It's been 10 years since Eddie and Dani found out they were having a baby far sooner than they'd planned or wanted. All of their plans for the future got put on hold, having to adjust to becoming parents at only twenty years old. Money's always tigh...
"Push baby! You got this!" Eddie urged before biting back the scream of pain that was rising from his throat from how hard she was gripping his hand. He swore Dani was on the verge of breaking his fingers but based on the way her face was screwed up in pain, eyes squeezed shut tight, and lips pressed together in a hard line, he figured he needed to just shut up and take it. Whatever she was feeling right now was clearly way worse than what she was doing to his hand. If breaking his fingers helped his girl through this, then he would let her have it.
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Her water had broken four hours ago, at two in the morning, as they lay in the bed they now shared at her mom's house. Eddie had been harshly pulled from a deep sleep by Dani screaming his name over and over, her hands slapping at him. He'd been confused at first, struggling to fully wake, wondering why he was laying on wet sheets, asking her in his half-asleep haze why she'd peed the bed. He should have been struck dead then and there from the look she shot at him.
When he'd realized what was happening, all the careful planning and discussion about what to do had gone right out the window, replaced with nothing but blind panic. He'd lunged from the bed, grabbing her hospital bag she'd packed weeks ago, pulling on his Reeboks quickly. He'd yelled for her mom as he sprinted outside in nothing but his boxers and shoes to his van. Eddie had backed out of the driveway before remembering he needed Dani too and pulled back in just as she came huffing out of the house, her mom following with pants and a shirt for Eddie in her hands. He'd thanked her and she'd just smiled knowingly at him, telling him Dani's dad had driven her to the hospital barefoot. He hadn't realized until one of the nurses informed him that he had to wear shoes in the hospital and gave him a pair of slippers.
Dani had been a trooper through all of this but he'd been relieved when she agreed to the epidural. Eddie watched as the lines across her forehead and between her eyes smoothed as the medication worked its way through her body. He felt helpless in this moment, trying to help her in any way he could but unable to take the pain and discomfort from her. He rubbed her back, he walked with her through the hallways, and he offered her water and ice chips until she'd yelled at him to stop being in her face so much. When that epidural kicked in and she could relax for a bit, he'd collapsed back in the chair next to her bed, surprised at how much tension he'd been holding in his body just worrying about her.
Uncle Wayne and her mom had been in the room with them up until the doctor told them it was time to start pushing. Dani was adamant she didn't want anyone in there with her but Eddie. He had agreed when she'd first said it, agreeing that this should be a moment just for them and their new family, but as he watched the adults walk out, he was overcome with the urge to beg them to stay. How was he supposed to do this alone? He'd never done this before. He might be twenty but he wasn't really an adult. They were way adultier than him. What if something went wrong? What if Dani needed something and he couldn't do it? What if he didn't ask the right questions or say the right things?
