Saturday, June 1, 2013

one way or another

Gage was glad Manny was there at the hospital. It was true. Gage was in a tizzy. Actually, a nervous wreck. He really wanted everything to be OK for Sage. He did not want to see her in pain.

At the moment, he thought she was the bravest woman, he knew. She'd been in labor for days.

"It shouldn't be taking this long," Gage said, ready to operate on Sage if he could. There were thoughts of Sage not making it through this ordeal. Or even worse. The baby.

They hadn't wanted to know the baby's sex. It was going to be a surprise. Now it felt like a nightmare.

He kept hearing Manny talk but he wasn't really listening. Suddenly, a nurse came out into the waiting room. Of course, Gage was expecting bad news.

But she was all smiles.

"Are you ready to be a Dad?" She didn't seem to think it would be long now. Gage knew that meant possibly 4 hours from now. Maybe 8. He tried to sleep, but he couldn't. He didn't want to miss anything.

He hurried down the hall in his blue scrubs.

Of course, there was Sage, sweating rain, eyes shut tight. She was ready to push.

Gage took her hand and she squeezed his hand so tight. Her fingernails left marks. Gage felt faint, but he steadied himself.

And then the baby wailed.

He was so big. Gage just stared. How could something that big have been in Sage's stomach for so long.

Gage sighed with relief. Of course, they weren't finished. Gage went to help with the baby, but was afraid there might be another. It was only after birth which made him want to vomit when he saw it.

The baby weighed almost nine pounds. The nurse assured him that he had the heart of an athlete. The put him through one test after another. Thankfully, all was fine.

Gage steadied himself holding the fair child with the bare head.

Finally, he made it back to Sage with the baby. She looked asleep.

"Does he really look like a Skyler to you?" Gage wanted to know. He knew she liked the name, but he never really did. "I always liked the name Rex."

"I thought you wanted to name your dog, Rex." Sage was awake.

"You know, we won't ever be getting a dog, anytime soon." Gage wanted them to decide together on this.

"OK, Rex Skyler." She shrugged.

Gage smiled, but wondered if Sage would still be calling him Skyler while he called him Rex.

4 comments:

ellie said...

It is interesting how a "name" can be tossed around and how we accept it.

Anonymous said...

I really like the name Skyler. I hope it won't be a problem about the baby's name.

Caitlin and Megan said...

Thankfully, the baby is here. I'm glad it went OK.

MOSAMUSE said...

i like skyler!
xo
MOSAMUSE

www.MOSAMUSE.com