The Trial Of Temptation

delivery

"PUSH"
"IM TRYING"
"WELL TRY HARDER!"
"TOM, IM TRYING AS HARD AS I CAN HERE"
"Y/N, YOU'RE GONNA OW! YOU'RE GONNA BREAK MY HAND!"
"THIS BABY'S GONNA BREAK MY VAGINA. DEAL WITH IT, YA PUSSY."
You squeezed Tom's hand as you went through the worst pain you'd ever experienced. You lay back in the delivery room, 2 hours into giving birth to your first child. Nurses huddled around your spread legs, urging you to push harder. You really were pushing very hard, so much so that your vision had become red and blurry from all the blood rushing to your head. You were exhausted. You'd been in labor for 7 hours. You always knew that this baby would be stubborn, judging from by who was giving birth to him, but it still wasn't fun having contractions for 7 whole hours! Being pregnant had gone quite smoothly for you. You hadn't dealt with blue twinkies, or much puking or anything of that sort. You'd mostly just been tired for the past 9 months. Tom had been such a champ throughout, bringing you whatever you needed, and giving you back rubs whenever you asked him to. Somehow, you were even crazier about him than you had been back in 69'. He was still an asshole, but he was your asshole. Your favorite asshole in the whole wide world. Your favorite asshole was currently struggling a bit from the intensity with which you gripped his delicate hand. He was crouched right by you, using his free hand to gently brush your sweaty hair out of your eyes.
"Y/n, you need to push really hard on the count of 3." The nurse informed. You nodded, and looked over at Tom for moral support.
"I can't do this, Tom. I cant-" you whimpered, overwhelmed from both the pain and the pressure. Tom's lively green eyes grounded you almost immediately.
"Yes you can. Just- hey- it's okay- just look into my eyes. You've got this. You're such a tough motherfucker, y/n. I promise, it's almost over. You just have to keep going. Okay? I love you so much. It's gonna be okay." He said, smiling his eye-crinkling smile at you. You nodded. God, he knew you well. He knew exactly how to inspire hope into you. Without thinking, your grabbed his face and kissed him, hard. The nurses cleared their throats. You chuckled against his lips and drew back.
"Um, sorry. Yeah, I'm ready." You breathed out. Tom smiled.
"Okay. Remember to just look at me. Okay? Ready?" Tom asked. The nurses began to count down.
"1"
"2"
"3"
You pushed with all your might, everything you had in you. It hurt like hell, almost like your entire body was being set on fire. But you did not care. You needed to get this little fucker out! Tom's pretty eyes helped distract you from the searing stinging in your abdomen. You let out a cry of anguish when a particularly hard pang of pain stung your stomach. Tom stood up to go and see what was going on. You saw his face whiten at the state of your probably disgusting nether regions, but he hid his sickness pretty well. He came back over to you and pressed a kiss to your terribly sweaty forehead. He sat back down at his stool and placed one of his freckled hands on the side of your face.
"I see a foot." He told you. Your heart skipped a beat. You looked down at the nurses, who were focused on the process at hand.
"Really?" You exclaimed. Tom pressed a kiss to the back of your hand and nodded, his eyes filled with happiness.
"Indeed. Alright. So. I think it'll be one more big push, and you might be done. Right?" He asked the nurses. One of them nodded.
"It'll need to be a very big one." She informed you. You took a deep breath and looked over at Tom.
"Dare I say.. do it for Bernadine?" Tom muttered. You playfully shoved his shoulder back.
"You piece of shit! What if I don't get it out? How awkward!" You chuckled. Tom smiled and rested his forehead on your arm.
"You'll get in out. If you don't, I'll laugh in your face. Maybe I'll even point. How humiliating for you!" Tom taunted. You bit your lip.
"Fine." You grunted. Then, you began to push. You remembered all of the bad things that had ever happened to you. Thought of Tom in jail. Bernadine's mutilated face. Abbie's addiction. Tom rejecting you in court. Jane and Tom kissing. The faces of your kidnappers. Tom calling you a "spoiled rich girl" all those years ago. You used your anger to fuel the biggest push that you'd ever pushed. You sat up, gripping Tom's hand, using all the strength you had to squeeze your muscles as tight as they would go. You let out an ear piercing cry as pain rippled through you. Then, you heard another cry. The most beautiful cry you'd ever heard in your life. You collapsed down onto the bed, and turned over to Tom, who's eyes were fixed on the space between your legs. His mouth hung open. His expression was filled with a curiosity and emotion that you'd never seen on him before. His eyes were filled with tears, shining from the bright lights of the hospital room.
"Tom?" You whispered hoarsely, hardly any strength left in your body. Tom squeezed your hand, and walked over to the nurses. The cry of a baby echoed through the room. You felt yourself become overwhelmed with emotion as you watched Tom Hayden see your child for the first time. His hand shook as he brought it up to his mouth. A tear rolled down his cheek, as his eyes went wide with shock. The nurses smiled warmly and looked up at Tom. One of the nurses grabbed a blanket from the table behind her and brought it back to wrap around the baby. You were almost to exhausted to process what was going on. All you could focus on was the look on Tom's face. He almost looked scared. Perhaps he was. You were too. After all, you'd just given birth to a human person that the two of you were expected to care for, and raise into an adult. It was a very scary prospect, but you knew that with Tom by your side, there was nothing that you couldn't face. You craned your head to try and see if you could catch a glimpse of the crying child, but it was to no avail. Your legs blocked the scene. Suddenly, a nurse popped up carrying what looked like a bundle of blankets. Tom's face went sheet white as the baby was handed to him by a smiling nurse. You watched as his eyes softened at the sight of his child. You'd never seen such love in another person's eyes before. He smiled down at the baby and began rocking it back and forth.
"Hey there, little one." He breathed out, his voice choked up from emotion. You couldn't take your eyes off of him as you watched him meet your baby. You wiped a tear from your own eye as Tom's eyes shifted to meet yours. He began to walk over at you, his eyes fixed on the bundle in his arms. He crouched down next to you, and handed the baby to you. You couldn't believe what you saw. It was like your heart had moved outside your body and taken the form of the most beautiful little angel you'd ever seen. You immediately knew that you'd die for the child in your arms. The feeling was overwhelming. A profound love that stemmed from deep inside your soul. You'd only ever felt that way for the child's father. You never thought that anything else could make you care this much. The baby's eyes were like oceans. Sparking and full of wonder. You saw yourself in their depths, but mostly Tom. You could tell that this child took after its father. In both resemblance and spirit. You could already see Tom's nose and lips. You looked over at Tom, who looked back at you with all the love in the world. His eyes crinkled up when you smiled at him.
"It's a girl, just for the record. Thought you might wanna know." Tom whispered. You beamed.
"She's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen." You whimpered, gazing down at the small eternity that you held in your arms. Tom leaned his head against yours and pressed a kiss to your temple.
"She looks like her mom. No offense, baby." He joked. You have Tom a "really" look before turning your attention back to the baby.
"Let's hope you act like me too, and not your asshat of a father." You cooed to the little girl. Tom breathed out a laugh and slung an arm around your shoulder. You let out a sigh of happiness. There you were, with your whole world surrounding you. You'd never felt more love. You felt complete. Truly complete. The 3 pieces of your soul had come together to form your new family. And what a family it was. You sniffed and turned back to your Tom, who was already looking at you.
"What do we name her?" You asked. Tom exhaled.
"What does your gut say?" He asked. You chuckled.
"You could've said something nicer, like 'what does your heart say' or 'what does your soul say'" you jested. Tom rolled his eyes.
"I could've. But I didn't." He quipped. You sighed and looked down at the sweet girl that you were now the mother of. Your heart filled with affection for her. As you looked into her beautiful eyes, a name did come to you. It felt right. You bit your lip and leaned your head against Tom's.
"Bernadette. Bernie for short." You breathed out. Tom exhaled and nodded.
"Yeah. That just about sums it up." He affirmed. You turned to Tom, and leaned forward to press a kiss to those beautiful lips of his. He kissed you back, pulling away to smile at you. You brought a hand up to brush over the freckles on his cheek. He touched your hand and sighed.
"Let's hope we're good at this." He sighed. You smiled. There wasn't a doubt in your mind that you would be.