I Know I Was for a While

Quietly pacing the length of the room, Lionel gently brushed his hand up and down Oscar’s back, trying to soothe the little boy who rested against his shoulder, soft grumbles falling out of his mouth. it was still early, with Camila’s waters having only broken a couple of hours previous, it was still early in the morning, and despite a number of calls to Lucille, the older woman had yet to arrive at the hospital, and that meant that Lionel had been trying to settle Oscar for a while, something the little boy wasn’t making easy on him.

Padding back across the room, he mumbled quietly to the little boy for a few seconds before the sound of a soft laugh reached his ears, something which caused him to quirk a soft smile before he turned around, glancing at Camila who was sat up on the bed, watching him pace the room. “My mother’s still not answering your calls?” she asked quietly, not wanting to disturb Oscar who looked as though he was about to fall asleep.

Lionel shook his head. “I’m still getting her voicemail” he mumbled “I tried about ten minutes ago, but then he started to grumble again and I thought I ought to try and settle him down before he woke you up. How are you feeling? Do you need me to go and find Tessa?” he pressed, his words rushed and worried.

Camila smiled a little, amused by his fussing, before she gently shook her head. “It’s OK” she mused “I mean, the contractions are getting closer together, but they’re still a few minutes apart. I don’t think we need to bother Tessa yet” she added, her hand gently passing over her stomach.

Lionel offered her a slightly uncertain look, wordlessly asking if she was sure, before the sound of his phone vibrating reached his ears, something which caused him to let out a quiet groan. Dropping his hand, he shuffled his phone out of his pocket before he held it up, showing off Lucille’s name to Camila. “I should...”

“I’ll take him” Camila interrupted, offering him a small smile.

Lionel hesitated for a second, something which made Camila roll her eyes playfully before she stretched her arms out, encouraging him to settle Oscar down into them. “We’ll be fine” she insisted gently.

Lionel nodded his head before he settled Oscar down into his arms. “I’ll be right back” he noted.

“I don’t doubt it” Camila quipped with a grin.

Lionel rolled his eyes playfully before he stepped out of the room, talking quietly into his phone.

Camila watched him out of the door for a couple of seconds before she gently shook her head, turning her attention down towards Oscar who stirred a little in his sleep, letting out a quiet sigh. Quirking a small smile, she gently pushed his dark hair off of his forehead before she leant down, pressing a soft kiss against his head as she felt another contraction pass. “You’re going to be the best big brother, you know that?” she murmured quietly.

~#~
“You know that I really hate you right now, don’t you?” Camila grumbled as she fell back against her pillow, her dark eyes glaring up at Lionel who was still stood attentively at her side, his fingertips lightly pushing her sweaty dark hair off of her face. it had been a while, since her waters her broken in the early hours of the morning, a few long hours had passed before she’d been moved into the delivery room, and Camila was more than looking forwards to the labour being over, even if she had no doubt that the little boy would be worth all of the pain. She was more than looking forwards to the moment that she was allowed to relax.

Lionel, who’d moved to tuck her damp hair behind her ear, let out a soft laugh. “You’ve mentioned it” he quipped.

Camila merely glared up at him, something which caused him to shift his hand, nudging it lightly against hers.

Camila flinched, surprised by the touch, before she shuffled her hand into his, squeezing it tightly as she felt another contraction.

Lionel flinched, still surprised by how strong her grip was, before he lightly pulled her hand a little closer to him, allowing him to press a soft against her warm skin. “You’re doing amazingly, you know that?” he murmured quietly, his voice just about audible above Tessa’s telling Camila that she needed to push again “You’re so close now, Mila, and I am so proud of you. Just a couple more pushes...” he trailed off as Camila let out a cry, pushing her way through another contraction.

Lionel grimaced as she squeezed his hand tightly, but his expression quickly changed, his ears catching the sound of crying emanating away from the other end of the bed. Blinking a couple of times, he stood quietly for a few seconds, wanting to be sure that it wasn’t just his ears playing tricks on him, before he turned his head slightly, his dark eyes meeting Tessa’s for a split second.

The midwife, who’d been busily wrapping the newborn up in a towel, caught his stare before she quirked a crooked smile, not missing the few tears that had already started to form in his eyes. Gently wrapping the towel around the little boy, she stood up from her seat before she padded around towards the head of the bed, carefully holding the baby out towards Camila who looked up at her, her eyes wide and tearful. “He...He’s...?” she spluttered out tearfully.

Tessa smiled. “He’s perfect, Camila” she fussed gently.

Camila let out a small snuffly laugh before she gently reached her arms out, carefully pulling the baby back towards her. Making sure that he was comfortable, she gently lifted one of her hands and tucked the towel away from his face, another soft snuffly sound falling out of her mouth. Shaking her head, she allowed a few tears to slip down her face before she lifted her head, her tearful brown eyes looking up at Lionel who was stood beside her, a tearful look of his own on his face. Letting out another laugh, she lifted her hand up to cup his cheek before she levered him into a soft kiss, smiling as she felt him smile against her lips.

Lionel grinned into the kiss, enjoying it for a few seconds before he pulled away, gently resting his forehead against hers as he gazed down at the little boy who sat in her arms, his eyes closing quietly. “Our beautiful baby boy” he breathed quietly, his voice clearly awed.