Love Me Until My Heart Stops

“How much longer do you think we’re going to be waiting?” Gerard posed as he stopped the midwife beside the door, his face a little expectant. It’d been hours, over 24, and still Esmé’s progress seemed slow, something which was starting to get to them both. Things had progressed, after 25 and a half hours, Esmé was nearly 6cm dilated, but still it didn’t seem to be enough, something which was starting to concern Gerard.

The midwife sighed. “She’s getting there” she noted gently “She’s getting towards 7cm now, but there’s nothing we can do to make it go any quicker. It will happen, Gerard, but it’s clearly going to take a while” she explained softly. She felt a little bit for the defender, he’d been awake for the majority of the 25 hours labour that Esmé was going through, but it seemed to show very little sign of speeding up.

“Our baby’s OK, isn’t she?” Gerard pressed softly.

“She’s perfectly OK” the midwife noted “I run checks on her every time I come in here to check on Esmé. Both of your girls are fine, Gerard” she assured him softly before she stepped out of the room, leaving Gerard alone with his wife.

“Still no progress right?” Esmé noted gently.

“A little, but not much. How are you doing?” Gerard posed as he sat down at her side once more.

“I am tired, bored and I really could do with getting up and taking a shower. Do you think you could give me a hand with that?” she noted.

Gerard nodded his head. “Give me a couple of minutes to get changed and then I’ll help you Ok” he assured her softly before he pressed a kiss to her forehead, moving into the bathroom.

Esmé watched him go before a tap echoed at the door, causing her to turn. “Come in” she noted gently.

“How are you doing?” Ella noted as she stepped inside quietly, flashing her baby sister a soft smile.

“As well as I could be considering I have been in labour for 25 hours” Esmé noted “How’s everyone else doing?” she quipped.

“Mama’s freaking because she didn’t get the chance to throw you a baby shower and Eloisa went home a little while ago to get some sleep, but she made me promise that I would call her if things changed. How’s the labour coming along?” Ella quipped, taking Gerard’s vacated seat.

“I’m 7 centimetres now, but I am not holding out much hope that we’re going to be delivering her any time soon. It’s taken 25 hours to get to 7, I can only imagine how long it will take to get through the final 3” she complained softly.

Ella smiled. “If it takes another 8 hours or so, you’re going to give Gerard quite the 30th birthday present” she teased.

Esmé frowned for a second, wondering what her sister was talking about before her eyes widened. “It’s tomorrow” she squeaked.

Ella nodded. “It is, but I think he’ll probably excuse you not remembering given that you’re about to push his daughter into the world” she teased.

Esmé shook her head. “I didn’t even get him a present” she mumbled.

“You’re about to give him a pretty big one” Ella reasoned “Esmé, Gerard’s not going to give a damn about not getting some gift because you’re about to give him the best thing he could ever get. You little girl will be worth a million of whatever gift you would have come up with” she explained softly.

“You think?” Esmé posed.

“I know so” Ella grinned before the door of the bathroom swung open, allowing a shirtless Gerard to step back into the room.

“Ella” he quipped, smiling sheepishly.

“I’m just on my way out” the older woman smiled “You’ll come and get us if anything changes?” she posed.

Gerard nodded. “Of course” he confirmed gently.

Ella nodded dutifully and made her way towards the door, flashing a small wink at Esmé who blushed softly.

“Did you still want to take that shower?” Gerard posed.

Esmé nodded her head softly and moved to stand up, hoping that it wouldn’t be much longer before little Ava made her first appearance.

~#~
“30 hours” Gerard complained as he fell into his seat once more, frustration etched onto his features.

“I think I am aware of how long we’ve been here, Gerard” Esmé complained gently “You’re not the one who keeps getting contractions” she added a little sharply. She was tired, in the 30 hours that had passed since she’d arrived at the hospital, she had barely managed 3 hours sleep, and she was starting to get annoyed. She knew that it couldn’t be helped, Delia had warned her that it was likely to take a while for the baby to come along, but 30 hours seemed a little excessive.

Gerard sighed and rested his head on the bed, mumbling a small apology.

“Why don’t you go and get some sleep? I fear we’ve still got a way to go” Esmé mused as she gently ran her fingers through his hair.

“I’ll sleep when you sleep” Gerard replied, propping his head tiredly on his arms “It’s not fair otherwise” he added.

“She could not be here for hours yet, Gerard” Esmé reasoned gently.

“I know, but a supply of coffee is keeping me going. You need me here and I am not going to sleep until you have that baby in your arms” he retorted softly.

Esmé went to argue with him, but stopped, her voice taken away by a large contraction.

“Esmé?” Gerard posed “Querida, are you alright?” he added.

“Find the midwife” Esmé grumbled through gritted teeth.

“You think…”

“Find her, Gerard” Esmé interjected.

The defender nodded his head dutifully and skittered out of the room in search of their midwife.

~#~
“Keep going, Esmeralda” the midwife instructed as she sat at the end of the bed, watching as Esmé pushed. It had been another hour, Esmé had been 9cm dilated when the midwife had reappeared but had quickly advanced to ten, allowing her to start pushing.

“I really don’t think I can” Esmé protested.

“Of course you can” Gerard assured her.

Esmé scoffed. “Easy for you to say. You’re not the one pushing a human out of you. I swear, when this is done with, you’re never getting near me again” she hissed, her hand swatting for his head which sat close to hers. Gerard ducked and leant away a little, his eyes landing on the midwife who snickered.

“You cannot imagine the amount of women that come in here and say that” she mused.

“I mean it” Esmé grumbled.

“You really need to push now, Esmé. The baby’s crowning and I need you to give it everything you have” the midwife quipped.

Esmé let out a small groan, but pushed as hard as she could. She wanted to get it over with.

~#~
“32 and a half hours” Gerard whispered softly as he settled on the side of his wife’s bed, his blue eyes settled on the tiny bundle who slept quietly in her mother’s arm. It had been hard, Esmé had pushed for almost an hour and a half before their little girl had finally arrived, but Gerard had little doubt that she was worth it. She was small, when she had been born, she’d weighed 6 pounds 5 ounces, but to him it didn’t matter. Ava was stunning and that made the 33 hours worth it.

Esmé hummed gently. “What time is it?” she murmured, adjusting Ava slightly.

“It’s just past two in the morning” Gerard replied with a look down at his watch.

Esmé smiled. “Then, happy birthday” she cooed.

“What?” Gerard posed.

“It’s your birthday” Esmé confirmed gently “Well, yours and Ava’s” she teased.

Gerard blinked softly before he smiled, laying down beside his wife and daughter. “You realize you’re probably never going to top this present, don’t you?” he teased as he adjusted the blanket around Ava’s face, pressing a kiss to the baby’s head.

Esmé shook her head. “Probably not” she mused, a small yawn falling out of her mouth.

Gerard smiled and gently moved to take Ava out of her arms. “You have earned a long sleep, mi amor” he mused “Why don’t you nap and I will take care of Ava before we start letting people in?” he suggested.

Esmé nodded and curled up against her pillow, affording Gerard the chance to place a kiss on her head, thanking her for going through labour with their daughter.