Who's Your Daddy?

The First Pictures of the Rest of Our Lives

I slept hard until the next time Penny came in to check my dilation.  After that I dozed.  The next three hours passed swiftly.  In that fog between awake and sleep I could hear my guys whispering.  “Do any of you feel at all strange that we don’t know who the biological father is?” asked Owen.  I was very glad they all thought I was completely asleep.  This was one conversation that I was glad to be a fly on the wall. 

“It doesn’t matter to me whose sperm squiggled it’s way into Sang’s egg.  That is my baby,” Gabriel said passionately. “I hope you all feel the same.  If it’s my biological child I want you all to love that baby as much as you would if it were yours.”  Gabriel’s voice sounded like he was tearing up.  I wanted to reach out for him, but the need to know what everyone else thought overrode my need to comfort. 

“I feel the same way,” added North.  “Whatever the tests say, whenever we decide to get them, that’s my baby.”  I heard what sounded like back slapping and assumed hugs were being passed out. 

Nathan chimed in, “I agree with you, Gabriel, but I am curious about when we will find out who the biological father is. I mean, who will go on the birth certificate?”  I heard rustling, as if someone were repositioning himself in his chair.  I began feeling some odd pressure in my vagina.  My eyes popped open. 

“Sean!”  I felt frantic.  I knew what that pressure meant.  “Get the doctor, Sean.  I feel pressure and it makes me want to push!”  The room exploded with the sounds of scraping chairs and the excited voices of nine daddies. 

“Calm down, all of you!” Sean exclaimed as he pushed the button for the nurse.

“Can I help you?” Came a gravelly voice over the speaker. 

“Our patient is feeling the urge to push.  Can we get Dr. Bishop in here?”  Sean replied.

“He will be right in.”

“Sang, darling, resist the urge to push until the good doctor comes and checks your progress.” Sean grabbed my hand.  Suddenly terrified, I reached out with my other hand. 

“North?  Will you get behind me?”  I wanted to feel my fiercest protector at this moment of complete vulnerability.  He grunted and climbed in behind me.  His face was stony, but his eyes betrayed him.  I asked him later what he felt in that moment.  He explained that he always thought I was irritated by his overprotectiveness.  When I wanted him during my most defenseless moment it made him feel loved and appreciated.  “Gabriel, are you ready with the camera?”

Gabriel replied by snapping a picture of North wrapping his arms around me.  He later took pictures of all of our children’s births and made a huge wall collage in our family room.  That picture of me and North is a focal point in the collage and is still one of my favorites.  North’s face was leaned over my left shoulder, and his arms were coming around with his hands splayed out over my round stomach.  My face was turned toward him and my nose was nuzzling his stubbly cheek.  It was a beautiful moment. 

Dr. Bishop and Smiling Nurse Penny came quickly in the room.  Another nurse wheeled in two tall mirrors that split in the middle so they could be rotated. I was glad they remembered the mirrors—I’d completely forgotten about them. I wanted to see our baby being born even as I experienced it.  Penny took the mirrors and positioned them on either side of the end of the bed.  “We will adjust them as you push so you can see everything clearly,” she said.  Dr. Bishop and Penny had me move my legs away from the bottom of the bed.  They fiddled with some hidden levers and removed the bottom portion of the bed.  They pulled out stirrups, but I shook my head. 

“Put the stirrups back please.  Nathan and Silas are going to hold my legs.  We practiced with positioning and such when we toured before, and I prefer it that way.”  Nathan and Silas moved into position, each standing just out of the doctor’s way, each holding one of my feet.