Way Of Life - H.S & N.H

Daughter

"Round two Petal." Niall chimed. He was typing out a message on his phone as he sat on the comfy chair in the corner.

"Mmhmm." Heather managed to mumble out. She stood up, holding on to the end of the bed. She was focusing on her breathing to get through a contraction.

"You okay?" Niall asked. Looking up from his phone.

"I am now that it's stopped. Have you spoken to everyone?" Heather made her way back over to the bed and sat down.

"Yepp. Everyone is prepped. Your family are on their way and so is mine."

"Good." Heather reached over for the cup of ice chips.

"Do you need some more of those? I can go now. Or if you need anything at all." Niall babbled out. He didn't really know what to do with himself.

With Angus he'd missed this part. The waiting around. He made it just for the actual labour last time so he was struggling with what to do.

"Ni. It's okay. Stop panicking. I'm all good. Are you good?" Heather chuckled.

"I think so. It's all this waiting around. I feel like I should be doing something you know."

"Well if I could pass off this baby for you to push out then I bloody well would!" Heather laughed properly now.

Niall joined in. He would never fully know the pain of childbirth but by how Heather grabbed his hand last time, he got pretty close.

The nurse, Ellie, suddenly popped her head through the door.

"How're we doing in here?" She smiled sweetly.

"Were good." Both Heather and Niall said in unison. They both turned to look at each other and smirked.

"Well aren't you both just the cutest." Ellie beamed.

"I'm just gonna do a check on your cervix Heather is that okay?" Ellie continued.

Heather nodded and positioned herself on the bed.
Niall found the whole situation really odd but this is what childbirth is all about. His wife was about to add another little one to the Horan clan. The least he could do was sit there and support her.

"So you're 8cm as of right now. So you are almost there lovely. Not long to go. How are you finding the pain?"

"Not too bad. Better than the first time." Heather mumbled. She could feel another contraction coming so gripped one hand on the side of the bed and the other onto Niall's hand.

"Ouch. Okay no... this is fine." Niall winced but laughed it off. This caused Ellie to laugh also.

"I'll leave you two now. Don't hesitate to ring if you need anything. I'll pop back in in half hour." Ellie waltzed back over to the door and slipped out.

Heather's contraction died down and she slowly tried to release Niall's hand. Niall only gripped tighter, not letting her go.

"You okay?" Heather asked. His face had gone incredibly pale and he looked really worried.

"I think so. I'm just getting those pre-baby nerves again. I'll be okay." Niall shrugged it off.

"Hey! None of that. Look at Angus. He's growing up to be a funny, beautiful little boy and half of that is because of you. He adores you. As do I. There is no one I would rather have another baby with. You've got this." Heather squeezed his hand.

"God I love you." Niall murmured.

....

"Why is she taking so long?! I've been at 8cm for 2 hours now!" Heather cried.