ll be all right, Jared will be here any minute,” she soothed, pushing hair off of my face and trying to distract me. It took what seemed like hours before the redhead burst through the hospital room door, making a beeline for me.

“Baby are you okay? How are you doing?” he asked, kissing my forehead and taking my hand, Tanya stepping back and letting him take the chair right beside me. She sat on my other side, softly stroking my arm as additional support.

“Yeah, I’m-grr,” I gritted my teeth as another contraction hit me, and Jared seemed to panic momentarily, looking to Tanya for help.

“Just help her breathe through them – remember what they taught you in that class, it’ll all come in handy,” she assured him, and soon he was mumbling to himself word for word what the pamphlets and information they’d given us said – he’d painstakingly memorized all of it.

Soon the doctor walked in, and to my surprise Dr. Rose was there too.

“I wanted to come and make sure you were all right – I have several patients who live here as well who fly up to see me, and I didn’t have any appointments this afternoon,” she explained, and I nodded. I was glad to have a familiar face who knew what was going on, and squeezed Jared’s hand lightly.

----

“Well sweetheart, I think you’re just about ready to push, it won’t be long now,” Dr. Rose smiled at me. All I could think was that this was going to hurt like hell.

“Okay,” I nodded, not able to say much else. Jared kissed my forehead before kissing the back of my hand, his thumb stroking my hand as another contraction hit and I squeeze his hand, hard. Soon he was breathing just the same as I was, both to help me remember to do it and to help ease the pain he was no doubt feeling in his hand. I had a better grip than I think either of us realized.

“Okay, ready to push?” Dr. Langden asked, and I looked to Jared, feeling ready to panic now.

“You’ll be okay baby, we’ll be okay,” he assured me with a quick kiss.

“When you feel the contraction take a deep breath, and push with it, okay?” she asked, and I nodded, feeling anxious about it. This contraction was stronger than the rest, and as I pushed felt a scream rip loose from my chest. I think I would have preferred a broken bone to the pain I was feeling.

“You’ll be okay baby, it’ll be okay,” Jared was murmuring constant support for me, and while I had tears streaming down my face and had screamed more than a few obscenities at him he was there and he never wavered.

“All right Kassidy, one last big push here sweetheart,” Dr. Rose encouraged me, and with while I felt like it was going to tear me straight in half I did as they asked, and I all but collapsed back onto the bed.

“Baby I’m so proud of you,” Jared had tears in his eyes, and was kissing my forehead. Moments later a piercing cry echoed through the hospital room, catching both of our attention.

“Congratulations – you’re the new parents of a beautiful baby boy,” Dr. Rose announced, and while I couldn’t seem to move they asked Jared if he wanted to cut the cord, which he did as they were cleaning up our son. I struggled to support myself on my elbows, wanting a look at my baby, and after about a minute Jared came to sit back down beside me, a small bundle in his arms.

“Here’s mommy,” he cooed, carefully placing our baby in my arms. He was beautiful, a thick shock of auburn colored hair on his head, and bright blue eyes.

“He’s beautiful,” I whispered, and Jared nodded, wrapping his arms around me and kissing the top of my head.

“He’s absolutely perfect,”