Page 15 of Matrimonial Merger (Lakeshore Empire #2)

Cal

I sorted through the nursery as Daphne called out, “It’s chaos, but I am so tired. I cannot move!”

“It’s fine,” I said. “Go sit down on the damn couch, woman!”

I heard her mumble and waddle past the damn nursery.

Daphne’s problem wasn’t a fear of giving birth.

It was her stubborn approach to never slowing down.

She’d been on leave since before her due date.

She was now overdue and finally having contractions that looked like something.

I basically had to force her to put on pants to go to the hospital.

She was determined to stay here as long as she could—swearing it would never happen.

“The aquamarine one!” Daphne called.

“Yes, baby. I have it. I know which one!”

I finally pulled out the onesie she wanted—one Chloe had made custom with the Delphine’s dolphin logo on it.

Daphne waited until we were literally on the way out the door with a car waiting below to take us to the hospital to change her mind on the “going home” outfit.

I didn’t argue with the woman about to push a human out of her body.

“Got it!” I called back, shoving the tiny garment in the bag and packing it off to the door. When I reached her, she was standing by the elevator, staring down at her feet.

“Shit,” Daphne said. “My water just broke. The car?—”

“I will get a towel,” I promised. “It’s fine.”

“We need to clean it up?—”

“Just focus on yourself, baby,” I said. “I will handle it.”

I tossed the bag down on the ground by the elevator door and grabbed a slew of towels from the linen closet.

“Not the blue ones,” Daphne cringed. “I literally just bought those.”

“Daphne, this is not the time to worry about towels. I will buy you a dozen more if it bothers you. Hold this one.”

She didn’t protest as I raced away with the others, tossing them in the washer. She called the elevator. As we climbed on, I realized this was the last time we’d be here alone—a couple rather than a family of three.

“It’s the end of an era,” Daphne said.

“It really is.”

She braced on the elevator railing, groaning.

“See, they are getting worse,” I said, timing the contraction. “That was eight minutes, Daph.”

She glared and straightened up, trying not to tell me that it hurt.

I knew it did. She wasn’t a baby about such things.

By the time we made it to the hospital in horrible traffic, she finally let on how miserable she was.

Making matters worse, we had a parade of press following us.

As if this was the delivery of a royal baby, they’d be lying in wait outside for three weeks.

“I will walk inside, but get me a goddamn wheelchair. I feel like my body is falling apart, Cal.”

“Yes, baby,” I said.

It was only a few blocks, but it felt like a great expedition by the time we made it. And as we did, I assumed it would be a quick labor, and the baby would just come out. I couldn’t have been more wrong, of course.

“Four centimeters,” the nurse said. “We’re making progress from your last appointment, though.”

“I want an epidural now ,” Daphne insisted.

I looked at the nurse. “Sure. I will get the OB to put the order in.”

Daphne got what she wanted. After some verbal abuse and a lot of swearing, Daphne rested quietly on the epidural.

She napped, but I couldn’t rest. I worried too much about everything that could go wrong.

She’d been having contractions for twelve hours, but now they were ratcheting up.

With the help of Pitocin, she moved along.

It took around twenty hours total, but in the dark of night, Daphne was ready to push.

There was no time to panic now. There was no turning back.

Once more, I didn’t know what to expect. I thought, like in the movies, the baby would emerge after a few quick pushes. Instead, the reality was brutal. Daphne screamed, vomited, and sobbed with every push.

“When does it get better?” I panicked, asking a nurse as I placed another washcloth on Daphnes’s brow.

“When the baby comes out,” the nurse said, as if I were an idiot. “And she will.”

“Cal, stop panicking. It’s…” Daphne growled through another contraction. “It’s not helpful.”

“Okay, but this feels like a Hobbesian state of nature you’re being put through.”

“Cal, please don’t go philosophical, for fuck’s sake!” Daphne said. “I’m dying here.”

“You’re dying?”

“It’s fine,” the nurse holding Daphne’s other leg said. “You’re doing everything you need to do, Daphne.”

I wanted to take her pain away. She was so miserable, even with the epidural. I expected it to cut all of the issues. Instead, she shook, sweated, and screamed.

“Daphne, on the next push, I want you to think about climbing a rope,” the OB said.

“A rope?” Daphne panted. “Why?”

“It’s just a visualization. Just climb it in your mind. Push with everything you have.”

“It feels like my body is ripping in two!” Daphne sobbed.

“The epidural is wearing off, but the baby is right here ,” a nurse by the doctor’s shoulder said.

“Daph, you are so strong.”

“I don’t know how Mummy did this six fucking times.”

“You’re tough—you all are,” I assured. “And you can?—”

I didn’t finish. She bore down again, pushing against my hand harder than before.

“Motherfucking fuck!” Daphne screamed. “Fuck, fuck, fuck.”

“Keep going! She’s coming!” The doctor said.

And within a few seconds, The baby was there—in the doctor’s hands first, then on Daphne’s belly.

Daphne went from screaming obscenities to sobbing happy tears.

In fact, we both did. As Cordelia screamed at her distaste for life outside the womb, we fell in love with her.

Relief washed over me. She was here. Life suddenly felt complete in a way I’d never imagined.

Daphne

I woke in the morning, hungry as could be.

All I’d gotten was a deli sandwich the night before.

It was a piss-take. I’d pushed out a baby—a whole eight pounds of human—to have a turkey sandwich and bag of chips.

I wanted bacon and eggs desperately. Sitting up, I saw Cal sitting on the pullout sofa, cross-legged, just staring at Cordelia.

“You’re up,” I murmured.

He looked over. “Couldn’t sleep. Too excited.”

“I need you to sleep,” I giggled. “Cuz this baby needs to be on a schedule.”

“I’ll sleep after breakfast. I hope you didn’t mind that I put in the order—bacon, eggs, hash browns.”

“Yes, please,” I said. “Bless you. Did you feed her?”

“And changed her,” Cal said. “I didn’t want to wake you.”

I sighed, looking down. “Yeah, well, it hasn’t been a great success trying to feed her. I could try in a bit.”

I was frustrated that my milk hadn’t immediately come in. And since Cordelia was slightly jaundiced, they’d wanted to top her up with formula. I knew it wasn’t the end of the world, but I wished things would have been perfect.

“Don’t freak about that,” Cal said. “It’s going to be wonderful. Here, take her.”

He deposited our daughter in my arms. She stared up at me, bright-eyed.

“I still need to pinch myself,” I admitted. “How did this finally happen?”

“You deserved it. You worked really, really hard to get her here. So, of course, she’s perfect. It’s only fair.”

I beamed at him. “She is perfection.”

“She’s a beauty like her Mom.”

“With your annoying amount of energy.”

He chuckled. “Let’s hope that wears off, and she sleeps like her mother soon.”

I kissed Cordelia on the forehead. She groaned and kicked her legs. Watching her fight the swaddle was my new favorite pastime. She hated it, but I knew it was good for her.

“Your mum wants to come today,” Cal said.

“That’s fine,” I agreed. “She’s welcome. I don’t really want everyone here, though.”

“I told Mom and the siblings they’d have to visit us later,” Cal said. “But I figure since your mum is helping a bit, you wouldn’t mind.”

“I will oblige her. Why don’t you go home and shower and nap while she’s here?”

“Daph—”

“It’s an order, baby,” I said.

“Fine,” Cal said. “But I don’t really want to leave her.”

“I know, but take the time to rest. Because once we go home, you need to be on baby patrol. I plan to do fuck all but nurse her.”

“That was the plan. Fine.”

Cordelia nudged me, rooting.

“Maybe she is hungry,” I said. “Can you hand me a pillow?”

It was worth a shot. To my surprise, Cordelia latched. It hurt for the first few seconds, but I settled in as my first letdown kicked in. Relief set in. Maybe I would actually be able to nurse this baby. I’d only heard such things described with a “you’ll know it when you feel it” comment.

“See, she knows what she’s doing,” Cal said. “Even if we are clueless. Instinct is crazy.”

“You’re doing a great job, Cal,” I promised. “We will figure it out.”

He leaned over and gave me a kiss.

“I’m just following your lead, Daph.”

“Well, you’re doing a great job. We’re going to be okay. We’ll muddle through the chaos—as ever.”

“And fall in love all over again,” Cal said. “Sorry, but… this is unexpectedly the best feeling in the world.”

I smiled up at him as I cuddled Cordelia close. “It should be. It’s the universe finally working out, Cal.”