Corny Jameson (#Wattys2016)

Chapter Twenty-seven

Corny (Man you guys are gonna hate me.)

I walked into the preschool and was immediately bombarded by the kids.

"Hey, kids!" I said, smiling at them.

"Hi, Corny!" they chanted back. Yes, I told them my nickname. They know what my real name is, but they prefer Corny better.

"How are you guys doing today?" I asked.
A few mumbled 'good' some said 'tired' and one said nothing.

"That's good, kids," I said. We walked further into the school, where we sat down on the floor in our classroom and started morning meeting.

"Today we'll be saying something that were grateful for," I said.

Kylie raise her hand. "Ooh, ooh! Can I go first?"

"Yes, you may," I said.

"I'm grateful for food!" she said, a big smile on her face.

"Jack you're up," I said.

"Um...I'm grateful for my family and the house I live in," he said quietly.

"I'm grateful for air!" another girl said.

"What's grateful mean?" another boy said.

After morning meeting, we played a couple games. Then, we did some easy math and reading to get them started on it for kindergarten. While I was reading to them, there was a bang on the door.

"Meg? What are you doing here?" I walked over to her and grabbed her shoulders.

Her face was as white as a sheet and she was breathing heavily. "M-my wa-water broke," she panted.

Her water broke??

We were gonna meet our kids!

"Guys can you want here a second? I'll send someone in," I said, hurrying out the door with Meg.

"It hurts," she said, clenching her teeth in pain.

"I know, I know. It'll be okay. Just breathe," I said. "Can you send someone in my classroom, Kayla?"

"Yeah, why?"

"My girlfriend is in labor," I said. "We need to go now."

We walked out of the preschool and turned to walk back to her house when she doubled over in pain. A scream of pain left her lips as she gripped her stomach.

"Call an ambulance. I can't walk that far," she said, her breathing heavy and labored.

"I left my phone in there. Let me grab it, okay?" I ran inside quickly and grabbed my phone before running back outside and holding Meg.

"Hello?" they said.

"Hi, yes I need an ambulance at the preschool. My girlfriend is in labor."

"What's the address?" I told him the address. "We'll send one as far as we can."

"Thanks." I hung up the phone and slowly brought Meg to the ground. I laid her across my lap and helped her breathe through her pain, like most paramedics say to do.

"Vin, it hurts," she whined. "The contractions are getting closer and closer together."

"When did your water break?"

"About fifteen minutes ago," she said.

We waited on the sidewalk for the ambulance to arrive. Once it did, they loaded her onto the stretcher and put her in the back of the ambulance.

"Can I ride in the back? I'm her boyfriend and the father of these babies," I said. When they nodded, I jumped into the back and then we were on our way.

"I love you, Vin. I love you so much," she said. "Tell Mira and Ethan, too. No matter what happens."

"No. Please don't say that." I grabbed her hand in mine tightly. "You'll be okay."

When we made it to the hospital, she was rushed inside and I was right there the whole time. When they put us in a room, the nurses started helping her with her breathing exercises.

"It's okay, Meg. Just think, we can meet our kids soon," I said with a smile.

She glared at me. "Easy for you to say! You're not the one pushing our babies out through all this pain!"

"Miss, you're almost ten centimeters dilated. We need you to breathe, okay?"

She nodded. "Okay." She clenched her teeth again in pain, and I knew that she was almost ready to push.

About two minutes later, the doctor told her to start pushing. She yelled in pain and squeezed the life out of my hand, but in a about an hour, one of our babies was born.

"It's a boy!" the nurse exclaimed. They cleaned him off and handed him to me.

"Hey, Ethan. Welcome to the family." I handed him to Meg and she smiled, tears filling her eyes.

"He's beautiful," she said. "Tell them I love them, Vincent."

"Ma'am, you need to start pushing again," the doctor said.

Meg handed me the baby and grabbed my hand again. It took about ten minutes for Mira to be born, but soon she was crying along with Ethan.

Mira was handed to me as well. "My little babies."

"Come on, babe. I want to meet her, too," she said.

I stared into her eyes for a little longer, but when I went to hand her to Meg, I couldn't.

"Meg. Babe, are you okay?" I said.

She was staring off into space and her chest wasn't moving.

"Margaret. Margaret!" I shook her, but she didn't move.

"Please stand aside. We need to help her," the doctor said. I was ushered out of the room, but not before Mira and Ethan were taken from me.

The only thing I heard was the fast pace of my heart and Mira's cries because she didn't get to meet her mother.
***

A few hours later...

"Margaret Anderson?"

I got up and ran to the doctor. "Is she okay?"

A solemn look spread across his features. "We weren't able to save her. Giving birth was too much. She passed away."

No.

No!

"Tell me this is a joke," I said. "Tell me this is a sick joke."

He shook his head slowly. "She didn't make it. On the bright side, your babies are healthy and they want to see you."

Tears filled my vision.

Margaret Lara Anderson, the love of my life, was dead.

"I don't know what to do," I said, the tears falling down my face.

He settled his hand on my shoulder. "You need to go see your babies. They need their father."

I walked to the nursery, where I immediately saw my babies.

As I looked at them, Mira Elizabeth Jameson and Ethan Sage Jameson, I realized that they needed to be put first.

We might be in pain, but I would take care of them the best I can.

***

So...

I'm gonna go hide in my closet now.

ily guys?

~ Phoebe

P.S. There is one one chapter left, and that is the epilogue.