The One's Left Behind

Surprises

"Uh...Sean?" I called from the kitchen. "Can you come here?"

Of course, it had to be in the middle of the night when I was downstairs getting water, and he was upstairs, asleep. And when Sean is asleep, nothing can wake him up. I don't know what we're going to do once this baby comes and is only waking me up at night.

"Sean!" I called again, leaning against the counter.

I wasn't due for another week, but everything about this baby was a surprise. Conception? Surprise. The gender? Surprise. Things wrong with my body? Surprise.

We had been married for three years, just enjoying married life. And one day, I realized that I was late. When I took the test and found out I was pregnant, I didn't know how Sean would react. We both wanted children, but we thought we'd wait another year. What if he didn't think he was ready?

But when I finally blurted it out, he was excited. Jumping up and down, spinning me around, kissing me and repeating "I'm going to be a dad!". Well, that was after he sat still for a solid minute and scared me like no other.

"SEAN MICHAEL O'RILEY, GET YOUR ASS DOWN HERE," I demanded.

"Babe, you've got to cut back on the swearing, we're going to have a baby here in a week," he reprimanded, shuffling into the kitchen half-asleep, as he took my glass of water and began drinking it.

"Uh, more like in the next twenty-four hours," I informed him, gesturing to the puddle of water below me.

His eyes went wide, and he slowly swallowed the water in his mouth. "You just spilled water there, right? You're pulling my leg, because that's what you do. That's what I love about you. You got me, Em. Let's go to bed."

"Sean, I'm serious. Go get the bag."

"Em-"

"SEAN! I'm serious. Get the bag and my cell phone. I need to call my mom."

With that, he was gone in an instant, and I downed the remaining water. I could already tell this child was going to be a handful.

_______________________________

"Oh my God, how the hell is this thing supposed to fit?!" I screamed mid-contraction.

"Women do it all the time, babe," Sean assured me as he held my hand.

"You did this to me!" I cried.

"I'm sorry, babe."

"I changed my mind. I don't want to have a baby anymore."

"Too late, Mrs. O'Riley," my doctor and best friend, Kelly Osbourne informed me as she put on her gloves. "Looks like you're about ready to push."

I let out a whimper.

"It's going to be fine. You've got Sean here, you can do it."

"Don't talk about him, he's the reason we're here. He can't keep it in his pants."

"I won't blame you because of the stressful situation you're currently in," Sean told me. "But I'm right here for support."

"You ready, Em?" Kelly asked.

With a scared look on my face, I slowly nodded. "Let's get this over with."

_______________________________

"Congrats, you've got yourself a beautiful baby girl," Kelly told me as she handed my baby to a nurse so she could be bathed.

I let out a cry of relief which sort of turned into a sob. I was so relieved that it was over, and I think Sean was too considering he was shaking his hand. And he thought I was weak.

"Sean, we have a girl," I whispered.

He came back over to me and kissed my forehead. "I know, babe. You did great."

"You did, too," I murmured.

He chuckled. "I didn't do anything."

"Sorry to break up the 'good jobs'," Kelly interrupted, not sorry at all. "But I think someone here wants to meet her mommy and daddy."

Then I was handed a pink bundle of warmth. I looked down at the little baby before me, who was already sporting a mop of brown hair. I was in awe as to how much she looked like someone I knew, and it wasn't Sean or myself.

"Waverly," I whispered. "I want to name her Waverly."

"You can name her whatever you want," Sean promised.

Now I know why she was such a handful this whole time. It's a good thing I knew how to handle girls like Waverly, which is someone my daughter will be like. Surprise.