Sensation

Chapter 25 - Franky

I don't know how Azalea is so calm about this. Maybe that's why I'm freaking out so much, like I'm freaking out enough for the both of us.

I sat in the lobby waiting for Laila since Azalea wasn't going into labor yet. I sure wish she would hurry up though because if I miss the birth of my son I will never forgive her. Speak of the devil. Laila runs in the building with five balloons and a giant stuffed monkey. "I'm not even going to ask any questions Laila." I laughed as I rushed her to the room that Azalea was in.

"What the fuck Laila?" Azalea couldn't help but laugh as she sees her cousin walk in. Laila sat the stuff by the window.

"Sorry I couldn't help myself. It was on the way here so it wasn't like I went out of my way to get it." Laila grabbed Azalea's hand and was squeezing it like she was the one that was pregnant. I just sat back and watched all of this unfold.

"Laila, honey, I'm not in labor yet. You can let go of my hand." She laughed as Laila let go and went to sit down in a chair, seems like I wasn't the only one freaking out for Azalea.

I walked up to Azalea and kissed her forehead. "You ready for this baby? We done practiced this a hundred times. But it's game time now and we have to win." I couldn't help but say that because I've never been in this predicament before. Azalea rolled her eyes and pulled me by my shirt, kissing my lips to shut me up.

The contractions got a lot closer and the time was coming. Azalea instantly flipped the switch and had begun freaking out. The nurse put her hands up against Azalea's shoulders and told her to breathe. She showed her how like we haven't seen this in movies enough. Azalea grabbed my hand and yelled at Laila to come to the other side and grab her other hand. I always thought men exaggerated when they shrieked in pain as their wives squeezed their hand during birth. This was no joke, my fingertips had turned purple but I tried my best to force a smile. I looked over at Laila and she was a mirror image of me at this point.

The doctor was in between Azalea's legs, telling her to push. "Baby, you got this. You're going to pop him out and it'll all be over." I tried to help the best I could but she somehow squeezed my hand tighter making me shut up. The doctor repeated for her to push. I just hoped Mateo popped out already because the sound of this guy's voice was aggravating. "It's a..."

"It's a nice, beautiful, healthy baby boy!" The doctor said this as if we didn't already know it was a boy. "So who will be cutting the umbilical cord?" Mateo was crying so loudly I couldn't think straight. The doctor looked from Azalea to me to Laila. Azalea looked over at me and we locked eyes.

"Well, looks like I'll be doing the cutting." I was nervous. I didn't want to hurt either of them. Who would ever trust me with scissors? The doctor surely handed them to me and pointed out where I should cut the cord. I grabbed the cord; man did it feel weird, even through the gloves. I snipped right where he told me to and they brought Mateo up so Azalea could see him. They laid him on her chest and he instantly stopped crying. She smiled from ear to ear as his eyes opened for the first time. He looked at her and then he looked at me. He had hazel green eyes and they couldn't have been any more precious than right now.

The nurse wrapped Mateo in a blanket then asked if we wanted her to take a picture of us. I nodded as I scooted closer to Azalea and wrapped my arm around her. Laila, Mateo's godmother, leaned in for the family photo. When the nurse showed us the photo we were all smiling ear to ear and the moment couldn't have been more perfect.