Christmas Love

Chapter Twenty-Four

Three days before Christmas the power went out on us. "Well, I didn't expect to get this one wish" I mumbled as I walked downstairs.

"Good morning my little mouse" Steve said as he handed me my cup of tea, "morning love, I forgot how cold it can get" I said as I walked over to the fireplace.

"It must have gone out sometime in the night, been having the fire going pretty good for the past two hours, hoping it will warm the house up enough."

"It was definitely an innovative idea to have this as our second heat source." I looked out the window and noticed that we had at least two feet of snow and it was still coming down.

"How much are we supposed to get?" "Not sure, the weather station called for at least three to four feet of snow by Christmas morning."

Steve made me breakfast before he headed back outside to clear the drives, it was an endless battle, but he wanted to make sure there was a clear path to me or for me, whichever way this was going to happen.

Standing there looking out the window after I finished eating, my stomach started to feel tight, I walked over to the couch and grabbed my cell phone.

"Aunt Mabel, I need you to tell Steve to come home please" I said and hung up the phone. I sat down and right when I did is when the first contraction hit me.

I remember to breathe through it, even though it was hard to remember anything when one of those hit and this was just the beginning.

Within a minute Steve came flying through the door and right behind him was Aunt Mabel.

"What's the matter Laura?" "I think I'm going into labor" I said leaning back against the couch.

"Aunt Mabel went to the kitchen and grabbed me my ice chips that I had in my Ziplock baggies just in case.

She sat down next to me on the couch and handed me the cup with a spoon, I was taking slow deep breaths, eating some ice chips.

For some reason I was awful thirsty right now. "The EMS are on their way; I am going to go plow the drive and street hoping it will be enough to get them up here.

Steve gave me a kiss, "don't you worry about a thing my love, Aunt Mabel will be right here to help you with anything, I'm just going to make sure all is good outside for us"

Poor Steve was more nervous than I was for some reason, but I did not have time to worry about that until another contraction hit.

Aunt Mabel started to time them, I was getting one every ten minutes and it lasted for a minute.

Longest minute in my life right now it seemed like it would not ever end.

I was happy right now that my water did not break, I was hoping it would not until I was either at the hospital or a professional was here to help me deliver my baby.

Being in such a small town and a few of us were higher up away from everyone, one of the requirements for the EMS was a doctor to be in the truck for cases that could not make it to the hospital.

It was all arranged ahead of time for a doctor to come out with them since the weather could turn nasty and we needed to make sure our baby had the best possible outcome in case we could not make it to the hospital right away.

Aunt Mabel went upstairs and grabbed my bags and brought them down, placing them near the front door just in case I was going to the hospital.

I let out a cry and she was right there next to me, I could not hold her hand, I was afraid I would break it, so she made sure to give me pillows to hold onto while she was rubbing my back.

The contractions were coming at eight minutes apart instead of ten now. This little girl was wanting to be out with us it felt like. She was not wanting to wait.

"This little girl is going to be a handful, but in a good way since she has to stubborn strong parents" Aunt Mabel said smiling.

Next thing I knew the front door flew open and three paramedics came in along with my doctor. "You made it" I said panting a little bit.

"Wouldn't miss this for the world Laura" Doctor Labs said with a smile on his face. He was so calm and always encouraging. One of the reasons why I wanted him to be my doctor.

Within a few minutes, the family room was set up with a bed, blankets, towels, bowls of water, and a bunch of other stuff they pulled out of the EMS truck.

"We don't have time do we to make it to the hospital?" "Unfortunately, no we don't, your little one decided to come early, and the roads are bad out there, I won't risk it" he said as he finished setting up.