Having His Baby (2 page)
Authors: Shyla Colt
“D…”
“Hmmm?” Demon swam up through the numerous layers of sleep.
“Jonah. I think it’s time.”
His eyes popped open. “Time…time?”
“Yes. I t-thought they were Braxton Hicks, but they’ve—settled into a pattern.”
“How close?”
“Every ten minutes,” she whimpered.
“Shit! Okay. Let me get dressed and get our things.” He slipped from the bed, going into leader mode as he pulled on clothing and got her bag out of the closet. “Do you need help?” he asked watching her struggle to pull on a dress.
Her face looked flushed, and her breathing sounded heavy. “No,” she puffed. “I already called Gia. She and Lefty should be here any minute.”
“How long were you sitting there having pains?”
“Long enough,” she replied.
“Stubborn,” he said shaking his head.
“Oh!” She bent over, clutching her stomach, breathing the way she learned to in class.
Demon glanced down at his watch and timed it.
A minute.
Ardy straightened, breathing hard.
He slung the duffle over his shoulder, wrapped an arm around her, and guided her from their room. He settled her on the couch, and a knock sounded on the door.
The rest was a blur as Lefty and Gia came in wearing huge smiles, then they loaded up into his car.
The contractions grew closer, and he broke every speed limit known to man.
Lefty made a joke about the cops getting a beatdown if they dared to pull Demon over.
Gia shushed him as she held Ardy’s hand and whispered soothing words to her ear.
Demon skidded to a halt in front of the entrance and helped her inside. “My wife is in labor. The contractions are about seven minutes apart,” he barked.
Nurses glanced up from the desk, looking alarmed.
He narrowed his eyes. “Are you listening?”
Lefty chuckled. “From the mouth of a raging devil.” He steered Gia to the waiting room.
“Y-yes sir. We’ll be right on it,” a small blonde said, leaping into action. She rushed around, grabbed a wheelchair, and he helped Ardy to sit.
“Okay baby, I’ll be right back. I have to park the car.” He turned to the nurse. “If anything happens to her on your watch, we’ll have a problem. You understand, Nancy?”
“Y-yes sir,” she answered nervously.
“Good.” He stalked away, parked the car in the nearest spot, grabbed her bag, and ran back inside.
“We’ve got all her information, Mr…?”
“Demon.”
Nancy paled.
Good, I want her too scared to fuck up.
“Mr. Demon?”
“Just Demon.”
“We’re taking her to the examination room where the nurse will check her dilation.”
“I want you.”
“E-excuse me?”
“I want you to be her nurse, Nancy. We have an understanding.”
“I—okay. I’m sure that can be arranged,” she replied, swallowing her protest.
“Smart girl.” He nodded his approval.
Ardy cried out.
He stepped beside her and held her hand. “Come on Mama, let’s get this show on the road.”
A few moments later she was splayed wide on a stainless steel table with a pad placed beneath her.
He ground his teeth and shoved his hands into his pockets. Useless wasn’t a label he would ever put on himself, but this was between her, nature, and the doctors.
A doctor came in and checked her dilation. “Okay, it looks like you’re eight centimeters,” he announced.
“What?” Ardy asked while looking scared.
“This baby wants to come fast,” Nancy explained, patting her knee.
Ardy turned to look at Demon. “I want an epidural. Tell them—” She cried out, as a gush of water splashed over the exam table and rolled onto the floor.
Demon didn’t have the heart to tell her she wouldn’t have time to get the pain meds.
“Okay, let’s see if there’s a bed available, or we may be delivering this baby here. Keep breathing, Ardy, You are doing an incredible job,” Nancy urged.
They wheeled a bed into the room seconds later, and they transferred her swiftly to the place a short distance down the hall. He held her hand as she struggled to breathe. The doctor and staff members flooded the small space. Time went into hyper-speed as she continued to breathe through the contractions.
In the blink of an eye, they were pushing.
Demon watched with a mixture of horror and awe as his daughter came into the world. His throat grew thick. He blinked to clear the liquid that threatened to gather in his eyes. The tiny girl with a head full of dark hair squalled, and his heart squeezed. Fatherhood would never be anything short of miraculous. You would have to be heartless not to feel it down to your soul.
The doctor handed the baby over to Nancy.
She took the babe over to another exam table to check her vitals.
Demon glanced down at Ardy. “You did so good, babe.” He kissed her forehead.
She gave him a weak smile “Go with her,” she whispered.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.” She nodded her head. A serene smile covered her lips.
He squeezed her hand and walked over to his daughter as a nurse moved in to help clean Ardy up.
“Eight pounds five ounces and twenty-one inches long. She passed her APGAR with flying colors,” the doctor announced after they ran a number of tests.
Demon nodded his head.
“Would Daddy like to give her the first bath?” Nancy asked.
“Yeah, I would,” he said feeling a little awkward. She looked so tiny and delicate. He felt like he was all thumbs as he took the little square washcloth from the nurse and began to wipe her down.
“Excellent job, Daddy. I can tell you’ve done this a time or two,” Nancy stated.
“Yeah, we have two at home,” he replied softly.
His daughter focused on his voice kicking her legs and moving her arms.
“You know you’re with Daddy, don’t you?” he asked, pleased.
Family is everything.
“Great job with the clean up, now let’s get her dressed and swaddled before she gets cold. Do you have a special outfit for her?” Nancy asked.
“Yeah, we do.” Demon ran a finger over her cheek and then walked over to get the bag. He pulled out a pink gown with the Dueling Devil’s logo on it and a matching hat. He returned and expertly put it on her. “Welcome to a family who’ll do anything for you little one.” Seeing his colors on his child made him proud. He placed the hat on her delicate head and stepped back, so Nancy could burrito wrap her.
“Let’s get her over to Mama,” Nancy said.
They took her over and placed her in Ardy’s arms.
“Hi, baby. I’m your Mommy,” she whispered kissing her forehead.
“What should we name her?” he asked, running his hands through the baby’s curls.
“Ara, it’s a combination of sounds from both our names.”
“That’s pretty and different. I like it. What about her middle name?”
“You pick.”
He thought about it for a minute. “Lou, after my grandmother.”
“Ara Lou Porter.” Ardy smiled. “I like that. What do you think Ara Lou?”
Ara did her best to focus in on Ardy.
Demon smiled like a lunatic. There were moments in your life that you’ll never forget. Ara’s birth was one of them. He would hold onto the joy, because peace and the Dueling Devils didn’t usually follow the same path.
