Say Yes (25 page)

Before
I knew it, Daisy was at my side. She grabbed my hand and was looking at her
watch. “Lilly, are you all right?”

“Oh
yeah, I’m okay. I just had a little squeezing pain in my stomach. She’s
probably just cramped. What are you doing looking at your watch?”

“I’m
just checking something. If you have another pain like that, squeeze my hand,
okay?”

I
half laughed. “You don’t think I’m in labor, do you?

“I’m
just checking to make sure everything’s okay. I want to make sure it’s not
false labor. Don’t want Luke freaking out over nothing, right?” she said.

“Yeah,
I guess not.” A few tense minutes went by, and I felt all eyes on me. “Will
y’all stop staring at me like that? It’s probably noth-oh, wow…ouch!” I cried
out, and squeezed Daisy’s hand.

“It’s
okay, Lilly, just breathe,” she said calmly. She looked at Violet. “Can you
call the guys and tell them to meet us at the hospital please? Mama, can you
get Lilly’s hospital bag? I think I saw it by the door.”

I
started to panic. “Hospital? You’re kidding right? I still have a week until my
due date!”

“Well,
Lil, it looks like your little girl doesn’t want to wait that long. You’re not
having little pains from her being cramped up. Those are contractions, and they
are coming about every four minutes, which means that we need to get you there
now.”

“But,
my water didn’t break!”

“Honey,
that doesn’t always happen. My water didn’t break with JC until I was already
six centimeters dilated, and it had to be broken.”

“But…Luke’s
not here,” I cried.

She
patted my hand soothingly. “He’s gonna meet us there. It’s okay, he’ll be
there. It’s going to be fine.” She stopped, and smiling, she said, “You’re
gonna have a baby tonight, Lilly.”

Adrenaline
shot through me, and I went into full on labor mode. I was ready. Daisy helped
me up off the sofa, and by the time I looked around, Violet already had Sarah
snuggled safely in her car seat and Alejandro was in the car waiting to drive
us to the hospital. “Mama,” Daisy said, “You ride with Violet and Sarah, okay?
I’m gonna go with Alejandro and Lilly. We’ll meet you there.” Mama nodded and
with a quick kiss on my cheek, she wished me luck and said she’d see me soon. I
waddled out to the car and Alejandro and Daisy helped me into the back seat. He
drove as a quick steady pace as Daisy gave him directions to Glenbrook General.
I was gritting my teeth through the contractions, which Daisy was timing.
During a particular nasty one, my cell phone rang. “Luke?” I said, wincing in
pain.

“Baby,
we’re on our way there. How you doin’?” he said, slight panic in his voice.

“I’m
okay. I never thought I’d say this, but I am looking forward to an epidural,” I
joked.

He
half laughed. “I’m sure you are. Just keep talking to me, okay?” he said. He
kept me on the phone until we pulled up outside the hospital. Thank goodness
Luke’s reserved parking spot was near the entrance, and Alejandro pulled into
the space and turned off the engine. Luke was already running toward me as I
opened the car door. “Thanks for getting her here, man,” he said, patting
Alejandro on the back.

“No
problem, Luke,” he said.

Jack
came running toward me with a wheelchair and I quickly sat down. I felt another
contraction coming on. Luke took over steering and he wheeled me quickly into
the hospital. We were taken immediately to the fourth floor to Daisy’s unit. As
we came in the doors, several nurses looked up. Daisy ran behind the desk and
grabbed a gown for me to change into. “Hey, Daisy, I thought you were off duty
today,” one of the nurses who hadn’t seen me said.

“I
am, but my sister just went into labor.” All heads snapped to me, and several
came running. One took the gown from Daisy and helped me into a waiting labor
room. Everything happened so fast that I felt like my head was spinning. Before
I knew it, I was gowned up, had an IV started, and I was hooked to a fetal
monitor. Evan was already suited up in his scrubs. He never left the room,
which made my heart melt. I’m glad I had chosen him to deliver our daughter,
although there was never really any other choice in my mind. Jack had called
JC’s babysitter and she came to pick him up, so he and Daisy were able to stay.
Violet insisted on waiting there for our little girl to arrive as well, and had
a diaper bag packed with all the essentials Sarah would need for a long night.
Mama, Daddy, and Alejandro were all set up in the waiting room. All that was
left was our baby girl’s arrival.

I
was now at hour eight of labor, and had gotten an epidural three hours before.
Finally, I was able to relax and enjoy my labor experience. Luke fed me some
ice chips. “How you doin’, baby?”

“I’m
doin’ okay. I’m just getting anxious. I can’t wait to meet our little girl.”

“About
that…what are we gonna call her? We didn’t settle on a name yet.”

Luke
was right…in all the hustle and bustle I had forgotten that we hadn’t decided
on her name. There were several names we liked, but we hadn’t settled on one in
particular. If I had made it to my due date, I was going to decide sometime
before then. But, my little girl was impatient. I laced my fingers through his.
“How about this? Let’s meet her first and then we can decide, okay?”

He
kissed my hand. “Okay. That sounds good to me.” All of a sudden, I felt
uncomfortable. I started to shift around. “Lilly, you okay?”

“Yeah,”
I said, my eyebrows furrowed. “I’m just a little uncomfortable. I’m feeling a
lot of pressure.”

Evan,
who had been studying the contractions on the monitor, snapped his head up.
“You’re feeling pressure? Okay, let’s take a look and see what’s going on.” He
put on a pair of gloves and Luke helped me pull my knees up. He placed one hand
on my swollen belly and the other he felt to see if I’d made any progress.
After a few moments, his eyes looked from Luke’s to mine, and a bright grin
spread across his face. “Lilly, you are fully dilated and I can feel her head.
Get ready to push. You’re about to meet your baby,” he said. He walked over and
pushed a button on a speaker, telling someone to send the nurse in. A second
later, my nurse came back in the room and was helping Evan into his gown and
mask.

Tears
of joy welled up in my eyes, and Luke kissed my forehead. I looked over to him,
and he whispered, “We’re about to meet our daughter.” He had tears glistening in
his eyes too. He gave me a quick kiss and stepped aside as two more nurses came
into the room and lowered the bed. After they took off the lower half of the
bed, they had me scoot down until my bottom was just about hanging off the bed
and they helped me place my numb legs into the stirrups.

A
minute later, Luke was at my side again, holding my hand. I leaned up, and
Evan, in his place in front of me, said, “Okay, Lilly, when I say push, I want
you to bear down into your bottom and keep pushing until I count to ten, okay?”
I nodded, and he said, “Okay, push!” He started counting, and I pushed with all
my might. Even though I wasn’t feeling any pain in my abdomen, the burning in
my bottom was pretty strong. When he said ten, I relaxed and tried to catch my
breath. After a two second break, I started pushing again. I pushed and
pushed…I feel like it had been forever. I looked at the time on the clock. I
had been pushing for almost forty-five minutes. When I took my last break, I
felt so tired and I didn’t think I could go on.

“Lilly,
just one more push, and the baby will be out,” Evan said.

“I’m
so tired, I can’t!” I cried.

“Evan’s
right, Lilly. Just one more big push and she’ll be here. Come on, you can do
this,” Luke said, holding my hand tightly and kissing my forehead. I took a
deep breath, and sat up. Using what energy I had left, I pushed as hard as I
could until I thought I was going to pass out. Right before I was going to give
up, I felt an enormous relief, and a tiny cry. “Well, there you are. We’ve been
waiting for you. It’s definitely a girl,” Evan said. “Here’s your daughter,” he
said, placing her gently on the towel that I had now registered had been placed
on my chest.

My
eyes fell on her, and I was instantly in love. She was perfect and pink and
gorgeous. I looked at Luke, who had streams of tears flowing down his cheeks.
We both looked into each other’s eyes, and said in unison, “Bella.” I’m glad we
both agreed. Shortly after I came back home, Arabella, the little girl I met
that Christmas, had passed away. She left an impression on me and Luke, so we
only found it fitting to name our baby girl after her. We also decided to have
her middle name be Margaret, after Luke’s mother. Now our baby girl had two
angels watching over her. Luke went into his first official act as a new daddy
and cut her umbilical cord, grinning the whole time. After that, Evan took
Bella to have her APGAR scores checked, which were perfect. After a few
minutes, she was wrapped in a pink blanket, warm and snuggly, and Evan placed
her in my waiting arms. “Hello, beautiful Bella. We’ve been waiting for you,
princess,” I cried softly. She was the most precious thing I have ever held in
my arms. I knew then I’d do anything in the world to protect her. I held her
for a few moments before I handed her to Luke, and I could see his heart melt
for her. Tears rolled down my cheeks as I watched him gently holding our baby
girl. When he started gently singing “Tiny Dancer” to her while kissing the top
of her head, I cried even more tears of happiness, if it were even possible.

After
about an hour, I was all stitched up and dressed in my post baby pajamas and I
was in a wheelchair waiting to go to my recovery room. Luke reluctantly left my
side and handed Bella back to me so we could head to the room. I wanted to get
settled, because I was dying to introduce Bella to her family. Luke grabbed all
of our bags and we headed down the hallway to the room. Once we were there, Luke
took Bella for me so the nurses could help me into the bed. My epidural was
wearing off, but my legs still felt a little tingly.

Once
I was comfortably in bed, Luke placed Bella back in my arms. She started
smacking her little lips in a sucking motion. “I think our girl is ready for
her first meal,” Luke said. I grinned and unsnapped my nursing camisole.
Bella’s little mouth instantly found my breast, and she latched right on, drinking
with all her might. It was the strangest, most beautiful feeling in the world.
I giggled at her little sucking noises she was making. After about fifteen
minutes, she let go, letting me know her little tummy was full. I held her
little head up and rested it against my shoulder, massaging her back. All of a
sudden, a teeny tiny little burp escaped her lips, and Luke and I giggled.
“That was the cutest sound I think I’ve ever heard,” he said.

Just
then, a soft knock sounded on the door. “Can we come in?” I heard Mama ask.

Luke
finished snapping my camisole shut, and I said, “Sure, come on in.” I placed
Bella back in the cradle position with her face toward the door so they could
all see her little face when they came in. Everyone came walking into the room
carrying lots of flowers and gifts. There was a collective gasp when they saw
her, and I smiled brightly. “Oh, she’s so beautiful!” Mama cried.

Daddy
came and kissed me on the forehead, and reached out to pat Luke lovingly on the
shoulder. “She is beautiful, Lilly. Congratulations you two,” he said.

Alejandro
was standing by Mama, smiling at me and waving his hand to fan himself, trying
to keep his tears at bay. Violet was holding Sarah, tears streaming down her
face. Evan was behind her, his head resting on hers. Jack was holding Daisy
around her arms lovingly and kissed the top of her head. “So,” Daisy asked,
“What’s her name?”

Luke
looked at me. “Why don’t you tell them, baby?”

I
took a deep breath and smiled. “Everyone, I’d like you to meet Arabella
Margaret Beckett. We’re calling her Bella for short,” I said. Daisy grinned at
me, and Jack winked.

“I
think that’s beautiful. Welcome to our family, Bella. We are so happy to
finally meet you,” Daisy said. “Okay, now we need to decide something extremely
important. Who gets to hold her first?”

Everyone
laughed, and I looked up into Luke’s eyes. I had never seen him so happy and
proud, except perhaps on our wedding day. “I love you so much, Luke Beckett.”

He
leaned in and kissed me and gently caressed Bella’s tiny head. “I love you
more, Lilly Beckett. Thank you.”

“For
what?” I asked, smiling.

“For
being my everything,” he whispered in my ear.

“Right
back atcha, handsome,” I said. With my husband on my left and our daughter on
my right, cradled in my arms, I had never in my life felt happier.

Three
months later, things were better than ever. It was December and close to
Bella’s first Christmas. I was with Bella in her nursery, just rocking her and
holding her close. She had a late nap during the day so she was wide awake. I
had taken the day off from the restaurant (which was busier than ever), and
Luke was still at his office for a late appointment, so it was nice for Bella
and I to have this alone time. I was sitting in the glider, holding her and
singing to her while she looked into my eyes. To my surprise, her eyes were
bright jade green, just like mine. I had hoped they would have been blue, but
Luke said he was thrilled to have another green eyed girl in his heart. I
continued singing my song to her, and she just watched me. When I sang to
Bella, all she did was just stare at me, like she was studying me, usually with
a tiny hand on my cheek. When Luke did it, it was like he cast a spell on her
and she would always fall fast asleep. I heard the door open and close
downstairs. “Hey girls, I’m home!” Luke called out.

“We’re
in the nursery!” I called. “Daddy’s home, Bella. Are you excited?” I said to
her, and kissed her on her little nose. I heard quick steps up the stairs, and
Luke was standing in door way. Walking to me, he kissed me and then Bella.
“Welcome home,” I said.

“Thanks,
sorry I’m late.”

“Oh,
no worries. Did you eat dinner? I can make you something.”

“Oh
don’t worry about it. I stopped at this little restaurant in town called
Lilly’s. They have some great food. Maybe you’ve heard of it?”

“It
sounds familiar,” I laughed. “Did you have a good day?”

“Yes,
but it’s even better now that I’m home with my ladies.” Smiling, he turned to
Bella and said, “Hello, princess! You want to come to Daddy?” he said, wiggling
his fingers.

Bella
reached out her chubby hands to Luke and squealed. He picked her up and
showered her with kisses. I smiled at them.

“Listen,
why don’t you take some time for yourself? I can get her down,” he said.

“Well,
she had a late nap this afternoon. But, I’m sure if anyone can get her to sleep
it’s you. You’re like the baby whisperer,” I laughed. I stood up from the
glider stretched my arms. “Are you sure?”