Chapter 38: Baby, You Save Me

A Chapter by Tina Bee

On March sixteenth, ten days after my fifteenth birthday I had just gotten out of the shower when a crippling pain brought me to my knees.

Mom and Arthur came rushing up to my room. Everything was happening so fast and the pain was so intense that my nakedness didn't phase me. I remember mom yelling to Arthur to grab my hospital bag and to start the car. Mom grabbed a dress for me out of my closet and quickly put it over my still dripping wet body.

"God, help me!" I screamed into mom's ear.

"Everything will be alright," mom spoke to me.

"What's wrong?" Mike asked coming to my door.

"She's in labor, can you help her down the stairs?" Mom asked Mike.

I don't know what he said, but all of a sudden I was picked up and brought down the stairs. It was nighttime and a full moon lit up the sky.

"Am I going to die?" I asked Mike as another wave of cramps hit me.

"No," Mike answered me.

Inside the car I sat down on plastic.

"Your mother doesn't want you to mess up the seats," Arthur said to me from the driver's seat.

I didn't care one bit because the pain was searing. The car moved and I faded in and out of my misery.

The car stopped many times and I thought the baby would come before we made it to the hospital.

"We're here," mom said to me as she wiped my forehead with a damp cloth.

Once inside the hospital I was hooked up to an IV and morphine drip.

"It's too late for an epidural," one of the nurses told mom.

"What's that?" I asked through my haze.

"Nothing," mom said which calmed my nerves.

The bed I was in was nice and comfy, but the contractions kept me from completely relaxing.

"She'll be delivering any minute now. We're just waiting for the doctor," the nurse said in a quiet voice.

"Oh God," I said sitting up.

"What?" the nurse screamed.

I pulled the blanket up because the pressure down below was allowing me any rest.

"I can see his head," mom said pointing at me.

"Doctor!" the nurse called to a man who had been walking passed my room.

"What have we got here?" he asked as he walked in.

"My baby," I said breathlessly.

"Looks like someone wants out," the doctor joked, "nurse get the room ready."

The doctor then went to the sink and washed his hands thoroughly. Meanwhile my nurse came to the bed and put my legs in stir ups.

"Ugghhhh," I groaned as the doctor sat down in a rolling chair and came between my legs.

"Don't exhaust yourself, breathe and push," he said calmly.

I did just that.

"One more," the nurse said egging me on.

Suddenly he was out and the next thing I knew I heard his cries.

"You did good honey!" Mom said snapping pictures with her camera.

"I need a drink," I said before passing out.

Liam Andrew Huntington came into this world weighing eight pounds eight ounces.

I woke up with a start in total darkness. My mind was fuzzy and it hurt to move. I heard machines beeping and for a moment I didn't know what was going on.

"You're awake," Langston said from a place near me.

"What are you doing here?" I asked sleepily.

"I came to see my son," Langston said, but now he was moving toward the door.

The lights snapped on my I closed my eyes to shield them from the burn.

"Where is he?" I asked trying to look, but everything was blurry.

"He's in the bassinet right next to you," Langston said, "he sure doesn't look like anyone in my family."

"What do you mean?" I asked trying to blink the sleep out of my eyes.

"He has blond hair," Langston said and I cringed.

The truth about Liam's paternity was painfully obvious.

"I should have told you sooner," I said to him.

"Yes, having me believe I was going to be a father when you knew I wasn't is so fucked up," Langston said and I looked up at him.

Tears were flowing down his face.

"I'm sorry," I said, but I knew it wasn't enough.

"You left me and I thought if I was here when he came you'd take me back, but now I don't know what to think," Langston said as everything finally came into focus for me.

I looked over to my right where my son slept. He really did have blond colored hair and when I looked at his face I gasped.

"He looks just like his father," I blurted.

"His dad is a white dude, huh?" Langston asked me.

"Yes," I admitted to him.

"I've never seen you around no white dude before," Langston said to me.

"Has my mom seen him?" I asked.

"Of course and she agreed with me and then left the room about two hours ago," Langston told me.

"And you've been sitting here this whole time?" I asked, shocked.

"Yea, watching you sleep comforted me," Langston said and I looked at him again.

"Why?" I asked.

"Because, I still want us to be a family," he confessed.

"I can't think about all that now, I haven't even held my son yet," I said to him shyly.

"What did you name him?" Langston asked trying to make himself seem cheerful.

"Liam Andrew, I just like the way it sounds. He has my last name," I said happily.

"Oh," Langston answered.

"Has anyone else been here?" I asked, "where's my phone?"

"Nope and I don't know where it is," Langston answered me gruffly.

"Let me enjoy this moment, Langston," I begged him.

"I'll leave," he said to me.

"Thank you," I called after him after the door closed.

I looked over at little Liam. He was just stirring and let out the most helpless cry.

Just as I went to get him the door opened.

"No, don't move. Your boyfriend told me you wanted to hold the baby. I'm here to bring him to you," the nurse said.

"It's hard for me to see," I told her.

"The morphine will do that, just hold him close because there's nothing I can do to stop it," the nurse said snidely.

She picked Liam up and carefully brought him to me. I wanted to tell her that I had already seen his face and she didn't have to be so rude, but I refused to let anyone ruin my moment.

"Hey, little man," I said to Liam who's eyes fluttered open.

"I'll leave you for a moment," the nurse said as she walked out.

"I knew all along that Greggy was your dad. I don't know why I doubted that for a moment," I said, squinting my eyes, "your eyes are green. There's no way Langston could be your father. Especially not with that whirl of blond hair on your head."

Liam yawned and stuck his hand in the air and I stuck my index finger out. He wrapped his entire hand around it and looked up at me.

He had my cheeks and nose, but everything else belonged to Greg.

There was a slight known on my door.

"I hope I'm not interrupting," Violetta said with a bouquet of daisies in her hand.

"Of course not," I told her.

Sonny followed her in beaming from ear to ear.

"Is that him?" Violetta asked as she rushed to the bed.

"Yes, I named him Liam," I answered her.

"Can I hold him?" Sonny asked looking at me.

"Of course," I said.

It wasn't until now that I could see Violetta's stomach. She looked due any day.

"I'm only five months along and I'm bursting out of my seams," Violetta said laughing.