Never the Right Time

Chapter 26 Mark POV

Rebecca was pissed when she found out about my trip to see Soph. She never understood our relationship, but I tried to explain to her that she had nothing to worry about anymore. I tried to concentrate on everything else going on, but sometimes all I could think about were the last day with Soph. It broke my heart. I was determined to stop thinking about what could've been and worked hard to do everything I could to get ready for the baby

The last month of her pregnancy was miserable for everyone. Rebecca constantly complained about the heat and swelling and everything else in-between. We could only wait for the end.  It finally happened. Rebecca was a week past her due date and she was beyond miserable. I brought over eggplant Parmigiana and we took a long walk in hopes of kick starting something. That's night at 3 in the morning, I got a call from Rebecca.

"My water broke!" She half screamed when I answered.

"Ok! Do you want me to come to you or meet you at the hospital."

"Meet me at the hospital. Mom and I are going to leave here in five minutes."

"Ok I will meet you there" I said trying to stay calm as I got off the phone. I jumped up, pulled on some pants and jumped in the car. I beat Rebecca to the hospital and was pacing in front of the ER waiting for them. I was trying to stay calm for what seemed like forever when they finally showed up. Rebecca got out with me and her mom went to park the car. I whisked her into the hospital and did everything to get her set up and taken to labor and delivery. The next 11 hours were torture. It was spent trying to keep Rebecca comfortable while having her yell at me. I was trying to do everything to stay up beat and positive, but it was wearing on my last nerves. The doctor did the latest check and told us that it was time for her to push.

A hour and a half later a tiny baby was placed on Rebecca's chest as it screamed. I was shocked. I felt like I had just watched a tiny bloody battle and then a little rainbow appeared. Rebecca looked up at me with tears in her eyes.

"We made her" she sobbed while gazing at the baby.

I nodded and continued to stare at my new baby girl. Fuck my life was just flipped on its head.

Welcome to the world, Emma.

For the first few weeks, I stayed at Rebecca's and helped with sleepless nights and diapers changes. We were both either falling asleep or on edge with each other. No one told us about that. Rebecca had a hard time starting to breastfeed and just dealing with the whole going through birth and then being sent home.

Things were starting to finally settle down. I realized that in the haze of everything I hadn't told Soph. We hadn't spoken since that awful visit, but I knew that she would still be happy for me. So I sent her a picture of Emma.

'Say hello to Emma, the newest of the Owens family'

I put my phone down and went about changing Emma's diaper and getting her dressed when I heard my phone ping.

'Congrats Poppa Bear! She is beautiful!'

'Thanks Soph. Hope all is well. Gotta get back to baby duty. Let me know when you get back to town'

'Will do dad! Haha'

I couldn't help but laugh. I imagined her with a big salute as she said that and couldn't help but laugh a little harder.

I went back to two after two weeks at home with Emma and Rebecca. I was happy to be getting out of the house, but I definitely missed baby Emma.

I had two weeks of full time work before him and Rebecca started school at the state college in their town. It wasn't prestigious by any means, but it still meant a good education and a degree. I was also in the process of moving back into a tiny little apartment near where I lived with the guys, so I wouldn't be too far from anyone and would still have space for when Emma could come over without Rebecca. It was a win win in my book. I loved seeing things through her eyes, even if it was only 8 inches in front of her. She was such a good baby that we couldn't complain. Now we just needed to get into a good routine with our school and work schedules. It was going to be tough but we were determined to make it work.