| ~ Chapter Forty-Four ~ |
| Ryann woke up at 6:30pm to the telephone ringing. She rolled off the couch and answered it. "Hello?" "Ryann, are you ok?" The male voice asked. "I am fine; I was just taking a nap. Who is this?" "It's your brother-in-law. Have you eaten dinner?" "No, I just told you I was taking a nap." "Well good. Lexi is cooking and I am coming over to get you. So be ready in ten minutes, ok?" "Um, sure, I guess." "Alright, I'm on my way." "Ok." Ryann hung up the phone and went to brush her hair. She threw it up into a ponytail and grabbed her purse just as Matt was pulling in the driveway. She locked up the house and got in the car with Matt. They went back to Matt's house, where Lexi was in the kitchen cooking and Gilbert was talking to her. They both noticed Matt and Ryann walk in. "There they are�" Lexi said. Gilbert got up and gave Ryann a hug. "How's my grandchild doing?" "Sleeping now, I think." Ryann replied. It hasn't kicked me in awhile." "Just a few more weeks." Gilbert said with a big smile on his face. "I can hardly wait." Ryann said sarcastically. Ryann sat down in a chair and Matt sat in the chair next to her. They all had been in deep conversation for about an hour when Ryann grabbed her stomach. The expression on her face told everyone that she was in pain. Lexi walked over and asked, "Ry, are you alright?" "I think so� I'm just having sharp pains in my stomach." "Ryann, that's a contraction. How long have you been having them?" "About a half an hour or so." "How far apart are they?" "I'd say seven or eight minutes. I haven't been timing them." Ryann managed to say. "Ok, we need to get you to the hospital. Do you think you can walk?" Lexi asked. "I think so." Matt got up and helped Ryann walk out to the car. Gilbert and Lexi followed them out and the four of them headed to the hospital. Ryann was in the back with Lexi, and she was helping her with her breathing, and Matt and Gilbert were in the front. Gilbert was trying to call Jeff the entire ride to the hospital, but he kept getting his voice mail. He left a message for Jeff to call as soon as he could. They finally got to the hospital, and Lexi sped up the process of checking in, and wheeled Ryann up to the maternity ward so she could examine her. Matt and Gilbert were waiting outside the room when Matt's cell phone rang. "Hello?" "Matt, its Jeff. I just got a message from Dad to call a.s.a.p. but when I called his house, nobody answered. Is everything alright?" "Everything is fine Jeff, but you need to take the first flight you can home. You need to get here as soon as you can." "Why? What's going on? Is Ryann ok?" "Yes, she's alright. But we think she's going to have the baby." "WHAT?" Jeff screamed into the phone. "She was having contractions, so Lexi, Dad, and I are here at the hospital with her. Lexi is examining her as we speak." "Ok, I am heading to the airport right now. Don't let her have the baby until I get there." "I'll try my best Jeff, but I don't know if I can actually stop her from giving birth." "You know what I mean asshole; tell her I am on my way home, ok?" "Will do bro, I'll see ya when you get here." Matt hung up the phone and turned to his dad and said, "Jeff is on his way." "That's good. He will be really mad if he misses this." Lexi came out and sat on Matt's lap. "She is going to have this baby tonight, whether she wants to or not." "She doesn't want to?" Gilbert asked. "She wants Jeff to be here." "Well," Matt said. "Jeff is on his way. I just got off the phone with him." "Thank God. Where is he?" "He's in New Jersey, so his flight should only take a couple of hours." "That is very good news." Lexi responded. "So how is she doing?" "Very well, everything is advancing smoothly and accordingly, and it all looks good. Ryann is handling it very well, it being her first child and all. But I've got to get back in there with her, to make sure she is breathing and such. Let me know when Jeff gets here." "Will do�" Matt said. Lexi gave him a kiss and went back into the delivery room with Ryann. Jeff arrived at the hospital around 12:30am, and headed straight up to the maternity ward. He saw Matt and Gilbert sitting in the hallway, and ran over to them. "She hasn't had it yet, has she?" "No Jeff, she didn't give birth without you." Without waiting another moment, he burst into the delivery room just as Ryann's water broke. It was sort of chaos for a moment or two. Ryann looked over and saw Jeff, and she smiled. "You made it�" Jeff walked over and took her hand. "Did you think I would let anything stop me from being here?" "No, I just didn't know if we'd reach you in time." All of a sudden, Ryann had a contraction, and she squeezed Jeff's hand so hard, he felt like the bones were breaking. Lexi got her into her breathing again, and she slowly loosened her grip on Jeff's hand. Lexi checked again, and Ryann had dilated enough to start pushing. Lexi instructed Ryann to push on her next contraction, which came a minute later, and she started pushing. Jeff was rubbing Ryann's head, and reminding her to breathe, but at the same time wanted to see the actual birth. He kissed Ryann on the forehead, and then moved down to the end of the bed near Lexi so he could see the baby coming out. Ryann was pushing, and the head was coming out. Jeff's eyes were just about bugging out of his head as he watched his child come into the world. Ryann pushed one more time, and the baby came out. Jeff was still staring. Lexi handed the baby to the nurse to clean it up and such. Jeff walked back over to Ryann's side and kissed her again. Lexi said, "Congratulations Mom and Dad, it's a girl." The nurse brought the baby over and placed her in Ryann's arms. Ryann just stared at her tiny face, and then checked to make sure she had all ten fingers and toes. "She's so beautiful�" Ryann said. "Just like her momma." Jeff said to his wife, and then he gave her a kiss. Jeff sat down next to Ryann to take it all in, and Ryann handed the baby to Jeff. He held her ever so gently, and just stared at her. "Have the two of you decided on a name for her?" Lexi asked. Ryann and Jeff both looked at each other, then Jeff said, "Lauren Ruby. If that's ok with you Ry." "I love it Jeff. We're going to name her Lauren Ruby Hardy." "That is such a beautiful name." Lexi said. Lexi took the baby and handed her to one of the nurses to check her out, and the other nurses started cleaning up the room. One of them helped Ryann into the shower, and Jeff went to tell his father and Matt the good news. When he got to the waiting room, Shannon and Crystal were there, and Amy was as well. They all were staring at Jeff with quizzical looks on their faces. Jeff said, "Ryann had the baby." "Well, is it a boy or a girl?" Matt asked. "It's a girl." Jeff said. "We're going to name her Lauren Ruby Hardy." "Congratulations!" Everyone said to Jeff as they either hugged him or shook his hand. "So when can I see my niece?" Matt asked. "They took her to make sure everything was ok, and they are cleaning up the room and stuff right now." Jeff told him as he flopped into a chair. Matt sat down next to his little brother. "Are you alright Jeff?" "Matt, she's so tiny, and she's just�" Jeff paused for a moment. "�I can't even describe how I feel right now. It is so amazing to see that happen." "It's nice you gave her mom's name." Matt said. "Ryann picked out the name Lauren, and I chose Ruby. Ryann likes it." "It's a beautiful name." After he called Ryann's family to tell them the news, Jeff returned to Ryann's room, and they had brought the baby back in. Everyone was allowed to come into the room, and they all did. They took turns holding Lauren and talking to her, and Ryann was just relaxing in bed. She was extremely exhausted and wanted to go to sleep, but she also knew how excited everyone was, and didn't want to spoil the party. Finally, Lexi came in and kicked everybody out, so just Jeff, Ryann, and the baby were in the room. She told Jeff that he could stay, and the bed was big enough for both Jeff and Ryann. Lexi took Lauren down to the nursery and left Ryann and Jeff in the room. Jeff climbed up onto the bed with his wife and pulled her into his arms. Ryann fell asleep almost immediately, and Jeff did shortly thereafter. |
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