Chapter 34

“Mr. Patterson ... Mr. Patterson,” the nurse repeated.

She nudged me again, and I was startled awake to the sight of the same short-haired blonde beauty in blue scrubs. “Did I miss it? Am I too late?” I stood quickly, looking to the double doors.

“No, everything is set up and the doctor is ready for you now,” she reassured me.

“I must be in Hollywood because I’m sure that I’m looking at Meg Ryan.” I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and looking at her clear blues.

“I’m told that quite often. I’ll admit I keep my blonde hair styled like she from her movies like I. Q. and Top Gun. I’ll have to learn how to give her autograph,” she smiled.

“How long was I asleep?”

“For about fifteen minutes.”

“Is that all? It felt more like hours I’d dreamed, as if my whole life had passed before my eyes! I haven’t been getting much sleep lately.”

“Your sleep will be even less now. Come on, I’ll help you with your gown and cap.”

As I slipped my arms into the sleeves, I noticed her name tag, Karen Miller. There below her name was another pin tag saying, ‘Yes, I know that I look like Meg Ryan.’

“That’s a cute saying below your name tag.”

“It was a gift from my boyfriend. Saves answering the comments I receive about resembling Meg Ryan like we’re twin sisters.” She tied the gown in back for me, and I fitted the blue cap over my hair. “Is this your first?”

“Yes and I’m a bundle of nerves.”

“You’ll do fine. I haven’t lost a new father yet!” She kidded. She escorted me passed the double doors to one room for a few minutes then back to the delivery room.

Donna was sitting partially upright, legs spread, her heels resting in stirrups. Sweat had moistened her forehead, and I wiped it dry for her. I gripped her hand in a thumb lock, and she squeezed it hard. “I love you Rick, but right now I sure hate you!” She laughed lightly. “I’m thirsty, a few ice chips please.”

I held the plastic cup to her lips and gently shook some ice shards into her mouth. I managed to give her a quick kiss, and a contraction caused her face to contort as if being tortured. I imagine giving birth naturally, can feel like torture.

“Is she doing okay?” She asked, exhaling deeply.

“Yes, she’s fine, I just checked on her,” I smiled.

“You’re dilating well now up to eight centimetres. It shouldn’t be much longer now,” the nurse reassured Donna.

“That’s good! I feel like I’m having the biggest shit of my life!” We laughed, and I took several pictures of her.

I looked at the wall clock, trying to stifle a yawn. “Why do babies seem to choose so early in the morning to be born?” I asked, seeing the minute hand sweep to 3 am.

“When they want out, they want out!” The doctor smiled. “Now next contraction, push and keep pushing!”

Donna quickly nodded, and another wave of pain washed over her midsection. I interlocked my arm with her for support as she leaned forward, her face turning a deep red. She gritted her teeth and let out an enormous yell.

“You’re doing very well,” the doctor encouraged. Donna slumped back, her chest heaving from heavy breaths.

Two quick breaths, then she leaned forward again. “Push! Push! Push!” She was prompted.

“I am! I am! I am!” She fired daggers through gritted teeth. She sat back again, fighting for breaths. I wiped her head, kissing her.

“You’re doing fantastic, honey!” I praised her.

“That’s it! I can see the head crowning now!” I wanted to look but thought I’d probably faint. “On the next contractions push and push hard!” She nodded quickly. She took short, sharp breaths and prepared.

Donna’s hand and arm held mine in a death-like grip as she leaned once more and pushed. “That’s it! Push! Push! Push! It’s coming the head is out, now comes the shoulders! No time to rest keep pushing!”

Donna mustered all her strength and released the longest, loudest growl I’d ever heard from her. “The shoulders are out, now keep going the rest will slip out easily. That’s it, come on, come on little one and join us for your wonderful life,” the doctor gently urged. The shoulders passed her opening, the rest of the baby slid out easier.

“Congratulations, you have a beautiful baby boy. Time of birth, 3:07 am.”

“A boy, we have a boy! We have a boy!!” I shrieked with overwhelming excitement! My eyes were tearing up with emotions. “I’m a Dad! I’m a Dad!!”

My newborn baby boy began to cry, filling his lungs with air for the first time. The doctor held him up, and I took several quick pictures of him. She laid him on Donna’s stomach, and her loving arms enveloped her newborn, flesh to flesh. Emotions took hold of her, and she began crying. “He’s beautiful, honey! He’s so beautiful! He’s perfect! Thank you so much!”

Her shaking hands caressed her baby for the first time. I leaned to her, kissing her damp head. “I love you, honey!” I said as the nurse began to clean up our baby. My eyes blinked uncontrollably to hold back my emotional tears of happiness.

“I love you too!” She said, her shaky hand to my cheek. “Look at the hair on his head! It’s already over his ears!” Donna remarked, needing to touch his head. The nurse handed me the scissors and passing the camera to her, I cut the umbilical cord freeing the connection of one bonding to be reformed in many other ways.

The nurse took our baby to finish cleaning him up, weighing him and measuring his height. “What is his name?”

“Stewart Richard Patterson!” Donna proudly announced. She smiled at me, my fingers nervously wiping away her tears and mine. The doctor continued with the delivery of the placenta and examined her before she was cleaned up.

I kissed her and went to watch the nurse finish her examination. “Well that didn’t take long, Stewart is peeing already!” I kidded, and we laughed. The nurse took his footprint and cleaned up, diapered him and wrapped him in a blueprint blanket and cap for his head.

“He’s seven pounds, three ounces and twenty-one inches long,” Nurse Miller announced.

“Here, Dad,” she said, offering me our first child. “Thank you, Nurse Ryan.” I joked, and she laughed. I took this little, little human in my arms, caressing him as if he was, and is, the most delicate and precious object in the world! I looked into his dark eyes, the iris colour won’t appear for a day or two. My cheeks were now hurting from smiling as I handed our new family member to my loving wife.

Donna cradled him in her arms, looking from Stewart to me. A hand to my cheek, she kissed me. “Look at what we made! I love you, Rick, thank you, thank you so much!” I stopped more tears. “When he gets in trouble, I’ll call him Little Ricky!”

“I’ll take that as a compliment!” I replied, kissing my proud wife. Now she was all smiles as I took the first pictures of our new family.

“We’ll move you to another room so we can clean this one. This seems to be a very busy night for babies. The next one is due in a few minutes and we received a phone call that several more moms-to-be are on the way in.”

“It must get pretty hectic in here sometimes,” I imagined.

“I remember one night we birthed twelve babies from nine at night till six in the morning,” the nurse proudly recalled.

“Wow, that’s a lot! There must have been a big power failure nine months before,” I joked.

“That has happened over the years,” Nurse Miller remembered. I kissed Donna, and Nurse Miller touched my shoulder. “Ready for round two, Mr. Patterson?”

“I sure hope so!” I smiled, following her.

In the hallway, I looked out the glass-windowed double doors and noticed Stewart and Helen had arrived. I pushed the doors open. “It’s a boy! It’s a boy! Stewart Richard Patterson! Donna and Stewart are going great! Love you both, be right back!” I hurried to be with Nurse Miller, my hands were clammy cold with more nervous sweat.

“So, what’s the news?” My other love asked as I entered the room.

“Donna had a boy!” I announced proudly. I went and sat on the small stool beside Lisa and kissed her. She lay on a similar bed, legs supported wide for birthing.

“Ice chips please, I’m thirsty.” I held the cup to her lips.

I had to laugh. “So much for you and Donna being weeks apart on your delivery dates. I think the doctors were off on their estimates by a few days. Donna was several days late and you, eleven days early.”

“Maybe they really wanted to be brothers and born on the same day,” Lisa remarked.

“Do you know if it’s a boy or a girl?” I asked my love of her saying, brothers.

“No, just guessing.”

“Determining delivery dates is still largely an educated guess. Normally thirty-eight to forty-two weeks is the gestation period for a woman. Some babies arrive on the due date and some before or after,” Nurse Miller said. I looked to her assisting the doctor and imagined the number of times she’d been told she could be Meg Ryan’s twin sister.

“You’re dilating well now at nine centimetres, won’t be long now.”

It felt like I was watching an instant replay of a hockey or football game. I patted Lisa’s forehead dry and offered her more ice chips. “This sure will be a day to remember. We have our two babies within the same hour. I love you, Rick,” she hugged me.

“And I love you, Lisa. Donna sure was suffering in the last few minutes.”

“I could hear her yelling all the way in here!” She joked. “Thank you for everything! Donna and I are the luckiest women in the world!”

I glanced at Nurse Miller, and I could see she must be wondering what kind of life I’m living to have a wife and girlfriend giving birth at the same time, and they know each other.

I could see Lisa’s facial expressions change as another contraction rushed through her loins. I held her hand, and she gripped it for support. “Give a good push!” She was instructed, and she grimaced.

She lay back, catching her breath, a half-hearted smile to me. “You look so beautiful right now!” I complimented, quickly taking her picture.

“Rick, you’re a fucking masochist! I sure don’t feel beautiful! Why don’t we switch places and you can feel how, beautiful it is!” She laughed as another birthing spasm took hold.

“Now push, push!” The nurse coached. Lisa gritted her teeth, her face turning crimson. I held her tight for support as she tried to urge our baby out.

She laid back, her chest heaving as if in a marathon race. “Are we there yet?” She joked, and we laughed.

“You’re doing great, the head is showing well now.” Another contraction and it felt like her nails became eagle talons that could draw blood from gripping my arm so tightly.

My eyes darted over her beautiful face, and I felt so fortunate to have her love. “You’re incredible!” I lifted several loose strands of her hair from her forehead.

“I bet you say that to all the women you get pregnant!” She joked.

“Just the two that I’m in love with,” I returned her teasing barb.

“Give us a good push this time,” the doctor instructed. She held her breath, gritted her teeth and pushed long and hard. Lisa took several shorts breaths and pressed hard again.

“Are we there yet?” She laughed again.

“Almost the head is to the ears. Next time push long and hard.”

“I’ve been doing that already!” She had to laugh.

I could see her expression changing, and she put a death grip on my arm. A big breath held, she pushed and pushed. A quick gasp of air and she pushed once more. If I didn’t know she was in so much pain, her facial expression looked like her widest smile.

“Another one, the shoulders are almost passed!” One more time, Lisa put all her remaining strength into her drive. “That’s it, come on little one, come and meet your parents!” The doctor softly motioned.

“You have a boy!” She announced, holding up the dark pink and wrinkled baby for us to see. “Time of birth is 3:27 am.” I took several pictures of him.

“We have a boy! A boy! Thank you so much, honey!” My eyes glazing over.

“I’m batting a 1,000, two for two!” I proudly announced, my fist punching the air above. The doctor laid him on Lisa’s stomach, and her loving arms caressed him like a mother bird to its young chick. The nurse checked his mouth, and disturbed began to cry.

Lisa, so overcome with pent-up emotions, began to weep happy and relieved tears. My fingers were busy wiping away both our joyous streams. “Thank you, my love, thank you so much! We have a beautiful baby boy!” Her shaking hand to my shoulder, we kissed.

The nurse began to wipe him clean and handed me the scissors. Again the nurse took several pictures as I cut the umbilical cord. “I’ll get the vital numbers while you finish,” the nurse smiled.

“Go, be with him!” Lisa prompted to my arm. She looked at me as I stood beside Nurse Miller. I watched her gently wash my new son clean. I looked to Lisa, making sure she could see. I took several more pictures to record this eventful day in our family history.

“What is his name?” Nurse Miller asked.

“Richard David Patterson!” Lisa announced before I could. If we had a boy, we decided to name him after my dad and me, both being Richard and David after her dad. “We’re not sure what we’ll use as his first name, Richard, Rick, or Rich.”

“Hi there, Richard David Patterson, I’m your daddy! Welcome to your new life!” Nurse Miller smiled to him, “Your weight seven pounds even and he’s twenty-one inches tall.” She took his footprint, and he soon christened his first diaper.

I had to laugh. “Ricky is just like his brother, he’s peed already too!” I looked to Lisa, my cheeks hurt from being in a never-ending smile. “I wonder how many times Stewart will play big brother saying he’s twenty minutes older and weighed more a birth.”

“I wonder how much they’ll look alike,” she questioned.

“It’ll be interesting to find out.” I smiled as Nurse Miller placed Richard in my arms, and I walked him to his mother. Lisa’s face grimaced, not in pain but with overwrought emotions as she held her first child.

“Thank you, honey, thank you, Rick, so much! He’s perfect, perfect!” She remarked, tears flowing. She kissed his soft forehead, and I kissed them both. I had to wipe my eyes so I could see clearly through the viewfinder of the camera.

We’ll need this room again soon, so we’ll move you both to another one.

I followed them down the hallway to the room she and Donna would share. Donna was in her bed and already nursing Stewart. “Now, isn’t that the purest sight in the world!” I smiled, taking their picture. “Your mom and dad are here, I’ll get them in a minute.”

“Stewart is just like his daddy, hungry for the boob!” She joked, and we laughed.

“I’ll try to leave him his share of milk,” I joked.

“You’ll have two pairs of boobs to get milk from,” Lisa added to my teasing as she moved to her new bed.

The staff placed Lisa’s bed next to Donna’s, looking to the other at our odd relationship. I looked at my girls in total amazement and took several pictures of them. “I have got to be the luckiest man in the world!” I praised, shaking my head in disbelief.

“Or the craziest!” Donna joked, and we laughed.

“I’ll definitely take this kind of crazy too!”

I placed a spare chair between their beds and gazed from one magnificent sight to the other. As the nurse did with Donna and Stewart, she assisted Lisa with her fist feeding of Richard. I gazed in amazement as each little nose moved as my boys sucked his life’s milk from his mother.

“Wow!!” I gasped on the verge of more emotional tears. My sons were nursed for a few more minutes and soon drifted off to sleep.

I gingerly picked up each baby and cradled them in my arms. My cheeks were still hurting as my smiles were non-stop. One of the nurses took several pictures of me proudly holding my two boys. I was on such an emotional high, it felt like my feet were floating with each step I took.

I called my parents and told them the news of our baby boy and Lisa also having a boy, and said they’d be here soon. “I still can’t get hold of your parents,” I said to Lisa. “I wonder if they’ve lost their power due to the snow storm.”

“Ready for your parents?” I asked Donna.

“Ready!” She smiled proudly.

I returned to meet them and was greeted by Helen’s loving embrace, a hand guided inside her coat to caress her breast, plus a proud handshake and pat on the shoulder from Stewart.

I escorted them into the room. Helen was overcome with emotions witnessing her daughter holding their first grandchild in her arms. Fingertips to the corners of her eyes tried to stem tears of pride and joy.

“Mom and Dad, meet Stewart Richard and Richard David Patterson!” I announced of Donna and Lisa cradling our sons.

“Don’t you look like the perfect picture!” Stewart commented, taking their pose with his camera.

“You’ve done well, my son, I’m very proud of you. You have a very beautiful, if not unusual family. And it was so thoughtful of you and Donna to name him after me. I appreciate that gesture very much! You truly have become the son I never had and now I have a precious grandson.”

“Plus, you have our company more productive and profitable than ever!” We looked on as Helen held one then both babies. Stewart smiled like a proud grandfather holding them both, as he and Helen posed for more pictures.

“I have another idea that I’ll offer you which could really help the company.” I couldn’t wait to tell him my idea. “I think we have the capability to offer a tender on a government contract at the Base.”

“Okay, you two! This is a day for celebrating two wonderful new baby boys not talking future company business,” Helen mildly scolded, and we returned to celebrate the additions to our families.

My parents soon arrived, and more congratulations were offered. “Richard, meet Richard.” I quipped of grandfather to grandson. Mom and Helen embraced with the common bond of being lovers and now grandmothers. My mom was in happy tears as she held her first grandchild and hearty handshakes of pride from my dad.